In this part, I will focus on the content of:
The Second Life of Doctor Mirage #1 Oct 94 Hong Kong edition
For background history of this book, please read:
Rare Valiant Comics: 1994 VH-1 Hong Kong Edition - Pt. 0
Covers
OK, I will just put it out there that I’m not that familiar with Dr. Mirage so personally, this is my least favored title out of the Hong Kong edition collection box. As you can see above from the back cover, this title is chosen to be the 5th book of the collection. So I guess it is bigger than Solar? I don’t know.
Printing-wise, the covers are done consistently with foil and emboss on textured thick card stock:
Cover highlights worth noting are:
- Title in traditional Chinese reads: 虛幻博士, can be literally translated as “Doctor Illusion”.
- The emboss treatment also covers the main character. This is a real highlight considering the original US edition has no such treatment.
- Given the original US edition has no wraparound cover, the back cover of this book used a local design, featuring all 6 titles from the Hong Kong edition collection box.
The title design is weak comparing to the other 5 books. It almost feels like there was no design at all. The blue color used on Chinese title came out of nowhere, and the Chinese text is just in a plain common font rather than in a custom design, which makes the entire cover less artistically appealing.
Story
Identical story pages to the US edition, all translated to Chinese.
More pictures:
Extras
Again, the book starts with an introduction of the basic plot of the title, it also drops a hint about the roles Dr. Mirage and Master Darque will play in the Valiant universe:
Followed by some advertisements of the other books:
Then there’s a local editorial from the Hong Kong publishing house featuring a bio of the legendary Frank Miller and his major work timeline:
Lastly, interesting piece of article introducing the three brothers from the family of immortals:
Trivia
This book is a reprint from The Second Life of Doctor Mirage (1993 series) #1, the Hong Kong edition issue number matches the US edition so no confusion here.
Update 2021.04 — CGC Grading
This book has now been authenticated and graded by CGC, more details in:
Pt. 7: The CGC Journey
