Unexpected Expense

But this one, at least, is a good one.

You see, I'm a fan of the Anthology in general. A sortof literary smorgasbord of fiction. Not only is it a good medium for untried writers (and in the case of visual fiction like comic books, for artists as well) to produce something, but it's also good for the reader. It helps you sample things and maybe try something new in a small dose.

Anthologies certainly aren't any strangers to serial fiction like comics. I believe some of the earliest comics (including Action Comics and Detective Comics) were originally anthology books that were pretty much swallowed by their most popular respective stories. But even today, Annuals are sometimes produced in anthology format, as are holiday specials. And of course, there's the notion of a 'backup' story which helps titles take a step towards an anthology format, without abandoning their primary focus on one title or set of characters.

Since I've found over the past year that I occasionally love backup stories more than the main event, I'm glad to see a new anthology title that Marvel has apparently comitted to. (One of the stories inside this month's issue of Marvel Comics Presents bills itself as Part 1 of 12.)

So a big thumbs up to Marvel. While I do hope that the book won't consistently run at $3.99 I guess it would be worth it if the page count remains where it is.