When I first caught the Marvel Comics bug, and subsequently fell completely in love with comics, it was enabled almost entirely by Marvel Comics Essentials. Back when Marvel Unlimited was still but a fanciful flying car of the distant future, the most affordable way to dive headfirst into Marvel binges came through the Essentials, black and white editions of 500 pages of comics. I ripped through the Dark Phoenix Saga, Stan and Steve’s Spidey, and countless other Marvel beginnings this way. I would quite literally divide my college paychecks into chunks of how many Essentials I could purchase with them (never enough!). And here I am today, taking the stand as an expert!
While the Essentials line went the way of Uncle Ben circa 2013 (too soon?), and Marvel’s Epic Collections have taken their place with slightly fewer comics, but all in color, there’s actually an underrated, even more prestigious way to start with the original Marvel Comics the founders created: The TASCHEN Marvel Comics Library. [Read more…] about The Marvel Comics Omnibus Library by TASCHEN