TASCHEN + MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 1 1961–1963 – CREATED WITH PHOTOS FROM SHELTON’S PERSONAL COLLECTION!
TASCHEN and Marvel Entertainment Announce ‘The Marvel Comics Library’;
Fantastic Four Vol. 1. 1961–1963
Famous First Edition: First printing of 5,000 numbered copies
In 1961 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created The Fantastic Four—a powerhouse super hero team revolutionary for their flaws and complexity—that kicked the comic industry into high gear. This XXL volume from the Eisner Award-winning series reproduces the Four’s first 20 stories and charts how it became in Lee’s words “the world’s greatest comic magazine.”
The First Family of the Marvel Age
The ultimate collection of the world’s greatest comic magazine
Hoping to break out of a sales slump at Marvel in the early 1960s, veteran comic creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby hit on the idea of doing a super team. Kirby, who thought superheroes were due for a revival after 15 years of being pushed aside by romance, horror, and war comics, saw it as smart business. Lee just once wanted to “do the type of story I myself would enjoy reading.” The Fantastic Four forever changed their careers, their lives, and the comic book industry.
Some of the most iconic moments in Marvel history are here, starting with Reed Richards, his girlfriend Sue Storm, his best friend Ben Grimm, and her little brother Johnny Storm crash landing their rocket after it has been hit cosmic rays and discovering they have been transformed into Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Thing, and the Human Torch in issue No. 1. They were emotionally complex characters, who weren’t always sure whether their powers were a benefit or burden. Stories were set in New York City, not some fictional stand-in, and Marvel heroes regularly crossed over into each other’s books. The art was dynamic and the writing conversational and engaging. Lee and Kirby were like the Lennon and McCartney of comic books. Where the talents of one ended and the other began was not always clear, but together one plus one equaled three.
Collected here in an XXL-size volume are the first 20 issues reproduced from the most pristine pedigreed original comics, which were cracked open and photographed in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company.
Featured alongside the comics is an in-depth essay by acclaimed Marvel writer Mark Waid, a foreword by former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, and original art, photographs, and other rarities. Welcome true believers to the Marvel Age of Comics.
The author
Mark Waid is a New York Times best-selling author who has written nearly two thousand comics and graphic novels over the course of his career. He has penned adventures for dozens of characters including Superman, Batman, the X-Men, Archie, and the Fantastic Four.
The contributing author
Mike Massimino, Ph.D, is a former NASA Astronaut who flew twice on the Space Shuttle to service the Hubble Space Telescope. He is a New York Times bestselling author, a Columbia University professor, an advisor at The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, a television host and expert commentator, and a motivational speaker.
The artists
Stan Lee (1922–2018) is known to millions as the man whose super heroes propelled Marvel to its preeminent position in the comic book industry. His co-creations include Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and hundreds of others. While the Chairman Emeritus of Marvel, he was also the Chief Creative Officer of POW! Entertainment, where he created numerous new characters and stories in areas including publishing, film, TV reality, stage, documentary, and multimedia.
Jack Kirby (1917–1994) was one of comics’ most legendary and prolific artists whose notable co-creations include Captain America, Avengers, X-Men, Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Thor.
Marvel Comics Library. Fantastic Four. Vol. 1. 1961–1963
Famous First Edition: First printing of 5,000 numbered copies
Mark Waid, Mike Massimino, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
ABOUT THE SERIES:
TASCHEN’s extra-large format, close in size to the original artworks, reveal startling new details in the work of Marvel’s most acclaimed artists. For each title in the series, the most pristine pedigreed comics (from the collection of our own SHELTON DRUM!) have been cracked open for reproduction in close collaboration with Marvel and the Certified Guaranty Company. Rather than recolor the original production artwork (as has been done in previous decades’ reprints of classic comics), TASCHEN has attempted to create an ideal representation of these books as they were produced at the time of publication. Beginning with high grade, top-quality comics sourced with the assistance of the CGC, super-high-resolution photographs of each page were made as printed more than half a century ago, using modern retouching techniques to correct problems with the era’s inexpensive, imperfect printing. This included improved and balanced ink densities and color matching, proper registration of the four-color printing and correction of thick/thin lines resulting from the flexible plates “smudging.” The end result is a finished product — as if hot off a world-class printing press produced without economic or time-pressure constraints – tailored for readers, fans, artists and collectors alike.
