All of the Marvels: An Amazing Voyage into Marvel’s Universe and 27,000 Superhero Comics

Product Description 'Brilliant, eccentric, moving and wholly wonderful ... All of the Marvels is magnificently marvellous. Wolk's work will invite many more alliterative superlatives. It deserves them all'JUNOT DIAZ, New York TimesEvery schoolchild recognises their protagonists: the Avengers, the X-Men, your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. The superhero comics that Marvel has published since 1961 make up the biggest self-contained work of fiction ever created: over half a million pages and counting. Eighteen of the 100 highest-grossing movies of all time are based on it. And not even the people telling the story have read the whole thing - nobody's supposed to.But Douglas Wolk did. In All Of The Marvels, a critic and superfan takes on the epic to end all epics. What he finds is a magic mirror of the past 60 years, from the atomic terrors of the Cold War to the political divides of our present. Wolk teases out Marvel's mixture of progressive visions and painful stereotypes, its regrettable moments as well as its flights of luminous creativity. The result is an irresistible travel guide to the magic mountain at the heart of popular culture. Review For anyone willing to take [a] step into the inconceivably vast and wonderful world that generations of creators have brought to us, issue by issue, month by month, year by year, All of the Marvels is an indispensable handbook. And for anyone seeking an explanation for the enduring popularity of our modern superhero mythology, Wolk has provided as well-informed and well-argued a thesis as you're likely to find ― Forbes Brilliant, eccentric, moving and wholly wonderful ... 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 Review A fascinating pop culture journey ... Wolk is a knowledgeable, generous guide, lighting the potentially more confusing corners of the Marvel Universe with enthusiasm, humour and humility -- Martin Gray ― Scotsman The way Wolk makes sense of, finds beauty in, and connects all the different stories and details is masterful ... A must-read for all Marvel fans, from devotees to newbies, All of the Marvels is a colorful and heartfelt journey through the Marvel Universe, and highlights just what makes this epic feat of storytelling so special ― Hypable [a] love letter to Marvel comics ... Wolk is having fun and it communicates -- Teddy Jamieson ― Herald Scotland Douglas Wolk's naked dive into the Marvel source code is a revelation, a tour both electrifying in its weird charisma, and replenishing in its loving specificity. As an account of how a motley gang of accidental collaborators created a vernacular mythology out of the dodgiest of commercial occasions, it's also a testament, and a tribute -- Jonathan Lethem What sounds like a madman's quest turns out to be a deeply emotional hero's journey. The best work yet from the best writer about the medium of comics -- Brian K. Vaughan, author ― Saga A generous, freewheeling book ... Wolk is a capable guide, wry, friendly and astute [who] can elucidate not just the chemistry between writers and artists but also the underrated role of colourers and letterers -- Dorian Lynskey ― Spectator Some of us are haunted by the memory of a childhood glimpse of some vast evocative dream; others exasperated by the slick iconography that has taken over our screens, wallets, and eyeballs. If you're like me, it's both. For all of us, Douglas Wolk's naked dive into the Marvel source code is a revelation, a tour both electrifying in its weird charisma, and replenishing in its loving specificity. As an account of how a motley gang of accidental collaborators created a vernacular mythology out of the dodgiest of commercial occasions, it's also a testament, and a tribute. Like Greil Marcus in Mystery Train or Manny Farber in Negative Space, Wolk pushes aside paraphrase to free up an encounter with wha