Well, turns out Spider-Man Masterworks Vol. 1 did hit a snag last week. It has been rescheduled to Wednesday July 9, which is the same week X-Men Vol. 2 is supposed to ship. Until further word, expect both to ship the same day.

The final batch of limited edition Masterworks have been offered for pre-order. Contact your retailer of choice before the July 7 deadline to make sure you have a copy reserved in your name! They are:

Iron Man Vol. 1 (due 10/22/03)
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 (due 1/7/04)
Uncanny X-Men Vol. 3 (due 3/10/04)

I'll have Tales of Wonder links up soon, but they have been selling out of the limiteds, so your best bet is to pre-order!

Finally, DC has announced a super-cool Archives promotion. In October, they are going to be publishing World's Best Comics, a 48 page one-shot featuring Golden Age stories from a small handful of the DC Archives greatest! You'll find stories from Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Plastic Man, so you'll get a great sampling of the DC's Big 3 and Jack Cole's Quality creation, and the best yet- for only 99 cents! Yes, for less than a buck you can satiate your need for floppy GA adventures! If you aren't yet a GA Archives fan, perhaps this nominally priced sampler will be your ticket to find out what treasures lie in wait! Also inside will be a full checklist of every DC Archives printed to date, for convenient perusal. Do your part and reward DC's attempt at broadening their buying market- get a copy for yourself and a friend you think might like it! And while you're at it, encourage your retailer to stock World's Best Comics! Tell him it's a great way to establish new customers for these great books! (And who knows? If it's a big success, maybe Marvel can rip off the idea for Masterworks!) Here's the text of the DC Press Release at NEWSARAMA

Diamond doesn't have it on their list for this week, which has started speculation that it is off schedule or late, but I've been assured by Cory at Marvel that Spider-Man Masterworks Vol. 1 should ship on time this Wednesday the 24th.

Check out this link from Newsarama featuring editor Jeremy Barlow discussing in detail the new CHRONICLES OF CONAN trade paperback series. The upshot of it is that they are committed to reprinting the first 24 issues of the early 70's Conan the Barbarian comics, and will note the response the series gets before deciding to plow on. What does this mean if you're like me and want to see all the Conan material you can get your hands on? Simple! Buy the darned things when they come out! (First volume is scheduled to ship on Sept. 17.) It's also mentioned that no hardcovers are planned, which makes it even more imperative that we rattle the cages now for them to see the light. Please check out the link I gave in the 6-22 news update to reach the Dark Horse Message Boards- speak up and tell them you want a Conan HC!

Finally, the Barnes and Noble website has noted that Hulk, Spidey and Daredevil softcover Masterworks have gone out of print. I've been informed that Spidey is going back to press and will be available again soon, and judging by the response to these books, it would seem realistic to expect DD and Hulk to get reprinted again sooner rather than later. If you would like to purchase these softcover editions, please shop Barnes and Noble through the links from my site:

SOFTCOVER MASTERWORKS CORNER SHOP.

You can order these books, or enter the B+N site to choose any material you want to purchase, and for a limited time you can get $10 off an order of $50 or more! Just use this coupon code when checking out:

BARNES3

Enjoy the savings and please enter the B+N site through my links to use the coupon. Thanks!

Hey Kirby fanatics! Twomorrows Publishing is selling a Graphite Edition of the Captain Victory Graphic Novel. It's reproduced from copies of Jack's uninked pencils. According to their website, this neat collectible will help fund the preservation of 4000+ pages of Kirby's pencil xerox archives. There's lots of neat bonus stuff in the book, so go to this link and BUY IT for the very reasonable price of $8 postage paid! Help support a Kirby preservation project and get a slam-bang fun book in the process!

