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| Images copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Amazing, isn't it? "Er... what is?" you ask. I'll tell you. I recently purchased the SPIDER-MAN volume in the series of HACHETTE partworks featuring MARVEL stories, and was pleased to see a recoloured printing of Spidey's debut story from AMAZING FANTASY #15. (I told you about it here.)
This version had originally appeared in a 2012 reprint of AF #15, which had been released as part of the ol' web-spinner's 50th Anniversary. I'm a sucker for such publications, but it seems to have slipped under my radar at the time - because I knew nothing about it until I saw it in the Hachette edition.
Well, I just had to have the actual issue, not only because it also contained a recoloured reprint of The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1, but because it's simply a great little addition to the collection of any true Marvelite. So I tracked one down on eBay and sat back to await its arrival, which happened to be this very day. Guess what though? The splash page art of AF #15 has been slightly cropped to accommodate the rather lengthy indicia, to my mind somewhat compromising the story's presentation.
That means that the Hachette version is more complete than the Marvel issue it's reprinted from, which is a strange state of affairs to my way of thinking. So, if you have the recent partwork and were thinking of obtaining the 2012 issue, the former is actually a better presentation than the latter. One thing the comic has going for it though, is, as I said, a re-coloured reprint of Spidey's first issue of his own mag, so it's worth getting it for that.
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| Cropped splash page, alas! Stan and Steve's names are missing |
Anyway, here are a few pages from my newly-arrived acquisition, just to let you see what delights you're missing. Surely my gargantuan generosity knows no bounds? (Unless you're asking for my very last ROLO - push off, it's all mine.)
4 comments:
Pleased I got the Hachette version then (on your recommendation).I was lucky to find the very last copy on our town & had to go round all the newsagents.
Nice to know I serve some sort of useful function now and then, JP. Glad you managed to get a copy. The recolouring is nice, isn't it? Gives the strip a whole new dimension.
I always prefer the original pastel colouring , BUT , as with the Masterworks , I do like the new colouring as well. So , which is best? There's only one way to find out........
The early Masterworks weren't in accord with their original colour schemes, JP, but the newer editions (and Omnibus volumes) all follow their original issues' colouring. Personally, although I like to have reprints as close to archival in nature as possible, I still like the recoloured versions as well. It's nice to have both.
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