We tend to think of myths as being in the past, ancient stories of gods and heroes that not only entertain but give us insight into the times. Even today, however, mythologies are created, and rarely better than in the world of comic books, where iconic characters leap off the pages and take on a life of their own. Of these comic book universes, two stand out above the rest: DC and Marvel.
Most people probably consider DC to be significantly older, with the late 1930s appearances of Superman and Batman kicking off its heyday. Marvel - or at least an early incarnation of it - would not be much younger, with Marvel Comics #1 appearing in 1939. The Marvel Chronicle is a coffee-table sort of history of this company, from its humble origins to its rise to prominence in the 1960s to today (or at least mid-2008).
The Marvel Chronicle is a year-by-year (and often month-by-month) history of Marvel, filled with lots of old excerpts from various books. The 1930s and 1940s would have some superhero comics (the Sub-Mariner would be in the first book, along with an early version of the Human Torch). The focus, however would be on books for kids and quite a few WWII heroes, most notably Captain America.
Superheroes would peter out by the 1950s, when romance, horror and western comics became the big thing. For a while, these would be creative, but the paranoid Frederick Wertham would bring about the Comics Code and drain away much of what made the comic books so good; a self-censorship worse than even existed in the movie industry would reduce the comics to a bland mildness.
The 1960s were when Marvel hit it big, first with the Fantastic Four and then a bevy of other characters: Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, the Avengers, Thor, the X-Men and Daredevil all leading the way. With the talents of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko leading the way, Marvel became the creative leaders in the comic book world. DC would take a long time to catch up to Marvel in terms of strong story writing.
The 1970s and 1980s would see other characters come and go. The X-Men, once one of the least successful superhero comics, would rise to prominence in the 1980s. By the 1990s, however, Marvel was no longer a leader but a follower. Chasing trends like the speculative boom, the grim-and-gritty antiheroes and the Image-approach of style-over-substance would harm Marvel as much as it helped it, eventually leading to a bankruptcy. The turn of the century, however, would result in a bit of a renaissance, with the comic books now being supported by a string of successful movies (particularly adaptations of Spider-Man, X-Men and Iron Man).
The Marvel Chronicle captures this whole history, and though published by Marvel, it doesn't hold back from some of the darker moments in its existence (though for the most part, these are downplayed). It is not a beach read (it's too big and unwieldy) but it's thoroughly entertaining. Even if you're a long-time Marvel fan (like I've been), this book is worth picking up. Marvel Chronicle
This is a really good product for those that are into comic books. What I found interesting is that every year, they give comic book information (what came out, what went away) plus it also gives you some history on what was happening in the world at that time. Great pictures, very informative!!!
This is one good read on Marvel history from the begining. I have been reading Marvel comics from the begining, I am now 61 years of age, this is the book you want to read if you really want to know what it was like to read Marvel from month to month and how as a kid getting that 12 cents to buy are comics was a big joy and that all we needed to have fun in reading as kids.
I don't think that most fams look at comics in term of year-to-year ,but rather the lives of the characters. This book covers both the characters and the comics themselves. A different history/encyclopedia for Marvel fans.It had the added bonus for me of being able to immediately look up the years when I did not read comics.
This book is an excellent change of pace. Most books on the history of comics tackle things from a character-by-character or genre-by-genre approach. I found the chronological approach of this book to be very interesting and fresh. The early history is very intriguing. (Who knew we owed so much to Ziggy Pig and Millie the Model for keeping the company afloat long enough for the Fantastic Four to come around?) Of course, the graphics are great as well, as are the non-comics historical tidbits. Fantastic book!
Awesome book with a lot of data from Marvel Comics and the Comic Universe in general. It has really nice graphics and text, I'd totally recommend it for begginers and pros alike.
I liked the fact that it references other editorial companies, like Image or DC, which is something that Marvel doesn't do very often.
I first saw this in the holiday issue of Real Simple magazine and thought it would be a nice gift. I ordered two of these for Christmas gifts, one for my Fiance and the other for his brother in-law... They're both typical guys that enjoy watching Marvel movies - my Fiance particularly collected comics (Marvel & DC etc.) as a child and still has them stored away. When my Fiance openned it at Christmas, he thought it was the "coolest" thing ever - his brother in-law saw him open it and immediately said "Whoa, I want to buy that!" little did he know he had one too! Needless to say, it made both of them happy as a kid again. The book has an M shaped cover and is enclosed in another box (the picture they show you is sort of the box it's kept in). There's a ribbon that lays underneath the book that you can lift to make it easier to take the book out of the box. It's full color with beautiful detail. I would definitely purchase this again if there's ever any one else I can think of to give it as a Christmas or Birthday gift to!
Since I bought this as a gift, I can't really review this according to actual content but I can tell you that neither guys have complained and love their gift! - Superhero - Comics - Spider-man - History'
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