Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Top Five 1980s Reprints Of 2012

  1. The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 2. Yes, this pick is from the Distinguished Competition, but it’s a wonderful volume that lavishly reprints some amazing stories by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. You can just smell the teen angst as soon as you open this thick hardcover. This omnibus reprints New Teen Titans #21-40.
  2. Avengers: The Trial of Yellowjacket. This Trade Paperback revisit Jim Shooter’s controversial run on the Avengers and the fall long-standing and founding member Hank Pym. Shooter really had it out for poor, old Hank as he was turned him into a wife beater, a madman who callously took down surrendered villains  and traitor to his own team. Fortunately, Roger Stern helps out as he comes in as the new regular writer for the last three stories and has Hank pick up his pride and leave the Avengers with a bright future. This trade paperback collects The Might Avengers #212-230.
  3. Incredible Hulk: Pardoned/Incredible Hulk: Regression. Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema had a great run on the Incredible Hulk in the early 1980s and really pushed beyond the TV stereotype. Incredible Hulk: Pardoned reprinted issues #269-285 while Incredible Hulk: Regression reprinted issues #286-295, 297-300 and Annual #12.
  4. Alpha Flight Classic - Volume 3. The last volume reprinting John Byrne's legendary run with Canada's mightiest heroes, including the famous creator crossover that had Byrne move over to the Incredible Hulk and had Bill Mantlo and Mike Mignola take on Alpha Flight. This Trade Paperback reprints Alpha Flight #20-29 and Incredible Hulk #313.
  5. Avengers: West Coast Avengers: Zodiac Attack. While the Marvel Premiere line coming to an end, this volume is a reminder of what it delivered. While we're not talking classic comic book stuff, this run by Steve Englehart and Al Migrom is some great fun from the 1980s. Over 200 pages of nostaglica fun that retells the battle between the West Coast Avengers and the Zodiac!  This collection reprinted West Coast Avengers #25-30, Annual #2 and Avengers Annual #16.


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10 comments:

  1. rallenraderJanuary 1, 2013 at 9:29 AM

    All fantastic choices! Even though I have all of the original issues, my wife bought me the Titans Omnibus and I must say it is fantastic. It goes without saying that the stories and art are top notch, but - as you mentioned - the production values on this edition are second to none.

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  2. Jason ShayerJanuary 1, 2013 at 9:37 AM

    Thanks rallenrader. It is a fine, fine book. Looking forward to Volume 3!

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  3. Doc SavageJanuary 1, 2013 at 3:06 PM

    West Coast Avengers was pretty bad after the miniseries. Headlok and Griffin show up for no apparent reason, Griffin disappears with noexplanation, Tigra is just a slut for the1st 15 issues, storylines went nowhere...I quit at #16. Are you saying it got better? Same writer...

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  4. Jason ShayerJanuary 1, 2013 at 3:48 PM

    Hey Matt, I enjoyed the early run as well and I don't think it ever got back to that high water mark. Although those two annuals were great fun!

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2013 at 5:20 AM

    The Incredible Hulk TPB reprints the issue with ROM too??

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  6. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2013 at 6:41 AM

    The time travel story was fun. Probably my favourite story besides the original WCA mini series. The series was still well written IMO. Certainly changed a lot when John Byrne took over. Wasn't a fan at all of what he did with The Vision. Still the next writer could have easily changed things back, but they didn't :(. Stopped reading the book after JB left. Was an abrupt departure from what I remembered. Shame really. Although I didn't like what happened with the Vision the book was still a decent read.

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  7. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2013 at 6:46 AM

    Hulk books were great. Crossroads is coming out later this year. Really do make a nice series.

    I'd probably swap Zodiac Attack for Cloak and Dagger - Crime and Punishment MPC. All the early C&D stories that predated the mini series, and some sweet extras as well.

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  8. Jason ShayerJanuary 2, 2013 at 7:48 AM

    Unfortunately, the ROM issue was left out of that trade paperback.

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  9. Doc SavageJanuary 5, 2013 at 2:19 PM

    Not a ROM fan but I sure wish something could be arranged so crossover stories with ROM wouldnt have to be left out of other books...same with Shang Chi, Red Sonja, Conan, etc.

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  10. Jason ShayerJanuary 5, 2013 at 2:56 PM

    Hey Matt, agreed totally, you'd think one of the lawyer would be clever enough to figure out a way to guarantee the reprint rights!

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