Marvel Essentials vs. DC Showcase

[Aeturnus]

I've started collecting the Essential stuff. Well, technically, I just put 'em on my Christmas list. They're definitely worth the price tag, but sometimes the black and white print - especially in the X-men volumes - makes some characters indistinguishable (check out vol. 6, ish 205 - the snow blurs all the panels).

I want to pick up some DC Showcase titles...but they're sold out everywhere. I really wanted to pick up the JLA one too, since it's supposedly Silver Age stuff...

...'course, I'd like to know why DC made Metamorpho and Jonah Hex Showcases before any Batman stuff. O.o

Anyhoo, if anyone's been picking up both types of collections, do Showcases compare to the quality of the Essentials? Which Showcases do you reccomend? Which Marvel Essentials should I read/avoid?

I'd appreciate any help. ^^

[deadshot042]

I've been wondering the same thing to. I own all the X-Men, Avengers, Defenders and Spider Man essentials and have really enjoyed all of them. I intend to pick up JLA showcase some time soon and maybe Metamorpho too. I'll tell you how they are.

[Aeturnus]

Holy Bears-Clinching-a-First-Round-Bye, that's a lot of Essentials. O.o

*Fed Ex commercial*

*Watches Walter Payton's majestic ghost run out of my living room...before I get an autograph*

:(

[deadshot042]

I know I've been collecting them for almost 3 years now. I'm having to learn to pace myself now, I just recieved Spidey 7 and I'm loving it.

[Ignatz_Mouse]

The Showcases are nicer paper/printing, and a little more expensive. They may be thicker.

I love 'em both. I've read quite a bit of Avengers and Spider-Man in Essentials. I've bought all of the Showcase books so far.

As far as which Showcase volumes are worth getting, depends on what you like. Here's a quick breakdown:

Superman: all the Superman and Action Comics Superman stories from a year or two. A particularly fertile period, as it introduces Brainiac, Supergirl, Kandor, Metallo, the Fortress of Solitude-- essentially all the things that make Silver Age Superman who he is. The stories are light contrivances, not usually centered around combat of any sort, but rather some conundrum that Superman must solve. Creative, totally unrealistic, fun if you like that sort of thing. I eat this stuff up. If you are amused by the Superdickery site, you might like these.

Green Lantern: Much more straight super-heroics, early adventures of Hal Jordan. Watch for varying levels of power. Early Space Opera stuff with the Guardians, Sinestro, etc. My favorite of the volumes so far.

Jonah Hex: Western drama from the early 70's. Comic-book version of old Clint Eastwood moives. If you like thoses, you'll like these. I haven't read too much yet, I like it in small doses.

Metamorpho: Campy super-heroics. Intentionally corny characters. Fun plots. Creative, if demented, idea for a superhero. I like this one, too.

Justice League of America: Early JLA. Stories are pretty stiff, and the comics are nowhere near as demented and bizarre as the Superman or Metamorpho, nor at cool and interesting as the GL stuff. My least favorite, so far. Especially pales with the Avengers and Fantastic Four comics of the same era. I personally don't think JLA hit its stride until sometime after the stuff in this volume.

[Ignatz_Mouse]

Oh, as far as Marvel essentials, I like the classics:

Spider-Man
Fantastic Four
Avengers.

Avengers 2-4 are awesome, awesome comics. I whole lot of standard Avengers stuff debuted in those books. Ultron, Vision, the Squadron Sinister/Supreme. Volume 4 has the Kree Skrull War, which I really like, even if it is a little weird by modern standards.

The New X-Men Essentials are also great, especially the one collecting the Claremont/Byrne run.

I haven't picked up Essentials of any of the second-tier guys, except Silver Surfer, which I really didn't enjoy as much as I thought I would.

[deadshot042]

Thanks for the recomendations Ignatz. I love spaghetti westerns so now Jonah Hex Showcase is at the top of my list and I think I'll pick up Green Lantern sometime too.

[AbeSapien]

I have the JLA one and the only reason to buy it is to see the origin of the BIG 7 league, and also to see the debut of villains like Despero, Amazo, and Dr. Light.

Its purely a purchase to make for history sake, but not page turing fun.

[Aeturnus]

So YOU bought the JLA Showcase...>.>

<.<...and here I was, thinkin' I was seeing things.


Thanks for the reviews, Ignatz. I really like early Hal, but I've already read that stuff. >.< The Supes stuff sounds good (although I've never been a big fan of the ol' man)...though I can't imagine his stories being anything but stiff. I'll definitely skim through it then.


I'm also looking for the early Avengers essentials. Couldn't find 'em anywhere, really wanted 3-4.


So far I've got:
ASM, vol. 5,6,7
Defenders, vol. 1
Ghost Rider, vol. 1
Iron Fist, vol. 1
Iron Man, vol. 1 and 2
Luke Cage, vol. 1
UXM, vol. 6

...I can only give a review on UXM as of now...and, my God, I hate Kitty Pryde so very, very much.

[phantom1592]

I find it REAL hard to read these books. Entirely based on the black and white aspect. I don't know what it is. I pick up the Masterworks editions in color, and I burn right through them. I get the Essentials and they just drag. So far I have Green Lantern Showcase, and Tomb of Dracula Vol 1. & 4 that I haven't finished yet. Love the old books too, it really surprises me.

I LOVE Elfquest in Black and White, but the superhero books, I need me my color!

[TechLee]

Wait, the Showcases are more expensive than the Essentials? o.O

Aren't the Essentials 20 each? The GL Showcase I grabbed was only 10 bucks..

