Over the years I’ve seen many comics and owned a lot. And thanks to my decidedly obsessive nature with space I’ve gotten rid of a lot of comics. I’ve sold them, given them away, passed them on, cut them up for displays and even used a few as wallpaper (I was young, give me a break).
But now that I am old and I can look back with wonder at my youth I can also lament some of those comics that I had or remember reading. We’re all very fortunate right now to be living in an era where so much of the material published will be collected for posterity. But there are some notable exceptions. I was thinking rather obsessively about this the other day and started, as we aging men do, to make a list …….
But of course, a list is only as good as the listmaker’s memory. So it would be much better, thinks I, to open it up to various friends of the blog and see what we can all come up with. Of course, you can get involved as well – that’s what the comments box is for!
The only rules I set for it were:
The work had to have been published completely in the past. So take Big Numbers by Alan Moore off the list straight away.
Previously collected material is allowed as long as it’s almost impossible to get hold of now. (I’m thinking Brenden McCarthy’s Swimini Porpoise or Alan Moore’s Bojeffries Saga here).
Before I get started I must point out that this is pretty much identical to the Reprint This idea done by Hipster Dad. I only realised this when I tripped over his name and the idea on this FPI post when googling about Zenith. I hope nobody minds the duplication of ideas etc etc. Obviously you should all head over to his site for a little look-see as well.
That’s about it…. now on with the first, most obvious couple:
Marvelman / Miracleman. by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman et al
Possibly the most requested uncollected on the list. One of the biggest pieces of Alan Moore’s work that’s completely unavailable, this exploration of the Supehero mythology is sadly missing from too many shelves.
The four volumes by Alan Moore et al (Volumes 1-3) & Neil Gaiman & Mark Buckingham (Volume 4) have long been out of print. At some point in the future all of the various copyright and ownership problems are going to be resolved and we’ll finally see the reissuing of all 4 Miracleman books. (Although some notice would be nice and then I can get my copies onto Ebay). After that of course it would also be nice to let that lovely Mr Gaiman chap finish the story off like he planned to do all those years ago.
Marvelman links:
Wiki, The Super Miracle of Captain Marvelman, Sequart article, Cover Browser, Fictions, Hipster Dad’s Reprint This.
Zenith by Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell
Zenith’s back? Oh, how we wish it were so. Possibly the second most requested one on the list. This story of the Thatcherite superhero and more multiple Earths than even DC would no what to do with is much missed.
A few years ago the possibility of this getting back into print were quite high, and copies of volume 1 were sitting in a warehouse waiting for final go ahead. Unfortunately copyright disagreements between Morrisonand Fleetway/Rebellion have led to those copies, together with the plans for all of Zenith (including the as yet uncollected Phase V) being put into limbo.
Maybe sometime, but no signs of it being sorted soon.
Zenith Links:
Wiki, Zenith History, CBR article, Hipster Dad’s Reprint This.
And that’s it for now, just a tease at the idea. Next time we’ll theme it some more.
August 24th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
There’s so much collected these days that it is harder than I thought to come up with some suggestions.
Leaving aside a whole raft of European (Franquin) and British (The complete Jonah/Complete Bash Street Kids) and focusing on the comics of ‘my yoof’ I dragged up the following. I make no particular artistic claim for any of these but which would catch my eye if I saw them on a shelf (assuming they’re not already out there):
1) Reference to Big Numbers gets me thinking about what a big deal Bill Sienkiewicz was when he first emerged. His run on The New Mutants deserves a thin paperback at least, and I recall the first half-dozen post-Chaykin Shadows being particularly note-worthy. And back in the day Marvel took some risks there was the incomprehensible Stray Toasters.
2) Kirby. Just about everything he ever did is now out of being planned with the notable exception of his early 70s DC magazines. I know there’s a block on unpublished issues for this list, but I be I’m not the only one who’d like to see a fat, oversized, paperback collection Spirit World, In the Days of the Mod, and Soul Love/True Life Divorce Stories
3) Ditko’s Shade the Changing Man might have to wait until a new Vertigo series gets published to be reprinted, but it is a winner so far as I am concerned.
4) On the other hand I was surprised that, off the back of the recent mini, Bat Lash didn’t get an outing. It cannot be far off – after all, the Sekowsky Wonder Women series is being nicely re-done – but it can’t come soon enough.
5) Mr X. I can’t honestly say that this was actually much good (!) but the style of the series really caught the eye in the mid-80s. Zot has just been done, so I don’t see why this couldn’t similarly benefit.
6) Alack Sinner. A worthy companion piece to the likes of Criminal. Maybe one for the new DC Crime line?
7) And hundreds more!
August 24th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
George, Bat Lash is getting a reprint this winter from DC, I just added it to our webstore the other week their with DC’s latest forthcoming titles: http://www.forbiddenplanet.co......s_id=46686
August 24th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
George;
Bash Street Kids & Shadow – later on in the series.
Stray Toasters – that one is available from Graphitti as far as I know.
Mr X – deluxe collection coming very soon from Dark Horse – looks lovely: http://www.forbiddenplanet.co......s_id=45205
August 25th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Thanks chaps
That Mr X book looks lovely – and I’d totally forgotten the other artists involved, having been mostly interested in the Hernandez issues. It is a bit expensive though, so would really have to be a treat on a special occasion. Those Stray Toasters collections look very nice and similarly tempting.
Seeing Dean Motter mentioned brings up his Prisoner series for DC. Again, hardly a world beater, but worthy of book space on someone’s shelves.
So far as Batlash is concerned I should’ve been clearer – I meant the original series from the 60s (though the update is drawn by the evergreen John Severin so has to be worth a punt).
Cheers