KC Carlson

by KC Carlson

Hi. I’ve been on the road now for over a week, trying to get things done in my spare time on a non-familiar computer and trying to fit in work between appointments and friends — and failing. So, here’s the new list of recommended vintage comic collections, and I’ll be back in a few days with the rest. Have a happy (and safe) holiday!

CLASSIC COMIC BOOK COLLECTIONS:

ACG Collected Works Adventures Into the Unknown Vol. 2

ACG Collected Works: Adventures Into the Unknown Volume 2: Collects #6-10, from 1949-1950, of the quirky SF/horror series. 288-page color hardcover. (PS Artbooks)

Archie Archives Vol. 7

Archie Archives Volume 7: From 1947, and now adding Archie stories from Laugh Comics. Includes work by Irv Novick and Bill Woggan and a new intro by Jeff Parker. 232-page color hardcover. (Dark Horse)

Archie: Best of Samm Schwartz Vol. 2

Archie: Best of Samm Schwartz, Volume 2: Another great hardcover collection of Samm Schwartz’s work for Archie Comics, primarily focusing on Jughead. Mostly unheralded until recent years, Schwartz produced some of the funniest comics in history. 152-page color hardcover. (IDW)

Crime Does Not Pay Archives Vol. 3

Crime Does Not Pay Archives Volume 3: Collecting #30 to #33 of this classic crime series. Intro by Howard Chaykin. 240-page color hardcover. (Dark Horse)

Essential Thor Vol. 6

Essential Thor Volume 6: Featuring the first appearance of Firelord, Galactus vs. Ego the Living Planet, Loki’s invasion of Earth, and Thor’s descent into Pluto’s dark realm. Includes work by John and Sal Buscema, Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Len Wein, and more. Collects Thor #221-247. 520 B&W pages. (Marvel)

Fiction House Collected Works: Planet Comics Vol. 1

Fiction House Collected Works: Planet Comics Volume 1: Reprinting the early issues of this SF classic series, but details are skimpy. Carmine Infantino provides a new forward. 288-page color hardcover. (PS Artbooks)

Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Captain America Vol. 6

Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Captain America Volume 6: Reprinting Captain America Comics #21-24. Cap and Bucky’s wartime exploits are collected for the first time. The art is primarily by Syd Shores and Don Rico with various writers. Plus back-up stories of the Human Torch! 280-page color hardcover. (Marvel)

Marvel Masterworks: Invincible Iron Man Vol. 2

Marvel Masterworks: Invincible Iron Man Volume 2: Collecting the Iron Man stories from Tales to Supense #51-65 by Stan Lee and Don Heck. Featuring the origin of the Mandarin, the first appearance of Hawkeye (teamed up with the Black Widow, in her first appearance), plus battles with Captain America and even the old Iron Man armor! 240-page color TPB. (Marvel)

The Simon & Kirby Library: Science Fiction

The Simon and Kirby Library: Science Fiction: A special volume of work never collected together before, featuring not only material pre-dating the S&K partnership, but also their very first collaboration, Blue Bolt! Plus the SF work the duo produced in collaboration with other classic creators, including Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, Reed Crandall, and Wally Wood. This series has been amazing, and this may be the best volume yet! 320-page color hardcover. (Titan Books)

Showcase Presents The Flash Vol. 4

Showcase Presents The Flash Volume 4: Collecting The Flash #162-184 from the era of Go-Go Checks and outrageous villains! 528 B&W pages. (DC Comics)

Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princess Archives Vol. 1

Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princess Archives Volume 1: Beginning the Silver Age Wonder Woman stories (WW #98-110) by Kanigher, Andru, and Esposito in the classic Archives format. If you love quirky, you’ll love this! 352-page color hardcover. (DC Comics)

CLASSIC COMIC STRIP COLLECTIONS:

Beetle Bailey: Dallies and Sundays 1966

Beetle Bailey: Dallies and Sundays 1966: 112 pages of the adventures of the most famous (and laziest) Private in the Army, as told by the legendary Mort Walker. Another legend — Stan Lee — provides the introduction. B&W hardcover. (Titan Books)

Gasoline Alley Vol. 1

Gasoline Alley Volume 1: Picking up the classic strip in 1964 when Dick Moores took over from creator Frank King. The strip more-or-less followed real time, so lead character Skeezix (found in a basket as a baby in 1921) is now middle-aged with a family of his own. This is the first time this era of the strip has been collected. 288-page color hardcover. Highly recommended. (IDW/LoAC)

LOAC Essentials: Baron Bean

LOAC Essentials: Baron Bean: This launches a series of smaller collections of esoteric (but historically essential) strips from the Golden Age of newspaper strips. First up is the first year of George Herriman’s Baron Bean, which ran simultaneously with Herriman’s Krazy Kat in its early years, beginning in 1916. Future LOAC Essentials will include The Gumps and Polly and her Pals. 328-page B&W hardcover. (IDW/LoAC)

Prince Valiant Vol. 6: 1947-1948

Prince Valiant Volume 6: 1947-1948: Hal Foster’s masterpiece enters its second decade in this 112-page color hardcover, shot from Foster’s collection of syndicate proofs, with the coloring fully restored. (Fantagraphics)

MISCELLANEOUS

WOODWORK

WOODWORK: A massive 352-page color and B&W collection of Wally Wood’s astonishing career. Includes work from EC Comics’ classic SF titles, MAD, illustrations for Galaxy and other magazines, work for both Marvel and DC Comics, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and his pioneering work in self-publishing. This book was originally a museum catalogue that accompanied a gigantic Wood career retrospective in De Palma, Spain, in 2010, now made available to everybody. (IDW)

KC CARLSON: Driving Across America. Wheeeee!