MARVEL COSMIC UNIVERSE BY DONNY CATES OMNIBUS VOL. 1 (Marvel Cosmic Universe Omnibus)

Donny Cates the best writer out right now

Marvel decided to gather up Donny Cates space faring adventures into one oversized omnibus. Not all of them as he still continues exploring the Marvel cosmos even as this review is being written. What a good idea it was.The first story collected here is the story of "Thanos Wins." The tale in which, well, Thanos wins. I love this story. What a great look at the Mad Titans journey to dominate the universe. There is never a dull moment. The action, while sticking true to the characters, never stops. There are so many wild and weird moments that you can't help but be impressed by Cates' imagination. The enemy old Thanos awaits on is proof of that. Cates is joined by his frequent collaborator on art, Geoff Shaw. Shaw's line work is awesome. He brings the energy to Cates' wild ideas.Second is a continuation of the Thanos journey with an annual. Cates and Shaw are joined by a collection of great writers and artists to tell tales of Thanos' despicable deeds. I don't normally like a jam of goofy stories out side the main tale but these were just too good.Third is the Cosmic Ghost Rider story. The breakout star of the Thanos series gets his own mini series. It's pretty good. A very goofy adventure as Cosmic Ghost Rider tries to put things right with the universe. Cates is joined by Dylan Burnett on art who provides a similar style to Shaw just with a cartooney edge.To finish up all things Thanos, next is the Thanos Legacy story. This one takes place after the events of Infinity Wars by Gerry Duggan. It helps set up Cates' awesome Guardians of the Galaxy run which is not collected here. It's good for what it is, a setup for other things. Brian Level provides the art with a generic photo realism style that is serviceable for the story.Next we have the Death of the Inhumans story. A group of Kree hardliners have taken over their empire and want all Inhumans exterminated. This is probably the weakest story collected here but is still very good. It feels like less like a story and more of an editorial mandate by Marvel to take the Inhumans off the table for awhile. Marvel tried pushing them while they didn't have the rights to the X-Men movies. They thought they could be a replacement for them. Didn't work out. Cates still uses the opportunity to tell a cool tale of the Inhumans last hoorah. For now. The art is beautifully provided by Ariel Olivetti. Olivetti has a photo realistic style with clean lines that is very nice to look at.Finally we get the best story of the bunch in my opinion. Silver Surfer: Black. Following the events of Donny Cates' Guardians of the Galaxy issue one, the Silver Surfer is lost in time and space. He is brought up against a very powerful foe that will play a bigger role in the Marvel universe yet to come. This story is awesome. Surfer is one of my favorites and he gets a grand tale here. Not gonna lie, a major part of what makes this story so special is the phenomenal art by Tradd Moore. Moore brings something truly special to the page. He has a real trippy surreal style that portrays the Surfer's plight in a grand fashion.The omnibus itself is tightly sewn bound. Even though it is tight there is minimal gutter loss. Thin paper stock. Extras include two afterwards by Cates, pencil sketches and character designs, and the variant covers which are jammed four to a page in between issues. I hate that Marvel does this. They make so many variants yet jam them into a single page instead of showcasing them on a full page. This omnibus is listed all over as a volume one but the actual book itself does not say that. So do not expect more volumes of this content. I also have to voice my extreme displeasure that this book is $100 retail price for 500 some pages. That is a ripoff! it should have been $75. So only buy if you want all these stories in oversized format. I do recommend these stories but get it as discounted as much as you can.Ah, what a great well presented collection of Marvel's current superstar Donny Cates. I am so excited for future collections from this very talented dude.

It is now the second time I receive this product and it is again damaged. The plastic wrap was torn in the box. The corners are bent and the back cover is scuffed up wherever the plastic wrap was damaged. This is not the first time I send back trades or HCs. I have come to a point where I will no longer order comic trades on Amazon. They very often arrive damaged even though I always buy the products new. I am guessing that the automated robots in the processing center used to grab these HC are too rough and not calibrated for items that don't have any give. This has nothing to do with the product itself as I am sure the read is fine, but everything to do with Amazon's sub-par handling of these types of items. I expect a 90$ comic to arrive as perfect as if I bought it in a comic shop. Disappointing.

Great book. Amazing read. Donny Cates is revolutionary. Love his work. SS Black was amazing!Buy it somewhere that isn't amazon!These guys will destroy your books when they ship it. Took them two times to get one to me that was worth holding onto...still damaged but worth holding onto.

It arrived with a tear across the cover it was clearly from a box cutter. Considering I ripped the tape it was the sender. As with anything that is a potential collectable that reduces the value significantly! Disappointing. Also with a cut like this I didn't see it until I had already removed the wrapping.