Women of Marvel, Vol. 2 (v. 2) [Paperback]

Roy Thomas (Author), Chris Claremont (Author), Mark Gruenwald (Author), Terry Austin (Author), John Buscema (Illustrator), Paul Smith (Illustrator), Bret Blevins (Illustrator), Carmine Infantino (Illustrator)

Book Description

Grade Level: 4 and up

More classic tales of Marvel's leading ladies! Featuring Kitty Pryde, Black Cat, Dagger, Spider-Woman, Tigra, Rogue, Storm and more! Collects Avengers #83, Uncanny X-Men #168, Strange Tales #10-11, Spider-Woman #10 and more

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (August 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785127089
• ISBN-13: 978-0785127086
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,247,477 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing. Check Vol. 1 instead., August 28, 2007

By 

Alexei Tatyanov "A" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women of Marvel, Vol. 2 (v. 2) (Paperback)

WOMEN OF MARVEL VOL. 2 demonstrates what happens when the formula is thrown out for fan-service. The first volume sold a respectable 2,360 copies in its first month on the racks, and perhaps Vol. 2 was a way to hit a different fan-angle by using different female characters?

Sad to say, this book lacks direction and purpose.

Vol. 1 was a great stand-alone work collecting the first issues of most of the silver/bronze age female books, with a couple "group" issues thrown in. Reading the origins of characters like THE CAT, SHANNA, MS. MARVEL, and DAZZLER offered the ability to compare these females and their origins. Toss in a couple X-Men issues to give the mutants their shine and an Avengers "girl recruitment" issue, and the book was set.

Volume 2 seems to be "spotlight as many women as possible." Awkward stories are collected. Spider-Woman vs. The Gypsy Moth? Why? THIS is the issue they decide to spotlight for Jessie Drew? Why not simply her debut issue as was with 4 ladies in Vol. 1?

Then we have haphazard X-Men issues: a Kitty Pryde story, a random Rachel Summers/Magma (?) story, a Storm-bests-Cyclops issue, and the most random inclusion: the X-Men fight Juggernaut. Just because the team focused on Dazzler, Psylocke, and Rogue for much of the issue doesn't make it particularly relevant in the grand scheme of women in comics.

Throw in some dreadful Vision/Scarlet Witch story, and poor Cloak/Dagger vignettes and you're left with a strange mix that begs the question: why? Are they just rotating the spotlighted women to see who sticks with a trade audience, or did they run out of ideas to add some overall cohesion to the collection?

The problem is that most issues read horribly as stand-alones. Claremont's issues in particular, and the Spider-Woman spotlight isn't much better (if at all).

The only standout is the Avengers issue in which the ladies join together under "The Valkyrie" to win the spotlight over the men. This issue is a nice bit of self-reflection on the role of women in comics for decades, and offeres nostalgic, ironic humor.

The rest are far too aloof, with their only connection to the title being that the stories feature women. They may not do anything particularly marvelous, but they're there.

Check the much better Vol. 1 instead.