CGC Members Choice : Greatest Golden Age Omnibus/ Reprint book ever Published and Why! 1 1

[Mmehdy]

 Prior to the CGC coming on board the real only way to get to read large numbers of GA comic books were newsstand reprints such as Fantasy Masterpieces and Giant Superman/Batman Annuals. Marvel took a bold move and printed Cap 1-10 in a two hardcover box set and and then things just exploded. I really think for GA board members its very important to have the source material for the inside of the your great CGC graded comics...and we all know all reprints are not created equally. I believe I have bought over 50 GA reprint books including the Giant Captain Marvel Book which was a very early and possibly the first giant size comic art book, and many many more.Too many to name here. But If I had to   one book, both for quality and completeness then here my choice and it was very very tough:

 "Timely's greatest: The Golden Age Simon and Kirby" 840 pages of the best restored GA comic book history for only $100 currently on Amazon and probably even less from "cheap graphic novels". Not only does this book contain Cap 1-10, it included all the Vision stories and great MM covers for each issue 12-25. I marveled at the S&K Red Raven #1 stories with greater appreciation, loved the Daring Mystery comics #1 classic cover and the insides of1 -3, 6-8. They also included the Cap stories from All Winners 1 and 2, as well as material from USA comics 1-3, Human Torch 2, and Young Allies #1.

 The restoration and quality of the recent Marvel Omnibus's have taken a giant leap forward when I compared it to the Cap 1-10 box set which was 15 years ago or something like that to the increased size and color...hard to compete with 2019 publishing. Marvel has continued it win streak with the "Complete Kirby War and Romance" which published in 2021 and  Amazon is giving that away at only $52 bucks but again it comes with all the early 50's  romance and war and all the Sgt Fury covers and stories this is more of  Late GA /SA type crossover. But you get my idea. I am sure there are some unknown gems out there That I or other board members do not know about...please share your choice so that everyones GA collection can become better!....Remember Christmas is coming and we need to get ourselves a little something for 2022!

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Mmehdy

[Cat-Man_America]

Great idea for a thread. Reprinting comics is tricky because sometimes it's impossible to get the art and color right and oversized formats can introduce flaws in respect to reproduction. 

My viewpoint on the Marvel/Timely Omnibus series is a bit mixed.  Love the extras, including house ads, pulp covers (in the first Marvel Mystery Omnibus), Sentinels of Liberty promotional materials and all the additional information including artist and writing credits.  Where I have some reservations (nits to pick, so to speak) are in respect to oversaturated colors and lost detail which doesn't look ...to my eyes... that much like the original comics. I'm probably being too hypercritical here as the Herculean effort involved in the restoration work which has been done is nothing short of amazing and given all the extras provided deserves unreserved commendation.  It's just that the color and reproduction of line work doesn't really convey the atmosphere and subtlety present in the original comics.  

As Omnibus's go my benchmark remains the beautiful Taschen two volume Winsor McCay: Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland that came in a carrier with handle (given it's size and weight it probably should've been an aircraft carrier).  The beautiful color reproduction and atmospheric flavor of the early 20th century creative art is in full bloom.  Technically, this probably shouldn't apply to this thread as it's Platinum Age rather than GA, but that'll be someone else's nit to pick!  

 

[Ameri]

Some panels in the 1990 Captain America: The Classic Years slipcase were altered by the restorers. Here's a panel that showed Bucky's anatomy doodled in yellow and a yellow 8 ball drawn on the forehead of the guy holding the gun on Cap. These first editions were recalled and the panels were corrected. Naughty naughty

[Ameri]

I don't know if I have one favorite reprint book, but I always get a kick out of all the printing variations with each succeeding reprint. Here's a favorite. 3 reprints and they all look different. The 1990 hardcover reprint was muddy. The 2004 Masterwork version was washed out. The 2009 Omnibus comes closest to the original, at least in terms of sharpness, but the colors are not quite right on some panels and we have a red-haired Torch. Apparently, something about red hair was mentioned in another panel so the Torch was colored with red hair. Not sure of the details anymore. Does anyone know the reason?

Edited October 22, 2022 by Ameri

[Ameri]

I have these reprints. So cheap compared to the originals and you get all the stories in sequential order. Fun fun fun 

[Cat-Man_America]

On 10/21/2022 at 10:59 PM, Ameri said:

Some panels in the 1990 Captain America: The Classic Years slipcase were altered by the restorers. Here's a panel that showed Bucky's anatomy doodled in yellow and a yellow 8 ball drawn on the forehead of the guy holding the gun on Cap. These first editions were recalled and the panels were corrected. Naughty naughty

I have one of those slipcased first editions, purchased just before the recall. They're fairly rare since the recall was immediate.