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Doug: This post originally ran on June 28 2011, but I thought after almost two years it was worth revisiting. As you read Karen's original premise and the comments that followed, why don't you chime in with any updated thoughts, wish lists that have been met, and maybe reiterate what it is that you are still anxiously awaiting. Here's my partner --
Karen: While I'm very happy that Warlock, Captain Marvel, and Deathlok have all received the Masterworks treatment (and soon Iron Fist), how about Killraven? I know, he got his own Essentials. But Essentials are black and white, and I need color.
There are a number of books that have been put in Essentials format that I would like to see in color, including most of the Marvel monster titles. Tomb of Dracula has several volumes out, but what about the short-lived Frankenstein series or Werewolf By Night? Although I wasn't a regular reader, I bet Man-Thing has its fans. And since the Masterworks started collecting Marvel Team-Up, how about some love for the Thing and collecting Marvel Two-In-One?Karen: I'd love to have the "Who remembers Scorpio?" story from The Defenders all in one TPB. Likewise the Legion of Super-Heroes' "Earthwar Saga".
Karen: I'm sure there are some favorites you'd like to see in a nice trade or hardback -so start naming them!
76 comments:
I've been pretty strictly a superhero comic collector, eschewing the other genres of the medium, but I've actually been wanting to pick up Master of Kung Fu. I've heard really good things about this series, and the fact that it lasted for over 10 year means it must have something going for it.
I think there were rights issues with Master of Kung Fu, as Marvel didn't keep paying for the rights to use Fu Manchu in comic books.You'd think this would be easily resolved given that Fu Manchu must be worth all of 10 cents as a commercial property by now!
MoKF is great, btw, especially the ones with Gene Day art -- a great talent far too soon gone.
I'd like to see Robert Loren Fleming and Trevor Von Eeden's THRILLER, preferably with a new conclusion by Fleming and Von Eeden, rather than the somewhat underwhelming issues 8-12 by Bill DuBay and Alec Nino.
The original Wolfman/Colan NIGHT FORCE is apparently imminent or already out. Hoora! BLUE DEVIL would be nice; ditto AMETHYST, ARION, and maybe some Showcase volumes collecting DC's sci-fi minis of the 1980's like SPANNER'S GALAXY, SLASH MARAUD and JEMM, SON OF SATURN.
Over at Marvel, STRIKEFORCE MORITURI was an interesting book that merits re-reading. I'd love to see John Byrne get to finish his Galactus epic from EPIC, but that doesn't seem all that likely.
Ah, well at least there's a reason for MOKF, even if it's not a good one. I agre that BLUE DEVIL, AMETHYST, & ARION would be nice. Some good 80's DC sorcery stuff.
I think Marvel was (is?) really onto something with their Classics series of reprints. For example, I bought both volumes of Champions Classic. The nice thing about those two tpbs was the inclusion of periphery stories like Iron Man Annual #4, Avengers #163, and Peter Parker 17-18 (or was it 16-17?) -- that's a quality that makes the Essentials so good, despite no color. It's the completeness of the reprinting of a series. So, I'd also like to pick up the four volumes of Invaders Classic as well.
I'd like to have similar treatments for the aforementioned Peter Parker. I'd probably only be interested in the first couple of volumes, as that's what I was buying before I dropped out of collecting around 1980. Ditto for Nova, but only what would be a volume 1; once Carmine got 'hold of the art, I'm out.
Over at DC, I'll continue to be dismayed (been dismayed about this for awhile now) if they don't continue the Legion Archives. I have been waiting for Volume 13 for years!
Oh, and another thought -- as Karen and I were discussing this post a few days ago, I just last week became aware of two Marvel Masterworks volumes that reprint the material in between X-Men #66 and G-S X-Men #1. It's X-Men volumes 7 and 8, and contains, among other things, the Beast run from Amazing Adventures. So I just bought that, along with the first Inhumans Masterworks that reprints the Thor back-ups from the Silver Age as well as their run from Amazing Adventures.
And one last thought -- love this topic by the way! -- the Marvel Premier Hardcovers are extremely nice for contained story arcs. In fact, there's a cool one coming out next week called The Thing: Liberty Legion that reprints much of the material we'll be covering in our Giant-Size July feature, which begins next Monday!
Doug
I have both volumes of Champions Classic also, and agree that it's great. Do they have something like those for Marvel Two-in-One and Marvel Team-up? Those are two series I really should have collected back in the day, but for some reason I only have a handful of odd issues of each. I guess it's because I was mostly into team books, but I guess these are team books, in a sense.
Great topic. Put me down for Master of Kung-Fu as well. I always suspected that the Fu Manchu copyright issue was the reason that Marvel has not yet reprinted any of the series. I can't believe that Fu is not in the public domain by now. And even if Marvel had to pay a small royalty to be able to reprint the stuff, they would probably make more money on the sales of the trades than it would cost them.
