Marvel Comic Book Library Vol. 1

by GIT Corp

Product Features

• The first 10 adventures of 10 classic Marvel characters on 1 super-powered CD-ROM
• 100 complete comic books highlight the storylines of this famous band of heroes
• Includes the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Avengers, The Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, and Silver Surf
• Character bios and 3 free bonus Comics

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000DFHQ3
• Item model number: cs-396d
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 19, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,506 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #20 in Software > Home & Hobbies > Movies & Television
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

A motherlode of comic history, Marvel Comic Book Library Vol. 1 captures the first 10 issues of 10 classic comic books on one unbelievably priced CD-ROM. Most are from Marvel's Golden Age in the 1960s--Spider-Man, Hulk, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Captain America, the Avengers, the Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, and Silver Surfer. The exception is the X-Men, who were also created in the 1960s but are represented here by the 1970s incarnation that soon became the hottest property in comics with the introduction of such characters as Wolverine, Colossus, and Storm (their 10-issue sampling begins appropriately with Giant-Size X-Men #1). And with that same exception, all the series were written by Stan Lee, most often with art by Jack Kirby but with other Marvel Bullpen denizens such as Steve Ditko and Wally Wood.

Navigation is easy, with a main character menu followed by cover thumbnails. (Minor quibble: the main menu uses more modern art, for example, the John Byrne Fantastic Four.) Some other points of clarification: the Captain America stories are from his solo series in Tales of Suspense (issues 59-68), which he shared with Iron Man. Those Iron Man stories, however, are not included here, and Tony Stark's alter ego is represented by his initial appearances in Tales of Suspense 39-48. Similarly, the Sub-Mariner is represented by his solo run in Tales to Astonish (issues 70-79), which he shared with Hulk, who is represented instead by the first six issues of his own book then four stories (issues 60-63) from Tales to Astonish. And the Silver Surfer's issues are from his solo series rather than his initial appearance in Fantastic Four.

Marvel Comic Book Library Vol. 1 is an excellent deal. If you were to buy these same issues in book form, in color, you'd want the Marvel Masterworks series at $30-$50 per 10-issue book. The downside is that these classic comics have a high comfort-food factor, and even non-Luddites would probably agree that it's more fun to curl up on the couch with a physical book than to sit down at your PC. (OK, you could curl up with your laptop if you really want to.) But this is an easy and affordable way to sample what you want, then pick up must-haves later.

Now we just need a volume 2, with the original X-Men, Thor, Doctor Strange.... --David Horiuchi

Pros:

• A generous, convenient, and good-looking compilation of classic comic books
• Very affordable
• Sensible navigation

Cons

• Just the relatively sterile computer presentation

Product Description

100 Original, Full-length Digital Comics on CD-ROM! MARVEL's Top 10 Characters! Complete Character Bios and more!

Their first 10 stories, including their debut issue!
Spider-Man (1962)
Captain America (1964)
The Incredible Hulk (1962)
Avengers (1963)
Daredevil (1964)
Namor the Sub­Mariner (1962)
X-Men (1975)
Iron Man (1963)
Fantastic Four (1961)
Silver Surfer (1966)
First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962)

System Requirements

PC:
Windows 98 and higher, including XP, 6 MB available hard disk space, 64 MB of RAM, Netscape Navigator 4.x or Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x or later, Mouse or other pointing device, Printer (optional)

MAC:
Mac OS X, Minimum 6 MB available hard disk space, Minimum 64 MB of RAM, Netscape Navigator 4.x or Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x or later, Mouse or other pointing device, Printer (optional)

STAN LEE PRESENTS:
X-Men. Spider-Man. Daredevil. The Hulk. Before they were movies, they were Marvel. And now with the Marvel Comic Book Library\, you can relive the first 10 adventures of 10 classic Marvel; characters on one super-powered CD-ROM. 100 complete comic books--with character bios, and 3 Free Bonus Comics--highlight the debut and subsequent storylines of this most famous band of heroes, also including the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Avengers, The Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, and Silver Surfer.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hope You Like Iron Man and The Hulk, December 2, 2003

By 

C. T. Mikesell (near Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marvel Comic Book Library Vol. 1 (CD-ROM)

Let me begin by saying I really want to give this a better rating. What it is, is good. But it's not exactly what is suggested by the packaging and some glitches detract from end-user enjoyment.

First, the packaging claims the CD-ROM includes "100 original, full-length digital comics." It doesn't. It includes only the story panels from the comics. No ads for X-ray specs or pepper gum or a bazillion plastic army men *now with grenadier!* No Stan Lee's Soapbox (or its equivalent). No fan mail. A good portion of the nostalgia and charm of these comics is missing with these exclusions.

