Petition: Reprint "The Monster Society of Evil" as a TPB!

DC Universe [all categories]

DC Universe Archives

Petition: Reprint "The Monster Society of Evil" as a TPB! (Page 1)

profile | register | preferences | faq

UBBFriend: Email This Page to Someone!
This topic is 3 pages long: 1 2 3

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Author	Topic: Petition: Reprint "The Monster Society of Evil" as a TPB!
Shazamgrrl Member	posted October 19, 2002 12:31 AM Dear DC, We, the undersigned, would like to request that you reprint the Captain Marvel serial, "The Monster Society of Evil", published in Captain Marvel Adventures #'s 22 - 46, in an affordable TPB format. ------------------ "Did she say "APPLESAUCE"?!" - Mr. Mind, The Incredible Sinking City "The presumption of Innocence is the golden thread which runs through the history of the law. A man is innocent until he is proved guilty. Better that ten guilty men should go free than one who is not guilty should be convicted. For to convict the innocent is to spit in the face of justice." - Horace Rumpole, from Rumpole and the Golden Thread Want to talk about the real Marvel Family? Come to The Marvels of Shazam Group and The Rock of Eternity Forum. I wish I was like you, easily amused... Nirvana, All Apologies "Confound you, put me down, you big red cheese! I will not be packed around by the scruff of the neck like a puppy!" IP: Logged
REKLEN Member	posted October 19, 2002 01:38 AM Now this makes more sense than a compilation of Bridwell and Newton's stuff. Captain Marvel in his prime in the first and best serial comics have ever offered. At a reasonable price. Reklen IP: Logged
quincyjb Member	posted October 19, 2002 01:45 PM I would recommend either a slipcase or an archive for this material. The Steamboat character is a product of the time, and it makes sense to limit reprints of this portrayal to a high end product unlikely to enter the general public's awareness. Plus I own a copy of the slipcase and I'd hate to see its resale value go down. :-) IP: Logged
JayFlip Member	posted October 19, 2002 05:48 PM This material deserves the HC treatment. First the HC, then the TPB IMHO. IP: Logged
James Friel Member	posted October 19, 2002 06:05 PM I don't think anything with this kind of racial stereotyping is going to see paperback. IP: Logged
DWM Member	posted October 19, 2002 11:13 PM I think people sometimes assume that since this serial was published in the U.K. in the early 1990's, that it was also rehauled and restored as part of this project. Far from it. I have the slipcased Monster Society, and it's really a collection of enlarged photographs of each individual panel. There is no restoration, or re-coloring, or anything of the sort. I happen to think it looks very cool and unique, and it's one of my favorite books. But it doesn't do squat as far as Archiving the book. The material would still need to be restored, so the usual economics of the process would apply. It's unfortunately cost-prohibative for the paperback format. - David IP: Logged
REKLEN Member	posted October 20, 2002 01:22 AM Should we censor this book then? Do we want to believe that people in the 40s weren't racist? Is this why DC's Greatest Golden Age stories book wasn't reprinted in paperback? Not that I care all that much, I already have the British Volume, I can reread it whenever I want. Honestly, I don't understand what scares people about Steamboat, or is it the German and Japanese propaganda. Reklen IP: Logged
Shazamgrrl Member	posted October 20, 2002 01:24 AM As long as they remember that Captain Nazi's collar, gloves, boots and cape(when he wears it) are blood red and not blue, it's all good. IP: Logged
Dr. Van Thorp Member	posted October 20, 2002 01:27 AM DC isn't afraid to reprint the Spirit with his googly-eyed rubber-lipped sidekick. I don't see why they'd be afraid to reprint the comics with Steemboat in them. They will probably reprint this stuff if they ever work their way through all the archive material before it. IP: Logged
Dr. Midnight 32 Member	posted October 20, 2002 02:34 AM i've heard about the Monster Society of Evil arc for a few years now, but buying all the issues or tracking down the British collection is impossible for me now. I really want to read this arc, and really hope that it gets its own Archive edition. IP: Logged
Pig Iron Member	posted October 20, 2002 02:36 AM If they'll print Blackhawk..they'll print this. I would actually prefer a HC, but A TPB would work as well. I want it. IP: Logged
vze2 Member	posted October 20, 2002 08:05 AM I think James' point was that it wasn't going to be a paperback, not that it wasn't going to be reprinted. The Spirit, Blackhawk, and pretty much everything that can be viewed as embarassingly racist to a modern audience has only been printed in hardcover. This probably limits the audience to older, more afluent people. These people tend to be more knowledgeable of both the history of comics and the era during which they were produced. However, the more affordable paperbacks are within reach of more people without this knowledge. While I would never advocate altering the history of anything to make it acceptable to people who don't understand it, I have no problem with DC keeping it in a format that limits the audience to those who do. I vaguely remember seeing some unflattering stories in the Millenium editions. However, I also vaguely remember this being addressed in the accompanying text and Millenium editions of Golden Age material probably has a limited audience. IP: Logged
Shazamium Member	posted October 20, 2002 04:31 PM This serial, the longest,most fondly-remembered, and absolutely BEST continued story of the Golden Age deserves to be reprinted, and in a format that will preserve it for years to come; definitely hardbound, and preferably slipcased. C'mon, Dc, what are you waiting for? What? To tie-in with the Jeff Smith "Monster Society" prestige series in 2004? All right, then I'll wait... but I won't be happy about it. IP: Logged
Shazam-0 Member	posted October 20, 2002 08:20 PM Count me in! I would like to see DC reprint the "Monster Society of Evil" unabridged serial in a slipcased hardcover edition, with better binding than the oversized hardcover from ten years ago. IP: Logged