I would also like to see Power Man and Iron Fist reprinted in color. The b&w Essentials (while nice) just don't do it for me. One of things that I love about old comics is the dynamic use of primary colors. I hope they keep up with the Iron Fist masterworks, at least, as I'd love to have all of them in this format.
I'd also be very very interested in the early issues of Peter Parker the Spec. Spider-Man (from issue 1 to around 30 or so). I also wish they would have kept releasing the Spider-Man Visionaries: Roger Stern volumes. They stopped after Volume 1. I was hoping they'd keep going all they way through his complete run on Amazing Spider-Man. With luck maybe they will still do something along those lines, as his run is considered by many (myself included) to be some of the best Spider-Man comics of all time.
Doug, I too have those awesome Champions volumes and I dig them for the same reasons you mentioned. I don't care at all for the modern treatment of comics, so it's things like these collections of the classic stuff that really helps keep me excited about comics these days.
Finally, I recently saw on Amazon that in November a trade collection of all the Byrne/Claremont issues of Marvel Team-Up is scheduled to be released. I hope it happens, because that is something thats been on my wish-list for years. Maybe come November, I can finally scratch that one off the list.
In terms of the Essentials & Showcase Presents:
Essential Master Of Kung Fu is a ludicrous omission. If DC can afford the rights to Doc Savage, I'm bloody sure Marvel can afford Fu Manchu.
Also, Essential Rom, Human Fly, Micronauts, Crazy and how about an Essential Deadly Hands of Kung Fu
or Planet Of The Apes?
Or an Essential Marvel Sci-Fi, with all the Starlord stories, Seeker 3000, and as much as they can get from Unknown Worlds Of Science Fiction? ( ok, I have all this, but it'd still make a nice collection )
As for Showcase Presents, why aren't there Kamandi or Plop volumes yet?
Shang Chi is terrific – I enjoyed it as a kid on one level, for the art & stories, but as an adult I can enjoy all of the other literary and filmic references in it, particularly Gulacy’s visual references to Holmes, Bond, Brando, Marlene Dietrich etc. Alongside Moench’s literary ones.
Jonathan – for a cracking little Shang Chi taster that sits apart from the whole Fu Manchu arc, try the Mordillo saga from MOKF #33 – 35. If that doesn’t peel your potatoes, then you and Shang Chi are probably not going to be friends (though he goes through at least 2 more great phases after Gulacy with Zeck and then Day).
William – PD in the UK is 70 years after death, so you’re looking at 2029 before the Yellow Peril is fair game.
One thing I’d love to see is some ‘lost years’ TPB collections, so, for example, I’d like to see a Warlock collection that gathers FF #66-67, Thor #166-167, Premiere 1 &2, Warlock 1-8, Hulk #158, Hulk 176-178, Warlock 9 – 15, Team Up #55, and then those stonking Starlin Avengers & MTIO annuals. What a ride that would be !!
Likewise, I’d like to see the Surfer in the years between his series, esp. those cracking FF’s with Galactus and the early Defenders.
Or, how about the Xmen lost years: We could start with the Adams issues and go up to #66, then Team Up #4, Avengers 110-111, Hulk #172, Cap 172-173, Amazing Adventures #11 – 17 and GS#1.
Doug – were you saying that this one exists?
But the all time corker would something that gathers together all the Bronze Age appearances of Thanos (Blood Bros, Drax, Controller, etc). Starlin had him popping up all over the place as the man behind the curtain in the 70’s.
Richard
Richard --
You want to be on this page:
http://www.instocktrades.com/publishers/Marvel/Marvel-Masterworks/10g
Doug
I prefer color, too, but I made do with Essential Man-Thing and Killraven (and many others). And in that regard, where's that 5th volume of Dr. Strange Essentials, finishing up Stern's run from the early '80s?
Anyway, I agree with everyone about MoKF, MTU, Rom, etc., and Jonathan Stover seems to be reading my mind on Thriller, Jemm and others. Let me just add to that list a few more featuring the art of the now sadly late Gene Colan: complete volumes of Nathaniel Dusk and Silverblade. A color reprint of Ditko's Shade would be pretty cool, too. And Ragman volume that collects his own series plus appearances and Brave & Bold and Batman Family. Speaking of B&B, nice color collections of that series, with all that great Aparo art, whould be really nice...
From Marvel, I love Karen's suggestion about the Scorpio story from Defenders. I also wouldn't mind a color Man-Wolf volume that includes his appearances in Creatures on the Loose and Marvel Premiere (c'mon, early Perez art! Why hasn't this been done yet?!). And thinking of Colan again, another collection I'd really like to see, either in color or B&W, would be the Panther's Quest story from Marvel Comics Presents.
To turn the topic around a bit, I have to wonder why (besides fleecing us fans) Vampire Tales is being reprinted in three rather costly digest size TPBs when they could have fit the entire series in a single Esentials volume (a la Tales of the Zombie).
Thanks Doug, indeed I do!
Hey, those Whedon / Cassaday Xmen...am I going to fall in love all over again? What's your feeling?
