Befitting of the hardcover box in which it’s encased and a cover die-cut to a capital M, DK Publishing’s MARVEL CHRONICLE: A YEAR BY YEAR HISTORY impresses. Yes, there are other expansive histories available of the giant comics group — and you probably already own many of them — but you’ll want this one to share your shelf space, too, true believers.
Smashing 70 years’ of achievements and accidents into 350 pages, the book takes a naturally chronological look back, month by month, year by year. Initially, starting with 1939, each year earns its own two-page spread. But once CHRONICLE hits 1962 — the year that saw the birth of Spider-Man, The Hulk and Thor, among others — all bets are off in terms of page count.
For me, the older, the better. Right off the bat, the primitiveness of Prince Namor — as drawn by Bill Everett — will register with you. I love old covers, and this book supplies plenty, many in vertical spreads — all the better to see Jim Steranko’s NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 with.
The early years also allows you to recall or be introduced to such forgotten characters as Miss Fury, Ziggy Pig, Sun Girl and Speed Carter, Spaceman; and titles like GAY COMICS, COWGIRL ROMANCE and WORLD’S GREATEST SONGS ILLUSTRATED. It’s interesting to see Marvel crib from competitors, too, as witnessed by Homer the Happy Ghost and Buck Duck — obvious dupes of Casper and Donald.
Later years are interesting, too, but with all of Marvel’s big stars firmly established, these pages are more event-focused. I could do without each year’s “Meanwhile” sidebars that capsulize news events of the time; it just seems weird to bring up the Guyana mass suicide inches from the debut of the Kid Commandos.
With a foreword by Stan Lee (naturally), CHRONICLE is highly visual; its entries are bite-sized, neatly organized and heavily illustrated. The only real drawback is the inexplicable decision to strip all reproduced panels of their original lettering and replace it with some ugly default computer font. Still, even that can’t detract from this being a terrific souvenir of the House of Ideas, without having to break open your boxed singles to relive them. It also has the unintended effect of making you yearn for the things Marvel hasn’t yet collected in trade formats: DAMAGE CONTROL, EPIC ILLUSTRATED, PETER PORKER: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-HAM … —Rod Lott
