Earth’s mightiest superheroes first made their debut as the Avengers back in 1963. Since then, numerous heroes have come and gone in the ever-changing team. Now, Marvel is taking fans back to this team’s roots with a new anthology book.
For the second volume in the ongoing “Marvel Comics Library” series, Taschen and Marvel are reproducing some of the earliest and rarest Avengers comics in an extra-large format and in their original glory. Avengers. Vol. 1. 1963-1965 includes the first 20 stories featuring the superhero team.
This 630-page hardcover book creates an ideal representation of the comics as they were produced at the time, but in an extra-large format. Taschen used pristine pedigreed copies of the original comics, which were photographed for reproduction. Each page has been digitally remastered using modern techniques to correct the problems with the imperfect printing of the era.
The book also includes an exclusive foreword by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and an in-depth history by Eisner Award-winning writer Kurt Busiek, supplemented with photographs, rare documents, and original art.
The “Famous First Edition” ($200) of Avengers. Vol. 1. 1963-1965 will have 5,000 copies, with each book individually numbered. The anthology is also available as a Collector’s Edition ($600), which features an aluminum print cover, a leatherette-bound spine, foil embossing, and a slipcase. There are only 1,000 Collector’s Edition copies available and each is individually numbered. Both editions are available for preorder on the Taschen website. The “Famous First Edition” is expected to ship in July and the Collector’s Edition is expected to ship in August.
The next release in the series will be Fantastic Four. Vol. 1. 1961-1963, scheduled for publication later this year.
