I have been keeping track of the recent facsimile editions of pre-1990 comics that Marvel and DC have been releasing in a regularly-updated blog post that you can read here. It's quite a list, that is growing every month, and a great way for fans to obtain classic older issues for the price of a current comic book.
But which issues should get the facsimile treatment? On his Substack blog, Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort noted the publication of a facsimile edition of a more recent issue (one that he had originally edited) and modestly wrote that "Facsimile Editions feel like they should be for more unattainable comic books." Whether a comic ought to receive the facsimile treatment may come down to a particular reader's age or how long they've been buying comics. It does seem like a waste when they reprint a comic that one already owns, since that spot on the schedule could have gone to a comic that one doesn't have instead. It all depends on the individual and what they desire to own.
Since 2019, when the issuing of facsimile editions at both Marvel and DC has become a near-monthly occurrence, some facsimile issues have been issued more than once -- usually with only minor differences between the two editions (such as cover price or placement of the barcode) or in other cases to correct an error in the previous version (as when the wraparound cover was restored for the 2nd edition of the facsimile of 1987's Wonder Woman #1). For readers who already own the previous facsimile, a reissue may seem like another wasted opportunity, but for fans who missed the first facsimile, a reissue is a chance to rectify that omission -- especially if the earlier facsimile is no longer easily available anymore.
On Brevoort's Substack, a reader commented: "Is there a plan to do another facsimile of Fantastic Four #1 (1961) as the printing from 2018 now costs more on the resell market than many of the Epic Collection books. In terms of selecting which comics receive facsimiles, is it the sales department (like the variant covers answer from this week) or are in-house Marvel 'historians' consulted on issues that deserve a facsimile edition?"
Brevoort replied, providing some insight into how facsimiles are selected: "I don’t think there’s any plan to do a new facsimile edition of FANTASTIC FOUR #1 any time soon, Matt, sorry. We tend to do those once only for the most part. It’s possible that we’ll get to some point where there’ll maybe be a need or a desire for another one — I’d bet that’d be much closer to the release of a Fantastic Four movie, though, so you may have a while to wait on that score. And the titles that are selected to be done as facsimile editions are largely overseen by the Sales department, yes, working in tandem with our collections group. As those facsimiles are reprints, they fall under the remit of that area."
Often it seems that facsimiles are selected to coincide with some larger event, whether the release of a new Omnibus featuring that issue (in which case the facsimile functions as a promotional teaser), a new series relaunch (i.e., a facsimile of Avengers #1 appearing the same month as a newly renumbered Avengers #1) or the first appearance of a character when that character is currently playing an important role in a comic story arc or making an appearance in a film or TV show. Facsimiles also may be done to celebrate anniversaries, such as the reprinting of the entire Secret Wars limited series exactly forty years after it was first published, coinciding with a new Secret Wars mini. Facsimile editions are a way to get new readers up to speed on something from the past, as well as to raise the profile of an older work by getting it out of the back issue box and onto the new releases shelf in an affordable format.
But what should get the facsimile treatment and what should not? Ideally, as Brevoort said above, facsimiles ought to be for otherwise "unattainable" issues. The price of a current standard-size facsimile edition is $3.99 or $4.99, the same as a regular comic book. If you can easily purchase the original edition of the issue for that price in the back issue market, then obviously there is no real need for a facsimile edition.
Many "unattainable" issues have also been reprinted before -- multiple times and in multiple formats -- which lessens the need to publish a facsimile in order to meet demand. The case of Fantastic Four #1 as mentioned above is one example, but the same could be said for many other early issues of Fantastic Four, such as #4 (first 1960s appearance of Namor) and #5 (first appearance of Doctor Doom) -- important issues that at first glance would seem to be obvious choices for the facsimile treatment.
