Gallery 13; $50
Editor Chris Ryall – a creative force in his own rite – is the former Publisher and President of IDW Publishing. He’s also a superfan when it comes to Marvel Comics of the 1970s and ‘80s (just ask him about Rom), and it’s hard to think of a better person to spearhead the 50th anniversary edition of Fireside Books’ Origins of Marvel Comics.
What Ryall has done with this already important book is a tremendous service to fans, historians, and collectors. Stan Lee’s original text was – as it’s been described – self-depracating hype. Ryall’s additional material gives it a tremendous injection of context.
Coming just 13 years after the launch of Fantastic Four #1, Origins was the first hardcover and trade paperback that collected Marvel material, namely the origin stories for the FF, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Doctor Strange – and it served as the gateway drug for many budding collectors in that era. The origin stories were paired with more recent (at the time) adventures of the same characters.
While the tales contained in the volume were nowhere near as pricey as they are today, they were already beyond reach for newer, entry level fans. In 1974, that year’s edition of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide noted the prices of each of the issues included in the book: Fantastic Four #1 ($70) and #55 ($1), Incredible Hulk #1 ($30) and #118 (40¢), Amazing Fantasy #15 ($40), Amazing Spider-Man #72 (40¢), Journey into Mystery #83 ($20), Thor #143 (40¢), and Strange Tales #110 ($3), #115 ($2), and #155 (60¢). Adding them up – if you could find them – only brought a total of $167.40 (in 1974 dollars), but Origins carried only a $6.95 cover price for the softcover.
It was a bargain that also came with the perceived legitimacy of being in the form of a book rather than an individual comic. And it was a hit. Origins spawned Son of Origins, Bring on the Bad Guys, and a whole line of Marvel collections for Simon & Shuster’s Fireside imprint.
The new deluxe, collector’s edition of the Origins of Marvel Comics includes a new Alex Ross take on the original cover, essays by Ryall, Tom Brevoort, Ross, and Larry Lieber, as well as an interview with Fireside editor Linda Sunshine. The book also includes a look at the marketing efforts for the original version, artist bios, and Ray Bradbury’s Los Angeles Times review of the volume from 1974, among the material crammed into its pages.
For fans of the original version, and for Marvel fans in general, it’s a tremendous way to make a landmark anniversary.
– J.C. Vaughn
