marvel treasury 17: incredible hulk

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Hulk, Incredible Hulk, Marvel Comics, Marvel Treasury, marvel treasury edition, marvel treasury edition 17

This is one of two Marvel Treasury Editions featuring the Hulk. (Behold the Rampaging Hulk treasury edition in our archives.) Each one has a story about the alternate earth on the opposite side of our sun, a world full of man/beast hybrids where Hulk meets an early incarnation of Adam Warlock. In this volume, he meets a version of Bruce Banner.

This volume also holds an underrated but iconic Hulk story where he meets the legendary golem, a protector of the people. The murky swamps and military attacks on Hulk, combined with dramatic panel narration, make this a very representative (and perhaps our favorite) Hulk story of the 1970s. A showdown with Havok, of X-men fame, really shines in the enlarged treasury size. The massive rocks and Hulk’s feats of strength seem appropriately enormous here. Havok was easily our favorite mutant for years after reading this in the late 70s or early 80s.

Buy your own copy of Marvel Treasury Edition 17: The Incredible Hulk; Marvel Comics, 1974.

marvel treasury 22: sensational spider-man

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Bob Budiansky, Marvel Comics, Marvel Team-Up, marvel treasury edition, marvel treasury edition 22, sensational spider-man, Spider-man

 
This titanic tome is one of the books we have covered most often here at MWSNM, and the madness rippling through its gigantic pages inspired more than a little of our aesthetic sense. So, if you would like full scans of some of the stories inside, behold our archives:
Spider-man + Dr. Strange team up
Spider-man + Ka-Zar team up
Spider-man + Black Panther team up

The pics below, from our super secret spy camera (a/k/a iPhone5), feature a nice shot of the back cover, a truly sensational masterpiece from Bob Budiansky and Joe Sinnott. If you like Marvel Treasury Editions, more photos and scans await inside our Marvel Treasury Edition archive.

Buy your own copy of Marvel Treasury Edition #22; Marvel Comics, 1974.

Marvel Treasury Edition: Thor by Kirby

Tags

Jack Kirby, Mangog, Marvel Comics, marvel treasury edition, ragnarok, Stan Lee, Thor

Marvel Treasury Edition #10 features the mighty Thor in a four-issue saga by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. The original issues reprinted in this gloriously oversized edition are Thor #154, #155, #156, and #157. Considering any one of these original issues will run you from $15 in a VG condition to $200 in a CGC-graded 8.0 VF condition, a $15-$30 copy of this treasury edition will leave some cash in your pocket and deliver the goods in a superior format.

And it truly is superior. Just look at these gorgeously reproduced pages and that mind-stunning back cover! Jack Kirby’s artwork at this size never fails to crank the awesome-meter into the red.

The story itself starts off well, with a big bad monster foolishly released by some power-mad moron. Guess what? It presages the end of the universe! Oops!

The monster – called the Mangog – begins an unstoppable march towards Thor’s home in Asgard. Its ineluctable progress drives just about all the action in this story, as hero after Asgardian hero fails to stop Mangog’s tenacious travels. It’s very dramatic, true, but essentially you get one long fight scene bathed in delicious Kirby Krackle.

Normally we would hate spoiling the ending, but this story spoils it on its own. After all this cosmic-level struggle, the pay-off kind of sucks. Odin steps in at the end, waves his hand, and puts a stop to the whole thing in deus ex machina fashion. This cheapens the epic struggle that comes before it by suggesting that, well, we had nothing to really worry about the whole time.

Despite this let-down of an ending, one can have some great fun with Thor and his friends along the way, valiantly struggling to overcome their implacable foe. Readers who may have looked forward to Ragnarok (end of the universe, basically) would have to wait until Thor #200, some pages of which we have in our archives.

Whether you collect Jack Kirby art or classic Thor issues, Marvel Treasury Edition #10 probably deserves a place on your shelf. We recently sold ours on eBay, but you can usually find it in stock. It’s big, it’s bold, and the lame ending does little to detract from Kirby’s masterful visual approach leading up to it.

Readers who don’t mind black and white reprints will find this story in the Essential Thor paperback #3. Let’s have a look at some more interior pages from this titanic tome!

