Marvel Collected Editions

[CrazyOldHermit]

Ya, like making Marvel comics unsafe for kids. I don't need my kid reading about cannibal Hulk eating the heads off of people and being confused about what makes that superheroic. I don't need him seeing Ant-Man coming out of Wasp's nest either, if you know what I mean? What happened to the family friendly comics from my childhood? I'm not talking Richie Rich or Star Comics, just something that isn't rated PG-17.

The people who buy comics don't want family friendly comics, they want comics that are cool. Marvel and DC both have books for kids, buy those for your kids.

[asian_psycho]

Am I the only one who HATED Ultimates? Everyone was an a-hole, and my favorite Avenger (Hank Pym) got screwed over for years because of it. Plus, Hulk was a freaking CANNIBAL.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it too. I guess it was meh at best for me. The story's good but characters are unlikable.

Only thing I really liked from the Ultimate line was Ultimate Spider-Man, which is just awesome

Same here. Even with Bendis' dialogue, it was still good.

I know this is slightly off-topic, it not being Marvel and all, but I don't post in any of the other forums and I'm pretty excited.

Just blagged The Goon Fancy Pants Editions 1-3 for £65 all-in. I've been looking for them for so long, so to have got them at that price is unreal (Vol. 1 is consistently priced at almost £200 without exception). Vol 1 is described as 'Like New', but there were no pictures, so it's a bit of a gamble. Vol 2 and 3 were an ebay lot; 2 was opened but looked (and was described) as good as new, vol 3 was sealed.

One of my Holy Grails knocked off the list.

Edit: I've just realised Vol 1 may be one of the cases where a seller lists a ton of items (on the basis they, erroneously, think they can order them in, presumably) and doesn't necessarily have them. Hope not, as that's happened to me fairly recently.

Related: I wanted to get these too but decided against it when I found out that they discontinued it. I always wondered why because it's the only HC format of The Goon.

[kodave]

Ya, like making Marvel comics unsafe for kids. I don't need my kid reading about cannibal Hulk eating the heads off of people and being confused about what makes that superheroic. I don't need him seeing Ant-Man coming out of Wasp's nest either, if you know what I mean? What happened to the family friendly comics from my childhood? I'm not talking Richie Rich or Star Comics, just something that isn't rated PG-17.

Kids and families don't buy/read comics at a profitable level.

In 2003, Diamond Distributors, the company that distributes all comic books from all publishers, found that the average graphic novel reader was twenty-nine years old. Ryan Searles, graphic novel enthusiast, estimates that in 2012 that number is still relatively accurate, with most graphic novel readers and purchasers being between the ages of twenty-five and forty.

The "average age" reader is one who was reading when comics were again transitioning from campy to gritty/mature/whatever. It started in the late 70s but for better or worse the era that Watchmen/TDKR ushered in during the mid 1980s changed the face of comics forever.

There is a place for "all ages" comics. Both Marvel and DC do select publishings of them, and they're really not bad. They're basic, and kid friendly, but strong enough that it's not necessarily a waste of time for adults to spend 20 minutes reading a collection. Better yet, buy kids all ages comics from publishers that give a damn about making those comics accessible, like BOOM! Studios.

But at the end of the day, people are buying Hulk eating people, not the Power Pack having comical team ups with Hulk in digest form. So that's the kind of stuff Marvel will push at the 616, Ultimates and MAX levels.

Kids these days aren't reading comics in general. They have zero attention spans as computers, TV, smart phones, video games and instant gratification have ruined our brains. (And it's not JUST kids whose brains have been changed or developed differently because of media and technology, but they're the relevant topic here.) Kids are more interested in watching the cartoon or movie versions of characters, not grinding through whatever event Marvel has going on this month. Look at Comic Con. It's not about the comic books. I think it's a pretty accurate reflection of the public's view of the comics realm.

The comic industry is somewhat successfully finding a way to make long time readers pay more for content to make up for the drops in readership and lack of significant new readership. This is a dangerous business practice because it eventually will break down at some point. But until it does, nothing is going to change in term of the kind of content Marvel and DC publish.

[TomSlick]

Thats whats great about it. Millar was free to explore other sides of the characters and who they could be. The 616 characters boil down to "Heroic asskicker" or "Heroic nerd." Millar gave the characters real personality and depth outside of that. The Hulk might be the most innovative of all since he is rebelling against all of Banner's inhibitions (Banner is a vegetarian so Hulk eats people).

Exactly. I don't know why people get upset about this series. There's 70 freakin' years of these characters under the 616 and people get upset over 26 issues? WTF?

The scenes with the Hulk talking about Freddy Prinze Jr was hilarious. The Hank Pym/Wasp bug spray incident? Hell, was that any worse than when he jacked her jaw all those years ago? Hawkeye using his finger nails to get out of a jam? Incredible

Millar made Thor cool again. Heck, he made Hawkeye cool again.

Ya, like making Marvel comics unsafe for kids. I don't need my kid reading about cannibal Hulk eating the heads off of people and being confused about what makes that superheroic. I don't need him seeing Ant-Man coming out of Wasp's nest either, if you know what I mean? What happened to the family friendly comics from my childhood? I'm not talking Richie Rich or Star Comics, just something that isn't rated PG-17.

Like I said, there's decades worth of stories that don't involve these situations.

[DrGregatron]

Like I said, there's decades worth of stories that don't involve these situations.

