Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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31 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Marvel Comics History - With Some Gimmicks, November 4, 2007
I bought this book and it provides a nice overview of Marvel Comics from its pulp magazine roots to its current incarnation as a multimedia giant.
The reader is given glimpses of the inside of Marvel, however the main gimmick of this collection is the reproductions of various Marvel items; and this is where the disappointment lies. Some of the items like the buttons are just paper reproductions (not actual badges); the reprint of the Marvel No Prize Book is dark in color; and the reproduction of a Marvel Convention Program is so small as to be unreadable. In all cases full size reproductions could have been slid into the plastic binder pockets.
Some of the ommissions are glaring. Marvel Value Stamps are reproduced and it is stated that a prize was given for a full set of stamps; but what was the prize?
The binding is spiral so turn the pages slowly and you will have to settle in your mind if you want to throw out the cardboard backed inside the box or retain it for mint value.
While the Marvel Vault makes a nice gift book; a more complete and fun to read history (including key story reprints) is Marvel- Five Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by noted comic historian Les Daniels.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A REMINDER OF A SIMPLER AND EXCITING TIME IN COMICS, December 10, 2007
Over the past couple of years there have been some fantastic books that have been published about Marvel Comics. Last year, Sterling Publishing released "The Amazing Marvel Universe" which featured Stan Lee's 50 greatest moments in Marvel history. The book came with an audio box programmed with 68 tracks of commentary from Stan Lee himself. This year, Running Press has released another outstanding collector's book, "The Marvel Vault: A Museum-in-A-Book" and the title says it all.
This book traces Marvel's history from the Golden Age right up through the present and is loaded with reproduction memorabilia culled from Marvel's nearly 70-year history. It is written by Roy Thomas, writer and former Marvel Editor-in-Chief (and one of the foremost comic book scholars around) along with comic book critic and historian, Peter Sanderson.
Marvel's lineage is traced back even prior to the formation of Timely comics to publisher Martin Goodman who began publishing pulp magazines in 1932. With the pulp market dwindling in the late 1930's, Goodman jumped into the new market of comic books with the publication of Marvel Comics #1 in 1939, and the rest, as they say, is history. I mentioned all of the little treasures to be found within...the reproduction pieces all come in clear plastic sleeves for protection. The first such piece is a set of 8 sketches by artist Bill Everett featuring his creation, the Sub-Mariner. These sketches are breakdowns for covers or splash pages, one of which shows the Human Torch and Toro lobbing fireballs at Hitler.
Naturally the book covers Marvel's major Golden Age heroes but it also spotlights those who failed rather miserably such as Red Raven and the original Vision. Rare panel art and covers, many of them being seen for the first time since their publication decades ago, is a highlight of the book. Often times, when people think about Marvel's history they jump right from the Golden Age to the early 1960's, completely overlooking the decade of the 1950's. Marvel did not totally abandon the super hero comic as many might think, evidenced by the debut of Marvel Boy, later known as Quasar. Marvel's books of the 50's were highlighted by an array of horror, sci-fi, war, and westerns with nearly forgotten titles like Mystic, Menace, Navy Combat, and Yellow Claw. I loved the chapter on the 1950's because I knew so little about Marvel's books of that period.
It was the 60's where Marvel exploded with Fantastic Four #1 in 1961. Another of the treasures is Stan Lee's two-page, typed treatment for Fantastic Four #1. From there we meet The Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, Dr. Strange, Iron Man, and the Avengers. There are vintage photographs of the Marvel Bullpen and rare convention photos such as Marvel's long-time secretary Flo Steinberg attending a 1960's comic convention, and Roy Thomas playing softball in Central Park in the 70's. I've always felt that the reason that Marvel eventually surpassed DC as the top publisher was the way they listened to, and embraced their fan base with clubs, and no-prizes, and letter column comments. With this book you can own your own ID card and certificate to the Merry Marvel Marching Society, Marvel's original fan club. Classic comic ads are reprinted for things such as Marvel T-shirts, which could be had for the princely sum of a buck and a half...with .15 cents for postage and handling!
Some of the other reproduction pieces include a Howard the Duck campaign sticker, a set of 10 of the Marvel Value stamps from the mid-70's which NO ONE ever cut out, a visitor pass to the Marvel offices, and a copy of Roy Thomas' stock certificate from 1993 for twenty shares when the company went public.
For an old Marvel fan like myself, this is the kind of book that made you feel like a kid again when comics were just plain fun. With Christmas fast approaching, this will make a great gift. At $50 it is well worth the price.
REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The presence of the ephemera overshadows the superficial and error-riddled text, August 1, 2008
The Marvel Vault is billed as a "museum in-a-box", and that's pretty much what it is. It's illustrated not only with covers and interior art from pricey comics and photos of their creators, but also with reproductions of ephemera such as character and cover sketches and unedited artwork. Also, several clear vinyl sleeves hold reproductions of Marvel ephemera such as the Marvel Value Stamps and the program book from the 1973 Marvel Comic Art Convention.
There are better choices if you're looking for a history of Marvel Comics (Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels is probably the best known, but also worth reading are Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution by Ronin Ro and Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones, though the last doesn't focus exclusively on Marvel) but the real attraction here is the rare art, preproduction sketches and other stuff out of the reach of the average comics fan. It's fun to see ephemera from the original Marvel fan club and hand-drawn greeting cards autographed by the entire Marvel staff. The presence of the ephemera overshadows the superficial and error-riddled text.
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