posted June 24, 2002 09:07 PM               

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Originally posted by G. Cornelis McWilliams:
I don't understand why they omit the original covers before each issue in their hard cover books. This weeks Punisher is big, bold, bad, and chockfull of Garth Ennis's indelible writing. but, like Ultimate Spider-Man and Origin, to name but a few, the original covers are missing.
Why are they able to put the original covers in Essentials, Masterworks, and Visionaries?

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Agreed. I want covers with my comics. They are sometimes the best thing about the comic.

posted June 24, 2002 10:51 PM               

I hope they hurry up and rerelease these 2 Having to fork out $49.95 for them will really bite.

posted June 25, 2002 06:41 AM               

Silver Surfer was a double sized comic with the stories running 38-40 pages each originally. Volume 1 printed issues 1-5 and ran 206 pages, a bit slim for the time and standard $34.95 price. With Volume 2 they pushed to complete the 18 issue run and the volume ran 327 pages and was sold for $44.95. In retrospect, splitting the volumes after 6 issues for about 246 pages and about 287 pages respectively. Even so Volume 2 would have been the largest published Masterwork even at the reduced size.

posted June 25, 2002 02:46 PM               

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Originally posted by Scott Nichols:

...What I wish they would have done was publish Doctor Strange as the oversized volume including the last 5 issues of Steve Ditko's run making it about the same size as Silver Surfer V. 2. For that I would have happily ponied up some extra cash to have the complete and totally classic Ditko run in one hardcover volume....

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posted June 25, 2002 03:27 PM               

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Originally posted by James Friel:
Marvel would be extremely smart to do exactly that when they get around to the Dr. Strange masterworks--it would make those of us who already own the first edition think very hard about getting the new one anyway.

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Wouldn't there be a backlash against that, though? Marvel might be looked at as money grubbing, trying to get their hands on Dr. Strange fan's money by printing 5 extra stories that weren't in the first volume.

posted June 25, 2002 05:11 PM               

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Originally posted by dylanfan:
Wouldn't there be a backlash against that, though? Marvel might be looked at as money grubbing, trying to get their hands on Dr. Strange fan's money by printing 5 extra stories that weren't in the first volume.

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Marvel??

Money Grubbing?!?

Perish the thought!

Whatever can you mean??

Seriously, I think the only backlash would be from those of us who already own the Dr. Strange volume--everyone else would be, I would imagine, grateful.
I'd be annoyed, but I really don't feel that a publisher has to feel obliged to stay locked into a pattern that would have been better if it had been done otherwise in the first place just for my convenience.
And I'd probably, amid much grumbling, painfully spring for the new volume.

posted June 25, 2002 05:14 PM               

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Originally posted by James Friel:

Seriously, I think the only backlash would be from those of us who already own the Dr. Strange volume--everyone else would be, I would imagine, grateful.
I'd be annoyed, but I really don't feel that a publisher has to feel obliged to stay locked into a pattern that would have been better if it had been done otherwise in the first place just for my convenience.
And I'd probably, amid much grumbling, painfully spring for the new volume.

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I tend to agree with your premise, James. I thought perhaps they could make the Hulk and Uncanny X-Men books a little beefier in the next printings. I recall Tom Brevoort back in the day saying that wouldn't be the case, however.

Still, the wind was blowing out of the east on that day...perhaps the weather has changed since then. A little wind blows on the Masterworks program and it starts going all over the place!

posted June 25, 2002 05:43 PM            

The foremost element in my mind is art reconstruction (or at least shots taken from the first printing, rather than the nth generation reprint). I won't beat that horse anymore, since it involves some huge upfront outlays. But some of the other things they could have done was use a matte finish paper (think Spirit Archives), and re-doing page counts to make a more consistant product. Granted, we haven't seen the Hulk volume, but is there any reason why it shouldn't be expanded to include more than just the original 6 solo comics?

