20 years of Baltimore Comic-Con Program BooksSteve C writes:
BALTIMORE COMIC-CON 2001 (28 Oct 2001)
Baltimore, Maryland
A page from the Baltimore Comic-Con program book: Twenty years of program book covers. I'm thrilled to be included among such admirable and excellent cartoonists...
George Perez, Steranko, Frank Cho, George Perez, Brandon Christopher Peterson, John Romita, Frank Cho, Frank Cho, Mike Mignola, Brandon Peterson, George Perez, Barry Kitson, Steve Hamaker, David Petersen, George Perez, Walt Simonson, Francesco Francavilla, Kevin Eastman, Jamar Nicholas, Sean Chen and Chris Ivy, and Steve Conley
Posted by Vu Nguyen
Pipeline, Issue #387
Tuesday November 9, 2004
written by Augie De Blieck Jr.
(excerpt)
MARVEL GETS COLLECTION MANIA IN 2005
Marvel has so many series that it
becomes far too easy to confuse them all. That's what happened last
week when I confused the LOKI mini-series with THOR: SON OF ASGARD. The
LOKI that's being collected is, indeed, the four issue mini. It is
complete in one volume. Sorry for any confusion.
This past week, Marvel released a
provisional publishing schedule for its 2005 collections through May.
There is a lot to look forward to, and a lot of personal buying habits
to rearrange.
If you're a hardcover junkie like I am,
you'll have a fourth such collection of ULTIMATE X-MEN and a second
FANTASTIC FOUR collecting the Waid/Wieringo era in February. AVENGERS
ASSEMBLE collects a second batch of the Busiek/Perez-era series, and
SUPREME POWER's first 12 issues are under one cover in March. April
brings us a BEST OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR hardcover, with stories from all
the major eras of the series. Consider it your gift suggestion for when
the movie hits the theaters. It has a nice selection of stories
spanning all eras. There are also new MARVEL MASTERWORKS volumes, as
well as STAN LEE and STEVE DITKO special editions, but I can't get too
excited about those. Call it a personal failing if you must.
A gorgeous, substantial hardcover, AVENGERS ASSEMBLE collects AVENGERS #1-
11 and ANNUAL 1998, with the stellar art of George Pérez and fine
storytelling of Kurt Busiek. This deluxe collection features the greatest
heroes of the Marvel Universe—including Captain America, Iron Man and
Thor—in action-packed full-color stories. And at $29.99 it's a great value!
Another Avengers collection, LIVING LEGENDS, also arrived this week, with
"outstanding, detailed artwork by Pérez—man, can he draw superheroes!" -
Bud.
Recommended. By Kurt Busiek. Illustrated by George Pérez. The Avengers
embark on one of their strongest eras ever! Busiek and Pérez have renovated
the comic book field with such works as Astro City and New Teen Titans; now
see their take on Earth's Mightiest Heroes. We really love Pérez's fine
artwork on this thick new collection! Collects AVENGERS #1-11 and ANNUAL
1998.
Product code: AVH. Your price: $29.99
They got it right with this one. All the
credits are correctly displayed on the contents page. Avengers roster
are correct (just enough characters for unfamiliar readers). All the
covers of AVENGERS for that year, including ALL variant covers
(including the Wizard cover, with a different background color), unpublished covers ("Wanda in Chains"), and, as a special bonus, the 30th Anniversary Poster recolored for this collected edition.
Another bonus is that AVENGERS ROUGH CUT is also included in this massive collection.
But wait, these's even more. A new
introduction by Kurt Busiek, and the original correspondence between
Tom Brevoort & Busiek early in development of the new Avengers
series. It is pretty fascinating to see issue by issue plot overview
for the first year (#1-12).
I do have two complaints, however.
Obviously, the absent new material from George Pérez, I would've liked
to see maybe even a little foreword, or photographs of the two creators
together, or something ? The second complaint is (at least on my copy
of the book), that chapter 11 suffered from either a poor printing
source (it looks like a 2nd or 3rd generation film as it's
blurry/colors are awful), or that the printer just broke down on
chapter 11. It's still readable, but compared to the very crisp
printing of the first 10 chapters of the book, it simply looks bad.
I absolutely love Marvel's collected
paper, it's glossy and thick and colors are rich, unlike the poorly
produced newsprint of DC's cheap trade. I am mentioning this because if
DC & Marvel published the same book and DC uses the newsprint,
they'd somehow charge the same price. I don't know how Marvel is doing
it, but the quality of the paper doesn't affect their prices.
Again, the Avengers Assemble Hardcover
is worth your $29.99. Value-wise, it's great because if you add up the
three previous trade, it comes up to about $50 (and they're all
softcover!). I do not know why DC or Marvel doesn't do more of these
yearly collection. I realized that not every series will break well by
12 issues (and the annual), but still... I would love to see more of
these massive collections. I'm betting that #12-23, and Annual #2 will
be around the corner if enough fans buy this book and write and ask for
it. I'm asking for it!
Think of it this way, television DVD
Season collections vs Television "singles". I know for a fact that I
would never touch these single DVDs. If I work it out, buying the
singles you probably end up paying as much, if not more, than a boxset.
Also, you do not get all the special packaging of the boxset. There's
many factors, but basically it comes down to this: I do want it all in
one nice package.
The following products are expected to ship to comic book
specialty stores this week. Note that this list is tentative
and subject to change. Please check with your retailer for
availability.