In another blog post, I wrote about earlier reprints of old Marvel and DC comics that can serve as alternatives for readers until (or if) a facsimile edition appears of a particular issue. FF #4, for example, was most recently reprinted in the Marvel Tales: Fantastic Four #1 one-shot in 2019, and FF #5 was most recently reprinted in a $1.00 True Believers comic in 2018. The existence of these recent reprints might suggest that facsimiles of FF #4 & 5 are unnecessary now -- and yet, there have been facsimile editions released of other comics that also had True Believers editions a few years ago. (And the Marvel Tales: Fantastic Four #1 issue mentioned above also contains FF Annual #6, which received its own facsimile edition in 2020.) So determining what ought to get the facsimile treatment may not always be entirely logical and is not an exact science.
Having said that, let's look at some criteria that may be considered by the publishers:
1.) Rarity or expense. If fans are regularly dropping $100 or more on an issue when they show up for sale on eBay, then it seems like publishing a facsimile edition would be a no-brainer given the clear demand for the issue. Collectors usually pay a lot more for an original than for a reprint, but some people will settle for a reprint as a placeholder until they are able to obtain an original. And a facsimile that "presents" like the original may be sufficient for some fans as eye-candy for their showcase when the price of an original becomes prohibitive.
2.) First issues/appearances. Generally first appearances of a character are "key" issues and therefore more valuable. But even if a particular first appearance isn't expensive, reprinting it is still a good way of introducing current readers to a long-running character or concept. I know for myself that the 1979-81 Amazing Adventures series reprinting the original Lee-Kirby X-Men issues helped me to understand the core concept of the X-Men better than the then-current Claremont-Byrne issues did.
3.) Significance. It may be a first appearance, but does it matter? Did the character or series have a long or significant run? Is the comic fondly remembered or did it have any subsequent impact on the publisher's "universe," on the industry in general, or outside of comics in other media? Was the comic created by a notable writer or artist? People who don't collect comics will often assume that an issue is valuable simply because it is old, or maybe because it is a first issue, but experienced collectors know that is not necessarily the case.
4.) Historical interest. Since facsimiles reprint the entire comic including ads, the comic ought to be one of historical interest where a facsimile uniquely places the comic in its original context. The facsimile edition of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 is a good example. It's one thing to read it in edited form (as I did as a teenager in Marvel Tales #150) or in a Marvel Masterworks or Omnibus book where it is placed alongside other issues of the series in reading order. But as a standalone facsimile issue (as was published in 2022) the impact of this monumental issue really hits home, being jam-packed with special content (and containing only two ads, on the back and inside covers). Issues that contain more ads also add historical context to an issue -- and the further back in time we go, the more interesting and less familiar the history to be found.
5.) Never or rarely reprinted. As noted previously, worthy candidates for the facsimile treatment like FF #4 & 5 have been reprinted in non-facsimile comics (not just book collections) as recently as 2018 and 2019. This would lessen the need for a facsimile, if those alternative reprints are still readily available. An example of a rarely reprinted issue would be All-American Comics #16, a 2023 facsimile edition of the 1940 issue that introduced Green Lantern. Although the first GL tale had been reprinted before, the rest of the stories in the issue had not. One can debate whether the quality of those stories made them worth reprinting, but one can't argue that they met the criteria of being otherwise unavailable in reprinted form.
6.) Popularity. DC and Marvel are in business to sell comics, not publish reprints of comics that only a narrow segment of the marketplace wants to buy and read. Of the 120 or so facsimile editions that they have published since 2019, only a few have been non-superhero comics. There are naturally more facsimile editions featuring popular characters like Batman, Spider-Man and Wolverine than there are of less popular ones like Sub-Mariner or Hawkman. So, although Millie the Model #1 (1945) would probably qualify for the facsimile treatment by all of the criteria listed above, it fails in the "popularity" criteria, making a facsimile edition highly unlikely.
