Since the relaunch of the Marvel Masterworks program in 2003, Marvel has priced the books at $49.95 for books with the new silver bookjacket design and $54.95 for books with the original marble design. Starting in January, the price will be $54.95 for either edition, but the bindings will be sewn, rather than glued. I own all but one of the non-Golden Age Masterworks, and I think this is great news.
Glued bindings have been a major complaint of those who chat on the Marvel Masterworks board. Glued bindings tend to be tighter than sewn bindings, so the books end up suffering from "gutter loss" (in other words, you can’t really see the art along the inner edges of the pages). The problem’s much more noticeable in the new Omnibus formats; the Alias book and the Eternals reprint had serious problems with gutter loss. Here’s hoping that Marvel puts sewn bindings in the upcoming Miller Daredevil and Ditko Spider-Man books.
Credit for this news goes to the always incredible Gormuu at MarvelMasterworks.com.