Fantagraphics begins their new Lost Marvels line with a trip to Marvel’s post-EC Comics horror anthology Tower of Shadows.
The hardcover volume collects all nine issues of Tower of Shadows from 1969, written by Stan Lee, Gary Friedrich, Len Wein, Allyn Brodsky, Marv Wolfman, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Steve Skeates.
Legendary artists such as Jim Steranko, Johnny Craig, John Romita, Sr., Don Heck, Neal Adams, Dan Adkins, John Buscema, John Verpoorten, Gene Colan, Mike Esposito, George Tuska, Marie Severin, Tom Sutton, Barry Windsor-Smith, Syd Shores, Vince Colletta, and Wally Wood contribute hair-raising scenes that walk close to the line established by the Comics Code Authority.
“Marvel published a surprising amount of work that fell outside its superhero purview in the ’60s and ’70s and ’80s, most of it never before reprinted, much of it “lost” except in the fading memories of fans who bought it and read it for the first time back then when it was originally published,” said Fantagraphics Publisher Gary Groth. “Exceptional craftsmen and artists were often featured — Barry Windsor-Smith, Steranko, John Buscema, Gene Colan, Neal Adams, Howard Chaykin, and others— and one of the goals of this project is to create a carefully curated record of this somewhat more obscure work that so many comics readers have forgotten or are unfamiliar with. Lost Marvels complements our Atlas reprints which features so many of the best craftsmen from the 1950s.”
The Tower of Shadows series has never been collected in any format and also includes analysis by Michael Dean.
Next up from the Lost Marvels series is a volume focused on Howard Chaykin’s Dominic Fortune, Monark Starstalker, and Phantom Eagle in August.
The hardcover graphic novel consists of 178 pages for a suggested retail price of $34.99 and is currently available at your local comic shop or bookstore.
Check out the mosaic cover of Lost Marvels: Tower of Shadows below and stay tuned to Conskipper for all of your vintage comic news.
