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Allan Summerall
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 June 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 504
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| Posted: 02 February 2026 at 10:53pm | IP Logged | 1
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I'm so excited for this TPB this week. These are the stories that introduced me to the FF and John Byrne. They're probably the most reread issues I own.The FF has been my favorite team/family book ever since. I just can't say enough good things about them. I loved the lumpy oatmeal look of the Thing and JB's Dr. Doom and Galactus defined those characters for me. If it wasn't for these stories, I might not have gotten into reading comics and would have missed out on so many great stories and characters. So, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank John Byrne for the wonderful tales he has told in this collection!!
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8351
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| Posted: 02 February 2026 at 11:26pm | IP Logged | 2
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It says newly restored artwork. I wonder if this will look better than the
previous collections of these issues
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135617
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 1:05am | IP Logged | 3
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What does “restored” mean?
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3907
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 2:41am | IP Logged | 4
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I recently read my reprint collections, which were the Visionary series of trades. In some ways, a premium product, but 1) the black plates in a couple of the collections either gummed up or printed inconsistently, and 2) they're from the unfortunate era of the insanely garish recoloring approach on the glossy white stock. If this collection corrects those issues, it'll be one of the few things I'll actually pony up for yet another printing.
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8351
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 11:00am | IP Logged | 5
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What does “restored” mean?
———-
No idea, but this is the description
Restored from a trove of original Byrne art
As Dave mentions, previous editions had some naff colouring, so maybe
better line work and hopefully more true to publication colouring.
I’ll be looking at preview pages tomorrow for the digital edition, so there
may be an indication as to what they have done with those.
We wait with baited breath
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Scott Gray
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 August 2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 77
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 2:08pm | IP Logged | 6
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I recall reading that some of the FF original pages were too large to be shot by the cameras of the time, so they had to be reduced on a photocopier first. Was that the case, JB?
If this edition is starting from scratch and using the original art, then that would justify the "restored" description.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 2:44pm | IP Logged | 7
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I recall reading that some of the FF original pages were too large to be shot by the cameras of the time, so they had to be reduced on a photocopier first. Was that the case, JB?••• Nope
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3907
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 3:33pm | IP Logged | 8
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I wonder with collections of 80's-era reprints - were those original trades 'theakstonized,' or did the publishers by that point have the forethought to at least store the film (photostats? negatives?) of the line art for future reprints?
For that matter, what WAS the reprint process back in the day? Reprints were a big enough part of the monthly comic release schedule from the 40's on (I mean, the very first 'comic book' was reprints of newspaper strips) that there must have been some deliberate process to make it as labor-light as possible.
Edited by Dave Kopperman on 03 February 2026 at 3:34pm
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31882
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 3:50pm | IP Logged | 9
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A lot of those early ESSENTIAL volumes sure look like they were
Theakstonized.
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8351
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 3:55pm | IP Logged | 10
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Good question - stats must have been made for things like
the UK reprints - where did they get their art from?
We were more than 10 years behind on a lot of stuff, and we
kept going back to that well as various formats - weeklies,
monthlies, pocket books etc - reprinted and reprinted.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 4:26pm | IP Logged | 11
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All the art I sent in was xeroxed. Badly. Marvel, it seemed, was not much concerned with doing maintenance on the copier(s?).
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
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Posts: 3907
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| Posted: 03 February 2026 at 4:39pm | IP Logged | 12
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Would the Xeroxes have been for the color guides, or the actual archiving for reprint use? That feels crazy short-sighted, even in the context of the time.
And does this mean that the reprint volumes we've seen so far have all been from those archival Xeroxes? Jeeziz. I know the artform part of comics often gets lost in the commerce, but that feels especially insulting to the artists AND fans.
Edited by Dave Kopperman on 03 February 2026 at 4:41pm
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