Marvel UK Collector's Editions 1981.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

As all regular readers know, I have a feature where I look back at what Marvel UK was up to, forty years ago this week.

However, in 1981, the imprint unleashed several collector's editions which weren't tied to any particular month or week.

As I don't have a clue when, exactly, they came out, I've decided to give them a post of their very own.

And this is that.

It's a book that's truly worth having, as it reprints the whole of Jaunty Jim Steranko's, admittedly, short run on America's fightingest national treasure.

Cap gains a new Bucky, in Rick Jones, gets "killed" by Hydra and then gatecrashes his own funeral to give that criminal gang the smack in the teeth it's asking for.

It is, of course, the storyline which gave us our first taste of Madame Hydra and, no doubt, set the world asking, "Who'd win a fight between Madame Hydra and Madame Masque?"

I think we all know the answer to that one.

Actually, looking into it, it seems Madame Hydra made her first appearance eight months before Madame Masque. So, people probably weren't asking that.

Then again, Whitney Frost made her first appearance exactly a year before Madame Hydra but hadn't yet adopted her Madame Masque identity.

Just as we get a big slab of Steranko from the Captain America collector's edition, we get a healthy chunk of Neal Adams from this one.

First, the titanic teens have to deal with the Living Pharaoh turning himself into the Living Monolith and then they must stop the Sentinels from merrily rounding up all the world's mutants.

How can even the X-Men possibly hope to defeat such menaces?

But it does seem to me that the Living Pharaoh/Living Monolith's far too keen on letting everyone know he's alive, as though he thinks it's a major achievement. I mean, I'm alive but you don't hear me calling myself The Living Steve.

It's a tale I've never read, as Superman and Spider-Man meet for the second time.

On this occasion, they take on the mind-numbing threat of Dr Doom and the Parasite.

Surely, this is too much to ask of even Marvel and DC's totemic heroes.

But I must confess I don't know too much of what happens in this one, other than that it's drawn by John Buscema, written by Jim Shooter and also features Superman vs the Hulk and Spider-Man vs Wonder Woman.

I don't know if it's any good but it certainly sounds like it's giving us plenty for our money.

Sheffield's Most Wanted. Part 6: Batman Limited Collector's Edition.

While Mantis takes a breather, pondering the twists and turns of her battle with the Star-Stalker, it's time for me to slide down the Batpole of Nostalgia, into the Batcave of Reverie, into the Batmobile of Memory and out onto the streets of Comicdom City to consider yet another mag I always wanted as a kid but never got.

You may just have guessed from my subtle intro that this time out it's Batman and his Limited Collector's Edition.

Sadly, even though I was indeed a limited collector, I never managed to come by a copy of it.

But one look at that Neal Adams cover, showing Batman running around in mud, when he should've had the sense to make Alfred do that, should be enough to explain why I wanted it.

Nor was the cover the only secret of its allure. If the accompanying blurb was to be believed, the mag had 6 spine-tingling stories, 3 super-size pin-ups, a guide on how to draw Batman, and yet another 3D diorama cut-out.

I'm telling you; if only I'd had all those collector's editions, my life would've been so 3D that I'd've ended up with a sense of depth that would've left me thinking Radiohead sounded like Wham.

Steve Does Comics' 100,000th Anniversary Special! Sheffield's Most Wanted. Part 10: Batman Limited Collector's Edition. All-Villain Issue.

Wham! Bam! Splokk! And whatever other sound effects you can think of - because, like a drunk smashing majestically through a plate-glass window, Steve Does Comics has finally crashed through the 100,000 page-views mark.

With this blog's usual Route One approach, that'd normally be my cue to post a picture of the cover of issue #100,000 of various comics and pass comments on them along the lines of, "I've never read this one and don't have a clue what happens in it."

Sadly, thanks to the major comics publishers' habit of relaunching their titles every few years, we're never likely to see a comic hit the 100,000 issue mark. So, instead I'll ramble on about yet another comic I always wanted as a kid but never had. This time out, it's another of Batman's Limited Collector's Editions.

I always loved the way Jim Aparo drew torsos, so this was always going to appeal to me. Surely only the terminally unexcitable could fail to be aroused by the sight of our felon-bashing fledermaus reacting dramatically to the sight of his deadliest foes being Bat-Signalled into a purple dusk. You also have to dig that cape too. The way Aparo used to draw it, it was practically a character in its own right.

