Expert: Nicolas - 3/13/2005

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hey nicolas
i'm a huge fan of marvel super heroes and villans but the only taste of them i can get is in the new marvel movies(spider-man,x-men,dare devil etc.)but all of those movies are rewriten and modernized. i want to get deep into the origins of my favorite heroes but its not exactly like i can go to the nearest comic book store and pick up spider-man issue no. 1. so my question is has marvel ever re-released the classics with the origanal dialog from the first versions? if so where can i find them all? i need this please help.    
Answer -
Hi :

Sorry for the delay in responding but I was out of town until yesterday.

I fully empathize with your question as I am as well always anxious to discover how a character i know from comic books will be treated by Hollywood.

Have faith if you were diasppointed in the movies : many of the original stories have been released in trade paperbacks :

Marvel released the Masterworks Series (in both softcover & hardcover format i believe). I guess that as much as 50 volumes have been released to date and include many of the original & early runs/stories of Thor, Spider Man, X Men, Hulk, etc.

As for DC, they also followed the same course and reprinted in trade paperbacks (called Archive Editions) many of the original stories of the Golden/Silver Age heroes such as Atom, Challengers of the Unkonwn, Adam Strange, etc.

You can find them either in specialty comic stores and more and more in large mainstream bookshops.

The hardcover format can be pricey (up to 50$) but they are really high quality books. If you are mostly interested in stories, go for the softcover editions.

I hope this was useful.

Best

Nicolas
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thank you very much for that info but still have one more question i was wondering what the "Essential" marvel comics are(eg. Essential spider man)? is the dialog tampered with or is it all the original writing?is the art work re-done? please answer any of thease questions you can thanks man you've already been a huge help.   


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Hi :

You would think that the essential books are those who get the attention of Hollywood. Partly true.

Usually, with these reprints, dialog is not tampered with, colors are much better (sometimes a little bright) and paper is much better of course. Artwork is never redesigned, that would be a crime. I am not aware of any books where artwork has been redone.

My own recommendation : as far as Marvel is concerned, anything that Jack Kirby contributed to create or created is worth reading, namely Fantastic Four, Thor, X Men. Spiderman is OK if you like real life heroes, I am not such a big fan.

The early issues are not always the best by the way. Take Daredevil, the best issues are the Miller years 5around issue 180+). Those books were reprinted, go and get them...

Regarding DC, I would recommend the Archives Edition of Challengers of Unknown, Atom, Green Lantern if you can find them.

Happy reading.

Nicolas
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so the essentials are in color cause i heard they were in black and white?


Answer
Hi :

Sorry I was out of town again.

Some books are in b&w and softcover. You are talking about the Essentials, which are basically cheap b&w reprints of the original editions, in softcover edition. Not much interest in my opinion, only reading copies.

The books I am referring to are high quality hardcover books.

Best

Nicolas