Coming up: "All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told"
Out Oct. 5. Order now from Amazon.
Details:
The first-ever full reckoning with Marvel Comics’ interconnected, half-million-page story, a revelatory guide to the “epic of epics”—and to the past sixty years of American culture—from a beloved authority on the subject who read all 27,000+ Marvel superhero comics and lived to tell the tale
The superhero comic books that Marvel Comics has published since 1961 are, as Douglas Wolk notes, the longest continuous, self-contained work of fiction ever created: over half a million pages to date, and still growing. The Marvel story is a gigantic mountain smack in the middle of contemporary culture. Thousands of writers and artists have contributed to it. Everyone recognizes its protagonists: Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men. Eighteen of the hundred highest-grossing movies of all time are based on parts of it. Yet not even the people telling the story have read the whole thing—nobody’s supposed to. So, of course, that’s what Wolk did: he read all 27,000+ comics that make up the Marvel Universe thus far, from Alpha Flight to Omega the Unknown.
And then he made sense of it—seeing into the ever-expanding story, in its parts and as a whole, and seeing through it, as a prism through which to view the landscape of American culture. In Wolk’s hands, the mammoth Marvel narrative becomes a fun-house-mirror history of the past sixty years, from the atomic night terrors of the Cold War to the technocracy and political division of the present day—a boisterous, tragicomic, magnificently filigreed epic about power and ethics, set in a world transformed by wonders.
As a work of cultural exegesis, this is sneakily significant, even a landmark; it’s also ludicrously fun. Wolk sees fascinating patterns—the rise and fall of particular cultural aspirations, and of the storytelling modes that conveyed them. He observes the Marvel story’s progressive visions and its painful stereotypes, its patches of woeful hackwork and stretches of luminous creativity, and the way it all feeds into a potent cosmology that echoes our deepest hopes and fears. This is a huge treat for Marvel fans, but it’s also a revelation for readers who don’t know Doctor Strange from Doctor Doom. Here, truly, are all of the marvels.
New comics collected editions out this week: History of the Marvel Universe; Fourth World by John Byrne Omnibus; The EC Artists' Library: Three for the Money and Other Stories, more
Click the links to order from Amaazon.
It’s the greatest tale ever told — and you’ve never seen it like this! Writer Mark Waid and artist Javier RodrÃguez weave together a sprawling, interconnected web of stories into one seamless narrative that takes you from the dawn of the Marvel Universe all the way to its end! Far more than a collection of moments you may already know, this is a new tale featuring previously unknown secrets and shocking revelations, connecting dozens of threads from Marvel’s past and present! From the Big Bang to the twilight of existence, this sweeping saga covers every significant Marvel event, providing fresh looks at characters of all eras!
COLLECTING: History of the Marvel Universe (2019) 1-6
John Byrne reinvented Superman and illustrated some of the most famous stories in X-Men history. Much like how Jack Kirby created the Fourth World at DC following his genre-defining career at Marvel, after Byrne's work on multiple pop culture icons, the writer and artist took on the Fourth World himself, as collected in this hardcover omnibus.
While staying faithful to Kirby's original vision, these tales brought characters like Orion, Darkseid, Mr. Miracle, and the Forever People into the 1990s, reviving the epic mythology of New Genesis and Apokolips for a new generation of readers.
This collection also includes Genesis, a team-up between the heroes of Earth--including Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman--and the New Gods of New Genesis against Darkseid, as the Godwave threatens reality!
This volume collects New Gods #12-15, Jack Kirby's Fourth World #1-20, and Genesis #1-4.
The stories that built the Marvel Universe, from the brilliant minds of legendary creators — now available in an accessible new format the whole family can enjoy! While testing an experimental spacecraft, scientist Reed Richards, pilot Ben Grimm and siblings Sue and Johnny Storm were bombarded by mysterious cosmic rays! Returning to Earth, they found that they had gained fantastic new abilities, the likes of which had never been seen before! That voyage was the first of many extraordinary adventures for these friends, who became known to the world as Mr. Fantastic, the Thing, the Invisible Girl and the Human Torch — Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four! But can even this astonishing quartet protect the planet from the likes of the Mole Man, the Skrulls, the Puppet Master, the Sub-Mariner…or the diabolical Doctor Doom?
COLLECTING: Fantastic Four (1961) 1-10
Earth’s Mightiest Heroes face the champions of another reality! In the Avengers’ home dimension, Hyperion, Nighthawk, Doctor Spectrum and the Whizzer are sinister enemies! But in another world, they are the heroic Squadron Supreme…and they’re about to meet the Avengers head-on! As if the madness of Brain-Child wasn’t enough, the two teams clash in a classic world-hopping, time-bending conspiracy involving Kang and the evil Serpent Crown! Plus, Thor battles not one but two Hyperions! A reinvigorated team of Avengers meets their match, but can the stranded Squadron find a way back home? And when a new cross-reality team of survivors forms — including Blur and Power Princess — this new Squadron quickly attracts the attention of the uncanny Avengers!
