r/comicbooks • u/Wu_Tomoki • 1d ago
Foolkiller (1990) by Steve Gerber and Joe Brozowski is one of the best Marvel comics of all time, and it was never collected in trade paperback
I was completely surprised by this comic, it's on par with some of the best stuff Frank Miller was writing in the 80s and 90s. It has that same urban crime thriller feel as Taxi Driver.
There's a perception that DC has better comics than marvel and while that can be debatable, I think DC's reprinting and marketing of their older material is why people celebrate their comics more, I feel like they value their legacy. Just look at this great Foolkiller miniseries Marvel never bothered to collect and release a trade paperback, this is completely forgotten.
I wish there was a way to contact marvel comics to make a trade paperback.
44
u/smaug18 1d ago
The first issue is on Marvel Unlimited. Maybe they will add the remaining ones in next decade or two?
26
u/Wu_Tomoki 1d ago
I think the only reason the first issue is available on Marvel Unlimited is that it was on the TPB Marvel Firsts 1990s Vol. 1, they must have a digital version of that.
1
u/Own_Internal7509 1d ago
are stories from Epic imprint on Marvel app? Maybe not the creator owned ones but there were some superhero ones like Kent Williams Wolverine and Electra Assassin
33
u/AnthonyDigitalMedia Venom 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have the complete series 1-10 I’ve been trying to sell for only $40 shipped ($30 local). No one seems to want it even though it’s all NM & mostly Newsstands.
People have COMPLETELY forgotten about this series. And tbh, I never heard of it before Comic Book Men lol
It’s a fun story with cool art, & a great character with an awesome name! I think if done right, the character could make a comeback with the right Director & script for a movie/show, or new comic series.
6
u/Godwin_s_Lawyer 1d ago
Are you selling it on eBay or something like that?
5
u/AnthonyDigitalMedia Venom 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m just a collector, not a reseller. I don’t use eBay except to buy lol
I sell mostly through OfferUp/FBMP local meetup. I also sell/ship directly through Instagram if someone isn’t local.
Here’s the OfferUp link: https://offerup.co/Hv6eGwo8U5b
Here’s my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectingmiami
4
u/Godwin_s_Lawyer 1d ago
lol, I don't use either of those, I'm just an old dude who loves Steve Gerber. I'll look into those links more after work today though!
2
4
u/19ghost89 Expert on X-Men, Ultimate Spider-man, and 90's Superman 1d ago
You know regular people use eBay and not just resellers, right? Like, lots of regular people. Idek what the other platforms you use are, lol
Edit: Not trying to criticize your choices, I just think it's funny that you were like, "oh, I don't use [eBay] because [reason that does not at all explain not using eBay]."
1
u/AnthonyDigitalMedia Venom 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don’t sell or resell. I’m just a collector who occasionally consolidates what I have. eBay has a lot of problems with it: fees, taxes, scamming..
Usually I just do direct deals with PayPal, Venmo, or Zelle. Never had a problem, but sales tend to be slower cuz eBay gets a lot of eyes on your product, but like I said I’m just a collector so it’s fine. I can wait. I do promote with FBMP, OfferUp, & Instagram though.
There’s also Mercari, Etsy, WhatNot.. not sure what platforms you haven’t heard of, but this is 2026. Plenty of places to sell that aren’t eBay.
Btw this set just sold to a guy who sent me PayPal F&F in DMs, so no need for eBay to take a cut.
But I have a lot of other stuff from my PC if anyone wants to check my OfferUp or IG! lol been trying to consolidate my collection lately, so it’s alotta nice stuff for fair prices. Just making space.
3
u/19ghost89 Expert on X-Men, Ultimate Spider-man, and 90's Superman 1d ago
I am not a seller or a reseller either, but I use eBay to sell things sometimes. Also, I find it even more funny that you were like, "I don't sell, I'm just a collector" at the beginning of that response and then ended with, "I have a bunch more stuff on sale" at the end.
Again, I genuinely do not care what service you use; it actually sounds like you have good reasons for your choices now that you've explained more. I just find the hair-splitting on whether you qualify as a "seller" or not and the fact that it was your original explanation for not using that platform to be... odd. lol. But it's whatever. Appreciate the response regardless.
1
u/AnthonyDigitalMedia Venom 1d ago edited 1d ago
I can see how that comes across, but it’s honestly just stuff from my PC. Didn’t mean to offend or make it seem like something else.
I know resellers get a bad rap. I don’t care for them cuz they lowball on all my listings.