But it's this kind of gore and violence that keeps me from buying new Marvel and sticking to pre-90s comics.

[DrGregatron]

The people who buy comics don't want family friendly comics, they want comics that are cool. Marvel and DC both have books for kids, buy those for your kids.

If you buy the kid friendly Marvel, then the kids are eventually going to wonder what all those other comics in the shop are and why they aren't allowed to look at them. It'd be like Family Video putting a four foot family section in the front of the store and having the rest of the store being porn that anyone walking in with the kids could see. There would be questions about why that lady was eating that guy just like there's bound to be when the kids see the Hulk eating the heads off of people.

I don't think it works out well when Wolverine is the cute little character on some Scottie Young cover and on the next cover he's showing some guy his entrails.

[doolittle]

The scenes with the Hulk talking about Freddy Prinze Jr was hilarious.

"Hulk not gay, Hulk straight!" is probably my least favorite panel I've ever read. Sometimes I get the feeling Millar writes his dialogue while sitting in a mall foodcourt on a Friday night, and just works in snippets he overhears.

[Canucked]

I've never read the Ultimate Universe. There comes a point where you just have to pick and choose what you're going to read and I just can't afford yet another universe.

Are the Ultimates the same thing as Ultimate Avengers?

[avsjersey]

Man I've been looking everywhere for a variant thor omnibus. There's one on ebay now but the guy doesn't seem to realize after opening it the price goes down. He said he bought it for over 500 and doesn't wanna lose money lol. Anyone wanna sell me theirs? XD

I guess you missed this one?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Journey-Into...p2047675.l2557

[Legion564]

I guess you missed this one?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Journey-Into...p2047675.l2557

There's finally one up for auction that I'll be bidding on. Please no one else bid! XD

[aquitaine]

If you buy the kid friendly Marvel, then the kids are eventually going to wonder what all those other comics in the shop are and why they aren't allowed to look at them. It'd be like Family Video putting a four foot family section in the front of the store and having the rest of the store being porn that anyone walking in with the kids could see. There would be questions about why that lady was eating that guy just like there's bound to be when the kids see the Hulk eating the heads off of people.

I don't think it works out well when Wolverine is the cute little character on some Scottie Young cover and on the next cover he's showing some guy his entrails.

Yeah man, that's just why I'm against any movie over PG in rating being shown in theaters. I mean, the kids are going to ask about them! They might even see an advertisement for it and wonder why they're not allowed to see it! Keep that PG13+ filth away from our precious children! Keep that filth in underground booths where it belongs! Only rainbows and unicorn farts where kids might see the covers because otherwise they might ask questions! I mean, don't get me wrong, I like older comics too. But this notion that anything over the level of 80's kids comics should not be on the shelves because of children is a dangerous precedent to want to set. Why don't you just admit that you want that content yourself and you're pining for the days of simpler comics rather than shift the blame off on some nebulous concept such as protecting the children (which is nobody's responsibility but the parents of the child in question)

(Disclosure: I am a parent of two children who HAVE asked these questions. My 7-year old daughter asks why she can't read some comics just like how she asks why she can't watch Game Of Thrones with mommy and daddy. And you know what? She's perfectly fine when it's explained that those things are for adults and she goes back to her My Little Pony Comics and kiddy Marvel shows on Netflix perfectly happy. If you're THAT concerned about this, when you have your own if you don't already, raise them properly and explain things to them. There will always be and always has been content inappropriate for kids. It is a parent's responsibility to monitor the media a child consumes. The notion that adult media needs to be censored because children might see it and ask questions is utterly nonsensical.

[aquitaine]

Are the Ultimates the same thing as Ultimate Avengers?

No. The Ultimate Avengers is a different team, more like secret Avengers or something, while the Ultimates is the government sanctioned high profile public 'Avengers-ish' team.

[Captain Planet]

The people who buy comics don't want family friendly comics, they want comics that are cool. Marvel and DC both have books for kids, buy those for your kids.

It's self fulfilling though. They don't make many comics aimed at a younger audience's because kids don't buy comics but kids don't buy comics (or their parents don't buy them for them) because they're aren't any comics for them. Comics that were friendly to all ages worked for decades. The model itself isn't broken, they just stopped bothering with it.

Kids and families don't buy/read comics at a profitable level.


The "average age" reader is one who was reading when comics were again transitioning from campy to gritty/mature/whatever. It started in the late 70s but for better or worse the era that Watchmen/TDKR ushered in during the mid 1980s changed the face of comics forever.
.

They sure used to. Now they don't and my reason is in the above comment. You're right that things changed in the 80s when writers got tired of writing all ages stuff and wanted to "mature" it up. Now there is no going back.

The odd thing is, if comic companies built a reputation for and sold comics for all ages again, they'd grow their base and all levels of comics would sell more. Now, they've abandoned bringing in young readers and it's (in my opinion) a major cause for decreasing sales over time. It's much harder to convince a 25 year old to start reading comic books than an 8 year old. Hook an 8 year old and he's got a good shot at being a life-long fan. More revenue, more loyalty more readership.

[Horizon]

With $4 a book and $75 for 500 page HCs, what kid could afford these comics anyhow?

[Legion564]

So I just ordered the third Brubaker cap omnibus off amazon and I'm hoping it comes in perfect condition. I don't see any of the first two on auction on ebay. Does anyone know how often they go up and how much I should look to pay for sealed copies?