Richard
Richard --
I've not read any of that, but Cassaday's pictures sure are pretty to look at!
Doug
I want a lot of those short-lived, oddball series like Man-Wolf, Skull the Slayer and It, the Living Colossus. Seems like it would easy to just knock them out and be done with them but maybe they're worried that no one would actually buy them :)
I think Fu Manchu might be one of those cases in which the character's owner has a highly inflated opinion of what the character is worth and charges a ridiculously high licensing fee, or maybe isn't interested in licensing at all because they're convinced that mega-budget movie deal is juuuuuust around the corner. I think ROM is stuck in a similar boat.
Since several of you brought up Masterworks, I have to say I wish the mid-70s Inhumans series was released in a less expensive, TPB format like the Champions, rather than in a luxurious hard-cover.
A few others I thought of: DC's Timewarp (with those beautiful covers by Kaluta) and the Starman series from Adventure Comics by Levitz and Ditko.
Also, why limit ourselves to the big two? I'd love to see a reprint of the first 10 issues of E-man (including the back-up stories), and the last ten or so issues of the Phantom drawn by Don Newton.
Here's an upcoming FF Marvel Premiere Classic that should be of interest here:
http://tinyurl.com/695rqm2
It reprints FF#192-200, featuring the overthrow of Doom as monarch of Latveria. I've never read the whole story, I've got this book in my sites!
@Richard, most of those Warlock stories have been reprinted here:
http://www.instocktrades.com/search/warlock%20marvel%20masterworks
I agree with everyone who mentioned MOKF and the Defenders story featuring Scorpio & the LMD Zodiac. Besides licenses expiring,I'm wondering if Fu Manchu's rights holders are a little leery of publishing stories featuring a character who isn't the most flattering of stereotypes. That may have something to do with the hold-up. On the other hand, Marvel has published a Masterwork book of Yellow Claw stories, so who knows?
And yes, another Spider-man by Stern collection is overdue.
I think a collection of ASM 194-200(featuring the return of "The Burglar") would be great. More Moon Knight by Moench & Sienkiewicz would be nice.
I just can't get into the Essentials books, if it was originally printed in color, that's how I want to read it.
Once I've covered everything about 'Assistant Editors' Month', I may start a blog dedicated to covering(ergo promoting)reprints of Bronze Age stories. Do you folks think there's any interest in such a blog? Thanks.
Re: E-Man. Even though I've got that run too, I'd absolutely buy a trade of it on good paper. A classic series.
Pete --
RE: the Planet of the Apes reprints.
Yes, I'd love to have the Marvel B&W magazines reprinted in an Essentials-type format. I don't know who currently holds the license, but if they were smart they'd get this stuff out there. Dark Horse did us all a great service when they issued three Archive editions of Joe Kubert's fine Tarzan run at DC, and Dark Horse has also issued a ton of Marvel Conan comics (magazines and four-color). I'm sure Marvel gets a hefty cut, and maybe whoever holds the Apes license doesn't want to go there. Pity, as with the new film out in August I'm sure folks our age would be clamoring for some of the original material to be in print again.
Doug
J.A. --
If you became a man "in the know" of all things Bronze that were going to be or had been reprinted, I'd read your stuff!
Doug
Hey J.A., I'd read it.
As for other things I'd like to see reprinted in trade paperback form - how about all of the John Byrne drawn Avengers issues? (164-166 and 181-191). They already did quite a few of them in the "Nights of Wundagore" trade, but I'd like to have them ALL in one handy volume.
Regarding Dark Horse, they've also reprinted Marvel's Star Wars run. Maybe it's up to them to reprint Marvel's other licensed comics, if Marvel's too lazy to do it.
Sign me up for a Nova Masterworks!
Hey, hey!!
A request has been answered! I just saw the following in DC's new solicitations. I'm going to have to wait almost another year, but at least it's in the works now!
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ARCHIVES VOL. 13 HC
Written by JIM SHOOTER, PAUL LEVITZ and GERRY CONWAY Art by MIKE GRELL, MICHAEL NETZER, JOE STATON, JIM SHERMAN and others • Cover by MIKE GRELL
In these stories, collected from SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #224-233, the 30th century teens battle Stargrave, The Fatal Five and the intergalactic conspiracy known as The Dark Circle.
240 pages, $59.99, in stores on March 21.
Doug
A few of the things I mentioned (Ditko's Shade, Brave & Bold color repints) have come to pass. Also, not long after that post, I decided to go the DIY route for E-man: I found cheap copies of the original 10 issues of the Charlton series, and once I had the whole set, I had them bound.
Otherwise, I stand by the titles I mentioned in the original comments; I would add a few that also came up in recent comments: some kind of volumes dedicated to Bill Foster (Black Goliath/Giant Man) and Greer Nelson (Cat/Tigra). Something I can't believe I overlooked the first time around - because it's something I've been wanting for a while - is a reprint of the Ka-zar series from the early '80s (by Jones & Anderson). Obviously, I'd prefer color, but I'd even settle for an Essentials volume.
