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Roger Stern · 18 Sep 2004

FANTASTIC FOUR EPIC COLLECTION: ALL IN THE FAMILY TPB

(Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 17)

Written by STAN LEE, JIM SHOOTER, ROGER STERN, TOM DEFALCO, ROY THOMAS, STEVE ENGLEHART & CHRIS CLAREMONT
Penciled by JERRY ORDWAY, JOHN BUSCEMA, PAUL NEARY & JON BOGDANOVE
Cover by RON FRENZ & JOE SINNOTT

After a lengthy absence, the Thing returns to the Fantastic Four! But he’s returned just before his ex-girlfriend Alicia’s wedding to the Human Torch, and Alicia’s stepfather the Puppet Master isn’t happy about the nuptials! Then, when Mr. Fantastic turns down the X-Men’s request to help their dying teammate Shadowcat, Dr. Doom is more than happy to offer assistance! But is he secretly plotting to drive the FF apart? He’s certainly up to something when he kidnaps Franklin and offers him to Mephisto! And when Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman take a leave of absence, the old order changeth as the Torch’s old flame Crystal and the all-new Ms. Marvel join the team -- just in time to face down Diablo's vicious Elementals.

COLLECTING: Fantastic Four (1961) #296-307, Fantastic Four Annual #20; Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men #1-4

496 PGS/ RATED T … $34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-8865-0
On Sale: JANUARY 2014

CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION: DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT TPB

(CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 9)

Written by ROGER STERN, JOHN BYRNE, BILL MANTLO, JIM SHOOTER, DAVID MICHELINIE, AL MILGROM & JM DEMATTEIS
Penciled by JOHN BYRNE, GENE COLAN, LEE ELIAS, MIKE ZECK & ALAN KUPPERBERG
Cover by JOHN BYRNE & JOE RUBINSTEIN

Even for Captain America, life has rarely been this eventful! Battling the robotic Dragon Man above New York, considering running for President, and saving Manhattan from fiery destruction at Batroc and Mr. Hyde’s hands is all in a day’s work. And a trip to England proves to be no vacation either, as Cap encounters the vampire Baron Blood and the chilling Ghost of Greymoor Castle! Back home in the States, our hero learns that Hollywood plans to make a Captain America movie...the only problem is, his greatest foe, the Red Skull, has a very different script in mind! Finally, Cap has to prevent Morgan MacNeil Hardy from rewriting the American dream.

COLLECTING: Captain America (1968) #247-266 and Captain America Annual #5

496 PGS/ RATED T … $34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-8866-7
On Sale: FEBRUARY 2014

AVENGERS: ABSOLUTE VISION BOOK 2

Written by ROGER STERN
Penciled by AL MILGROM, CARMINE INFANTINO, BOB HALL & STEVE DITKO
Cover by BOB HALL & JOE RUBINSTEIN

The Vision takes command! As many of Earth's Mightiest are whisked away to fight in the Secret Wars, the newly assertive synthezoid seizes the chair. He has changes in store when the heroes return, not least his idea for a new team of Avengers on the West Coast. But there are Dire Wraiths and demons to deal with back East, not to menti on an army of Hulks and Thanos' monstrous minions the Blood Brothers! Hercules and Black Knight return to the fold, while Starfox discovers an uncanny connection to the Eternals just in time to face the menace of Maelstrom. But as Vision's true plan unfolds, are even two teams of Avengers enough to handle one of their own?

COLLECTING: Avengers (1963) #242-254 and Avengers Annual #13

392 PGS/Rated T…$39.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-8535-2
On Sale Date: March 25, 2014

Roger Stern · 18 Sep 2004

Updated from Marvel's January 2014 Solicitations ...

CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION: DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT TPB

(CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 9)

Written by ROGER STERN, JOHN BYRNE, BILL MANTLO, JIM SHOOTER, DAVID MICHELINIE, AL MILGROM & JM DEMATTEIS
Penciled by JOHN BYRNE, GENE COLAN, LEE ELIAS, MIKE ZECK & ALAN KUPPERBERG
Cover by JOHN BYRNE & JOE RUBINSTEIN

Even for Captain America, life has rarely been this eventful! Battling the robotic Dragon Man above New York, considering running for President, and saving Manhattan from fiery destruction at Batroc and Mr. Hyde’s hands is all in a day’s work. And a trip to England proves to be no vacation either, as Cap encounters the vampire Baron Blood and the chilling Ghost of Greymoor Castle! Back home in the States, our hero learns that Hollywood plans to make a Captain America movie...the only problem is, his greatest foe, the Red Skull, has a very different script in mind! Finally, Cap has to prevent Morgan MacNeil Hardy from rewriting the American dream.

