Essential Marvel was a line published by Marvel Comics from 1996–2013 that reprinted vintage comic book material in paperback format. Each black-and-white volume reprints approximately 20–30 issues of a classic Marvel title (mostly from the Silver Age or Bronze Age). Each Essential contains between 450 and 650 pages, printed on coarse, matte-quality paper.
DC Comics had a similar range of black-and-white reprint paperbacks, Showcase Presents (in the same way, the Marvel Masterworks line is the equivalent of DC's DC Archive Editions) that ran from 2005-2016.
History The Essential range launched in October 1996 with the joint release of Essential X-Men Vol. 1, Essential Wolverine Vol. 1 and Essential The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1. While Essential The Amazing Spider-Man started with Spider-Man's first appearance in the Silver Age (collecting Amazing Fantasy #15 and The Amazing Spider-Man #1-20), Marvel chose to skip ahead to Giant-Size X-Men #1 and Uncanny X-Men #94-119, the relaunch of the title that sparked the X-Men's popularity in the late 1970s and 1980s. The decision to skip the original X-Men in favor of starting with the more well-known "All-New, All-Different" X-Men was controversial, though Marvel ultimately went back and began a new collection of Essential volumes, titled Essential Classic X-Men, to collect the earliest X-Men stories (originally titled Essential Uncanny X-Men in the first volume).
A new trade dress for the line was introduced in 2001. All the older volumes (excluding Essential Conan Vol. 1) were eventually reprinted with the new design. The new printings also corrected printing mistakes from previous volumes (such as the fact that both Essential X-Men Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 both have missing pages from their earlier printings) and reshuffled content to put volume breaks in more logical places, continuity-wise.
From May 2005 onward, many of the volumes were reprinted for a third time, with different cover artwork. Initially, the Essential line used newly produced artwork, but these new printings used art from the material they reprinted; the legal indicia in each volume listed them as "Second Edition, First Printing".
In 2008, the line's trade dress was revised and given a new look, again initially on older volumes that were going back to press for new printings.
Marvel came under criticism"Censored Essentials?" The Groovy Age of Horror, September 14, 2006 for censoring some of the Essential books, specifically Essential Tomb of Dracula Vol. 3 and Vol. 4, in which digital editing was used to remove or obscure brief nudity. Both volumes contained reprints of Dracula stories originally published by Marvel in magazine format, which permitted the use of nudity in artwork.
The last volumes were published in December 2013, with the line being cancelled and replaced with the Marvel Epic Collection.
Volumes Title Volume Years covered Material collected Pages ISBN Publication date (first edition) 1 1962–1965 Amazing Fantasy #15;The Amazing Spider-Man #1-20, Annual #1 552 1996-12-11 2 1965–1966 The Amazing Spider-Man #21-43, Annual #2-3 536 1997-08-06 3 1967–1968 The Amazing Spider-Man #44-68; Second edition switches #66-68 for Annual #4; Third edition adds Spectacular Spider-Man magazine #1 528 1998-07-29 4 1968–1970 The Amazing Spider-Man #69-89, Annual #4-5; Second edition switches Annual #4 for #66-68;Third edition adds Spectacular Spider-Man magazine #2 552 2000-12-01 5 1970–1972 The Amazing Spider-Man #90-113 528 2002-03-01 6 1972–1974 The Amazing Spider-Man #114-137;Giant-Size Super-Heroes #1;Giant-Size Spider-Man #1-2 576 2004-07-01 7 1974–1976 The Amazing Spider-Man #138-160, Annual #10;Giant-Size Spider-Man #4-5Giant-Size Spider-Man #3 was omitted from this volume because Marvel did not obtain permission to reprint the appearance of Doc Savage. 