Other than that, I'd love an omnibus collecting Marvel's Tarzan (like the Warlord of Mars book) and, although it's not Bronze Age, an omnibus of Walt Simonson's Orion.
I've picked up the Legion Archives 13, Nova Classic (as I said earlier, I will not purchase the 2nd volume whenever it's released), and the X-Men Archives with the Beast's Amazing Adventures appearances -- there are some other nice nuggets included as well. I am looking for the Invaders Classics volumes on the cheap -- maybe at the Chicago Comicon if I go in August.
Other than that, I've enjoyed the Legends of the Dark Knight hardbacks that I've purchased (Jim Aparo, Marshall Rogers, and Alan Davis), and would welcome that 2nd volume of Aparo B&B stories.
One of these days, again on the cheap, I'll get myself copies of the Secret Society of Super-Villains volumes 1 and 2.
Edo, I'll second the motion for Marvel's Tarzan!
I'm sure I'll think of more later.
Doug
In the mid-70's the Inhumans had their own short-lived title (12 issues) written by Doug Moench that started out quite strong. Pencils by George Perez and then Gil Kane. . . then deadline trouble (and a Jack Kirby reprint issue). . . and ending with very capable pencils by Keith Pollard. I remember liking the book quite a lot, especially considering that I find the Inhumans kinda tiresome, and it had a cool star-spanning arc underway. And then it just lost its direction somehow and fizzled right out. Definitely reprint-eligible (for the artists alone!) I'd say.
Werewold by Night? I dunno-- once Mike Ploog left (all too soon) the art never recovered for the next two years or so of its run. It's also tough to read as a run because of the inherently unsolvable problem for the protagoanist: he's a Werewolf, and he's always trying to find an escape or cure or mitigation for that curse. It also got a little squirmy because Jack's considerably older pal (Buck Cowan) was clearly 40+ years old, and he ends up hooking up w/ Jack's little sister, who is just barely 18. AND there was a squirmy Wanda/Pietro dynamic between Jack & his sister as well. I dunno-- I do think that title may be better left to history.
I wonder. . . has the Frankenstein's Monster arc that featured in the B&W MONSTERS UNLEASHED mag ever been reprinted? I remember the art being quite good, and the unbelievably convoluted chain of events (w/ multiple brain-switchings and what-not) being quite a hoot. You tended to end each segment going, "Hoo-boy! HERE we go--!"
HB
Metamorpho
Black Lightning
Peter Parker
Two-in-One
Inferior 5
Moon Knight
Peter Cannon
Peacemaker
Sarge Steel
E-Man
Mighty Crusaders
The Fly
The Jaguar
Golden Age MLJ heroes
come to mind...I'm sure there are others...
I am surprised that Rom has gotten only one mention so far. You'd think the combination of Sal Buscema and then Steve Ditko art would bring more of a outcry from fans.
This is one case where a licensed property really backfired (in the end) on Marvel. Rom the comic was so much better than the utterly forgettable toy that it was based on. So now, the only thing of value the license holder (Mattel?) has is the comic license itself. They're probably making extortionate demands on Marvel to use it again, which is why the series is in limbo.
And speaking of Sal Buscema...
Doug, you are much, much too hard on Infantino's art on Nova. I think it perfectly suited the character and actually boosted a lackluster series. I really liked Sal's art on Captain America and the Defenders but his work was a little too "Marvel-style" for the character of Nova. I mean, he was a fairly generic hero. When drawn by Buscema he still seemed kind of generic.
Infantino's art was much more stylized and offbeat. The same tricks he used for drawing the Flash at super-speed worked well for Nova too. And I frankly Marv Wolfman's scripts picked up at this point too.
Ink... Glad you mentioned Infantino.. I just stopped over at my LCS and picked up Flash 300 out of the dollar bin. I couldn't believe just how nice Carmen's art was on Flash, and it reminded me that, even decade after decade, when 'the look' or style is right.., IT'S RIGHT. Loved it from cover to cover, and while we posted the 'hundredth' issue comments a few weeks ago, this one was fantastic.. It's where Barry Allen finds himself swathed in bandages, in a paraplegic ward, where his psychiatrist insists that his life as the Flash is only an elaborate fantasy.. Just fantastic art.
AND back to today's comments, I'd really still like to see Howard the Duck taken care of, offbeat as he was. Granted I typically only pick up Masterworks and TPBs for issues or runs I will never afford, I still find it Gerber at his quirkiest and self-indulgent, which is what makes it fun.
Inkstained --
I should also add that, at least as I recall, I didn't care for the Yellow Claw storyline.
I enjoyed the conclusion of the Nova/Sphinx story as it played out in the pages of the FF later on.
I did not care for Carmine on the Human Fly or the couple of Avengers fill-ins he did, either. Silver Age Flash and Batman -- go! But Bronze Age stuff? Not so much.
HB -- If you're willing to part with some serious scratch, that Inhumans series is available in a Masterworks edition.
