The Marvel Comics oversized hardcover format was printed between 2002 and 2024, reproducing full-colour comics in books approximately 11in x 7.5in in size. This was roughly an inch taller and wider than the original comic book.[1]

The first two releases were Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1 and The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man in late-March and early-April 2002, with then Marvel President, Bill Jemas saying that the company had “never done hardcovers but every time we’ve done one, it’s been spectacularly successful.”[2] Twelve oversized hardcovers were released in 2002.

A smaller ‘premiere’ hardcover size, plus the thicker ‘omnibus’ format, were both launched in the mid-2000s - however the oversized hardcover continued to be Marvel's preferred choice of premium release for recent content. The much-heralded return of the Star Wars licence to Marvel in 2015 saw the publisher use the format to release three remasters of comics from the original trilogy.[3]

With the omnibus and oversized hardcover line running side-by-side while sharing the same print size, there was often confusion in regards to how Marvel classified books. In 2015, a Spider-Verse ‘oversized hardcover’ was released at 648 pages;[4] yet, months later, a Superior Foes Of Spider-Man ‘omnibus’ came out, with only 376 pages.[5] Both collected full runs of a Spider-Man miniseries that had been released within the prior two years.

The shortest omnibus was 2007’s Devil Dinosaur at 184 pages,[6] while the largest oversized hardcover was 2013’s Avengers vs. X-Men Companion book at 1,112 pages.[7]

By 2022, even though the overall comics market “was a success on the surface”, the generally thinner oversized hardcover format was struggling. Costs had increased for both retailers and consumers, leading to a priority shift towards the softcover trade paperback format, and manga-style digests.[8]

There were only five oversized hardcovers released in 2023, then four more in 2024 - each rounding off a creator’s run that had already started in the format. Those numbers compared to 2024’s record 89 omnibuses and 87 Epic Collections, including reprints.

The final release with oversized hardcover branding was Fantastic Four: Reckoning War in December 2024, which completed Dan Slott’s stretch on the title.[9]

Marvel Universe characters & series OHCs

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These books contain stories that take place in the primary Marvel Universe. This fictional continuity is often referred to as Earth-616, with a legacy that stretches back to 1939.[10]

Alias

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# Title Years covered Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Alias 2001 Alias #1-9 208 18 Sep 2002 978-0785108726

Black Panther

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# Title Years covered Material collected Pages Released ISBN
1 Black Panther Vol. 1: A Nation Under Our Feet 2016-2017 Black Panther (2016) #1–12 296 2 Aug 2017 978-1302904159
2 Black Panther Vol. 2: Avengers Of New World 2017-2018 Black Panther (2016) #13-18, #166-172 264 14 Nov 2018 978-1302908959
3 Black Panther Vol. 3: Intergalactic Empire 1 2018-2019 Black Panther (2018) #1-12 280 4 Nov 2020 978-1302925314
4 Black Panther Vol. 4: Intergalactic Empire 2 2019-2021 Black Panther (2018) #13-25 328 13 Apr 2022 978-1302925420

