Review by Ian Keogh

Giant-Size Marvel Omnibus seems to defy all commercial sense. In 1974 Marvel added quarterly giant-size issues to their schedule, produced by the writers of the regular titles, surely grateful at increasing their income by 120 extra pages a year. A smaller 1990s collection was puzzling enough, so who does Marvel think will buy such a random selection in 2025?

It’s a snapshot as to which titles were the top sellers in 1974 and 1975. Avengers, Defenders, Fantastic Four, Man-Thing, Master of Kung-Fu, Spider-Man, Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf by Night all had a run of four or five issues. Captain America, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Hulk, Iron Man, Power Man and Thor were only allocated a single reprint issue, which along with others reprinting earlier stories are absent here. So are Conan tales to which Marvel no longer has the rights, Spider-Man teaming with Doc Savage for the same reason, and less obviously Spider-Man teaming with Master of Kung-Fu.

What is supplied is a vastly mixed selection. Steve Gerber’s Defenders material ties into the regular series, although not so tightly they can’t be understood here. It’s possibly a different matter for Steve Englehart’s Avengers, which feature the extended conclusions to three separate stories, while Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan introduce Lilith, standing independently while tying into their Dracula continuity. Most other content is by the writers of the regular series, but not necessarily the artist, although Paul Gulacy somehow found time to draw three of the four Master Of Kung-Fu issues. Ironically Doug Moench’s best script is a Groucho Marx homage, but drawn by Keith Pollard.

All these years later the work of Moench and Gerbert stands out, usually with something interesting about it whether dealing with superheroes or supernatural, if not always best served by the artists. Gerber’s Defenders feature some surprisingly dark moments, but his Man-Thing story ‘Kid’s Night Out’ is a collection highlight. Part text and part comics, it deals with the chaos that breaks out at the funeral of a bullied teenager, for which artists Ed Hannigan and Ron Wilson deliver understated art. Those – start sniggering now – Giant-Size Man-Thing issues also feature the first two Howard the Duck solo stories by Gerber and Frank Brunner, pastiches that still raise a laugh.

What will probably provide the greatest surprise is to learn Dave Gibbons drew a short horror story in 1975, not very well, and also featured in Giant-Size Chillers were the sole Marvel pages drawn by Adolfo Bullya and the relatively obscure Mike Lombo. The sample art features a fine page by Alfredo Alcala from the same title alongside a Gil Kane Defenders page.

Marvel also used the giant-size format to introduce new series, with the most successful graduate cover-featured, although, admirably via Dave Cockrum’s splash page for Giant-Size X-Men. Collaborating with Len Wein, it still reads well as an introduction to a new team. Also still reading well is Roy Thomas introducing his World War II superteam the Invaders, with artists of the era drawing some chapters, and the remainder by Frank Robbins in the era’s style. The third introduction teamed Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner as Super-Villain Team-Up, and the change from the polished elegance of John Buscema’s art in the first issue to Mike Sekowsky’s goofiness tells its own story.

1974-1975 was a different world. Storm is the only non-white featured character, and despite some good material we’d ask again who a collection that’s all over the place is aimed at. Look for it heavily discounted in a store near you any time now.