Posted in: Comics | Tagged: avengers, fantastic four, marvel, Penguin, Penguin Classics, x-men

Penguin Classics To Publish Fantastic Four, X-Men and Avengers

Marvel and Penguin have new Penguin Classics Marvel Collection hardcovers to add to their list for 2023 along with scholarly introductions.

Published Sat, 28 Jan 2023 08:58:11 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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Marvel and Penguin have new Penguin Classics Marvel Collection hardcovers to add to their list. Penguin Classics Marvel Collection anthologize "the original stories and seminal tales of key Marvel characters," and marked the first time that Penguin Classics has published comic book stories of any description whatsoever. The first three books in the series, Black Panther, Captain America, and The Amazing Spider-Man, were published last year in paperback with the Penguin's black spine alongside a collectable hardcover edition.

For 2023, Penguin Classics Marvel Collection will publish volumes for the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and The Avengers, especially for the 60th anniversary of the latter two.

The Avengers volume will include a foreword by Leigh Bardugo, a scholarly introduction and apparatus by José Alaniz, X-Men will contain a foreword by Rainbow Rowell, and Fantastic Four, a foreword by Jerry Craft. All will contain general series introduction by Ben Saunders to offer further insight into the enduring significance of classic Marvel comics.

Fantastic Four – 12th of September 2023
HC $50 SC $28
Collects Fantastic Four #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 48, 49, 50, 51, and Fantastic Four Annual #6.

X-Men – 12th of September 2023
HC $50 SC $28
Collects X-Men #1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, 38, 41, 42, 44, 45, and 46

The Avengers – 12th of September 2023
HC $50 SC $28
Collects The Avengers #1-4, 9, 16, 26, 28, 44, 57, 58, 71, 74, and 83.

Penguin Classics is an imprint under which classic works of literature are republished, with books in this series considered important members of the Western canon. The first Penguin Classic was E. V. Rieu's translation of The Odyssey, published in 1946, and Rieu went on to become general editor of the series. Rieu sought out literary novelists such as Robert Graves and Dorothy Sayers as translators, believing they would avoid "the archaic flavour and the foreign idiom that renders many existing translations repellent to modern taste". And now? The collected works of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

Each volume included a foreword by Jason Reynolds for Spider-Man, Nnedi Okorafor for Black Panther, and Gene Luen Yang for Captain America, as well as academic introductions to the work by the editor of the series, University of Oregon English professor Ben Saunders for Captain America and The Amazing Spider-Man and University of South Carolina English and African American Studies professor Qiana J. Whitted for Black Panther.

Elda Rotor, VP and publisher of Penguin Classics, said in a statement "When we talk about what makes a classic, we consider the work's ability to connect with an audience across time, in both universal and individual ways. Marvel's sustained and rich engagement with generations of readers, one that also provides a critical social lens, a deeply personal reflection of the human condition, and a shared reading experience of such storytelling and artistic innovation, is a super power. For instance, you can just say, 'Spider-Man,' and it opens up a whole world of stories and understanding. To me, that makes a Marvel classic a Penguin Classic. To have this opportunity to place the work of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby and many other historic Marvel creators on shelves alongside the world's classics marks a very special chapter in Penguin's publishing history."

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