Thank you to #NetGalley for the ebook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, Kudos to Douglas Wolk for his deep dive into all things Marvel. This was an insightful love letter to Marvel comics that all comic book readers will appreciate it. The conversational aspects of this work, help the reader be pulled into Mr. Wolk's process. There are a few humorous sections I think everyone will enjoy. I recommend this book to comic book fan's or those interested in the Marvel universe.

I have to confess that I want into Douglas Wolk’s All of the Marvels with a certain set of expectations, leading to some early disappointment as I read. But once I realized that my expectations were askew, and then eventually (admittedly a bit grudgingly at first) set them aside, I was able to settle in and enjoy Wolk’s work for what it was as opposed to being annoyed by what it was not. And what it was turned out to be pretty good.

Wolk’s book is based on an incredibly stupid idea. And if that sounds harsh, well, it’s only what Wolk himself says about his decision to read all 27, 000-plus issues Marvel has put out since 1961, what he labels “the longest continuous, self-contained work of fiction ever created.” As he says, about the foolhardiness of his endeavor:

Not even the people telling the story have read the whole thing … Nobody is supposed to read the whole thing. That’s not how it’s meant to be experienced. So of course, that’s what I did. I read all 540, 000 -plus pages … Do I recommend anyone else do the same? God, no.

He does, however, add he was “absolutely” happy he had done so. His goal was to “get a better sense of what was in there” so he could help guide people curious about the Marvel universe, those potential travelers who might follow in his tracks. He also wanted “to see what the Marvel narrative said as a single body of work; an epic among epics.” (I would say he does more of the former than the latter). Wolk enters the task as a fan of many decades, but a clear-eyed one, a fan full of enthusiasm and awe, but also willing to acknowledge the epic’s flaws, noting how it offers “magnificent craft” but also “dumb hackwork” and a number of problematic portrayals of race and gender. And it’s both the enthusiasm and the clear eye that makes him such a good guide.

First though, Wolk goes through a bit of throat-clearing, discussing general issues like continuity, the Marvel method, the connection/differences between the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the comics, Marvel’s in-comics timeline, legacy characters, why there are so many Spider-Man and X-Men comics, etc. He also explains his rules for what he chose to read and not read:

1. Was it a comic book published by Marvel during the period bounded by 1961’s Fantastic Four #1 and 2017’s marvel Legacy #1? (The usual definition of “the Marvel Age”
2. Did it involve characters owned by Marvel? (no Star Wars comics for instance)
3. Could the version of Spider-Man who stars in The Amazing Spider-Man reasonably turn up in it without the benefit of time travel? (So no Western or war comics, no alternate history ones, none based on animated series, etc.)

From there he’s off and running, each chapter mostly focusing on a single title, beginning with the Fantastic Four, then moving to Spider-Man, Master of Kung-Fu (Shang Chi), X-Men, Thor, Black Panther, Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel. Several other chapters explore long narrative “events” like Secret Wars and Wolk also intersperses “interlude” chapters that digress slightly from the stories themselves by exploring the early monster stories/comics that Marvel was influenced by; the working relationship, and non-relationship, amongst Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Mike Ditko; the impact of the Vietnam War; pop music in Marvel comics; Marvel and the movies before the MCU; presidents in the comics; the beginning of Marvel’s cross-story universe, where events in one comic reverberated across others; and, unexpectedly, Linda Carter, Student Nurse, a short-lived character in Marvel’s “young woman making their way in the world” series who surprisingly resurfaced in the company’s superhero universe. Finally, he ends with an endearing and surprisingly moving last chapter about bonding with his young son over several years of shared comic book reading.