bruce Member	posted October 20, 2002 10:41 PM I would be willing to spend upwards of $100 for this project. It would be impossible to find all of the issues to have a full run of the story line. Not knowing who Steamboat is will only add to the value of fun. If they can release Superman cartoons from the 40's on DVD, surely they can release some politically incorrect Captain Marvel. IP: Logged
James Friel Member	posted October 20, 2002 11:57 PM quote: Originally posted by vze2: I think James' point was that it wasn't going to be a paperback, not that it wasn't going to be reprinted. The Spirit, Blackhawk, and pretty much everything that can be viewed as embarassingly racist to a modern audience has only been printed in hardcover. This probably limits the audience to older, more afluent people. These people tend to be more knowledgeable of both the history of comics and the era during which they were produced. However, the more affordable paperbacks are within reach of more people without this knowledge.... I vaguely remember seeing some unflattering stories in the Millenium editions. However, I also vaguely remember this being addressed in the accompanying text.... Exactly. When asked about this subject in San Diego, both Bob Wayne and Dale Crain said pretty much what you just said--and also that they feel the only serious mistake that they've made in this area has been to allow the Detective #1 Millennium Edition go out without any such commentary appended. The Archives are historical documents. They should never be tampered with. And unless the content is simply so hateful that it is now and was at the time of its production utterly beyond the pale--and I can't think of anything I've ever seen in a DC, Quality or Fawcett (or Charlton) publication that would fit that definition--DC ought be able to reprint its library in archival format fearlessly, trusting that people will understand that it's a record of that time, not this one. IP: Logged
JeffD Member	posted October 21, 2002 09:23 AM I'd gladly support such a project, hardcover or tpb...especially with Jeff Smith's upcoming mini by the same title. IP: Logged
Cave Carson Member	posted October 21, 2002 07:28 PM I've never read this, so I would love to see it! Count me in. (While they're at it, would it kill them to do repro versions of the SHAZAM! 100 page super-spectaculars?) ------------------ "I am viscerally opposed to a prolonged occupation of a Muslim country at the heart of the Muslim world by Western nations who proclaim the right to re-educate that country," said the former secetary of state, Henry A. Kissinger, who as a young man served as a district administrator in the military government of occupied Germany. IP: Logged
Shazamgrrl Member	posted November 09, 2002 03:19 AM Bumping this to the top in hopes that Bob Greenberger will see this and the Bridwell/Newton petition. IP: Logged
flapjack Member	posted November 09, 2002 01:00 PM TPB all the way! I think this would be a great, affordable collection. It would add interest for the Shazam Archives. IP: Logged
Spike Wilson Member	posted November 10, 2002 05:07 AM I'd collected about half the issues of Captain Marvel Adventures when the oversized Monster Society of Evil collection came out, and I simply loved it! I loved the black borders of the pages, the large size of the pages, the "real" feel of an old newspaper look even though it was on a higher quality paper (and I think it came across much better than that book that Marvel did a coupla years ago). The only thing that wasn't that swell was the binding, but I've managed to live with it. I love the story in that format. As far as stereotypes go, aside from Steamboat, there's also Nippo and Mr Banjo for some people to worry about. heck, I'd bet if someone wanted to he could even get worked up over Mr Mind's book Mind Kampf... Quite frankly, when the archive books hit 1944, I doubt that pithy little inspirational exhortations to win the war like, "turn in scrap to beat the jap" will run in the lower margins in the archives as they did in the original comics. I'd rather have the original source reproduced and let the reader pass any judgements on the content rather than an editor/censor sanitizing things on items that are purporting to be historical or archival. I've yet to see any editions of Huck Finn or Uncle Tom's Cabin that have been PC'd and been billed as the same as the original versions. Anyways, if another version of Monster Society is done, I feel very stronly that it should be the very same story that was published in the 40s. An essay that provided contextual insights and footnotes would only improve the package. IP: Logged
Mike Falcon Member	posted November 19, 2002 07:07 PM Here is a link to some Monster Society TPB news: http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/bobro/index.htm It is near the bottom third of the column. IP: Logged
James Friel Member	posted November 19, 2002 07:13 PM Why does anyone think that a paperback edition of this would be any more economically feasible than any other paperback Golden Age collection? IP: Logged
Wayne Brooks Member	posted November 22, 2002 04:46 PM Let's see. This "epic" insulted African-Americans and Orientals. But yet this serial, "the most longest, most fondly remembered, and absolutely BEST continued story of the Golden-Age deserves to be reprinted." All of sudden I have a desire to watch "The Tuskegee Airmen" and "The Savage Time". WCB IP: Logged
IndiaRubberMan Member	posted November 24, 2002 12:16 AM It's like these people who get Huck Finn banned from libraries. Yeah, the story insulted people. If that is something that offends you, simply do not read it, but that isn't a good enough reason to spoil the enjoyment of the story for everyone else. This country was at war with Japan at the time, the Japanese insults are to be expected. Sadly, so were the black stereotypes. But, that was a time in history. It hardly seems logical to me to ignore or pretend the material doesn't exist just because there were social injustices at the time. John IP: Logged

This topic is 3 pages long: 1 2 3 All times are ET (US)	next newest topic \| next oldest topic
Administrative Options: Close Topic \| Archive/Move \| Delete Topic
	Hop to:

Contact Us | DC Comics