Doug
This is a strange case of synchronicity. Just last night at dinner, my husband and I were discussing Marvel films, and how we would like to see Nova in the Marvel cinematic universe, and then we turned to the Nova comic. I immediately brought up my dislike of the Infantino artwork. So sorry, Inkstained, David, but I have to agree with my partner here -I've just never warmed to his work.
I'm still hoping for Killraven in masterwork or TPB form.
I picked up the first volume of Marvel Team-Up masterworks and it's been a fun read so far -uneven but interesting. I always enjoy getting my hands on bronze age books I've never read before, even if they prove to be less than fantastic. It's the joy of discovery I suppose. I'm definitely going to get volume two. They need to put out a Marvel Two-In-One set now.
Agreed on Infantino, Karen, but allow me to explain why I loved him on Flash.
If you're a Silver Age fan of Bats and Flash, still seeing Carmen on Flash in 1981, definitely has it's clean, retro charm, sort of like seeing Cardy on the old Titans series (Pre-NTT). And while I never followed the title, Carmen seemed to do a good job on 'Star Wars' as well.
For other titles like Avengers and such.., I'd agree, I'd rate him as a Robbins, Kane or Tuska category.
To further the discussion on my conundrum with Infantino's Bronze Age art...
I said I will pass on Nova Classic, volume 2. But then I also said that I will someday try to pick up the four volumes of Invaders Classic.
I disdain greatly the art of Frank Robbins.
Why is this? Am I some sort of hypocrite? Were the Invaders stories just better? Is there more nostalgia involved? I'll be honest -- I'm scratching my own head over this.
In other news, if I've not said it before, the recently-released Avengers vs. Thanos mammoth tpb is a real gem. If you don't have any or much Warlock or Captain Marvel, this is for you. It also includes the Avengers Annual #7/MTIO Annual #2 conclusion to the epic. Hey, do I smell Giant-Size July in the offing?
Doug
Infantino in the Bronze Age - not a fan at all. I've said it several times here before, but I guess I'll reiterate: Infantino and Marvel just don't mix. Sorry, david_b, not even in Star Wars (I loved, just loved, all things Star Wars back then, but hardly ever read the comic just because of the art - I only became a regular reader during and after the Empire Strikes Back adaptation, when he eventually left the title).
Also, I didn't even like it when he returned to Flash. I was a pretty regular reader before that, and I actually sort of liked Don Heck's work there, but once Infantino came back, I was just buying it for the Firestorm and then Dr. Fate back-up stories.
Looking at Matt's list, I definitely agree with his Black Lightning suggestion (as we mentioned in the comments to the BG post last week - not just the series, but also the shorts from World's Finest and elsewhere). Worth it just for von Eeden's art alone. And speaking of von Eeden, I'd love a slim volume reprinting that Green Arrow mini from the early '80s. And speaking of Green Arrow, have those GA back-ups from the '70s (in Action, World's Finest, etc.) ever been collected?
And Doug, since you mentioned that Avengers/Thanos book, I have to say that I'm giving some serious thought to getting Essential Capt. Marvel v. 2, with the entire Starlin and Englehart runs.
I love Carmine Infantino's later art on Flash, Dial H, Spider-Woman, etc. It's an acquire taste. Long ago I couldn't get into it. Now I dig it. I'd rather see it than Neal Adams, in fact. Infantino was much better at storytelling, panel layout, and guiding the reader's eye thru the page. He was all about design. Made for great covers when he was in charge at D.C.
Well, obviously Matt & I are in the minority here on Infantino's later work. For what it's worth, I think his pencils were all wrong for the Avengers.
I see the Adventures of Superman by Garcia Lopez is out this week. I'll check it out, although I have most of the individual issues.
More Garcia Lopez editions I'd like to see: Deadman miniseries, Hercules, Cinder and Ashe. Mike Grell's Starslayer, first 6 issues, would make a nice book.
Also a color book on Lou Fine from the '40s. I've seen B+W books, but not very attractive.
Garett, I completely agree with your Garcia Lopez suggestions - with regard to Deadman, I'd also like to see those shorts from Aventure Comics included in some kind of reprint volume in addition to the mini-series.
Grell's Starslayer is a good suggestion as well. It reminded me of Vanguard Illustrated, a short-lived SF anthology series published by Pacific - it featured some really nice art, including early work by Steve Rude.
For those of you who were Epic Illustrated readers -- would the Surfer/Galactus series be worth collecting? Have any of the other ongoing series like Dreadstar been collected?
Doug
By the way, I just purchased the Captain America Marvel Premiere Hardcover War & Remembrance, which reprints the Stern/Byrne run. I got it at 55% off ($13+) from Tales of Wonder; should be to me by Monday.
I've had my eye on that Garcia-Lopez Superman book. For the life of me I can't figure out what happened to my LCE Superman vs. Wonder Woman. It is reprinted in the Garcia-Lopez volume, but I am a little concerned about its reproduction in the smaller format. In one of the articles on treasury-sized magazines that ran in Back Issue #61, the author commented on tribulations in going from standard-sized art to the larger format, and vice versa. If anyone buys this, can you give us a head's up on that particular story? I would appreciate it!
