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Y'know, I've got most if not all of these Conan The Barbarian tales at least half a dozen times over in various reprints (plus the original first ish), so I don't really need another edition. However, there's just something so compelling about the Marvel Epic Collections which makes them hard to resist.
First, the page size is pretty close to the initial newsprint editions, and the reproduction is usually clearer, with near-perfect colour registration. Next, the paper* is more like 'comics' paper (when comics were comics) than the type used in the Omnibus volumes, and the book isn't too wieldly or heavy when it comes to taking it into the smallest room in the house for a quick read while you're in there.
(*It's better quality than comics paper though. In fact, I wish that Marvel would print their Facsimile Editions on it.)
The colours are vibrant and a feast to the eyes, and though I love the Omnibus editions (and the Masterworks), I think I prefer the Epic and Complete books because the experience of reading them is more akin to reading a comic than a book. All Conan fans who don't already own the material reprinted within (and, like me, even some who do) are bound to love this valiant volume as much as I do, so grab a copy while you can.
Undoubtedly the best way to experience the first 13 issues, short of owning the actual originals! And there's loads of bonus material in the back of the book.
18 comments:
Hi Kid,
I own the actual originals but I get the Omnibus simply because they are printed very well, with great color and sharpness, and on white paper. Marvel's printing in the 1970 declined due to several factors.
1. They had to use cheaper paper, due to costs and paper shortages.
2. They switched from metal printing plates to plastics
3. The size of the original artwork had to be reduced.
Early on, the quality o the Marvel reprints varied greatly. I know the guy who does them (or most of them now) and I even supply comics for him. So when does them they come out great. I bring that up because they do NOT redo the artwork once it is in the omnibus. That is, the Epics are often using the Omnibuses files and therefore come out fine.
Can you tell me who is listed as the art director in the Epic?
Also, I supplied 50 cover scans (I get no money, this is not a plug) for Roy Thomas The Barbarian life. Here Roy goes over, issue by issue, how he put the stories together. It's a great read. Next I will tell you the boring story about President Nixon and why I like the Omnibuses. Yes, there is a link.
Warning: Boring Stuff, Nixon and Marvel.
In the early 1q970s The Nixon Administration could not find a "cure" for inflation. So they instituted "Price and Wage Controls" which meant you could not raise the prices of anything. Without government permission. This was a disaster, especially for comics.
Why you may ask?
Most paper in the United States comes from pulp, which comes from trees. For a couple of hundred years those trees were in Canada and they sent them down to the US to be made into paper. Well, Canada did not have price and wage controls and the price of pulp was slowly going up. So the price of paper should of gone up in the US but couldn't. So publishers had to buy less quality paper to keep their price the same.
But it got worse. Many paper plants, which didn't do just comics, went out of business because they could not supply paper at its frozen price...their raw materials cost too much now. So then there has a huge paper shortage in the US.
On August 15, 1971, President Nixon imposed wage and price controls which lasted 1,000 days. The government would NOT allow raising prices unless you added to or significantly upgraded your product. So Martin Goodman, publisher, on his October and November 1971 cover dated issues increased the pages (from 32 to 48) and the price, from 15¢ to 25¢. In December, Goodman returned the comics to their former size, with a 20¢ price. But the price and wage board objected!!!!!! So At Marvel, Fantastic Four #128 was required to insert a four page color section to satisfy the Control Board when it returned to 20¢ saying the color insert made the comic different.
When you read about the DC and Marvel battle over comic prices in the 1970s many people don’t know that the Price and Wage controls were in effect.
I've never been a huge fan of Conan comics for some reason, but do enjoy the original REH short stories.
That said, I did once read the Buscema-illustrated version of Tower of the Elephant (I think it was in an issue of the British edition of Savage Sword of Conan magazine) and loved it.
Barry, I can find no mention of an 'art director', but Michael Kelleher & Kellustration are listed as doing the art & colour restoration.
I worked on a couple of the early Marvel Masterworks volumes (25 & 26 - my name's in them) and they've all been redone since then. Not only recoloured to match the original comics, but in some instances they've since acquired better proofs. For example, the first FF Omnibus had great proofs of #1, but some of the other issues had clumsy 'restoration' on them. It was the same with the 2nd edition. With the 3rd edition (back to print), they had found new, superior proofs for most of those issues, and I think they may have first appeared in the back to print Masterworks edition before appearing in the new Omnibus.
You should get money for the scans you do, BP, cos these guys couldn't do their books without you. Then THEY wouldn't make any money. I hope at least you get a few free copies.
Interesting info about the paper - not many UK readers will have known that.
******
I liked Buscema's Conan, DS, though I thought it never quite captured the 'sorcery' aspect in the same 'enchanted' way that Smith's Conans did. Buscema made it all look real, whereas Smith gave it a sort of 'other-wordly' feel. I like both of them, but for different reasons.
Dear Kid:
Often I have read stories about Goodman and DC meeting about “fixing” the price of comics in the 1970s. Both in the United States and Great Britain this is highly illegal (your reference to this event even mentions that). So if they met, there would be no witnesses, nor would they tell anyone, they could be fined and possibly jailed. Certainly, they would be embarrassed.
