tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post568310964216756789..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: BAB Classic - Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing, BabyDoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-50608457253773382302016-08-16T12:41:16.048-05:002016-08-16T12:41:16.048-05:00As another one who grew up during the 70s, those r...As another one who grew up during the 70s, those reprint issues (next-door neighbor had stacks of them - all in order - and was away at camp) were one summer's way of understanding the development of the characters from their beginnings; especially loved those Marvel Tales. This site is such a feel-good place every day. Thanks to all of you.<br /><br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00091328096625263075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-48805872790542037472016-01-30T13:29:33.680-06:002016-01-30T13:29:33.680-06:00Fun topic! Would love to see more examples, too! I...Fun topic! Would love to see more examples, too! I have to admit, for the most part I prefer the originals (even the coloring), excepting the Marvel's Greatest #24 with Invincible Man where I think the revised colors work better. But definitely just a personal preference on all that. <br /><br />And while I wouldn't dare say the Sal MGC Galactus cover was *superior* to FF#49, I will say I absolutely love the Sal cover in its own right. The storyline you point to as cross-marketing was also one of my all-time favorite FF storylines from my childhood -- from the appearance of Gabriel right down to the end.<br /><br />Thanks for another great post.RobAndersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03735922701490621469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-3266524523795400272016-01-29T21:10:42.271-06:002016-01-29T21:10:42.271-06:00Absolutely love this topic. I am fascinated by the...Absolutely love this topic. I am fascinated by the subtle changes on some reprints. I remember looking at a reprint and there were just very small changes to the position of the character's hands and I always wondered why. I also liked how the Sub Mariner reprints in the 1979 Tales to Astonish gave the mirror image on issues 1 and 9 vs the original; and how they changed the photo part of the background of the 7th issue. <br /><br />I also like to see some of the UK covers that fill the gaps as they serialize the stories. <br /><br />HB I have no idea where that Avengers 65 variant comes from. Cannot find anything on the purple version to place it. <br /><br />I have to say I did not like when they put reprints within an ongoing series and recovered it so you didn't immediately know it was a reprint (i.e. Captain America 216). I bought some of those and probably should have spent my quarters more wisely. Doh!<br /><br />Maybe there is a dollar challenge theme brewing. Thanks Karen and Doug for reprinting this reprint blog.Martinex1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-75899000931038551722016-01-29T20:45:08.155-06:002016-01-29T20:45:08.155-06:00While most of the in-between scenes in Classic X-M...While most of the in-between scenes in Classic X-Men were filler, there was some good stuff in some of them. Sabretooth stalking Wolverine on his birthday was genuinely creepy. The two Magneto origin stories were heartbreaking. Wolverine daring Nightcrawler to walk down the street without an image-inducer was fun. I also liked the stories of Scott Summers in an orphanage run by Mr. Sinister, although they weren't anything special. <br /><br />John Bolton's art on the in-between stuff was, as HB put it, fine. He went on to be a good painter, though, who did a lot of work for Vertigo in the '90s. I particularly like his art on Books of Magic 1.<br /><br />- Mike LoughlinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-68290755088834574692016-01-29T14:40:27.920-06:002016-01-29T14:40:27.920-06:00Back-up stories/scenes-between-scenes. . . yeah, I...Back-up stories/scenes-between-scenes. . . yeah, I remember those too, J.A. I bought <br />Classic X-Men for a ridiculously long time, and then I think I dropped it at right about the point where I'd stopped buying ANAD X-Men. . . which was just confoundingly stupid, y'know? <br /><br />But beyond the obvious cash-grab while riding the X-Men uber-success wave, it's hard to understand how the editors couldn't grasp the obvious folly of putting lesser artists' work (John Bolton, was it? I mean, he's certainly fine, mind you) side-by-side WITHIN THE SAME STORY as some of the finest visuals to have graced comics pages up to that point. "Get in there, Slugger! You've got the stuff!" It's just unfair.<br /><br />And I can say that I don't remember one single facet of those in-between additions, y'know?<br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-27874102298320980812016-01-29T13:22:14.722-06:002016-01-29T13:22:14.722-06:00I generally prefer the original covers too. But y...I generally prefer the original covers too. But yeah, Arthur Adams' covers on Classic X-men were great, better than the then-new retconned back-up stories.J.A. Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15800901321134394272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-66267091460833157002016-01-29T12:59:03.217-06:002016-01-29T12:59:03.217-06:00I generally prefer originals to redone covers, but...I generally prefer originals to redone covers, but sometimes the new covers are good too. Mike Loughlin mentioned the Classic X-Men covers by A. Adams, M. Mignola, and Steve Lightle...great stuff.