Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide to the Cosmic Outlaws

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide to the Cosmic Outlaws

By Nick Jones

DK Publishing
Hardcover, 200 pages

One of my earliest and fondest comic books from my youth is a battered copy of Astonishing Tales #29, which reprinted the first Guardians of the Galaxy story from Marvel Super Heroes #18. In those pre-comic book store days, it was difficult to track down their adventures as they appeared sporadically through Marvel titles, so they drifted by my short attention span.

I caught up a dozen years later with the 1990s Jim Valentino reboot, which was fun, but again the Guardians faded away into B-List Limbo. However, the 2008 cosmic reboot by Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett was a different story. Although this new iteration wasn’t quite my Guardians of the Galaxy, they successfully put together a ragtag team with the spirit of the old.

Okay, so all of that so far was a long-winded build up to my review of DK new book (which was kindly supplied to me for the purposes of a review). I was impressed as it would have been easy to stick to the current incarnation and leverage the 2014 film and it’s 2017 sequel, but author Nick Jones really did his home work. He spends a considerable time not only on the film version of the team, but on the 1970s and 1990s versions. His work also covers the post-2014 film expanded cosmic universe that the comic book heroes have been exploring and adventuring within.

In the typical and reliable DK fashion, the book presents all this information in an impressive and sometimes dizzying visual fashion with a lot of great art clips, covers, timelines, friends, villains, equipment, and character bios. Once you start reading, it's pretty hard not to flip through the whole book!

This hardcover is an impressive refresher on the legacy of the Guardians of the Galaxy and a great primer for the upcoming sequel.

The Mysterious World of Doctor Strange

The Mysterious World of Doctor Strange
Hardcover, 176 pages
DK Publishing
Written by Billy Wrecks, Nick Jones, and Danny Graydon

“The Mysterious World of Doctor Strange is a lavishly illustrated tour of the unique, mind-bending universe of Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme and Marvel Super Hero extraordinaire. The brainchild of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Doctor Strange opens the doors to a wonderland of otherworldly dimensions, mystics and monsters, and demons and demigods.

“Packed with fantastic facts and astonishing artwork selected from over 50 years of Doctor Strange's awesome comic adventures, The Mysterious World of Doctor Strange will delight new and die-hard Marvel fans alike.”

I’ll admit up front that I was apprehensive about this Doctor Strange book, in the same way I was surprised that he was chosen for a feature film. You see, Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme has always been a second tier Marvel character. There’s been significant periods of time where we haven’t even see him in a monthly book, and several of his series were bi-monthly books, or split-title books, like Strange Tales, which he shared with the likes of Nick Fury and Cloak and Dagger.

In many ways, Doctor Strange is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. He’s taken down Galactus, exiled the Hulk, and defended the Earth from extra-dimensional threats on multiple fronts. All the while, the Earth’s population go on with their daily lives with no concept of the battle he fights on their behalf. And that power level is what I believe makes him so difficult to write well.

Now let’s get back to this book. The Mysterious World of Doctor Strange does live up to its advertised billing. While there’s a significant focus on Strange’s recent adventures, the book does a really good job at acknowledging the silver age contributions that established this character’s place in the marvel Universe.

As with all great DK books, this one breaks down Strange’s world by outlining his friends and foes as well as the cosmic entities he encounters and entreats. Easy and fun to read, this hardcover’s a great primer or refresher on the good doctor’s career.

With the movie less than a couple of weeks away, you don't have to look any further as this book shines the all-seeing light of the Eye of Agamotto on Doctor Strange!

The Star Trek Book Reviewed!

The Star Trek Book – Strange New Worlds Boldly Explained
By DK Publishing, published June 2016
Written by Paul Ruditis and Sandford Galden-Stone
Edited by Simon Hugo
336 pages (which includes a comprehensive index and glossary)

“Celebrate 50 years of Star Trek with this comprehensive, authoritative guide. Covering all the TV series and movies, including the current movie continuity. The Star Trek Book explores one of the greatest science-fiction sagas of all time.”

I can’t begin to imagine the task it must have been to create this book. Trying to contain 50 years of Star Trek goodness to only 317 pages was a Herculean task. The writers state up front in the introduction that their goal was to provide “an entertaining overview of the franchise”. And to their credit, that’s exactly what they did.

The book is wonderfully dense, and not in a bad way. But rather in terms of the volume of information they managed to jam in between the covers. Neatly divided up into thematic section, The Star Trek Book breaking down its exploration of this universe into digestible parts. It’s quite clear that the authors have done their homework with crisp write-ups with lots of timelines and diagrams.

I really enjoyed that the book stayed in universe throughout, as if I was someone from the 24^th century reading about the Federation’s history of discovery. I was also impressed with the crew bios of all the show’s incarnations, which I thought might be a bit tedious at first, but proved to be a lot of fun.

If you enjoyed Star Trek Beyond and are looking to discover the Star Trek Universe, or if you’re a Star Trek fan who wants a refresher on what’s gone on in the last 50 years of Trek before the new TV show airs, The Star Trek Book should be your go-to reference!

