I like them in theory except that a) they're effing expensive and b) they're replacing an abandoned reprint series that was much more affordable. Like that Iron Fist Epic Collection is basically just a color version of Essential Iron Fist at double the price.
― Ooo! Ooo! Whattayado? (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 July 2015 15:20 (eight years ago) link
The expense might be worth it to people who prefer color reprints but I think it's a shame that the Essentials had to be sacrificed in the process.
― Ooo! Ooo! Whattayado? (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 July 2015 15:21 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, I miss the Essential, too. The repro on the Epic Collections looks OK on the whole, but a lot of them have new colouring, not always to good effect.
― sʌxihɔːl (Ward Fowler), Friday, 10 July 2015 15:25 (eight years ago) link
Thankfully, I'm currently only about 10-12 books away from owning all of the Essentials, so I don't have too much work to do before they're all totally out of print and fetching exorbitant prices. Such is my sickness.
― Ooo! Ooo! Whattayado? (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 July 2015 15:29 (eight years ago) link
I held off buying the Black Panther Essentials because I had all the Kirby material in it, and now that's one of the ones going for stupid prices. And the Marvel Masterworks reprinting the McGregor stuff is also out of print. I guess there'll be an Epic Collection at some point, but can't see it being a big priority.
― sʌxihɔːl (Ward Fowler), Friday, 10 July 2015 15:36 (eight years ago) link
It could be, with the impending movie. The MCU seems to be driving a lot of the reprints these days.
― Ooo! Ooo! Whattayado? (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 July 2015 15:43 (eight years ago) link
I mean, they're finally starting proper reprints of Priest's run starting this month or next. So keep your eyes peeled.
― Ooo! Ooo! Whattayado? (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 July 2015 15:45 (eight years ago) link
Ahh, didn't know there was a BP movie in the works. I was looking at an Ant Man Epic Collection just the other day - on the one hand, it reprints some very rare and expensive early Marvel comics at a reasonable-ish price - on the other hand, most of the stories are utter rubbish.
― sʌxihɔːl (Ward Fowler), Friday, 10 July 2015 15:51 (eight years ago) link
Maybe it’s regional, but most Epics I’ve seen sell for $25.00 (i.e. $10 more than Essentials) and I’ve never seen them sold for cover price.
― Allen (etaeoe), Friday, 10 July 2015 16:13 (eight years ago) link
Nonetheless, they should’ve kept Essentials!
I like both Masterworks (paperback) and Essentials. They really need to rethink Omnibuses. They are way too expensive and impossible to read (for their price you’d expect a textbook binding).
― Allen (etaeoe), Friday, 10 July 2015 16:15 (eight years ago) link
<I>I mean, they're finally starting proper reprints of Priest's run starting this month or next. So keep your eyes peeled.</I>
!!! This is very good news, just recently discovered my old floppies.
― Andrew Farrell, Friday, 10 July 2015 16:23 (eight years ago) link
And the second volume is due in December or something, so it looks like chances are good that they'll plow through to the end.
― Something Called Fudge (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 July 2015 16:29 (eight years ago) link
I was looking at an Ant Man Epic Collection just the other day - on the one hand, it reprints some very rare and expensive early Marvel comics at a reasonable-ish price - on the other hand, most of the stories are utter rubbish.
Yeah, those early Ant-Man stories are really awful. Pretty much the low point of the Silver Age, from what I've read. That collection is a little silly, since the material they're reprinting was already issued in an Essentials trade and, to the extent that the movie was an impetus for its publication, it would have made much more sense to put out a collection of the as-yet-unreprinted Scott Lang stuff from the '70s. Deep sighs, Marvel.
