shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 6, 2017 16:54:58 GMT -5
GIANT-SIZE Classic Comic Discussion I'm realizing how little I know about the Giant Size format that Marvel briefly employed in the mid 1970s. If you're a fan of the Avengers, you had to run out to the local shop and keep up with GS #1-4 just to understand what was happening in the book for which you thought you'd already purchased a subscription, if you're a fan of the X-Men, GS #1 is a holy grail of sorts, and if you're a fan of Man-Thing -- well that title was just darn funny. But what's the story behind this little format experiment? Was the goal to take shelf space from competitors, to coerce more money from a loyal fan-base, or was it Marvel trying to innovate in some fashion and expand the comic book medium beyond the monthly comic format? I assume the experiment ended because creative teams couldn't keep up. We certainly see that happen with both GS Avengers and GS X-men. So i'm curious if anyone has any specific insights in regard to this short-lived approach to comics, and, considering how much effort and importance was poured into the better of the GS issues, I also invite you to share memories of specific Giant-Size books and stories. Bring on the Giant-Size discussion! |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 6, 2017 17:05:36 GMT -5
Those Giant sized books were great but in the Avengers 40 Years CD Rom released a few years ago, they were not part of the issues included. Thus if you're reading that Madonna saga , you're left hanging .
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2017 17:12:03 GMT -5
I wished Marvel creates an Omnibus/Masterworks of this beloved series and my favorite one is the X-Men shown here and having said that - I don't know if they had any re-prints of it but, I would like to get my hands on a copy of that X-Men here. The Avengers were very hard to come by and they were constantly sold out and you literally have to borrow a copy from your friends and they have a hard time letting it go. That's a true statement because people ended up stealing them; and I had a friend that let you read it as long you read it at his place.
Great Topic and I may have to think about it a day or two to jar my memories of some of the best GIANT-SIZE MARVEL books.
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Post by Rob Allen on Jul 6, 2017 17:45:39 GMT -5
I'm very close to having a complete collection of the Giant-Size books - I think I'm missing one of the Kid Colt issues and one or two of the "Queen-Size" Millie the Model issues.
In the beginning, Marvel was trying to innovate. Regular comics were down to 17 pages of story, and there was a lot of resistance to the idea of another price hike, so they wanted to establish a larger format that would be attractive to readers and retailers. They put some of their best people on these books and let them tell longer stories than the standard comics. But it seems not to have worked as well as they hoped. By the end, they were just using the "Giant-Size" name on books that would have been titled "Annuals" in any other year.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jul 6, 2017 18:47:48 GMT -5
Giant-Size books were a little before my time, but I used to love to pick up back issues from my LCS back in the day. I did actually get Giant Size X-Men #1, which remains my most expensive comic purchase ever.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Jul 6, 2017 18:53:50 GMT -5
I don't have much to add, but the Giant-Size Spider-Man issues are all really enjoyable. Not Earth shattering or anything, but really solid, enjoyable Bronze Age comics.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 6, 2017 19:25:46 GMT -5
I'm in the process of collecting as many of the Giant-Size titles as I can afford (basically everything but G-S X-Men #1), inspired in part by Rob Allen's success at same. Not everything in them is gold--the G-S Werewolfs are nothing to write home--but the good titles like Spider-Man, Avengers, Defenders, and Man-Thing more than compensate.
Cei-U!
I summon the achievable goal!
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 6, 2017 19:28:04 GMT -5
In the beginning, Marvel was trying to innovate. Regular comics were down to 17 pages of story, and there was a lot of resistance to the idea of another price hike, so they wanted to establish a larger format that would be attractive to readers and retailers. Ah, that makes sense. Yes. It seems like every Giant-Size issue I've read is either the most important, if-you-don't-read-this-one-you-miss-everything kind of epic, or it's 50% reprints and filler. Just seems like they never got the right production rhythm. I've really only followed four of the Giant-Size volumes thus far (Avengers, Man-Thing, Master of Kung Fu, and X-Men), but two of those four suffered from this. Len Wein has stated that GS X-Men ended because he couldn't keep up with the work load, and GS Avengers #3 has an explanation from Roy Thomas that Steve Englehart couldn't keep up with them either. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 6, 2017 19:29:13 GMT -5
I'm in the process of collecting as many of the Giant-Size titles as I can afford (basically everything but G-S X-Men #1) |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 6, 2017 19:39:51 GMT -5
I'm in the process of collecting as many of the Giant-Size titles as I can afford (basically everything but G-S X-Men #1) Since I have a digital copy as well as the Masterwork and Essential reprints, I'm not worried about it but thanks for the suggestion. Cei-U! I'm good! |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 6, 2017 19:42:51 GMT -5
Since I have a digital copy as well as the Masterwork and Essential reprints, I'm not worried about it but thanks for the suggestion. Cei-U! I'm good! Understood. I just put the Marvel Milestone reprints on a whole other level because they reprint every single page, including ads. It truly is the next best thing to owning the original. I just wish they'd ditched the high gloss in favor of a more authentic paper quality and coloring process. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 6, 2017 19:44:49 GMT -5
Don't try to pull the bait and switch on Cei-U !!!!  |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 6, 2017 19:45:39 GMT -5
I bought a Captain Marvel GS #1 this year and it was all reprints.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 6, 2017 19:51:19 GMT -5
I bought a Captain Marvel GS #1 this year and it was all reprints. FYI, so are the G-S Captain America, Daredevil, Hulk, Iron Man, Power Man, and Thor issues. Cei-U! Caveat emptor! |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2017 19:56:13 GMT -5
I bought a Captain Marvel GS #1 this year and it was all reprints. FYI, so are the G-S Captain America, Daredevil, Hulk, Iron Man, Power Man, and Thor issues. Cei-U! Caveat emptor! Yeah it seemed the books started out as mostly new material with some reprints as back ups in some cases, but devolved into pure reprint books by the end of the line. Many of the GS issues started after the first wave were pure reprint books like the ones Cei-U mentioned. I think the sales numbers had come in and reprints were an attempt to keep the line going for a bit on the cheap, but was a futile gesture in the end. -M |
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