Marshal Law Graphitti Designs Limited Edition

Script Pat Mills, art by Kevin O'Neill. All material is ©Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill. For a complete list of  all books reviewed in this blog, please visit the index page.

It's not really a much oversized book, and probably not the most hard to find, but this is surely the dearest in my heart because it featured my favorite comic book character.

the fully illustrated flap  jacket

On the left hand side flap is written an introduction by original Epic Comics editor D.G. Chichester, dated January 1991, 

And this is the inner book, published in 1991 by Graphitti Designs (ISBN: 0-936211-24-5, 7 x 10.2 inches or 18 x 26 cm, cover price $45.95, 230 pages) with its black faux leather design:

Second and third of covers reprint respectively the enpapers used in volume one and three of the French edition of Fear and Loathing. This edition was strictly limited to 1500 copies, individually signed by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill on one of the opening page. I own #671, and was lucky enough to put my hand on one of the artist proof copy (A/P). A picture below is for size comparison with original issue #4.

front endpaper

the book was printed and bound in the USA

back endpaper

my A/P copy

my "regular" limited copy

the book was printed and bound in the USA

This edition collects the two first stories Fear and Loathing with its prologue eight extra pages, and Crime & Punishment: Marshal Law Takes Manhattan, re named here Crime & Punishment: Fear and Loathingin New York.

Let's begin with Fear and Loathing which is printed on thin glossy paper. This edition reprints Clive Barker's 1990 introduction written for the Marvel TPB (truth is, this part is an exact reprint of the TPB). All covers are reproduced here in their virgin form.

credit page used in the Marvel Epic TPB

Clive Barker introduction

cover for original issue #1

right, cover for original issue #6

right, new Sleepman illustration

Now let's take a look at Crime & Punishment, printed on mat paper like it was originally. Oddly, original cover and back cover displayed just below are not reprinted here.

left, original front endpaper

This edition also features a 18 pages bonus section commented by the authors, with preparatory sketches and extra material used in the French edition (among other things). This section was compiled and designed by Kevin O'Neill, Pat Mills and Richard Starkings.

• page 1 (picture above): cover used for volume one of the French edition
• page 2 to 5: O'Neill preparatory sketches and Mills plot proposal extracts

pages 2 & 3

page 4

• page 6: cover for UK magazine Strip #1 plus a small Archie Goodwin sketch (manager at Epic Comics)
• page 7: frontispiece for volume one of the French edition plus early character notes on Marshal Law

pages 6 & 7

• page 8: cover for US magazine ARK #25, early character notes on Gangreen gang, and Suicida T-Shirt design
• page 9: more rough designs and sketches, unused illustration for back cover of Epic TPB, and thumbnails from the original series

page 9

• page 10: cover used for volume two of the French edition, early character notes on The Sleepman, and a few sketches
• page 11: cover for UK magazine Strip #3

pages 10 & 11

• page 12: B&W illustration of the cover of Fantasy adverstiser #109, illustrations used for the 100th issue of Speakeasy and volume four of Maxwell The Magic Cat, and early character notes on Celeste

page 12

• page 13: illustration from the 1989 UK Comic Art Convention, early character notes on The Sleepman's Mother, and a small O'Neill drawing
• page 14: cover used for volume three of the French edition and its frontispiece, early character notes on The Public Spirit
• page 15: cover for UK magazine Strip #7
• page 16: illustration for a Marvel Poster
• page 17: O'Neill original pencils for some pages of Crime & Punishment

page 17

• page 18: back cover used for volume three of the French edition

left, page 18

For more informations on this book, or anything related to Marshal Law don't hesitate to visit my blog here (older version), or here (new version, work in progress).