Doug
Doug, do you mean Byrne's Last Galactus Story? (I don't recall the Silver Surfer appearing in that.) I think that's definitely worth reprinting, even though it's unfinished.
By the way, I bought a like-new used copy of the War & Remembrance tpb for about $10 (that includes postage) about 5-6 years ago. I was elated, because this is my favorite Capt. America run bar none. Anyway, looking forward to some reviews...
Doug, HIGHLY agreed on the Avengers vs Thanos TPB. I thumbed through it at another LCS a few weeks back, and it was pretty thick, a real heavy TPB actually, so it's definitely worth the investment to have all the threaded stories in one binding.
Even wish it was Omnibus-size, at least a hardcover edition would have been ideal (I prefer spending the extra $10-20 for HC), but it's STILL a deal.
Yes, Edo, that is what I was talking about. Thanks for clearing up the story details. So that Surfer story I reviewed -- that was stand-alone and not part of a larger arc?
Doug
That Thanos book does look good.
Hey Edo, yes good idea to include the Adventure Deadman stories. I've just seen one or 2 of those.
Doug, as far as I know (and I'm hardly an expert, I was far from a regular reader of Epic), the Surfer story from the first issue was a one-shot deal.
You know a genre that's really received a lot of tender loving care through the years? Conan/Red Sonja/Kull. It must be a pretty short list by now of what's NOT been reprinted.
Karen and I have said many times that one of the reprint-centered issues that makes us the maddest/saddest is the end of the Marvel DVD-ROMs produced by Gitcorp. While I don't always enjoy the reading-from-a-monitor aspect, the fact that everything I want (sans the G-S issues, a tremendous oversight) is on that little disc is pretty incredible. That they never got to Dr. Strange, Thor and Daredevil was a crime.
Doug
Garett, the Deadman shorts in Adventure were quite good: really nicely written done-in-one pieces by Len Wein with, obviously, lovely art (Jim Aparo drew about 2 or 3 of them as well). In fact, there was lots of good stuff in Adventure in that brief period (less than a year, I think) when it was a dollar comic: some really good Aquaman stories (with art by Don Newton, JSA stories by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton, and these pretty good Flash stories that I remember liking better than the ones in the regular series.
Doug, completely agreed on the DVD reprints.
Edo --
Inspiration comes from all sides.
Expect a conversational post on anthology titles at some point in the future.
Thanks!
Doug
In general, I'd say Marvel does a far better job of reprinting Bronze Age material than DC. I'd love to see Showcase collections of just about any core DC title of the '70s and '80s.
Marvel keeps cranking out those Essential volumes with regularity and I keep buying as many as I can. The latest two I picked up were Thor vol. 6 (mostly Gerry Conway, Sal Buscema stories, including Thor vs. the Egyptian gods) and Marvel Team-Up vol. 4 (featuring lots of good Chris Claremont stories, including the four-part Black Widow/Nick Fury storyline.)
You know, I wasn't going to get that Avengers vs. Thanos book, since I now have all the comics in it except the Logan's Run Thanos back up story, but after hearing you all talk about it, I think I've changed my mind. It would be nice to have all of those books collected in one place, and also, I would avoid any more wear and tear on the individual comics by reading from the collected trade.
Here's a pet peeve about some trades: no covers. I've noticed this with certain TPBs, DCs especially, the covers are not inserted into the pages.They just flow, one issue into the next. I think the same thing might have been true of the Dark Horse trades collecting the Marvel Conan comics.
Agreed completely, Karen. If a collection doesn't include the original covers, I feel cheated!
Add me to the list of people recommending the recent 'Avengers vs. Thanos tpb, great stuff and not too expensive.
If you enjoyed that book, look for the recently-published Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 tpb. It contains the entire Korvac saga, plus Guardians appearances in Thor Annual #6, Ms. Marvel #23, Marvel Team-Up #86, MTIO #61-63 & 69.
In William's old post from 2011, he wished for another volume of Spider-Man by Roger Stern. Well,Marvel recently published a nice hardcover of Stern's ASM stories titled 'Nothing Can Stop The Juggernaut', I bought it & recommend it:
http://marvel.com/images/933678
Oof, it kills me when they leave out covers in reprints. Personally I wish they'd include the letters pages! Some of them are just fascinating.
I think D.C.'s problem is they have such a huge backlog of material from the '40s and they seem to have been issuing Archives almost chronologically. i have all the Silver Age Archives and they have yet to get very far...at this rate the Bronze Age will see reprints in the 2020s! Doesn't help that they seem to keep changing their minds about whether to change formats. I wish they were
consistent like the marvel masterworks series.
How I long for some Flash and Justice League from
the '70s!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Carmine Infantino has passed away. Today.
Wow. Talk about ironic. Thanks for the head's up, Matt.
