Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics ([Marvel comics) [Hardcover]

Les Daniels (Author)

Book Description

Series: [Marvel comics | Publication Date: September 1991

Five decades of the world's greatest comics.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

I don't even like comic books, but I was completely enthralled by this book. The hefty 300 pages of high clay-content, color-saturated pages with over 700 illustrations and detailed text covers the 50-year history of the canonical comic books company which later became one of the industry's greatest innovators. Here there be artists highly skilled at depicting mayhem with clarity and precision, and writers who unerringly touch the (popular) collective unconscious. In addition to being highly praised within the comic book community, this book has also received rave reviews from mainstream magazines such as Newsday and People. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

The strongest impression one gets from this commemorative album is of the extraordinary skill with which Marvel Comics has hopped on the bandwagon throughout its 50-plus-year history. Timley Publications (Marvel's original name) started publishing superhero comics after Superman and Batman became prominent in the late 1930s (and stopped when the genre lost popularity after WW II), and romance and horror comics after competitors Prize Publications and EC Comics, respectively, popularized those genres in the late 1940s/early 1950s. When DC Comics's Justice League of America repopularized super-heroes, Marvel inaugurated its famous line of superhero comics, starting with The Fantastic Four in 1961. Daniels ( Living in Fear: The History of Horror in the Mass Media ) lays to rest the myth that Marvel publisher Lee (whose introduction is written in hyperbolic, adjective- and alliteration-laden prose) was the sole creator of those 1960s superheroes, which was Marvel's position until others in the field pushed to give proper credit to the artists who worked with Lee, especially Jack Kirby. The book does a fine job of documenting Marvel's overlooked pre-1961 background and is beautifully illustrated.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 287 pages
• Publisher: Harry N Abrams (September 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810938219
• ISBN-13: 978-0810938212
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > History & Price Guides

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the action behind marvel, December 19, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (Petach Tikva Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marvel (First Impressions) (Paperback)

i got the book, opened it in my car and spent half an hour fliiping through it until i realized that i had to get to the office...finished it that evening!
i liked the whole concept and found out a lot (!) of interesting information about marvel, the people behind it, the philosophies, the characters.
the book is easy to read and easy to use.
i dropped off one star from the rating because, in the end, it is rather shallow and there were times when i wanted more information but there just wasn't any.
a good read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MARVEL;Five Fabulous Decades, May 10, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marvel (First Impressions) (Paperback)

I found this a must read.It explores the origins of Marvel Comics like no other book.Included is rare pictures of comics Marvel Comics no#1 to the later 1990'S material.It also shows you the P.T.Burnum Genious of Stan Lee and common sense of what is wanted by the public by founder Martin Goodman.It also shows how the likes of Roy Thomas kept Marvel afloat in latter Silver Age and how hard a job Mark Gruenward tried to survive in the post Yuppie Darth Shooter Marvel-when comic showmanship of Stan the Man had left-taking Marvels Soul with them,without saying much,but implying alot.Rare Namor,FF and Wolverine material is also added in back,along a how too comic lesson.Fun rEADING FOR ALL COMIC FANS.joseph gilbert thompson.maveric comics inc,studios,6142 torresdale avenue,phila,pa,19135.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Make Mine Marvel!, August 23, 1998

By 

"vgutier" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marvel (First Impressions) (Paperback)

First thing: I'm a comic fan. Second thing: I'm mostly a DC fan.

But, looking for a whole understanding of the comic history I ordered this book, and found an excellent time reading it!.

It covers the story of Marvel Comics, its characters, its writers, artists, colorists, everything. Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, John Romita, Sal Buscema, Roy Thomas, Frank Miller and several other big names are part of this adventure.

Here you'll find: a Spider-Man memorabilia collector. preliminary sketches of Wolverine, the Punisher, and others. data on every major marvel character.

Plus: reprints of four "hard-to-find" stories.

Besides, this book was written by one of us, a comic lover.

This book, together with its brother "DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comics", must be on the bookshelf of every comic fan.

(I gave it 4 out of 5 stars mostly because is a book not intended for everyone).