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Marvel Essential Black&White - Do you read them?
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49 posts in this topic

I always spend the extra money to get the color TPBs or Omnibus but have the opportunity to pick a bunch of Marvel Essential collections up on the cheap. Do you get used to the BW? Does it hinder the reading experience?

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Depends on the title, some titles it doesnt really affect the readability. I've liked reading the horror titles in Essential format. 

The one that REALLY doesnt work is Green lantern... since his powers are green and his weakness is signaled by the color yellow... 

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The earliest printings from the 90s look much better because of superior newsprint quality. I don’t have many, but the Claremont / Byrne X-Men and Ditko Spider-Man runs look excellent.  Of the later compilations from the 2000s, the printing is a lot muddier and I don’t like them much.  An exception is the Essential Tomb of Dracula, which enhances Gene Colan’s heavy shading and looks superb.

Same with DC’s Showcase volumes; the initial Jonah Hex and Silver Age Superman are on better paper and the artwork presents much clearer in comparison to the subsequent books, which are on cheaper stock and with art that’s nowhere near as crisp-looking.  That would be the late 2000s, when DC also lowered the paper quality in their hardcover Archives.

I don’t really have that much interest in Essentials now, as I’m more focused on remastered digital material.

Edited by Ken Aldred
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8 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

The earliest printings from the 90s look much better because of superior newsprint quality. I don’t have many, but the Claremont / Byrne X-Men and Ditko Spider-Man runs look excellent.  Of the later compilations from the 2000s, the printing is a lot muddier and I don’t like them much.  An exception is the Essential Tomb of Dracula, which enhances Gene Colan’s heavy shading and looks superb.

Same with DC’s Showcase volumes; the initial Jonah Hex and Silver Age Superman books are on better paper and the artwork presents much clearer in comparison to the subsequent books, which are on cheaper stock and with art that’s nowhere near as crisp-looking.  That would be the late 2000s, when DC also lowered the paper quality in their hardcover Archives.

I don’t really have that much interest in Essentials now, as I’m more focused on remastered digital material.

You like your digitals don't you Paul :) 

It's an odd juxtaposition for me I have to say as, in all other respects - and I mean this in a good way - you're a very old school boardie. A 'Grey are' as Hollywood might say 9_9

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Just now, Get Marwood & I said:

You like your digitals don't you Paul :) 

It's an odd juxtaposition for me I have to say as, in all other respects - and I mean this in a good way - you're a very old school boardie. A 'Grey are' as Hollywood might say 9_9

I believe the term for a tech-savvy oldie like me is ‘Silver Surfer’.

 

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3 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

I believe the term for a tech-savvy oldie like me is ‘Silver Surfer’.

 

Yes....both mysterious men on a board :grin: 

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2 minutes ago, Ken Aldred said:

You’re on form tonight. :smile:

It happens once or twice a century Ken :)

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37 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

I'm quite used to B&W reprints, being from England, and enjoy reading the Amazing Spidey Marvel Essentials every now and then. I must have read the Andru run a hundred times down the years in one format or another. I like them. 

20160701_152417.thumb.jpg.55012115643db1f2bc1344e972756813.jpg

O.... C.... D.... freaking out.... picture is.... unsatisfying.... must.... try.... to.... unsee. :ohnoez: 

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2 minutes ago, valiantman said:

O.... C.... D.... freaking out.... picture is.... unsatisfying.... must.... try.... to.... unsee. :ohnoez: 

try counting down from 10... like this.... 10, 9, 8, 6, 7, 5, 4, 2. 1

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4 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:
7 minutes ago, valiantman said:

O.... C.... D.... freaking out.... picture is.... unsatisfying.... must.... try.... to.... unsee. :ohnoez: 

try counting down from 10... like this.... 10, 9, 8, 6, 7, 5, 4, 2. 1

Sadly, my OCD says the worst thing about your post is that you put a period after the 2 instead of a comma.

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8 minutes ago, valiantman said:
13 minutes ago, ADAMANTIUM said:
16 minutes ago, valiantman said:

O.... C.... D.... freaking out.... picture is.... unsatisfying.... must.... try.... to.... unsee. :ohnoez: 

try counting down from 10... like this.... 10, 9, 8, 6, 7, 5, 4, 2. 1

Sadly, my OCD says the worst thing about your post is that you put a period after the 2 instead of a comma.

This was done on porpoise 

Don't you now feel the kool effects in the grey are of Da brain!

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10 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:
25 minutes ago, bc said:

32ucvy.jpg

This isn't about the first appearance of Spidey's black costume, is it....?

hm

Image result for marvel age black costume spiderman

... and the middle image CLEARLY shows Spider-Man walking like an Egyptian.

hm

... and we KNOW the Greys built the pyramids...

image.jpeg.019c679477e9d7f589089ab8107ba08a.jpeg

... therefore, the first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume was carved on a wall on Abydos! 

:ohnoez:

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1 hour ago, Ken Aldred said:

The earliest printings from the 90s look much better because of superior newsprint quality. I don’t have many, but the Claremont / Byrne X-Men and Ditko Spider-Man runs look excellent.  Of the later compilations from the 2000s, the printing is a lot muddier and I don’t like them much.  An exception is the Essential Tomb of Dracula, which enhances Gene Colan’s heavy shading and looks superb.

Same with DC’s Showcase volumes; the initial Jonah Hex and Silver Age Superman are on better paper and the artwork presents much clearer in comparison to the subsequent books, which are on cheaper stock and with art that’s nowhere near as crisp-looking.  That would be the late 2000s, when DC also lowered the paper quality in their hardcover Archives.

I don’t really have that much interest in Essentials now, as I’m more focused on remastered digital material.

I was going to say the exact same thing. The first Essential I purchased was the Uncanny X-Men collection, I was working at the comic shop the day it came out. I don't remember exactly how much it cost, but I think it was something insane like $8.95 for a phone-book's worth of comic pages, and the art was beautiful. I sold a bunch to customers that day with that exact pitch.

These days I'm more the Omnibus/Masterworks/etc buyer, but they were certainly a good value at the time.

Last year I picked up a couple dozen of the DC Showcase TPB's at that big closeout sale at Ollie's, most of them were under $3. They look nice on the shelf, but I still haven't had a chance to read them, and many of them are double-dips on material I already own in color (Omni's, etc).

TL;DR: I own too many damn books.

Edited by F For Fake
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