It should be collected / It should be in print

He definitely got some notice for that goofball "X-Force" run with Allred, I don't remember much else, though...

Yeah, Milligan started his Batman run with the brilliant "Dark Knight, Dark City", then followed up with a string of really neat, twisted done-in-one stories: "The Hungry Grass", "Library of Souls", "The Bomb", "And the Executioner Wore Stiletto Heels"; best of all was the disturbing "Identity Crisis" which was adapted, loosely, into an animated series episode with several story elements changed.

I've read somewhere recently that DC have finally decided to release a second volume of Shade, maybe later this year.

Yeah, they announced more Shade volumes starting in Nov or Dec, I think.

Speaking of Milligan, I don't think DC ever collected his full run on Human Target. That's a shame, because most of it was top notch. Apparently there's a new tv series based on Human Target starting next year, maybe that will prompt DC to collect the rest of the series.

rock music legend Rick Springfield

Oh:

SHADE THE CHANGING MAN VOL. 2: THE EDGE OF VISION TP
Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Chris Bachalo, Bill Jaaska and Mark Pennington
Cover by Brendan McCarthy
This new, second volume collects SHADE THE CHANGING MAN #7-13 for the first time ever, as Shade and Kathy George continue their epic, mind-bending journey into the heartland of a nation on the trail of The American Scream.
Advance-solicited; on sale November 25 • 192 pg, FC, $19.99 US • MATURE READERS

Your screen name is zarjaz.

Peter Milligan is working on a pretty good Batman story in the current issues of Batman Confidential with Andy Clarke doing the artwork. It is a Batman versus the Russian mob story, which is pretty classic and refreshing considering the state of the Batman.

Shade is one of those things I'd stick in a "glad I bought a nearly-complete run on ebay" thread.

Was it three bucks altogether?

nah, considerably more, but it was well worth it.

Eerie/Creepy. Maybe the first few Vampirella issues, but just for prurience's sake.

There are a few stories/serials from the Skywald horror mags that I'd like to see again -- they had a rough energy. I remember "The Saga of the Victims" and "The Human Gargoyles" being pretty intense.

Dude, Dark Horse has been doling out big hardcover collections of Eerie and Creepy for a little while now. Your wish is granted.

!!!

shows how much attention I pay! Thanks for the info.

Don't get too excited; they are HELLA PRICEY: $50 for a hardbound collection of five issues.

o_O

guh! I can't afford that.

That's why god invented petty theft, my friend.

Heh...yeah, only Creepy #21 and Eerie #86 have turned up so far.

33 a pop on amazon if you can handle that kinda scratch

Does anyone know what's the deal with that Marshal Law omnibus? I think it was originally supposed to come out last year, but now the Top Shelf page for it only has a text saying it's "a 2011 release". How can it take so long to release one book? Surely Top Shelf had secured the rights to ML from the previous publishers before announcing the book?

On a positive note, I just bought the TPB that reprints the first Human Target mini and the Human Target graphic novel by Milligan, and was glad to notice that the back of the book said it was vol. 1, which I assume means more reprints will follow. Hopefully Vertigo will finally reprint the whole ongoing series that followed the graphic novel, as it's one of the best comics of the 00s.

More reprints have followed, I believe (a vol 2, at least).

When they announced, Top Shelf hadn't secured rights to every single piece of split-copyright ML, so maybe they're actually managing to get more of them. It's probably also a really difficult task to source reproducible art for the vast majority of it, so if they're scanning from printed copies, that could take a few years in itself. Also [and especially as the book is likely to be a total brick in inventory and not shift much past the first order and reorder cycle, once people who've not read it before cotton on to how steeply diminishing returns make 80% of the book surplus to requirements, IMO, IANAL], a 512 page deluxe oversized full-colour hardcover requires a giant wodge of cash to print, and they might a) not have it to hand, and b) be waiting for a better economic climate to try and earn it back once they outlay it.

There are two earlier TPBs that collect the first half the Human Target ongoing series, but the second half remains uncollected. This new reprint only came out like a month or two ago, I don't think it's been followed by any more books yet, but hopefully they'll end up collecting all of HT eventually. The new collection is sold on the strength of the new Human Target TV series, though from what I've gathered it doesn't have much to do with Milligan's HT, except for the basic concept. So I'm not sure if the cross-marketing will actually have much effect on its sales, but I do hope enough comic fans (like myself) who missed the series during its initial run will now realize how great it is.

As for Marshal Law, I see your point, but if Top Shelf feels the omnibus will be hard to sell, why not test the waters by releasing ML as a few separate TPBs before printing the hardcover book?

Is the omnibus going to be all of Marshall Law? Given that the first book is brilliant and the rest are, eh, not so brilliant, maybe the non-availability of the ombnibus is a blessing in disguise.

What does IANAL mean?

"I am not a lawyer"

The new collection is sold on the strength of the new Human Target TV

Did this thing get any ratings at all? I was complete uninterested in it after watching a couple episodes. In any case, it doesn't bode well for the comics if they're banking on the success of the show. I notoriously think the guy who was the main actor in it is a charisma black hole, though.