Second, the front and back of the box highlight an offer for "3 FREE COMICS!" Only once you fire up the CD-ROM and click on the offer do you discover a Shipping & Handling charge. Granted $3 isn't a big deal, but it's aggravating having it snuck in at the last minute.

Third, the on-screen interface to the X-Men Comics doesn't work. Someone miscoded the standard hyperlink code, using backslashes (\) instead of forward ones (/). You can still get to the comics through Windows Explorer, but an end-user workaround is a poor substitute for incomplete product testing. Customer support did give me a prompt reply and offered to send a replacement CD-and this accounts for the 4-star rating instead of a 3.

Fourth, the Character Bios apparently have been taken from the Marvel Comics Encyclopedia without any cleaning up for this product. This means there are extraneous page numbers on the bio pages. Hyperlinks that would take you to other characters in the encyclopedia do nothing in this product. Artwork bleeds from one page to the next in the encyclopedia, but since all pages are shown singly, there are bits and pieces of art in the margins that give the pages a sloppy look.

Finally, while the exterior packaging is very nice (full-color embossed cover, hero shots all the way around, fold-out front cover with more graphics and info inside, etc.) the interior packaging is laughable: a cardboard box containing a half-sheet of installation instructions and a CD-ROM in a paper sleeve. Like a number of these criticisms, it's disappointing to think you're getting one thing (full comic books, totally free bonus comics) and wind up with something much less satisfying.

On a positive note, given the way characters were introduced, you wind up with a lot of Iron Man and The Hulk in these comics. Iron Man shows up in his 10 self-titled books, plus he's a member in all 10 Avengers comics and a co-star in all 10 Captain America comics. The Hulk appears in his 10, plus half the Avengers, plus all the Sub-Mariners. Sub-Mariner, the Fantastic Four, and other characters cross-over into other titles, as well. If you're not a fan of these characters, maybe this is a turn-off; but after so many other aspects of this product fell short, it was nice to get something extra for a change.

My advice: Wait for this product to come down in price, be packaged in a stand-alone jewel case (which will probably also mean a price reduction), or for current buggy versions to work their way off store shelves. It's not a bad product (the stories are the selling point and they (mostly) come through), but it currently suffers by failing to meet customer expectations.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Value for the Collector, December 9, 2003

By 

J. Holt (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marvel Comic Book Library Vol. 1 (CD-ROM)

First of all, I want to agree with the reviewer above (Mac G4) -- if you have a problem with the first version of the disc for your Mac, contact the manufacturer, they are helpful; and with the first reviewer -- I would have _loved_ it if they included all the pages including the ads and letters pages (some of the best stuff!). You wonder why --at least on a digital version of this-- they couldn't include the additional pages.

Even though I own about 60-80% of this material already in either Paperback or Hardcover Marvel Masterworks, I bought this mainly to support the project: it is so good FINALLY to have an affordable way to access these great old comics. For the price of one Hardcover Marvel Masterwork, you get 10! Certainly makes it easier to hang onto the comics and enjoy them without using up too much physical space. I heard from the manufactuer that they are going to release a 2nd and 3rd volume (more Marvel masterworks! and a Spidey volume!) -- let's support their efforts.

As for the product itself, once I got the revised Mac version, I was pleased. The viewer is a bit primative, but it's easy to use and no instructions are really necessary. The pages look beautiful and the transfer to digital went really well -- consistent for each of the comics Iooked at.

Amazon's current price for this item is incredible -- but even if it is at list (24 or 29 bucks) -- you should pick this up. It's awesome tool and treasure for the collector. I give it 4/5 stars because 1) this stuff has been reprinted so much I just wished they could have included a few "non-standard" volumes like Doc Strange or Thor and saved Iron Man or Cap for later; 2) as I supported the first reviewer before, we need _all_ of the pages (oh, at least the letters page, c'mon!).

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mac OSX Version, October 23, 2003

By 

Ferry Rider (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Marvel Comic Book Library Vol. 1 (CD-ROM)

I was unable to install the initial version on my mac G4. I contacted the manufacturer who was very responsive. They said the initial version shipped with 2 problems in the Mac version. They were aware of the problem and sent me a beta of the corrected program. Later they sent my the final version. If you have problems, contact the manufacturer - my experience with them was very good.

The content is as described and the quality is very good. The only reason I give 4 stars instead of 5, is that it requires Microsoft Explorer to view the content. The browser plug in does not work with Safari. Perhaps that will come in a future version.