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 The 80- and 100-Page Giants (Page 8)
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| Author | Topic: The 80- and 100-Page Giants |
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Mike32 Member |
posted July 29, 2002 06:08 PM
 
I mentioned this briefly in my post ("DC Digests..."), but it bears repeating. I'd love to see more facsimile editions (or 80 Pp. Giants, Lost annuals, etc.) featuring the following: Legion ('70s) I know most of these (if not all) won't be published/reprinted in this format, but that's my wish list. If they can publish a Shazam lost annual, why not these? IP: Logged |
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Steven Utley Member |
posted July 30, 2002 05:24 PM
And let's not forget apes .... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1552336838 IP: Logged |
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Steven Utley Member |
posted July 30, 2002 05:27 PM
Of course, this is my all-time favorite: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1551712286 IP: Logged |
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greene Member |
posted July 30, 2002 05:33 PM
Careful ... I think gorilla-mania disqualifies one from the Algonquin roundtable. IP: Logged |
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Steven Utley Member |
posted August 07, 2002 11:57 AM
Given The Silver Age Aquaman Archives, it strikes me that an 80- or 100-pager featuring the character is a strong possibility for 2003. At the very least, a facsimile of the 64-page Super DC Giant # S-26, dated July-August 1971, would be in order. This was a 64-pager featuring Ramona Fradon-illustrated stories from Adventure Comics #s 203, 251, 266, and 272, the three-part "Creatures from Atlantis" from Showcase # 30, (Adventure # 203), and a (wholly dispensable) two-page text story by Steve Skeates. Given my druthers, of course, I'd ditch the text story and expand the book to 80 pages to make room "The Ocean of 1,000,000 B.C." (from Adventure # 253) and "The Menace of the Electric Man" (# 254). Given the chances of the Archives edition's starting with either Adventure # 260 or Showcase, it might be your only chance, ever, to see those other stories. IP: Logged |
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James Friel Member |
posted August 07, 2002 05:15 PM
I think that Fradon Aquaman Special may only be a 48-pager, Steven. I can't get at a copy right now, but I seem to recall that the Giants of that period are stapled, not squarebound, and the page count of what you list, taken without ads, toitals about 48. IP: Logged |
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Wayne1776 Member |
posted August 07, 2002 09:11 PM
James, Steven is spot-on. It (the Super DC Giant S-26), and the S-24 (Supergirl) and S-25 (Challengers) are all 64 pagers. Those were cover dated May-June, July-August, and Jul-August(yep) 1971. It was stapled, and was 25 cents. The later DC Super-Stars were pubished in 1976 and were down to 48 pages for 50 cents. (I have #7 with Aquaman on hand- Sept. 1976.) I so wish DC would find, somehow, that a monthly re-print series is profitable. Then they could do the left-over 100 pagers. I mean, darn-it, don't they already have the stats for all of these? And seeing their most recent "Annual" - Shazam!, and other re-print books, it is a proven fact-- DC LOVES to reprint reprints. IP: Logged |
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James Friel Member |
posted August 07, 2002 11:38 PM
Thanks, Wayne. Just goes to show that i should take the trouble to research these things better before I open my mouth. I think a monthly reprint series would be wonderful--and if people were used to looking for them on a regular basis, they might sell a bit better--but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting.... IP: Logged |
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Space Ranger Member |
posted August 08, 2002 02:42 AM
Very little seems to sell these days. There used to be a series called Wanted that reprinted golden age stories but it didn't last. DC use to print a lot of reprint books but not anymore. I always thought that they made more money off the reprints by doing them in the archives. IP: Logged |
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James Friel Member |
posted August 08, 2002 05:12 AM
I don't need a copy, but that Challengers Super DC Giant mentioned above might be a nice choice for early reprinting--and a way for DC to gauge potential support for an archive. If I recall correctly, it's all Kirby. IP: Logged |
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Wayne1776 Member |
posted August 08, 2002 01:34 PM
