EXCLUSIVE! The House of Ideas has three Facsimile Editions on tap for the month — including Mary Jane Watson’s origin and Gambit’s first full appearance…
Marvel has three Facsimile Editions coming in August, including one that fans have been waiting for ever since the publisher announced it would be reprinting Secret Wars monthly in 2024 — Issue #8, with Spider-Man’s black suit front and center.
Not just that, there’s The Amazing Spider-Man #259, continuing the parallel monthly reprinting of Spidey’s first year in the black suit and featuring Mary Jane Watson’s origin, as well as a new edition of The Uncanny X-Men Facsimile Edition #266, with Gambit’s first(ish) appearance.
Dig the solicitations, which will be formally released later this week:
MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS #8 FACSIMILE EDITION
Written by JIM SHOOTER
Penciled by BOB LAYTON
Cover by BOB LAYTON
VARIANT COVER BY W. SCOTT FORBES
FOIL VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
Marvel’s monthly celebration of the finest super-hero crossover of them all continues with Battleworld about to be consumed by Galactus! Spider-Man is back in action and learning all the fresh tricks at his disposal courtesy of his new black costume — but his excitement might be short-lived as the assembled heroes, reunited with the X-Men, must mount an assault on the World-Eater with everything at stake! But is stopping Galactus even the right thing to do? Reed Richards isn’t certain — and if he doesn’t know what to do, what chance does anyone else have? It’s one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS #8.
Sale date: Aug. 7, 2024
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AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #259 FACSIMILE EDITION
Written by TOM DEFALCO
Penciled by RON FRENZ
Cover by RON FRENZ
VARIANT COVER BY SAM DE LA ROSA
Continuing a Facsimile celebration of the early days of Spider-Man’s black costume, which he has now discovered is really an alien symbiote intending to bond with him forever! With a little help from the Fantastic Four, Peter Parker has been separated from the suit and is now back in the ol’ red-and-blues as he hunts for the Hobgoblin. But it’s out of costume where the real revelations await: Mary Jane Watson has known Peter’s dual identity for years, and now it’s time for her to share her own secrets with him! Meanwhile, Reed Richards continues to study the symbiote – which may be more intelligent than even he realizes! It’s one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1984) #259.
Sale date: Aug. 21, 2024
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UNCANNY X-MEN #266 FACSIMILE EDITION – NEW PRINTING!
Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT
Penciled by MICHAEL COLLINS
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
Introducing the X-Man known as Gambit! The ragin’ Cajun makes his debonair debut in a thrilling chapter from the legendary Chris Claremont’s record-breaking UNCANNY X-MEN run! In her attempt to steal back some precious paintings, a young Storm falls into the clutches of the wicked Shadow King! But a mysterious and charismatic mutant thief comes to her aid while pulling the same heist. But can he be trusted? And working together, will Storm and Gambit manage to escape? Plus: the machinations of Nanny and Orphan Maker! And Mystique has a date with destiny! It’s one of the all-time-great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting UNCANNY X-MEN (1981) #266.
Sale date: Aug. 7, 2024
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Several thoughts:
— Each regular edition lists for $4.99.
— Here’s a maybe-not-totally-out-there theory: Since January, other than Secret Wars and Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel’s Facsimile output has been almost exclusively mutant-focused, with a combination of new releases and new printings. Here are some of the characters getting the spotlight: Wolverine, Deadpool, Dazzler, Rogue and Gambit. Makes me wonder how much the latter three might factor into Deadpool and Wolverine. (Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe #1 is also in the mix.)
— Obligatory Price Comparison #1. There’s long been some debate about Gambit’s first appearance, whether it’s in Uncanny X-Men #266 or Uncanny X-Men Annual #14. (Here’s a quicky explanation.) Collectors certainly seem to be in the #266 camp: An unslabbed, high-grade original copy recently sold on eBay for $685, while an unslabbed, high-end original Annual #14 went for $60. (The 2020 #266 Facsimile Edition typically goes for around $15-$25, but I’ve seen it higher.)
— Obligatory Price Comparison #2. An unslabbed, high-grade original copy of Secret Wars #8 recently sold on eBay for $400. Real-life chronologically, it’s not the first appearance of Spider-Man’s black symbiote costume, but it is the first appearance in-story.
— Obligatory Price Comparison #3. An unslabbed, high-grade original copy of The Amazing Spider-Man #259 recently sold on eBay for about $30.
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MORE
— DEADPOOL and WOLVERINE’s First Meeting Leads MARVEL’s Four FACSIMILE EDITIONS For July. Click here.
— MARVEL Tabs FOUR Facsimile Editions for June. Click here.
May 21, 2024
I wish Marvel would also give us at least one Silver or Bronze Age classic too. Because just as with post Crisis DC, black-suit Spidey and all things mutants, my monthly pull of comics was slowly fading. Didn’t buy Secret Wars then…..not buying it now.
May 21, 2024
I also miss the Silver and earlier Bronze Marvel Facsimiles. I expect them to return though. With Fantastic Four coming, we’re going to get a ton of FF. This is the Deadpool and Wolverine effect. Plus the company is relaunching its X-line again.
May 21, 2024
True. With the Deadpool and Wolverine movie along with the X-Men relaunch we’re getting a lot of facsimiles around X-Men characters. By the time it get’s closer to 2025 we’ll probably see more Silver and Bronze Age Marvel comics pop-up and surprise us.
On a related note I hope we do get a ton of Fantastic Four Facsimiles. There are so few that have been reprinted. I would love to have a copy of FF #4, FF#5, FF#19 and FF#51.
May 21, 2024
With the recent announcement of the Marvel Masterpiece collected edition format coming next year, I suspect we will see more and more facsimiles that will be published ultimately for the purposes of compiling the material into future editions.
The first two editions to be released in 2025 are Secret Wars and Spidey black suit saga and that corresponds to the current facsimile output. I bet we may see more X-Men first appearance issues since that would seem to fit thematically with what they’re doing and could result in a collection. Marvel has already released nearly a dozen facsimiles that could qualify as X-Men first appearance issues. Perhaps more Dark Phoenix saga issues since they have released three already.
It will be interesting to see what trends develop and if the patterns support that impetus.
May 21, 2024
All that. And it only strengthens the FF concept.
May 21, 2024
Let’s just all hope they get FF right this time. Hard to believe to date the best looking one is the one never released in the early ‘90s. (Cloud indeed!)