<br /><br />I used to have Marvel Tales #98...I think I have an old photo of me holding it up (along with Dr. Strange #32). I still have Marvel Tales #235; McFarlane was doing all the MT covers at the time and none of them beat the originals as far as I'm concerned. Check out McFarlane's covers for <a href="http://www.comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/62/13033_20060419131828_large.jpg" rel="nofollow">Marvel Tales #228</a> and <a href="http://www.comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/147/73886_20061204100231_large.jpg" rel="nofollow">Marvel Tales #229.</a><br /><br />Now look at the original covers from <a href="http://www.comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/3/2138_20050923211120_large.jpg" rel="nofollow">Spectacular Spider-Man #17</a> (by John Byrne) and <a href="http://www.comicbookdb.com/graphics/comic_graphics/1/3/2142_20050923212641_large.jpg" rel="nofollow">Spectacular Spider-Man #18</a> (by Gil Kane); I think the originals were much better, and that seemed to be par for the course with those McFarlane covers.<br /><br />Mike Wilson<br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-46813105907572125342016-01-29T12:35:47.806-06:002016-01-29T12:35:47.806-06:00Great topic indeed. HB, well noted regarding the d...Great topic indeed. HB, well noted regarding the design fundamentals of that McFarlane cover. Just who is in front? It's like M.C.Escher tried a superhero cover...<br /><br />Used to hate the cut-length stories in some of those reprints. Did love some of the cover variations, though. Particularly the great new Romita cover on the Marvel Tales reprint of ASM 61, and the sharp new coloring on the Mysterio cover from ASM 66.Redartznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-28080753496671592902016-01-29T11:44:22.093-06:002016-01-29T11:44:22.093-06:00I prefer the original covers, generally, but I lik...I prefer the original covers, generally, but I liked some reprints having new covers. Art Adams and Mike Mignola Classic X-Men covers were often good. Often, however, the new coves weren't by Kirby, Ditko, Colan, Buscema, etc., and the McFarlanes of each era couldn't hold a candle to them.<br /><br />I also liked the new covers provided by the original artists for Deluxe reprints of the early '80s. The originals could be better, but getting new Kirby New Gods covers or Berni Wrightson Swamp Thing covers was cool.<br /><br />- Mike LoughlinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-62203217820491143872016-01-29T10:58:22.796-06:002016-01-29T10:58:22.796-06:00Y'know, that McFarlane cover becomes worse upo...Y'know, that McFarlane cover becomes worse upon even slightly closer scrutiny. I'm no artist, but even I can tell that the composition makes no sense at all-- exactly the kind of carelessness that my college design prof would have merciless ridiculed Mr. McF for. . . at length (and in front of the class, I'd wager-!). <br /><br />Every figure has pretty much their own forced perspective that is inconsistent with the figures around them. This is particularly evident with the relative positions of Spidey and Colossus and their individual body parts. Who is in front, exactly?<br /><br />Colossus in NOT RUNNING, so how could Spidey (and others) be directly in front of him whilst in mid-swing/stride? Impossible-- and that's truly a high-school level of mistake. Could Wolverine have gotten around him from that position, as well?<br /><br />The faces are almost uniformly askew in their perspective. Again, McF didn't have a good hold on how to draw a 3/4 view of a head-- and it shows badly. Not unlike the problem that Infantino had, in fact. Or Alex Saviuk in the Spiderman comic strip. <br /><br />Oh, I just hate it (and I liked McFarlane when he was on top of his game)-- it's all, "Look how kewl I can draw!", w/out in fact having a grasp of some very basic fundamentals of truly being a good overall artist. Ugh.<br /><br />Hey, the whole Poster Cover trend? Oddly enough, there was a pretty early experiment with it 'waaaaay back when the Defenders (The New Defenders) run was winding down. We had several months where it was just sort of "artistic", painted group poses (or similar). But I've never understood the reasoning behind going that route in the last 10 to 15 years-- can it possibly have been shown to improve sales? Or perhaps it was easier/cheaper because there was so little editorial effort then involved in producing the covers? That would make sense, actually. No back & forth-- just an appropriate image to identify what book it was-- sort of like Oprah's "O" magazine. . . <br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-20767689834137185012016-01-29T10:16:09.720-06:002016-01-29T10:16:09.720-06:00I like all the originals better except for the fir...I like all the originals better except for the first one.<br /><br />The X-Men are sure kickin' up a lot of dust on the McFarlane cover! It's like a cartoon stampede. The Cockrum cover is nice, but the coloring is odd-- yellow UPC code, and that green/yellow/white fade in the background. This one could be colored better.Garettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-89534384549345272662016-01-29T10:11:51.997-06:002016-01-29T10:11:51.997-06:00HB - thanks for your incredulity!
