The Golden Age of Marvel Comics

Rating:
Summary: A collection of classic, though heavily reprinted, stories.
Review: I picked this book up at a recent comic convention- I missed it upon initial release in 1997. It's a great compendium of early Timely/Marvel Comics stories (and only one by Stan Lee!), with perhaps half of the stories concentrating on the lesser-known Marvel characters.

The stories themselves aren't bad- they are at least a match for other "Golden Age" comics, and some of the stories are fairly lyrical, such as the reprint of the first Sub-Mariner story in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1.

A large proportion of the stories reprinted concern Captain America, Nazis, or both- the ethnic represntation of the Germans (and occasionally the Japanese) might be highly offensive to people unaware that they are reading uncensored stories published at the height of WWII.

My complaints are: many/most of the stories published in this trade paperback have been heavily reprinted in the past. Anyone with a collection of older Marvel Superheroes or Marvel Tales will already own half of the stories. Also, the printing quality of a couple of stories is akin to reading color photocpies... but for the most part the reprints are clear and clean.

If you're interested in Marvel's past and don't yet own a stack of their reprint comics, then this trade paperback is a good investment.

Rating:
Summary: A collection of classic, though heavily reprinted, stories.
Review: I picked this book up at a recent comic convention- I missed it upon initial release in 1997. It's a great compendium of early Timely/Marvel Comics stories (and only one by Stan Lee!), with perhaps half of the stories concentrating on the lesser-known Marvel characters.

The stories themselves aren't bad- they are at least a match for other "Golden Age" comics, and some of the stories are fairly lyrical, such as the reprint of the first Sub-Mariner story in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1.

A large proportion of the stories reprinted concern Captain America, Nazis, or both- the ethnic represntation of the Germans (and occasionally the Japanese) might be highly offensive to people unaware that they are reading uncensored stories published at the height of WWII.

My complaints are: many/most of the stories published in this trade paperback have been heavily reprinted in the past. Anyone with a collection of older Marvel Superheroes or Marvel Tales will already own half of the stories. Also, the printing quality of a couple of stories is akin to reading color photocpies... but for the most part the reprints are clear and clean.

If you're interested in Marvel's past and don't yet own a stack of their reprint comics, then this trade paperback is a good investment.

Rating:
Summary: One of Marvel's last significant hurrahs
Review: In the late '90s, Marvel was going down the tubes, both financially and creatively. There was an enormous amount of dreck flooding the shelves, and no matter what schemes they tried, either with product or licensing, they were losing money like crazy. Before declaring bankruptcy, they released two trade paperback collections of their Golden Age material, presenting a selection of the best of that era. While they may not have been well-received by the younger crowd, it was one of the best ideas Marvel had in a while (definitely going against the grain), and it was a treat for fans of comic history. Once again, readers could enjoy the simplistic stories of classic WW-II Marvel characters such as Captain America, Sub-Mariner, the Angel, the Destroyer, Marvel Boy, the Fin, Citizen V, and the Human Torch.

The Golden Age of Marvel Comics, Volumes 1 and 2 can be considered Marvel's equivalent of a public service. It's historical preservation in a market that has a notoriously short attention span. When the majority of fans and retailers were demanding more high-octane heroes showering their foes with bullets, we got two beautiful yet affordable collections of Golden Age greats, showing readers that, while the stories and art of the Golden Age might not have been all that "golden", the characters and their appeal more than made up for it. You can clearly see the elements of these stories that fascinated aspiring writers and artists, leading to their expanding these characters in ways never dreamed of during Marvel's Silver Age and beyond. The covers for both volumes are beautiful: for 1, a battle scene by Ray Lago; for 2, a Kirby/Theakston image. The intros provide some very good historical perspective on the contents.

Marvel is now back on its feet, sort of, but don't expect these books to be reprinted anytime in the near future. The current crowd at Marvel seems to be even more out of touch than the previous one and apparently has no understanding of the treasure it is sitting on.

Rating:
Summary: The Golden Age of Marvel Comics volume 1 is a must read!
Review: Released in 1997, The Golden Age of Marvel Comics volume 1 is a collection of early comic book stories from the Golden Age of comic books. Featuring Marvel Comics' Big Three: Captain America, The Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch, along with stories of other characters like The Vision, The Destroyer, The Angel, and the Black Knight, this is a book that every fan of old comic books will enjoy again and again.

Representing the works of writers and artists of the Golden Age like creators Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, Russ Heath, Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., and others, this book is a great example of the early days of Marvel Comics' history, back then called Timely Comics. It shows how the art form of comic books was done in a time of war and depression. This is a worthwhile read.

This book was followed up with The Golden Age of Marvel Comics volume 2 released in 1999.

Rating:
Summary: The Golden Age of Marvel Comics volume 2 is worth reading!
Review: The Golden Age of Marvel Comics volume 2, released in 1999, is a collection of various stories from Marvel Comics' Golden Age era (the first volume of The Golden Age of Marvel Comics was released in 1997). Back then, Marvel Comics was known as Timely Comics, and would later go on to become one of the most successful comic book publishers (alongside longtime competitor, DC Comics).

This book features stories with Marvel's "big three": the original Human Torch, Captain America, and The Sub-Mariner, as well as lesser known, now obscure characters like The Fin, Red Raven, and The Vision (I don't think this is the same one as the android Vision now appearing in Marvel's The Avengers series), as well as a few others. These classics are by the writers and artists of comics' Golden Age: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, and many others, including one story written by Stan Lee. The book also features an introduction by the legendary Mickey Spillane.

Overall, this book makes for an excellent read, especially for people interested in the early years of comic books. Most of the stories are set during World War II, so some people may be offended with the Germans and Japanese as the Nazis villains.

Rating:
Summary: A must for Golden Age comic book fans!
Review: This book is a collection of Golden Age Marvel Comics. These aren't as sophisticated or complicated as today's comics, but these are the stories that started the industry, and well worth reading. This book doesn't just focus on the super-heroes, either. Other genres are represented in its pages. If you want to understand the history of comic books, pick this one up.

Rating:
Summary: A must for Golden Age comic book fans!
Review: This book is a collection of Golden Age Marvel Comics. These aren't as sophisticated or complicated as today's comics, but these are the stories that started the industry, and well worth reading. This book doesn't just focus on the super-heroes, either. Other genres are represented in its pages. If you want to understand the history of comic books, pick this one up.