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Saturday, May 21, 2005
Visionaries news
Last month I wrote about the Marvel Visionaries: John Romita volume coming out. In that post I also wondered who else should be getting such a book. I figured they'd keep in the direction of "classic Marvel" and we'd see a Roy Thomas or John Buscema volume. Upon the release of Marvel's solicitations for August 2005 we see who is next in line:
MARVEL VISIONARIES: CHRIS CLAREMONT HC
Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT
Penciled by JOHN BYRNE, MICHAEL GOLDEN, DAVE COCKRUM, FRANK MILLER, BILL SIENKIEWICZ, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH, JOHN BOLTON, ART ADAMS, ALAN DAVIS, JIM LEE & SALVADOR LARROCA
In celebration of the 30th anniversary of Chris Claremont's first X-Men story, the House of Ideas presents a timeless testament to another true Marvel visionary! Best known for ushering the X-Men from reprints to blockbuster franchise, Claremont has steered Marvel's mutants for three decades while working alongside some of comicdom's top artists. This deluxe keepsake edition collects some of his greatest moments - including stories from DAREDEVIL #102; MARVEL PREMIERE #11; IRON FIST #14; UNCANNY X-MEN #137, #153, #205, #268 and ANNUAL #12; AVENGERS ANNUAL #10; WOLVERINE #3; NEW MUTANTS #21; CLASSIC X-MEN #13; EXCALIBUR #16; and X-MEN UNLIMITED #36.
376 PGS./Marvel T+ …$29.99
ISBN: 0-7851-1887-x
My reaction is...meh. Sure, I like older Claremont (when Uncanny X-Men was being drawn by Dave Cockrum, John Byrne or Paul Smith) in small doses, back when editors actually reined him in. I can enjoy a mini-series like Wolverine or Black Dragon just fine but I find a little Claremont goes a long way and now he's just impossible to read.
I can certainly see why Marvel would have him be the next for a Visionaries volume. The world that Claremont created has been very profitable for Marvel, meaning he's a name that they think can sell enough copies of this book for its publication to make sense (this is probably why we won't see a Michael Golden book, although I'd snatch it up in a second). For many young readers, including a pre-teen Ian Brill, there's something very romantic about the X-Men but it's something you either grow out of or make some kind of pop culture addiction for whatever reason. Johnathan Lethem writes about this for a paragraph near the end of the first half of Fortress of Solitude.
I would buy this volume but only if I can find it for less than the cover price. I honestly cannot see myself spending more than $17 on it. I do hope that Marvel continues with this line of books, though. It would be nice if they re-work the soft cover Gil Kane into this format, for one. I enjoy reading message board thread like this one where fans go over what would make up the contents to volumes dedicated to Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema and Steve Englehart (the Windsor-Smith and Buscema volumes hampered by the exclusion of Conan material). I 'd by any of those three over the Claremont book but that's just further proof I'm out of step with most of the people buying comics in the Direct Market.
Brad Curran notes in the comments section of the Romita post that Walt Simonson and Frank Miller volumes would be cool. I'm all for that and certainly Miller's a name that can sell more books than Claremont. I suppose it's just a matter of waiting to see what those at Marvel come up with.
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