THE UNBOXING - APRIL 2014

If last month was one of my smaller months, with only two books total -- both from DC, no less -- this shipment more than makes up for it, with a mostly Marvel line-up. First and foremost is the long-awaited SPIDER-MAN BY ROGER STERN OMNIBUS. I wrote a post about this volume over seven months ago when it first popped up as a ghost listing on Amazon. Now the book is finally in my hands, and I'm thrilled beyond words. I will be reading this one immediately, and I have big plans for it as relates to the blog. More on that within the next month or so.

Also on hand from Marvel are three thick trade paperbacks. And it must be Roger Stern Month hereabouts, because in addition to the Spider-Man book, two of these trades collect Stern's work as well. AVENGERS: ABSOLUTE VISION, BOOK TWO brings us a large chunk of Stern's classic AVENGERS run from the eighties, while the CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION: DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT (delayed from last month) collects the full Stern/John Byrne run on Cap, which I already own in a separate trade, as well as the beginning of the long J.M. DeMatties/Mike Zeck run, which bridged the gap between Stern/Byrne and the great Mark Gruenwald.

One more Marvel Epic Collection is present as well, in the form of the IRON MAN EPIC COLLECTION: WAR GAMES, which contains the John Byrne/John Romita, Jr. run on the title from the early nineties. The Cap and Iron Man books mark my third and fourth dips into the Epic Collection pool, after IRON MAN: THE ENEMY WITHIN and THOR: WAR OF THE PANTHEONS. While I don't see myself reading them in the immediate future, I have to note that these books are beautifully assembled and about as comprehensive as can be, and I look forward to many more.

Lastly is DANGER GIRL: THE CHASE from IDW. I wrote briefly about the DANGER GIRL/G.I. JOE limited series late last year, and reading that book got me interested in the property again so I've been checking out some of the more recent offerings from IDW. There is most likely a DANGER GIRL review series coming up for me in the near future.

But first -- Spider-Man!