The two are absolutely comparable, and Fateful Absence is, ironically, sure to stick around in decklists for a long time
Completely filling a characters Sphere Grid will earn you the achievement Sphere Master, while completing it for every character will give you the Perfect Sphere Master achievement.
For example, an alpha and beta Black Lotus is going to be worth a lot more than an unlimited and revised Black Lotus, just because it was from the rarer, harder-to-come by initial release
One fun advantage they carry into battle, some of the best Halfling commanders partner
once those eat a wrath, you still have plenty of creatures to reanimate later
The card is pretty great alone, but it also plays very nicely with Mono-Whites self-bounce package