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mistercrow's review
2.0
This is a great book if you want to read the origin of many of Marvel's most famous superheroes and teams, including Spider-Man, The Hulk, Silver Surfer, X-Men, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Rawhide Kid and many more!
On the other hand, whilst reading this book, I found it a bit cringing, mainly because I understood that when these stories where written, America had numerous wars and so comics were widely available to the young soldiers in the war. Often it would be 18-20 year old soldiers reading these comics and that was the general demographic, however, I found some of the 'enemy soldiers' in some stories (such as the Iron Man story) completely racist and offensive. There were numerous stories, besides the Iron Man one, where if you weren't white and male, and American, it would come off extremely offensive.
My other problem was that, although Stan Lee had many great concepts and ideas, most of them were borrowed from popular fiction, such as the story with The Hulk; it was a re-telling of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, hardly original! Most of the writing was pulp-fiction-like, it's amazing that Stan Lee's creation has come so far.
One story I found interesting was a Johnny Storm (Human Torch) story, where in part of the story he explains (and there is also a blueprint/map of his room) his asbestos covered room that Reed made so that Johnny doesn't set the house on fire. I couldn't help but laugh, though highly acceptable in those days, absolutely wrong in modern day.
Overall, I would only recommend getting this book if you're interested in learning and reading about the origin of these characters, but I will warn you that it's offensive, tedious, and banal. If you want an origin story of your favourite Marvel character, I highly recommend you get a recent story that Marvel publishes every year or so. They are probably a lot more interesting and politically correct/sound than these ones.
On the other hand, whilst reading this book, I found it a bit cringing, mainly because I understood that when these stories where written, America had numerous wars and so comics were widely available to the young soldiers in the war. Often it would be 18-20 year old soldiers reading these comics and that was the general demographic, however, I found some of the 'enemy soldiers' in some stories (such as the Iron Man story) completely racist and offensive. There were numerous stories, besides the Iron Man one, where if you weren't white and male, and American, it would come off extremely offensive.
My other problem was that, although Stan Lee had many great concepts and ideas, most of them were borrowed from popular fiction, such as the story with The Hulk; it was a re-telling of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, hardly original! Most of the writing was pulp-fiction-like, it's amazing that Stan Lee's creation has come so far.
One story I found interesting was a Johnny Storm (Human Torch) story, where in part of the story he explains (and there is also a blueprint/map of his room) his asbestos covered room that Reed made so that Johnny doesn't set the house on fire. I couldn't help but laugh, though highly acceptable in those days, absolutely wrong in modern day.
Overall, I would only recommend getting this book if you're interested in learning and reading about the origin of these characters, but I will warn you that it's offensive, tedious, and banal. If you want an origin story of your favourite Marvel character, I highly recommend you get a recent story that Marvel publishes every year or so. They are probably a lot more interesting and politically correct/sound than these ones.
thesgtrekkiereads's review
4.0
I enjoyed this as I could learn more about the beginnings of some of my fave heroes. . It was interesting too.. Some racist characters that would be frowned upon today were deemed acceptable then.. when reading this just remember the era the comics were written and devour the comics for what they truly are.. amazing art and budding genius that would bring us an amazing world today..
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