Review- MARVEL ZOMBIES: THE COVERS

MARVEL ZOMBIES: THE COVERS (Marvel, First Printing, 2007; Hardcover)

I am the only person on Earth who did not enjoy Marvel Zombies when it came out. I bought the oversized hardcover the day that it came out in 2006, took it home and read it immediately. This was back in the days when publishers didn't flood the market with collected editions and it was possible to keep up on my reading, but I digress. I hated it. I mean, the covers were great. I used to have them as wallpaper on my computer as the series was being published. The Arthur Suydam zombie covers and variants all appealed to me, but the series was crap. The book was a surprise sell out in hardcover, and seeing a window of opportunity, I flipped it on eBay immediately, getting more than I paid for it. The hardcover went on to five printings plus multiple softcover printings, Complete Collection repackagings, and eventually an Omnibus...er, Zomnibus.

This collection of covers was released, and I thought that the idea was great. The covers were the best part as far as I was concerned. I didn't end up buying it, as I have too many irons in the fire and am not independently wealthy. Marvel routinely blows out dead stock to dealers, and I got this, sealed and in mint condition, for free with a purchase over $25 at Warp 9 Comics in Clawson, MI a couple of years ago. I was bored one day and wanted some light reading so I plucked this from the backlog boxes and read it.

The cover of each issue is presented with the original comic book cover that it was based on with Sudyam's thoughts and inspirations on each one. The back of the book has non-Suydam zombie covers as well as all eleven Tales Of The Zombies covers from the 1970s. This especially appealed to me, as the series was reprinted in an Essential black and white phone book way back when but the covers were in black and white. I can't believe that Marvel has never reissued that series in an Omnibus or other format. The Essential has been out of print for years and zombies remain popular due to the success of The Walking Dead. It seems like a no-brainer easy sell to me. This book was an enjoyable, leisurely read. This is all cake, heavy on the frosting.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Marvel used to issue lots of things like this in the oversized hardcover format. Now they push those Premiere Edition hardcovers on folks.

Paper stock: I love the thick glossy coated stock that Marvel used back then. You don't get paper this thick from them anymore except in hardcover Masterworks.

Binding: Perfect bound hardcover.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: Thick dustjacket paper with a laminate coating. The hardback has that faux leather grain texture to it and dye foil stamping, both of which Marvel has largely done away with. The decontenting of collected editions is rampant these days, and I suspect that it will only get worse as demand for paper lessens and costs rise.