Omnibus Opinions

[VampSlayer]

I dont have any of these. Yet I see them all the time. Are they worth getting? If so, why? Which ones are the best?

[Paul]

The first two Buffy omnibuses were an enjoyable origin story for Buffy. You had The Origin, which adapted the movie and is considered canon, and the "Year One" stories which showed Buffy travel to Vegas with Pike, get sent to a mental institution, and cope with her parent's divorce. These stories actually worked pretty well because the writers had enough room in continuity to tell stories which actually mattered, instead of "between episodes" stories, which rarely work. Also, the stories had already been referenced in canon, so it was nice to see events that you already knew about actually play out.

However, so far all the other omnibuses have been downright boring. I haven't even been able to finish some of them because they were so bad. Things start to pick up again around volume 6 with the introduction of Dawn, but you have to wade through a lot of crap to get there.

As for Angel, I don't have the omnibus, but I do have some of the TPBs contained in it and they're really not very good. Some nice artwork from David Messina but that's about it.

[Greer]

I really liked the first 2, and #5. The others weren't bad, but they weren't memorable. I really like that all of the stories are collected and that you can get a lot of fill-ins, but some of the stories are really just....boring or weird, even for Buffy. But if you want to get them all in one place and easy to read, then I'd definitely recommend that you get them...but buy them on ebay or amazon, but stay away from Barnes & Noble! They sell for MSRP there and the other places can be like 14-16 bucks, which is $10+ off.

[wenxina]

Quite frankly, not a fan of the BtVS Omnibus collections. There's some decent stuff in them, but as Paul said, you do have to wade through a lot of crap to get to the good stuff. I'm biased towards Jeanty's work, so most of the art just looks bad to me. The quality of the stories are on par with most of the BtVS novels out there; i.e. some good fanfiction, others just really bad writing.

The Angel Omnibus is okay in overall quality, but again, the stories range from above average to kinda lousy.

On the whole, both are great for passing the time (i.e. toilet reading), but not essential, IMO. You may find that you like them. Some people do. I'm just collecting them now since I've already started... and Amazon.com usually sells them for a pretty hefty discount.

[Wyndam]

I agree with pretty much all that has been said so far. I like collecting them though and more or less enjoyed reading through them once. They do tend to get boring though.

I found the Angel Omnibus IDW put out to be a lot more enjoyable than the Buffy Omnibuses.

[Whedon Fan]

I almost put "No" but clicked yes instead. Basically they are worth a good read but you won't read them over and over like you would season eight or ATF. There are a few good arcs/issues in it though so I'd give it a read.

[parabola]

Yeah, the quality is certainly hit-or-miss from story to story, but judging the omnibus books by themselves I think they are quite worthwhile. Whether you are a completist or just looking for a variety of Buffy stories to pass the time, for under $20 each you get a nice compilation. Certainly much cheaper than if you collected the individual issues or the associated trade paperbacks.

[VampSlayer]

Hmmmm... Thanks, guys!! I will be sure to pick up the first two Buffy ones, and the Angel to see if I like 'em!

[jellymoff]

I'm pretty much on the same page with the previous posters. I have all of the Buffy Omnibuses. Mostly out of loyalty and nerdiness. There are some good stories scattered in there, but a lot of them are medicore. Usually if a show writer is involved (Doug Petrie's "Ring of Fire", Jane Espenson's "Reunion") they are much better, as they should be I suppose.

[VampSlayer]

I just read Angel: Omnibus 1, and I loved it! ;D It was very entertaining!