In a similar vein, Dark Horse Comics is "preserving" the first 24 issues of Conan in a series of trade paperbacks called The Chronicles of Conan. As already announced here, the trade is scheduled for release in September, but over at the Dark Horse Message Boards, editor Jeremy Barlow has seemingly amended the contents of the first trade from the previously announced Conan #1-7 and Savage Tales #1, to a straight run-through of Conan #1-8. This would seem to set the series up to cover 8 issue increments until the Barry Windsor-Smith run is completely collected. Now, there are two things us Conan fans want at this point: a hardcover version of the trade, and for Dark Horse to set their sights far, far beyond the Barry Windsor-Smith issues of Conan, and to keep on going 'til Hyperboria freezes over! It's incumbent on us to make noise NOW, or forever rest our peace! Let's give Dark Horse the confidence that we know what we want: More Conan, and More Hardcovers! Here's the thread - go register and post! We need to be a united front:

DARK HORSE MESSAGE BOARDS CONAN THREAD

Not much news to report from Marvel, except that Silver Surfer Vol. 1 is still on for next week and Cory has announced at the Quesada boards that there will be 5 new Essentials online sometime in the future. No word on what these will be or if they include the already announced Human Torch and Tomb of Dracula Essentials.

But there is news at this site to report! For one thing, I've got all the sales pages now linked from the Marvel Masterworks Resource Page Corner Shop.This is the means which which I am able to pay for the webspace and message board to bring you all the goodies you Silver Age Marvel fans have now become accustomed to, so your patronage at site sponsors Amazon, Tales of Wonder and Barnes & Noble is most welcome. I have painstakingly combed through all these sites and linked to all the great collected editions like Masterworks, Archives, Essentials and many more to make it easy for you to find the stuff you want with minimal ease. The links have all been matched to ISBN's to help you wade through the sometimes lacking information at places like Amazon. There are also extensive links to Amazon Canada and UK for those of you who live in those countries. Take a look through this new section of the site and let me know what you think! The Masterworks Resource Page Corner Shop, stop on in and say hi!

Also, a major centerpiece of the site to announce is the What If? Masterworks Library! Message board users GaryUK, Scarlet Spider and Gormuu (that's me!) have been working overtime to help fuel your Masterworks imaginations and speculations! This section of the site will forecast what the shape the future of Masterworks might take! So come on over and wander around. Check out the Masterworks maps and cover images of your favorite character! Day by day, we're getting more work done, so check in often for more!

So there's a couple major new sections to this website. I hope you're really enjoying this site, and I promise there's more to come!

I am back from New York, where I got to see my sister have her first child, a bouncing baby girl named Isabella Anne. She's a real cutie pie! Many thanks for the well-wishing emails and posts at the message board! When she's old enough, I'll make sure she has a full library of Masterworks (I'll probably skimp and go the B+N route.)

While I was gone, the Captain America Masterworks Vol. 1 was released (as well as Superman Archives Vol. 6!) That makes four down, twenty-eight to go! Next up? Surfer Vol. 1 in 12 days! Face front, Marvelites- the Mighty Marvel Masterworks are marching on! Speaking of which, there's some great analysis by message board denizen Scarlet Spider which you may want to check out. If you're a prospective buyer, his scans and commentary, as well as the replies of others, may help make you decide. Here is a link to one such thread, but there's more on the boards to be read by diligent perusers (take a bow, SS!)

Captain America Vol. 1

Out this last Wednesday: Fantastic Four Masterworks Vol. 1, Best of Spider-Man Vol. 2 HC, and the Marvel Encyclopedia Vol. 3: Hulk HC! Go get 'em!

I'll be out of town for a week to be with my sister as she delivers her first child. No, she will not be naming it Gormuu. It's going to be a girl, so she's naming it Gormette. Unfortunately, I will likely not be updating the site or posting too much on th message board for the next several days. I'm sure there will be many fine folks at the message boards that can pass along the hot news as it comes, so check out the action there when you get a chance!

I hope you're all having a wonderful Memorial Day holiday! Just wanted to remind you of what you already know- it wasn't Captain America and Sub-Mariner that really fought the war to end all wars! No, it was real men like your grandpa and mine. Or maybe your father. Heck, maybe even you, reading now, have fought in a military engagement on behalf of old glory and the United States. Well, I'd like to take a moment to thank you, and all the men (and now women!) who have taken up arms and risked their lives for something greater than their own.