All Kirby... for 25 cents you got reprints of "The Man Who Stole the Future," "The Wizard of Time,"* and "Captive of the Space Circus." You also got a Bob Brown pin-up with the guys in their yellow and red outfits, and a text piece: "The Kirby that Jack Built," a one page Kirby bio by Kirby. And a one page text story about the Challs, "Strategy for Survival," writtedn by that famous author, Unknown. All this in issue #S-25, July-Aug., 1971 of Super DC Giant. * Challengers of the Unknown # 4. (I had the S-24, 25, 26 included in my homemade Archives when I 'ruined' a whole lot of DC comics and had them bound in two volumes that I had titled "DC Super-Heroes" Vols, 1 and 2. I also 'ruined' a bunch of other books as I had four more volumes created of two volumes each of "Justice Society of America," and "Crisis on Infinite Earths." I had all of these bound in 1992. IP: Logged |
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JayFlip Member |
posted August 08, 2002 02:14 PM
I would love DC to "reprint the reprints" and release facsimiles of the old 80-pagers and 100-pagers, but I think there are two things that are dragging this idea down: the Millenium editions didn't sell well and anthology titles are an anathema in the industry right now (this applies more to the 100-Page Super Specs than the 80-pagers I suppose). But maybe the success of the Crisis on Multiple Earths trade will convince DC to rethink their reprint strategy and issue more of these little jewels in various formats, paving the way for the long-awaited Greatest Stories of the Sixties trade(s). IP: Logged |
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Dave the Wonder Boy Member |
posted August 08, 2002 02:40 PM
quote: Many of these from the 1975-1976 period had very substandard printing, and would gain immeasurably from reprinting in a better format. IP: Logged |
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greene Member |
posted August 08, 2002 02:53 PM
Yes, the printing of pages by DC, circa 1975-76 was often of abysmal quality. Somebody around here explained that it was due to switching to plastic plates, I believe. It really annoyed me at the time, like a wave of cheeseyness had descended upon the heretofore beautiful and stately DC product. Nor did it help that DC had concurrently shrunken the space for cover art with that identifying strip at the top of each title's cover. IP: Logged |
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James Friel Member |
posted August 08, 2002 03:03 PM
Whatever it was, the books started looking really bad. And they kept getting worse--I looked at some early '80s DCs lately, and the paper was so thin that the linework on the other side showed almost as clearly as that on the front of the page. The final blow, of course, was the institution of Flexographic printing in the '80s, involving not only plastic plates (or maybe cardboard--I'm not kidding), but water based inks and frequent blobs and smears. Within a couple of years, better papers and inks and more sophisticated printing methods had been found, and the gradual switch away from World Color Press in Sparta, IL was on. IP: Logged |
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Steven Utley Member |
posted August 10, 2002 02:12 AM
On another thread, scra1941 writes: "Well, if we were to start getting GA Flash [Archives containing stories from Flash Comics and All-Flash] every other year, it would take 24 years to finish. If we got it every three years, it'd be 36 years. And if DC goes insane, and we have to wait 4 years between volumes, it'll take a whopping 48 years! Kinda depressing isn't it?" Pretty much the same is true, alas, of the other intermittently Archived long-running fissaparous series from the 1940s, Golden Age Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Shazam! -- even if that last devotes itself exclusively to Big Red Cheese stories from 155 issues of Whiz Comics and 150 issues of Captain Marvel Adventures, never mind those in America's Greatest Comics, etc., let alone the adventures ofall the subsidiary Cheeses. This strongly suggests to me that the only places we are ever going to get to see any of the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Marvel Family stories from the post-WW2 era is in 80- and 100-pagers and trade paperbacks. They are also the only places we're likely to see worthy second- and even third-stringers such as Pow-Wow Smith, Robotman, Mlle. Marie, and Sargon the Sorceror. IP: Logged |
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James Friel Member |
posted August 10, 2002 03:22 PM
There are other possibilities. First, DC could step up production of the DCU archive line as a whole to 16, 18, or more per year. I think Shazam! and Wonder Woman at least would be almost certain to benefit somewhat from such a move. Secondly, now that the ice is broken by the announcement of Dynamic Duo Archives, I imagine other strips may be subdivided. Superman seems to be a given, and early Andru-Esposito Wonder Woman might be a likely candidate, too. If the process goes much farther than that, we could see postwar Flash, Green Lantern, and Shazam!, early '50s Superman and late '50s Batman, early DC Blackhawk, and whatever else seems workable. IP: Logged |