560 2005-10-26 8 1976–1978 The Amazing Spider-Man #161-185, Annual #11;Giant-Size Spider-Man #6; Nova #12 512 2007-04-18 9 1978–1980 The Amazing Spider-Man #186-210, Annual #12-14;Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #1 600 2009-05-06 10 1980–1982 The Amazing Spider-Man #211-230, Annual #15 600 2011-06-29 11 1982–1984 The Amazing Spider-Man #231-248, Annual #16-17 504 2012-06-27 Astonishing Ant-Man 1 1962–1965 Tales to Astonish #27, #35-69 576 2002-02-01 Avengers 1 1963–1966 The Avengers #1-24 536 1998-11-18 2 1966–1967 The Avengers #25-46, Annual #1 528 2000-06-01 3 1967–1969 The Avengers #47-68, Annual #2 Later edition adds X-Men #45 & Marvel Super-Heroes #17 520 2001-03-01 4 1969–1972 The Avengers #69-97;The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #140 640 2004-10-01 5 1972–1974 The Avengers #98-119;Daredevil #99;The Defenders #8-11 552 2006-01-25 6 1974–1975 The Avengers #120-140;Giant-Size Avengers #1-4;Captain Marvel #33;The Fantastic Four #150 576 2008-02-20 7 1975–1977 The Avengers #141-163, Annual #6;Super-Villain Team-Up #9 480 2010-01-08 8 1977–1979 The Avengers #164-184, Annual #7-8;Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 488 2012-04-25 9 1979–1981 Avengers #185-206, Annual #9,Tales to Astonish (vol. 2) #12 496 2013-09-24 Black Panther 1 1972–1977 Jungle Action #6-22, 24; Black Panther #1-10 528 2012-05-07 Captain America 1 1964–1968 Tales of Suspense #59-99;Captain America #100-102 528 2000-03-01 2 1968–1970 Captain America #103-126 512 2002-01-01 3 1970–1972 Captain America #127-156 608 2006-12-06 4 1973–1975 Captain America #157-186 600 2008-01-09 5 1975–1977 Captain America #187-205, Annual #3;Captain America's Bicentennial Battles 480 2010-06-23 6 1977–1979 Captain America #206-230, Annual #4;The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #232 512 2011-04-06 7 1979-1981 Captain America #231-257 528 2013-07-23 Captain Marvel 1 1967–1970 Marvel Super-Heroes #12-13;Captain Marvel #1-21;Not Brand Echh #9 528 2008-05-21 2 1972–1976 Captain Marvel #22-35, #37-46;Iron Man #55;Marvel Feature #12 and the framing sequence from #36's reprint of Marvel Super-Heroes #12 520 2013-03-26 Classic X-Men 1 1963–1966 (formerly Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1)X-Men #1-24 528 1999-06-01 2 1966–1969 X-Men #25-53;The Avengers #53 640 2006-05-17 3 1969–1975 X-Men #54-66, 67-93 (covers only);Marvel Team-Up #4;Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #11-17 (Beast solo feature);The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #150, 161;The Amazing Spider-Man #92 560 2009-02-18 Conan the Barbarian 1 1970–1973 Conan the Barbarian #1-25 530 2000-07-01 Daredevil 1 1964–1967 Daredevil #1-25 544 2002-10-01 2 1967–1969 Daredevil #26-48, Annual #1;The Fantastic Four #73 568 2004-06-01 3 1969–1971 Daredevil #49-74;Iron Man #35-36 584 2005-08-24 4 1971–1973 Daredevil #75-101;The Avengers #111 600 2007-09-12 5 1973–1975 Daredevil #102-125;Marvel Two-in-One #3 488 2010-02-10 6 1975–1977 Daredevil #126-146, Annual #4;Iron Man #88-89; Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #20 480 2013-11-26 Dazzler 1 1980–1982 Dazzler #1-21;Uncanny X-Men #130-131;The Amazing Spider-Man #203 552 2007-08-22 2 1982–1986 Dazzler #22-42;Marvel Graphic Novel No. 12 - Dazzler: The Movie;Beauty and the Beast #1-4;Secret Wars II #4 688 2009-05-13 1 1969–1974 Doctor Strange #183;The Sub-Mariner #22, 34-35;The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #126;Marvel Feature #1-3;The Defenders #1-14;The Avengers #115-118 544 2005-05-18 2 1974–1976 The Defenders #15-30;Giant-Size Defenders #1-5;Marvel Two-in-One #6-7;Marvel Team-Up #33-35;Marvel Treasury Edition #12 616 2006-12-20 3 1976–1978 The Defenders #31-60, Annual #1 592 2007-07-18 4 1978–1981 The Defenders #61-91 584 2008-07-16 5 1981–1982 The Defenders #92-106;Marvel Team-Up #101, 111 and 116;Captain America #268 448 2010-08-04 6 1982–1983 The Defenders #107-124;The New Defenders #125;The Avengers Annual #11;Marvel Team-Up #119 528 2011-10-12 7 1983–1985 The New Defenders #126-139;Iceman #1-4;Beauty and the Beast #1-4 528 2013-05-07 Doctor Strange 1 1963–1968 Strange Tales #110-111, 114-168 608 2002-01-01 2 1968–1974 Doctor Strange #169-178, 180-183;The Avengers #61;The Sub-Mariner #22;The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #126;Marvel Feature #1;Marvel Premiere #3-10, 12-14 608 2005-03-23 3 1974–1978 Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #1-29, Annual #1;The Tomb of Dracula #44-45 616 2007-12-26 4 1978–1982 Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #30-56;Chamber