I'll start.
- The Complete Steve Ditko's Mr. A - I have some of this stuff but not all, and not in a consistent format on high-quality paper. (I wouldn't mind seeing a nice collection of Static, either.)
- Jack Kirby's 2001: A Space Odyssey - Start with the treasury edition and continue on into the series. This had been my least favorite of Kirby's '70s work, but I have come to appreciate it. The rights to anything under the "2001" banner are tied up with MGM, but barring some sort of mutual agreement, we'll never see the first three chapters of "Machine Man" reprinted. And speaking of Kirby...
- Silver Surfer graphic novel by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby - I have this, but I'd sure like to see it reprinted in some archival format. I have only ever seen one of these for sale, and I snatched it right up. I stopped looking after I found it, of course, and have never really looked online, but how many people who would want to read it have ever had the chance? Is it hard to find? Expensive?
- Howard the Duck & Incredible Hulk comic strips - I read the Hulk one in the paper (and I have two Pocketbooks reprints I got from Tim), but I'd sure like to have the whole thing. My local paper at the time carried the Howard the Duck comic strip (by Steve Gerber and Gene Colan) but I never read it. I read the first issue of the comic book but didn't care for it. As with Kirby's 2001, though, I have since come to appreciate it and would love the opportunity to read it now.
- Captain America Comics #25-75 - The Golden Age material that hasn't been reprintyed yet. C'mon, Marvel!
Okay, your turn. What would you like to see collected next?
Replies
Howard the Duck & Incredible Hulk comic strips
Looking at Wikipedia, I discovered that both of these strips were syndicated by either King Features or the Register and Tribune Syndicate, which was late acquired by King Features. Marvel would probably have to work with King Features to reprint either of them. Also, neither strip is offered on the King Features website comicskingdom.com.
No one has any suggestions? Can it be that everything worthwhile has already been reprinted? The last time this topic was broached, it eventually drew 54 pages worth of responses. My original intention had been to go back to the thread and update which suggestions have since been reprinted and which have not (many have, many have not), but that proved too labor intensive. Here are a few more suggestions.
Now, I ask again: What would you like to see collected next?
Captain Comet
Shining Knight
Brave and Bold #1-49
1940s Aquaman (yellow gloves issues, please)
Captain America Comics in full
Sub-Mariner Comics in full
Human Torch Comics in full
Strange Tales Comics in full
Marvel Mystery Comics/Marvel Tales in full
Sarge Steel
Fightin' Five
Golden Age Atom
Golden Age Doctor Mid-Nite
Golden Age Sandman in full
Golden Age Spectre in full
Golden Age Hourman
Golden Age Mr. Terrific, Golden Age Wildcat OR Sensation Comics in full.
Golden Age Green Lantern in full
Golden Age Flash in full
Golden Age Hawkman in full OR Flash Comics in full.
Star*Reach
Grimjack
Whew. I could go on all day.
I think the time is right for some revisitation of DC Westerns.
Jonah Hex had some great stories in the 1970s and 1980s, including a full 92 issue self-named run which may have been entirely written by Michael Fleisher. That just doesn't happen anymore in either Marvel or DC, for any genre, writer or character. The follow-up 1985-1987 series (eighteen issues) is of another genre and entirely skippable despite also being by Fleisher.
Bat Lash had very few stories but a refreshing tone and great art. And it has been a long time since we had even distant references to Lazarus Lane (once canonically the ancestor of both Lois Lane and Shadow's love interest Margo Lane), Pow Wow Smith, Scalphunter, or Johnny Thunder.
Some of that material definitely shows its age. But sometimes it is in ways that can surprise and enlighten.
A couple of years ago (2018) it was announced that Detective Comics #1-26 would be released in a two-volume slipcased edition, but it was cancelled. :(
That was because the portrayal of Asians in the Fu Manchu and Slam Bradley stories were considered problematic. I think that it was a mistake. Explain things in historical context and say how things have improved and print them as products of a by gone age.
TCM never edits/butchers anything. They explain the context and present it as is. One day I'd like to see Br'er Rabbit in The Song of the South, but Disney won't allow it to be seen. This Wikipedia entry tells me that those stories were from African tradition:
Br'er Rabbit - Wikipedia
I tried to respond earlier tonight on this very thread, and my phone decided to log me in as "Joan Carr." I have no idea where that came from, but I deleted it, forgot about it, ate my meal and drank my margaritas.
But anyway: Yes, this was deleted for '40s racism that was commonplace then, but is outrageous now. So was "Monster Society of Evil."
I hate that nobody can see these stories. I am white, so maybe I don't get a vote on the racism of the past (or the present). But if I did, I'd say, "Show everything. Accurately. And learn from it."
And print that stuff. Right now.
The original "Monster Society of Evil" serial is currently in the public domain, isn't it? Apparently it was published originally in Captain Marvel Adventures #22-46 and, despite some worries back in 2018, it turns out that the copyright has indeed lapsed.
#46 may or may not be legally available, but I found all other issues in public domain comics repositories without too much effort.
It _is_ an often unconfortable read, to be sure, but there is value in learning from the past. I think many healthy if perhaps awkward conversations may be had about, for instance, the character Steamboat in those stories.
The lessons to be learned aren't always easily predictable, either. Snap judgements about comic book characters are to be expected, but we can easily be surprised by how much even such traditional characters as Captain Marvel changed their values along time.
https://comicvine.gamespot.com/gwandanaland-comics-1679-the-complet...
They have WAR and HORROR in the DC Finest line so why not HUMOR? Have a volume with Inferior 5, Angel & the Ape, Stanley & His Monster, Windy & Willy and maybe even Swing With Scooter before he got Archie-fied.
And please find some way to reprint Jerry Lewis (especially the Superhero teamups) and Bob Hope with Super-Hip!
As for Golden Age characters:
Silver Age?
Bronze Age?
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