Marshall Rogers

Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart (AKA, Vol. 1) – The #32 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

June 1, 2017 by krisis

Marvel has made terrific use of their cosmic characters and settings in the past decade. Stories like Annihilation and War of Kings yielded the modern Guardians of the Galaxy team and returned Thanos to reality-threatening villain. They also cast the struggle of the Shi’ar, Kree, and Skrull societies as galaxy-spanning epic centuries in the making.

Imagine the confusion of readers who loved those stories as they look for all of the vast history they imply deep within Marvel’s classic continuity and find … nothing.

Well, not nothing. Thanos has lots of material, of course, via Jim Starlin. It’s just that those space-faring races had received their prior development in fits and starts, and in the background of other stories. We learned about the Shi’ar via The X-Men, and the infamous Kree/Skrull War was as much about the Avengers and Rick Jones as alien races.

If this fruitless search describes you, then Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart is the cosmic comic you are looking for. This was less a Surfer solo comic as a comic about all of Marvel’s vast galaxy of races and powerful entities – basically, everything that wasn’t Claremont’s Shi’ar or Starlin’s Warlock/Thanos territory.

It’s lengthy, full of intrigue, and uninterrupted by crossovers and superheroes – and that’s why fans insist it must see omnibus collection even though half of it is already in an Epic Collection.

(Note that this post was published quite a while after its post-date, as the original series was interrupted by coordinating my move to my new home in New Zealand).

Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart (AKA, Vol. 1) is the #32 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017 on Tigereyes’s Secret Ballot. Visit the Marvel Masterworks Message Board to view the original posting of results by Tigereyes and collect all of these issue right now as detailed in my Guide to Silver Surfer.

Past Ranking: #36 in the 2016 Survey

Probable Contents: This volume will definitely contain Marvel Fanfare #51 (a prologue story) and Silver Surfer (1987) #1-31 & Annuals 1-2.

It would also likely mirror Silver Surfer Epic Collection, Vol. 3 by including the preceding Silver Surfer (1982) #1, Super-Villain Classics #1, and material from Epic Illustrated #1.

If not exclusive to Englehart, this could could also include any or all of Silver Surfer (1987) #32-33, 38-39, & 41-43 to marry it to the Infinity Gauntlet omnibus. It might also contain material from West Coast Avengers Annual 2 and Avengers Annual 16, which tie strongly to this material, and an Al Milgrom short from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #1.

(There’s a chance it could also include the Eisner-Award Winning Lee/Mobius Silver Surfer (1988) #1-2, though they are not in continuity (and probably have their own unique royalties challenges).)

Creators: Written by Steve Englehart with Mike Higgins (#21), Mark Gruenwald (Annual 1), Renee “Ink” Witterstaetter (Annual 2), and Peter Sanderson (Serpent Crown backup in Annual 2 – likely not collected here).

Pencils by Marshall Rogers (#1-10, 12, 21) and Ron Lim (#15-20, 22-31, Annuals 1-2) with Joe Staton (#11, 13-14). Inks by Joe Rubinstein (#1-12, 14-18, 20) and Tom Christopher (#20, 22-23, 25-30, Annual 2) with Dave Cockrum (#13 & 21), Jose Marzan Jr. (#14 & Annual 2), Keith Williams (#19, 31, Annual 2), Randy Emberlin (#24 & Annual 1).

Colors by Marshall Rogers (#1-12) and Tom Vincent (#13-25, 27-31, & Annuals 1-2) with Gregory A. Wright (#26 & Annual 1). Letterers by John E. Workman Jr. (#1-7) and Ken Bruzenak (#8-22, 24-29, 31, Annuals 1-2) with Joe Albelo (#23) and Richard Starkings (#30).

Marvel Fanfare with John Buscema pencils, Jack Abel inks, Christie Scheele colors, and Rick Parker letters.

Can you read it right now? Not entirely

You can can pick up Silver Surfer Epic Collection, Vol. 3 – Freedom to read half of this (through #14), but then you’re out of luck.See the Silver Surfer Guide for more information.

Worse, Marvel Unlimited doesn’t have any of this material as of this writing!

