MARVEL TREASURY EDITIONS UPDATE...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Back in 2019, I published a Marvel Treasury Editions Cover Gallery (here), but recently I purchased three new ones and have now added them to the post.  Click the above link if you're interested in copping a gander.  I think I had #13 at the time, 14 & 15 I'm not so sure about, even though the covers seem familiar to me.  However, that could be because I saw them advertised on the back of some Marvel UK weeklies.  Pop over and remind yourselves of which ones you owned.

FACSIMILE EDITIONS FOR FANTASTIC ACTION...

Copyright DC COMICS

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds..." wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, but that's not to suggest all consistency is foolish, only that of the foolish variety.  So I find myself wishing DC could be more consistent in how they present their Facsimile Editions, as when they released their 'Batman Day' replica of Detective Comics #27, they scanned the interiors from a published issue, with only a thin margin around the pages.  Now, with the release of its Action Comics #1 equivalent, they've used brand-new proofs and the pages have far wider margins around them with smaller images within.  In short, #27 looks like an old comic, and #1 looks like a brand new one, despite both being the same dimensions.

Anyway, it's still nice to have (despite the baddie's left arm being too long and bent, due to whoever extending the bottom of the cover not ending the elbow where it was meant to end), so here's a piccie of it just in case you might want to buy one for yourselves.  Also, below is the latest Facsimile Edition of Fantastic Four, the fourth in the series, so buy this one as well while you're at it!  Excelsior!!!

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OKAY, CRIVS - IT'S TIME FOR YOUR JAG...

Copyright REBELLION

Sometime back in the early or mid-'90s, I acquired a less-than-perfect issue of Jag #1, which I've never read to this day.  I found it at the bottom of the wardrobe in my back room the other night (at the same time as my Penny Comics Of The Thirties), which came as a surprise as I thought it was on the top shelf of a cupboard in my front room.  I've absolutely no recollection of having moved it, which demonstrates just how bad my memory is these days.

Anyway, Jag was a tabloid-sized (until its last few issues) weekly, launched in 1968 and which lasted for 48 issues into '69 before being merged with Tiger.  It also had four Annuals for 1970-'73.  My issue has creases and tears, and a couple of scribbled-on panels which I don't have the energy to completely tidy up, so I've restricted myself to minor digital 'repairs'.  I don't recall ever seeing this comic back in the day, though it's possible I did and have just forgotten.

Any of you older Crivs ever buy this periodical?  If so, what did you think of it?  Share your reminiscences with the rest of us, why don'tcha?!  We're all ears.  (Oh, and hands up if you'd like to see the free gift that came with this comic in a future post.)

PENNY COMICS Of The THIRTIES (1975)...

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I was considering a trip to Narnia when I found this periodical under a pile of others at the bottom of my wardrobe.  I remember buying this item from a newsagent's in the Old Village quarter of my town back in the mid-'70s and this is the actual issue purchased back then.  Unfortunately, the newsagent is no longer there, having been turned into something else a few short years ago, but I took photos of its interiors a couple or so decades back while it was still essentially much as it had been in 'my day'.

However, you're likely not interested in old and vanished newsagents, so let me get to the purpose of this post, which is to show you a publication which is now 50 years old.  This was a one-off, though it was intended as the first in a series, but obviously never sold well enough to continue, alas.  I wonder how many of the four comics contained within the cover were later sold individually as original '30s 'funny papers' by dishonest or unaware dealers, but it's probably a given it happened at some stage.

There might well be differences between these reprints and the originals, but one would need the latter-mentioned with which to compare to be sure, and they're not something in my possession.  Anyway, enjoy yet another enterprise by late comics historian Denis Gifford, short-lived as it was, and feel free to comment if you're of a mind to.

(Click on images to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.)   

BATMAN'S STRANGEST CASES - FACSIMILE EDITION...