Wolk eschews a simple chronological history of the titles he examines, choosing instead to move chronologically but only focusing on a few important strands and storylines, either within the series or for Marvel itself. For the Fantastic Four, it is how this comic first nailed what Wolk sees as the Marvel magic — a combination of “superheroes + monsters + romance” and also how they change as a family, and so he begins not with #1 but with 51 (“This Man, This Monster”) and then moves on to Reed and Sue getting married and then having a son, Franklin, and then a daughter, Valeria. For Spider-Man, he focuses on the series a bildungsroman, how “Peter is not yet — never yet — the person he needs to become.” One aspect of this attempt is the series of potential father figures, all “terrible”, its creators concoct for Peter Parker: the Green Goblin (father to his best friend), the Lizard (scientist mentor who goes wrong), J. Jonah Jameson, even Reed Richards who rejects him when Peter tries to join the Fantastic Four. Wolk also explores the rise of Miles Morales, the “new” Spider-Man who now co-exists happily alongside the legacy version.

Wolk’s choice of Master of Kung-Fu is an unexpected one, in that it’s far less popular/long-running than other possible titles and because of its major stumbling on race. It’s an apt follow-up to the Spider-Man segment as Wolk sees the story is similar but with a different spin — the “story about someone who realizes that the worldview with which he has grown up is actually unconscionable, and who comes — not immediately, btu gradually — to do better.” Wolk faces the racial issues head on, noting its many “racist tropes”, ranging from the relatively small bore — “a Kung Fu practitioner whose outfit is basically a karate gi” — to the holy-crap-how-racist-can-you-get examples of the book’s use of the classically racists Fun Manchu character and the wince-evoking yellow/orange coloration of the Asian characters. As he admits in the close of this chapter, “there’s no getting around what’s wrong . . . From the Yellow Peril archetypes baked into the series premise to its perpetual ‘white people making stuff up about real world cultures not their own.” He also, however, cautions that “to dismiss it is to dismiss a genuinely special, doggedly idiosyncratic piece of art … Most of it beautifully, inventively drawn … [by] creators who came to realize — if slowly and with some nudging from their audience — that they too needed to do better.”

Race, of course, rears up again with Wolk’s discussion of Black Panther, which “is problematic in fascinating ways, a mixture of racist tropes and ingenious inversions . . . where the character spends his first thirty-three years in the hands of white writers, being entirely the product of White Americans’ ideas about Africa, and very often the vehicle for their stories about American Blackness.” That said, he does credit that those views “were usually sympathetic and sometimes pretty right-on by the standards of the times,” albeit said standards themselves were “iffy by definition.” Eventually, though, as Wolk details, the character was penciled and written by black artists and writers such as Christopher Priest, Billy Graham, and Ta-Nehisi Coates.

For the X-Men, Wolk hits the obvious — the X-Men as stand-in for “the Other” — but he’s more interesting in his examination of the artists/writers. Here, for instance, is his sharp honed insight on the difference between Chris Claremont and John Byrne: “If Byrne draws a pistol on a wall, it will be fired by the end of the issue; if Claremont has a character mention a pistol on the wall, it might never be mentioned again, or it might turn out, sixty issues later, to have been cursed by an eighteenth-century warlock.”

The section on Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl (one of my personal favorite Marvel series, and one I highly recommend) continues the latter chapters exploration of Marvel’s shifting (if late to do so) presentation of race and gender. Wolk calls these two “the most interesting Marvel superheroes to have emerged in the twenty-first century [both of whom who] care about social injustice, and systemic oppression and corruption, and having their voices ignored and their identities erased.”

While focusing on just a few strands and series runs makes the topic manageable, it does come with some cost. An obvious one is you can’t cover everyone, so we get no Daredevil, no Hulk, very little Iron Man or Captain America, and none of the more out-there Marvel characters like Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Morbius the vampire, Tomb of Dracula, etc. The close focus also has a bit of a negative impact when Wolk deals with very long-running narrative arcs, but the bigger issues is the lack of a true “big picture.” Which brings me back to my opening expectations.

