Comic Book Album Issues

SharkJumper

Once, long ago, comics use to dabble in something called an Album issue. What is an Album issue? It was an issue of a comic devoted to telling the history of that comic/character up to that current issue through a series of panels and flashbacks with the editor noting what issue a reader could find the story. And before back issues, reprints, and collected editions were easy to obtain, this was a great device to get a reader up to speed on the history.

As far as I can find, the first noted issue was CAPTAIN AMERICA #112 with the term "Album" on full display on the cover...




Another Cap issue ten years later was used in CAPTAIN AMERICA #215...



Other titles also used this device in the late 1970s with FANTASTIC FOUR #190...



An AMAZING SPIDER-MAN issue leading up to issue #200 (not pictured)...

And the last one I could find being UNCANNY X-MEN #138 in 1980....




Are there more that I missed? Perhaps a Defenders, Avengers, Thor, or Iron Man issue?

Was this only a Marvel thing? Did DC ever try it?

[Deleted User]

Wow... "Album Issue"... I have never noticed that. That's pretty cool! Those issues remind me of the infamous "clip show" episodes of sitcoms, where the entire episode is just flashbacks to produce an episode from nothing.

Thanks for sharing this.

mphil

This is super interesting. Any idea when they stopped doing it? Seems like a smart device given the constant reboots nowadays.

SharkJumper

I haven't picked it up but are the Grand Design books like this?