Now, on to Masterworks news! I've realized something that I need to pass on to prospective customers of the ReMasterworks. Of the 32 books being reprinted, three are carrying the same ISBN as their predecessors. Thus, it's VERY important to be aware when buying these books that you are buying the one you want! Avengers Vol. 1, X-Men Vol. 1 and Sub-Mariner Vol. 1 are these three volumes. Subby will be easy to spot, since it carries the correctly spelled "Daredevil" on the cover. The easy way to spot the remasterworks is that in the box above the cover reproduction, it will say "Marvel Masterworks," then beneath that "X-Men," then beneath that "Volume 1." On the old version, the top box gave the issue numbers and creator credits. Keep these differences in mind when shopping for these particular titles. I have listed all the ISBN numbers for the ReMasterworks limited and regular editions along with all the other changes at this link. For an idea of how the ReMasterworks front covers look, go to the Masterworks library and check out the Hulk Vol. 1. You'll see what I'm talking about.

I've added to the list of upcoming Marvel hardcovers. Marvel is going to be issuing several more of their oversized gems, including the following: Incredible Hulk Vol. 2, New X-Men Vol. 2, Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3, Ultimate X-Men Vol. 3, Punisher: Born, and Marvel Encyclopedia: Spider-Man. Check the list in the lower-right corner to see tentative month schedule.

FF Masterworks Vol. 1 is scheduled to ship on time this week on May 28.

Amazon has finally put up most all the 32 ReMasterworks for pre-order. Check out their inventory through the links available from my Masterworks sales page, located at the Masterworks library page.

A whole mess of Marvel Masterworks have been added for sale at Amazon UK. If you're a Brit, check it out. A couple have been added to Amazon Canada, including Captain America. Which sucks because Amazon USA doesn't have Cap in their inventory yet. How's that for being un-American? C'mon Bezos, you better start waving that flag right quick! Check out my handy dandy UK AND CANADA links list. Don't leave home without it!

In perusing the stock at amazon UK, we are getting our first glimpse at the new cover images Marvel has selected for our ReMasterworks. They've made some great choices! Here's a link to a thread at the Masterworks message board that shows off most of them. My extra-special favorite is FF Vol. 5 and the new Doc Strange cover. Bee-yoo-tiful!

Also, exciting news about a new series of hardcovers from Dynamic Forces that will reprint the 80's Jim Starlin Epic series Dreadstar. I really loved this as a kid, but had a tough time collecting all the issues. Now I get a big 12 issue chunk at once! Thanks, Jim Starlin! Here's Dreadstar link! Go knock yourself out! (Will this be considered for honorary Masterworks status? After all...it was published by Marvel!)

Check out the nifty silver age timeline I got put together over the last few days. It's a lateral chart through the House of Ideas from FF #1 to FF #102, the fateful final Lee/Kirby issue that, to me, sounded the end of the Silver Age. I hope you dig it. It's a bird's eye view on what's entered the Masterworks canon, and what has yet to. (Come on, Ant-Man!!!)

The next batch of limited edition remasterworks has been announced. Contact your comics retailer of choice to order these. No deadline announced yet, but it's probably the typical ten days to two weeks we have come to expect. They include: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 and 6, Spider-Man Vol. 5, and Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 (Claremont's first book!) Order now if you want to be assured of getting a copy of the limited! (Tales of Wonder links are located from the Masterworks Library page.)

Barnes and Noble have in the last few days announced two more additions to their library of softcover Masterworks. Over the next few months, we'll see the publication of Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 and Spider-Man Vol. 2. What this means to the fate of the Masterworks program as a whole remains to be seen, but there's lots of discussion on the message boards.