I had thought, hoped, OK, expected, that someone who read nearly the entire sweep of Marvel’s output would offer up a comprehensive exploration of how that company changed over time. We get some of that, as noted above, with regards to race and gender, but it feels pretty scattershot. And there’s not a great sense of narrative or stylistic elements outside of the singular titles themselves. But as I said in my intro, while that’s a book that certainly could have been written after performing this gloriously ridiculous feat, it’s not the book that Wolk did write, and it’s not fair to hold that against him. Once I realized that, and took the book for what it is, not a holistic critical appraisal but more of a reader’s guide for potential fans from a current one, and one that aims not at a comprehensive guide but one that takes a more selective approach. Sort of like a docent (a highly knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and engaging one) who, after you tell her you don’t have time to see the entire four floors of the art museum, takes out a map and circles all the rooms. And not necessarily the “highlights” (no Monet water lilies) but the ones that over her great experience she has determined are your best entryway and best journey. And judged by that metric, Wolk has given us a pretty good afternoon.

Subtitled: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Author Douglas Wolk is a comic book fan who has read all of the comic books issued between 1961 and 2017 (plus many other published beyond those years in either direction), more than 20,000 issues totaling more than 540,000 pages of content. This book summarizes what Wolk sees as the most significant threads or storylines running through the entire connected Marvel Universe.


Wolk is also a music critic, and his observations provided insights that had never occurred to me before. The earliest example of this was in one of the early chapters focusing on Spider-Man. Instead of taking the easy out with regard to power and responsibility, Wolk theorizes that practically every interaction between Spider-Man/Peter Parker and other male characters represents his search for a strong male role model due to the absence of his father and the death of his Uncle Ben. The includes many more astute observations along the same lines.

I gave All of the Marvels five stars. I can only wish I had the time and resources to duplicate Wolk’s feat, but his work pointed me in the direction of multiple storylines that I plan to seek out.

Douglas Wolk decided he was going to read over 27,000 Marvel Comics, starting in the early 60s and going up to the present time. He then wrote a book detailing his experiences and observations on the comics he loved as a kid and as an adult.

The tone for this book is conversational and at times humorous. He is a big fan of Marvel, but doesn't shy away from the problematic things in their past, such as their treatment of race and gender. I liked that his passion for comics really came through in the writing and that he gave his insights into where to start reading comics and reading them together with his son. I also liked that in the appendix he gave us a quick run down of the 6 main timelines in the Marvel Comics Universe. No matter if you're new to comics, like me, or a long time reader, you will enjoy this book!

Thank you to Penguin Press, author Douglas Wolk, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

From roughly 1989 to around 1991, I knew what was going on in the lives of every Marvel character. There were a lot less titles being published back then, and since I was a kid, I had a lot more time to consume what was available. In All of the Marvels, Wolk does the exhausting work of catching me up on the nearly 30 (!) years that have passed since I last read a Marvel Comic. It's an impressive undertaking, and just like when I picked up my first issue (Fantastic Four #327) there were times I felt thrown into the deep end when it came to the details of this ever expanding universe. But as he says in the book, the story of the MCU doesn't need to be followed in a straight line, so I was able to zig and zag and find interesting stories that I just might seek out and read.

Do you read comics? Are you a DC fan, a Marvel Fan, both? or do you lean more to the independent comics? Well, if you are a Marvel fan, Douglas Wolk has a treat for you! He read 27,000+ issues (540,000+ pages) of comics - from Alpha Flight to Omega the Unknown - so that he "can be a guide to help curious travelers...." So if you are curious, go on the journey with him!

Douglas Wolk begins by discussing the formation of Marvel, the intersections of all the Marvel stories, and a FAQ of the weird questions many folks pose to him or online. Wolk begins with the Fantastic Four posing Fantastic Four #51 (June 1966) as the wellspring of the Marvel universe. Spiderman gets his due with a chapter as does the Avengers, the X-Men, Thor and Loki, Black Panther, and Doctor Doom. Interestingly, Shang-Chi and The Master of Kung Fu merits a whole chapter dissecting Marvel in regard to race and color in comics. Some of those themes also show up in the chapter on crime fighters, Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl. In a series of interlude chapters, Wolk discusses monsters, how the Vietnam War influenced Marvel comics, pop stars such as Dazzler, appearances of US presidents in Marvel comics, March 1965 which is when Marvel really began creating a complete universe for its characters to inhabit, and an revealing chapter on Linda Carter. Then in the final chapter, Wolk reveals why he read all these comics, he was trying to create a systematic outline for his son to find the tales he enjoyed in the Marvel universe.

