Peter Sanderson

Coffee table books, in general, are supposed to be pretty books with big, colourful pictures and a concise yet comprehensive amount of writing to make it worthy of display. Marvel Year by Year is thus a perfect examples of how a coffee table book is supposed to look like. We are presented with a beautiful book that tells the story of Marvel from conception to the present, year by year, in chronological order with extraordinary artwork – by Marvel itself – to add a little something extra show more to this true, remarkable story. The foreword is by Stan Lee, the afterword by Joe Quesada… it’s updated and expanded, and frankly it would give any comic book lover wet dreams for weeks.

Marvel Year by Year isn’t just a beautiful book that’s filled with images of comic heroes and super villains, which we obviously all love and adore, it’s also a showcase of the evolution of art, plots, humans and so on. The colour coded years, which makes it easy to find something specific in this large book, it’s easy to see how human history and specific events crossed over and influenced the comics. The tireless effort into creating this magnificent piece of art (it will never just be a book, it’s a piece of art through and through), is not only beautiful and informative, but also something that should be in every library.


Is Marvel Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle expensive? Yes, unfortunately this book is going to be a little expensive for the everyday Joe, but it’ll be worth every penny you spend. What’s more is that I’m fairly sure Marvel Year by Year would make any man a very happy man, especially if he has a love for comic books and superhero stuff. It’s the perfect gift, and seeing as Valentine’s Day is coming up, now’s the right time to start saving your money, ladies. I mean, if he doesn’t ask you to marry him after you present this bad boy as a Valentine’s Day gift to him, he really isn’t worth your time…

(review originally posted on www.killeraphrodite.com) show less

The Marvel Vault is chock full of Marvel's history from it's beginning as Timely Comics to the opening of Super Hero Island at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Included in this volume are tons of reproduced memorabilia which you can take out of their plastic pages and peruse, making you feel like you've been there every step of the way. I also really enjoyed the sections dedicated to Timely's teen comic collection, women's comics and horror/mystery comics! I just wish the sections had been show more longer, but these are not the comics most Marvel fans want to learn about, so I'm not surprised it was very small in the information expanded on. I also wish that there had been more pieces of memorabilia, but I realize that would have made the book longer and more pricey.

This is a lovely gift for Marvel fanatics and those who just want a fun, hands-on history of one of the biggest comic publishing companies of all time! The information can get a bit dry at times, but overall it is a fantastic read and experience! Four stars! show less

This isn't quite as good as some of the other Vault books, mostly because it's more superficial and willing to gloss over any unpleasant history in the company's past. Still, there are some neat and rare artifacts here that make it worth a look.

Being a longtime Marvel zombie, I was intrigued by the reproductions of rare collectibles this book contains, including Stan Lee's original two-page typewritten plot for Fantastic Four #1, the MMMS Welcome Kit, Marvel Value Stamps, and a menu from the shortlived Marvelmania Hollywood restaurant (including such irresistible delicacies as Daredevil's Rolled Billy Club Sandwich, Hulk Smashed Potatoes, and Howard The Duck's Chicken Fingers). Interesting though these Marvelous Mementos may be show more (and to be honest, I expected more of 'em), the book itself turns out to offer far more. Seven decades is a lot to fit in, particularly once the big guns arrive in the 60s, but Marvel veterans Thomas and Sanderson do an excellent job of balancing basic information for new readers with fascinating behind-the-scenes insight for those, like me, who have already read a dozen or more books or articles on the history of the word's greatest comics company. For example, I've never read about the 1972 Marvel-ous Evening With Stan Lee at Carnegie Hall in which bullpeners performed music and skits and Stan was 'kidnapped' by Dr. Doom. Wish I could have been there... if only I hadn't just been born.

Read the full review at my blog. show less