― Something Called Fudge (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 July 2015 16:32 (eight years ago) link
Tell me about the recoloring on the epic collections. I am defaulting to the assumption that it is hideous and detrimental but would love to hear to the contrary
― demonic mnevice (Jon Lewis), Friday, 10 July 2015 19:11 (eight years ago) link
It probably depends on what era is being reprinted, yeah? The coloring in those Spidey alien costume trades looks appropriately '80s-ish and understated, IIRC. I don't think I've ever seen recoloring as awful and garish as what Dark Horse, et al did to the reprints of the '70s R.E. Howard stuff, so I rarely have complaints in that regard.
― Something Called Fudge (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 July 2015 19:26 (eight years ago) link
I take it you haven't seen the Nick Fury paperback reprint of SHIELD stuff
― Upright Mammal (mh), Friday, 10 July 2015 19:28 (eight years ago) link
This is true. I will, however, probably buy the new, complete Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD omnibus sight unseen despite what I've heard about the earlier trade.
― Something Called Fudge (Old Lunch), Friday, 10 July 2015 19:50 (eight years ago) link
Jon, I wouldn't say that the (re)colouring on the epic collections is 'hideous' - I'm guessing that it's matched to the original comic printing in most cases, and as Old Lunch says, on the whole it's understated - they haven't added flashy computer colouring effects to old Kirby/Ditko pages. In comparison to the early hardcover Masterworks - truly some of the nastiest recolouring I've ever seen - they're a model of taste and restraint. But it is still obviously colour produced on a computer, so 'feels' wrong, and I would be more interested in Marvel reprints shot directly from the comics themselves. Of Of course,Marvel kept very very poor copies - if at all - of their early superhero titles, so that almost from the start, reprints of the Silver Age material have involved greater or lesser amounts of 'correction', redrawing etc, that often significantly departs from the original artwork and its first printing.
― sʌxihɔːl (Ward Fowler), Friday, 10 July 2015 20:05 (eight years ago) link
hmmmmmhttp://nypost.com/2015/07/14/did-stan-lee-steal-spider-man-from-a-brooklyn-costume-shop/
― you are extreme, Patti LuPone. (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 16:47 (eight years ago) link
The costumes looks nothing alike, beyond what you'd get if you got two guys to design different spider-man costumes. I am curious how common the <something>-Man name would have been back then, though.
― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 17:12 (eight years ago) link
I think there was a Superguy or something back then
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 17:22 (eight years ago) link
there was also whatsisname, Batfellow
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 17:23 (eight years ago) link
Aquachap
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 17:24 (eight years ago) link
Amazing-Man, Atomic Man, Bronze Man, Bulletman, Cat-Man, Doll Man, Dynamic Man, Hawkman, Hourman, Hydro Man, Master Man, Mighty Man, Plastic Man, Robotman, Rockman, Sandman, Skyman, Starman, V-Man, Wonder Man
are all from the 40s
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 17:28 (eight years ago) link
but seriously, while it's usually safe to assume that Stan Lee never thought up anything worthwhile by himself, the costume thing seems like a stretch
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 17:29 (eight years ago) link
If you look at the mask and squint a little from a distance you get a little bit of the same feel as Marvel's Spider-Man but... yeah, this could be completely unrelated.
I mean, two independent people come up with spider-related costumes and they both use webs? What are the odds!
― Upright Mammal (mh), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 17:48 (eight years ago) link
xpost Ahem, Stripperella?
― Something Called Fudge (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 17:56 (eight years ago) link
you're right, I stand corrected
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 18:03 (eight years ago) link
some day we will figure out the composite of characters he absorbed traits from to come up with his Stan Lee character
― Upright Mammal (mh), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 18:05 (eight years ago) link
PT Barnum and Robert E Lee iirc
― you are extreme, Patti LuPone. (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 18:22 (eight years ago) link
he saw a funky flashman costume at some point
― Upright Mammal (mh), Wednesday, 15 July 2015 19:03 (eight years ago) link
http://brevoortformspring.tumblr.com/post/124153395043/can-you-explain-why-marvel-thinks-that-doing-hipuh
― you are extreme, Patti LuPone. (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 16 July 2015 18:44 (eight years ago) link
David Brothers is patient on that:
http://tumblr.iamdavidbrothers.com/post/124166143967/can-you-explain-why-marvel-thinks-that-doing-hip
― Andrew Farrell, Thursday, 16 July 2015 19:08 (eight years ago) link
booming response there, hope marvel pays attention
― bizarro gazzara, Friday, 17 July 2015 08:38 (eight years ago) link
still bigger than hip hop
― Upright Mammal (mh), Friday, 17 July 2015 14:10 (eight years ago) link
It looks like the response from David Brothers had already been written and reposted by Brevoort, along with another response that was responded to by Brevoort wherein he fleshed out his response, prior to any of this popping up in the thread.