of Chills #4;The Man-Thing (vol. 2) #4 564 2009-07-22 1 1961–1963 The Fantastic Four #1-20, Annual #1 544 1998-11-04 2 1963–1965 The Fantastic Four #21-40, Annual #2;Strange Tales Annual #2 528 1999-10-20 3 1965–1967 The Fantastic Four #41-63, Annual #3-4 536 2001-08-01 4 1967–1969 The Fantastic Four #64-83, Annual #5-6 536 2005-06-29 5 1969–1971 The Fantastic Four #84-110, Annual #7-8 568 2006-06-21 6 1971–1973 The Fantastic Four #111-137 592 2007-05-23 7 1973–1975 The Fantastic Four #138-159;Giant-Size Super-Stars #1;Giant-Size Fantastic Four #2-4;The Avengers #127 560 2008-07-16 8 1975–1977 The Fantastic Four #160-179, 181-183, Annual #11;Marvel Two-in-One #20, Annual #1 520 2010-05-26 9 1977–1979 The Fantastic Four #184-188, 190-207, Annual #12-13 512 2013-08-27 Ghost Rider 1 1972–1976 Marvel Spotlight #5-12;Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #1-20;Daredevil #138 560 2005-10-05 2 1976–1980 Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #21-50 568 2007-02-14 3 1980–1982 Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #51-65;Marvel Two-in-One #80;Marvel Super-Heroes #11;The Avengers #214 416 2009-11-04 4 1982–1985 Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #66-81;The Amazing Spider-Man #274;The New Defenders #145-146 432 2010-10-27 Godzilla, King of the Monsters 1 1977–1979 Godzilla, King of the Monsters #1-24 440 2006-03-29Howard the Duck 1 1973, 1975–1978 Adventure into Fear #19;Giant-Size Man-Thing #4-5;Howard the Duck #1-27, Annual #1;Marvel Treasury Edition #12 592 2002-02-01 1 1962–1965 Strange Tales #101-134, Annual #2 504 2003-08-25 1 1962–1967 The Incredible Hulk #1-6;Tales to Astonish #60-91;Later edition adds Tales to Astonish #59 528 1999-02-01 2 1967–1969 Tales to Astonish #92-101;The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #102-117, Annual #1 520 2001-09-01 3 1969–1971 The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #118-142;Captain Marvel #20-21;The Avengers #88 576 2005-05-11 4 1971–1973 The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #143-170 608 2006-09-27 5 1974–1976 The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #171-200, Annual #5 619 2008-12-03 6 1976–1978 The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #201-225, Annual #6 496 2010-09-15 7 1978–1980 The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #226-248, Annual #7-9, Captain America #230 544 2013-12-24 Iron Fist 1 1974–1978 Marvel Premiere #15-25;Iron Fist #1-15;Marvel Team-Up #63-64;Luke Cage, Power Man #48-49;Power Man and Iron Fist #50 584 2004-10-01 Iron Man 1 1963–1965 Tales of Suspense #39-72 512 2000-09-01 2 1966–1968 Tales of Suspense #73-99;Tales to Astonish #82;Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner #1;Iron Man #1-11 608 2004-11-24 3 1969–1971 Iron Man #12-38;Daredevil #73 592 2008-04-16 4 1971–1973 Iron Man #39-61 488 2010-04-14 5 1973–1976 Iron Man #62-75, 77-87 and 76 (cover only),Iron Man Annual #3 520 2013-04-23 Killraven 1 1973–1976, 1983, 2001 Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #18-39;Marvel Team-Up #45;Marvel Graphic Novel No. 7 - Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds;Killraven #1 (Marvel Knights) 504 2005-07-20 Luke Cage, Power Man 1 1972–1975 Luke Cage, Hero For Hire #1-16;Luke Cage, Power Man #17-27 544 2005-03-02 2 1975–1978 Luke Cage, Power Man #28-49, Annual #1 424 2006-08-30 Man-Thing 1 1971–1975 Savage Tales #1;Astonishing Tales #12-13;Adventure into Fear #10-19;The Man-Thing #1-14;Giant-Size Man-Thing #1-2;Monsters Unleashed #5, 8-9 544 2006-12-13 2 1975–1981 The Man-Thing #15-22;The Man-Thing (vol. 2) #1-11;Giant-Size Man-Thing #3-5;Rampaging Hulk #7;Marvel Team-Up #68;Marvel Two-in-One #43;Doctor Strange (vol. 2) #41 536 2008-08-20 Marvel Horror 1 1973–1977, 1979 The Son of Satan stories from: Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #1-2 Marvel Spotlight #12-24 Son of Satan #1-8 Marvel Two-in-One #14 Marvel Team-Up #32
Satana the Devil's Daughter stories from: Vampire Tales #2-3 Haunt of Horror #2, 4-5 Marvel Premiere #27 Marvel Preview #7 Marvel Team-Up #80-81 608 2006-11-01 2 1973–1977 N'Kantu the Living Mummy stories from: Supernatural Thrillers #5, 7-15
Gabriel the Devil Hunter stories from: Haunt of Horror #2-5