1) I would actually buy the trade to Evolutionary War & Atlantis Attacks
*PURELY from a completitsts mentality. I’ve been trying to cheaply finish those “runs” for awhile and NO SHOPPE ever has half of the titles / issues.
Seriously, was anybody BUYING the NAMOR title during that time? No store has those issues.

2) Captain Britain actually came to U.S. comics in the pages of MARVEL TEAM-UP # 65-66.
Long before New Mutants were a gleam in the Radioactiveman’s eye.

;-)

~P~
P-TOR

Yes, its because the story in these books stank to high heaven AND had almost no impact on the continuing Marvel universe as a whole (seriously – there was never any fallout from the Evolutionary War or Atlantis Attacks, despite the fact that the premises of both could have led to some good follow-up stories). Why bother collecting them? Who would want to buy them? Especially at the cost that volumes of the size these would need would have. I mean, Armageddon 2001 hasn’t been collected either, despite being a slightly (only slightly) better “Annual Event” and having actual ramifications for the DC Universe (however small they turned out to be). It would be a bear to collect all of those stories, weave them together into some coherent whole, and end up with a volume that retailed for $20 or less – any of these stories would probably require 2 volumes (maybe 3) – again I ask, who would buy them?

or

2) character spotlights for B- and C- listers without their own ongoing. Do we need another X-Men comic? Wouldn’t you prefer something different, like a Black Golia– er, a Tigra story? This seems to me a cheaper and easier measure of a character’s current appeal than waiting for dreadful numbers on a five-issue mini. If the numbers are good, move the character up to a mini, if they’re only OK, give them another shot next year, if they’re awful, wait two years and kick ‘em with the re-boot …boot.

Big Yes to continuity, but I don’t like annuals to be a part of an ongoing’s story done by the same creators (guess which part of the Judas Contract I don’t have?) — though I gather this is pretty much the format of the well-received Ultimate annuals.

Also, annuals should have short back-up stories used to break in new talent. Maybe that’s just ME.