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| > News Archive 2002 |
| NEWS ARCHIVE FOR 2001:
Ol' Gormuu lost the whole News Archive from 2001, the inaugural year of this website, in an
accidentaly deletion from my harddrive. I scoured the net and found a cached page, but it only
went up through July 24. Thus, all the news updates from July 24 through the end of the year
2001 have disappeared. If you can find a more complete cached page on the net, please contact
me ASAP! I'd love to have it for posterity.
For a treat to longtime and loyal fans of this site, as well as for folks who want to see what
it used to look like around here, check out THIS LINK. A few changes to the site: I got rid of the guest book. It seems, at least in this website's case, to be a waste of space. Heck, even I never signed it! Thanks to the couple of people that took the time, but I sent it off to another, far better purpose. If you look to the top of this page, you will see the list of Masterworks coming out, and their approximate date release. I will keep this list going and add to it as I know concrete information. This will constitute the official breakdown of confirmed Masterworks releases. I finally got around to adding my "What If?" page of mockup Marvel Masterworks. It is based on my top 6 list of books I most want to see come to print. I started this project about a month ago, and since then 2 of my choices have been announced. Now how about that?!?!? After patting myself on the back for a couple days, I went ahead and put the project on line. I hope you enjoy it, it's just a little light fun. Thirdly, I installed a page called "Where Can I Get My Masterworks Cheaper?" In this day and age, every penny counts, so I hope to have links to where one can get your books cheaper than $49.95 list price. I will get that rolling in the next few days, I hope. Email if you have any hot tips. More Essentials announced include Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, Tomb of Dracula, and Ant-Man. While I had high hopes for each of these series to be included in the Masterworks program, looks like that won't happen for awhile. Dracula will be a neat exercise in black and white, but we can only hope that one day all of these choices will be memorialized in a more illustrious format. More clarity on the Masterworks front. Tom Brevoort has confirmed that the goal of the new program is to issue books in a monthly fashion, with new books alternating months with new edition reprints of the first Masterworks volumes. Also, since the Essentials line is so unfortunately tied into what we can expect (for the most part) from our beloved line of Masterworks books, Tom has announced that new Essentials books planned for the 2002 year include Captain America Vol. 2, Iron Man Vol. 2, Dr. Strange Vol. 1 and Daredevil Vol. 1. Steve Gerber's Howard The Duck is also likely to get Essentialized. I was hoping for a second Dr. Strange Masterworks, but it looks like I will have to wait a little while, Stephen not likely having the same cache as a whole volume of Avengers stories. Boo hoo!!! More news as it comes. It's been awhile since the last bit of news, as Bob and Tom have been busy with getting the Masterworks projects rolling (among many of their other fine efforts at Marvel Comics.) After a long wait, there is finally some exciting news to report. To repeat what we already know, November will bring us the new Daredevil volume, and December will bring us the new Thor volume (Journey Into Mystery #111-121.) January will have a "thorough redesign" of the first Spider-Man volume (#1-10) and February will unveil a new X-Men volume (#22-31). At the Saturday Marvel Comics Press Conference at the San Diego Con, Bob Greenberger will announce some of the new Masterworks editions. Being the first to report, I am happy to announce the following editions that we can expect: * a brand new Avengers volume What amuses me about this is how widely a few of these choices diverge from what Tom and Bob promised us would be the parameters of Masterworks selections. Avengers clearly defies the standard of not crossing over with the Essentials volumes. And coming so soon after the illustrious Steranko reprints, the Nick Fury volume is a very pleasant surprise. I hope to have more information soon after the Con in San Diego to pass on to you. There stand to be 2 more books announced from the promised 6 new 2001 books. At this time, I have no dates on when to expect any books past the X-Men book in February. Thanks to Bob Greenberger and Tom Brevoort!
