"Why Collect Foreign Comics?" panel debut from HotKey Comics at MC3 Sunday May 21st 4 4

[Get Marwood & I]

On 5/31/2023 at 12:19 PM, HotKey said:

I like the Venn diagram! I just don't like the word "reprint" in the bottom right. In the diagram it would be technically correct, but that word carries such a negative connotation I try to avoid it unless I'm specifically talking about a country reprinting its own first editions.

I understand, but it's true - they do reprint original US material. That isn't a reason not to love them though. Many of the UK weeklies I bought as a kid had UK-unique covers but the internal stories were reprints of original US stories and it's important that that is understood. That's no reason to love them any less, however. I think you can draw out all the positives on international comics - first publications in non-US countries, unique covers, amended content etc - but you must also accept the inherent facts. I doubt there are many collectors of non-US comics who care that the books they collect have reprinted content. They love them for what they are. You love them. I love them. CGC's Matt Nelson loves them. That love doesn't change, go away or get distilled because of the fact that they only exist in the first instance because the US of A produced the original books from which they represent content. And it is only right that those original US books alone own the 'first printing / appearance' designations.

Your challenge, if you choose to accept it Shelby, is to balance the production facts with your love, positivity and knowledge of the books. You can present factual data without undermining your cause by saying things like this in your presentations "This copy of Die Fantastischen #229 is the first full appearance of Galactus in a German publication. It reprints the story originally presented in Marvel's Fantastic Four #49. Look at that wonderful alternative cover. How cool is that!"

In my view there is absolutely no reason why the words 'reprinted content' should diminish the book in any true comic lover's eyes. Facts, knowledge, love. Remove the negative connotation by embracing the facts alongside all the many positive points of interest. If you shy away from using the word 'reprint' due to a perceived negative connotation you can be accused of pulling the wool over peoples eyes and giving the impression that the books are 'first printings' or appearances. Remember - you agreed with my assertion that CGC should label applicable international comics as, for example, "the first appearance in Brazil". That is the only way you educate people. No unnecessary ambiguity or avoidance of inconvenient truths. Educate people in your presentations with facts and then Marvel (heh heh) at those goddam wonderful 'foreigns'! 

That's me done now - anything I say beyond this will only be repetition. If any of it helps, brilliant. If not, it was a fun debate. Again, good luck Shelby 

 

[rakehell]

All this talk of reprints has got me thinking about something. 

First Tank Girl?

Which makes this a reprint -

 Or is it the first US appearance of Tank Girl?

And what about this guy?

   

I agree with Marwood, Shelby. Don't get too hung up on the idea of what's a reprint & what isn't. I have none of the above comics, but they're all on my want list. 

 

[HotKey]

On 5/31/2023 at 9:43 AM, rakehell said:

All this talk of reprints has got me thinking about something. 

First Tank Girl?

Which makes this a reprint -

 Or is it the first US appearance of Tank Girl?

   

I tried to avoid this one because its a whole other can of worms

Did you know Boba Fett appeared in the UK over a month before SW 42 was released in the US?

So SW 42 American is a reprint. Magazine super special debate aside... 

From the article:

 The US issue 42 has the first US cover and regular size comic appearance of Boba Fett, but it came out on September 23rd, 1980. Issue 127 has the same opening splash page as 42 but came out on July 31st, 1980. He is not anywhere else in the story, but it is his first UK comic appearance.

Link: Boba UK

Have fun with this one

[OtherEric]

I have little to add to the discussion here... you may safely assume that in 99% of cases I agree with @Get Marwood & I- at least on this subject.

But I'm loving the debate even if I don't have anything to contribute to it.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 5/31/2023 at 5:48 PM, OtherEric said:

you may safely assume that in 99% of cases I agree with @Get Marwood & I

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Did he say only 99%...?

[OtherEric]

On 5/31/2023 at 9:56 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Did he say only 99%...?

Fine.  On this subject, 99.000000000000000000002%

Happy now?

[themagicrobot]

Quote

In my view there is absolutely no reason why the words 'reprinted content' should diminish the book in any true comic lover's eyes.

One person's reprint is another person's first chance to see. As with TV or Oldies Radio stations content just goes round and round. My first exposure to Golden Age DC was the (very welcome to me) reprints in the 80 page giants. Marvel Tales in the 1970s gave many people the first chance to complete a full run of Amazing Spider-Man stories when tracking down all the originals would have been too expensive/difficult pre Interweb. In the UK many people were first exposed to early 1960s Marvel product when it appeared in Marvel UK books and was already a decade old. Also in the UK many of our weekly comics were full of reprints although we didn't realise it at the time. The likes of DC Thompson's "Victor" perhaps recycled everything on a five year cycle interspersed with the odd new stories. I read somewhere that the company believed they could only hold a kid's attention for two or three years max so most issues were new to most readers. The concept of someone (like me) buying/reading Batman and Superman every month for 50 years hadn't been considered.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 5/31/2023 at 5:57 PM, OtherEric said:

Fine.  On this subject, 99.000000000000000000002%

Happy now?

 

[themagicrobot]

On 5/31/2023 at 6:06 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

 

I wonder what that 0.0000000000000000000098% difference of opinion comprises of?

