• the217
• Life
• Showcasing the essentials

Related Media

It used to be that for someone getting into comics they would need to go to a comic store, deal with real-life versions of The Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy and spend hours going through back issues looking for the backstory of a character or series. Anticipating a new generation of readers, DC and Marvel are reprinting older comics in special black-and-white 500 page editions. Sure this shoots the collector’s back issues’ value to hell, but for those of us wanting to affordably get into comics, these editions are God-sent.

Marvel’s Essentials

Marvel began releasing these in the ’90s and has been releasing its older series (albeit slowly). In the Marvel Universe, where every issue matters in terms of continuity and canon, Essentials are, well, essential for fans to understand the history of a particular character or title. Take for instance Spider-man or X-Men. There are eight Essential volumes for each in print from the first issue on. A reader can easily sneak into the world by reading over 150 issues for relatively cheap. So far, my favorite series released in this format are Godzilla, Howard the Duck and Tomb of Dracula. Volumes I want to see: Transformers and Micronauts.

DC’s Showcase Presents

DC finally decided to counter Marvel’s Essential line by releasing Showcase Presents their black-and-white over 500 page volumes. Unlike Marvel, DC has been able to release two volumes a month, unlike Marvel, which seems to put out one new volume every few months. DC’s volumes so far tend to be ’60s and ’70s comics, which usually fall in the middle of a series run (DC’s titles go back as far as the ’40s, whereas Marvel started in the ’60s). This is slightly maddening when I get Sgt. Rock Vol. 1 or Metal Men Vol. 1 and I see that they start at issue 100-something. This means the first issues, like the origin and first appearances of iconic villains, are not included. But, these are the stories that make up DC mythology that you won’t find anywhere else. Favorite volumes so far: The Metal Men, Shazam! and Justice League of America. What I want to see: Dial H for Hero and more Shazam!

Should you buy them?

Again, if you want to get into comics you need to read these to see what stories make up today’s heroes. But, there are some general drawbacks. The comics are not presented as they were originally intended, obviously, in black-and-white. The text is the same, but the pictures suffer. Let’s go back to Metal Men. This is a fun series about robots whose personalities are based on the element they represent. While all looking generally the same, they were easily distinguished by their color. Nightcrawler is only cool because he’s blue, rendered colorless in Essential form. Of course this is lost in reprints and you can become lost. Marvel tried to put a comic from the 2000s in the Essential Killraven and with detailed, modern art, the issue doesn’t look that good without color. Older material, being more cartoonish with simplistic colors, only loses reference without color but the characters are so childish they usually state the color of things. I think in the end, my reaction to these volumes is mixed. Yes, I want the issues in their original state, but I’d rather have access to them instead of not at all.