3 out of 5

Not rating the contents, which are reviewed here and here.

Here are some things I dig about this HC: It has page numbers, and I’m always down with books that put a little thought into what appears beneath the dust jacket.  In this case, that’s a black-embossed image and spine-text, which is simple, for sure, but fits slickly with the book title and vibe.  The dust jacket itself is also well-designed (‘publication design’ is credited to Amelia Grohman), and there’s a consistency to everything: the font for the credits, those page numbers, the chapter breaks.

Beyond that, though, I find some snags: the chapter break pages use the same image over and over again (a red-toned J.H. Williams III caption from the book), which, I dunno, feels a little cheap.  And while I totally understand why this book skips the two crossover issues of 670 and 671, as they’re not directly tied in to the story, I also – personal preference – hate when trades skip issues without offering some context, which is something (offering that context) I’ve never seen.  You could cross-promote the trade with those two issues with a small editorial comment!  For those just reading the collected editions, I can’t imagine I’m the only one whose sought out a missing one or two issues, only to realize why they were skipped after spending money on them.

Price-wise, there are zilch on bonuses, so I find the 24.99 pricetag a bit much, though I guess this is seven issues over the standard of six.  I still think $20 for a no bonus HC and 15 for a softcover is about right, so you can chalk most of this rating up to my opinions, yuk yuk.