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| Copyright MARVEL COMICS |
I bought at least the first dozen of these titles as they came out, but I didn't always keep the previous one(s) until the next one, so I have only three actual issues of my original MARVEL TREASURY EDITIONs from the time of purchase back in the '70s. However, I replaced some of them around 30-35 years ago, and others maybe around ten years after that, so not only have I had the replacements longer than I had their originals, but also longer than I didn't have them (if you catch my drift).
One of them I obtained only recently (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY), and I'm currently waiting for #4, CONAN The BARBARIAN, arriving anytime soon. (Update: Now received and added.) Then I'll get #5 (HULK), #6 (Dr. STRANGE), #7 (The AVENGERS), #9 (GIANT SUPERHERO TEAM-UP), and #10 (THOR), which will restore to me the first 12 numbered issues again. (Incidentally, the friend to whom I gave my original copy of #9 (many, many years ago), says that he should still have it somewhere and that I can have it back if I want should he ever find it.) (Update: #s 5, 6, 7, 9 & 10 now added.)
There were also one-shots, like the first GIANT SUPERHERO HOLIDAY GRAB-BAG (1974), which was labelled as a Marvel Treasury SPECIAL rather than an 'Edition', as was the Space Odyssey and CAPTAIN AMERICA BICENTENNIAL BATTLES issues. I probably also bought an occasional later TE if the contents appealed to me, but the first 12 will suffice to complete my collection. Truth to tell, I don't even need them as I already have the stories in other reprint collections, but I get a feeling of immense satisfaction from plugging gaps in a series.
One thing about the Treasury Editions that irked me was that the pages were routinely resized and, sometimes, even abridged by having pages edited out. (FF #4 in TE #2 is one such example). Although larger than a standard comicbook, the TEs weren't of the same proportions, so in order to fit the different dimensions, tiers of panels were cropped in places so that there wasn't too large a margin around the top, bottom, or sides. This sometimes resulted in uneven-sized gutters between tiers, and cropped panels occasionally had no bottom borders. (Exactly like what was done in early issues of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL and SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY UK periodicals.)
I'll update this post as I re-acquire the missing editions (now done), but in the meantime, feel free to share your memories (if any) of these over-sized publications with your fellow Crivvies. Did you like them, or did you prefer the regular monthly issues? 'Fess up now, while I start scanning my DC COMICS equivalents - coming soon in an upcoming post.
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| Although not numbered on the front cover, the interior indicia reveals it to be #8 |
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| The soldiers with the flag on Cap's right were drawn by JOHN ROMITA |
Although the mag below is also included in our DC post, I've added it here as it's actually a Marvel Treasury Edition (#28).
The MTEs were revived a couple of years back, so here are the front and back covers from a couple of them just in case you missed them at the time.
I loved the Treasury Editions......they helped me to get on board with the Marvel Universe back in the day. I had just about all of those from the 70's.
ReplyDeleteTheir size was impressive, G, but I wish they'd reprinted the contents untrimmed and uncut. They were only abridged occasionally, but being a purist, I wanted them as originally presented. I suppose that the Marvel Masterworks reprint volumes replaced them, but they were good while they lasted.
ReplyDeleteI only ever had the first Conan one which was fantastic. Looks like you have a good collection there did you ever pick up any of the DC ones
ReplyDelete#4 is amazing. The colour job by Barry is out of this world. The Xmas Treasury not only has a great Buscema front and cover but a terrific collection of tales, especially the Black Widow by Colan and Everett. The first FF Treasury had the best FF images ( cover/ back cover) by anyone outside of Kirby/Sinnott. The Doc Strange ( not featured) had a superb cover and centrepiece by Brunner. I no longer have many of these (sob, sob) but remember them fondly......and didn't the TE#2 have a piece by Stan ( with a Severin illustration of him turning into the Thing) saying how easy it was for him to come up with all the great ideas...so easy that he was embarrassed by the fact?
ReplyDeleteSure did, PM, and you'll be seeing them in an upcoming post once I finish scanning them. Shouldn't be too long. I've also got some DC/Marvel crossover TEs, and you'll be seeing those as well. No need to thank me, I can sense your gratitude from here for spoiling you with all these great images. Generosity is my middle name - and it always got a laugh in school from the other pupils when the teacher was calling out the register.
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Yeah, I'm looking forward to receiving #4 in the mail anytime soon, S64. I've got a Dr. Strange paperback with the same illo as the cover of #6, which is probably why I haven't acquired a replacement TE for it yet, but I'll be doing it soon as I can. You're almost right about the FF piece - it was actually The Thing turning into Stan. As Jack Kirby identified with The Thing, I'm not sure he'd have been happy with that. Sadly, on the second FF TE, you can see the decline in Jack's art on the front and back covers, which are hardly the finest JK images of the group in existence. Having said that, it was still good to see him being involved with the issue.
I bought the first Conan and Thor ones while on holiday at the seaside in August 1977 - long after they'd originally come out. And the Conan TE from November 1978 featured a colour version of "Iron Shadows In The Moon" which is my favourite R.E.H. Conan story. It had appeared in the UK Savage Sword monthly No.1 a year earlier but I'd missed it on that occasion so the '78 Conan TE was the first time I ever read "Iron Shadows".
ReplyDeleteI've got the UK Savage Sword mag, CJ, but I'd like to see that story in colour, just to compare. Maybe that's another TE I should get at some stage. That's the thing about seaside towns (or used to be) - they always seemed to have comics long past their sell-by date. I remember buying Kirby FFs and Buscema Surfers in Blackpool in 1973 and '74. Brand-new, for 5p, straight off the spinner-racks.
ReplyDeleteHow lucky is that!!!
ReplyDeleteRe the second FF Treasury, Kirby's front cover was really disappointing, perhaps on a par with the dreadful cover on FF190, but I have a certain fondness for the back cover. I forgot in my previous comment to mention the superb cover on the Conan TE#4, or Romita's fine cover on the Hulk TE.
I look forward to the DC post. There were some great TEs there as well.
Romita's a great artist, and a master of clear storytelling - something that some modern artists should bear in mind when it comes to their own work. DC post coming shortly, S64.
ReplyDeleteStrangely for someone who's been buying or collecting comics on and off for more than 30 years, I've never owned a Treasury Edition, although I do have a British reprint of that Superman/Spider-Man comic (which I absolutely adore! )
ReplyDeleteI've got that as well, DS. I think it was published for we Brits almost simultaneously with the US edition, which wasn't as readily available in the UK as previous Treasury-sized team-ups. The spelling corrections (from US to UK) were rather clumsily done in the British edition.
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