― Something Called Fudge (Old Lunch), Friday, 17 July 2015 15:08 (eight years ago) link
Ok this made me chucklehttp://www.comicbookmovie.com/deadpool/news/?a=124258Marvel’s Latest Joke Is A Playful Jab At DC ComicsCheck out the new Deadpool "Candy Varient" in which Marvel takes a playful jab at DC Comics advertising department. For those who need to be caught up, read on after the jump
For those of you that need to be caught up, DC Comics stunned the comic book community a few months ago by stating that the June issues will feature half-page ads on story pages.http://oi58.tinypic.com/34y65c6.jpg
― tsrobodo, Friday, 21 August 2015 12:24 (eight years ago) link
They stunned the comic book community that aren't old enough to remember when half-page ads were kind of a regular thing.
Not that they were a good thing or that I'm in any way advocating their return. Just saying, y'know, there's precedent.
― Do you have or use horses? (Old Lunch), Friday, 21 August 2015 12:51 (eight years ago) link
When are we talking about? I've been reading for a few decades and it doesn't ring a bell (but my memory is terrible).
― Andrew Farrell, Friday, 21 August 2015 12:55 (eight years ago) link
Frequent practice on both Marvel and DC comics throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s at least
More egregious - Marvel's early 70s trick of blowing up a single page into a double page spread
― sʌxihɔːl (Ward Fowler), Friday, 21 August 2015 12:58 (eight years ago) link
kinda amusing that marvel are decrying dc's commercial policies on the cover of yet another first-issue grab for those collector dollars
― bizarro gazzara, Friday, 21 August 2015 13:23 (eight years ago) link
Also, it's maybe not wise to draw attention to advertising practices being employed by the Distinguished Competition. Marvel's ad department might start getting ideas.
This seems particularly egregious with the price of floppies skyrocketing, but it just underscores my belief that the Big Two are pushing to make floppies as undesirable as possible before ultimately phasing them out altogether.
― Do you have or use horses? (Old Lunch), Friday, 21 August 2015 13:35 (eight years ago) link
most egregious: spelling ingest "injest" in the small print on that cover
― Credit: howtokeepapositiveattitudedotcom (stevie), Friday, 21 August 2015 13:37 (eight years ago) link
or is that something americans do?
only Americans who don't know how to spell
― I Am Curious (Dolezal) (DJP), Friday, 21 August 2015 13:38 (eight years ago) link
Well, given that the front cover is, you know, in jest...
― Andrew Farrell, Friday, 21 August 2015 13:57 (eight years ago) link
americans: bad spellers, bad punners
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 21 August 2015 14:05 (eight years ago) link
There's a helpful little entry on this blog about Marvel's half page ads period:
http://hayfamzone.blogspot.co.uk/
― sʌxihɔːl (Ward Fowler), Friday, 21 August 2015 14:09 (eight years ago) link
I read James Robinson's FF run that led up to the present the other day. It's decent, but if anything it seems really rote compared to the crazy stuff Hickman was doing and the villain is underdeveloped. The kids seem... too childish compared to the other recent portrayals? I mean, they are kids, but after the Future Foundation run Val and Franklin are a couple of my favorites.
― μpright mammal (mh), Friday, 21 August 2015 14:15 (eight years ago) link