Douglas Wolk takes the reader on a journey through All of the Marvels in 384+ pages. In the limited space of the book, he provides a springboard for the reader to find their own path into the world of Marvel.

Read if you: Want a whilwhind journey through the vast archive and timeline of Marvel comics.

As someone who has enjoyed A.J. Jacobs's books about his unusual quests (reading the entire encyclopedia, trying to observe all the Biblical commandments, etc), I thought this would be more in that vein. It's not, but that's OK. Casual fans of Marvel comics or those wanting more of a narrative history of the Marvel comics might be disappointed (there are other books for that), but those that want an overview of famous (and obscure) Marvel comics, tidbits on specific issues, and more will be delighted. Some may wish there was more focus on certain series, but that's to be expected.

Librarians/booksellers: Definitely purchase for your comics fans!

Many thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

“All of the Marvels” is Douglas Wolk’s extended love letter to Marvel Comics, all 27,000 of them ranging from the 1960’s to the present. He read them all and wants to share his delight with the rest of us. As he explains in his extended introduction, one of the magical things about Marvel Comics is that all the superheros inhabit an extended universe (although there are a few alternate universes out there) and there is in some ways a giant story of which each comic line is but a piece of. This has allowed such things as cross-over stories and hints in one comic line of something going on in another. Wolk also points out that the Marvel superhero story extends over sixty years of comics from 1960 or so to the present day, but in comic-time, its only about 15 years compressed. Otherwise, all our heroes would be tottering grandparents still wielding the might hammer or the shield. Some of this dues ex machina, meaning the storytellers made it fit.

Wolk does not purport to trace the entire history of any line of comics or even the depth or breadth of a comic line. He argues that Marvel’s heart and soul has always been the Fantastic Four and talks about that line in general and then points out specific issues that matter. Wolk does the same for Thor, for the Black Panther, and for X-Men, talking as much about modern day manifestations of these heroes than the classic stories.

His devotion to his comic collection and the handing it down to his son are fascinating, particularly for those of us who gave up our comic books as teenagers, selling off our small meager collections for gas money and a new set of absolutely-necessary tires. Of course, some drawbacks are that Wolk made no attempt to talk about all of the major lines of Marvel. For some of us who view the center of the Marvel Universe as Captain America and the Avengers, that means our favorite comic lines are not discussed. Moreover, for those of us who stopped following any series in the late seventies or the early eighties, it means that there is quite a bit of discussion about new stuff we just are not familiar with and individual issues that we just skim by. Luckily, Wolk does point out that much of Marvel is now accessible online through subscription services.

Well, if this isn;'t the most perfect book for my Marvel-loving soul, I don't know what would be! An absolutely fascinating deep dive into the history of Marvel comics, this is an absolute MUST for any and all fans of comic books/Marvel movies. I learned so much, and it just gives such a great, detailed history of every Marvel character in comic book existence. Even the casual fan will love it, as it doesn't get overwhelming or repetitive. It's clearly written, accompanied with excellent visual aids, and just a joy. Highly recommend!

Douglas Wolk read over 27,000 Marvel comics. That is a lot of comics, more than anyone honestly should. He's found linear narratives for 60+ year long sagas of Facing Front, True Believers. If ever there was someone who deserved a new fancy membership card from the Merry Marvel Marching Society, it's Douglas.

This book is something I'd definitely recommend to any Marvel fan- the author does a nice job of exploring and the exploring / explaining the Marvel universe. Lots of fun, definitely worth the read.

