Kirby Question 1 1

[comicginger1789]

So….a YouTuber recently shared the following information. Apparently during Kirby stint with DC from 1971-1975, Marvel actually printed more Kirby material than DC did, even though Kirby was not working for Marvel. The guy sites “reprints and trade paperbacks that were coming out at that time” from Marvel.

So my question is what “trade paperbacks” came out from 1971-1975? Were those pocket books being published then? That’s the only one I could think of. As for reprints, perhaps Marvels Greatest Comics and Double Action (reprints of Kirby stories in FF and Cap) were more heavily printed? I had just never heard this…I get reprinted comics but am I missing and “trade paperbacks” published during this era?

 

[bronze_rules]

Origins and Son of Origins were pretty big.

Origins of Marvel Comics - Wikipedia

Edited October 6, 2023 by bronze_rules

[thehumantorch]

Reprints?  Quite a few.  Marvel Spectacular, Marvel Triple Action, Marvel Double Feature, Amazing Adventures, all of the horror titles like Chamber of Chills and Where Monsters Dwell, and I think some of the Westerns like Kid Colt were reprinting the 50s  content.  Probably a bunch more as Kirby was a powerhouse and Marvel has never been shy about reprinting their books.

[bronze_rules]

On 10/5/2023 at 8:20 PM, thehumantorch said:

Reprints?  Quite a few.  Marvel Spectacular, Marvel Triple Action, Marvel Double Feature, Amazing Adventures, all of the horror titles like Chamber of Chills and Where Monsters Dwell, and I think some of the Westerns like Kid Colt were reprinting the 50s  content.  Probably a bunch more as Kirby was a powerhouse and Marvel has never been shy about reprinting their books.

Oh yeah. Reprinted comics? ton.

[thehumantorch]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:20 PM, bronze_rules said:

Origins and Son of Origins were pretty big.

I still remember buying those new.  Along with the first Spider-man Super-man treasury.  Wonderful stuff

[bronze_rules]

On 10/5/2023 at 8:24 PM, thehumantorch said:

I still remember buying those new.  Along with the first Spider-man Super-man treasury.  Wonderful stuff

me too. I saw them in a waldenbooks ? in the mall. Wouldn't leave store. Parents bought for christmas. Those were beat to death from reading. I loved loved them. Had the Christmas Treasuries too.

Edited October 6, 2023 by bronze_rules

[thehumantorch]

On 10/5/2023 at 9:26 PM, bronze_rules said:

me too. I saw them in a kb? bookseller in the mall. Wouldn't leave store. Parents bought for christmas. Those were beat to death from reading. I loved loved them. Had the Christmas Treasuries too.

Ditto.  Still have them all.

[World Devourer]

On 10/6/2023 at 2:27 PM, thehumantorch said:

Ditto.  Still have them all.

Heh. The old Treasury Editions. Good times for kids. I had a Batman Edition I loved.

Edited October 7, 2023 by World Devourer

[comicginger1789]

On 10/5/2023 at 11:20 PM, thehumantorch said:

Reprints?  Quite a few.  Marvel Spectacular, Marvel Triple Action, Marvel Double Feature, Amazing Adventures, all of the horror titles like Chamber of Chills and Where Monsters Dwell, and I think some of the Westerns like Kid Colt were reprinting the 50s  content.  Probably a bunch more as Kirby was a powerhouse and Marvel has never been shy about reprinting their books.

That makes sense then, reprinted comics. I just didn’t get why the guy would refer to them as trade paperbacks because they were just comics. And I can see marvel printing more than what DC was for his current titles at the time 

[Ken Aldred]

Marvel UK, from 1973 onwards, reprinted Kirby’s Silver Age super-hero work from FF 1 upwards too.

That’s where I started as a comics fan.

Edited October 6, 2023 by Ken Aldred

[rlextherobot]

On 10/5/2023 at 8:53 PM, comicginger1789 said:

That makes sense then, reprinted comics. I just didn’t get why the guy would refer to them as trade paperbacks because they were just comics. And I can see marvel printing more than what DC was for his current titles at the time 

As mentioned above, Origins and Son of Origins, not to mention Bring on the Bad Guys were early versions of what we would think of as trade paperbacks, ie collections of previously printed material bound into a softcover book and available at bookstores. The guy in the video wasn't incorrect, although I'm not sure if trade paperback was the term being used by fans or the industry back then.

[shadroch]

Marvel flooded the stands with reprints in the 1970s because of demand for their 1960s material. Kirby, Ditko, Heck, Romita, and Ayers all had books reprinted as it was cheap and easy to republish.  Ayers was the one who got screwed as he was still drawing new Sgt Fury material when the book switched to reprints. His work got cut in half, along with his paycheck. I don't think any of the others were still drawing for Marvel regularly.

I read somewhere that because of the paper shortages of the mid-1970s, Marvel tried to corner the market on the rag paper used for comics, and they tied up the presses at World Press so other companies couldn't expand their lines.

Edited October 6, 2023 by shadroch

[LazySundayComics]

On 10/6/2023 at 7:43 AM, shadroch said:

Marvel flooded the stands with reprints in the 1970s because of demand for their 1960s material. Kirby, Ditko, Heck, Romita, and Ayers all had books reprinted as it was cheap and easy to republish.  Ayers was the one who got screwed as he was still drawing new Sgt Fury material when the book switched to reprints. His work got cut in half, along with his paycheck. I don't think any of the others were still drawing for Marvel regularly.

i read a recent article on Ayers that was really depressing, right here: “What about the Darlin’ One?” How Ayers was blacklisted and slandered by Marvel – Four Color Sinners (wordpress.com)
 

[KCOComics]

On 10/8/2023 at 8:17 AM, LazySundayComics said:

i read a recent article on Ayers that was really depressing, right here: “What about the Darlin’ One?” How Ayers was blacklisted and slandered by Marvel – Four Color Sinners (wordpress.com)
 

Great, albeit sad, article.  Thank you for sharing. 

Adam's is well known for championing the rights of artists, but I never heard this particular story. 

I bought this piece of art a few years ago and never plan to part with it. It was Ayers drawing a soldier in 1955 apparantly for a friend?  By that time he was pretty well established with Ghost Rider and a host of war, romance and atomic age comics.

But I always loved this early soldier, from the guy who would be best known for drawing comic book's most famous soldier.