“Say, honey, how big is Timmy’s room?”
“Why do you ask, dear? You didn’t go out and buy him MARVEL: THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE WALL CHART, which measures 12 feet wide by 3.5 feet tall, did you?”
“Uh, maybe.”
Michael Mallory’s chart really does expand as promised, starting out an oversized, puffy-covered book when sealed, but then unfolding panel upon panel, to the point where it’s so unwieldly, I don’t know how anyone could manage to mount it.
Assuming they’d want to. This being double-sided, and this being aimed at the hardcore comic collector, THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE WALL CHART is probably going to be shelved more than displayed. The chart itself is rather impressive, if mind-boggling — a colorful maze of characters criss-crossing one another atop nuclei backgrounds.
There’s actually rhyme to Mallory’s reason; they’re separated among five sub-universes of characters: Golden Age, X-Men, Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four and “Horror and Other-Worldly.” In the middle sit all the supergroups: The Eternals, Alpha Flight, Squadron Supreme, Thunderbolts, Starjammers and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Obviously this can’t fit every Marvel character on it, but its breadth encompasses more B- and C-listers than you’d think, with a heavy helping of “who the hell is that?“s to go along.
On the flipside, Mallory covers even more territory with text-based trivia, encompassing everything from superhero names and powers to notable weddings among characters. Sniff, sniff! I smell Christmas present. —Rod Lott
Related posts:
- Marvel: Your Universe #1
- DC Universe: Last Sons
- Marvel Zombies
- PREVIEW >> The Day We Found the Universe
- Marvel 1602: New World
