It was kind of a weird week on the news front, with some big news and some surprising hits dotting the comics news-sphere, but not fueling me enough to get to a full sized version of this column. So, instead of the usual, let’s dig into those in Comics Disassembled, a look at nine things I liked or didn’t like from the week of comics.

1. DC vs. Marvel, Back on the Menu

In news that was genuinely unexpected, it seems that DC and Marvel have found a way to get along enough to make a whole lot of money. And the way they’re doing that is simple: They’re working together to make new omnibuses that collect previous crossovers between the two publishers. One is the DC Versus Marvel Omnibus and the others is DC Versus Marvel: The Amalgam Age, with the former bizarrely collecting basically every crossover in the history of the Big Two besides the one called DC Versus Marvel, while the latter will collect the aforementioned DC Versus Marvel as well as its direct follow-ups and, more crucially, the Amalgam spin-offs that mashed up characters from both universes. They’re both monster tomes, with price points to match at $150. But they’re going to move briskly, I imagine, as collections of these stories are few and far between.

More than that, these types of stories are the kind that fandoms cannot help but love, even if they’re not great. Take that DC Versus Marvel crossover as an example. Is it a great comic? No. But do I love it? You better believe it, as my oral history of that story and the Amalgam comics that followed likely suggested. So, yeah, these omnibi are likely to pop in a major way, even if they surprisingly lack JLA/Avengers, the crossover that I’d say is considered to be the strongest of the lot. But it was just reprinted in honor of George Perez last year, so even that makes some level of sense.

I’m not going to lie, the fanboy side of me, one that I long considered dormant at best, awakened at this news. It was to such a significant degree that I’m thinking long and hard about ordering these books despite the fact that they are my least favorite format for collections. They’ll be hard to read, but at least I’d be able to read them, and that, my friends, is the point. Damn you, DC and Marvel. You’re making me think of buying omnibuses!

2. OK Comics, In Need

This week on social media, the squad at Leeds’ esteemed comic shop OK Comics splashed anyone who saw it with a cold bucket of reality in a lengthy thread. They shared the current plight of businesses both in the book and comic shop space, but also those operating in city centers, as the economic environment is creating a situation where everyone is struggling to survive. Amplifying those troubles is the fact that OK Comics is based in the heart of Leeds, with plenty of workers and individuals abandoning that space in the world that followed COVID’s arrival. It’s created a situation where, as OK Comics noted, both the shop and likely the local businesses in all regions of the world need your support.

It’s a shop local message, and one that’s essential. More than that, though, OK Comics is a respected, venerable establishment, and the kind the comic industry needs more of. If you can order comics from them — via a sales platform that’s incredibly easy to use, as I already ordered three graphic novels through them after the thread hit — to support them, I’d advise it, because who doesn’t need more comics and why not help a great shop while you do? It’s an important message, but also an actionable one, so let’s do our best to support OK Comics and our respective communities in the process.