COMIC BOOKS: Marvels: The Remastered Edition

Dean Poling, The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
·2 min read

Aug. 26—The entire storyline behind "Marvels" was well-known when it was first published 25 years ago. Arguably, it may be less known now with a remastered version than it was then.

"Marvels" follows newspaper photographer Phil Sheldon in the days prior to World War II through the 1970s. Of course, he isn't just chronicling the historic events we experienced in our world but the events of the Marvel Universe.

From the creation of the Human Torch android to the threat of Namor the Sub-Mariner to the rise of Captain America fighting the Nazis and Japanese during World War II, the early years of the Marvel Universe open through Sheldon's eyes.

By the 1960s, the Marvel Universe explodes and expands (as it did here in the real world under the creative direction of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others) but in "Marvels," it happens like it did in the comics: the appearance of the Fantastic Four, the formation of the Avengers, the return of Captain America, Spider-Man, the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, the Daily Bugle and the anti-superhero crusades of J. Jonah Jameson, the fear of mutants and the work of the X-Men, the coming of Galactus, the death of Gwen Stacy, etc.

All of the big stories from the early years of the Marvel Universe. All told through the experiences and camera lens of Phil Sheldon as well as the reactions of fear, wonder, adoration and apathy of the public.

Kurt Busiek writes a moving story that makes the familiar tales of Marvel's early years new. Alex Ross creates powerful painted illustrations to tell the tale. Most readers knew these origin tales by heart when "Marvels" was first released in the mind-1990s. The MU was only about 30 years old then.

Now, 25 years later and numerous revamps, start-overs, etc., the MU is nearly 60 years old and the Marvel Cinematic Universe origins are far better known than the early stories from the 1960s.

But "Marvels": The Remastered Edition is still epic storytelling, adding new dimensions to modern myths.