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I can't talk about this comic book without stressing the important fact that much of the joy and wonder and amazement that I got out of this book was due to the fact that I was already familiar with a lot of the stories in this comic book.
That's one of the strengths and weaknesses of this book, it relies on you as a fan of these stories and much of the themes of this book depend upon you knowing these characters beforehand. Now, I have never read more than a handful of comic books but I have seen a lot of the movies which helped a lot.
Marvels is about our main character Phil Sheldon, a photographer in New York as he lives through the 40s and 50s and 60s and 70s and witnesses the stories of many of the major characters from Marvel Comics. We see Captain America fighting the Nazis, the rise of Fantastic Four and the arrival of Galactus, we see Avengers forming and taking on new members and of course the X-Men and how they differ from other heroes.
I have no idea how it would feel to read these stories if you were unfamiliar with most of the stories because one of the reasons why this book works is that it reflects our own childhood wonder and amazement of these characters onto us. We see people marveling at them just as we used to, just as I did when I was a kid watching Spider-Man on an old CRT. Without that reflection, I think much of the appeal would be lost.
Of course, Alex Ross's drawing is amazing and it feels even more cinematic somehow than Kingdom Come. In that story the amount of busy action sequences left me disoriented at times but here even though there are some really cool battles against foes, much of the focus is on everyday people. I like how these scenes have a momentum to them, the sense of pace as Phil walks the streets or runs toward his house feels impactful even though there's nothing grand going on action-wise.
What I love about also is how people are hostile towards these heroes, especially the mutant X-Men who are treated like commies and hunted down at every turn. The scenes of human brutality hit a lot harder than any large scale action sequences could. The book also manges to be consistently grounded, this is not one of those stories where an average guy gets in a team-up with superheroes and forms a relationship with them. Instead,
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the only time he comes too close them, he ends up losing his right eye.
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It's not a criticism per say but I find it very strange and interesting how this book forms it's own version of superhero fatigue within the story. Phil Sheldon towards the end gets so sick and tired of people admiring these heroes whenever they get saved and accuse them of villainy when things are peaceful that he doesn't want to be a part of it and retires, leaving the story at an inconclusive end for him and the reader.
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The only other comic book I have read and finished is Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite and that was years ago so I don't really know how to go about this but I'll try my best.
I freaking loved Kingdom Come. This is an Elseworlds DC comic set in a distant futuristic scenario where superheroes have been so absorbed by the general masses that people have forgotten the value of their own achievements. The things our main character, Norman MaClay, reminisces about include Nobel Prizes, sports competitions. We see modern world absorb superheroes into their culture and as a result we have justice league themed restaurants (a prominent one in the story is called Planet Krypto).
Superheroes too have changed, apparently people got bored of "truth, justice and the American way", of Superman being a symbol of hope and peace that doesn't kill and after a tragedy, he is rejected by people who used to believe in him- in favor of more brutal and savage superheroes.
What follows is a story of moral responsibility written in a way that doesn't answer "must there be a Superman" as much as it feels like a more realistic evolution of Spider-Man's motto "With Great Power comes Great Responsibility."
In a way it reminds me of the modern trend of superhero media's shift towards more adult deconstructions of the genre with shows like Invincible and The Boys and the superhero fatigue. In following them we somehow forgot what it really meant to be a superhero until Superman (2025) came and reminded us that kindness and helping others is what superheroes should be teaching
I also think this is one of the best visual feasts I have ever experienced in comic books. The art style, I don't know what it's called but it feels so realistic yet very aesthetic at the same time. This is one of those comics where if you had to adapt it you would have to just make it in live-action because I don't think this art style can be done justice in animation. It already looks and feels so real
It's very cinematic too, I loved the Wonder Woman in this comic and every scene with her especially her scenes with Superman look so damn good.
My minor complaint and this maybe because I'm not used to this stuff, is the amount of other side heroes that fight in these huge scale full panels that I did not recognize and feel connected to. That's a part of the story, the newer generation of superheroes are cool but I don't feel anything towards them and that makes the action sequences just beautiful eye-candy.
Also I thought the ending especially the epilogue could have been more impactful.
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It even has order instruction to order other comics by post. Also an advertisement for 50 free hours of AOL.
I found it pretty interesting, I was a teenager in the 90s and it was a bit nostalgic to see instructions on how to order comics by post.
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Sensational She-Hulk
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