Here is an obituary found on Comics Alliance: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2013/04/04/the-flash-and-batgirl-co-creator-carmine-infantino-passes-away-a/
Well, I wouldn't dispute anything the obit states in regard to his significance to the industry. If Julie Schwartz was the architect of the Silver Age, then certainly Carmine as well as Gil Kane and other artists gave it its "look", separating the art that would come out of DC in the late 1950's and of course Marvel in the 1960's from what had gone before. Infantino's resume' of creating the Flash, Batgirl, and the "new look" Batman should place him in any hall of fame.
I won't get overly sentimental -- this doesn't change my opinion of his output for '70's Marvel. But it certainly is appropriate to pause and give thanks to the man for his impact on the industry that's brought so much joy to those in this community.
Doug
Weird how we were just talking about him and I was looking at some of my early '80s Flash comics drawn by him while writing my note about how I came to enjoy his later work for Marvel and D.C. in the '70s and '80s.
What's pretty goofy about happenstance is Carmine getting the Star Wars gig for Marvel..
Probably seen back then as an artist 'past his prime'.. to be handed a low-scale opportunity like Star Wars ("Yes.., probably going to be a dud", I could hear the talk before it's premiere..).
When SW became a surprise international hit, changing the sci-fi industry, it really gave him a pretty nice paycheck on the strength of that name alone for the next few years..
My copy of War & Remembrance (see my comment above) arrived today from Tales of Wonder, one business day earlier than predicted. The packaging was fantastic -- no way this book could have gotten damaged.
As a sign of gratitude to them, I wanted to direct our readers to their website, where they continue to have some Marvel Premiere Hardcovers at 55% off, as well as around 50 different Marvel Masterworks at 55% off -- this would allow you to get a hardcover basically for the softcover price. Check 'em out at --
http://www.talesofwonder.com/
Doug
Doug, thanks for pointing this out. This is a fantastic sale! I just picked up Captain Marvel vol. 4, and took a chance on Human Torch vol 2 -I've read just a handful of reprints of those old Torch stories from Strange Tales, and these seem chock full of guest stars and classic villains. Should be fun!
Grumble, grumble, grumble - you North American residents gloating about Tales of Wonder - must be nice being able to purchase all those cut-rate books without having to pay the outrageous shipping charges for international orders...
Edo, you can have them shipped to me and save on those rates! I'll keep your books safe until you're ready to pick them up.
Gee, thanks Matt. I really appreciate the offer, but there's no way I could impose upon your generosity like that...
Now that MOKF has been announced, I have a new "Holy Grail" of Bronze Age Reprints:Doctor Strange 48-53. Not because I'm a huge Doc Strange fan, but it features art by Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin. Marvel could add another issue or two to the reprint book and include #55, which features Golden on pencils inked by Austin.
And I'd like to see more color reprints of 1970s Hulk penciled by Sal Buscema when he was inked by Staton.
Karen, since you and several others mentioned the Defenders "Who Remembers Scorpio" story, it was reprinted last year in this Moonknight Epic Collection, since Moonknight was a member of the "non-team" during when they battle Scorpio:
http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Knight-Epic-Collection-Rising/dp/0785190961
That's good news, JA - I did not know that.
Apparently DC is going to finally get hot-n-heavy into the Omnibus business. I was searching for prices and content for the first two Supergirl Archives when I discovered this advance-order solicitation on Amazon. You'll find other Omnibi (is that correct?) if you scroll down the page.
To the best of my knowledge there are still no plans to collect the Planet of the Apes stories (color and/or B&W) from '70s Marvel. Ditto for Marvel's Tarzan. However, there is hope -- have you seen that Marvel's Doc Savage material is being collected? In my world, I'd consider that obscure material, but then I'm not a huge pulp fan.
Doug
Yeah, J.A., thanks for that information from me, as well - nice to know the Scorpio story was reprinted somewhere (although I would have preferred a nice little trade that collected that whole little run of Defenders from Gerber's departure to issue #50).
Doug, Marvel's Doc Savage material, both the black & white magazine and the 4-color series, were collected a few years ago - by DC. I have both of those books.
Marvel's Tarzan, though (as I've mentioned here many times before), is something I'd love to see reprinted in an omnibus like the Warlord of Mars series.
Otherwise, looking over this thread, it seems that some of our wishes have been fulfilled: the Orion and Deadman material I was pining for above has been collected and published, for example, and a series of MoKF omnibuses are coming out later this year, as well as a Black Lightning tpb this spring. We've also got stuff that I'm not sure anyone was really clamoring for, like Skull the Slayer and Weirdworld.
But then there's the stuff that Karen mentioned in her original post almost 5 years ago that still hasn't been adequately reprinted - yes, I'm talking about Killraven. C'mon, man! Color reprints of Skull the Slayer but not Killraven?!
Also, I'd still really like some kind of collection of the Ka-Zar series from the early '80s, preferably in color - seems like a perfect candidate for an Epic Collection...