Marvel Treasury Edition: Rampaging Hulk

Tags

Adam Warlock, Counter Earth, Gerry Conway, Herb Trimpe, High Evolutionary, Hulk, Inhumans, Marvel Comics, marvel treasury edition, Rampaging Hulk, Roy Thomas, Warlock

Marvel collected some of the Hulk’s adventures in two Marvel Treasury Editions. #24, with the staggeringly low cover price of $2, finds Hulk playing a major role in the early development of Adam Warlock. Warlock here is in transition. Fantastic Four #67 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby gave us the origin of Warlock, though he had not even a name back then. (It’s reprinted in Marvel’s Greatest Comics #50 if you want to own the issue without spending an arm and a leg on it.) After this story, Jim Starlin would take on Warlock and make the fledgling character truly great. Starlin’s first issue recalls some of the key plot points from the issues presented here.

In the opening chapter, Hulk tangles with the Inhumans and gets shot into space where (hopefully) he can’t hurt anyone. Greg Pak ran with this same idea in recent years, landing Hulk on a distant planet where he becomes a great warrior and leader, Gladiator-style. Gerry Conway sets Hulk on “Counter-Earth” instead, where the High Evolutionary has created some anthropomorphic Ani-Men (animal + men) that have become caught up in a war. Seems that these “furries” have many of the same conflicts we do!

This conflict brings Warlock and the Hulk together, and our lumbering green Goliath finds one of the few friends he will ever make in comics. Hulk’s love and dedication for his new friend take on an innocent, childlike tone that gives us another side of his character, while Warlock plays out a Christ story in his capture, death, and heroic resurrection.

Along the way we get some glorious Herb Trimpe splash pages, and a giant-sized two-page spread designed for this edition. Trimpe’s art really sings in this large format. Though the political and religious themes of the story seem aimed at a more adult reader, the writing is geared for young readers, too. Trimpe’s artwork embraces the childlike silliness of comics while delivering some fairly intense pathos and drama at the same time.

We read this Treasury Edition several times as a kid in the early 1980s, just after it came out in 1979. It was fun to pick up and read again, even if the story wasn’t quite as fresh these days as it was back then. Trimpe just kills it, as you can see on many of these pages in this post. We recently sold our copy on eBay, but you can usually find Marvel Treasury Edition #4: Rampaging Hulk in stock for a reasonable price. It’s perfect for fans of the classic Bronze Age Hulk as well as Warlock collectors.

Marvel Treasury Edition: Conan the Barbarian

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Barry Windsor Smith, Conan, Conan the Barbarian, Marvel Comics, marvel treasury edition, Red Sonja, Roy Thomas

Conan’s larger-than-life personality works wonderfully in the first two Marvel Treasury Editions that feature him. These over-sized editions also spotlight the artistic talents of Barry Windsor-Smith. #15 features the Song of Red Sonja, and Smith’s Sonja artwork rocks at Treasury size. Conan would conquer four different Treasury Editions (#4, 15, 19, 23) from 1975 to 1979. Let’s have a look inside the first two!

Before we open them up, dig these back covers. Wow, that Smith one would make a killer poster!

On the inside covers, writer and Editor Roy Thomas gives us a fun history of how he and Smith got started doing a Conan series for Marvel in the first place. Smith contributes some new artwork on a Robert E. Howard memorial page.


Cool! Let’s have a look at these splash pages and stunning interior art.





Dark Horse collected these tales in their recent Chronicles of Conan collections, giving the coloring and paper quality an upgrade from these 1970s editions. But, you really can’t beat reading Black Colossus at colossal size. We also get several bonus pages of Red Sonja being awesome in chain mail underwear.

Marvel Treasury Edition: Defenders

Tags

Bill Everett, Defenders, Len Wein, Marvel Comics, marvel treasury edition, marvel treasury edition 16, Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema

 
Sometimes, bigger really is better. Case in point: The Defenders. While we have never been fans of this oddball collection of superheroes, we couldn’t pass up a deal on Marvel Treasury Edition #16 featuring the Defenders.

If you haven’t seen this book before, dig these photos we snapped like Peter Parker before webbing up the book and shipping it to the biggest Defenders fan we know. Gaze upon the awesome majesty of Pegasus from the inside cover! Wonder in awe at the detailed schematics for the Defenders superhero lair: the Long Island Hang-Out! Feel your eyeballs pop out of your skull when you behold the brain-bludgeoning spectacle of splash pages full of giant, hideous aliens!

