To view this content, you must be a member of Peter's Patreon at $1.99 or more
Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to access this content.
Steve Englehart
New for Patrons: Guide to Hellcat, Patsy Walker
Working on last week’s Guide to Black Cat and this week’s update to my Guide to She-Hulk drew my attention to Marvel’s other major feline heroine, who has been a diva along with Felicia Hardy and a BFF to Jennifer Walters. That’s right – today’s new guide for “Pledgeonaut” Patrons of CK is an issue-by-issue Guide to Hellcat, Patsy Walker!
Hellcat is actually one of Marvel’s longest-running characters! Her civilian alter-ego Patsy Walker debuted in the Golden Age as one of the stars of Marvel’s burgeoning line of teen and romance comics. While most people assume those books petered out by the time the Silver Age began with Fantastic Four in 1961, Patsy’s titles kept on running – one of them as late as 1967!
Yet, in that time she was never a hero – just a regular teenage girl who liked to hang out with her best friend Hedy.
(And, actually, if we’re being specific, those comics are not actually Patsy’s earlier continuity, but a fictionalized version of it that existed as in-universe comic books in the Marvel 616 as written by Patsy’s mother!) [Read more…] about New for Patrons: Guide to Hellcat, Patsy Walker
Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart (AKA, Vol. 1) – The #32 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017
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
Captain America (1968), Vol. 3 – The #49 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017
Captain America (1968) Omnibus, Vol. 3 is the #49 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017 on Tigereyes’s Secret Ballot.
See the Captain America Guide for more details on how to collect this run. Visit the Marvel Masterworks Message Board to view the original posting of results by Tigereyes.
What Is It? Captain America’s early-70s stories adventures in Captain America (1968) were shared with his partner Falcon and featured a backdrop of Steve Rogers butting heads with SHIELD and losing faith in the government he represents.
However, the real reason to read this run is Sal Buscema’s artwork!
This run begins in May 1972 and ends in December 1975.
Past Ranking: This year is the book’s debut placement in the ballot results.
I’m puzzled over how this edition got shut out of the 2016 survey when it’s one of the most obvious gaps in all of omnibus land!
Creators: Primarily written by Gerry Conway and Steve Englehart with pencils by Sal Buscema and inks by Vince Colletta.
Probable Contents: Collects Captain America (1968) #149-192 and material from Foom (1973) #8.
This is a perfect fit between two existing books – Captain America Volume 2 ends with Captain America (1969) #148 and Cap by Kirby picks up at #193.
Can you read it right now? Yes! This hypothetical omnibus covers Captain America Masterworks Volume 7, Volume 8, Volume 9 – the latter of which was released just last month.See the Captain America Guide for other collecting options.
Also, this entire run is covered by Marvel Unlimited!
The Details:
This early 70s run on Captain America is mostly memorable for the majority of it being drawn by Sal Buscema, who never turned in an unremarkable comic issue in this period, and for a pair of Captain America doubles that resolved a glitch in his history and introduced us to Nomad! [Read more…] about Captain America (1968), Vol. 3 – The #49 Most-Wanted Marvel Omnibus of 2017
10 Marvel runs from the 80s that ought to be omnibuses – 1981 to 1989
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