The Details:

Steve Englehart’s run on Silver Surfer is more than just a comic about one space-faring hero. It’s an intergalactic epic of multiple warring empires that will feel just right to modern fans who love stories like War of Kings and Game of Thrones. It was the first time Marvel’s cosmic characters had received such focus outside of a small cluster of 70s titles, mostly penned by Jim Starlin.

Ironically, Englehart’s Surfer run served to pave the way for Starlin’s triumphant return to Marvel, as he crafted the run-up to Infinity Gauntlet in the run that followed this. [Read more…] about Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart (AKA, Vol. 1) – The #32 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

Doctor Strange by Roger Stern – The #48 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

May 16, 2017 by krisis

Doctor Strange by Roger Stern is the #48 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017 on Tigereyes’s Secret Ballot.

What’s it about? Should you read it? What issues does it include? Can you get them right now? Read on to learn the answers! And, visit the Marvel Masterworks Message Board to view the original posting of results by Tigereyes.

What Is It? Roger Stern first wrote Doctor Strange (1974) with #27 in February 1978 and departed after #37 in October 1979. He later return for a longer run with #46 in April 1981 to #75 in February 1986.

Stern’s lengthier run was marked by several distinct periods of Strange – one focused on his relationship to Clea, a second where his connections to reality proved to be a weakness to be exploited, and a third mostly comprised of one shot stories that ended with the resolution of the Clea relationship.

The title would continue for another six issues until #81 under author Peter Gillis at which point Doctor Strange was relaunched as half of Strange Tales (1987), still under Gillis.

Past Ranking: This volume debuted at #19 in 2014, disappeared in 2015, and returned at #28 in 2016.

Creators: Written by Roger Stern with pencils by Tom Sutton, Alan Kupperberg, Gene Colan, Michael Golden, Marshall Rogers, Brent Anderson, Paul Smith, Kevin Nowlan, Steve Leialoha, Bret Blevins, and Sal Buscema, and inks by Sutton, Smith, Leialoha, Ernie Chua, Rudy D. Nebres, Pablo Marcos, Dan Green, P. Craig Russell, Terry Austin, Joe Rubenstein, Rick Magyar, and Mark Badger

Probable Contents: None!

I think this omnibus is wishful thinking and would never be produced as imagined by voters, which would presumably contain Doctor Strange (1974) #27-37, 46 (b-story, 47-75 (though Stern doesn’t write #63-64 & 74), Chamber of Chills (1972) #3-4 (and maybe material from Fantastic Four #267-277 leading into #75).

Instead, I think this ought to be rethought as a vote for a volume titled “by Roger Stern & Peter Gillis” AKA Doctor Strange, Volume 4, which begins with the b-story of #46 and 47 and finishes his 1974 series. [Read more…] about Doctor Strange by Roger Stern – The #48 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017

10 Marvel runs from the 80s that ought to be omnibuses – 1981 to 1989

May 4, 2017 by krisis

It’s the penultimate stop in our trip backwards through time to find all of the Marvel runs most in need of Omnibus treatment.

Why? For fun. For accumulating rainy-day reading. And, to fuel our 2017 Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus Secret Ballot votes!

Marvel in the 1980s is really a tale of two different Marvels. The first half of the decade featured many continuing 70s series, a handful of limited series, and relatively few new ongoing titles – most of which were direct spinoffs of characters from other books.

However, after Secret Wars II in 1986 the line got a serious shake-up, with many titles outside of what I think of as “The Big 9” and their satellite books getting cancelled or rebooted, plus tons of new ongoing and limited series and a whole new line of comics with New Universe!

(“The Big 9” are all of the lines of books that made it from the Silver Age to 2005 while being published continuously, even if that meant being restarted along the way – , Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, and X-Men. After 2005, Thor went on hiatus, and Fantastic Four has been on hiatus since 2015.)

(In a totally weird turn of events, we can now probably add Deadpool to that list of evergreen lines.)

Marvel released a lot of comics in the 1980s, so what should Marvel prioritize getting into omnibuses? I’ve already covered all of the X-Men runs from this period, and I’m not touching Spider-Man or Fantastic Four mapping at the moment. Plus, many key 80s runs are on the survey already, like Peter David’s Hulk, Iron Man by by Michelinie & Layton Ann Nocenti’s Daredevil – but that still leaves a ton of potential runs to cover! [Read more…] about 10 Marvel runs from the 80s that ought to be omnibuses – 1981 to 1989