Graphic Novel Reading Group discussion

http://marvel.com/news/story/21334/ny...

Best news out of Marvel in, like, forever!

Amusing that nowhere is Alan Moore mentioned by name. But I think that was part of his deal with them---no using his name in any promotion/publicity, not even a press release like this.

This is fantastic! :) You're likely right about Moore. Glad they were able to work something out.

Other interesting news from Marvel at NYCC - the new Surfer title. Looking forward to it. I like the slant on the character Slott is pursuing.

http://www.newsarama.com/19229-nycc-2...

Hmm. I'd think this was good news if Marvel wasn't promising the "rigorous" restoration standards they've brought to the highly inconsistent and often downright ugly Masterworks series. They're going to reletter it? Why? The original lettering was fine. I also sincerely hope they have no plans to recolour it (no mention of doing that, but what are the odds they won't?) with the generally god-awful computer coloring that has marred many another reprint series. And, serialized again, with new content each issue? So those of us who have the original issues will feel compelled to buy them again? Fucking fuckers. They should simply issue a nice, quality collection (or set of collections) and them, serialize the actually new material. I'm gonna assume that the "new" material in the previously printed stuff will be retained in the inevitable collections and just wait for them. (And pray that any such material is anciallary, not folded into the stories proper to create new versions of them. . .).

Dominick wrote: "Hmm. I'd think this was good news if Marvel wasn't promising the "rigorous" restoration standards they've brought to the highly inconsistent and often downright ugly Masterworks series. They're goi..."

No doubt the new re-issues will come with mutiple different covers for every issue as well.
Like you, I think I,ll just sit this one out (I already have all the trades) and wait for the "nice" hardcover edition that will eventually follow.
Hopefully I'll have the patience to do so.

Paul wrote: "(I already have all the trades)"

Bastard.

The Beat has a great series about the checkered history of this book called "Poisoned Chalice". It's an amazing look inside the lower end of the industry in the 1980s, comics in England and just the head-shaking behavior of some of the egos involved. Here's the opening round of articles. http://comicsbeat.com/poison-chalice-...

Allen wrote: "Paul wrote: "(I already have all the trades)"

Bastard.

The Beat has a great series about the checkered history of this book called "Poisoned Chalice". It's an amazing look inside the lower end o..."

lol,
not only do I have all 4 trades, I also have those two very hard to find "Silver Age" issues (23 & 24)

so
neener neener neener heh

Hey, I have all the individual issues, but I'd sure prefer the books. You blew it though. You could have sold them before for a couple hundred a pop. Now, the price will fall.

Allen wrote: "Hey, I have all the individual issues, but I'd sure prefer the books. You blew it though. You could have sold them before for a couple hundred a pop. Now, the price will fall."

lol! Only if Marvel actually manages not to ruin it in their reprints--and I think the odds of that are pretty high. I mean, do you really think they'll run the birth issue intact? Having someone eat Spider-Man's eyeball is one thing, but babies emerging from vaginas, I just can't see Marvel not baulking at that, at least in a serialized comic, which is how they say they're gonna rerelease it.

New lettering, "new" material added, likely new colouring . . . looks very much like they're treating it as a commercial property (which it is, of course) rather than as a high-water mark of 1980s comics (which it also is).

I never considered that they might actually alter the story. Dear God, I hope not. I can't imagine how they would even cut out that sequence and keep it coherent. Let's hope they're not complete idiots.

If they've got a Watchmen-like vision of the story, it would be in their interest not to print a bastardized version, but their record with book publishing is so awful, I sure agree that anything's possible. What would compel them to keep an Alan Moore book in print for a quarter century when they don't keep their existing books in print no matter how much the retailers beg them to? How does a company that relies almost solely on fifty year old characters manage to be so short-sighted?

Hey, I wonder if they'll reprint the Apocrypha. Some pretty solid material there.

I don't get the implication they want to alter the story. The "additional materials" will likely be back of book material: sketches, pin-ups, maybe a short story, interviews, etc. Like someone said, this would be like altering Watchmen. Even Marvel isn't that dumb.

The re-coloring and re-lettering are necessary in the absence of truly clean print-ready materials. Just hope they stick to the look of the day and don't try to jazz it up with fancy fonts or Photoshop effects.

My only exposure to their reprints of older material has been Invaders Classic - Volume 1 and it is very true to the originals. In some cases better, as some old comics yellow, fade, or just had printing issues.

I will probably wait for collections rather than singles, with the exception of the few single issues I never had (#4, #5). I only have 1-3 in trade, so I may get those too jsut to see how well they are doing this. Should be interesting how they handle the birth issue.

Would I prefer someone else was doing this? Sure. Most Marvel collections I've seen have been competent, but nothing special.

But someone should have done this a long time ago. This stands side by side with Watchmen, but is so much less known due to being out of print for so long and back issues, even collections, being expensive when you can find them.

So, as I started ...best news ever. Now if someone will just convince Moore to finish and publish Big Numbers I would be a happy man.

Yep, just as I thought, multiple covers galore...

ISSUE #1 – COVER BY JOE QUESADA
VARIANT COVER BY JOHN CASSADAY
VARIANT COVER BY MARK BUCKINGHAM
VARIANT COVER BY JEROME OPENA
VARIANT COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU
SKETCH VARIANT BY JOE QUESADA
YOUNG VARIANT BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
CLASSIC VARIANT BY GARRY LEACH
ISSUE #2 – COVER BY ALAN DAVIS
VARIANT COVER BY ARTHUR ADAMS
VARIANT COVER BY MIKE PERKINS
VARIANT COVER BY MIKE MCKONE
SKETCH VARIANT BY ALAN DAVIS

Sure, the variants are a traditional money grab in most ways.

But if any comics publishing "event" was ever truly an event, it's the return of these stories into print. So I say bring on the variants, die-cuts, foil, 3-D, lenticular, holographic, etc. covers. Bring on a chorus of dancing, costumed characters down 5th Avenue.

Shout it loud and proud: one of the best comics series ever—EVER—is coming back in print!