It's tough ...HB - thanks for your incredulity!<br /><br />It's tough to say, because over the past few years we've moved some of our earliest posts forward as "BAB Classics", but I believe today's post was among our first 7 or 8 offerings. We just didn't have much of an audience back then.<br /><br />Glad we do now!<br /><br />DougDoughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-81602650158923623642016-01-29T10:06:31.536-06:002016-01-29T10:06:31.536-06:00How in the world did this topic not get more respo...How in the world did this topic not get more response in its initial incarnation??<br />Well-researched, nicely presented, and solid commentary-- it's a forgotten gem!<br /><br />I guess all of the cut & pasting, jiggering, sizing, and recoloring that happened in the re-print process (not to mention the horrific editing that sometimes occurred inside the books to trim them to 17 or 18 page stories!) just goes to show the mindset that these books were a "product" first, and that their artistic legitimacy was, frankly, not really in the discussion, y'know?<br /><br />The coloring changes to my eye do generally offer a little bit of improvement. And honestly, I like both of the Goliath covers. NEVER liked how much space the stupid Marvel Triple Action logo took up, though! It made me tired to look at it-- and it's not like it was a compelling, character-associated trademark logo, right? My response to it was ALWAYS, "why Triple-Action?? What does that even MEAN? What does that have to do with the Avengers??"<br /><br />Hey, if you do a quick image-search for Avengers #65, you'll come across the original red-background cover that we're all familiar with (Gene Colan). A darned good cover. But there's also a version that. . . doesn't seem to be a reprint, but has an entirely different, purple/blue palette that I find to be even more striking than the original. Anyone remember where that alternate version came from? Anyone?<br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-15749107639010110282016-01-29T08:36:12.021-06:002016-01-29T08:36:12.021-06:00I always liked the early Bronze MGC comic covers r...I always liked the early Bronze MGC comic covers redone by Steranko or Sal Buscema, such as MGC 38 and 39. <br /><br />https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/3e/7f/df/3e7fdfbe5766a51ccff42edb61721473.jpg<br /><br />Just great venues for serving up reprint stories, adding a lot of pizazz (no pun intended) to the mix. I liked them far more than simply mimicking the old cover, although I have no beef with reshowing some of the classic old FF covers. <br /><br />I do like when colors are brightened/updated like on the Avengers 19 reprint.<br />david_bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00218727673816200051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-3732749029007352912016-01-29T08:29:48.446-06:002016-01-29T08:29:48.446-06:00This a great topic. Reprints, specially modern one...This a great topic. Reprints, specially modern ones with color "enhancements" more often than not ruin the art. In my opinion the medium is the message, and the coloring techniques suit better the art, paper, printing methods of the specific time period than a new improved technique, that might be better but not necessarily gets along with the old art and style. I know it is not exactly what we are talking about, but it's sort in the line.<br /><br />Outside of the super-hero genre, Tintin has amazing reprints that are a bit more expensive but they are facsimile and try to respect the original art as faithfully as possible. In France there is a collection of Carl Barks work that has been re-colored and used blends instead of plain colors. It's horrible.<br /><br />There's really not much talk about the graphic design/printing aspect of comics and in my opinion it's a huge factor.Ramironoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-69158495019827880422016-01-29T08:17:18.948-06:002016-01-29T08:17:18.948-06:00First, I have to mention (or rather reiterate) my ...First, I have to mention (or rather reiterate) my fondness for Marvel's various reprint titles of the '70s/early '80s, esp. Marvel Tales and Marvel Triple (later Super) Action. I caught up on so much of Marvel 'history' that way.<br />As a general comment, I have to say I agree with your complaint about the logos on the reprint titles being a bit too big. <br />As for the covers you posted here, the only one I recall having is Marvel Tales #98 which, as you noted, is not much different from the original, and has the same impact. Generally I'm with you on preferring the original covers, but to be quite honest, I like the cover to Marvel Tripe Action a little better then the original (I find it a bit more eye-catching) and I also like Sal's completely different image for that Fantastic Four story.<br />Another reprint series I liked while it lasted was the re-launched Amazing Adventures that reprinted the earliest X-men stories. The main story was usually split into two issues (with some back-up features from later issues of X-men to fill in the extra space), so the concluding issues always had new covers. My favorites were <a href="http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/669073.jpg" rel="nofollow">these two </a> by <a href="http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/1095433.jpg" rel="nofollow">John Byrne</a>.Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-38349855946031537412016-01-29T07:46:10.161-06:002016-01-29T07:46:10.161-06:00More! More!More! More!SonOfCthulhuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360440962585168404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-22984790636055722232011-10-12T10:14:35.517-05:002011-10-12T10:14:35.517-05:00Agree with dbutler16, this is a great subject for ...Agree with dbutler16, this is a great subject for a post, and one you wouldn't see a lot of other places (or maybe you would; perhaps I don't surf the Net enough). Like you, I got a lot of my early Marvel masterworks through such reprints, and swear by them to this day. I was always pleasantly surprised by how many of them did retain essentially the same artwork, which of course is preferable in my mind. Bravo!Matthew Bradleyhttp://bradleyonfilm.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-48789633852696735012011-03-23T09:19:40.765-05:002011-03-23T09:19:40.765-05:00What a great topic! I'ts interesting to see h...What a great topic! I'ts interesting to see how, when, and why Marvel changed covers for reprints. I agree that in the cases of the total re-draws, the original was much better.dbutler16https://www.blogger.com/profile/00046066729353639991noreply@blogger.com