Marvel Comics first mini-series from 1982 gets the over-sized treatment in the upcoming Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions Gallery Edition.
The roughly 14″ x 10″ Gallery Edition collects the original three issue series which pitted hero against hero to the the delight of the Grand Master and the personification of Death. The Gallery Edition also includes the second two-part Contest held in 1987’s West Coast Avengers Annual #2 and The Avengers Annual #16, with both Avengers teams opposing the Legion of the Unliving (which featured a number of “dead” heroes and villains, many of whom have since returned to the the land of the living).
The original mini-series was penned by Mark Gruenwald, Bill Mantlo, and Steven Grant, with art by John Romita, Jr. and Pablo Marcos. The Avengers annuals contain work by Steve Englehart, Tom DeFalco, Al Milgrom, Bob Hall, Tom Palmer, Bill Sienkiewicz, Keith Pollard, Al Williamson, Marshall Rogers, Bob Layton, Jackson Guice, Kevin Nowlan, Ron Frenz, and Bob Wiacek. If you wondering how so many artists worked on the two annuals, it is because Avengers Annual #16 consisted of a number of chapters, with a different art team illustrating each battle.
Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions Gallery Edition will be available at your local comic shop on July 19 with a suggested retail price of $44.99.
Chek out the original issue one cover by Layton and Romita Jr. below and stay tuned to Conskipper for all of your classic comic news.
