The return of Marvel Masterworks under Clover Press was one of the more well-received announcements to emerge from San Diego Comic-Con this summer, especially from fans of the line. Now, the publisher is revealing exactly what that new era will look like as they prepare to launch the first Kickstarter for it.
Clover Press has announced the first four volumes of its ambitious plan to continue Marvel’s long-running archival hardcover series, with new editions devoted to The Uncanny X-Men, Super-Villain Team-Up, The Mighty Thor and The Tomb of Dracula. The books will feature extensive new restoration work, including hundreds of pages sourced directly from original art, as well as three distinct cover treatments, including a new trade dress designed by Clover Press co-founder and art director Robbie Robbins.
The initial wave is just the beginning. Clover says it plans an ongoing schedule that will eventually bring dozens of new Marvel Masterworks editions to print, with longtime series editor Cory Sedlmeier continuing in the role he has held at Marvel for more than two decades.
“Each Masterworks volume has a completely new restoration that outshines all past editions,” Sedlmeier said. “More than 40% of the final issue of Tomb of Dracula—an issue that suffered from poor reproduction in all past printings, including the original comic—has been restored from original art; dozens of pages of Jim Lee X-Men have been restored from the originals; and over 200 pages of Walter Simonson’s Thor have been restored from original art scans that Walter did just for this Masterworks. Coupled with the highest fidelity reproduction ever at 1200dpi and meticulous color restoration, the new line of Masterworks is going to knock the socks off readers old and new alike.”
And, naturally, Clover is bringing its expertise in Kickstarter extras to the Masterworks line. The campaign will include collector boxes, slipcases, dustjackets, character cards, prints, stickers, journals, posters and more.
Smash Pages can exclusively reveal one of those rewards: a double-sized puzzle featuring Jim Lee’s iconic Uncanny X-Men #268 cover depicting Wolverine, Black Widow and Captain America. This is a comic Lee is on record saying it was one of his favorites to draw:
One side of the puzzle features the full-color cover we know and love, while the other side features a reproduction of Lee’s original art for it … which is pretty cool.
The Kickstarter campaign has not yet launched, but you can sign up to be notified when it goes live.