Marvels

Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece by Masters
Review: Hello, Dolly! I am a major fan of Marvel Comics, and I've seen just about everything they've ever put out. But this made my jaw drop! First of all, Busiek's story about a photographer witnessing the cosmic events of the Marvel Universe is pure genius. Second, the story seems to flow from book to book, which, in my opinion, is very important. And last, but certainly not least, Alex Ross did the art! The best painter in comics today (voted by fans, creators, and critics alike) did the art! I've seen the best of the best in comic book art, but Ross takes the cake and eats it too. Simply put: this is one of the best that Marvel (or any other publisher, for that matter) has to offer!

Rating:
Summary: Believe the hype
Review: I agree with other reviewers in that a working knowledge of the Marvel universe in the 40's and 60's is crucial to getting the references in this graphic novel. That said, it's a stunning piece of work, starring an ordinary guy in a world seemingly gone mad. I enjoyed the human (and humane) angle in the writing, which ends on a highly literate note. And certainly not enough can be said about the art. Ross puts as much love and detail into a man smoking a cigarette in a diner as he does a superhero battling Galactus. I've never seen such love lavished on non-action scenes in a comic book as I have here. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: This is truly a Marvel
Review: I borrowed this book from my friend. A bunch of people I know had read it and reccomended it to me. I picked it up thinking that it was going to be a book with good art but no real substance. Ross's art is impeckable, almost photo-realistic. Busiek faithfully recreates such landmark Marvel moments as the first coming of Galactus and the death of Gwen Stacy. If you've ever wondered what normal folks in Marvel's New York thought of their superheros, read Marvels.

Rating:
Summary: This book is OK.
Review: I first read these issues when they came out in 1993, and I was quite impressed with how they worked it out. The intelligent script by Kurt Busiek and the real life paintings of all the Marvel Characters by Alex Ross, certainly made the Marvel Universe now appear like a real world with real flesh and blood characters living in it. Along with essays by Stan Lee and John Romita, this book serves as both good reading and also as a blue print for how these characters are being done at the movies.

Rating:
Summary: A Live Action Book on the Marvel Universe.
Review: I first read these issues when they came out in 1993, and I was quite impressed with how they worked it out. The intelligent script by Kurt Busiek and the real life paintings of all the Marvel Characters by Alex Ross, certainly made the Marvel Universe now appear like a real world with real flesh and blood characters living in it. Along with essays by Stan Lee and John Romita, this book serves as both good reading and also as a blue print for how these characters are being done at the movies.

Rating:
Summary: A truly great book... but
Review: I really enjoyed reading Marvels. The art was superb and the writing was extraordinary. However, I have to complain about the way some copies (at least the paperbound version) of the book are binded.

The bottom part of my book was not glued on so well that even after gingerly reading it, parts of the book where it met with the cover got split apart. I tried crazygluing it together carefully but this did not stop the pages from coming apart. Worse, the crazyglue made things worse as it stuck valuable pages together in undesirable ways. (Moral of the story: no matter how tempted you are, don't crazyglue your books)

But still, Marvels is so good that I'm willing to buy another good copy of it, provided the binding is right this time. However, I looked at a copy at one store and noticed that it also has weak binding in the same spot. This led me to conclude that there is a whole batch of Marvels out there with really weak binding.

I hope one day they reprint this and that when that time comes, they get the binding right.

This is so sad because not only the book relatively expensive but it is now also a rare, hard-to-find commodity in stores and on Amazon.com. This is really a beatiful book, but too bad one small thing such as its binding made my copy suck.

Write in if you have the same problem.

Rating:
Summary: MARVELous nostalgia.
Review: I think the art by Ross is exceptional. However, I think this book is mainly for the fans of the conerstone characters of Marvel Entertainment. For me, my childhood flashed before my eyes. All Marvel comics fans will get a lot pleasure out of this book.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe Marvel Comics ain't so bad.
Review: I'll be honest with you. I'm a DC fan; specifically Superman. The only reason why I bought this comic was because it was painted by Alex Ross. but then, as I read the pages, I began to realize how very well-written the comic was, and MARVELS became a welcome addition to my comic collection. having read KINGDOM COME and UNCLE SAM, I knew MARVELS had some tough competition (and yes, I am aware of their publishing dates). Frankly, I thought I'd read it once and place it with my other comics and never read it again. Thank God I was wrong about that! The story was masterfully told, the art was expertly done, and the interviews were magnificent. And while I'm unfamiliar with the Marvel Comics timeline, the story was great for a first reader. I'm proud to have MARVELS as one of my favorite comics.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best comics ever in a brilliant special edition
Review: It's hard for me to justify the expense of a hardcover graphic novel, especially if it's a collection of individual issues I already have, but when I heard about the Marvels 10th Anniversary edition I knew I would have to get it. Not only is Marvels one of my favorite comics of all time, but the extras packed into this book really show how collected editions are starting to become the DVD equivalent for comic books.

In "Marvels," Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross took us through the life of photojournalist Phil Sheldon, an old-fashioned newspaperman with printer's ink in his veins and a camera to his eye. Phil, however, lives in a more fantastic universe than you or I, he lives in the Marvel Universe, home of Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the X-Men. Through four issues, we watch how Phil and his world grew and changed, how people thought about the superheroes -- the Marvels, as Phil called them -- and how perceptions evolved along the way. It's a beautiful, poignant series about ordinary heroism, hero worship, and the heroic ideal. Ten years later, it's still one of the best comics I've ever read.

If you've already read the comics, though, there is still stuff here for you. This collection includes the four pitches Busiek and Ross went through to get the series made, the complete scripts for all four issues, character sketches, production and promotional artwork, a guide to "Easter Eggs" in the artwork, a section on Ross' technique of painting from photographed models and even the text of all the newspaper articles that only partially appeared throughout the series. It's packed, and that makes the reading all the more fun.

If you've never read "Marvels," you're missing out. If you read it and loved it, this book takes the story one step further. Kudos to Marvel for putting out such a great edition of such an important comic book.

Rating:
Summary: Work of Art
Review: Marvel comics made history when it introduced art whiz, Alex Ross, to the general comic book public. In a 4 part miniseries, collected handsomely in this TPB, Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross take us on a history run of Marvel's most famous heroes, as we learn of their beginnings and take a ride down memory lane through the eyes of a photojournalist, a normal human.

Marvels is a success in two different aspects. The first being the extensive history, writer Kurt Busiek, takes on to bring all the right details in Marvel's events and actually make them fit. Be it sheer will or just luck, but he masterfully weaves a pattern that brings justice to Marvel's long abode that the company truly works on continuity and that a small even happening to one of the heroes will eventually affect another some other time. The art is something else. Alex Ross is amazing. Though he's not as crisp as he is in his later works like Kingdom Come, his work on Marvels takes on an evolutionary step in the visual rendition of comic books. The comic medium becomes not just restricted to pencil art, but full fledged painted art. Through it all, you can get a feel that his work gets better with each chapter. Chapter 3 and 4 being the most visually appealing.

Marvels is truly a gem of a work. It was a huge commercial success and racked some numerous awards too. It was interesting to look at the Marvel Universe through the eyes of your average joe. The same concept of the third party spawned the idea of the highly successful Spiderman's Tangled Web. This can only mean the comics are not just interested in stories about their favorite heroes, but also the people in which these heroes can affect their life. It is only through that do people can fully relate to and think that guy could very well be me. Marvels paved the way with a top notch story and over the top art.