Copyright DC COMICS

Can you guess what's misleading about the above cover, Crivs?  Well, Robin doesn't appear in any of the interior tales (I'm glad to say) so he really shouldn't be on the cover, now should he?!  Some great 'cases' in this Limited Collectors' Edition, though it's a shame the original didn't have more pages and include 'The Secret Of The Waiting Graves' as that's a pretty strange story.  I don't think I owned this one back in the day so it's good to finally be able to get my hands on this brand-spanking new DC Facsimile Edition in perfect condition.

Do you have a favourite among these five classic strips, effendis, or do you love them all equally?  Great stories and great art - what more could any rabid reader want from a comicbook?  The comments section awaits!

WEIRD MYSTERIES And EERIE TALES...

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Here's a couple of facsimile magazines I acquired recently that I don't think I've heard of before.  (I've heard of similar-sounding titles, but not these two in particular.)  Featuring artists such as Gray Morrow, George Tuska, Carl Burgos, Joe Orlando, Angelo Torres, Ken Battlefield, Bob Powell, and Paul Reinman, they contain some nicely illustrated strips.  The interior style reminds me of Mad Magazine, what with the typeset lettering, but these aren't humour mags.  Annoyingly, the lettering tends to dominate the artwork in a lot of instances and the resulting look is not exactly attractive or inviting, being, in fact, rather off-putting at times.

Tell you what, Crivs, I'll show you some examples and you can decide for yourself.  Ever have any of the originals and, if so, what did you think of them?  If not, are these mags you would buy today?  Let rip in the comments section if you'd be so good - it's what it was created for.  (Click images to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.)

BABE Of The DAY - CAROL DANVERS...

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Ain't she a Marvel!  'Nuff said!

The TERRIFIC TRIO - MARVEL FIRSTS...

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Look at what just arrived at Castel Crivens - 'Read 'em and weep!'

SUPERMAN #233 FACSIMILE EDITION...

Copyright DC COMICS

Number 1 Best-Selling Comics Magazine! proclaimed the cover of The Amazing New Adventures Of Superman #233 back in 1970/'71 - and it may even have been true at the time.  However, the huge numeral was really symbolic as it was the first issue in a new direction for the Man Of Steel, though some 'peripheral' changes had already been introduced in previous issues of the title, as well as its companion, Action Comics.  The mag was dated January, but had probably gone on sale around October or thereabouts, as it was (and still is) the custom to pre-date periodicals to give them a longer shelf-life.

Which brings us to the new DC Facsimile Edition of this landmark publication, which was previously released as an individual issue as part of the Millennium series way back in 2000/'01, though it didn't include the original ads and letters page as this latest presentation does.  (Nor did it include the next issue blurb and details at the foot of the last page, which were omitted for some reason.)  Despite the good job DC generally do with their current facsimile comics (and they seem to be getting better), it's a shame they can't be consistent in preserving the archival accuracy for posterity.

For instance, some 'Continued On 2nd Page Following' captions are included, some aren't, and where they're omitted, the art 'replacement' to fill the space they occupied isn't always the best it could be (though sometimes it's perfectly fine).  Some examples follow, with descriptions in footnotes under the panels.  For a clearer look at the smaller images, click to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.

From the original '71 printing, 'continued' box present

From the 2000/'01 Millennium and 2025 Facsimile Editions, 'continued' box removed

Same again.  Shame they forgot to draw in the loop on Superman's belt

For some reason they missed removing the 'continued' box in this panel

The original '71 printing

The 2000/'01 and 2025 printing

Comparing the left-hand side of both pages, it's clear the Millennium/Facsimile version has been

sourced from either a bound volume or published issue with pronounced spine roll, as the top and

bottom lettering has a curve to it and appears to have been retouched in the top caption.  Also, the

space between the floating captions and the panel borders narrows where the spine has curved

  

This is the same comic with a variant cover in the style of a Super Powers figure

And above, the original and the Facsimile side-by-side

******

Bonus: Star Wars #1 Facsimile Edition, which arrived at the same time as the Superman issue.  Just look at that barcode box - far too prominent and ruins the look of the cover, don'tcha think, Crivs?  Go on, somebody agree with me for a change.

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