Finally, the "easter egg" was hidden in the banner behind an image of the monster "gormuu." Clicking the image took you to the special winner's circle page. The gormuu images was on the page where Tom Brevoort's interview with Comic Book Marketplace was transcribed. This page was linked at the very bottom of the 2002 News Archive page and nowhere else, so it took some sleuthing to find it. Nowhere else, until now! You'll find that article now linked in the lower left news links list. Check that spot, by the way, as I'll be adding interesting site locales there as often as I can generate the content.

At 12:39 pm, Masterworks fan Bill Nolan found the "easter egg! Congrats, Bill! You have just won your choice of ReMasterworks courtesy of Tales of Wonder! See what happens when you slum around this website? For those of you who still want the challenge of finding the Easter Egg, I won't announce where it is until tomorrow. I'd like to thank everybody that participated, as well as Tales of Wonder for helping make this happen. And this won't be the last time we'll have fun like this, so keep checking in on what's happening!

Sally Struthers says: "Do you want free Masterworks? Sure! We all do!" *

Thanks, Sally! Welcome to the first ever Marvel Masterworks Resource Page contest free-for-all! The winner of this contest gets absolutely free their choice of one of the regular edition ReMasterworks. (You have 32 choices, so if you can't make one, I'm sorry- there's no helping you!) Winners outside the good ol' USA will be asked to pay the S+H costs associated with delivery to your part of the world. The winner will get their Masterworks delivered to their door by the good folks at TALES OF WONDER, who provide great service with a smile, and even though you can't see smiles through mail order, you'll know that they are there!

Now, what are the rules of this contest? Simple. You're on an easter egg hunt! Somewhere on this website, there is an easter egg planted. You'll know it when you see it, and the first person who sees it and is able to follow the instructions wins! It's that easy! I did try to hide this sucker as best as I could to really challenge you. I hope somebody finds it, otherwise it'll get all stinky around here! Get crackin' people!!!!

* Part of dealing with Gormuu is his weird sense of humor. A No-Prize to the person who can reference this reference!

Well, I've finally got the site update done! Take a look around, and I hope you dig it. There's still more work to be done, so keep checking back for more updates. I'll have the X-Men Vol. 1 online just like I now have the Hulk. I'll add each volume at the approximate time of release date. Also, please feel free to send in commentary for the Hulk Masterworks! I'd like to post some of your thoughts at the Hulk pages. It oughta be pretty fun hearind what ya'll have to say!

Now some links are not live yet, I'm still working on them. It's taken me a long time to get this page whipped into shape, and for that I need to make special thanks to Doug Roberts (blam880 on the message boards) for his help in graphics and site design. I think he did a great job! Look forward to a page devoted to your mockups and future maps, too. Scarlet Spider has already sent me some incredible images that I hope to get posted before the end of the weekend. I hope the future Masterworks looks as good as he makes them look!

And to celebrate the Marvel Masterworks Resource Page revamp, we're gonna have a contest!!! The winner of this contest will get a free Masterworks of their choice (regular silver and black edition) courtesy of site sponsor Tales of Wonder! The contest will start at NOON EASTERN TIME on Monday, so you'll want to be here then for the posting of the contest rules.

Hulk is out now! Hulk hit stores on Wednesday, knocking down a few walls and part of the roof when he leapt out to get away from Gen. Thunderbolt Ross and his Iceberg Rocket....okay, that's not what I mean. I mean Hulk MASTERWORKS hit stores Wednesday, and all things going the way they should, Diamond will ship out X-Men Masterworks Vol. 1 this next Wednesday. Woo to the hoo! Check the message boards for all the hubbub- and there's LOTS of hubbub!

Also, there are 6 more Masterworks available for pre-order as limited editions, and the order deadline is May 15! Order before this date to guarantee your ownership of the Limited Editions you covet! I'm talking about X-Men Vol. 3, Spidey Vol. 4, Avengers Vol. 2 and 3, Daredevil Vol. 2 and Thor Vol. 2. Check out the links posted above here to buy from Tales of Wonder for a sweet discount off the list price.