Steve Does Comics: How it all
began, 100,000 years ago.
Click the pic to go there.

If the cover blurb's to be believed, there's all the usual features one expects of a DC Limited Collector's Edition but you also get a giant pin-up plan of the Batcave - which means that all the villains on the cover had to do was buy a copy of the comic and they'd have access to all of Batman's greatest secrets.

Why, with knowledge like that, it could only be a matter of time before Two-Face stole Bats' giant coin.

And then what would our hero do if he ever encountered a giant bubble-gum machine and had no giant money with which to buy a circular ball of latex he'd be scared to swallow in case it wrapped itself round his intestines?

The 1982 UK Marvel annuals for 1981.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Ho ho ho, little children! Santa Steve's smashed his way out of your fireplace and he's about to fling a whole heap of annuals at the foot of your Christmas tree!

But, first, he needs to find out what's on TV, today, December the 25th of December, 1981.

In all honesty, there's nothing that could be called outstanding. It's the usual mix of sitcoms, family entertainment, and much-loved presenters who'll later turn out to be psychopaths, sociopaths and malignant narcissists.

However, should you wish to investigate the topic further, this is the 1981 Christmas Day schedule for BBC One.

This is the accompanying schedule for BBC Two.

And, for the ITV Christmas schedules, you can click right here.

This seems a familiar sight. Mostly because I've already covered it in a long-ago post.

It seems that, despite being labelled a Collector's Edition, Marvel UK is marketing it as an annual.

It features the whole of Jim Steranko's run on the Captain America strip, as Cap gets nagged into hiring Rick Jones as the new Bucky. An experience Cap enjoys so much, the saga culminates in him deciding to fake his own death.

In between those two events, of course, there's an epoch-making battle to be had with the forces of Hydra and their whip-wielding female boss who'll wear any colour, so long as it's green.

Meanwhile, the above book's sibling gives us a whole heap of Neal Adams goodness.

In its first tale, the titanic teens must deal with the Living Pharaoh becoming the Living Monolith.

Then they must needs stop the Sentinels from merrily rounding up the world's mutants and bumping them all off.

It's clearly not going to be a merry Christmas for that particular super-team.

There's no controversy over whether this one's an annual or not. It even says it is on the Paul Neary drawn cover.

The book's dominated by The Wings of the Vulture! in which Blackie Drago takes over from Adrian Toomes as the Vulture and decides to prove himself by beating-up Spider-Man.

And, just to make matters worse, Kraven the Hunter shows up, as well.

We also get a ten-page text story called The Electric Sting. I don't know anything about it but, given its title, I'm going to assume the villain of the piece is either Electro or the Scorpion.

Despite no longer having a weekly comic, the Hulk gets his own annual - and it sees him join forces with the mighty Mogol, as the pair assist Tyrannus in his struggle with the Mole Man.

It's all going swimmingly until the Hulk discovers his new friend's a robot and decides to murder him.

After that, we get a five-page text story called A Hostage for the Hulk.

Next up, the Leader resurrects the Glob and sends him off to pick a fight with our hero.

That's followed by another five-page text story, this time called Caged.

And, finally, Jade Jaws must tangle with Warlord Kaa the living shadow in a tale reprinted from Incredible Hulk #184.

But it's not only Marvel's comic book heroes who get special treatment this year. So do its stars of stage and screen.

And so it is that we get the book we've all been dreaming of, in The Worzel Gummidge Annual.

I could tell you what happens in it but I really can't be bothered.

Plus, I don't actually know what happens in it.

Probably, Galactus shows up and Worzel has to become his herald.

Star The Empire Strikes Back Wars gets its second annual and does so with an Archie Goodwin, Al Williamson, Tom Palmer and Walt Simonson tale called The Crimson Forever which is followed by a Chewbacca-centered adventure called Rage in the Red Nebula.

Holy shaken-and-not-stirred, Batman! Even James Bond is granted a Marvel hardback!

And I'm going to make an inspired guess that it adapts that classic film For Your 007 Eyes Only.