I'm so confused! :p

[Darth Sabre]

The Essentials I have seem to run between 12.99-16.99 cover price

I have X-Men vol 1-4
OHTMU Vol 1

[charlesx]

The GL and Supes Showcases are $9.99 each. That is a most excellent price for 500 pages' worth of b/w Silver Age reprints. The others (JLA, Metamorpho, Jonah Hex) are $17 each. I must say that the artwork of the era holds up pretty well in b/w. Over all, the Showcases are a solid, recommended investment. I like the Superman one the best so far.

The problem I had with the Marvel Essentials was that the material contained within them has been reprinted before in color. Speaking for the ASM ones, Steve Ditko and John Romita's art is so awesome in living color that I couldn't enjoy the b/w that much. I have not bought any other Marvel Essentials for that reason. However, I am glad that they are reprinting titles such as Howard the Duck, Werewolf by Night, Iron Fist, etc.

I give Showcases a thumbs up and Essentials a "meh." Then again, maybe I am biased towards DC reprints.

[AbeSapien]

I give Showcases a thumbs up and Essentials a "meh." Then again, maybe I am biased towards DC reprints.


It depends what you're reading.

The Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider Man and most of the X-men stuff has all been printed before in color so the Essentials lack the power on the page.

However, stuff like Iron Fist, Power Man, Spider Woman, and other lower tier figures have never been collected like this before and the nature of the stories tend to be odder and more compelling issue to issue than the team books which often bog down with longer arcs and more internal dynamics.

Essentials I have:

Captain America Vol.2 (just for the Hydra stuff)
Defenders Vol.1 (love the team)
Dr. Strange Vol.1 (extension of the Defenders)
Fantastic Four vol.4 (this one is heavy on Lockjaw, Crystal, and the Inhumans, as well as the debut of Annihuls, Ronan the Accuser and the Kree)
Super Villain Team Up Vol.1 (Doom and Namor, 'nuff said)
Spider Woman Vol.1 (Bought it for her early Hydra connections)

All of those are really fun reads except for portions of the Fantastic Four book which bog down in marital issues and the later Spider Woman issues when they sort of ran out of ideas for her.

[Rokk_Krinn]

As someone who's essentially collected a fair number of both Essentials and Showcases, I would have to say the decision comes down to what characters you're most interested in seeing and how much you're into comic history. Both collections are a chance to see issues that you might have serious troubles tracking down and, sure, they're in black-and-white but that's not always all bad (I, for one, find certain titles like Jonah Hex or the Frankenstein Monster are better in b&w).

One thing I would love to see the Showcase line do - as they've shown a strong willingness to go with some oddball choices (Metamorpho) and I love 'em for it - would be to see a few more titles along those lines. Some ideas would be (and I warn you, this comes from someone who actually owns all appearances of the "Inferior Five". :) ) -

*Metal Men - sure it's outrageous sci-fi but they were such enjoyable stories; I remember being a kid with a "Blue Ribbon" digest of them and literally reading it to pieces (now I'm an adult who spends way too much money completing his set of them).

*The Haunted Tank - A series that would look gorgeous in b&w and it can be a real pain to collect (esp. since it went so darn many issues).

*House of Mystery & House of Secrets - Again, b&w beauties and fantastic reads, though you might want to have two House of Mysteries as there's a real change over the eras (from sci-fi/superheroes like J'onn and Dial H for Hero to the horrour anthology).

*Aquaman - Specifically, the Jim Aparo era though the loss of colour would be a shame as they were some gorgeous panels.

*Elongated Man - C'mon, you know you want to see a comprehensive collection of his best appearanes. :)

Honestly, there are oodles of choices though I was shooting for ones that are less likely to be reprinted in Archive versions (Aquaman's Archive stops short of some of the really top-notch stories). Of course I would also highly advocate reprinting stories that have already been archived - like GL and Superman - in the "cheaper" Showcases as it'll reach a bigger audience that maybe can't afford the Archives. Some good choices there would be:

*The Flash - My #1 choice for the next "cheap" Showcase (esp. since the character is so closely tied to the name "Showcase").

*Shazam! - The early Captain Marvel stories were the best selling super-hero of all time. Let current readers see why without shelling out a fortune.

*Doom Patrol - The X-Men before the X-Men. :) An important part of DC History that nicely treads the line between the historical and oddball sides of the "Showcase" reprints.

[deadshot042]

I'd love to see the Flash and DOOM Patrol Showcases.
I think the House of Mystery Showcase comes out next month.

[AbeSapien]

Wow. I was having a conversation tonight where I told my friend that I was hoping for a DOOM Patrol Showcase, and then I said in disgust, "they'll probably release Flash instead."

:)

[Rokk_Krinn]

Wow. I was having a conversation tonight where I told my friend that I was hoping for a DOOM Patrol Showcase, and then I said in disgust, "they'll probably release Flash instead."

:)

Well, I know they can be a pinch pricey if you're trying to keep costs low, but the two Doom Patrol Archives pretty much collect all the original DP tales. Worth checking out (besides, Animal-Mineral-Vegetable Man just isn't the same in b&w. :) ).

Now if only I can convince DC to put up "Sugar and Spike" and "Funny Stuff" in the Showcase formats....

[charlesx]

I have seen that they are planning on releasing a Showcase of Superman Family. That would be pretty cool. I'd like to see volumes of The Brave and The Bold, Swamp Thing (Berni Wrightson era), Adventure Comics (LSH), and The Warlord. Unfortunately, the b/w reprints featuring Jack Kirby artwork don't do it for me. (Again, here is one of the comic book greats that deserves to be printed only in living color. Though maybe his Demon series would look okay in b/w.)