Marvel Comics in the 1960s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon [Paperback]

Pierre Comtois (Author), Jack Kirby (Author), Steve Ditko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2009

After being relegated to the realm of children s literature for the first 25 years of its history, the comic book industry experienced an unexpected flowering in the early 1960s. A celebration of that emergence, Marvel Comics in the 1960s: An Issue-by-Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon presents a step-by-step look at how a company that had the reputation of being one of the least creative in a generally moribund industry, emerged as one of the most dynamic, slightly irreverent and downright original contributions to an era when pop-culture, from Tom Wolfe to Andy Warhol, emerged as the dominant force in the artistic life of America. In scores of handy, easy to reference entries, Marvel Comics in the 1960s takes the reader from the legendary company s first fumbling beginnings as helmed by savvy editor/writer Stan Lee (aided by such artists as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko), to the full maturity of its wild, colorful, offbeat grandiosity. With the history of Marvel Comics in the 1960s divided into four distinct phases, author Pierre Comtois explains just how Lee, Kirby, Ditko, et. al. created a line of comic books that, while grounded in the traditional elements of panel-to-panel storytelling, broke through the juvenile mindset of a low brow industry and provided a tapestry of full blown pop culture icons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: TwoMorrows Publishing (September 18, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605490164
• ISBN-13: 978-1605490168
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revives Happy Memories, September 20, 2009

By 

Knafn Books (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Marvel Comics in the 1960s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon (Paperback)

If you are looking for an artsy coffee table book, don't bother with Comtois's book. But if you actually read comics in the 60s and you'd like to relive those memories, this one fits the bill. From FF #1 through the end of 1969, Marvel published 831 comics with at least one new superhero story. About 25% of those are individually described by Comtois (plus a few Sgt. Fury and one Marvel Tales with reprints), with a heavy emphasis on FF (41 issues) and Spider-Man (31 issues). He gives plot and character descriptions, connections with other happenings in the Marvel universe, information and thoughts about the creators, and analysis of the stories. Sometimes it reads like an extended, enthusiastic letters page from a 1960s issue,
but that's all fun. You'll also get interesting tidbits (Hulk #2 was inked by Ditko). Comtois does a good job in picking out individual issues (such as FF #51) as well as longer continued stories (Spidey 31-33), important events, and innovative artists.

The book is interspersed with biography pages of sixteen creators and some commentary that sketches the larger picture. Every page includes some original artwork from the Marvels, thumbnail covers, photos of the Marvel bullpen, bits from related comics (mostly D.C.) seemingly random pictures (Adolph Hitler? A cover of the Iliad?), and more pictures that seem a shallow attempt to characterize the 60s (Martin Luther King, Ayn Rand, an anonymous rocket)--all in black and white. At first, I thought that color would have been nice, but then I realized that it would be impossible to reproduce the was that comic book paper of the 60s absorbed and showed colors.

I would have liked some references because it's impossible to tell what is fact and what is mere speculation on
Comtois' part. For example, did Bradbury's "Chrysalis" really inspire FF #67-68? Was a Star Trek episode the inspiration for Him? An index of issues reviewed and characters (particularly for villains and guest appearances) would have
been useful).

I was annoyed at the last minute nixing by Marvel of a beautiful color cover for this book. The replacement is a lame layout of off-blue 60s photos with the silhouette of a character who is clearly not a Marvel hero of the 60s. Also, the book could use a good round of copy-editing both for grammar (e.g. "between he and Mr. Fantastic") and to delete material that is repeated verbatim in several places.

But overall, the book is a great buy, and I look forward to the next volume that will cover "The Twilight Years" (1969-1973?).

Here is a list of the comics reviewed in the book (which are presented in roughly chronological order, though some are out of order for no obvious reason). Many of the selections show Comtois' personal preferences (though I can't argue with lots of Kirby).

Amazing Fantasy 15 (Spider-Man)

Amazing Spider-Man 1-8, 14, 17-19, 25-28, 31-33, 38-40, 48-52, 63-64, Annual 1

Avengers 1, 3-5, 15-16, 19, 32-33, 43-44, 57-61

Captain America 100-105, 108-109

Daredevil 1, 16-19, 25-27, 29-32, 42, 44-48

Dr. Strange 169, 173, 178

FF 1-5, 9, 11-12, 25-26, 33, 38-40, 44-53, 57-67, 76-77, Annual 2-3, 5-6

Incredible Hulk 1-6

Iron Man 1

Journey into Mystery 83, 97, 112, 105-106, 109, 114-115, 125, Annual 1

Marvel Super-Heroes 12

Marvel Tales (reprints) 1

Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD 1, 3, 5

Sgt. Fury 13 and (with no super-heroes) 1, 6, 18, 29

Silver Surfer 1, 3

Strange Tales 101, 110, 114-115, 120, 135, 141-143, 146, 151, 153, Annual 2

Sub-Mariner 1, 5-6

Tales of Suspense 39, 48-49, 54-55, 57, 59, 63, 66, 71, 73, 79-81, 98-99

Tales to Astonish 35, 49-51, 60, 70, 82-83

Thor 126-135, 140, 142-144, 154-157

X-Men 1, 4, 9, 11-16, 46, 50-51, 53

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good read for any Silver Age fanatic, but be on guard for mistakes, December 10, 2009

By 

SLK (New York, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marvel Comics in the 1960s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon (Paperback)

Be warned: you have to be a hardcore Silver Age fanatic to get through this book. The format is not easy on the eyes; the paragraphs are too long, there's a lot of repetition within passages, and the same examples of art are repeated throughout. The repetition may be due to the fact that a lot of what's in the book appears to be from Pierre Comtois' columns for the great Silver Age Marvel Comics Cover Index site. Also, English is probably not Comtois' first language so the translation into English is a bit awkward at times (there are many paragraphs in which the same sentence is repeated, with only slight differences). There are lot of typos, too, including giving Stan Lee's real name as "Leiber" instead of "Lieber."

In addition, there are factual errors, here's a small sample:

Page 10 - misstates Stan Lee's birth year as 1927. Stan was born in 1922.

Page 51 - The new Flash debuted in 1956, not 1955.

Page 182- Comtois credits Joe Sinnott as the inker for the lead story (FF Psycho-Man story) in Fantastic Four Annual #5 (1967). While it's true that the FF Psycho-Man story's credit box lists Sinnott, that was a mistake and this story was actually inked by Frank Giacoia, as was revealed a couple of months later in FF #71's letter column...and this has been widely documented since then (readily available in periodicals, online, etc.).

Am I glad I read this book, even with the poor formatting and mistakes? Yes, because I am a hardcore Silver Age fanatic!!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I liked it - looking forward to Volume 2, October 12, 2009

By 

Jay (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marvel Comics in the 1960s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon (Paperback)

With all of the wonderful silver age Marvel Omnibus and Marvel Essential editions that have come out in recent years (hey Marvel/Disney - can't wait for silver age Cap, Thor, Avengers and FF Vol 3 Omnibuses!), I've been wanting to read all of the early stories in chronological order. This book goes beyond the stories and provides some backstory to how the creators of what we know as the Marvel Universe arrived at those early issues. Some interesting tidbits here and there are presented by the author. A well-written book. Looking forward to purchasing volume 2 - post 1960's.