Daredevil

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# Title Material collected Pages Released ISBN
1 Daredevil Vol. 1 Daredevil (vol. 2) #1–15, #½ 336 8 Apr 2003 978-0785110156
13 Sep 2006 978-0785124016
2 Daredevil Vol. 2 Daredevil (vol. 2) #26-37 288 4 Dec 2002 978-0785109266
3 Daredevil Vol. 3 Daredevil (vol. 2) #38-50 320 1 Mar 2004 978-0785111061
4 Daredevil Vol. 4 Daredevil (vol. 2) #56-65 280 31 Aug 2005 978-0785113423
5 Daredevil Vol. 5 Daredevil (vol. 2) #66-75 256 28 Jun 2006 978-0785121107
6 Daredevil Vol. 6 Daredevil (vol. 2) #16-19, #76-81 304 11 Oct 2006 978-0785121114
1 Daredevil by Mark Waid, Vol. 1 Daredevil (vol. 3) #1–10, 10.1, Amazing Spider–Man #677 288 26 Feb 2013 978-0785168065
2 Daredevil by Mark Waid, Vol. 2 Daredevil (vol. 3) #11–21, Avenging Spider–Man #6, Punisher #10 296 25 Feb 2014 978-0785184799
3 Daredevil by Mark Waid, Vol. 3 Daredevil (vol. 3) #22–36, Indestructible Hulk #9–10 368 15 Jul 2014 978-0785190233
4 Daredevil by Mark Waid & Chris Samnee Vol. 4 Daredevil (vol. 4) #1–10, 0.1, 1.50 312 16 Feb 2016 978-0785195344
5 Daredevil by Mark Waid & Chris Samnee Vol. 5 Daredevil (vol. 4) #11–18, 15.1 216 17 May 2016 978-1302900601
1 Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky Vol. 1: To Heaven Through Hell Daredevil (vol. 6) #1–10 232 17 Mar 2021 978-1302928247
2 Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky Vol. 2: To Heaven Through Hell Daredevil (vol. 6) #11–20 224 23 Mar 2022 978-1302931995
3 Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky Vol. 3: To Heaven Through Hell Daredevil (vol. 6) #21–30, Daredevil Annual (2020) 264 2 Nov 2022 978-1302945114
4 Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky Vol. 4: To Heaven Through Hell Daredevil (vol. 6) #31–36, Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #1–3 264 19 Jul 2023 978-1302950057
Miniseries
Daredevil/Elektra: Love And War Marvel Graphic Novel: Daredevil: Love And War, Elektra: Assassin #1-8 328 6 Nov 2002 978-0785110323
Daredevil: Yellow Daredevil: Yellow #1-6 160 18 Sep 2002 978-0785108405
Daredevil: Father Daredevil: Father #1-6 200 20 Dec 2006 978-0785115441
Daredevil: End Of Days Daredevil: End Of Days #1-8 232 3 Jul 2018 978-0785124207

Punisher

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# Title Years covered Material collected Pages Released ISBN
1 Punisher Vol. 1 2000 The Punisher (2000) #1-12, Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe 352 21 Aug 2002 978-0785109822

X-Men

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# Title Years covered Material collected Pages Released ISBN
X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2021
X-Men (2019) #21; X-Force (2019) #20; New Mutants (2019) #19; X-Factor (2020) #10, Planet-Size X-Men (2021) #1, and more
  • Marauders (2019) #21; Excalibur (2019) #21; Hellions (2020) #12; S.W.O.R.D. (2020) #6; Way of X (2021) #3; X-Corp (2021) #2; Wolverine (2020) #13
400 14 Dec 2021 ‎Pepe Larraz cover: 978-0785109822
‎Russell Dauterman DM cover: 978-1302931568
Inferno by Jonathan Hickman 2021 Inferno (2021) #1–4 224 26 Apr 2022 ‎Jerome Opena cover: 978-0785109822
‎Mark Brooks DM cover: 978-1302946302

