Marvel Essentials, DC Showcase

[Shoegaze99]

Originally Posted by Leto

I feel american comics must be colorized to be appreciated.

I would be utterly appalled if Whiteout, Bone, Maus, Torso, Cerebus, Blankets, Stray Bullets, Jinx, Sin City and the like were colorized.

Really, I'm not sure how national borders make or break a comic's need for colorization.

[Leto]

It's not national border, it's my own feeling towards the three main style of comics I've been exposed to. Another french comics fan may agree with you, I don't. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Foxbat]

I've got a few of the essentials (Xmen, Cap America, Iron Man, Avengers) and I think they're pretty good value for money. Also, it's much easier for storage (and chronology)than having piles of comics around the place.

The Wolfman/Perez Crisis on Infinite Earths is fairly easy to obtain in tpb, by the way, and was recently released in one of those premium 'ultimate' editions too.

I've been having trouble trying to trace any 'crisis' stuff but I'll have to have another look.

[drstrange]

i have several of the marvel essentials range,daredevil 1-3,dr.strange,ghost rider,thor silver surfer,spider-man 1-4/peter parker-spider-man 1 ,punisher.i think the titles on offer by both houses are of extreme good value i cant think of how much amazing fantasy no.1 would set me back,but to have it collected with the first 25 or so stories for £10 is a bargin by any standard.should we care if the print is b&w-no,we already know what they look like, that's why we've got imaginations,please if youve not bought any of these titles buy them now

[knivesout]

Thanks for the views and info, people! I'll have to agree with Leto insofar as I feel that a comic that was orginally colour looses something in black and white - obviously an artist working in black and white from the word go uses techniques and tricks to compensate for the lack of colour in other ways, and the line art in a colour comic depends to colour to a greater extent to lend volume, texture and so on.

Still, I had a look at a volume of Essential The Hulk yesterday, and I must say that Shoegaze99's point that you get to read these classic editions - tons of them in one book - and ina book you do not have to treat like a priceless artifact which would be the case with an archival reprint or an orignal issue - makes a lot of sense to me.

[knivesout]

Well, I just got hold of my copy of Essential Howard The Duck, and I'm pretty happy with it. Like Shoegaze said, this is a comic you can lug around with you, read anywhere and generally get the most out of without getting paranoid about damaging a 'collector's item'. I'm a little skeptical about the glue used in the binding - I suspect that given time, individual pages may come loose. But we'll see.

Anyway, I'd only read a few Howard comics previously, towards the end of Gerber's time on the comics (I have the issue where he ran out of ideas and did an illustrated essay instead tucked away somewhere) but I've always enjoyed the charcter and it's great to have nearly all the classic material in one volume. Most of the art translates really well in b&w, especially Gene Colan's work.

DC seems to be trying a new way to re-issue their back catalogue, now. They've just released something called Batman Chronicles: Vol. 1, which is the first volume in a full-colour trade paperback series that intends to compile every Batman story ever written (although I reckon that's a Sisyphean task, until DC finally shuts shop) in chronological order. The next release planned in the Chronicles series is Superman. If these catch on, they could be a good affordable alternative to the archival editions, with colour. Here's hoping they do, and that Marvel tries something similar too!

[knivesout]

I'm afraid I'm not at all happy with the quality of Marvel's Essentials. My Dr. Strange Essentials Vol. 1 started falling apart less than halfway through.

DC's Showcase is really very well produced though. I have the Superman showcase as well, and the binding seems really sturdy. When it comes to classic Marvel fare, I'd recommend being very selective about what you want, and sticking to the pricier Archive editions.

[hypocriticHarkonnen]

um, question, is an Infinite Crisis compilation already out?

[Shoegaze99]

Originally Posted by hypocriticHarkonnen

um, question, is an Infinite Crisis compilation already out?

You're unlikely to get a DC Showcase release of Infinite Crisis for, oh, 30 years or so. Likely not ever.

A trade paperback release, on the other hand, will probably follow 9 to 12 months after the series is complete, based on DC's past trends.