A problem also for reprinting something like Marshall Law is also that the back issues are not that hard to find and not worth much either. I pretty much got all of them off of ebay for like ten bucks. It's cool that it would be compiled, as it was WAY ahead of the curve considering when it came out.

There was a Human Target with a "2" on the spine next to the new one with a "1" on the spine when I bought the latter - must have been an old one. They did still have the Final Cut TPB for $33 next to the reprint of it for $19.

As for Marshal Law, I see your point, but if Top Shelf feels the omnibus will be hard to sell, why not test the waters by releasing ML as a few separate TPBs before printing the hardcover book?

a) because that would cut down even further on the sales of the omnibus
b) because the last separate reprint TPB of the original mini is still in print, so it would be completely fucking retarded to do another one?

I hope with Marshal Law they are doing what they did with Alec - take the time they need, use as much original art as possible, get the artist to approve every step and it'll come out when it's ready. Kevin O'Neill isn't quick these days, and I'm sure LoEG is the priority project right now, so Marshal Law touch ups and approvals are a pretty low priority.

I'm just happy they're doing it; my trade is pretty beat up and I'd love a more archival collection. Same with the Bacchus collections that have been pushed back - do it right and whenever it comes out it'll be appreciated.

oh wait and c) because that would cut even further into their immediate cashflow!

Original 80s New Mutants, please! Please!

How far along is Essential Fantastic Four? The John Byrne and Walt Simonson runs seem like must-haves to me, but I basically have no clue where the title was in the 70s and if it's worth slogging through.

I think some of the 80s New Mutants have been recently collected, or at least I saw a TPB of it in the local comic store. But if you're talking about collecting the full Claremont run, yeah, that probably hasn't been done.

As for the Byrne and Simonson FF: both of them have been collected in the "Fantastic Four Visionaries" series of TPBs, which is better than Essential FF since it has the original colours (nice paper too). I think the "Visionaries" series has by now collected the entire Byrne and Simonson runs, so you should check them out.

Oooh! Sounds great. Thanks, Tuomas.

between the end of the kirby issues (102) and the first john byrne issue, the ff is mostly a wasteland, apart from some really gd roy thomas issues round abt nos 165-190 that haven't been reprinted in the essential vols yet

I couldn't be arsed reading more than about an issue of EFF vol 5 beyond Kirby's departure, which doesn't bode well for the 70s run.

Roy Thomas comics have not aged well.

Don't be harshin' on Roy! Especially his work on the Savage Sword fo Conan - still ace. And though he wrote like 50 pages of text for each All-Star Squadron I still love them. His 70s "contemporary" stuff is pretty much dreck though.

Like any of those dudes that wrote hundreds of comics, the best stuff Roy Thomas did is still pretty good. I think his Conan is pretty good, even if quite a bit of it is adapted stories (by Howard and others). I think Thomas is really the guy that 'made' the Avengers too, as really I don't think the book is gets really good until he becomes the regular writer.

It's the same with Denny O'Neil or say Marv Wolfman or Doug Moench etc. pretty much most of those dudes that wrote like six long boxes of comics.

bump

ZOONIVERSE

I wish Pigeon Press would reprint the Kramers Ergots before 6, but there are tons of plausible reasons why not (niche interest at best, cost of production, maybe some legal issues from when Buenaventura went under, maybe intended to be limited, etc). Same with earlier issues of Acme Novelty Library- I was able to round up 18-20 (18.5 inclusive) after realizing that at this pace I'd be well into my thirties before Rusty Brown or Building Stories books come out. Other "art comics" (gag) stuff: Teratoid Heights, Jimbo in Purgatory, Dal Tokyo, probably some others I'm forgetting.

Superhero-wise, now that Flex Mentallo is happening I'm not sure what to complain about anymore (except for those recent books that go OOP inexplicably quickly before I can pick them up, like the second Morrison JLA hardcover or the third? Fourth? Ennis Punisher MAX hc).

OH WAIT forgot: Steranko Nick Fury, now that the Agent of SHIELD trade is OOP and the Who Is Scorpio trade is super-OOP and supposedly one of the worst reproduction jobs ever.

Forks' suggestion for a complete Seth Fisher book would be fantastic- I reread Big In Japan last night, and his work only gets better with age. It's not hard to get, but it is out of print. And over on the DC side, his Vertigo Pop Tokyo and Batman: Snow are still available, but it'd be nice to roll up Snow with Green Lantern: Willworld and Flash: Time Flies in a big oversized format.

Milligan, yes- his X-Force/X-Statix run, Skreemer, Skin, Rogan Gosh, Batman horror work, but most of all Enigma.

I"m sure Milligan's Marvel x-work may be "out of print" but I suspect it's pretty easy to find. As is, weirdly, SKREEMER. Everything else Milligan-wise: YES.

If you're near a Borders, that stuff is getting remaindered QUICK. I can find some recent shiny shiny shiny JLA omnibuses at nearby used bookstores at a super-swell discount.

Ooh, I do have a Borders nearby- I'll have to drop in and see what damage I can do. I still have fond memories of their massive Criterion liquidation sale a little over a year ago.

