Marvel Premiere Classic

The Direct Market version of Kraven's Last Hunt versus the Bookshop version

Marvel Premiere Classic was a series of hardcover comic book collected editions, that reproduced Marvel Comics storylines.[1]

Marvel's Associate Editor of Special Projects Mark Beazley, promised: "definitive collection(s) of the stories along with as much behind the scenes extras as we can possibly dig up".[2] Between 2006 and August 2013, 107 volumes were released, with a goal to "compile selected storylines from ... five decades of Marvel history".[3]

Each book featured a standard cover and a numbered "limited-print, numbered variant" for the comic book direct market.[2][4][5] These variants were only available in comic shops, or via specialist retailers. They sported a matching trade dress design, and a number on the back to indicate how many copies were printed.

The first release, Kraven's Last Hunt, debuted in the August 2006 graphic novel chart at No.18, with approximately 3,500 copies sold.[6]

Volume 94, Deathlok: The Living Nightmare Of Michael Collins, had the smallest print run, with only 315 copies produced.

The Avengers has the most releases, with 17, then X-Men with 15. Spider-Man was the most-collected non-team book, with 10.

DC Comics' had an equivalent line, the DC Comics Classics Library, which launched in 2009. Only nine hardbacks were released, before cancellation a year later

Marvel's own series was cancelled in August 2012 with the 106th volume.[7] One final book - X-Factor: Phalanx Covenant - was solicited in February 2013 for an August release.[8]

The 10.5 x 7.25in (26.67 x 18.42cm) Premiere Hardcover format size was gradually phased out entirely by Marvel, with a great number of books liquidated across the summer of 2012.[9]

In September 2013, Marvel launched the Epic Collection line, with a collected edition paperback released once or twice a month.

The company's next attempt to collect storylines, on a regular basis, in hardcover, was the Gallery Editions format, which launched in 2019.

  1. ^ "Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt Gets Premiere HC Treatment". Marvel. 12 July 2006. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b Richard George (23 August 2006). "Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt HC Preview". IGN. Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  3. ^ Mark Langshaw (16 August 2012). "Marvel Comics ends Premiere Classic line". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  4. ^ "SPIDER-MAN KRAVENS LAST HUNT PREMIERE HC VAR ED". Previews World. June 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  5. ^ "SPIDER-MAN KRAVENS LAST HUNT PREMIERE HC". Previews World. Jun 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Top 100 GRAPHIC NOVELS ACTUAL--AUGUST 2006". ICv2 Comics. 19 September 2006. Archived from the original on 13 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  7. ^ "The End Of The Classic Premier Marvel Titles – Official". Bleeding Cool. August 15, 2012.
  8. ^ Jesse Schedeen (14 February 2013). "Marvel Comics May 2013 Solicitations". IGN. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  9. ^ Rich Johnston (17 November 2012). "The Last Of Marvel's Hardcover Liquidation". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2024.