7.) Not too problematic to reprint. Some facsimiles have had disclaimers in their fine print warning readers that the material may be dated and exhibit bigoted stereotypes. However some old comics may now be too problematic to resurrect without editing for modern sensibilities. And since the whole point of the facsimile edition is to reprint the comic as it originally was, without editing, it may be better left in the past. A comic like the 1950s Yellow Claw, for example, is unlikely to be reprinted by Marvel, regardless of the caliber of its artists or its demand among collectors.
8.) Not too difficult to reprint. Some reprints are easier to do than others. If the comic in question has already been reprinted in a Masterworks or Omnibus in recent years, then the same files may be used to print a facsimile edition, modified to include any text (like "Continued on Next Page") that had appeared in the original issue. The ads will need to be added, too, which involves scanning them from proof rolls or printed copies. If it's a comic that has not been reprinted before, and no stats are available, then that means more work in locating or producing files for each page. Apart from technical considerations, some older comics were licensed properties that the publisher is no longer permitted to reprint without negotiating a new agreement with the copyright owner. A facsimile edition of, say, Epic Illustrated #1 would present various challenges not only due to its format but the fact that much of the material inside is creator-owned. It would likely be more bother for Marvel than it was worth, since a facsimile edition of a 1980s Spider-Man comic would be easier to do and sell more copies anyway.
For the worthy comics that fail to meet the above criteria, one solution would be for Marvel and DC to allow other publishers to make their own facsimile editions of them. Currently facsimiles have been published of licensed material that Marvel originally produced in the 1980s (such as the recent facsimile of the Labyrinth adaptation) but for which they no longer have the publication rights. Fantagraphics has begun releasing hardcover volumes reprinting 1950s Marvel comics devoted to non-superhero genres like horror and war. For Free Comic Book Day 2024, Fantagraphics is releasing a standard-format comic book containing some of these stories, as a sampler for the more expensive hardcover books.
So, if something like Millie the Model #1 is a worthy candidate for the facsimile treatment, but unlikely to be published by Marvel due to its low sales potential, then perhaps Marvel could allow another publisher like Fantagraphics to offer a facsimile edition of the issue instead. Such a facsimile would serve a similar function as the FCBD sampler did, to provide readers with an inexpensive sample of the material, and would allow the publisher to test whether reader response was positive enough to justify a subsequent hardcover volume of the series as a whole. It sounds like a win-win to me.
PS Artbooks has recently begun releasing facsimile/replica editions (including ads) of public-domain comic book issues, although generally priced at $15.99 each -- much higher than a regular comic and therefore less attractive to many readers. Their offerings include some Golden Age Fawcett comics, such as Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures, apparently without being blocked by either Marvel (who currently publishes a series titled Captain Marvel) or DC (who currently publishes Shazam!). Within a few decades (or sooner), all of these old 1930s-50s comics will fall into the public domain anyway (if they haven't already) and there may be an explosion of facsimiles filling the marketplace.
Or perhaps not. If it was felt that there was money to be made, presumably smaller publishers like AC Comics would already be releasing facsimile editions of public domain comics. There must be some reason why most publishers shy away from doing facsimiles, despite the apparent lack of extra work or payment that would be involved compared to publishing new material. The above example of PS Artbooks charging $15.99 for a comic book that is presumably printed from already-existing scans of the pages seems too high given the amount of work involved. If a person is hired to restore the scans to print-ready quality that would indeed involve extra work and payment, however, and a publisher would earn a poor reputation among readers if they offered substandard reproductions.
Another factor for the lack of facsimiles is that there is a bit of a stigma against reprints in general, being seen as old and less exciting than something new. Collected editions of old material in trade paperback and hardcover book form have a certain prestige and perceived durability and permanence that a "floppy" reprint does not.
Nonetheless I think the increased production of facsimile editions these days is a welcome development, and offer something of interest and desirability on the "new releases" shelf for many older fans who may be turned off by current comics. They are the equivalent of film studios restoring classic movies and making them available for current audiences to enjoy. This is a recognition that old comics have merit apart merely from their monetary value, but for historical and creative reasons as well.