It also gives us a feature on the many foes of James Bond, and one about the stunts that have made his films the legends they are.

It's not an obvious publication to be granted an annual but so annual-happy is Marvel UK, right now, that we get one anyway.

In its 64 pages, Starburst supplies us with features about Saturday morning movie serials, famous robots, famous aliens, famous spaceships, fantasy females and famous monsters.

And, yes, it does feature Caroline Munro, because Starburst always features Caroline Munro.

And, just to make sure Indiana Jones doesn't feel overshadowed by James Bond, he too gets his own book, which I have it on good authority adapts the movie of the same name.

So, with all that wrapped up, all that's left is for me to wish you a happy Christmas and that all your wishes come true.

Especially if you're wishing that I was a billionaire.

Merry Christmas to you all. :)

Forty years ago today - August 1978.

The recent heatwave has died an instant death and been replaced by the tapping of rain upon window sills, and the grip of an autumnal chill.

All I can do is seek refuge in the days of four decades past, when every summer was scorching and every winter produced ten foot of snow.

The Collector's back.

Other than that, I can say nothing of the contents of this comic.

I do, however, suspect the acquisitive alien's out to capture the Avengers and add them to his collection, seeing as that's what he does every time he shows up. You do wonder if he ever thinks of getting another hobby.

Apparently, Conan, Belit and Zula have to battle deadly snake creatures, in order to escape from catacombs.

You would have thought Conan would have learned to avoid catacombs by now. It never goes well when he enters any.

I'm reliably informed that, in this issue, Thoth Amon becomes Neftha's adviser.

Frankly, I don't have a clue what that last sentence means as I don't have a clue who Neftha is.

That aside, I was under the impression that Thoth Amon is long dead by Conan's time and is a character from the far earlier Kull stories.

Or is that Thulsa Doom I'm thinking of? I always get them mixed up.

Someone called Argyle Fist puts in an appearance in this issue.

I don't have a clue who that is but he sounds like someone you wouldn't want to meet.

The Tarantula also puts in an appearance. You wouldn't want to meet him either but, given that he's basically just a man with pointy shoes, I suspect the good Captain won't have much difficulty in putting a stop to him.

Hooray! Reed Richards finally gets his super-powers back!

I do believe this is thanks to him making a journey into space.

For some reason, the Red Ghost is also on board. I don't think his apes show up - which is a source of great disappointment to me, as they were always the interesting ones in that partnership.

I genuinely have no idea what happens in this issue. It is nice, though, to see the Hulk frequenting a place of learning.

I'm pretty sure I've never read this one but the Unicorn's back and, no doubt, that means we're in for all kinds of excitement.

This is it! The story we all demanded! It's the Rocket Racer vs the Big Wheel!

Obviously, someone at Marvel decided readers might not be happy with a story that features a terrible super-villain, so they decided to make up for it by making it feature two terrible super-villains.

I can't even remember why the Big Wheel's so desperate to kill the Rocket Racer. Maybe he just has good taste when it comes to Fashion.

The Scorpion's back and convinced he can't remove his costume anymore. Apparently, this leads him to try and kill J Jonah Jameson.

I've always had a soft spot for the Scorpion. He's always seemed nastier than the average villain.

I do believe that, in this one, Harris Hobbs manages to take a TV crew to Asgard and they get there just in time to see Loki initiate the start of Ragnarok by getting Balder killed.

Isn't this the story that leads to an alternative version of Thor showing up?

Magneto's back, and giving the X-Men a good kicking.

The main thing I remember from this story is that it reveals that Magneto has a weird, robotic housekeeper.

I can only assume staff are difficult to find when you're a megalomaniac super-villain, hell-bent on humanity's destruction.

Forty years ago this month - January 1974.

All lovers of high culture will be delighted to know this year marks the fortieth anniversary of the most important movie in cinema history.

That's right! It was indeed four decades ago the world saw the original release of that hard-hitting box office smash The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. How we thrilled as Dan Haggerty grew his beard, stared at logs and, erm, breathed in and out and things.

But will our favourite Marvel heroes of forty years ago be feeling a little grizzly?

Or will they instead be celebrating a short-lived paws in their battle against evil?

The Vulture's still back - and he's still out to get Mary Jane for seeing him commit a murder.