[Get Marwood & I]

On 5/31/2023 at 6:17 PM, themagicrobot said:

I wonder what that 0.0000000000000000000098% difference of opinion comprises of?

I'm generally rubbish at maths, but wouldn't that be 0.999999999999999999998? 

                                                                           

[OtherEric]

On 5/31/2023 at 10:42 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

I'm generally rubbish at maths, but wouldn't that be 0.999999999999999999998? 

                                                                           

It’s wibbly wobbly timey wimey maths, clearly.

[Get Marwood & I]

On 5/31/2023 at 7:04 PM, OtherEric said:

It’s wibbly wobbly timey wimey maths, clearly.

Time can be reprinted! 

 

 

[rakehell]

On 5/31/2023 at 5:11 PM, HotKey said:

Did you know Boba Fett appeared in the UK over a month before SW 42 was released in the US?

Well now, I knew about this -

 It's been on my watch list for ages. Can't touch it for less than about £50 now.

This one was a bit of a surprise, I have to admit -

 Not something I was on the lookout for. It is now. 

On 5/31/2023 at 5:11 PM, HotKey said:

Magazine super special debate aside...

There is actually a sideline debate to this concerning the first edition of the novel-sized comic adaptation -

 Something about Yoda and a late artwork change. 

These are all tighter gaps than Tank Girl or Captain Britain, however. 2 years & 8 months and 1 year & 4 months, respectively.

[valiantman]

Ahh, the Boba Fett discussion.

Sadly, I rarely see the correct information anywhere. 

Boba Fett - in comic book art - first appeared in BOTH the Empire Strikes Back Marvel adaptation and the Empire Strikes Back Annual - May 1980

 (novel sized, U.S. and U.K. editions exist)  (magazine-sized hardcover, U.K. and Canadian editions exist)

These two publications are the earliest because they have "purple Yoda", the design used for artwork before the movie final version (green) was known.

CGC does not (currently) slab any publication with a purple Yoda (wrong size/format).

Marvel Super Special #16 and Marvel Special Edition #2 come next, dated "Spring 1980" but with the corrected green Yoda.

 Marvel Super Special #16 is the earliest CGC graded appearance of Boba Fett

Star Wars Weekly #129 (August 1980, U.K. only) has Boba Fett on the cover, earliest Boba Fett cover, at least 5th Boba Fett appearance (all four above are earlier).  CGC grades this.

Star Wars #42 (December 1980) has Boba Fett on the cover, at least 6th Boba Fett appearance and at least 2nd Boba Fett cover. CGC grades this. People regularly call this "first Boba Fett" based on nothing. 

Edited June 1, 2023 by valiantman

[Yorick]

Without too much digging and scanning, here's an example of True Tales of Love 28/9.

Not a price variant, but perhaps I may be allowed to call the L Miller book on the right, "Licensed US Material Printed in the UK"?  The hang-up seems to be the originating country of the material.  I like some of the examples above of non-US characters that were so big they eventually found audiences outside their home countries (Tintin, Asterisk, Tank Girl, etc).  How do you label those translated editions distributed in the USA?  Other languages outside the USA?  Reprints? Translated Reprint?  First Edition in Country XYZ?  Maybe the key is just to label the book by the publisher.

 

For my example image, I'd have a True Tales of Love #28, published by Timely Comics Inc, and a True Tales of Love #9, published by L. Miller & Son Ltd.

Just forget where the comic was published entirely.  Nothing is "foreign".  The continental plates keep moving anyway.  "Earth edition 2023".

[HotKey]

This is just another reason I love the world of foreign comics, you are always finding new things.

I just saw my first Irish price variants. Anyone know solid history on these?

 

[valiantman]

On 6/1/2023 at 2:25 PM, HotKey said:

This is just another reason I love the world of foreign comics, you are always finding new things.

I just saw my first Irish price variants. Anyone know solid history on these?

 

As mentioned earlier, the "WHEN" question is most important to me, and the answer is roughly 20 years after the originals.

[themagicrobot]

Not quite 20 years. The Marvel UK monthly "Pocket Books" or "Digests" were circa 1980/1981. It seems that in 1981 from No 16 X-Men and all the other titles (there may have been at least 8 digests per month) such as Chiller, Titans, Conan, Spider-man, FF, Star Heroes and a Romance one, and no doubt also the regular weeklies too, added an Irish price to the covers. Some of these digests for no obvious reason were twice the price with twice as many pages. 

PS: It is interesting to note that Ireland always charged VAT on books and periodicals whilst the UK never did and they remain VAT exempt here to this day.

Edited June 1, 2023 by themagicrobot

[themagicrobot]

And as this thread is about "foreign" comics it may be worth mentioning that UK comics were shipped to many other countries every week. See at the bottom of this Buster comic. Sometimes even more countries were listed.

[themagicrobot]

If you have one particular favourite character it is perhaps interesting to pick up a few different European titles that feature him or her. I wonder why they often don't keep the original names of the characters though? In Sweden they called Batman Laderlappen for quite a while. Editoriale Corno in Italy called Daredevil l'incredibile Devil. That seems odd as they also published l'Incredibile Hulk comics???

PS: In this particular Italian version of Daredevil they recoloured the early issues so his costume was always red and never yellow.

 

Edited June 2, 2023 by themagicrobot