Essential Marvel Saga, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) (v. 1) [Paperback]

Peter Sanderson (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

See for yourself how the Marvel Age of Heroes began as one of comicdom's coolest chroniclers follows the FF, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Daredevil and others from origins into adventure! Recounting the first appearances of Marvel's greatest menaces, including Doctor Octopus, Doctor Doom, Magneto, and Loki! The awakening of the Sub-Mariner and Captain America! Ancient enigmas, wartime wonders and more from the first years of the House of Ideas! Collects Marvel Saga #1-12.

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (January 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785127275
• ISBN-13: 978-0785127277
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #715,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Project, March 3, 2008

By 

Daniel J. Mooney "Going Blind from Reading." (Columbia, SC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Marvel Saga, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) (v. 1) (Paperback)

This was an attempt by Marvel, in the late 80s, to allow new readers to get up to speed on all of the character's origins and major events. The series started off by trying to put everything together in chronological order, which ended up with a lot of pages containg a hodgepodge of various art styles. As it went on the series tended to focus one one character or group at a time, and recalled their entire history up to that point. It ended after 25 issues, but managed to cover all of the major events in the Marvel Universe, at that time.

The problem is, of course, that events in the Marvel Universe have been retconned so much that a lot of the material is out of date. So if you're going to buy the book in order to have a history of the Marvel Universe, you might want to pass. If you're into nostaligia, or looking at the vision of the Marvel Universe proir to 1990, or a fanatic Marvel Essentials collector then this is the book for you.

3.0 out of 5 stars 1980's Mash-Up of Marvel Universe, March 29, 2011

By 

JAY - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Essential Marvel Saga, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) (v. 1) (Paperback)

An 1980 history of the Marvel Universe.
There is material from the 1960's (Fantastic Four #1, Hulk #1, an early adventure with a pre-Ant-Man Hank Pym) interjected with stories written in the 1980's. These 1980 stories supposedly occur at the same time in the Marvel Universe as the landmark events. They are written by writers working for Marvel in the 1980's.
The benefit of the book, for me, is that it provides a time-line not only of the events that happened in the Marvel Universe, but also a notion of what writer Stan Lee and the artists were thinking, story-by-story, as they progressed.
Peter Sanderson wrote new captions that simply provide a relay from one character's story to the next. Sanderson also tries to fill in plot holes that happen from time to time in stories written primarily for children. It's a good attempt and I could sense Sanderson's appreciation of the material.
Unfortunately, Jim Shooter's shadow looms over the project and one could assume that the new material written by the contempories is fodder for new stories/projects that he had planned for the future. There are no ground breaking revelations in the new stories and the modern stories are distracting.
I did appreciate the past artwork from Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers and Steve Ditko. The book provides a way to quickly browse through some of the most lauded work from Marvel right from the beginning, from comic book to comic book.
The Saga itself, unfortunately, is a moot-point as much of the legacy has been rebooted over the last ten to twenty years.

All in all, a fun read that made me appreciate the creation of the Marvel Universe. A universe that sprung from the hearts and minds of some very talented individuals.

The Marvel Saga comes in two volumes in The Marvel Essentials format.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great but expecting more..., July 17, 2010

By 

Raul Moya Jr (corpus christi, texas, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Marvel Saga, Vol. 1 (Marvel Essentials) (v. 1) (Paperback)

The Marvel Saga is a great read. You get to see the origins of your fave heroes and the fights they got into but I was hoping for more. I know it said the History of the Marvel Universe and I was expecting items like the coming of Captain Marvel, The first Thanos War, the appearance of Adam Warlock or the origin of Ultron. I know it would have been a lot of info but it would have been nice. Overall a great read for those missing the good ol' days of Marvel.