gsroney's review against another edition
5.0
"In form and substance, it's a tribute to the astonishing powers of human imagination and to the way that human imaginations in concert with one another can do far more than they could individually. It's a tale that never ends for any of its characters, even in death.
Those characters—and there are thousands of them—include some extraordinary ones, in whose fantastice excesses you, as a reader, might potentially see parts of yourself, or see what you might hope to become or fear becoming. On any page, you're likely to encounter someone like a computer science student who can talk to squirrels and is friends with an immortal, planet-devouring god; or an android who saved the world thirty-seven times, then moved to the suburbs of Washington, D. C., and built himself a family in a catastrophically failed attempt to become more human; or a vindictive, physically immense crimelord who has become the mayor of New York, and whose archenemy is the alter ego of the blind lawyer who serves as his deputy mayor; or a woman who discovered as a teenager that she could walk through walls, was briefly possessed by a version of herself from a dystopian future, trained as a ninja, later spent months trapped inside a gigantic bullet flying through the cosmos, and is now a pirate captain; or a tree creature from another planet who makes remarkably expressive use of his three-word vocabulary."
Five out of Five stars. This seems gimmicky at first (a sort of "Man Reads All Marvel Comics So You Don't Have To"), but quickly turns into an impassioned and entertaining analysis and summary of the Marvel story from the beginning of its "sliding timeline," to its present, showing how it has changed and evolved based on our real world, of which it is a reflection. And while this book is certainly that, it is also a charming billet-doux to comics, superhero comics in particular, and specifically Marvel superhero comics. Wolk is able to highlight what is simultaneously lovable and ridiculous or confusing about these stories, while not shying away from the ugly underside of many comics of the past (that is, the racist, sexist, and homophobic language or depictions found in comics and the more recent attempts to "do better"). There are whole chapters on Spider-Man, Black Panther, Squirrel Girl (I know, right?!), The X-Men, Shang-Chi, and various "events," but I found myself wishing for a book twice as long—where is the chapter on Daredevil or The Guardians of the Galaxy, or The Inhumans? I suppose I can hope for a sequel, and then a book just like this for DC comics.
I enjoyed every bit of this.
Those characters—and there are thousands of them—include some extraordinary ones, in whose fantastice excesses you, as a reader, might potentially see parts of yourself, or see what you might hope to become or fear becoming. On any page, you're likely to encounter someone like a computer science student who can talk to squirrels and is friends with an immortal, planet-devouring god; or an android who saved the world thirty-seven times, then moved to the suburbs of Washington, D. C., and built himself a family in a catastrophically failed attempt to become more human; or a vindictive, physically immense crimelord who has become the mayor of New York, and whose archenemy is the alter ego of the blind lawyer who serves as his deputy mayor; or a woman who discovered as a teenager that she could walk through walls, was briefly possessed by a version of herself from a dystopian future, trained as a ninja, later spent months trapped inside a gigantic bullet flying through the cosmos, and is now a pirate captain; or a tree creature from another planet who makes remarkably expressive use of his three-word vocabulary."
Five out of Five stars. This seems gimmicky at first (a sort of "Man Reads All Marvel Comics So You Don't Have To"), but quickly turns into an impassioned and entertaining analysis and summary of the Marvel story from the beginning of its "sliding timeline," to its present, showing how it has changed and evolved based on our real world, of which it is a reflection. And while this book is certainly that, it is also a charming billet-doux to comics, superhero comics in particular, and specifically Marvel superhero comics. Wolk is able to highlight what is simultaneously lovable and ridiculous or confusing about these stories, while not shying away from the ugly underside of many comics of the past (that is, the racist, sexist, and homophobic language or depictions found in comics and the more recent attempts to "do better"). There are whole chapters on Spider-Man, Black Panther, Squirrel Girl (I know, right?!), The X-Men, Shang-Chi, and various "events," but I found myself wishing for a book twice as long—where is the chapter on Daredevil or The Guardians of the Galaxy, or The Inhumans? I suppose I can hope for a sequel, and then a book just like this for DC comics.
I enjoyed every bit of this.
scribe391's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
History and analysis of Marvel Comics.
A run down of what makes certain issues memorable
A run down of what makes certain issues memorable
aimmyarrowshigh's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. I've never felt so seen by a nonfiction narrative before, as someone who is painfully obsessive about things that I love (and it doesn't hurt that right now, that's Marvel). The first three chapters, and the ending appendix, in particular are pinpoint-accurate descriptions of the racing ADHD, obsessive fangirl* mind as it pings from reference to reference, metatext to intertext to intratext, while trying to consume "just one" piece of media. Wolk's secondary focus, on how obsessive love of a piece of media exists ultimately as a vehicle for connection -- to people you meet online or at conventions, to your parent or your child, to other obsessive fans, and to the world at large -- made my heart clench. There's nothing like being able to share why you love what you love with someone else; it's laying your heart bare and saying, this is what I think about myself and about the world, see me in it, here? and being heard. Wolk produced this whole book to say that, and I heard him. I've literally recommended this to everyone I know.
