Foreign Comic Collector magazine issue #1 Full Preview!

[define999]

So without further ado! Issue one of FCC magazine has dropped….. check it out and if you like what you see sign up for the newsletter please. I will send out email blasts when new issues are available or when new video or audio podcasts and other foreign related curiosities hit the site. Enjoy!

The site….
http://foreigncomiccollector.webs.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Note@ This is the only time I will post the entire issue like this… further issues will only be available to see fully at the site. Thanks!







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[Phantom]

cheers for posting, will read in more detail latter.
Fantastic post.

[Chiclo]

Interesting stuff. I have several foreign-language comics. Star Wars in Greek, Avengers in German and things like that. I even have a French-language Iron Man 55.

The only ones I cannot read are the Arabic ones from AK Comics.

[nycjadie]

Very cool effort. I hope to see more. Well done!

[define999]

Thanks guys!!!! Appreciate the comments! Love for someone in the know to contact me about foreign valiants.... I know about some of the rarer ones like the FIlipino tagalog issues and what not.... but love to know more about them. hint hint...

@Chiclo are you talking about the kabanas hellas Greek Star Wars? Those are pretty rare and cool for sure....

The Editions Heritage IM55 is also very very cool!!!! Congrats on that book for sure... Do you know of other IM55 foreigns? We should compare notes....

[Chiclo]

@Chiclo are you talking about the kabanas hellas Greek Star Wars? Those are pretty rare and cool for sure....

The Editions Heritage IM55 is also very very cool!!!! Congrats on that book for sure... Do you know of other IM55 foreigns? We should compare notes....

I need to dig out my foreign editions, get an idea of exactly what I have.

I googled the kabanas hellas Greek Star Wars comics and those look like they came out in the late 70s or early 80s. These ones I have are much newer, and I think they are tied to the prequels - Episode 1?

[define999]

Yea Chiclo, please do.... Id love to see scans of the episode #1 Greek books....

[Chiclo]

I am sorry to say that I only have one Greek Star Wars book and it is from Episode III not Episode I. At least that is the only book I have found so far. I have 80 boxes of comics. Maybe more?

I also dug up that arabic Aya book. Scans coming later today.

[Chiclo]

Here goes nothing -

Star Wars Epeisodio III Y Ekdikysy Ton Sith Issue 1

(sorry for the upside-down-ness)

Front



Back



Aya 1 AK Comics, Arabic Edition



English cover (for reference)

[define999]

Nice! I love cool foreign Star Wars stuff!

And Arabic stuff is really cool as well..... so neat how the spine is located to the right isn't it!

Some foreign Star Wars I have...














Some of my foreign Arabics......





Front and back.....


And a extremely rare National Bookstore/Arabic, 2 book, Worlds finest 211 set.....


When I ran into Neal at the Albuquerque Expo he found this Swedish TOD book to be real interesting with its different background....



How bout a Indian spidey #1?







Im going to write a Up close and personal article on this book... its fascinating....

[magnusr]

This is nice. Just signed up for the emails. As a kid once I saw an editorial page with Batman around the world and loved it. You just brought back that feeling.

When I ran into Neal at the Albuquerque Expo he found this Swedish TOD book to be real interesting with its different background....

Funny, I also showed him a redrawn swedish cover once. I never understood why they did that.

/Magnus

[define999]

Thanks man! And thank you for signing up..... really appreciate it!


As far as the huge amount of altered cover art you see around the world I have a theory. In a pre-internet world the world was a much bigger place….. and companies didn’t have as much control over branding or how their copyrighted properties were handled. One thing I do no for sure is it has been publicly stated that for a long time in the industry the licensing dept. of Marvel and DC didn’t give a hoot what many foreign publishers did as long as their checks cashed and the people in charge of intellectual property management didn’t see something that would jeopardize their cushy jobs. Who cared what the property looked like in South east Asia, or Sweden, or Turkey? Might as well been on another planet. Their was no internet so even if a foreign book made it to the states it wasn’t like it was going to be seen by anybody anyway?

So with this freedom the foreign publishers went crazy! They altered art, they created stories and art from scratch, they mis-matched covers from insides, they altered continuity, they basically took the licensing and ran with it. And we see a huge amount of cool covers because of this. In many cases the foreign publisher did the artwork more justice and altered it for the better in some cases in my opinion. Im getting ready to prepare a compare and contrast of different altered covers along with the American version…. You interested in me posting that here as well?

[nycjadie]

Those Arabic covers are truly amazing. They seem so minimal compared to the US versions.

[magnusr]

You interested in me posting that here as well?

Would be great.

/Magnus

[define999]

Here ya go guys!!!!!!


A analysis of cover variations between American issues and its foreign counterpart

I am not planning on going into great detail about the interiors of the books for this. Only the covers at this time folks. Many of these books have very very different insides. Weather they be all black and white, different paper stock, or collections of different issues. I am just going to speak a little bit about my opinion on the foreign cover and how it stacks up and is possibly better or just plain bizarre compared to the the American original.


Now to start, the Italian 300! There are a lot of amazing 300 foreigns, but this issue breaks the mold entirely. A cover stock that is thicker and almost a card stock makes this issue feel very nice in your hands. Also the treatment of the iconic Mcfarlene art is very special in my opinion. For many fans the 300 is a kinda of love or hate type of thing. No one argues with the fact that Venoms impact is huge and the book is super-key. But many have complained that the 300 lettering in the back makes this cover so busy and fugly. Personally I like the contorted spidey pose in the circle, but I agree the 300 lettering is fugly and an eyesore at best and damn ugly at worst.