COLLECTING: Captain America (1968) #247-266 and Captain America Annual #5

496 PGS/ RATED T … $34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-8866-7

Li'l Jay · 28 May 2006

Again, right in the old wheelhouse. I may have to get this one, though I do have most of the issues right here.

RobertSwanderson · 01 Jan 2007

That Donzer's Lelight story looks good.

Fraxon! · **Joined:** 22 Aug 2004 **Posts:** 40603

Gotta say, I'm digging the look of these Epic Collections. :ohyes:

Li'l Jay · 28 May 2006

Fraxon! wrote:

Gotta say, I'm digging the look of these Epic Collections. :ohyes:

I haven't seen them in person yet, as they're new. How does that volume numbering system work? As in, the Captain America one is #9. Does that mean there should one day be 8 other Cap volumes, or is there a sequential volume numbering system that cuts across the whole line, and getting all the volume numbers would get you different runs from different characters.

Li'l Jay · 28 May 2006

I googled around and found the answers in an interview:

Quote:

CE SPOTLIGHT: The Thor and Iron Man books don't start from "the beginning", i.e. the first issues and appearances of each character. The Iron Man book collects almost all of Ol' Shellhead's comics from 1982-1983, while the Thor volume picks up where Walter Simonson left off, the very beginning of the Tom DeFalco/Ron Frenz run in 1987-1988. So what's the philosophy of Epic Collection going forward? Are you going to go chronologically from those points forward, or try to bounce around eras?

DAVID: Interesting right? This is where people will at first act frustrated, then, when they catch on I think they'll be as enthusiastic as we are. We'll be bouncing around in different eras getting out stories that we want to see in print and haven't necessarily been in print yet (because that would just be repetitive), or long runs that have never been collected together in one volume. This will be like starting a giant puzzle on your shelves (for those that like this sort of thing). So for example Iron Man Epic Collection "Vol. 10" appears one month telling the stories from 1982, the next volume might be "Vol. 5" presenting the stories from Iron Man #47-67, and so on across our biggest character lines. (Reminds me of collecting the old Marvel Value Stamps as a kid when they didn't come out in numerical order.)

CE SPOTLIGHT: The titles of the Amazon listings don't indicate they will be sorted by "Volume" identifiers. How are you handling that?

DAVID: Volume numbers will definitely appear on the back cover and we're currently considering if and how we would use them on the spine design. One the one hand, we want that collector's mentality of having a long run of numbers, but on the other hand there are still many people who won't want to see a "Volume 18" all alone on their shelf. We're leaning towards using a section of the back as the "racking", or organizing, tool. We certainly wouldn't mind fan input on this subject, though, so we can see if we there is early support for one way or another.

http://www.collectededitions.com/marvel ... 41213.html

Marcus · 27 Nov 2004

Fraxon! wrote:

Gotta say, I'm digging the look of these Epic Collections. :ohyes:

They do look nice. With plans to sell my comics these collections, if they stay in print, may be a good way to replace them if I miss the comics.

Rawburn · 24 Sep 2004

Do the Epic collections replace the Essentials? Oh wait, these are in colour right?

Fraxon! · **Joined:** 22 Aug 2004 **Posts:** 40603

Rawburn wrote:

Do the Epic collections replace the Essentials? Oh wait, these are in colour right?

The only thing I'd change is to put the volume # on the spine, but I like that it isn't just a straight reprinting of the main title, and that they're putting in stuff that directly ties into it as well.

Li'l Jay · 28 May 2006

Rawburn wrote:

Do the Epic collections replace the Essentials? Oh wait, these are in colour right?

It is intended as the color version for the Essentials type reader.

