IS FIRST ALWAYS BEST?

Look at the outline around Sue Storm in panel 5 - as it should be

Like most bibliophiles and collectors, the allure of a first edition is a strong one for me, but, increasingly, it's one I'm finding easier to resist.  Why?  Well, the first edition of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS' TARZAN had the ape-man battle a tiger, but when it was brought to E.R.B.'s and his publisher's attention that tigers were indigenous to India and not Africa, subsequent printings changed 'Tony' into 'Leo'.

Also, the 1974 first printing of ORIGINS Of MARVEL COMICS presented the DOCTOR STRANGE section completely out of sequence, thereby confusing readers no end, and it wasn't until the second printing that the book attained the completely coherent form intended from the start.  And the 1987 first edition of the FF MARVEL MASTERWORKS volume printed page 3 of issue #5 after page 5.  Which brings us rather nicely to the MARVEL OMNIBUS editions.

Now look at the clumsy 'restoration' in the 1987 FF Marvel Masterworks

The FANTASTIC FOUR OMNIBUS Volume 1 has now been issued three times, but the third version is the only one worth having, and even that could stand some slight improvement. 'Twas only with the third attempt (categorised as the 'first printing' of the 'second edition') that superior proofs for issues 2-9 were utilised, finally validating the claim that the book has (in the main) been printed from the 'highest-quality sources available'.  (Pity they still manage to screw-up the re-presentation of Stan's introduction to his '74 Origins book by rendering 'yours truly' in one sentence as 'you truly'.  However, it was worse in the first edition, where they omitted a line of text.)

The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS Volume 1 is another book whose 'second edition, first printing' is superior to its predecessor.  Not only is it thinner and lighter (while maintaining the same page count), the 'reconstructed' page by MICHAEL KELLEHER of the first Annual's splash-page seems to have been replaced by the original STEVE DITKO one.  (Though you'd really need to look hard to be able to spot any difference.)  Why this page was ever re-created to begin with is a mystery, as I'm pretty sure that the original had been used in an earlier edition of Marvel Masterworks.  They must have misplaced it, I guess. (Unfortunately, they haven't yet located a superior set of proofs for ASM #1, which is still sourced from inferior re-touched ones.)

The splash-page from ASM Annual #1, as drawn by Steve Ditko

So, yesterday, I travelled into a local Glasgow comicbook store and bought the above-mentioned latest Omnibus edition of STAN LEE's and STEVE DITKO's Spidey stories.  Being a slimmer volume, I can now fit 14 Omnibus books on my shelf - as opposed to only 13 - so I might well consider updating some of my other Omnibus treasuries as and when they're published.  Once 'pon a time, I wouldn't have been able to bear parting with earlier releases, especially first printings, but I now find that the prospect doesn't perturb me as much as it once would have.  In fact, one of my pals has already made an offer on my two, now surplus, books and I've accepted it. (He should have worn a mask - the robber.)

So, my advice to all of you would be to consider a book on its merits, rather than its publishing history (unless its worth a fortune, obviously), as later editions can often be better than earlier ones in terms of reproduction of comic strips and artwork, etc. There are exceptions of course, as sometimes the plates of some book illustrations can be noticeably less sharp in contrast to their original printings.  I recently purchased a 1983 U.S. edition of The WIND In The WILLOWS and all the colour illustrations were extremely washed-out in comparison to U.K. printings.



The splash-page from ASM Annual #1, as re-created by Michael Kelleher

Fact is, recent softcover Masterworks are far more 'archival' in nature than their hardback original editions.  It all depends on what you're looking for, of course.  If you buy such books merely to read and familiarise yourself with the characters' history, I don't suppose it much matters to you if the reproduction quality is less than 100% perfect. However, the historians and archivists amongst us probably prefer reprint volumes to be as close to the original comicbook releases as possible.

If that's the case, don't be afraid to divest yourself of earlier, inferior editions and replace them with brand-spanking new (and superior) volumes.  Always check first though - sometimes there's no discernible difference until a good while down the line.