*gender neutral
*gender neutral
bri__gu's review against another edition
5.0
This was like one giant Wikipedia article with each chapter dedicated to a particular character or group of characters. Really well done and a great refresher course for those interested in the greater Marvel comics story.
literatetexan's review against another edition
4.0
Entertaining but a lot of plot summary. Strange omissions, although I understand the book couldn't encompass all the stories. I would have enjoyed more of the memoir stuff, like the chapters at the beginning where he explained the project or the chapter where he's reading the comic books aloud to his kid. Still, it's the first thing I've read in ages that made me want to read some of the more recent Marvel Comics.
mschlat's review against another edition
3.0
The premise: Douglas Wolk has read every single Marvel comic book (with a few caveats), is viewing that reading as the exploration of a single fictional setting, and is carrying out a critical and cultural exegesis of the Marvel Universe. So - as a long comics reader and Marvel fan - this book should be right up my alley. It's not, and here's why....
1) Wolk is writing more as an apologist than as a critic. Wolk loves Marvel comics (and perhaps you need to be to read 27,000 issues). And that love often shows itself in promotion of the work (and his project) rather than examination. For example, the first three chapters focus on how you, the reader, can start reading Marvel comics anywhere, and it will be okay --- you will eventually figure out what you need to know.
When Wolk moves to the actual description of the comics, there is more criticism. As one example, his dissection of the different phases of Spider-man comics (with the Lee/Ditko issues focusing on finding father figures for Peter Parker) was very illuminating. And, in general, Wolk is very talented at finding the key themes of early Marvel work and pointing out how creators after Lee, Kirby, and Ditko had difficulties finding a new ethos for the characters they wrote.
But the critical focus is almost always concentrated on helping a reader see the grand themes. Wolk is helping you become a better Marvel reader. He's rarely interested in challenging the texts (as in --- to pick an extreme example ---[b:How to Read Donald Duck|197739|How to Read Donald Duck Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic|Ariel Dorfman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1172607383l/197739._SX50_.jpg|191273]), reevaluating the idea of heroism (see most of Alan Moore's work), or exploring any extensive interplay with the historical context and the market-driven nature of the genre. In the end, the writing reminded me of biblical commentary from a fundamentalist perspective: the focus is making you a more educated Christian, period.
[My wife joked that I wanted The Comics Journal version of this book, and she's right. And if you understand that comment, you probably will have issues too.]
2) The writing style is too fragmented. In many chapters, Wolk organizes the material by introducing an issue (e.g., "Fantastic Four #whatever, written and drawn by such and such, published whenever ") and then using that issue to illustrate the theme he is exploring. Part of the charm of the book is how Wolk jumps from title to title and decade to decade in doing this; by no means is this a chronological history of Marvel. But his commitment to that structure means every time he jumps to an issue we stop, get a synopsis, and then continue with the criticism. After a while, I found the jumping tiring and wished there was a more straightforward way for him to use the texts as evidence.
So, not my cup of tea overall, but I absolutely enjoyed bits of it. (Wolk has the best take on the differences between Claremont and Byrne that I've ever read.) I just don't think it's the critical exegesis I wanted to see.
1) Wolk is writing more as an apologist than as a critic. Wolk loves Marvel comics (and perhaps you need to be to read 27,000 issues). And that love often shows itself in promotion of the work (and his project) rather than examination. For example, the first three chapters focus on how you, the reader, can start reading Marvel comics anywhere, and it will be okay --- you will eventually figure out what you need to know.
When Wolk moves to the actual description of the comics, there is more criticism. As one example, his dissection of the different phases of Spider-man comics (with the Lee/Ditko issues focusing on finding father figures for Peter Parker) was very illuminating. And, in general, Wolk is very talented at finding the key themes of early Marvel work and pointing out how creators after Lee, Kirby, and Ditko had difficulties finding a new ethos for the characters they wrote.
But the critical focus is almost always concentrated on helping a reader see the grand themes. Wolk is helping you become a better Marvel reader. He's rarely interested in challenging the texts (as in --- to pick an extreme example ---[b:How to Read Donald Duck|197739|How to Read Donald Duck Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic|Ariel Dorfman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1172607383l/197739._SX50_.jpg|191273]), reevaluating the idea of heroism (see most of Alan Moore's work), or exploring any extensive interplay with the historical context and the market-driven nature of the genre. In the end, the writing reminded me of biblical commentary from a fundamentalist perspective: the focus is making you a more educated Christian, period.
[My wife joked that I wanted The Comics Journal version of this book, and she's right. And if you understand that comment, you probably will have issues too.]
2) The writing style is too fragmented. In many chapters, Wolk organizes the material by introducing an issue (e.g., "Fantastic Four #whatever, written and drawn by such and such, published whenever ") and then using that issue to illustrate the theme he is exploring. Part of the charm of the book is how Wolk jumps from title to title and decade to decade in doing this; by no means is this a chronological history of Marvel. But his commitment to that structure means every time he jumps to an issue we stop, get a synopsis, and then continue with the criticism. After a while, I found the jumping tiring and wished there was a more straightforward way for him to use the texts as evidence.
So, not my cup of tea overall, but I absolutely enjoyed bits of it. (Wolk has the best take on the differences between Claremont and Byrne that I've ever read.) I just don't think it's the critical exegesis I wanted to see.
teorogers29's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0