But I think they've learned from experience -- one the one hand, having to wait through years worth of volumes to get to a particular "epic run" is not good. But at the same time, the "completeness compulsion" for collectors tends toward having volume numbers and a sequential set. So they are giving it sequential volume numbers, but hopping around as needed to keep the best runs up front.

Ocean Doot · 25 Oct 2007

Li'l Jay wrote:

Rawburn wrote:

Do the Epic collections replace the Essentials? Oh wait, these are in colour right?

It is intended as the color version for the Essentials type reader.

But I think they've learned from experience -- one the one hand, having to wait through years worth of volumes to get to a particular "epic run" is not good. But at the same time, the "completeness compulsion" for collectors tends toward having volume numbers and a sequential set. So they are giving it sequential volume numbers, but hopping around as needed to keep the best runs up front.

Pretty dang awesome.

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

I think I'm still confused.

Ocean Doot · 25 Oct 2007

You have to read all the captions.

Li'l Jay · 28 May 2006

Steve wrote:

I think I'm still confused.

It's color essentials, with volume numbers, but they're not starting with Volume 1. They're jumping around with the order of publication. But the volume numbers will be chronological based on original publication. So the first Captain America is Volume 9, because it's in 1980-82. One day there will be volumes 1-8. But they'll get to it when they feel like it.

I think your brain is rejecting it because of your anal-boy-completeness thing where you go back and start as far back as possible to get to one good comic book. :thumbsup:

Jeff · 05 Oct 2006

Li'l Jay wrote:

Steve wrote:

I think I'm still confused.

It's color essentials, with volume numbers, but they're not starting with Volume 1. They're jumping around with the order of publication. But the volume numbers will be chronological based on original publication. So the first Captain America is Volume 9, because it's in 1980-82. One day there will be volumes 1-8. But they'll get to it when they feel like it.

I think your brain is rejecting it because of your anal-boy-completeness thing where you go back and start as far back as possible to get to one good comic book. :thumbsup:

This is how Fantagraphics is doing the Barks library, and I like it. You don't have to wait for the "best" stories.

Steve · 21 Oct 2004

Li'l Jay wrote:

Steve wrote:

I think I'm still confused.

It's color essentials, with volume numbers, but they're not starting with Volume 1. They're jumping around with the order of publication. But the volume numbers will be chronological based on original publication. So the first Captain America is Volume 9, because it's in 1980-82. One day there will be volumes 1-8. But they'll get to it when they feel like it.

I think your brain is rejecting it because of your anal-boy-completeness thing where you go back and start as far back as possible to get to one good comic book. :thumbsup:

Yes. I can't buy volume #9 of something first. My hands won't move.

Roger Stern · 18 Sep 2004

Updated from Marvel's February Solicitations:

AVENGERS: ABSOLUTE VISION BOOK 2 TPB
Written by ROGER STERN
Penciled by AL MILGROM, CARMINE INFANTINO, IAN AKIN, BRIAN GARVEY, BOB HALL & STEVE DITKO
Cover by BOB HALL
The Vision takes command! As many of Earth’s Mightiest are whisked away to fight in the Secret Wars, the newly assertive synthezoid seizes the chair. He has changes in store when the heroes return, not least his idea for a new team of Avengers on the West Coast. But there are Dire Wraiths and demons to deal with back East, not to mention an army of Hulks and Thanos’ monstrous minions the Blood Brothers! Hercules and Black Knight return to the fold, while Starfox discovers an uncanny connection to the Eternals just in time to face the menace of Maelstrom. But as Vision’s true plan unfolds, are even two teams of Avengers enough to handle one of their own? Collecting AVENGERS (1963) #242-254 and ANNUAL #13.
392 PGS./Rated T …$39.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-8535-2
On-Sale 3/12/14

FINAL ORDER CUT-OFF DATE: 1/27/14

(You know the drill.)
-- Uncle Rog

Greg McPhee · 11 May 2011

Glad the CA Epic collection starts with the Roger Stern / John Byrne run and goes in to the J.M. DeMatteis / Mike Zeck run. It was at that point since Steve Englehart left that I felt the title started getting back on track, and that continued right through Mark Gruenwald's run and to Mark Waid's run. The in-between years from Englehart to Stern / JB were too hit-and-miss.

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