COLLECTING: Avengers (1963) 69-70, 85-86, 141-144, 147-149; Thor (1966) 280; Avengers (1998) 5-6; Avengers/Squadron Supreme Annual '98; Squadron Supreme (2015) 3
Grand Master crime novelist Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition) introduces these tales, which include the infamous “The Orphan” ― one of the stories that got EC Comics into hot water during the U.S. Senate’s investigation into comic books. “The October Game” is adapted from the chilling classic short story by Ray Bradbury. A gruesome look at a malevolent Halloween party game perpetrated by a man who believes the child of his unfaithful wife is not his. In “Frozen Assets!,” a woman and her lover seal her still-living husband in a chest freezer. “Standing Room Only” ― a brother murders his twin sister and her husband, and disguises himself as her so he can inherit their estate. But then the estate lawyer makes a play for the “widow” ... “Three for the Money” ― A woman finds her husband dead ― with a knife in his back and a bullet in his head. The police arrest two suspects ― but to get a conviction, they must determine who acted first. Who actually committed the murder, and who stabbed or shot a man who was already dead?
Like every book in The Fantagraphics EC Artists’ Library, Three For The Money And Other Stories also features essays and notes by EC experts on these superbly crafted, classic masterpieces.
Black and white illustrations.
Gallery: Vintage horror movie theater displays
Making going to the movies even more fun. It would've been great to see these in person and, presumably, in vivid color!
Coming up: "Master of the World (Special Edition) Blu-ray"
Out Aug. 31. Order now from Amazon.
Details:
From action-adventure ace William Witney, the director of Daredevils of the Red Circle, Adventures of Captain Marvel, Trigger, Jr. and Sunset in the West, comes this high-flying sci-fi spectacular starring screen legend Vincent Price (House of the Long Shadows, Scream and Scream Again). A mad inventor known only as Robur (Price) kidnaps a team on a government expedition to investigate a mysterious crater in Pennsylvania. The team is taken aboard Robur’s fantastically engineered airship, the “Albatross,” which Robur plans to fly around the world to various military installations in his desperate desire to eradicate weapons of mass destruction, thereby bringing about world peace. The kidnapped team’s leader, John Strock (Charles Bronson, Mr. Majestyk, Breakheart Pass), responds by planning an uprising. Henry Hull (Lifeboat), Mary Webster (The Tin Star) and David Frankham (Tales of Terror) co-star in this astonishing airborne adventure scripted by Richard Matheson (The Last Man on Earth) from the classic Jules Verne novels Robur the Conqueror and Master of the World.
Special Features:
- NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Tom Weaver, David Schecter, Richard Heft and Vincent Price Biographer Lucy Chase Williams
- Richard Matheson: Storyteller
- Audio Commentary by Actor David Frankham, Moderated by Actor/Composer/Illustrator Jonathan David Dixon
- Theatrical Trailer
- Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase
Pop Culture Roundup: Maggot Brain at 50, Miyazaki's debut, Black Label Catwoman
ITEM! The New York Times examines the impact of Funkadelic's Maggot Brain 50 years after the album's release.
ITEM! Animator Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut, a 1978 anime series titled "Future Boy Conan," will be released for the first time in the U.S. later this year.
ITEM! DC Comics' creator-driven Black Label imprint will release mini-series focusing on Catwoman and the Human Target this fall.
Coming up: "Our Artists At War: The Best Of The Best American War Comics"
Out Oct. 20. Order from TwoMorrows Publishing here.
Details:
Our Artists At War is the first book ever published in the US that solely examines War Comics published in America. It covers the talented writers and artists who supplied the finest, most compelling stories in the War Comics genre, which has long been neglected in the annals of comics history.
Through the critical analysis of authors Richard J. Arndt and Steven Fears, this overlooked treasure trove is explored in-depth, finally giving it the respect it deserves!
Included are pivotal series from EC Comics (Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat), DC Comics (Enemy Ace and the Big Five war books: All American Men of War, G.I. Combat, Our Fighting Forces, Our Army at War, and Star-Spangled War Stories), Warren Publishing (Blazing Combat), Charlton (Willy Schultz and the Iron Corporal) and more!
Featuring the work of Harvey Kurtzman, John Severin, Jack Davis, Wallace Wood, Joe Kubert, Sam Glanzman, Jack Kirby, Will Elder, Gene Colan, Russ Heath, Alex Toth, Mort Drucker, and many others.
Introduction by Roy Thomas, Foreword by Willi Franz. Cover by Joe Kubert.
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