Spider-Man

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# Title Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 1) #27-28, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #14-15, Marvel Team-Up Annual #4, Marvel Team-Up #100 216 10 Apr 2002 978-0785108993
1 Best of Spider-Man Vol. 1 Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #30–36, Spider-Man's Tangled Web #4–6, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #36, Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #6–8 336 18 Sep 2002 978-0785109006
2 Best of Spider-Man Vol. 2 Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #37–45, Spider-Man's Tangled Web #10–11, Peter Parker: Spider-Man #44–47 368 Jun 2003 978-0785111009
3 Best of Spider-Man Vol. 3 Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #46–58, 500 368 Jun 2004 978-0785113393
4 Best of Spider-Man Vol. 4 Amazing Spider-Man #501–514 336 Jul 2005 978-0785118275
5 Best of Spider-Man Vol. 5 Amazing Spider-Man #515–524 240 Jul 2006 978-0785121282
Spider-Man: The Other Amazing Spider-Man #525–528; Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1–4; Marvel Knights Spider-Man #19–22 288 25 Oct 2006 978-0785121886
Civil War: Spider-Man Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11–16, Amazing Spider-Man #529–538, Sensational Spider-Man #28–34 544 26 Jan 2011 978-0785148821
Spider-Man: Back In Black Amazing Spider-Man #539–543; Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #17–23, Annual #1 336 24 Oct 2007 978-0785129042
1 Superior Spider-Man: Vol. 1 The Amazing Spider-Man #698–700, The Superior Spider-Man #1–5 248 17 Sep 2013 978-0785185215
2 Superior Spider-Man: Vol. 2 The Superior Spider-Man #6–16 248 24 Apr 2014 978-0785154488
3 Superior Spider-Man: Vol. 3 The Superior Spider-Man #17–31, Annual #1-2 432 17 Mar 2015 978-0785193951
1 Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #1–6, #1.1–1.5, Annual (2014) 272 1 Jan 2016 978-0785195351
2 Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #7–18; Superior Spider-Man #32–33; material from FCBD 2014: Guardians of the Galaxy 352 19 Apr 2016 978-0785195375
Spider-Verse Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #7–15; Superior Spider-Man #32–33; material from FCBD 2014: Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Verse #1–2, Spider-Verse Team-Up #1–3, Scarlet Spiders #1–3, Spider-Woman (2014) #1–4, Spider-Man 2099 #6–8 648 12 May 2015 978-0785190356
1 Amazing Spider-Man Worldwide HC. 1 Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 4) #1–11 280 17 Jan 2017 978-1302904067
2 Amazing Spider-Man Worldwide HC. 2 Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 4) #12–19; material from FCBD 2015: Amazing Spider-Man and FCBD 2016 (Captain America) 232 19 Sep 2017 978-1302908423
Amazing Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 4) #19–24; The Clone Conspiracy #1–5; The Clone Conspiracy: Omega – Silk #14–17; Prowler #1–5; material from FCBD 2016 (Captain America) 512 1 Jan 2017 978-1302903268
3 Amazing Spider-Man Worldwide HC. 3 Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 4) #20–28, Annual #1 304 1 Jan 2018 978-1302908911
Red Goblin Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 4) #794–801, Annual #42 264 2 Oct 2018 978-1302913540
Marvel Knights Spider-Man Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1–12 304 16 Nov 2005 978-0785118428
Peter Parker, Spider-Man – Back In Black Sensational Spider-Man (vol. 2) #35–40, Annual #1; Spider-Man Family #1–2; Marvel Spotlight: Spider-Man; Spider-Man: Back in Black Handbook 336 28 Nov 2007 978-0785129202
Miniseries
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man Vol. 1 Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1–8 192 Oct 2006 978-0785124320
Spider-Man / Human Torch Spider-Man / Human Torch #1–5 128 19 Aug 2009 978-0785140047
Spider-Man: Life Story Spider-Man: Life Story #1–6, Annual (2021) 240 5 Nov 2019 978-1302931919
1 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane Vol. 1 Mary Jane #1–4, Mary Jane: Homecoming #1–4, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (2005) #1–5 320 11 Apr 2007 978-0785126102
2 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane Vol. 2 Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (2005) #6–20 368 3 Sep 2008 978-0785130833

Event OHCs

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Marvel's first major line-wide event was Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars in 1984. The event “capitalized on the success of previous crossovers to make an epic storyline involving most of the Marvel Universe”.[11] By the mid-2000s, large comics events had become an annual tradition for Marvel, with Avengers Disassembled (2004), House of M (2005) and Civil War (2006-2007) providing enormous sales success.[12] These major mid-2000s all had premium oversized hardcover releases.

Age Of Ultron

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# Title Years covered Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Age Of Ultron 2013 Age of Ultron #1-10, 10AI; Avengers Assemble #14AU–15AU; Fantastic Four (2012) #5AU; Fearless Defenders #4AU; Superior Spider-Man #6AU; Ultron #1AU; Uncanny Avengers #8AU; Wolverine & the X-Men #27AU 288 17 Sep 2013 Bryan Hitch cover: 978-0785155652

Avengers vs. X-Men

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# Title Years covered Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Avengers vs. X-Men 2012 Avengers Vs. X-Men #0–12; AVX: VS. #1–6; Avengers Vs. X-Men: Infinite #1, 6, 10 568 21 Nov 2012 Jim Cheung cover: 978-0785163176
Nick Bradshaw DM cover: 978-0785165859
Avengers vs. X-Men Companion 2012
Avengers (2010) #25–30, New Avengers (2010) #24–30, and more
  • Avengers Academy #29–33, Secret Avengers (2010) #26–28, X-Men Legacy (2008) #266–270, Wolverine & the X-Men #9–16, #18; AVX: Consequences #1–5, Uncanny X-Men (2012) #11–20; A-Babies Vs. X-Babies #1
1,112 21 May 2013 978-0785168515

