Another in Marvel's line of 1950s comics collections hits comic stores this October. Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Journey Into Mystery reprints the first ten issues of the horror comic from 1952/53.The book features numerous short stories (approximately 5 pages each) with artwork by John Romita, Joe Maneely, Gene Colan, and many more from the pre-code days of Fifties horror. All the covers to the comics will of course be included and the colouring is meticulously based on that of the original stories. This is the closest fans can get to obtaining these classic issues, most of which have never been reprinted before.
With Tales to Astonish Volume 2 published recently, another volume of early Tales of Suspense stories due soon, and an Atlas Era Sub-Mariner book, this Journey Into Mystery collection is the 9th book in this growing series of mid-late 1950s Marvel reprints. At $59.99 each the books aren't cheap, but the quality is high and they do showcase an era of Marvel history that is sometimes overlooked.
Visit Marvel.Com for a preview of the rest of their comics scheduled for October.
Below: From the mind-blowingly excellent Atlastales website, a page from one of the typically dark and sinister Journey Into Mystery strips. Death of a Puppet from issue 7, April 1953. When this (and other) stories are reprinted in the book, the remastered pages will be sharp and clear and won't have off-register colour.
Update 31/7/2008: Marvel have announced that they will be reprinting The Black Knight and The Yellow Claw in one volume as Atlas Era Heroes vol 4 next year! Classic Joe Maneely and Jack Kirby material in one book.
8 comments:
I love their old stories sounds like fun thanks for posting
These Atlas era books are great, if expensive! I have Strange tales, Tales to Astonish and Tales of Suspense, (don't worry, I got them at less than cover price via 'a well-known online auction house'!)and I'm reading one story a day to make them last as long as possible. The stand-out artist for me is the late Joe Maneely who's style typifies the period.
OOps, sorry about the grammar, I'm very weary today! Won't happen again!
Yes, Joe Maneely's work was great. A tragedy he died so young. (Car crash in his thirties.)
I'm hoping they'll reprint his Black Knight comics in this format.
Oh yes, his Black Knight would be great! He died age 32, and Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko have both since said "The comics killed Joe Maneely" meaning he worked too hard. It should be a lesson to us but then it's too late for me to die young anyway!
It's interesting to speculate what strips Maneely would have been given in the Marvel Age, had he lived. My guess is Doctor Strange and/or Nick Fury. Plus he'd have no doubt been kept on the Westerns.
Those very early Agent of SHIELD by John Severin do have a very Joe Maneely look, and he would have been a natural to follow Ditko when he quit Doctor Strange. In a way it's a shame Timely/Marvel didn't really publish superheroes in his era, because we don't have any evidence that he could have turned his hand to the Marvel Method in the 1960s. However, when you consider a) He was Stan's Right Hand man before Kirby came back and b) John Buscema, John Romita and Gene Colan had never really done much in the superhero field by 1958 yet look how well they got the hang of it,I reckon Joe could have matured into one of the Great marvel artists. Looking at the Black Knight, I think THOR could have achieved a different kind of greatness under him, especially in those early years when neither Stan nor Jack had any real idea what to do with the character. Still, enough of the fantasy, he was great anyway!
Lew wrote:
"Yes, Joe Maneely's work was great. A tragedy he died so young. (Car crash in his thirties.)"
It wasn't a car crash. He fell off a train coming home on a Friday night (really Saturday morning).
And it wasn't overwork that killed him. Atlas had just imploded and Maneely was actually scrambling for work.
Doc V.
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