The collection started in 1987, with volumes reprinting the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, and The Avengers.
The first printings had a marble-look dust jacket with either light gray, pastels or primary colors; the binding was a faux leather dyed in the color associated with the title (Marvel Masterworks, volume number, and title was embossed usually in gold (exceptions: The Silver Surfer, Iron Man) on the spine along with an embossed symbol representing the character(s) of the title on the front) and numbered in the order the volumes were released (e.g., The Amazing Spider-Man Vol.
Also during the original Marvel Masterworks run between 1992 and 1993, Marvel Comics had published lower-priced trade paperback editions of selected volumes in the Masterworks line, but these versions only reprinted half of the contents compared to the hardcover editions.
Following this, from 1997 to 2002, the Masterworks line was revived, when some of the original 27 went back into print with a new style of dust jacket designed by Comicraft, and without the chronological numbering on the spine.
Only 10 volumes were published in total from this initial relaunch, and they were Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol.
On the front cover dust jacket, these initial releases had the book's interior contents and creator names on the top of the front cover art image, and the Marvel Masterworks name under the cover art on the bottom, with the volume number on the spine featured in a black-filled square with silver edging, with a silver font labeling the volume number.
From 2002 to 2004, Marvel brought the 31 now-out-of-print volumes back into print, all with the new silver dust jackets.
Some changes were made for the new second editions, with some issues/covers re-colored, previously unreprinted pin-up pages added, and some issues were moved between volumes (Annual issues were amongst the changes made, as Marvel wanted to do a more accurate chronological reprinting of their history than the Masterworks series had previously attained).
In 2002, Marvel partnered with Barnes & Noble to produce lower-priced trade paperback (typically US $12.95) versions of selected Masterworks volumes.
In 2008 (and starting in 2009), Marvel moved their printing plant to China and reprint the Masterworks as a trade paperback line for the third time in celebration of the publisher's then-70th anniversary year, reprinting the Masterworks monthly in the same sequence as they were originally released in the hardcover editions.
Like the post-2003 remastered hardcovers relaunch, this trade paperback line also had both regular and limited alternate variant covers that used the original 1987 marble-look style.
This series of trade paperbacks reprinted in order of the original hardback releases from The Amazing Spider-Man Vol.
Originally nicknamed as Junior Masterworks, they aim to reprint classic stories in an affordable price for young readers, as to capitalize on the growing popularity of super-hero media, so the trim size is smaller than the average comic book trade (6" by 9"), resembling a manga volume.
This 1939 and 1940s line reprints material by Timely Comics, Marvel's Golden Age predecessor.
The initial Atlas Era Masterworks volumes were primarily science-fiction/fantasy stories, particularly featuring drive-in theater-style monsters.
More recent volumes have included other genres, such as pre-Comics Code horror and jungle stories.