I promise a cool little update to the site soon, a sort of wish list for future volumes...I think it's kinda neat, so keep your eyes peeled for it. I should have it up in the next few days. Bob Greenberger has reported that the 3-15 meeting went well, but that the details of the meeting wouldn't be released for awhile until the P&L work is done. That could be a little while, but as he did say their goal is to have 6 brand new books out in 2002, as well as reprinting volumes from the first series. He said that it would be probable that the new and old books would alternate on a monthly basis. Finally, he offered a tease in that 2 of the 6 planned books would be for characters who have not had their own Masterworks books to date. Ooohh.....who could it be? Ant-Man? Nick Fury? Captain Marvel? Captain Savage? Your guess is as good as mine, and part of the fun will anticipating! Keep your eyes on this site, as I will pass on the news as I find out about it!
Don't think I have given up on adding the X-Men and other book scans. I have been very busy, but will get those rolling in due time. I also have, to date, 10 surveys turned in, with some interesting results. If you haven't done one, please take the time and send one in to me! Thanks! Marvel editor Bob Greenberger has opened up the floor to suggestions on the future of the Masterworks and Essentials series. Have your voice heard at the board! Go to comicboards.com and make your statement. And don't forget to do my survey, please!!!! There is some mention of the new Marvel Masterworks at "Your Man@Marvel" on the Marvel Comics Official Website. In fact, there is a tease that the new Daredevil volume might come out earlier than November. Check it out at Your Man@Marvel. There is also a request from editor Tom Brevoort for original art or copies of orginal art for the X-Men and Thor volumes. Check out the article for details. Please contact anyone you know who may have such original art and enlighten them to Marvel's need. In response to a lengthy and passionate email regarding future Masterworks volumes, Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada had this to say: "We are in the process of rejuvenating the Master Works program. All good things come to those who wait." Ok, the waiting part I am pretty sure everyone has down! So that puts the "good things" part in Marvel's court. I like the buzz we are hearing, though. But as in all things, let's not get our hopes up, and believe it when we see it! The scans are coming fast and furious. I have a few back cover scans up for some books, and more will come over the next few days. I should have scans of just about every book very shortly, front and back. Added the Avengers book scans. I have all the FF books scanned (except the new version of FF 1-10), so go check them out. Next up- the rest of the Spider-Man books, Avengers, and Daredevil ! I have also added a guest book, so please consider signing it, won't you? And finally, there is a Masterworks survey, so check it out and send me an email with your answers, after much thought and consideration, of course! Yes, the good news is there are some new Masterworks being worked on as we speak. Now the bad news- I hope you have worked on your "delaying gratification" skills, because the first one won't be scheduled until November. But, according to the plan, the others will come out shortly thereafter, as in a matter of months....now that is exciting! Remember, everything is not etched in stone, so don't go jump off a bridge if things change by November. That will be a nice long time for the editors to put together a well-prepared book. Oh, you want to know what they are? OK, the book due in November is a new Daredevil volume, covering issues 12-21. The following two volumes are expected to be a new Thor book, covering issues 111-120 of Journey Into Mystery, and a new X-Men book, covering issues 22-31. More news as it comes. Well, I have some decent scans up of the first two FF Masterworks, and the first 3 Spider-Man Masterworks. I have done a lot more scans, too, and will get those up asap. I also added links from the checklist page to the actual book. I changed my mind and I am going to work on the Fantastic Four volumes first. I can do this, cause I run this page. I am going to be working on the Spider-Man volumes first. I will have the basics of what I want done up and running and then move on to the next titles. This includes a basic chronology of each comic reprinted in the particular Masterworks volume, plus a scan of the cover of the book. As time goes on, I will get more indepth and add to the quality of the information (and presentation!) The scans will be of a much better quality in the future, I promise! If I get any news on upcoming installments of the Masterworks series, I will put it here. For instance, if I get wind that the Ant-Man Vol. 1 is coming out, I will let you know. Of course, that is wishful thinking and no such volume is due, so it simply remains an "example" of the kind of news you will find here....sigh.... Website design by Doug Roberts and John Thomas. All images on this site are copyright of Marvel Comics. This site is for reference purposes and promotion of the Masterworks line of books as well as Marvel Comics and their properties. | ||