Skull the Slayer ahead of Killraven -the mind boggles.
You know what would make for a really awesome Killraven omnibus? Including those 'Apeslayer' stories from the British Planet of the Apes comics, you know, the ones where they took the Killraven stories and turned them into Planet of the Apes stories. That would just be perfect.
Like Doug, I'd like to see a collection of the stories - adaptations and original ones -from the POTA magazines.
I also wish they'd collect those old Marvel monster mags in some TPB format. I don't know about those digest-sized versions they did of Vampire Tales a few years ago -it was interesting but a little tough on my eyes! But I'd like to see more of those.
Since Edo said he'd prefer a trade of the Scorpio story, I should mention that it's (presumably) due to be reprinted later this year in Volume 6 of the Defenders Marvel Masterworks. Volume 5 was published in October 2015 and contained Defenders #31-41. So the next volume should contain 42-50, maybe another issue or two.
Count me as someone else who is perplexed to see Skull The Slayer reprinted in color before other more deserving storylines. I think Skull recently returned in Marvel's most recent Secret Wars series, I guess that's why it got tpb treatment.
Agreed on the monster mags, Karen. I also wouldn't mind an Essentials-style reprint of Marvel's Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction, and also the material from Marvel Preview/Bizarre Adventures that hasn't been reprinted elsewhere.
Y'know. . . I bet the SKULL decision (and maybe others like it) might be more copyright-driven than anything. Just a hunch. Nobody-- but NOBODY-- is as fiercely protective of every possible facet of copyright protection than Disney. I wonder. . . if maybe getting works/characters published in "book" form provides a longer window of protection somehow?
I mean. . . 12 people will buy the Skull the Slayer collection, and that'll be about it. . .
Hey, I'm assuming that the non-reprint material in Chamber of Darkness, Tower of Shadows, etc, has already been collected somewhere? Is that correct?
HB
I'd like to see a Warlord by Grell omnibus. Also collection of the Ben Casey newspaper strip by Neal Adams-- beautiful B+W art from the samples I see online.
JLA by Dick Dillin. I have some of the Crisis on Multiple Earths TPBs, but a big omnibus would be nice.
Garett, you touched on a big one: the fact that with the exception of those Crisis TPBs you mentioned, so little of the JLA, especially from the '70s and '80s, has been reprinted. In fact, DC has a really spotty record of reprinting its Bronze Age stuff.
I'm with Garett, bring on the Warlord stuff! I also wouldn't mind seeing some All-Star Squadron TPBs; I guess the back issues aren't TOO expensive, but it might be nice to have them in collected form.
Mike Wilson
In the last few years a ton of the stuff I was wanting to be collected in TPB (or hardcover) format has come to pass. Which includes John Byrne and Chris Claremont's Marvel Team-Up run, and a lot of Ron Frenz and Tom DeFalco's run on Amazing Spider-Man, and a full-color volume of the first several issues of Powerman and Iron Fist, and most recently Scott Lang Ant-Man, which reprints his awesome 2-part origin by John Byrne and David Michelinie (I always have to Google the spelling of his name). All of that stuff had been on my "most wanted" list for many years.
Now I guess I'm mostly wanting the upcoming "Master of Kung Fu" volume(s). I'm especially stoked for that stuff, as I didn't really read a whole lot of those when they were originally published. Unfortunately I discovered a love for Shang-Chi after his book had already been cancelled.
A lot of great suggestions. I'd like to see a Not Brand Echh collection. I've missed out on the Marvel humor mags and only seen a few snippets. Likewise I don't think there has been a good Marvel Westerns collection; Ringo Kid, Kid Colt, the original,Ghost Rider, etc.
After our recent discussion, I'd like to see an Atlas Seaboard collection.
And I've always wanted a good Gene Colan Daredevil collection. I don't think I've ever seen one; maybe it exists. It seems with DD they always focus on the Miller years, but I liked the Colan stuff with Jester, Mr Hyde, Cobra, etc.
Last but not least, someday i would really like a collection of the Hostess ads all in one book.
Martinex --
I have good news! There is a Not Brand Echh! Marvel Masterworks. It was originally released last year as part of that incredible "Avengers Mansion" box set. But it is out as a standalone now.
Also, DD is getting the Epic Collection treatment this summer. I've been looking to start a DD collection of trades, much as I've been able to piece together a nice Thor collection. The first DD trade will collect #s 1-21. That will only touch on Colan's first two issues; but you can't lose when the rest of the book is filled with Wally Wood and John Romita!
I'd be interested in an omnibus that sampled Marvel's Western titles. I'm not sure I'd buy collections of any one title.
Doug
Sorry -- had a heckuva time with the first link above. Here it is --
http://www.instocktrades.com/TP/Marvel/MMW-NOT-BRAND-ECHH-HC-VOL-01/APR140755
Doug
Thanks Doug. That is good news. Pretty cool; check one off my want list. Now maybe I can add a collection of Marvel Premiere one shots.
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