A comparative-study of the reproduction quality of Modesty Blaise dailies, from the various publications

I have already mentioned in my last post on Modesty Blaise that reproduction quality was variable in the two MB series of Titan, and with these, I am also adding Comic Revue's output as the 3rd reference.

I) Panels(ex. 1-2) are taken from the story "The Galley Slaves" (D014/1968):

In the first example, Jim Holdaway's detailed work has been reproduced perfectly in the Old Titan(OT) #3, and you can even notice their subtle facial expressions clearly. Yet, in the same panel from New Titan(NT) #5, you can't visibly find any of those subtle, detailed lines. Rather, everything has been badly smudged and as a result, everything is very unclear. A classic example of two different source materials used by the same publisher!

In the 2nd example, the NT version is heavily smudged while the same panel was reproduced in pristine condition in the older version. And if you check your physical copy, these will look even better than these images.

(Other than the inferior source material, the nature of the page-stock used is responsible for the final outcome. It's a well known fact that old comics, specifically old newspaper strips, reproduced better on the matte paper than on the glossy surface. So it's no surprising fact that matte was used in the OT series, while glossy stock was used in the 2nd series.)

II) Panels(ex. 3) are taken from the story "The Green-Eyed Monster" (D020/1970-71):

As mentioned in the I), you can see the obvious gulf in the quality of reproduction between the same panel from the two different Titan series, in the 3rd example. Reasons are the same as mentioned in the previous example.

III) Panels(ex. 4-6) are taken from the story "La Machine" (D001/1963):

This time, a comparison between CR & OT.

I read this story in CR first and I should admit that I didn't notice those distant high-rises visible through the window of Modesty's penthouse amidst the darkness(ex. 4)! I have noticed them only when I re-read the story in the pristine Old Titan version. Similar things can be observed in the 6th example, while in the 5th, you can notice almost similar quality of reproduction in both versions, barring CR's was little smudged, but negligible. In general, CR's output was better than the Titan's 2nd series, still falling back compared to Old Titan's reproduction, mostly because of their cheap newsprint stock quality, similar to Frew.

--------------------------------

I could have gone on and added multiple examples, but I do believe these comparisons are enough to understand the variable quality of reproductions are present in the different MB series. So for new readers, choose your books carefully.