posted May 18, 2003 08:29 AM            

They are currently working on "remastering" the previously published 32 Masterworks. It will be March, 2004 before all of these are on the shelves.

After that, I suspect that they will be occupied with Silver Age Masterworks to keep the momentum going. There's still several volumes of Kirby FF and Thor to go. Spider-Man and both versions of the X-Men are very likely to see more volumes as well.

If we start getting new Masterworks on a monthly basis before we'll see any Timely material.

posted May 18, 2003 08:35 AM            

The newest microfiche machines can scan the images to a computer. Universities and major public libraries are most likely to have these machines. Universities will probably let non-students use the machines if you ask politely and are willing to go during slow times.

posted May 18, 2003 05:46 PM               

As for other sources, I'd stay away from most reprints prior to the 1990s. Marvel hacked the stories up in its older reprints. There are plenty of more recent reprint volumes. Beyond the two Simon & Kirby Capt. America the Classic Years books, there are two volumes of The Golden Age of Marvel Comics, there was a Human Torch replica edition, a All-Select Squad reprint edition, and a squarebound Marvel Mystery Comics no. 1 reprint which collected random stories from the Golden Age. There was also a Marvel Comics no. 1 hardcover replica edition.

And then there's always this site:
http://www.heroicpub.com/missamerica/index.html

posted May 18, 2003 06:03 PM               

similarly Joey Q got his start on ... yes you guessed it, a GOLDEN AGE REVIVAL/LEGACY - The Ray!!

posted May 19, 2003 03:22 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by vze2:
This is perfectly legal as long as you neither distribute nor profit from the material.

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No, it's not -- unless Marvel has explicitly authorized such use, which I'm pretty confident they haven't.

posted May 19, 2003 05:14 PM               

If nothing else, Marvel should do a straight 2nd edition of the CAPTAIN AMERICA CLASSICS 2-book slipcase (these reprinted the first 10 issues-- ALL by Simon & Kirby). Beyond that, I'm dying to see a SUB-MARINER Masterworks done in the style of the WONDER WOMAN Archives-- EVERY story from wherever he appeared, in chronological sequence. the first year at least of SUB-MARINER in MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS is essentially one big epic concerning his being pissed off at surfer people, interacting with some of them and then getting EVEN MORE pissed off at surface people, resulting in his going on a rampage in NYC, which leads to a huge battle with THE HUMAN TORCH. For something that came out in 1940, this thing is decades ahead of its time. Subby's stories (like many character's series at the time) were serialized-- many, many episodes end with "to be continued" (even if it doesn't say so). In addition, the Subby & Torch episodes in at least one issue depict the same events told from 2 different viewpoints-- something Stan Lee pulled off 25 years later in an issue of TALES TO ASTONISH (and which John Byrne did again 10 years after that between issues of FANTASTIC FOUR and THE AVENGERS). Also, with the wholesale destruction Namor causes, one is left wondering as you read his stories, "What kind of 'hero' is THIS??" Unfortunately, MOST of this epic has NEVER been reprinted.

posted May 19, 2003 06:52 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Cliffy Mark II:
No, it's not -- unless Marvel has explicitly authorized such use, which I'm pretty confident they haven't.

--Cliffy, Esq.

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You're a lawyer and I'm not, but wouldn't my suggestion fall under the fair use category?

I'm going to quote from a fact sheet published by the Library of Congress. The full document is at the following URL: http://www.loc.gov/copyright/fls/fl102.pdf

quote:

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Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered "fair," such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

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Here's my take on this:

Assuming you neither profit from nor distribute the electronic copy,
(1) The purpose and character of use is to convert a document from an inconvenient format that requires someone to go to a library or purchase an expensive reader into a convienent format that can be read at home. This seems no different to me than printing out a copy to read at home. I've never heard anyone suggest that that was illegal. Isn't it also legal for me to copy a CD onto a tape to play in my car?

(2) The nature of the copyrighted work is microfiche, an inconvenient format for most people, that has been paid for by the person using it.

(3) In my opinion, this point doesn't matter in this case.

(4) This certainly doesn't decrease the market because the person has already bought the copyrighted work. If I had to defend myself, I would argue that allowing conversion increases the market. Why am I going to pay a lot of money for something I can't read easily?