Two competitors, who made up a virtually monopoly, conspiring the fix wages, is why Roy Thomas resigned as editor. Stan and Carmine Infantino used the same talent pool. They competed with each other and agreed to let the other one knows what the real wages of an artist or writer was. That is, if a DC artist went to Marvel, he would claim to make a certain amount of money. Stan would not know if he was lying so he could now call Infantino and find out. This is illegal and Roy said they can’t do that. Stan said, “Are you resigning?” and Roy did. As editor, he stayed on a writer for a few more years until Scooter made him leave.
I have read “historians” claim that Goodman went back on the deal and they criticize him for that. Actually, not following through on a criminal conspiracy is a good thing. I put “historians” in quotes because they do NOT mention the Price and Wage controls that we had at the time. I often think that it’s because these people did not live during that era. But that is a major part of the story.
Interesting info, BP, I'm surprised that Stan or Carmine would have considered doing that. If one of them really wanted an artist or writer though, they'd probably offer them more anyway, just to get them onboard. Can you imagine the conversation?
Artist: "DC pays me $50 a page."
Stan (knowing that the artist only gets paid $40 per page): "I'll give you $45 a page."
They'd still end up poaching contributors from one another by offering more, just not as much as the contributors were looking for.
Amazing what goes on behind the scenes, eh?
You actually summed up what they tried to do.
Barry, thanks so much for putting the 1971 price increase into context. I always thought the main trust of the price increase was to woo magazine vendors to give comics more prominence on the stands, but it stands to reason that there were also other factors involved.
I too like the Epic editions, but already with the originals, or other reprint editions ( Masterworks/ Essentials etc) in my collection I just don't have the room. With Conan I have the Conan saga reprints from the 80s, with their beautiful Windsor-Smith covers, ot the originals where I consider them critical to a good collection.
The issue re sharing artist's pay rates came up over Frank Robbins. I have never understood why Marvel never used him as a writer, as I felt that he was one of DC's better writers. I think this was the only time that this time of collusion came up, but of course I was not there!
Spirit of '64
Yeah, but if they came up with the idea in order to stop one another poaching talent, it didn't really work, it just limited the amounts on offer. So I guess that was the intention, it wasn't to stop wooing contributors over to the 'other side'.
******
I've got those Conan Sagas as well, S64, and also Conan Classic, which was a great wee mag.
I find it strange that some of the earlier Buscema Conan back issues go for so little money. I picked up issue 27, 29, 31 and 32 for £2.50 each and have bought loads of other ones in the issue 30 to 100 range for low prices (but still can't find issue 43 a favourite)I even got the Neal Adams issue (cant recall the number) for £3. That Conan Epic version is looking like another one for my must have list.
I suppose it depends where you're buying them, McS, and also just what condition they're in. As for the Conan Epic Collection, I'd say it's definitely one to have. You could do far worse with your money.
I bought most in Glasgow and a few in Brighton so a big distance and all in very good condition. The Epic is def on my wants list Kid after Redondo's Swamp Thing collection.
Yup, Redondo's Swampy is on my list too.
No criticism at all, Kid?? Wow, this Epic collection must be good!!
Barry's explanation of Nixon's price & wage controls was fascinating. I knew that Britain's Labour government tried the same thing in the late '70s but I didn't know America did it first!
Nah, no criticism, CJ. I've already got all the stories, but it's a neat little collection that, if you're a Marvel Conan fan, you'll love. A nice, handy, convenient collection for re-reading whenever the mood takes you. Great as the Omnibus volumes are, there's a fair bit of weight in them that makes it more difficult to lie on your bed and work your way through them.
Hi McS!
You wrote, “I find it strange that some of the earlier Buscema Conan back issues go for so little money.”
I am not an authority on this, but I think I have the answer. Comic book prices, in fact all collectables, are valued by supply and demand. The comics from the 1960s and esariler command a lot of money because they aren’t that many of them and a huge amount of people want those comics.
It changed in the 1970s, mostly. Conan became one of Marvel’s biggest sellers, especially when Buscema took over. In fact Roy Thomas said about Barry Smith leaving and Buscema taking over, “We will win less awards but sell more comics.” And few people threw out those comics, the kept them.
You can point to a few comics in the 1970s that are worth a great deal of money. Iron Fist #14 is a good example. It was a failing comic, near the end of its run, and Sabertooth became a big deal so it sells for a lot. And a ton of people want Hulk #181. Bu the supply for those Conans is keeping up with the demand. There are just a lot of them around.
Colin, I'll see if I can easily pull out that color section from FF 128 and give it to the Kid to post.
Kid, I did a brief blog on those four pages from the FF: https://forbushman.blogspot.com/2020/10/most-fantastic-four-fans-have-not-seen.html
I've actually got FF #128, BP, and though I can't remember whether I've ever scanned those pages from that specific ish, they have appeared on the blog in my Captain Britain Cover & Image Gallery series I did a few years back. That's because CB reprinted them as pin-ups in 1976. However, it'll be quicker for readers to use your link than trawl through the archives on my blog.
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