Or is he?

I could be wrong but I think this tale was the first Whodunit The Amazing Spider-Man comic ever attempted.

It certainly wasn't the last. After this, there seemed to be a spell when Peter Parker's alter-ego couldn't stop acting like an adolescent Columbo.

It's Halloween, and the Collector's back.

To be honest, he's not my favourite villain. He's too badly dressed, ugly and annoying for that.

I'm pretty sure that, in this tale, he tries to defeat the world's mightiest super-team by firing bats at them.

You see? That's not my idea of a classy villain.

Cap finds himself up against the only super-criminal ever to have been named after a social networking site.

Conan's got a stabbing pain in the temple again.

Putting my critic's head on, I'd say there's far too much going on on this cover. Exactly what are we supposed to be focusing on?

Still, it's always nice to see Captain Marvel back.

Darkoth the death demon shows up from the very bowels of hell.

It's another belter as the Rhino and Abomination take over Gamma Base - and only the Hulk can stop them.

But will he actually need to?

Thor's still battling against those aliens armed with giant vacuum cleaners.

And will wonders never cease? He's actually managing not to be defeatist on the cover of his own comic!

Fifty years ago this month - April 1968.

April of 1968 was a big month for more people than you can shake a stick at.

For a start, it was a big one for those of us who have ten fingers and not twelve, as it was the month in which five and ten pence coins were introduced in the run-up to Decimalisation. Soon would the nightmare curse of Old Money be eradicated from our society.

It was also a big month for Arizonans who like to cross bodies of water without getting their feet wet, as London Bridge was sold to American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch who rebuilt it in that very state. Popular mythology has it that he thought he was buying Tower Bridge and only discovered his mistake after it was too late. However, there appears to be nothing to back up that particular piece of mythology.

It was also a big month for people who don't like to be shot by gorillas, as it was the month in which Planet of the Apes was released.

It was an even bigger month for those who don't like songs with lots of words in them, as La La La by Massiel won the Eurovision Song Contest, for Spain, in London.

It was also a big month for May Parker, as her favourite musical Hair opened on Broadway.

But what about people who loved comics that bore that cover date? Did they have grounds for excitement too?

Too right they did - because, freed from its previous distribution deal, the House of Ideas had been able to launch two brand-new super-hero comics upon the world.

Hooray! Goliath gets his powers back.

Even more thrillingly, Thor and Iron Man make their senses-shattering return to the comic, if only for one issue.

If I remember rightly, it has something to do with the Collector gaining control of Thor and making him do bad things, including beating up Iron Man.

I don't recall what the Collector's actual plan was but I suspect it might have had something to do with collecting things.

Cap gets his own mag at last, as the Marvel Explosion gets into full swing.

I say that but, as far as I can make out, the company actually produced less titles this month than they had the month before.

Still, in a major shock, this issue retells Captain America's origin.

Well, you can't blame them. It must be all of three issues since they last retold it.

From the depths of Daredevil history, the Unholy Three return, although I prefer to know them as, "The Ani-Men."

I seem to recall that, this time, the perpetual stooges are working for a criminal mastermind who owns a gun that can send people out of sync with everyone else, which must play havoc with your social life.

But does the Unholy Three's return mean that this is the issue in which we get the return of Debbie Harris? Or had she already been back for a while by this point?

The Daredevil/Doc Doom body-swap drama gets its epilogue, as, thanks to their own stupidity, the FF find themselves tangling with not only DD but also Thor and Spider-Man. If only Marvel heroes were in the habit of actually talking to each other.

Clearly determined to not be outdone by Captain America, the Hulk also gets his own comic.

In this one, he comes up against the High Evolutionary who's created a new Wundagore in space, in order to continue his previously disastrous genetic experiments.

Needless to say, it all goes just as wrong this time round as it did last time. You do get the feeling he's a man who never learns from experience.

Mary Jane gets her first ever cover appearance.

And what a thrilling appearance it is, as she becomes an unknowing employee of the Kingpin and causes all kinds of trouble with her brainwashing camera.

Others may be getting their own comic this month but Nick Fury is going to have to wait a little while longer.

Interesting to see Clay Quartemain on the cover. I really did hate him.