Collector’s Guide:
– from Marvel Treasury Edition #16: Defenders; Marvel, 1978.

 
Back cover rocks!

 
Whoa dude – mega double splash page of disaster!

 
The legendary lair.

 
We almost dismantled the entire book to remove and frame this single splash panel. Don’t be surprised if we try painting this one someday.

 

 
You can’t go wrong with dudes bathed in cosmic energy and taking astral trips through space and time!

 
Let’s see that ugly alien face one more time!

 
And again!

 
AND AGAIN! SKREEE!

 
One… More… Time!!!

 
One of our favorite Hulk portraits. What a rage ball!

 
Glorious splash page.

 
More glorious splash pages!

 
Ah, 1978. It was a good year, was it not?

 
Aren’t they on the same team? Then why are they fighting?
Why is Dr. Strange shooting his own foot?
Don’t think too hard, just enjoy the awesome.

 
Last but not least: Pegasus!

 
Notes:
Marvel Treasury Edition #16 features “The Day of the Defenders” (Reprints Marvel Feature #1) by Roy Thomas, Ross Andru, and Bill Everett, “The New Defenders” (Reprints Defenders #4) by Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema, and Frank McLaughlin, “For Sale: One Planet, Slightly Used” (Reprints Defenders #13-14) Defenders vs. Squadron Sinister (evil Squadron Supreme) by Len Wein, Sal Buscema, Klaus Janson, and Dan Green. Guest-starring the Black Knight. Moon Knight cameo. Featuring the villainy of Nebulon, the Enchantress, Skurge the Executioner, and Squadron Sinister. 80 pages.

Spider-man and Dr. Strange Go Cosmic!

Tags

Doctor Strange, Dr. Strange, Len Wein, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Treasury, marvel treasury edition, Sal Buscema, Spider-man

If we had to pick our favorite panel by Sal Buscema, it’s got to be this amazing double splash from the Spider-man and Dr. Strange team up: The Spider and the Sorcerer! Of course, one of the reasons we love it so much is that we first laid eyes on it in Marvel Treasury Edition #22. It was huger than huge! The cosmic effect blasted our senses, an impact that has lingering effects to this day.

We didn’t have time today to get this whole adventure posted, but don’t despair. Our archives house two more stories from this Marvel Treasury Edition: the complete two-part adventure where Spidey battles raging dinosaurs. First, with Ka-Zar in the Savage Land, and then continuing to New York with the Black Panther.

These links will transport you there:
Part One, Spider-man + Ka-Zar team up.
Part Two, Spider-man + Black Panther team up.

Collector’s Guide:
Marvel Treasury #22: The Sensational Spider-man
Reprints Marvel Team-Up #21.
Reprinted in Essential Marvel Team-Up #1

Spider-man and Black Panther against Dinosaurs!

Tags

Black Panther, dinosaur, Gil Kane, lizard, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Treasury, marvel treasury edition, Roy Thomas, Spider-man

Spider-man jumps without a parachute into the Savage Land, where he and Ka-zar take on the evil Stegron and a herd of stampeding dinos! Later, the dinosaurs fly to New York to bring chaos to the streets. And who should drop in but the Black Panther?! With art by Gil Kane and a guest appearance by Dr. Curtis “The Lizard” Connors, this two-part dino extrvaganza has been one of our very favorites for as long as we can remember! Did you miss Part One of the story?

Collector’s Guide:
– From Marvel Treasury #22: The Sensational Spider-man
– Reprints Marvel Team-Up #20
– Reprinted in Essential Marvel Team-Up #1

Spider-man and Ka-zar Team Up Against Dinosaurs!

Tags

dinosaur, Gil Kane, Ka-zar, Len Wein, lizard, Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Treasury, marvel treasury edition, Savage Land, Spider-man, Stegron, Zabu

Spider-man jumps without a parachute into the Savage Land, where he and Ka-zar take on the evil Stegron and a herd of stampeding dinos! Later, the dinosaurs fly to New York to bring chaos to the streets. And who should drop in but the Black Panther?! With art by Gil Kane and a guest appearance by Dr. Curtis “The Lizard” Connors, this two-part dino extrvaganza has been one of our very favorites for as long as we can remember! Do you want Part Two of the story?

Collector’s Guide:
– From Marvel Treasury #22
– Reprints Marvel Team-Up #19
– Reprinted in Essential Marvel Team-Up #1