All of the Marvels
Books | Literary Criticism / Comics & Graphic Novels
4.2
Douglas Wolk
Winner of the 2022 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related BookA New York Times Book Review Editor's ChoiceThe 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 “Thorough, fascinating, and joyfully executed, All of the Marvels is essential reading for fans and scholars alike.” —G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel)“A revelation, a tour both electrifying in its weird charisma and replenishing in its loving specificity . . . a testament, and a tribute.” —Jonathan Lethem“Brilliant, eccentric, moving and wholly wonderful. . . . Wolk proves to be the perfect guide for this type of adventure: nimble, learned, funny and sincere. . . . All of the Marvels is magnificently marvelous. Wolk’s work will invite many more alliterative superlatives. It deserves them all.” —Junot Díaz, New York Times Book ReviewThe superhero comic books that Marvel Comics has published since 1961are the longest continuous, self-contained work of fiction ever created. Thousands of writers and artists have contributed to it. Everyone recognizes its protagonists. Eighteen of the hundred highest-grossing movies of all time are based on parts of it. And Douglas Wolk has read the whole thing. Wolk sees both into the ever-expanding story and through it, as a prism through which to view the landscape of American culture. In his hands, the mammoth Marvel narrative becomes a fun-house-mirror history of the past sixty years—a boisterous, tragicomic, magnificently filigreed epic about power and ethics, set in a world transformed by wonders. A huge treat for Marvel fans, this book is also a revelation for readers who don’t know Doctor Strange from Doctor Doom. Here, truly, are all of the marvels.
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Author
Douglas Wolk
Pages
384
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2021-10-12
ISBN
0735222169 9780735222168
Community ReviewsSee all
"Douglas Wolk decided he was going to read over 27,000 Marvel Comics, starting in the early 60s and going up to the present time. He then wrote a book detailing his experiences and observations on the comics he loved as a kid and as an adult. <br/><br/>The tone for this book is conversational and at times humorous. He is a big fan of Marvel, but doesn't shy away from the problematic things in their past, such as their treatment of race and gender. I liked that his passion for comics really came through in the writing and that he gave his insights into where to start reading comics and reading them together with his son. I also liked that in the appendix he gave us a quick run down of the 6 main timelines in the Marvel Comics Universe. No matter if you're new to comics, like me, or a long time reader, you will enjoy this book!<br/><br/>Thank you to Penguin Press, author Douglas Wolk, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review."
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Chris Hicks
"I'm a sucker for books about comics anyway, but this is a particularly fun and thought provoking read. It isn't the dry or chronological recitation of Marvel comics that one might think, but instead jumps back and forth throughout the long history of Marvel comics, looking at issues here and there, which is probably the only sane way to try and get a handle on this crazy amount of comics. My only complaint is that I wish the book was longer....I would have read another 500 pages of this!"
John Detrick