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| Images copyright MARVEL COMICS |
When MARVEL COMICS first printed the THOR MASTERWORKS volume back in the early '90s, they couldn't find the original proofs of Thor's origin from JOURNEY Into MYSTERY #83. Therefore, they did the next best thing - they used the proofs from a reprint of his debut which appeared in THOR #158. However, they had to 're-create' the splash page and re-letter the final panel so that they matched their first printing.
Trouble is - they didn't! There are slight differences in the two versions of the splash page, and the re-lettering on the final panel is extremely sub-standard. Also, the bold lettering throughout the story is blurred, and has had some process white clumsily applied to it in an effort to make it readable.
Interestingly, when they published the first volume of THOR ESSENTIALS back around 2000 (or thereabouts), they seem to have recovered good proofs of the origin story as it first appeared in 1962. Why, then, from subsequent printings onwards*, did they resort to using proofs of the inferior Masterworks version when the original is clearly available to them? I just can't work it out. Even the beautiful, newly-coloured presentation of this story which appeared in a recent Thor One-Shot and the new TALES Of ASGARD hardback volume utilizes the same disappointing b&w line artwork source as the Masterworks edition.
(* The most recent printing has now reverted to superior proofs for the origin tale.)
Let's hope that when they get around to producing a THOR OMNIBUS volume, they do what they've done with most of the others - use high-quality proofs of the origin as it was originally published, without the clumsy 'restoration' work that a lot of the early Masterworks volumes suffered from. (Though they've vastly improved over recent years.) If they do, I faithfully promise to buy two copies. (Funds permitting.)
UPDATE: (See "Whosever holds this hammer..." and "Ours is a drama decreed by the fates..." elsewhere on this bombastic blog.)
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