Captain America: The Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger from DK books

Captain America: The Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger 
by Matthew Forbeck (with Alan Cowsill and Daniel Wallace)
Hardcover 
200 pages
Release Date – Out now!

The good folks at DK Canada were kind enough to send me a review copy of their latest Marvel book… Captain America The Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger! The 200-page hardcover has a nice solid feel to it and the first thing that struck me as I flipped through its pages was the comic book art. The colours and arrangement, especially the two-page spreads, really jump out at you.

The book does a solid job at introducing Marvel’s first Avenger from his inception in 1941 and explores his legacy, equipment, partners, allies, and enemies. The timeline feature did an impressive job breaking down Cap’s history, especially in the last few years as it’s been a tumultuous time for our star-spangled hero. The guide then shifts into a study of each of Captain America’s decades, highlighting storylines and characters. I really enjoyed the Key Issue feature that spotlighted a single issue in each of the decades.

While it’s incredibly difficult to do an indepth look at all of Cap’s 75 years history, I was surprised by the lack of inclusion of two key storylines of the 1980s, the Roger Stern/John Byrne run (although there was a brief mention of Cap running for President) as well as the J.M. DeMatteis/Mike Zeck run. The 1980s section focused on more of the late 80s, while glossing over the much stronger early 1980s content (in my humble opinion, of course). But, to be fair, the book probably cut out a lot of content to fit into the modest 200 pages. DK should investigate doing a guide solely focused on the 1980s (I’ll admit that's a bias request). There’s probably enough history for this character as well as the other Marvel characters to do multiple series of these hardcovers. I’d buy a series of books that focused solely on those key storylines!

Captain America: The Ultimate Guide to the First Avenger is a museum in a box: painstakingly researched, thoughtfully organized, and lavishly decorated with a colourful assortment of comic book art. If you’re getting excited about Captain America: Civil War and want to catch up on the character’s rich history, look no further, this is the guide you need.

The Avengers Encyclopedia

The Avengers Encyclopedia
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
Writers: Matt Forbeck, Matthew K. Manning, Dan Wallace, Alan Cowsill, and Glenn Dakin
Published: Sept 2015
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 352

A quick note that a review copy of this book was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

The size and weight of this encyclopedia is impressive, one could almost say… Mighty. There’s a stunning amount of information jammed into the 350 plus oversized pages. This book isn’t your typical encyclopedia that’s alphabetically divided and feels artificial. Instead you get a well-thought out, thematic division of subject matter, coloured coded for easy reference.

The book respectfully balances the scope of Avengers history from the Silver Age to present. Written by a small army of authors, the encyclopedia breaks down over 250 characters, profiles significant events and storylines, and highlights the various team incarnations. I was also impressed the level of detail presented in the Key Storyline sections that go well beyond a simple summary and make a point of acknowledging comic book creators’ contributions.

The number of images jam packed into each page really pulls you into the book and really gives readers a solid feel for the character or event across the different comic book ages. I really enjoyed the write-ups on Hank Pym, who usually gets overlooked because of his convoluted history and continuity (and not because of his Ant-Man stature).

The Avengers Encyclopedia is the ultimate Avengers reference guide. Face Front True Believers, this volume has it all! If you’re looking to brush up on your Avengers history before Captain America: Civil War, pick up a copy of this book.

Avengers – The Ultimate Character Guide

Avengers – The Ultimate Character Guide
DK Publishing
March 2015 Edition, updating the first edition from 2010.
Written by Alan Cowsill

It's been a challenge to write about this book because my 6 year-old son has been unwilling to put it down. Although his reading skills aren’t quite up to the level of the book, he's spent hours flipping through it and asking me questions about this roster of heroes and villains.

The scope of the book is impressive, featuring over 225 write-ups that span the Avengers’ 60-year legacy. Nice to see new entries for Marvel’s next generation of heroes, like Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) and Nova (Sam Alexander), as well as more obscure characters, like Executioner, Korvac, and The Stranger. The book’s a bit smaller in size than the usual DK guides, but works well for this type of information as well as its ideal price point of under $20 CDN. 

We also had fun comparing the power ranking of characters which prompted a few fan boy debates. However, the “energy projection” characteristics seemed a bit off, especially as it wasn’t clearly explained/defined, for example, Daredevil is ranked with a 4 for Energy Projection while Deathlok is ranked at 1. Perhaps a table or something that provided a more detailed breakdown of each rank levels with examples would have been helpful. 

One minor physical complaint about the book was how the pages were cut at the same width as the hardcover edges, so it's difficult to jump to a specific spot in the book when you first open it.

Putting these minor quibbles aside (which bothered me more than my son), The Avengers – The Ultimate Character Guide is a great book for the young and old Avengers fan in your family. You’ll find yourself picking it up and losing a few hours scouring through the material.

For full disclosure, I did received a complimentary copy for review purposes.

Marvel: Year By Year - A Visual Chronicle

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.