MAY041713 AVENGERS ASSEMBLE HC $29.99
Jun 07, 2004 06:34 pm | Diamond Covers Assembe Disassemble
Marvel Assembles "Avengers Disassemble" Lead-in Projects
The
beginning of the end for the Marvel Universe's mightiest super-team is drawing
closer in three upcoming Marvel Comics projects. Thor #82 (MAY041636,
$2.99) will introduce its new creative team - writer Michael Avon Oeming &
artist Andrea DiVito - and a new direction with a tie-in to the big "Avengers
Disassemble"event that will force Thor to endure the ordeals of Odin in
order to save Asgard.
The Avengers Assemble HC (MAY041713, $29.99) will
collect the acclaimed Avengers#1-#11 and Avengers Annual
'98 by another super-team: Kurt Busiek & George Pérez, with
Carlos Pacheco.
Lastly, the 48-page Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe:
Avengers 2004 (MAY041637, $3.99) will provide current and new Avengers
readers with complete profiles of more than 20 past & present members,
wrapped in a cover by Salvador Larroca, and digitally painted by Richard
Isanove. The Handbook and Thor #82 are slated to ship on July 7,
followed by the HC on July 14. A 24" x 36" Avengers #500 Poster
(MAY041709, $5.95), drawn by David Finch, is also offered, and scheduled to ship
on July 14.
May 20, 2004 12:03 am | Avengers 30th Anniversary Recolored
Special thanks to Outpost 2000 for lending me this DIAMOND DIALOGUE (May 2004), published by Diamond.
The feature ran for one full page and
covers the Avengers Disassembled Event (spotlighting on the various
crossover issues like Thor and Iron Man).
The bottom half of the page spotlight on
various collected Avengers books, basically trying to tell retailers to
order heavy on these books in case converts from the Disassembled fans
decide to want to read more about the Avengers.
>>>
Avengers TPs, HCs Introduce Readers to Earth's Mightiest Heroes
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE HC
(Jul 2004)
AVENGERS: LIVING LEGENDS TPB
(Jul 2004)
This
summer's Avengers Disassembled event is sure to have True Believers
spellbound by the events therein and "New" Believers eager to find out
more about the team at the center of the storm. Retailers can take
advantage of this potentially lucrative opportunity by offering new and
backlist Avengers trade paperbacks to give curious customers everything
they need to know about Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
AVENGERS
ASSEMBLE HC (DCD: MAY041713D4, UPC: 75960611573000111) - This mammoth
384-page hardcover edition collects the seminal work of two Avengers
legends: Kurt Busiek and George Pérez. These consummate storytellers
relaunched Avengers, cementing their positions at the top of the
creator charts! The recent JLA/Avengers series has propelled
the two to even greater heights and this volume will only complement
their popularty and further whet fans' appetites.
AVENGERS:
LIVING LEGENDS TPB (7DCD: MAY041715D4, UPC: 5960611561700111) -
This 208-page trade represents the final collection of issues by Kurt
Busiek and George Perez: Avengers #23-30. this run finds Earth's
Mightiest Heroes encountering Juggernaut, ancient sorcerer Kulan Gath
and even each other!
PREVIEWS OF JUNE 2004
Friday April 30, 2004
Pipeline Previews for July 2004
written by
Augie De Blieck Jr.
(excerpt)
Marvel, in the meantime, is churning out
more stuff, most of which you saw last month. This month, however, the
issue numbers have been incremented! The big news is the "Avengers
Disassembled" storyline starting up with AVENGERS #500. I'm not quite
sure how much I care at this point.
The book from Marvel that I'm most
excited about is AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, the hardcover collection of Kurt
Busiek and George Perez's first year together on the title. It contains
issues #1-11, plus the Pacheco-drawn ANNUAL '98. It is well timed,
coinciding with the JLA/AVENGERS hardcover the following month and the
"Avengers Disassemble" event in July. I wonder if DC is ticked off that
Marvel is producing a hardcover Busiek/Perez AVENGERS hardcover mere
weeks before their expensive AVENGERS/JLA hardcover hits stands?
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE HC
Written by Kurt Busiek
Illustrated by George Pérez with Carlos Pacheco
Cover by George Pérez
The Avengers embark on one of their
strongest eras ever! Kurt Busiek and George Pérez have renovated the
comic-book field with such works as Astro City and New Teen Titans,
respectively; now, see their take on Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Fresh
from the Heroes Reborn fiasco, the Avengers find themselves thrown into
yet another alternate reality, under the power of Morgan Le Fay!
Meanwhile, on the home front, the Squadron Supreme challenges their
very identities! Collects AVENGERS #1-11 and ANNUAL '98.
AVENGERS: LIVING LEGENDS TPB
Written by KURT BUSIEK
Pencils by GEORGE PÉREZ with STUART IMMONEN
Cover by GEORGE PÉREZ
The long-awaited final collection of
AVENGERS issues by the legendary team of writer Kurt Busiek and artist
George Pérez finds Earth's Mightiest Heroes on the outs! They've shared
the same brain patterns – and loved the same woman. Now, Wonder Man and
the Vision go head to-head! Can the Scarlet Witch possibly pick a side?
Next, the Avengers encounter the Juggernaut – but as foe…or friend?!
And Cap leads the all-new team of Silverclaw, Warbird, Captain Marvel
and Ant-Man into all-out action! Finally, the Avengers battle ancient
sorcerer Kulan Gath amid a nation lost in time! Can they avert his
attempt to turn back the clock on humanity? Collects AVENGERS #23-30.
AVENGERS #1 (Feb 1998)
AVENGERS: ROUGH CUT (Jul 1998)
MARVEL COMICS ANNUAL 2001 (UK) (2000)
DIAMOND DIALOGUE, page 14
(May 2004)