I suspect this might be the one in which, in order to help Thor, Sif does a deal with Karnilla and takes possession of the Destroyer, in order to dispatch the Wrecker but then finds she can't prevent her new body from attacking Thor.

In retrospect, unleashing an unstoppable destructive force upon the planet Earth wasn't the best thought-out rescue plan of all time.

A very dramatic John Buscema cover hints that we're heading towards an Avengers/X-Men crossover, as Magneto turns up at Professor X's funeral, in order to initiate all kinds of mischief.

More interestingly for me, the issue also features that back-up feature in which Cyclops explains his powers and we're officially told that, despite appearances, his eye blasts give off no heat.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - June 1982.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

What on Earth were they putting in Hollywood's water in June of 1982? It's not unreasonable to expect a thirty-day period to produce the release of one memorable movie but, that month, it must have been hard to know which auditorium to choose upon entering your local cinema. It was, it turns out, the month that saw the unleashing of Poltergeist, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Firefox, Blade Runner and The Thing.

It also saw the release of Grease 2 and Hanky Panky but they were, possibly, not quite as memorable, even though I remember one of them.

I'm sure I'd remember Hanky Panky too, if I'd ever seen it but I haven't seen it and I suspect I never will.

Well, this is an interesting one. It would appear to be a retelling of the Fantastic Four's first encounter with Rama-Tut - but told through the eyes of Doctor Strange.

It would also seem to feature him being deserted by Clea.

Dramatic stuff indeed.

Norrin Radd's first series failed to catch light. Will his second fare any better?

The good news is the FF help him break through Galactus' Space Barrier, ending his exile on Earth and opening up a whole universe of possibilities for story-telling.

The bad news is that, at the end of the issue, our hero's trapped on Earth again, thus closing the route to a whole universe of story-telling possibilities.

This month's issue asks, "What If the Dazzler Had Become the Herald of Galactus?" and, "What If Iron Man Had Been Trapped In King Arthur's Time?"

I suspect the answer to the second question is his armour would have run out of power and that would have been the end of him.

It's the treasury edition we've all been praying for, as GI Joe gets his own giant-sized special.

I don't have a clue what happens in it but I'm sure it's full of action, man.

Another new comic hits the spinner racks, as Team America gets its very own book, the first issue of which reveals the team's thrilling origin.

Are these the people who turned up in that issue of Captain America, a few months back? The one in which they all found themselves in a town filled with the Mad Thinker's robots?

Now things get serious, as the Grandmaster takes the Earth's heroes to an orbiting arena for a cosmic contest to decide the fate of the Collector.

I'm not sure anyone really cares about the fate of the Collector. So, I'm sure the fate of the human race is at stake, as well.

What's this? GI Joe doesn't just get a Treasury Edition, this month. He also gets the launch of his own monthly title? One with exactly the same cover as the other book?

From what I can ascertain, Cobra's captured a prominent nuclear physicist - and Joe and friends have to go and liberate her.

Fifty years ago today - January 1974.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

And here we go. A new year has smacked us in the face. Just as it did exactly fifty years ago. So, to learn how the world's changed in that intervening period, let's discover what the Marvel comics which flaunted that cover date were getting up to and whether we can draw any valuable life lessons from them.

The Vulture's still back - and he's still out to get Mary Jane for seeing him commit a murder!

Or is he?

I could be wrong but I think this tale's the first Whodunit The Amazing Spider-Man comic has ever attempted.

If it is, it's certainly not the last. Following on from this, there seems to be a spell where Peter Parker's alter-ego can't stop acting like an adolescent Columbo.

Then again, doesn't this issue's scripter Gerry Conway go on to write the Father Dowling Mysteries for TV? If so, it might explain a lot.

It's Halloween, and the Collector's back. This time, getting involved in that Rutland parade thing Marvel creators seem so keen on.

I don't recall what the villain's plan actually is but I do know he tries to defeat the world's mightiest super-team by firing a flock of bats at them.

The Committee to Regain America's Principles, led by Quentin Harderman, decides to discredit our hero. Thus, Harderman organises a charity fight between Cap and the Tumbler, during which the Tumbler is seemingly killed by the star-spangled shield slinger.

