Marvel Comics: The Untold Story

Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: The Untold Story is just about the most empathetic non-fiction book I can imagine. It's weird thinking that, as biographies and autobiographies all search for (and typically find, for good ones at least) a perfect line between whatever the subject's mighty feats are and the inherent humanity in the subject. The humanity and flaws of the subject are often painful (and thus often more compelling) to read, as we naturally are inclined towards sympathy for the lows of a person's life. Marvel Comics is all that and more.

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story covers the more than 70 years of Marvel comics, in its various forms, names, locations, people, etc. Howe does a phenomenal job of making the story accessible for non-comics fans, explaining away Marvel characters in a sentence without feeling the need to delve into their long and convoluted backstories unless it serves to highlight a writer/artist/editor's struggles (it's not so easy to explain away characters that quickly when you care about them, as Howe does). However, he doesn't shy away from comic fans either, the ones more likely to actually buy the book. He builds to a reveal of a character or a person in Marvel's history that fans reading the book will likely be familiar with and giggle upon seeing. There was one point where Howe was talking about the creation of a new X-Men character, a time traveler, and had trouble choosing one name, especially when the editors got involved. One of the names floated was "Cable" and, as a comic fan, I couldn't help but shout at the book "IT'S GOING TO BE THAT ONE." It's fun, it's delightful, it's inside, it's outside, and it cares about the people. It's a detailed and fantastic look into the history of one of the big two comic companies.

The more important thing to me about the book, though, is the mood. As I touched upon at the beginning of this post, there is a real sort of empathy throughout the book. At Marvel's highest times, the most creative, the most free, the most fun, you read at a furious clip and feel lifted up and inspired by the writers and artists and creators. There were times when I would stop reading during those parts and need to go write, to go create, because it felt wonderful to do so. But with the good comes the bad. Whenever Howe goes into the harder times of Marvel (of which there are plenty), the pace slows painfully and you trudge through the name-calling and the lawsuits and the layoffs. It's not a damning of Howe to say the pace slows painfully; it's the opposite. It's the exact way you're supposed to feel reading those sections, creatively empty, hurt, frustrated, uncertain. It's hard to get through, but it's worth it, and the idea that another upswing (as Marvel is is now, thanks to freer range in comics and their movies) is on the way is motivation enough.

The book is great. It comes from a clear place of love, a love of the characters and of the people who created them. It's a painful testament to the skill and hard work of Jack Kirby and often it paints a clear picture of both sides of the creator-owned vs. company-owned debate still raging in comics today. Howe doesn't pick a side (wouldn't be much of a biography if he had) but he explains both in detail and lets the reader choose. He shows where most creators landed on the decision and who is still fighting for or against it today. Comic fans will find the history fascinating and this fight in particular, one that defines the comic industry better than any other, interesting and relevant, in the wake of the recent Before Watchmen series. There's plenty here for fans and non-fans alike (though I'd probably weigh it more heavily on the "fans" side). I'm not much of a non-fiction/biography reader in that I don't tend to mind them but I certainly don't go out of my way to read them. Still, I'd heartily endorse reading this. It flies by and you really do put it down and start thinking about it and keep thinking about it until you pick it up again.



I'll be back on later today, depending on when I get to the comic store, for new reviews. Otherwise, my review week starts tomorrow.