Mutants, Monsters, Monarchs, Mystery, the Beginning and End of the Universe and 27,000 Superhero Comic Books
384 pages
English language
Published March 16, 2021 by Profile Books Limited.
The superhero comic books that Marvel Comics has published since 1961are the longest continuous, self-contained work of fiction ever created. Thousands of writers and artists have contributed to it. Everyone recognizes its protagonists. Eighteen of the hundred highest-grossing movies of all time are based on parts of it. And Douglas Wolk has read the whole thing.
Wolk sees both into the ever-expanding story and through it, as a prism through which to view the landscape of American culture. In his hands, the mammoth Marvel narrative becomes a fun-house-mirror history of the past sixty years—a boisterous, tragicomic, magnificently filigreed epic about power and ethics, set in a world transformed by wonders.
A huge treat for Marvel fans, this book is also a revelation for readers who don’t know Doctor Strange from Doctor Doom. Here, truly, are all of the marvels.
Unique, accessible, and downright remarkable, this clever project with surprising utility is every word worthy of its Eisner.
Good overview, learned some interesting details. Was it mindblowing? No, but did increase my appreciation for the genre.
Ideally, you pair this with a Marvel Unlimited subscription, so it can serve as a reader's companion to the key issues discussed and a guide through the extensive Marvel comic universe.
Otherwise it reads as a more (less?) extensive Wikipedia summary of some of the major characters/teams in Marvel history, which is still interesting if you are the sort of person who would read long plotlines on Wikipedia.
Extra star for an entire chapter dedicated to The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan!
