Simonson's Thor Omnibus 2011

If you can't tell, I'm really excited for this omnibus. Been lurking through the Marvel forum over at marvelmasterworks.com. KOBE27 was kind enough to post some scans of the Thor Visionary TPB pages as compared to the originals and I'd thought I share. Apparently the omnibus will use the same colouring...

Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus

Simonson's Thor and the Fall of the Mutants in Omnibus format in 2011!

Great news for Simonson fans! A 1,100 page Thor Omnibus featuring the works of Walt Simonson will hit the shelves in March 2011

http://tinyurl.com/23fqkz2



Considered by many to be the greatest run on Thor ever, Walt Simonson's classic tales of the God of Thunder are collected here-completely remastered from the original artwork and newly colored by Steve Oliffe! And there are too many timeless tales to count: The Casket of Ancient Winters! The death of Odin! The origins of Asgard! The sacrifice of the Executioner! Thor as a frog! The Mutant Massacre! Collecting: Thor #337-355, #357-369, #371-382; Balder the Brave #1-4

And, in April 2011, a Fall of the Mutants Omnibus will also be available.


http://tinyurl.com/34zutcm

1986 - Phoenix Rising unpublished pages

Here are the unpublished pages from Fantastic Four #286 written and drawn by John Byrne.

The pages that saw print were altered at the request of Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. These alterations were scripted by Chris Claremont and drawn by Jackson Guice.

Fan Expo 2010 - Letter from the President

Sorry to pull the focus away from the Marvel 1980s, but I need to vent about the Fan Expo 2010. This year's show has been harshly and justly criticized by the media, fans, and myself. The President of Fan Expo put out the following letter of apology:

After reading this letter, the only thing I can do is shake my head. How can they claim they were unfamiliar with the North Building when the convention was originally held there for many years before moving to the South Building in recent years? Not to mention the Fan Appreciation Shows through the year that are also run out of the North Building. Sadly, this excuse is a blatant insult to their fans.

There's no mention of compensating fans, such as allowing them free access to those Fan Appreciation Shows or their other Comic Expos during the year. Sad and disappointing, but that's what you should expect when dealing with Fan Expo Toronto.

If only WizardWorld Toronto could step up next year. It could provide fans with a viable alternative and grab hold of that market.

1984 - Secret Wars #1 unpublished cover

Check out the penciled version of Mike Zeck's cover to Secret Wars #1. Note the extra characters that were removed in the final product: Thor, Mr. Fantastic, Shadowcat, Colossus, and Cannonball.

Thumbs down on the Fan Expo 2010

First off, I’d like to commend Fan Expo 2010 on their guest line up (including William Shatner, David Cronenburg, and Stan Lee) and their exhibitors (DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Disney, and Electric Playground). Their efforts here have put this convention into the top 10 in North America.

However, logistically, they still have a hell of a lot to learn. I was fortunate to have an exhibitor friend at the show who gave me a pass in exchange for working the booth. I didn’t have to endure the horrors I witnessed and have been reading about all weekend on the Toronto Fan Expo facebook page.

From the attendees point of view and mine, the Fan Expo was a terrible disappointment this year. Deluxe ticket holders were left to line up for hours just to get in, re-admission required 2 hours, volunteers/handlers were clueless and yelled at attendees, the show was oversold on Saturday, and tickets were being sold on Saturday despite the fact that they were oversold and that they weren’t actually letting people into the show.

Despite all of the crap and the hot, muggy weather, the attendees deserve some credit as there was no violence. I also felt bad for the exhibitors, as they were screwed with thousands of customers stuck outside and the narrow hallways allow virtually no traffic through.

Fan Expo really needs to expand their venue, perhaps even split up the show across the North and South buildings of the Convention Center (or maybe split the show up by attraction, say having the SCI-FI and ANIME show on another weekend), and really do some research and hire some intelligent and veteran staff who know how to control traffic flow and handle large crowds. They also need to treat attendees as paying customers instead of cattle ripe for herding and the electric prod. 

Toronto Fan Expo 2010

Sorry for that lack of updates lately, it's been pretty crazy. I covered the Toronto After Dark Film Festival for The Black Glove Magazine (http://the-black-glove.blogspot.com) and took a handful of days off on vacation. Now, I'm back and looking forward to this weekend's Fan Expo 2010. It's Canada's biggest comic con and all the big players are coming, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Stan Lee!

For more information, check out: http://www.fanexpocanada.com

Of Marvel 1980s note, Bob Layton will be a guest and I'm hoping to get him to sign my Secret Wars Omnibus. As well, Marvel Comics is offering an exclusive Alpha Flight variant of Avengers #4 (seen on the left).