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canadianoranges's review against another edition
4.0
If you don't know the history of Jack Kirby and his ilk, you might find this to be a soul crushing story of artists getting taken advantage of. Loyalties lost. Businesses ruined. Still, an interesting telling of the story behind what has now become a multi-billion dollar IP generator for Disney.
mattgoldberg's review against another edition
3.0
I'm conflicted on this one. On the one hand, it's a valuable overview of what Marvel went through over its various decades. It's a solid history of the company and its books changed, and the book is at its best when it provides insights into how creators crafted plot lines or how various business demands shaped the output (reading about Marvel in the 90s was like someone finally explaining to me why I could never get into comics as a kid even though I adored the X-Men and collected Marvel trading cards).
The flip side is that "The Untold Story" requires you to have familiarity with the told story. Because I didn't grow up reading comics and have really only read selected arcs from Marvel's history, I was usually at a loss with all these writers, artists, and editors. There are large sections where you feel like you're getting some hot piece of gossip or an axe to grind between participants, but it falls flat because you have no investment in these people beyond what you've read in this book. I learned that a lot of people didn't really like Jim Shooter, but I have no feelings on Jim Shooter one way or the other, so the conflict doesn't really land.
Nevertheless, I'm glad this book exists and that I read it because I now feel better prepped to dive into 'True Believer'.
The flip side is that "The Untold Story" requires you to have familiarity with the told story. Because I didn't grow up reading comics and have really only read selected arcs from Marvel's history, I was usually at a loss with all these writers, artists, and editors. There are large sections where you feel like you're getting some hot piece of gossip or an axe to grind between participants, but it falls flat because you have no investment in these people beyond what you've read in this book. I learned that a lot of people didn't really like Jim Shooter, but I have no feelings on Jim Shooter one way or the other, so the conflict doesn't really land.
Nevertheless, I'm glad this book exists and that I read it because I now feel better prepped to dive into 'True Believer'.
eoghann's review against another edition
4.0
If you are any sort of fan of american comic books then this is a must read.
Starting from the very beginning, before Marvel Comics was Marvel Comics, it takes us all the way up to the present day. And while calling it the Untold Story might be a slight stretch (there are elements that are commonly known) there's a lot of detail in here. A lot of less well known information and a lot of good interview material.
One of the things that stands out to me is just how cyclical the comics industry seems to be. Not just in terms of the never ending cycles of boom and bust, but in other ways too.
Right from the beginning there was friction between the creators and the corporation. Again and again people came in, created something and then were upset to lose control over it.
Time and again an new Editor In Chief came in with grand plans and to regenerate the line... only to over-reach himself. And owner after owner with grand plans of making Marvel a mini-Disney.
Then then there were the creators and editors. Very few of them came off looking very good in truth. Egotism and unprofessionalism almost seems to have been the norm. Editors in shouting matches, writers quitting because their stories were changed. Insults being snuck into issues of comics. Writers becoming proprietory about characters that they knew they didn't own. It leaves you wondering if these were adults or children.
The only reason this isn't a full on five star book is that while the earlier decades are deeply researched with input from lots of key players, the last decade is skimpily covered. Perhaps it's difficult to get people to talk about the current owners and editors?
Even so this is a book that's well worth reading and I'm really hoping that Sean Howe goes on from here to write a history of the entire industry.
Starting from the very beginning, before Marvel Comics was Marvel Comics, it takes us all the way up to the present day. And while calling it the Untold Story might be a slight stretch (there are elements that are commonly known) there's a lot of detail in here. A lot of less well known information and a lot of good interview material.
One of the things that stands out to me is just how cyclical the comics industry seems to be. Not just in terms of the never ending cycles of boom and bust, but in other ways too.
Right from the beginning there was friction between the creators and the corporation. Again and again people came in, created something and then were upset to lose control over it.
Time and again an new Editor In Chief came in with grand plans and to regenerate the line... only to over-reach himself. And owner after owner with grand plans of making Marvel a mini-Disney.
Then then there were the creators and editors. Very few of them came off looking very good in truth. Egotism and unprofessionalism almost seems to have been the norm. Editors in shouting matches, writers quitting because their stories were changed. Insults being snuck into issues of comics. Writers becoming proprietory about characters that they knew they didn't own. It leaves you wondering if these were adults or children.
The only reason this isn't a full on five star book is that while the earlier decades are deeply researched with input from lots of key players, the last decade is skimpily covered. Perhaps it's difficult to get people to talk about the current owners and editors?
Even so this is a book that's well worth reading and I'm really hoping that Sean Howe goes on from here to write a history of the entire industry.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
This book set itself up to be an exhaustive history of Marvel Comics, especially from the publishing side. In the end I found reading it exhausting. I had been a big comics fan. There are 15 boxes of comics sitting relatively easy to get to off my basement stairs that are still too much trouble for anyone to be bothered reading. I prefer graphic novels because they at least can sit on a bookshelf and be re-read. I collected x-men back to the time of the new x-men - I guess I started fresh around issue 166 and had given up on x-men and marvel by 223. When I went back and tried to follow what was going on with Marvel years later nothing made sense and the art was horrible. In the last couple of years I've been getting graphic novels from the library and there are definitely good stuff out there. This book explains which people did what and how it fell apart. And especially for the 50s-70s it was pretty interesting, but then it grew tiresome. And then ended a bit better. I guess what I want is something that would explain the Marvel continuity but the reality is there isn't any anymore - there are lot's of bits of continuities. Ah well. X-23 and Finesse are pretty cool, the Whedon, the Marjorie Liu stuff I've read has been great. And who knows what the Whedon SHIELD tv show will be? Having read a bunch of the last 10-20 years of SHIELD (and COBRA and SWORD), I certainly have no idea.
If you are a big comics person, definitely read this book. But don't expect to be amused by it.
If you are a big comics person, definitely read this book. But don't expect to be amused by it.
csdaley's review against another edition
4.0
A good book. It glossed over a few areas but was still quite well researched. It doesn't pull punches. It goes into creator rights and Marvel's bankruptcy (almost the end of them). Wish it head spent a little more time in each of the decades.
jonmhansen's review against another edition
4.0
A great telling of the history behind Marvel comics, but a bit depressing. If you like to think that creative types don't have overblown egos at times, then I wouldn't recommend it. And I hope the weather is nice on your planet.
chinney's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.75
Screed from the creator perspective
Ends with Disney sale
Ends with Disney sale