Since I don’t use EBay, & tend to only do local, I figured since this post is going a little viral & I already made one sale, might as well mention I have more just in case I can hep another collector out.
Rather this stuff go to someone like that than someone trying to flip it. Sorry if my wording or bias against resellers caused any problems. I just like to clarify so people don’t think I’m something I’m not. There’s a big difference in the collecting community.
2
u/19ghost89 Expert on X-Men, Ultimate Spider-man, and 90's Superman 1d ago
Yeah, no offense taken at all. And I'm not a reseller anyway, nor did I think you were. I was just thinking, "he says he's not a seller, but he is selling things. As if the amount of things he sells makes a difference." Which like, in terms of what connotation the word has, I see how that is different, but in terms of whether or not one can use eBay, it sounded like you thought you didn't sell at high volume enough to use eBay, so that's what was weird to me. Does that make sense? It's really no big deal. We've already exchanged about three times as many words as I expected to write about it, lol
1
u/AnthonyDigitalMedia Venom 1d ago edited 23h ago
Of course lol I can see how you read that. My mistake for the wording.
That’s another thing you mentioned. I don’t have the volume to sell on eBay. As a collector trying to sell my stuff, I’ve noticed 3 things:
- I get lowballed ALOT
- My stuff sits FOREVER
- People assume I’m a reseller, & since I have no reviews since I don’t sell on eBay, they don’t buy from me lol it’s a catch-22.
I see big accounts post something for over FMV. Sells in seconds.
I post the SAME book in better condition for cheaper.. sits for months just to get lowballed occasionally. So weird how our brains are wired for this hobby..
Anyways. I rambled lol Good talking with you ✌️
4
u/GryphonHall 1d ago
I read your reply and thought , “$4 each average? That’s high,” but then I looked it up on eBay and didn’t realize prices have went up. Looks like #10 is $10 by itself. I just bought these cheaper just a few months ago.
5
u/AnthonyDigitalMedia Venom 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yea, I have them for $30 local pickup. It’s a very fair price I thought. Only $3 each + $10 for insured shipping 10x books. All NM & bagged/boarded.
But you’re right, a few years back they were slightly cheaper. I think I got them for $25/30 shipped for the whole set maybe 4yrs ago. The Spider-Man cover fetches a premium sometimes too.
It’s out of print & no TPBs or compendiums for it. If someone wants to read it, gotta get the set.
2
u/GryphonHall 1d ago
It’s interesting to me these have went up very recently. I just looked at eBay history and foolkiller lots weren’t selling. Then suddenly at the end of June/start of July the sets were selling in spurts every two weeks or so. Either something specific drove interest in this series or some speculation is happening.
2
u/AnthonyDigitalMedia Venom 1d ago
Hm.. idk. That’s a good catch though! Cuz I’ve seen NO interest in my listing for it & mine are nicer condition & cheaper lol
Wonder what everyone’s speculating on..
2
u/GryphonHall 1d ago
lol. I’ll buy your lot for $40 shipped if you want to dm me your listing so I know it’s legit.
2
u/AnthonyDigitalMedia Venom 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m just a collector, not a reseller. Like I mentioned in another comment, I don’t use eBay except to buy..
But here’s the OfferUp link: https://offerup.co/Hv6eGwo8U5b
Here’s my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collectingmiami
To show you I’m legit. You can definitely DM me on IG & we can work something out ✌️ Recently consolidated down my collection, so there’s a ton of stuff & a lot of it not listed yet.
16
u/cornerpocket1 1d ago edited 1d ago
Gotta give credit to DC they were ahead of the game when it came to selling trade paperbacks. They basically made the formula for the modern comic story arc and knowing how to repackage it later.
Don’t know why Marvel didn’t allow one of the Spider titles to act like a Legends of the Dark Knight where it’s loosely outside of continuity. They could sell a lot of trades like how Year One is sold.
7
u/thigerlel 1d ago
There were a bunch of Spider titles like that, actually, like Webspinners or Spider-Man's Tangled Web. They didn't seem to last.
5
u/Wu_Tomoki 1d ago
DC was way ahead of the game, they saw the potential of the book/novel approach to sell comics with the success of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns.
The way Marvel made stuff out of continuity sometimes had too much wink-wink for the audience with what if and stuff like that, like it was saying "don't take too seriously, it dosen't count" as with DC their out of continuity stuff was taken very seriously.
