Hello, friends. First off, my sincere apologies for not writing
in the last little while -- it has been a very busy winter for me. But while
taking a brief sabbatical from WGTB, I did manage to read a book that was
released in the latter half of 2012 called Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by journalist and former editor of Entertainment Weekly, Sean Howe.
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| Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, Sean Howe, Harper, 2012, 485 pp, $26.99 |
Beginning with Timely Comics, the first incarnation of the
company, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story takes
its reader on the journey of Marvel from its conception to
its current incarnation as one of the jewels in the crown of the Disney empire.
The book itself is divided into five parts, each with their own manageable chapters.
These parts, logically divided, cover the company’s origins; its renaissance during
the 60s rebirth of the superhero genre; the mostly dreary and
sometimes incomprehensible 70s; the sometimes acrimonious but always
interesting period of Jim Shooter as Editor-in-Chief; the boom and bust period of the 90s and finally, the modern period of
corporate restructuring and Marvel’s apotheosis in the cinematic world.
The book itself is compulsively readable and does not seem
the nearly five hundred pages it is. It is meticulously well researched and especially
good at detailing the complex and often vitriolic drama that has dominated much
of Marvel’s history. Of course, most of us know of the intellectual property disputes
that still dominate Jack Kirby’s estate, but Untold also does a great job at explaining the many similar
conflicts that occurred in the 70s and 80s that are much less well known.
Further to that, it takes careful attention to document the fascinating history
of the Editor-in-chief tenure of Jim Shooter. I knew much less about this but
was absolutely enthralled while reading about it.
But for me, by far the most interesting section of the book was
Howe’s examination into the boom and bust period of the 90s when, after selling millions
of comic books, Marvel nearly collapsed upon itself in a fury of corporate
overreaching and greed. Readers of this blog will note that
this has long been of particular interest to this blogger, but even with that background,
I was impressed by Howe's research and the considerable depth of his explanations.
Naturally, with Marvel's top books now selling a fraction of what they did in
the early 90s, there’s an instinct to think that a comic book bubble will never
happen again and therefore a warning is not necessary. But exposés of any boom
and bust are always important and always serve as a warning to any industry or business -- especially those were demand is rooted in the ebb and flow of what is popular.
In a couple places the book it could use more
dates or year descriptions to assist the reader who is not as well versed in 70s or
80s comic book lore. Likewise, with so many names, it was helpful to
have a tablet computer close just to periodically check when another unknown artist, writer or
inker’s name surfaces. But these small matters
aside, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story
is a great work of comics journalism and fascinating survey of an area of pop
culture and creative genius that has left an indelible print on the
modern world. It is not to be missed. 4.5/5 STARS.
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