Reviews: ANT-MAN/ GIANT-MAN EPIC COLLECTION VOL 1: THE MAN IN THE ANT HILL, WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN VOL. 10: END OF THE WORLD, CRIME PATROL ANNUAL VOL. 2, FANTASTIC FOUR BY JOHN BYRNE OMNIBUS VOL. 2

There is no longer a void for this blog to fill. Talking about binding, paper, and restoration is now the norm, not the exception. My work is done in that regard. There are endless YouTube reviews, message boards, etc. I will pop in with pellet reviews. Consider this the “how I spent my summer vacation” book report.

ANT-MAN/ GIANT-MAN EPIC COLLECTION VOL. 1: THE MAN IN THE ANT HILL (Marvel, First Printing, 2015; Softcover)

Collects the Ant-Man/Giant-Man stories from Tales To Astonish #27, 35-59 (cover dates January, 1962- September, 1964)

While this is one of the “lesser” titles of the Silver Age, it was still a lot of fun to read. Readers with modern sensibilities will dislike the “you're just a girl, Wasp” vibe to some of the earlier stories, but this was a pre-women's lib era. I have a soft spot for Egghead and The Human Top. Seeing Ant-Man transition into Giant-Man was pretty cool.

WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN VOL. 10: END OF THE WORLD (Marvel, First Printing, 2018; Softcover)

Note: Book actually released in 2019.

Collects Old Man Logan #46-50 and Old Man Logan Annual #1 (cover dates October-December, 2018)

Good stuff, although it was pointless to end the series here. Rebooted numberings lose readers in the long run.

CRIME PATROL ANNUAL VOL. 2 (Gemstone, 2000; Softcover)

Collects Crime Patrol #12-16 (cover dates June-July, 1949- February-March, 1950)

EC remains the gold standard for comic books, even here in the “Pre-Trend” era collected here. The first steps toward EC becoming a Horror comic company happened here, with the introduction of The Crypt Keeper in a handful of stories until the final issue, which was basically the first issue of The Crypt Of Terror. Within a few issues that title would change into the more familiar Tales From The Crypt.

Gemstone used some pretty kick ass glue. This book is almost 20 years old and doesn't even creak when you open it.

FANTASTIC FOUR BY JOHN BYRNE OMNIBUS VOL. 2 (Marvel, First Printing, 2013; Hardcover)

Collects Fantastic Four #261-295, Fantastic Four Annual #18, 19, Alpha Flight #4, Avengers Annual #14, Thing #10, 19, and material from Epic Illustrated #26-34, Thing #7, What If? #36, and What The--?! #2, 10 (cover dates November, 1983- January, 1991)

1984 and 1985 were the zenith of western civilization. The spinner racks at 7-11 were filled with gold month in and month out. I thought that it would last forever, as children tend to do. Little did 10-11-12 year old me know that this was the second golden age of Marvel, and arguably the last time that every single title was hitting high marks at the same time. John Byrne remains a favorite of mine, and this stuff still holds up decades later. Hard to pinpoint a favorite issue, but #276 was one I read several times on the Christmas break from school in 1984.