DC's All Too Brief Flirtation with Treasury Sized Comics

For a brief, wonderful time at the end of the 1990s, DC brought back the Treasury Edition format for their special comics projects.

Mainly, they brought it back for Paul Dini and Alex Ross to do their character-centric specials ("Superman: Peace on Earth", "Batman: War on Crime", "Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth", etc.).

I don't remember how many others they came out with in the format, but there was also a JLA book ("Heaven's Ladder") done by Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch. As you can imagine, the large page size gave Hitch some spectacular canvases to work on.

The one I want to talk about today, though, is "Superman/Fantastic Four", from Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert. It's a clever enough concept: Galactus was involved in Krypton's destruction, and many years later takes Superman to be his new herald. The Fantastic Four are on hand to stop them.

The story is respectable. You're not going to remember much of it in a few months, but it is a pleasant diversion with some neat concepts and a good use of the format to tell the story. Your enjoyment of this story hinges on your tolerance for the Cyborg Superman, who plays a bit of the role of Doctor Smith from "Lost In Space" here, but less lovable.

Interestingly, the book takes place in the continuity of the "DC vs. Marvel" crossover event from three years earlier. Reed and Sue's son, Franklin, idolizes Superman and wishes he could visit Superman's world to meet him like his parents did. Then, of course, he turns around and Superman is there. Such a cute moment...

The biggest thing Dan Jurgens gets right in this book is that he takes advantage of the large page size. Rather than adding more panels per page, he takes the route of creating larger images using big characters in a large storyline.

Naturally, Galactus is the villain. Can't get too much bigger than that, really.

The settings feel big, too, including Reed Richards' lab, with its labyrinth of metal machinery he's using to test The Thing's power levels.

The one thing I've always noticed about Jurgens' art is how much it's impacted by his inker. So many artists leave the inker fairly little room, in comparison, to show their stuff off. With Jurgens, you'll recognize the constructions and the poses, but the final line will be from the inker, for sure. I think George Perez did the best ink work on their "Teen Titans" back together back in the day, but you could also make a case for Kevin Nowlan on "Superman/Aliens" or Brett Breeding on so much of his Superman work 20-25 years ago..

I'm of two minds when it comes to Art Thibert's inks in this book. Some of it doesn't age particularly well. Thibert's thin inks and 90s noodling can get distracting. It might just be that his inking style doesn't work at this size. Shrunk down to standard comic size, I bet this would look pretty decent. At this large size, you can see too much, too clearly. Some of those slashy little lines in random places are unnecessary.

At the same time, other little lines create some amazing textures in the book. They work very well on The Thing, where Thibert adds in the shadows away from the light source and the little details of the rocks. There are panels with the Torch in full blazing glory where he looks amazing, and that's completely because of the tedious job Thibert did of inking around Torch's body. And Jurgens' Superman does, of course, feel right. Galactus is larger than life and as nonchalant as you'd expect, with some nice feathering to create shadows.

(Nerd Tangent: For as large as he is, don't his proportions make you think he's on the short side for his race? Are there taller Galacti? Would a Galactus basketball team dribble a planet, then shoot it into a basket for two points? Has someone already drawn that for "What The -- ?!?")

Physically, my copy of the book is puckering up. Maybe because it's a 64 page book, but the glue in the binding seems to be pinching the pages. It's hard to describe, but it makes opening the pages of the issue very difficult. I keep thinking I'm going to break the binding if I open it too much, but the middle parts of the page near the binding are just immovable from that. There's one two page spread that I didn't notice ran across the binding until it was too late. That's because I physically couldn't open the book up wide enough to see where the panel borders went. I assumed I was supposed to read down, not across.

Overall, the book is a pleasant experience, but not terribly memorable. Dan Jurgens tells a competent story and fills it with the right material for the format. And, yes, he gives us Superman versus the Fantastic Four, too. It's a crossover book, so we had to get that, and those moments are golden.

I wish DC would bring back this format for modern material. They have enough interesting artists working in their ranks now that I think they could pull something off. Also, they'd be creating comics in a format that digital can't approximate. So the retailers would love it, if they could just get over it not being a standard size for their bookshelves

I suppose you never know. Stranger things have happened.

Quick Thoughts Before We Wrap This Up

• I wanted to do an article when the DC Writer's Program acceptances went out and some part of the world went nuts for various reasons. But I think I can just link to this podcast and tell you all to listen to it. I agree completely with it.
• The best advice for how to break into comics anyone can give you? Go make some comics. Prove you can do it. Don't expect to start in the Major Leagues. Use the ridiculous number of free tools available to you on-line to get started. There's no excuse anymore.
• NYCC Advice: If you think the convention is over-crowded and are looking for a spot to take strides longer than six inches, there's one easy solution: Go to where the comics are. Yes, at any so-called "Comic Convention" these days, the least crowded areas tend to be near the comics. Stay away from the movie and video game booths. Go to Artist's Alley.
• Currently, I should be at the convention on Sunday only, mostly staying in the Artist's Alley section. But, as with all conventions, plans often change quickly. So who knows?
• Since I'm linking to a podcast in here, I thought I'd point you to my current list of favorite comics podcasts. You might want to add something to your listening list, you never know.

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