Alternate universe OHCs

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1602 Universe (Earth-311)

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# Title Years collected Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Marvel 1602 2003 Marvel 1602 #1–8 248 6 Oct 2004 978-0785110705
Marvel 1602 10th Anniversary 2003 Marvel 1602 #1–8 264 27 Aug 2013 978-0785153689

Ronin Universe (Earth-11542)

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# Title Years collected Material collected Pages Released ISBN
5 Ronin 2011 5 Ronin (2011) #1–5 120 25 May 2011 John Cassady Wolverine cover: 978-0785156321
David Aja Ronin cover: 978-0785157717

Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610)

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# Title Years collected Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Ultimatum Companion 2008 Ultimate Fantastic Four #58–60, Ultimatum Fantastic Four: Requiem, Ultimate Spider-Man #129–133, Ultimatum Spider-Man: Requiem #1–2, Ultimate X-Men #98–100, Ultimatum X-Men: Requiem, March on Ultimatum Saga, Marvel Spotlight: Ultimatum 488 15 Jun 2011 978-0785155072

The Ultimates

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# Title Years collected Material collected Pages Released ISBN
1 The Ultimates Vol. 1 2002-2004 The Ultimates (vol. 1) #1-13 376 27 Oct 2004 978-0785110828
2 The Ultimates Vol. 2 2005-2007 The Ultimates (vol. 2) #1-13, Ultimates Annual 464 26 Dec 2007 978-0785121381
Ultimatum 2008 The Ultimates (vol. 3) #1-5, Ultimatum #1-5 272 10 Nov 2010 978-0785134343

Ultimate Fantastic Four

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# Title Years collected Material collected Pages Released ISBN
1 Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 1 2004 Ultimate Fantastic Four #1–12 320 8 Jun 2005 978-0785114581
2 Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 2 2005 Ultimate Fantastic Four #13–20, Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #1 240 19 Jul 2006 978-0785120582
3 Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 3 2005-2006 Ultimate Fantastic Four #21–32 296 20 Jun 2007 978-0785126034
4 Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 4 2006-2007 Ultimate Fantastic Four #33–41,Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #2, Ultimate X-Men/Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate Fantastic Four/Ultimate X-Men 320 14 Nov 2007 978-0785128724
5 Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 5 2007-2008 Ultimate Fantastic Four #42–53 288 3 Sep 2008 978-0785130826
6 Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 6 2008 Ultimate Fantastic Four #54–57, Official Handbook of the Ultimate Marvel Universe #1–2, Ultimate Secrets 256 12 Aug 2009 978-0785137818

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up

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# Title Years collected Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Ultimate Marvel Team-Up 2001-2002 Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #1-#16, Ultimate Spider-Man Special 432 21 Aug 2002 978-0785108702

Ultimate Spider-Man (2000)

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# Title Years collected Material collected Pages Released ISBN
1 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 1 2000-2001 Ultimate Spider-Man #1–13 354 20 Mar 2002 978-0785108986
2 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 2 2001-2002 Ultimate Spider-Man #14–27 336 10 Mar 2003 978-0785110613
3 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3 2002-2003 Ultimate Spider-Man #28–39, ½ 304 29 Sep 2003 978-0785111566
4 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 4 2003-2004 Ultimate Spider-Man #40–45, 47–53 336 1 Jul 2004 978-0785112495
5 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 5 2003-2004 Ultimate Spider-Man #46, 54–59
Ultimate Six #1–7
352 24 Nov 2004 978-0785114017
6 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 6 2004-2005 Ultimate Spider-Man #60–71 296 5 Oct 2005 978-0785118411
7 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 7 2005-2006 Ultimate Spider-Man #72–85 344 18 Oct 2006 978-0785121480
8 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 8 2006 Ultimate Spider-Man #86–96, Annual #1–2 344 11 Apr 2007 978-0785126041
9 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 9 2006-2007 Ultimate Spider-Man #97–111 400 27 Feb 2008 978-0785130819
10 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 10 2007-2008 Ultimate Spider-Man #112–122 272 4 Mar 2009 978-0785137764
11 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 11 2008-2009 Ultimate Spider-Man #123–133, Annual #3; Ultimatum: Spider-Man – Requiem #1–2 384 22 Jun 2010 978-0785146421
12 Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 12 2009-2010 Ultimate Spider-Man (vol. 2) #1–14 352 16 May 2012 978-0785164623

