Don't wait for the trade

Tamora Pierce has an interesting post in her LiveJournal about some "creative editing" done to White Tiger #2 when the issue was reprinted in trade paperback. Seems like Marvel got cold feet over reprinting a reference to a thoughtful and logical spin on the events in Civil War as they would be likely be explored in our universe, if our universe had a guy in a tin suit and a guy in an American flag duking it out in the street. (If only!) Boo on Marvel for chickening out; double-boo on them for altering the reprint of the book without consulting or even notifying the original author.

That's not the first and it won't be the last time a story is altered (even though it's done mildly) from floppy to trade. For example, earlier this year I remember an Outsiders trade altering a sexual reference from the original issue. Yep, I know: it's work-for-hire and Marvel, DC, and the rest have the legal right to alter the original without permission from the writer or artist. This ain't a recent thing, either: remember the reprint of Fantastic Four #1 in a later FF annual which redrew the look of Johnny Storm from Jack Kirby's original to make the Human Torch look more like the latter-day version than the earlier mess o' flame?

Speaking of Johnny Human Torch, here's another alteration from comic to trade that really bugged me when I saw it. It's very minor, yes. But it flies in the face of everything I believe in about comics: it alters and lessens the fun.

Here's the original: the final four panels from the comic book version of Fantastic Four volume 3 #61:

Panels from Fantastic Four v. 3 #61 (November 2002), written by Mark Waid, art by Mike Wieringo, Karl Kesel, and Paul Mounts, lettering by Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne

And here's the same panels as reprinted in the trade. Look closely: what's different? Note: ignore the slight coloring and shading differences of this image; it's simply my scanning skills at work here. The real difference is a little more subtle.

Panels from Fantastic Four v. 3 #61 as reprinted in the Fantastic Four: Imaginauts trade paperback (2003)






Did you catch it?


I know it's a relatively minor matter beside the perfectly valid complaint Tamora Pierce could make that Marvel has edited her work out of fear of controversy, but this one steams me up because they edited out an absolutely pitch-perfect joke. When I first read that issue and saw the next issue box following Sue's words of wisdom, I cracked up and milk came out of my nose. And I was not even drinking milk!

In short, the trade is a minuscule but significant percent less fun than the original comic. And that's something for which Bully will not stand! More fun in the comics, I say.

Even at the expense of Johnny Storm.