Most of the X-Force stuff is pretty easy to find (and the Dead Girl mini is still in print), but X-Statix vs the Avengers is pretty hard to get.

Milligan, yes- his X-Force/X-Statix run, Skreemer, Skin, Rogan Gosh, Batman horror work, but most of all Enigma.

Enigma's out of print?! That's pretty crazy, I thought it was one of most critically acclaimed Vertigo series of all time.

Superhero-wise, now that Flex Mentallo is happening I'm not sure what to complain about anymore

Suicide Squad! The current Secret Six clearly owes it a lot, and DC even collected the (somewhat disappointing) new SS mini Ostrander did a couple of years ago, but the original 80s series has never been collected in any form. I have no idea why.

Wasn't there a contract/author compensation issue that made it difficult for DC to reprint stuff from that particular period?

A lot more Ostrander and Milligan comics should be in trade. A Suicide Squad collection is always being promised, but then put back by DC.

Enigma has been out of print for a while. There have been some collections of Milligan works recently which is promising, but there's a lot more to go - I'd add GIRL to the list above.

There's still an awful lot of 80s and early 90s Batman stuff that deserves some trading. Practically nothing from the Conway/Colon/Newton era, no Barr/Davis or Grant/Breyfogle collections, Milligan's short run, Dixon's Robin etc. While the latest Kevin Smith atrocity gets a hardbound special edition, yeesh.

Jan Strnad/Dennis Fujitake's Dalgoda

Wasn't there a contract/author compensation issue that made it difficult for DC to reprint stuff from that particular period?

yeah, they keep flip-flopping between Showcase B&W Suicide Squad and garish shiny-paged six-issue collections, without ever managing to make it to press

(niche interest at best, cost of production

yeah this would definitely be an issue with Kramers, esp esp esp given post-Buenaventura cashflow - also remember they DID reprint #4 in the same flexi format as 5 and 6

Same with earlier issues of Acme Novelty Library-

this is an 'intended to be limited' issue. if only he'd just let D&Q publish them instead of self-publishing one imagines the situation could change though.

Oops, yeah, I guess it's 27 actually.

With the Corto Maltese books, the reading order isn't really that important, since they're all stand-alone stories, and some of them are in anachronic order to begin with. You should read Ballad of the Salt Seas first and finish with the last two (Secret Rose and Mu) though, in order to make sense of certain supporting characters reappearing.

And the ultimate fate of Corto is sorta revealed in a piece of dialogue in "The Scorpions of the Desert", another series by Pratt that's set in the WWII and is otherwise unrelated to CM.

IDW haven't got round to Ballad of the Salt Seas yet, I think partly because there have already been two previous English language editions of it - a perfectly fine translation from Collins Harvill published in 1996, and more recently a reduced size, colour version from a company called Universe Publishing in 2012, that should probably be avoided (I don't know who did the translation, or how good it is).

Yeah, that reduced-sized book and the way it was altered from the original comic was discussed upthread.

It's too bad if they haven't published Ballad yet, it really makes to read that one first, as it establishes the relationship between Corto and Rasputin, and it also features an important supporting character who never appears again, but who gets alluded to several times in the following stories. OTOH, I didn't read Ballad first as a kid either (because the Finnish publisher also published the books out of order in the '80s), and I understood most of it just fine.

Awww man, the second volume of Sleeper was cancelled?! DC are beginning to turn this into an art form! What about the 90s Books of Magic?

And it is a shame that Shade, Sandman Mystery Theatre and Human Target are unlikely to ever be collected in full. Ostrander Spectre and Hawkworld, too.

I am happy to see an attempt at collecting the early post-Crisis Batman years in paperback editions (titled The Caped Crusader and Dark Knight Detective, for Batman and Detective Comics issues respectively). I hope they at least make it up to the point before Knightfall starts up, even if that does mean including the Louise Simonson arc about the kid who can make reality into a giant video game (or as I like to call it, the worst Batman story of all time).

I started buying those new Batman collections but I'm thoroughly expecting DC to shit the bed before they get very far with them. I had been excitedly buying the Batman/Superman Adventures reprints buuuuuut it's been nothing crickets for a while now. And yet I just keep holding out my hand so they can burn me again.

Hasn't Sleeper been collected a few times?

Didn't realise they stalled at Gotham Adventures, too bad as I've never read those. The first two Batman Adventures runs are fantastic. There was a pretty good issue of Back Issue magazine all about B:TAS not too long ago, went into the spin-off comics in good detail.

I would definitely recommend the associated comics to anyone who's a fan of the DCAU. I would definitely not recommend holding your breath for DC to finish collecting all of those comics.

So, with volume 8 of the Suicide Squad TPBs coming out this May, DC has *finally* collected the entire Ostrander/Yale run, only 17 years after it finished. Too bad they've never managed the same with Milligan's Shade or Human Target, nor does it seem like they ever will.

― Tuomas, 7. tammikuuta 2019 16:53

This one did actually come out, so they did manage to collect the entire run, and the Ostrander/Yale Deadshot mini too. Now if they would only do the same with Ostranders' runs on Firestorm, Spectre, or the Martian Manhunter. Or with those Milligans books, etc.