All I can confirm about this one is Conan spies for the Turanian army, kills Shamash the Terrible, incites civil war in the city of Wan Tengri and then frees its princess. Say what you like about him but he doesn't mess about.

Putting my critic's head on, I'd say there's far too much going on on this cover. Exactly what are we supposed to be focusing on?

As for the plot, Kerwin J Broderick merges with the monster Terrex and orders San Francisco to surrender or he'll kill everyone in it.

Captain Marvel joins the battle but success hinges on whatever's going on with Angar the Screamer.

Darkoth the death demon arrives from the very bowels of hell.

Or does he?

I've never read this one but have the idea in my head that Darkoth isn't a death demon at all and has been duped into thinking he is by the evil scheming of Dr Doom.

It's another belter, as the Rhino and Abomination take over Gamma Base - and only the Hulk can stop them.

But, given their stupidity, will he actually need to?

Thor's still battling against those aliens who are armed with giant vacuum cleaners.

Not only that but those very Hoovers are threatening to destroy all before them.

However, I'm more impressed by the fact that, for the first time ever, the thunder god's not declaring himself to be doomed, on the cover of his own book.

That's Marvel sorted out. But, as we all know, it's not the only kid on the block. That in mind, let's see what its big rival is presenting in a random smattering of comics which also bear a January 1974 cover date.

It's remarkable the memories a comic can bring back to you. I recall buying this one shortly before going into Timpson's shoe shop in Sheffield's exclusive Waingate area.

Granted, that's not what you could call an exciting anecdote but, fortunately, the contents of this book are far more exciting than even that, as a monster walks Wayne Manor.

The monster turns out to be Ubu - loyal manservant of Ra's al Ghul - who's gone a bit mad and glowing.

For some reason I can't recall, he's now blundering around in Bruce Wayne's otherwise empty former residence - and it's going to take all of Batman's sleuthing skills to thwart him.

Elsewhere, in his tale, the Atom helps Zatanna look for her father in a sub-atomic world ruled by a druid.

Then, Hawkman and Hawkgirl fight three aliens looking to dislodge Earth from its orbit

Next, Alfred's killed when rescuing Batman and Robin, thus setting into motion events that will culminate with the Outsider Saga.

Then, in a strange parallel to the opening Batman tale, the Green Lantern pursues a fleeing criminal to a deserted house that's designed to seem haunted.

And, finally, Manhunter's latest mission erupts when Interpol's Christine St Clair informs her boss that Paul Kirk still lives, is a master of Ninjutsu and has rapid healing abilities. However, after she leaves, her boss burns the file...

It's drama without equal when rebels decide to assassinate America's youngest-ever president because the commie pinko's aiming to outlaw guns.

And now it's The Witching Hour's chance to achieve the 100-page treatment.

I remember getting this one from the now-demolished indoor Sheaf Market before heading into the now-demolished indoor Castle Market. I can shed no light upon whether I went into Timpsons afterwards.

In this magnificent tome, we're offered such terrifying tales as Makers of the Mist!, 'Til Death Us Do Join!, The Ever Constant Drum!, Save the Last Dance for Me!, Eternal Hour!, The Perfect Surf or How to Make Waves Without Really Trying!, The Man with the Stolen Eyes, Brush with Death!, Dream Girl, The Demon in the Mirror!, The Phantom Ship, Round Trip to the Past! and Trail of the Lucky Coin!, mostly reprinted from a variety of 1960s and 1950s sources although two or three of them do appear to be new material.

But who needs a 100-page comic when there's a massive treasury edition of House of Mystery to wrap our peepers around?

And so it is that we get The House of Gargoyles!, The Secret of the Egyptian Cat, The Widow's Walk, His Name Is... Kane, The Devil's Doorway, The Poster Plague! and Nightmare.

Again, it's a book packed with reprints.

But there's a 3D diorama to be cut out and constructed and that has to make it worth $1 of anybody's money!

But who needs untrammelled horror when we could be encountering a shiny-nosed ungulate?

Despite, the cover's boast that these are, "New Giant Adventures," the tales within are all 1950s reprints.

And, just like with The House of Mystery, there's a 3D diorama for us to dig our scissors into!

I just hope the printers don't get the dioramas mixed up and put the wrong one in each book, or that could be highly confusing for the reader.