The Italian edition does completely away with this graphic element. And instead places Spidey and the circle in a sea of black that more closely at least to me symbolizes Venom’s impact on Spidey and solidifies his place in the greater marvel universe. The Italians took the blue of the circle and continued it in the title above. The issue info/date panel is to the left towards the spine like the American version but curiously they use Spideys more traditional red outfit and a different pose.

Now if there is a problem with this cover it’s the fact that I think the Venom callout is a little big? I would have preferred it a little smaller and maybe a better font so as to maintain the minimalist feel better…. But this is a minor gripe. I will tell you this though…. When I show this book to Spidey Mcfarlene crazies usually the first response is “wow”! Then with at least a certain percentage I hear a “I have to have that book.” “Do you wanna sell it? “no” I politely say and walk away leaving their minds blown that at least in my view the Italians did a better job both creatively and symbolically with Venoms first big key issue.



Next…. The Bats 227! Iconic cover, first time Batman cries in a comic book as well I think…. And a book that is consistently listed as one of Adams top ten bats cover art. The original I have always believed is a mash up of washtone/greytone techniques that combine with traditional coloring to make the cover. Bats in the sky is done using the washtone/greytone style I think? Then the other elements like the mansion and everything below it is colored traditionally. Just a theory of mine but no matter….

The Brazilian EBALS are one of the coolest and most interesting of all the South American published foreigns. Again a thicker and higher quality paper stock is used and the book is slightly bigger I believe than its American counterpart. First thing you notice of course is the difference in the clouds and the little bats. This immediately affects the contrast of Batman in the background and makes him “pop” better in my opinion. Also Bats seems more traditionally colored if even a little rougher in style. Where this cover really shines though is something you will notice with all the EBAL books if you look a little closer at the coloration. These books have a pastel painted look and feel to them. My theory is because most EBALS are black and white on the insides they might have not received color art from DC for these specific issues at all? Maybe a licensing thing or something? Who knows…. But it appears the EBAL publisher had much of the cover art re-done by thier own artists.

Maybe the colorist used the DC and Marvel originals as a guide or maybe not in some instances? But when the color was applied it also appears like some detail was lost in the black lines of the original artwork. If you look at tons of EBALS like I do you start to notice this color aspect repeat itself over multiple titles and both Marvel and DC books. The simplification of the black printing plate combined with a new redone color palette give many EBALS a painted pastel look to all the covers.

Now believe me when I tell you that these books are stunning to behold in hand. When comparing a EBAL with its American counterpart this coloring aspect really shines thru! Another aspect of the EBAL book is the removal of a lot of clutter from the cover like the comics code stamp, the Robin callout and using a smaller title. Maybe my only problem with the EBAL version of the 227 is the title that lacks personality in comparison to the traditional American bats logo. Also EBAL used a block date and issue panel for the issue info instead of floating it on the right side like the American version. I believe this lack of clutter and a very interesting coloring stlye combined with a more in your face bats in the sky makes this issue just a tad bit better form an art perspective.

My idea is if Neal Adams had both of these covers as posters at his booth at shows he would probably sell a healthy amount of the Brazilian style. Probably more than anyone realizes…..



Now these next 2 I will admit are not necessarily better than the American originals but they have novel elements that make them awesome!

Jonah Hex is in trouble, and it looks like some very bad men are going to give him a very bad day. The interesting thing about the Swedish foreign is its inclusion of blood near the face of Jonah. Why and how did it get there? Im interested in the idea that maybe it was there originally in the American art and was removed later by DC thru coloration? Or, was it put there by the Swedish artists who felt like the original art didn’t convey enough danger for our favorite facial scarred hero? I will be the first to admit that the coloration of the Swedish issue leaves some to be desired. The candle light glow is completely missing causing this cover to seem monochromatic in brown hues. Also the title with the tomahawk is terrible looking. I understand they were going for a more western Indian aesthetic but I just don’t like the font? Not that the DC font is that much better but it just worked better.

Maybe the hues and the other elements make for a grittier cover… but for sure the blood does it for me. It imparts the danger that Jonah is in and the fact that he was beaten already. This more adult theming of the Swedish cover despite the ugly coloration makes it fit the grittier world of Jonah Hex better in my opinion again. And I don’t know but I just like it…..




Now this brings me to the last compare and contrast….

WTF man! What is this? Well because I couldn’t get this book out of Indian EBAY I just don’t know? Is it a GI Joe #1 or is it blatantly ripped off art for some other original story inside? We just don’t know for sure but you could be looking at the most novel of foreign Joe comic collectibles for sure. The art is clearly copied from Joe #1 and appears to be in the smaller digest-like size many of the Indian books from this period were. But WTF, if anyone knows anything about this book I got a foreign Joe collector that is real interested in the whys and the hows? Its ugly but oh so novel I think… I am getting ready to contact some Indian collectors over there and one of my first questions is going to be about this book. Its fun, its crude, but how can we get one. LOL

[magnusr]

Also Bats seems more traditionally colored if even a little rougher in style.

Yeah, it generally feels based on the line art, not on the US colored version. Also interesting that it has more art on both sides.

Thanks for a nice post.

/Magnus