the essential "Essential"

[Kylun123]

hey, I'm looking for some good summer reading, going on vacation for a couple of weeks, and I want to get one of those Essential collections.
I'm looking for a not-as-popular character though, like no X-men or Spiderman.
Something like Iron Fist or Dr. Strange or Moon Knight or something else unique.
Any suggestions?

[The Lucky One]

Moon Knight's a good choice... the early issues in it are a little run-of-the-mill, but once his solo title starts, things really get awesome. Essential Howard the Duck is great, very funny and intelligent and good art, albeit a bit dated; but if you want non-mainstream, Howard's the way to go. If you still want a superhero, just a less popular one, you might want to try Essential Nova. And all of the Essential Tomb of Dracula volumes are terrific, though #2 may be the best... volume 1 takes a few issues to get into the swing of things.

Or if you'd prefer a team book, Essential Defenders reprints the adventures of Marvel's pre-X-Men outcast team, starring Dr. Strange, the Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Silver Surfer.

-D

[Captain Exaggeration]

I read Iron Man, Captain America and the Avengers. But like you I'm looking for some less popular characters to dig into their past. The two I'm looking into right now are Dr. Strange and Nova.

[Agentum]

Moon Knight is very good, Defenders is good, Uncanny X-men is good, i like Powerman and Iron Fist too.

Generally the 70s comics is easy to read, i find myself having a hard time reading the older 60s comics in black and white i just miss the color much more in then than in the 70s essentials

[riftt]

Why is it there a 5 volumes of essential dracula, a nova, moon knight, werewolf by night, howard the duck, devil dinosaur, 3 marvel handbooks, etc...

but only 1 punisher, only 2 iron man, only 2 silver surfers...

and if we get those wacky titles, why not bring out the hidden gem of the MU: Essential Robocop??

[twilight]

I've heard good things about Essential Luke Cage volume 1.

[Babylon23]

I'd recommend Tomb of Dracula. It's one of the best Marvel books of the 70's, and the Gene Colan/Tom Palmer artwork looks amazing in B&W.

You can't go wrong with Essential Dr. Strange either.

[Ikaris]

One more vote for Essential Moon Knight.

... or Dr. Strange (but he is better in colors if you ask me).

MK does really good in BW

[nokahoma]

Yeah, Dr. Strange loses a lot in black and white, but since there are no recent affordable color reprints of the Ditko years the Essentials are your best route. Essential Dr. Strange Volume 1 starts off a little slow, but once it gets going it's quite tremendous. Ditko's last arc is absolutely amazing.

[nokahoma]

Why is it there a 5 volumes of essential dracula, a nova, moon knight, werewolf by night, howard the duck, devil dinosaur, 3 marvel handbooks, etc...

but only 1 punisher, only 2 iron man, only 2 silver surfers...

Howard the Duck is an all-time classic, whereas Iron Man, uh, well, Iron Man certainly is a long-running book. As much as I like the character, his own title has never been anything all that notable.

Only two volumes of Thor, now, there's something to get worked up over.

[Beast]

Howard the Duck is an all-time classic, whereas Iron Man, uh, well, Iron Man certainly is a long-running book. As much as I like the character, his own title has never been anything all that notable.

Only two volumes of Thor, now, there's something to get worked up over.
Vol. 3 of Thor is on the way later this year.

[Rich L]

Why is it there a 5 volumes of essential dracula, a nova, moon knight, werewolf by night, howard the duck, devil dinosaur, 3 marvel handbooks, etc...

but only 1 punisher, only 2 iron man, only 2 silver surfers...

and if we get those wacky titles, why not bring out the hidden gem of the MU: Essential Robocop??

Wait, there's an essential Devil Dinosaur? When did this happen?!?

[Zero Hunter]

I would give Iron Fist a look. The regular series that makes up the bulk of the Essetnial is by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, and this is when both of them were at the top of their games. I really liked this one.

Essential Godzilla 1 - Little goofy in spots but fun
Essential Tomb of Dracula 1-3 - A great series and the art looks spectacular in black and white.
Essential Defenders 1 - A great all around read.
Essential Super Villian Team Up 1 - Doom, Namor, Red Skull.

[jadegiant77]

Two Essentials that we'll probably never, ever see due to trademark lapses...

Essential Rom
&
Essential Micronauts

I would KILL to see both of these in essential form, but somebody out there is holding on to the rights(to ROM! whatever)! I wonder could Marvel get permission to reprint these? Rom's bio was in the Essential Handbook, after all.

[jadegiant77]

whoops, double post.

I'd also like to see an Essential Alpha Flight!

[Starkicker]

Speaking of trademarks can we get Essentials of Conan or G.I. Joe?

Or what about Master of Kung Fu if they leave out issues that include Fu Manchu?

[The Lucky One]

They did one Essential of Conan, back when Marvel owned the rights; but nowadays you'll have to track it down secondhand, as it's long out of print. As for Master of Kung Fu, anything's possible, but don't hold your breath.

-D

[jpk]

A third vote for Moon Knight. The compilation starts off with a bit of Mickey Spillane type writing (entertaining in its own right) but quickly shifts gears to a pretty gripping read. And as has been said, it's one title that doesn't loss much in the color-to-black-&-white transition.

[PastePotPete]

Another vote for Dr. Strange.

I read his Essential Collection Vol. 1 cover-to-cover in a week. Very fast for me! All the stories are completely bonkers, but they have their own internal logic. And Dr. Strange has one of the coolest Stan Lee origins. You gots to check it out!

Is Essential Silver Surfer or Thor any good? I love both characters, but I'll admit that sometimes it can get hard to wade through these volumes if you hit a run of lackluster issues.

I love the Justice League but Showcase Presents: The Justice League was a bit repetitive. Those old DC stories just used the same plot over and over.

[Iron Fist]

The only ones I have are Iron Fist and Moon Knight, both of which are very good.

[BeastieRunner]

Is Essential Silver Surfer or Thor any good? I love both characters, but I'll admit that sometimes it can get hard to wade through these volumes if you hit a run of lackluster issues.


Surfer is awesome. It begins with his best run of comics. It's Stan Lee at his best writing wise, even over Spider-man. It contains a lot of good history and reasons why he's come about to his current change.

[Gary Joyce]

The only ones I have are Iron Fist and Moon Knight, both of which are very good.

Yep both of these get the thumbs up from me.

[Sparda]

Essentuals Im thinking of getting is Punisher and Moonknight. Those look uniquely fun :)

[Subotai]

whoops, double post.

I'd also like to see an Essential Alpha Flight!

So would I. Essential Iron Fist is pretty good - interesting to see he was the first guy to tangle with Sabretooth, and he did better than Wolverine usually does. And Misty Knight was a pretty well-written female character.

[Ripper]

Essential Moon Knight is amazing, I read it cover to cover in a day. Essential Howard the Duck is great fun in my opinion too and Essential Ghost Rider is a fantastic collection, if not only for Marvel Spotlight #5-12 which are some of the most amazing comics from that era in my opinion.

[Captain Shady]

Iron Fist--great read.

Any of the Avengers. Captain America.

I'd go with Iron Fist.