Thirty years ago, a trading card series was released that would forever change the nonsport card industry. The 1992 Marvel Masterpieces. Because of the sheer popularity of this series, it took an unprecedented 350,000 boxes to quench the thirst of card collectors worldwide. Nothing like it has been seen before or since. This series would not have become the monumental success that it did, had artist Joe Jusko not produced 104 mind-boggling paintings! Joe literally set the standard for all the Marvel Masterpieces series that were to follow. Each of the 104 paintings have become iconic portrayals of the great Marvel characters, and these cards hold such a special place in the hearts of collectors of all ages-many of whom were young, single-digit or teenaged fans at the time of the series release. It goes without saying that a large art book which highlights the amazing work Joe created is long overdue. The art needs to be presented at a larger-than-trading-card size. This celebratory book will include all 104 of the paintings Joe produced for the original release, as well as the 20 additional paintings created for the four-issue comic collection published the following year. It will also detail the history of the series: how it came to be and the magnitude of attention that it received through numerous promotions. And finally, being published for the first time are Joe's original pencil sketches for each of the 104 trading card paintings!