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NecessaryImpurity Member |
posted August 10, 2002 03:36 PM
Given that DC likes the numbers for Volume Ones more than the numbers for Volume Fives, I can actually see them splitting many lines up into something like "Big Name Character: The Clever Alliteration Archives". Few lines would go past 5-10 volumes, and then they'd "reboot" the series with a new #1, picking up where the last series leaves off, or where a nice break in page counts makes it possible to infill. James, your desire to see post-War GL and Flash maybe more likely now. I can see a new line picking up in '45 or '46 more easily than a "fast-forward" to Volume 9. They can still add volumes to the first line, until it matches up with the second line. This isn't my preferred method of Archiving, but if it's lots of #1s that make the #2s possible, then bring on the extra #1s. Someone (greene?) mentioned a while back that he'd wished they hadn't used a numbering system, but rather identified the volume by date (e.g., "Superman Archives, 1939-1940", "Superman Archives "1940-1941", etc.) That would make it easier to issue volumes out of sequence (or would it?) But they'd never get the bang of a #1. IP: Logged |
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James Friel Member |
posted August 10, 2002 03:50 PM
It isn't my preferred method either--for a permanent record such as the DC Archives, I'd prefer a more systematic and all-encompassing approach--taking anthology titles as total entities in themselves, for instance. But we're well past any point where that seems possible. I'd like a dated rather than numbered series of volumes, but you're right--no #1 bang. I really do think the notion that people will only buy volumes in sequence is unfounded--a complete non-issue--but maybe I'm just weird that way, and other people would be more resistant to it than i would be. IP: Logged |
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blisterfairy Member |
posted August 19, 2002 05:59 PM
I want cheap reprints! monthly anthology cheap paper 5-6 stories various genres 3-4 bucks per issue I want it yesterday...and let it be fan driven! IP: Logged |
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Old Dude Member |
posted August 20, 2002 11:26 PM
quote: I'm definitely on board for this! I'd rather have smaller doses of affordable books just to read, than glossy, hard-cover, super-collectable products. IP: Logged |
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VaughnN Member |
posted August 21, 2002 05:10 AM
A lot of the stuff I would like to see reprinted has already been mentioned, but what the hey? Lets mention them again. The Superman/Shazam and Superman/Wonder Woman tabloids for starters. How about a Flash family edition? I'm thinking of the 1978 spectacular and #173 (I think) with Barry, Jay and Wally. The milennium editions were about 'firsts' of some form or other and so missed out on many 'significant' stories. The one I'd like to see most is the death of the Doom Patrol. Other ones include Supergirl's public debut, some of Adam's single issue Batman tales(esp. the halloween story) and the oddball showcase and brave & bold stuff. Things like Dolphin's debut and the Flash/Spectre team up. Oh, and the Schwartz era world's finest. As for golden age stuff, I haven't been that fired up about the archive range (apart from All-Star and Black Canary). It's the late forties that I'm interested in. Yes, the era of Toth, Kubert et al. I'd love to see the Green Lantern/Harlequin and Flash/Thorn stories reprinted. And wouldn't it be great if that third Flash/Thorn tale was rediscoverd in full? IP: Logged |
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Dave the Wonder Boy Member |
posted August 21, 2002 01:55 PM
I loved the "1953 SHAZAM FAMILY ANNUAL" that recently came out. The cover by CC Beck is suitable for framing. I wonder what the story is behind the painted cover. To my knowledge, Beck hasn't done any other painted work. Is it newly commissioned, or something that's been sitting around for decades? IP: Logged |
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greene Member |
posted August 21, 2002 02:03 PM
That cover used on the annual was originally from "Captain Marvel" no. 18 (Dec. 1942). The previous issue (no. 17, Nov. 1942) also sported a painted cover. I always assumed Fawcett was experimenting with something different, in an effort to be eye-catching. Painted covers were apparently quite uncommon that far back, easily pre-dating all the Ziff-Davis and Dell's ten years later. IP: Logged |
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Dave the Wonder Boy Member |
posted August 21, 2002 03:05 PM
Thanks for the info, greene. The painted cover sure holds up, several decades later. IP: Logged |
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