The item of choice at last year's San Diego Comic-Con was IDW's Rocketeer: Artist's Edition. It was $100, and it was magnificent. Well,they're doing it again. With a Marvel comic!
Walter Simonson's Thor The Mighty Thor: Artist's Edition will also debut in July, for $100, and feature oversized black and white uncolored pages from Simonson's classic run on Thor. The 176 page hardcover edition will measure 12" x 17", and showcase the first arc of the Beta Ray Bill story, issues 337-340, as well as 360-362, Simonson's choice for the second arc in the book.
This is an odd thing. It's a Marvel book, and it's being released by IDW. But maybe they saw what a stunning job Scott Dunbier, the special projects editor, did with Rocketeer. I have seen it, and it is a thing of wonder for a true art affcianado. I expect no less of this book. Still, that is a steep price, and you could just as easily pick up the forthcoming Simonson Thor Omnibus, coming out later this month for $125. It includes Thor #337-355, #357-369, #371-382; Balder the Brave #1-4, mostly written and drawn by Simonson.
Fans of Walt Simonson's Thor are certainly not without opportunities to avail themselves in premium versions of that comic book.
May I also say that that cover image is still, to this day, one of the most striking covers I've ever laid my eyes on, and I've been in love with it since I first saw it, decades ago.
UPDATE on the cover:
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Wow.
It will be neat to see what artists are featured next if IDW continues this series. I would love to view some raw Gene Colan pencils in this format.
One small correction to the info above. The Balder The Brave mini series was penciled and inked by Sal Buscema. Simonson did write it and also provided covers.
Bean
Already preordered on Amazon. BETA RAY BILL!
Aaaaagh! I want one!
Seeing that Walt doesn’t sell his originals (some of the pages that his inkers own have made it into the market), this may be the first time that everyone gets to see these originals. This should be amazing.
Aaagh. So broke, but so, so pretty!
This makes no sense.
Did Marvel lose rights to Simonson’s work and not tell anyone?
Oh well, it’s gonna be a gorgeous book so why complain?
April Fools Joke I’m guessing.
@TheNextChampion This isn’t the first time other companies have put out Marvel books. Dynamite Entertainment did that Avengers/Invaders book last year.
I don’t get why they expect people to pay so much for black and white.
I’m a MASSIVE Simonson/Thor fan and I find no reason to get excited about this.
@clintaa @milez42 To each their own, but it’s understandable that people would get excited by what is essentially a giant book of original art board facsimiles. Great for process junkies, and the closest thing to owning original pages of Walt Simonson’s Thor.
Simonson’s Thor was just FANTASTIC! B&W tho? I would get the Omnibus (is I had the $$ to burn)
@clintaa It isn’t so much that it is black and white as it is the raw, untouched artwork of Simonson, without the inking and coloring over it. You get to see it in its purist form. I have the big, oversized hardcover on Jack kirby and seeing some of his untouched pencil work is great. If Simonson is your cup of tea, this is a great looking book to have. I admit, I like Sinomson, but I’m not a big enough fan of his work to shell out for this. But if he is one of your favorites, it would most likely be totally worth it.
@redliberty – I can’t find a pre-order page for this on amazon. I have the Omnibus already but very excited for this. This plus the Darwyn Martini edition news are too much for me. MUST.HAVE.
will also add that if anyone wants to get this, pre-orders don’t seem to be a guarantee even. I had the Dave Steven’s Artist’s Edition preordered pretty much as soon as it was announced, but amazon just cancelled it on me, presumably because of insufficient supply. Now they have it available used or from resellers only 🙁
ok, the cover seems to exist. This is not a cruel April Fool! (if you want to do that next year, try ‘Rob Liefeld Heroes Return Artist’s Edition’ perhaps)
This is absolutely not an April Fool’s joke. It’s real. Ron and I talked to the IDW people about it at WonderCon.
thanks, Conor. Still not having any luck pre-ordering on amazon yet (amazon is my only option, not being resident in the US). Not seeing the Martini edition of the Parker books yet either. But I shall persist!