Marvel Preview Review for December Pt 3 of 3

The Conclusion...

THOR BY WALTER SIMONSON OMNIBUS HC
Written, Penciled, Covers by Walter SimonsonCollecting Thor #337-355, #357-369 & #371-382 and Balder The Brave #1-4.1192 PGS./ $125.00
Lee: Omnibus’s (Omnibii?) must be financial cash cows because Marvel seems to be releasing more and more of them. And, I hate these things with the same passion that I love Masterworks. Seriously, would it have killed Marvel to release this as three smaller hc’s? Wouldn’t they have made the same amount of money? And, in case you missed it there’s a price hike on this one!!!
Greg: Its 1,192 pages! What did you expect!? I think these things are extremely unwieldy, but its nice to know that its all in print. Now, how about it being in print in affordable trades?

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA STRANGE TALES VOL. 4 HC
Penciled by Werner Roth, Joe Sinnot, Paul Reinman, John Romita, Bill Everett, and othersCollecting Strange Tales #31-39. 248 PGS./ $59.99
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 13 HC
Written by Gerry ConwayPenciled by Gil Kane & Ross Andru with John Romita. The Marvel Masterworks present this tragic tale and a host of Spider-Man classics that would come to define the Webspinner’s world for years to come: the debut of Col. John Jameson’s werewolf curse, the Man-Wolf. The first appearance of Frank Castle, the Punisher. The death of Gwen Stacy, the story that put a generation into therapy and cemented the Green Goblin’s name as the definition of evil Topping it off, there’s first appearance of the nefarious Jackal, the return of the Vulture, Hammerhead, the hilarious Human Torch-built Spider-Mobile, and the shocking wedding of Aunt May and Doctor Octopus! Collecting Amazing Spider-Man #121-131248 PGS/ $54.99
Lee: Marvel really needs to stop releasing two masterworks a month because they are killing me! But, both of them are outstanding this month. The early Strange Tales stories not only read well, but they have fantastic art too. It’s one of the best collections of code horror books there is and I highly recommend it. But, if you can only afford one masterworks this month then you need to get the Spiderman one. These 11 issues really are defining moments in SM’s career and deserve to be one everyone’s shelf.
Greg: Have you heard of Essentials?

THOR VS. SETH, THE SERPENT GOD TPB
Written by Tom DefalcoPenciled, Cover by Ron FrenzSeth, the Egyptian God of Death, has set his sights on Asgard, and he won’t stop until he’s exterminated the entire race! It’s an all-out war between the gods, with Seth pulling out all the stops and winning! But is it possible? Is Odin still alive? Guest-starring Earth-Force and the Black Knight! And what hope does Thor have against Surtur the Fire-Demon, the one villain Odin has never been able to permanently defeat? Collecting Thor (1966) #395-400. 192 PGS./ $19.99
Lee: I’m going to get this but I have no expectation that it will be any good. I didn’t read it the first time around, and I doubt the material has ages all that well, but I know it looks pretty. After Kirby, this was one of the best drawn Thor’s ever. I think there will be lots of fighting which plays to Frenz’s strength and that’s good enough for me.
Greg: I'm sorry, did you say that Ron Frenz drew a better Kirby than Simonson? I think we need to step outside and discuss this further ...

KA-ZAR BY MARK WAID & ANDY KUBERT VOL. 1 TPB
Written by Mark Waid
Penciled by Andy Kubert & Pino Rinaldi
Ka-Zar, lord of the hidden jungle, is many things. A British nobleman. A man lost in time. A husband. A father. Best friend of a saber-toothed tiger. And younger brother to an incredibly evil man. When the father of Parnival and Kevin Plunder died, he left his sons the very keys to the mysteries of the Savage Land, and Parnival has decided to take the secrets for himself! See Ka-Zar fight for honor and family in the verdant green jungles of the Savage Land and the harsh concrete jungle of New York! Collecting KA-ZAR (1997) #1-7 & #-1 and material from Tales Of The Marvel Universe #1. 200 PGS./$19.99
Lee: On the other I know this pretty but the series was a miss for me. I have these issues in a long box somewhere and I know it lost when when Kazar fought Thanos. I’m sorry but Kazar should not be fighting, or beating, Thanos.
Greg: I LOVED this book when it came out precisely because how bonkers it was. It went from Ka-Zar fighting a Kraven stand in to fighting Thanos! I loved it. I'm really curious to see how it stands up.

X-NECROSHA TPB
Written by Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Zeb Wells, Mike Carey & Robert KirkmanPenciled by Clayton Crain, Ibraim Roberson, Diogenes Neves, Kevin Sharpe, Laurence Campbell, Yanick Paquette, Clay Mann, Mike Norton, Alina Urusov, Clayton Crain, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Kalman Andrasofszky, Mateus Santolouco & Jason PearsonCover by ADI GRANOVCollecting New X-Men #32, X-Force #11, #21-25, New Mutants #6-8, X-Men: Legacy #231-234, X-Force/New Mutants: Necrosha One-Shot, X Necrosha: The Gathering And Material From X-Force Annual.448 PGS./ $34.99
Lee: Now this is how you collect a cross over event! All the books, and all the stories in one place so I can sit down and read it. Now, if only Marvel would do the same thing for Secret Invasion or Dark Reign so I don’t have to buy 7 different tpbs to read those stories.
Greg: This wasn't very good, BUT this is exactly how you should collect a crossover. That said, the New Mutants stuff in this crossover, like anything written by Zeb Wells, is very strong stuff.

EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES: WARREN ELLIS VOL. 3 TPB
Written by Warren Ellis
Penciled by Casey Jones, Carlos Pacheco, Terry Dodson, Aaron Lopresti, Randy Green & Rob Haynes Cover by Carlos Pacheco
Collecting Excalibur (1988) #96-103 and Pryde And Wisdom #1-3. 272 PGS./ $29.99
Lee: Interestingly enough, we were arguing about this in email the other day. I was saying I didn't think it was that good, Greg said it was wasn't that bad, and then Gwen "tee hee" chimed in with 'I loved this!' I'm not sure I can top a tee-hee endorsement.
Greg: We could talk about there are fairies (possible) and unicorns (probably not) in it.

Greg: I've always got a predeliction towards Marvel stuff, but there's a lot to like here. I'm particularly excited for the Dan Slott only Spider-Man. That said, Marvel needs to stop overloading their franchises (Wolverine, Deadpool, Avengers, etc.) and stop running every good idea into the ground.
Lee: I love my Marvel stuff too but there's way too much out there for even me to absorb. But, I love all the reprints and hc's they release so they still get a ton of my money.