Ultimate X-Men

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# Title Years collected Material collected Pages Released ISBN
1 Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1 2001-2002 Ultimate X-Men #1–12, Giant-Size X-Men #1 352 7 Aug 2002 978-0785110088
2 Ultimate X-Men Vol. 2 2002-2003 Ultimate X-Men #13–25 336 24 Mar 2003 978-0785111306
3 Ultimate X-Men Vol. 3 2003 Ultimate X-Men #26–33; Ultimate War #1–4 312 10 Dec 2003 978-0785111313
4 Ultimate X-Men Vol. 4 2003-2004 Ultimate X-Men #34–45 304 23 Feb 200 978-0785112518
5 Ultimate X-Men Vol. 5 2004-2005 Ultimate X-Men #46–57 296 4 Jan 2006 978-0785121039
6 Ultimate X-Men Vol. 6 2005-2006 Ultimate X-Men #58–65, ½; Ultimate X-Men Annual #1 256 30 Aug 2006 978-0785121046
7 Ultimate X-Men Vol. 7 2006 Ultimate X-Men #66–74; Ultimate X-Men Annual #2 256 8 Aug 2007 978-0785126058
8 Ultimate X-Men Vol. 8 2006-2008 Ultimate X-Men #75–88 352 25 Jun 2008 978-0785130802
9 Ultimate X-Men Vol. 9 2008 Ultimate X-Men #89–97 232 26 Aug 2009 978-0785137795

Miniseries

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# Title Years covered Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Beyond! 2006 Beyond! #1–6 144 28 Feb 2007 978-0785126249

Licensed OHCs

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Anita Blake

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# Title Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures #1–12 320 14 Oct 2009 Brett Booth cover: 978-0785140214

Creator OHCs

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# Title Material collected Pages Released ISBN
Stan Lee Meets The Marvel Universe Stan Lee Meets: Dr. Strange; Stan Lee Meets: Spider-Man; Stan Lee Meets: Silver Surfer; Stan Lee Meets: Thing; Stan Lee Meets: Dr. Doom 240 14 Mar 2007 978-0785122722
Yellow, Blue & Gray by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale Daredevil: Yellow #1–6; Spider-Man: Blue #1–6; Hulk: Gray #1–6 540 19 Aug 2014 978-0785188315

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Trevor Van As (16 August 2023). "Your Guide To The Different Comic Book Collected Edition Formats". How To Love Comic Books. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  2. ^ Douglas Wolk (18 March 2002). "Marvel Gets Its House in Order". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  3. ^ Graeme McMillan (16 December 2014). "Marvel to Rerelease Original 'Star Wars' Movies as Remastered Comic Books". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  4. ^ "SPIDER-VERSE HC". Previews World. Archived from the original on 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  5. ^ "SUPERIOR FOES SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS HC". Previews World. Archived from the original on 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  6. ^ "DEVIL DINOSAUR BY JACK KIRBY OMNIBUS HC". Previews World. Archived from the original on 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  7. ^ "AVENGERS VS X-MEN HC COMPANION AVX". Previews World. Archived from the original on 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  8. ^ David Harper (3 March 2023). "Comics Retailers Navigate a New Normal". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 15 April 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  9. ^ "AVENGERS BY JASON AARON VOL. 5". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on 7 November 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  10. ^ Blair Marnell (7 May 2019). "A Guide to the Many Marvel Multiverses". Marvel. Archived from the original on 27 September 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  11. ^ Dalton Norman (13 July 2022). "Marvel Comics: The First 10 Crossover Events, Ranked". Screenrant. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2024. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 30 January 2023 suggested (help)
  12. ^ Chase Magnett (5 October 2024). "The State of Superhero Event Comics". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 20 July 2024 suggested (help)