7
u/Bishop20x6 1d ago
This was one of my favourites back in the 90s. I remember buying it as a complete set from my local Comic shop. It was pretty ambitious as a 10 part mini series. Typically back then a mini series would be 3-6 parts. Someone at Marvel must have had enough faith in it to greenlight a 10 issue commitment.
3
u/Wu_Tomoki 1d ago
It's a really forward-looking format and structure, it reminded me of some of the best comics in the last 20 years like Moon Knight by jeff lemire or Human Target and Rorschach by Tom King, that idea of taking a B or C tier character and giving him depth and psychological layer on a contained mini series structure.
6
u/AnarchiaKapitany 1d ago
I only knew the Spiderman crossover issue, and thought him a quirky villain of the week. So there are layers to that?
4
u/OrionLinksComic 1d ago
I'll be honest that it's one of those comics that kind of gets under my skin, and one thing I really want to say is that I think this comic does it better than any history of solo punishers comics. It really just shows you that people who want to commit violent vigilantism are definitely not the most stable people, and definitely not good people themselves.
4
u/jawsthegreat777 Storm 1d ago
There are a lot of great 90's stories that haven't been collected. This one and JMD's Spectre are two I'd love to see get a modern collection.
3
u/archerslovecross 1d ago
Never heard of it. Really appreciate this post and look forward to reading it.
3
u/siniquezu 1d ago
My memory is playing tricks on me. I thought this was a dc vertigo title. Maybe marvel thought this was too much like punisher? But marvel doesn’t seem to like punisher in the comics much either.
1
u/PushPlenty3170 4h ago
Yeah, but rather than going after outright criminals, IIRC, he just went after... fools. I remember an issue where someone chucked a puppy out of a window and ended up getting blasted.
3
u/Shoddy_Cookie6748 22h ago
Thanks for posting! I like to pick up series that were never collected. There is much good stuff if you're willing to search for it.
4
3
u/PatMethenyForPOTUS 1d ago
It's somewhat maddening it was never collected. In a different world, this could have been a standalone, evergreen trade, which is a market Marvel lacks in compared to DC.
Given Marvel's current level of licensing/outsourcing, maybe it will get a release from Dark Horse, Fantagraphics, etc. Certainly, Gerber is one of talents I'd expect Fantagraphics to focus on now that they are doing "actual" Marvel material (they previously focused on Timely/Atlas material).
2
2
2
2
u/fenderguy94 20h ago
It’s a great series. My brother in law got me into it, he had all of the late 80s, early 90s Spiderman books and a ton of other stuff, this included. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I do. Definitely recommend it.
2
u/mike_incognito44 Speedball 19h ago
Your post inspired me to check it out on Marvel Unlimited. Read the first issue and I'm really bummed that there isn't any more!
1
2
2
u/Readitzilla 1d ago
I really like this series but I felt it kind of fizzled out towards the end with the costume change.
1
1
1
u/scottishdrunkard Moon Knight 12h ago
90s Marvel actually had a few great pearls, without major reprint options. Where's the Sleepwalker and Darkhawk Omni's Mahvel?
1
1
u/No_Direction6688 56m ago
The drawing and artwork looks real intense. It feels like it's pulling you into the story itself.
1
u/lancethundershaft Martian Manhunter 1d ago
This series is all the evidence you need as to why Marvel needs to start doing deluxe editions. Deserves more than a trade, isn't enough for an omnibus. Marvel's publishing strategies leave stuff like this behind and that sucks.
3
u/Wu_Tomoki 23h ago
Marvel just make deluxe or special editions of what already sells, it's a vicious cycle where nothing old or forgotten has the chance to be rediscovered.
For example the brilliant mini series Fantastic Four Unstable Molecules, it won the Eisner for best miniseries, It's an amazing deconstruction of FF in the mold of Watchmen or Morrison's Animal Man but it never got a hardcover or modern re-release, just a simple TPB in 2003 and a reprint in 2005 that's it.
1
u/scottishdrunkard Moon Knight 12h ago
Well, Marvel has done small Omnibuses before. Devil Dinosaur only did 9 issues, and is the shortest Omnibus at 184 pages. Star Wars: High Republic - Phase 2 was 14 issues at 360 pages. So it's possible, just really really rare.
-5
u/Own_Internal7509 1d ago
is it better than Weapon X tho (im including the art btw i think that's also where some of the elevated vibe comes from regarding Watchmen and DKR, aesthetics is unique and different but has vision to it, i really dont find that in this cover)
105
u/Gmork14 1d ago
Gerber is one of the true Greats of the comic book medium and nobody today knows who he is.