Rating: 
Summary: A great graphic novel!
Review: This fascinating graphic novel is a history of the Marvel universe, seen through the eyes of "common people", and more particularly, Phil Sheldon, press photographer. Throughout his career, Phil watches the superheroes ("Marvels" as he calls them), and also he watches the common people as they interact with the Marvels. Along the way, the reader is treated to a few essays by Stan Lee, Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, and Scott McCloud, with their thoughts on the Marvels.This book bored my eight-year-old son, as the superheroes were such minor characters. But, I found myself caught up in the story; reliving memories of watching the Marvel universe unfold throughout my life. (Boy, do I wish that I had saved those old comic books!) I found the authors' take on things to be quite though provoking. Indeed, he showed how people have always had a love/hate relationship with the Marvels from their inception through the 1970s, in spite of the other changes in their world. This is a great graphic novel, one with a refreshingly different take. I highly recommend it to you!
Rating:
Summary: Marvel-ous
Review: This has to be considered the pinnacle of Kurt Busiek's comic work. Magnificently plotted, and then deliciously illustrated by Alex Ross, the chapters follow a news photographer (and his family) through the various eras/storylines of the Marvel Universe, beginning w/its first-ever hero, the Original Human Torch. The chapter concentrating on the X-Men and the "mutant scare" is absolutely brilliant. The plight of the little mutant girl Maggie may even bring a tear to your eye. The chapter that focuses on the first coming of Galactus is a close second. Each page of this TPB is to be savored, as Ross' paintings are simply exquisite.
Rating:
Summary: A good book, but mainly for comic fans
Review: This is a book that is up there with The Dark Knight Returns, but it does not reach the greatness of the Watchmen. If you like comics (specifically Marvel Comics) you will definitely like this book. If you do not I would recommend Watchmen instead.
Rating:
Summary: Ground Breaking Series introducing the Marvel Heroes
Review: This is a ground breaking work . A must read for all Marvel fans.
Rating:
Summary: The Book that made Alex Ross and Kurt Busiek Great
Review: This is an absolute masterpiece. The paintings of Alex Ross are spectacular as he shows the most true to life look of the heros and villians of the Marvel Universe. With such captivating images you just savor every single picture. The most stunning being the appearance of Galactus and the Silver Surfer. An amazing recap of the early days of the Marvel Universe. The Silver Age never looked so good. The story telling was wonderful. As we the reader are giving the sense of awe that is felt by the "normal" citizens of the Marvel Univers as they are forced to see how powerless they are in the face of these champions. Learning to trust their champions and and cheering their triumphs. Busiek and Ross really created a timeless classic. Strong recommendation to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Marvel fans ought to love it...
Review: This is deserving of most the praise it's been given, but it's not the most ground-breaking or amazing comic you'll read, as some have made it out to be. Marvels opens with a quite great retelling of the Human Torch's origin. It was so dark and well done that it almost mislead me to believe that the rest of the book would utilize this kind of narrative. Not so. Marvels is seen through the pupils of a photojournalist, Phil Sheldon. It starts at the height of WWII and ends around the 50-60s (? note i'm not sure) era. Superheroes exist and are given a negative, then positive, then negative, then positive/negative reception throughout the course of the book. The plot serves to give readers on idea of what it was like for regular people to see superhumans fighting evildoers in the skies above them. It also manages to tie in several classic Marvel events, and is quite accurate at that, following the timeline to an exact extent. However, whether or not this was intentional, Busiek leaves a lot of questions unanswered. For instance, the mutants have prominent role in books 2-3, but seem to just be forgotten about in 4, with no explanation as to what happened to them. There are also more than a few wasted opportunities in the introduction of some of the minor characters, because those too are forgotten about in the end. I cannot say I found myself too fond of the duo's modern rendition of Gwen's death either. It seemed to come across as four quick pages (not a lot) detailing Phil's meeting with Gwen, then jumped straight across to four or so pages of the faithful action sequence with Spiderman. And here all of a sudden Phil is sad. This is NOT the fashion in which this milestone should've been (re)done, because while there are a ton of word panels describing how down he is feeling, the reader feels nothing because there was so little exposition on it that it ended up being worth next to nothing on the emotional scale. In this respect, Marvels can be cast into the light of a flawed masterpiece. It is flawed because of rather poor planning in the plotline, with too much emphasis on getting it all to work in the timeline, and it is a masterpiece in that the artwork is phenomenal; Ross carried Busiek's vision forth with no hurdles.
So in the end, I'd recommend getting this if you think you're an old-school fan of (Marvel) comics. You'll no doubt see past the errors/mistakes and love it for what it is: a great superhero yarn told through the eyes of an everyman.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular
Review: This is one of the best comic books I've ever read. I remember when this comic first came out and for some reason, just seeing this comic on the stands, I knew I had to buy it despite the heavy price tag for the acetate cover they originally were printed in. But was it ever worth it! This comic features some of the most loving tributes to the days of yesteryear that it's like it almost transports you there and makes you want to live in this time. Great. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story
Review: This is the first time that when I finished reading a comic book I thought, "This would make a wonderful movie." This is a story told not from a superhero point of view but from that of a photographer. It highlights some of the major events in Marvel comics history from the original Human Torch to the coming of the X-Men to, my personal favorite, the death of Gwen Stacy. Kurt Busiek has crafted a story that flows so smoothly once you start to read you won't want to quit until it's over and then you'll want to re-read. This is only highlighted by the dazzling art of Alex Ross who realistic style meshes together so well with the story. If you're a fan of Marvel comics or a good story, this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: This is what got me into comics in the first place. This story is well written and has great art. The story isn't about the superheros directly but about humans looking at the "Marvels" from the outside. The art, while not traditional comics art, but rather paintings are fantastic. They look like painted art rather than abstract art stuffed in to look like a comic book. The story is a human interest story but very well done, not dry and boring. This might not be a good buy if you're just getting into comics but it is still a great story with excellent art.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: This is what got me into comics in the first place. This story is well written and has great art. The story isn't about the superheros directly but about humans looking at the "Marvels" from the outside. The art, while not traditional comics art, but rather paintings are fantastic. They look like painted art rather than abstract art stuffed in to look like a comic book. The story is a human interest story but very well done, not dry and boring. This might not be a good buy if you're just getting into comics but it is still a great story with excellent art.
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