Marvel: Year By Year - A Visual Chronicle
Published by Dorling Kindersley in 2013.
Written by Peter Sanderson, Tom DeFalco, Tom Brevoort, and Matthew K. Manning
"Learn all about the birth of key Marvel Super Heroes from Wolverine and the X-Men, to Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and the rest of the Avengers, plus Spider-Man, Daredevil and Silver Surfer. Discover all about their extraordinary comic book debuts, the geniuses that invented them, the crucial events behind their creation and their continuing influence on the world today via comic books, TV series and blockbuster movies."
For full disclosure, I received a complimentary copy of this
book for review purposes.
Published in 2013, this slipcase edition is an update of the
2010 Marvel Chronicle: A Year-By-Year history. The book’s covers are new for
this edition and quite clever. Brandon Peterson's front cover highlights the
current Marvel roster, while on the back cover, Peterson captures the spirit of
Marvel's formative superhero days with his rendering of classic heroes in their
first appearance form in a mirror image of the front cover. The book's covers
are in stark black and white, but the slipcase is in color and one side has an
embossed feel to it, reminiscent of those 1990s days of variant covers.
If you still have a few Christmas gift cards you're looking
to spend? Look no further. This book is a visual treat for any Marvel Comics’
fan. As with other DK offerings, there’s quite a bit of substance packed
into these busy pages. The year-by-year breakdowns have been well researched
and highlights the key events of each month. The world history sidebar helps
set these write-ups in perspective. While this book is broken down as a
chronology, it’s more of a corporate chronology rather than that of the Marvel Universe.
I loved the two-page spreads that highlighted the art from each time period. This
edition takes you from 1939 right up to 2013.
It’s a beautiful hardcover volume that would fit rather
nicely alongside the DC Comics: A Visual History.
Frank Miller, Ed Hannigan, Michael Golden, Walt Simonson, John Romita Jr., Paul Smith, Rick Leonardi, David Mazzuchelli, Walt Simonson, John Byrne and ??? ... a fair representation of the talents of Marvel Comics of the 80s
ReplyDeleteYes, they did a really nice job with the coverage. Although I'd buy a DK book focused on the 1980s in a snap!
ReplyDeleteI've got this one, I forgot how cool it is, I'll have to revisit sometime.....this Christmas I got the Marvel 75 years of Cover Art book, it's very nice, too!
ReplyDeleteThe only complaint about DK books is I occasionally find errors, especially when it comes to numbering, or first appearances, or the wrong names for team illustrations, but only nerds like myself would notice them.
starfoxxx
starfoxxx
This is indeed a great book and highly recommended.
ReplyDeleteDK have also published a STAR WARS volume which is similar and equally essential for followers of 1980s (and 1970s... and 1990s) Geek Media. It does, of course, cover the Marvel and Dark Horse comics.
Thanks for the comment Starfoxxx.
ReplyDeleteHi Slow Robot, thanks for dropping by.
ReplyDeleteHey SLOW ROBOT....what's the exact title of the DK Star Wars volume???? I tried a search, but there's ALOT of DK Star Wars books out there......Thanks
ReplyDeletestarfoxxx
i think slow was refering to this book:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Comics-Companion-Horse/dp/B005M4YZD2/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421258722&sr=1-2&keywords=star+wars+a+comics+history
The STAR WARS one is called STAR WARS YEAR BY YEAR A VISUAL CHRONICLE. The First Edition I have is in a card slipcase and published in the UK in 2010 BY DK.
ReplyDeleteI have seen another edition, without slipcase, sold in the UK discount book chain THE WORKS. I think the contents are the same in both editions.
oops got the wrong book. .I actually have that one
ReplyDeleteNothing makes the sad decline more obvious than glancing at and comparing, say, 1983, 1993, and 2003...where did all the talent go?
ReplyDelete