posted June 26, 2002 10:45 AM               

-Steve

posted June 26, 2002 11:08 AM            

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Originally posted by srca1941:
With all of these "revamps" to the Masterworks line, wouldn't it be nice for Marvel to print and sell seperate dustjackets for all of the previous volumes? Then they could look nice and uniform like DC's Archives, and not like the jumbled mess that they are. *Sigh*

-Steve

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That's a great idea, but then they wouldnt be able to "take" suckers like us to the cleaners. Eventually, we will buy these to complete our collection, and they know it.

posted June 26, 2002 11:36 AM               

-Steve

posted June 26, 2002 05:06 PM               

The DR. STRANGE MAsterwork was one of my favorites-- I had most of the stories, but "all over the place" (anyone remember how chaotic reprints used to be in the late 60s / early 70s?). To have them all in one book-- WOW!! But I was also PISSED!!! Sure, they got to the "end" of the big Dormammu serial-- but the volume still evnds on a CLIFFHANGER!! Those 5 extra chapters would have brought the entire Steve Ditko era to a close. The next episode started a completely new era-- new writer, new artists, new long, long LONG storyline, and I imagined how rediculous it would be if THAT started, say, in the MIDDLE of a 2nd book (which we never saw-- so far).

Of course, I can read ALL those later stories if I want because over 20 years ago (before back-issue prices got INSANE) I got ahold of a COMPLETE run of NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D.-- from STRANGE TALES #135-on up. But still-- it would have been nice to see all the Ditko stories in one full-color volume.

I'm still waiting for a complete Jack Kirby run of S.H.I.E.L.D. to be reprinted in one volume-- with all the changes in pencillers, inkers and even scripters, Jack's storytelling was the ONLY thing that held the early S.H.I.E.L.D. era together!! And, Jim Steranko notwithstanding, Stan & Jack's NICK FURY are some of my ALL-TIME favorite Marvel stories!!

posted June 27, 2002 09:03 PM               

I like how Ben would sometimes shift into a human state for a moment, then turn back into the Thing. I never knew that! And this team looks so wonderful in brilliant color on glossy paper. MAN O' MAN!!

posted June 28, 2002 09:40 AM            

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Originally posted by Silver Age Adam:
A pal of mine loaned me his Fantastic Four Masterworks and AM I HAVING A BLAST reading these things!!

I like how Ben would sometimes shift into a human state for a moment, then turn back into the Thing. I never knew that! And this team looks so wonderful in brilliant color on glossy paper. MAN O' MAN!!

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I've been plowing through the Avengers Masterwork, and its been great fun. I hate Marvel for not committing itself to this line...

posted July 18, 2002 03:54 PM               

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Originally posted by Scippio:
But I think it has a printing flaw in it. Does anyone elses copy have what seems like the bottom half of each page be off by a pixel or two? You can really notice it in the word balloons in the middle section of panels. I'm wondering if it is just my copy or if it is in all of them?

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I just check mine and it has the same problem, so it's probably in all of them. This is the exact same thing I noticed in my copy of the Avengers-Defenders War tpb, too, for what it's worth.

posted July 20, 2002 07:04 PM            

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Originally posted by Scippio:
Well, I picked up my copy of Amazing Spiderman Volume 2 yesterday, I'm about half way through and it is great. But I think it has a printing flaw in it. Does anyone elses copy have what seems like the bottom half of each page be off by a pixel or two? You can really notice it in the word balloons in the middle section of panels. I'm wondering if it is just my copy or if it is in all of them?

It doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the stories, but it is sometimes distracting.

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My copy seems to be free of any printing flaws.
My Avengers had a flaw on two pages. I kept the book because of the novelty of it (well for me at least).On on epage their is a brown like shadow strip going down a page and then a few pages later it continues from the top and only appears alittle.
I quickly realized there was nothing wrong with the printing. But, the binding process let a few end of the roll pages get thru. You know, the marking on each roll of paper to let the pressman know the roll is about to end.
Like I said, It don't distract from the story. It just gives that one page a small shadow line. It reminded me so much of the countless comics with binding flaws back in the sixties, that I had to keep it.