Each volume features an essay by a comic book historian alongside hundreds of photos and artifacts. The books use three different paper stocks, including an uncoated and wood-free paper exclusively developed for this series that simulates the feel of the original comics.
The first 5,000 copies of Fantastic Four Vol. 1 will be numbered and released as a ‘Famous First Edition’. The book is also available as a Collector’s Edition, limited to 1,000 copies featuring an aluminum print cover tipped into a leatherette-bound spine, foil embossing, and housed in a slipcase. Each book is individually numbered. The inaugural purchase of the Collector’s Edition entitles the collector to the selection of a personal favorite number between 1 and 1,000 on a first-come-first-serve basis. This will also secure a preemptive right to reserve a copy with the identical edition number for all forthcoming Collector’s Edition titles in ‘The Marvel Comic Library’.
The next title in ‘The Marvel Comics Library’ series will be Captain America, scheduled for release in 2023.
Shelton granted exclusive and unprecedented access to some of his most prized and beloved comics, and art, to assist in the creation of this comics tome.
“Working with TASCHEN and the CGC on these books has been an honor. The finished product FAR EXCEEDS any pre-conceived expectations I may have held! I just opened the box with the book, and I know the word might be overused, but it is FANTASTIC! The production quality is awesome. I love it!”
We have a few copies available for purchase in-store NOW, or you can order your copy to have it shipped today!
The Marvel Comics Library Fantastic Four Vol. 1. 1961–1963
Hardcover, 11 x 15.6 in., 10.48 lbs, 700 pages
US$ 200.00
Famous First Edition: First printing of 5,000 numbered copies
Shipping is an additional $25.00 if you are unable to pick up in store.
Pre-Order your copy for pick-up in our store HERE
Order your copy to be shipped HERE – Ships within the US ONLY
SETH’S PICK :: AMERICAN BARBARIAN: Tom Scioli has long held the reputation for being an artist who expertly pays homage to the canon of Jack Kirby. One of the things I most respect about Scioli, though, is how he not only captures and distills Kirby’s work in his own, but also channels other interests and influences. Case in point with this week’s long awaited complete collection of American Barbarian. Sure there are nods to Kirby, especially the excellent Kamandi comics, but there’s also a plethora of other monsters, robots and beings that could only jump from Scioli’s fertile imagination. 
JUSTIN’S PICK :: DKW DITKO KIRBY WOOD ONE SHOT: Hello, Staff Picks, how have you been? Sorry, I’ve been a real jerk. I haven’t called, I didn’t write. HeroesCon had us all hopping…I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. Maybe if I offer you this awesome Fantagraphics one shot? Would that help? Cartoonist Sergio Ponchione draws three different stories in the signature styles of those titular titans Steve, Jack, and Wally. It’s a gorgeously designed book, as well, tastefully toned and wrapped in a masterful cover. I know I’ve neglected you, Staff Picks, but can’t we put that all behind us now, and just be together again? Aw, you’re the best. I knew you’d understand.
ANDY’S PICK :: DEVIL DINOSAUR BY JACK KIRBY THE COMPLETE SERIES TP: Here’s the back-story. In 1972, DC asked Jack Kirby to come up with a title to compete with Marvel’s recent licensing acquisition of Planet of the Apes. Hence, Kamandi. A few years later, Kirby was back at Marvel and they asked him to create a new property that could go paw to paw with the new Kamandi TV series that DC was developing. So Kirby grudgingly came up with Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy. The series only ran for 9 issues. The comic was geared at younger readers, but like most comics back in the ’70s it was never marketed properly. So, at the time DD looked like a big-foot n embarrassment from the once-great King when compared to the more cutting edge ‘relevant’ comics from O’Neill and Engelhart. Today those topical books are still fun but are self important, quite silly and rather dated; meanwhile ol’ DD remains a great kids comic just brimming with the Kirby excitement, movement and creativity. Marvel is offering all nine issues in an affordable soft cover edition for only 19.95. You owe it to yourself to pick it up and enjoy!
JUSTIN’S FAVORITES OF 2012:
