Gary Friedrich (1943–2018)

I must admit, I was a bit disappointed with this volume, but not for its content. Rather, I was disappointed by what it did not have.

What If?, one of my all time favorite comic book metaseries presented a hypothetical situation each month in which a notable Marvel comics character has a divergence from their normal path, leading to a completely different set of circumstances (such as one in this trade paper back in which Peter Parker’s uncle Ben does not die). While this series could not show more stand on its own (since it requires something from which to diverge), the speculative nature of it has made me a fan for as long as I’ve been reading comics.

The thing that irritated me with this volume, though, was what was missing. Notably, two issues of What If?, one involving Conan the Barbarian, and another involving Shang-Chi (including his father Fu Manchu). After each issue, there is a teaser about what’s coming next: Next Issue, Conan! Next Issue: Shang-Chi. And yet, the next issue is not as advertised in the trade paperback (and with respect to Conan, the next issue was not Conan for a while). The ultimate reason for this is one of the worst unchecked diseases to affect mankind: Copyright. Marvel, while they produced an original comic series based on Conan (which included such delights, as Elric of Melnibone in a ridiculous pointed hat), they no longer held the right to publish their own original works. Due to crazy laws that came into place, prolonging the lockdown of something that by all means should have entered the public domain by now, Dark Horse is the comic publisher currently able to publish Conan books, including the Marvel library. However, to publish something like the Conan What If? stories (yes, there are a few) would probably take efforts more powerful than all the gods and heroes within these volumes, as these stories also liberally include other Marvel characters, such as Peter Parker, Thor, and the like. To see these issues in print, you’re better off getting an existing copy from your local comic book shop.

As for why they didn’t do the Master of Kung-Fu issue, since by all rights, the character of Fu Manchu should be in the public domain (though I know that Alan Moore ran into legal issues with his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and left the insidious doctor nameless), my only assumption is that the Rohmer estate is doing everything it can to milk a property that was created before many of the members of the estate were born.

The worst part is, based on the letters sections included in this volume, these two issues were fan favorites, rated as the best they’ve seen, making me wonder if I have these in original comic form to re-read (or if I should patronize my local comic store if I don’t).

Nevertheless, while copyright does do a load of useful stuff, it also prevents us, the people, from getting our hands on complete republications of our favorite comic series in book form. I’ll grant that Marvel probably couldn’t negotiate these rights, due to the worst practice of licensing, the exclusive license, being in full effect; however, this doesn’t make it any less sad, or me any less irritated as this mangled web we have woven ourselves into.

However, to Marvel’s credit, I did like what they did include, even if some of the concepts were a bit stretchy. I’ve decided that no matter how incomplete this series is, I will do my best to complete my own collection of it.

My only hope is that they release TPBs for the remainder of the issues (particularly the entirety of What If? volume 2, the one I grew up on). show less

A wonderful breath of fresh air compared to the slog that is the current Daredevil run this issue sits within. Matt gets to do cool lawyer stuff, and I enjoyed him making friends with the Hulk and trying to help him.

This is an enjoyable collection, but my main gripe is that some of the issues are not in chronological order, and easily could be.

The Monster of Frankenstein/Frankenstein Monster is an outstanding 70s Marvel horror series, starting with the origin of Frankenstein retold, then picking up 100 years later with the great, great grandson of Robert Walton in search of the Monster, leading to more misadventures of our misunderstood Monster.

While the Frankenstein Monster monthly was going on, there show more were also a series of black and white tales being told in the Monsters Unleashed magazine format series. These were more adult tales. Marvel used these issues to explain how the Monster arrived in the present day. Here, however, is where my problem lies.

It would have been simple for the compilers of this Essential collection to put the Monsters Unleashed story in the proper order along with the main title run. Instead, the Frankenstein Monster run is complete (with a brief interruption for Giant-Size Werewolf by Night, perfect place for the Monsters Unleashed story), followed by the full Monsters Unleashed run. It makes reading in proper story order difficult.

Another problem, there are several moments where different writers mix up the back story, screwing up certain elements like how the Monster damaged his throat (shown as damage from a vampire bite in the main title run, but explained as damage due to fire in Monsters Unleashed). Considering these books were being produced within months of each other, it's a glaring error that should have been noticed before the books went to print.

Overall, though, a fun read. Definitely worth picking up for comic fans and horror fans alike. show less

It's sometimes hard for me to understand what made Marvel Comics so popular back in the 60s, but even judged by the standards of the time, I am amazed this comic continued to be published. The first issues of his second try at a series continue to be plagued by creative turnover, and they just kind of land with a thud.