An impressive survey of the history of Marvel Comics, perhaps the most influential media empire among young adults and children today, thanks to the Disney films. Having read 27,000+ comics from the early 60s to today, Wouk focuses on the key developments of Stan Lee's empire, from the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man to the more socially aware comics of the present. He occasionally dips into sidebars about interesting minor characters and developments over the years (Shang-Chi, for example, who is about to appear on screens worldwide). Not always easy to follow, but this is a great resource for serious Marvel fans and for readers who want to get involved in the Marvel universe and want to know where to start. We will definitely purchase this for our library,

** Thank you The Penguin Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. **

This was something, a lot of somethings if we're being honest. I found is widely accurate, realistic, and information at times. While others were very wordy, full of filler, and quite dry.
300+ pages of information about Marvel comics, from the characters to creators. It's a lot to take in and if you're unfamiliar with the rather deep and long history, can be quite overwhelming. As it was to me.
That said, it I feel it's a good read to any Marvel fan willing to put in the time to see past CGI and large explosions to learn about the story and making of this multilayer "franchise" and how it became what it is today... how it became anything at all.

This book is amazing! I love Marvel and reading this book was an absolute delight. I enjoyed all of the childhood nostalgia that Douglas conjures and I really applaud his effort to create a timeline and plot for everything Marvel. All of the Marvels is an iconic book for Marvel fans and comic fans alike. The chapters are short and sweet and I took a lot of enjoyment out of the chapter titles.

All of the Marvels by Douglas Wolk is a superb book with an engrossing plot and well drawn characters. Well worth the read!

I have hundreds - realistically, thousands - of books to read which keep getting interrupted by other books that make their way into the peripheral of my universe. Time will punctuate how far I get. Knowing this, and knowing how the inability to read everything in existence bothers me, I still went off the beaten path when this book appeared in my feed.

It took a lot of dedication for someone to read decades of Marvel Comics. It's not something I could do. I've tried. At various points in my life, I tried to embrace comics by doing what the author tells you not to do: starting at the beginning. Earlier entries are dated, campy, and unlike the modern characters that we know and love.
This book is written for fans of the Marvel characters who need a good entryway into the abundance of the comics, for fans of DC or other publishers who want to branch out into Marvel, or for people like me who like trivia of subjects that don't necessarily define us. I feel the same way about comics as I do video games. I like learning about the backstories, the histories, and the creators but I'm not a time and tested member of those communities. There used to be a column on CBR which is a big comic website where someone would post history/trivia facts from various comic books. I'm not sure if the column is still running as I'm posting this, but it's largely what I expected to find in this book.

Now that I'm finished, I'm disappointed. I don't think what is presented here is bad. I think it's being advertised as way more than it actually is. Out of all the Marvel Characters who have their own lines whether individually or in groups, he covers only a handful of series. I understand it would take forever to cover each and every person... but, for example, he talks about Thors comics at length but only Captain America or Iron Man when they pertain to something else. Two of Marvel's biggest staples, and we don't get a history of those characters or a guide of who their best writers were, their storylines, etc. I'm pretty sure She-Hulk is mentioned more than the Hulk. A way too large amount of time is spent covering a storyline where Norman Osbourne becomes the Iron Patriot.

Another thing I found off-putting was that it seemed like the idea was to highlight a few comics or storylines that made the characters what they were, the few characters the author decided to talk about. The Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Shang Chi, Thor, etc. but many times after listing the title and creators of a comic, instead of writing what would be in that comic we are instead told about the creators themselves. I have no problem with learning about the guys that made the content but if that's all a section is about then why did you list a specific comic? Because it's good? Why? What happens in it? Exactly. Sometimes I get both, with a little more about the creators and I don't mind that. But there are sections where it's simply "these people took over because this happened and their drawing style is like this" which means nothing to me.

And finally, based on the description of the book, I expected a lot more about the major crossover events Marvel consists of. Some are covered but not to the extent that I expected. The Infinity ...Saga...as I'll call it since that's how the movies aptly refer to it, takes a handful of pages, and doesn't deep dive into it.

Some of this is amended in the appendix.

It wasn't a terrible or bad book. I was expecting a giant encyclopedic epic about the major storylines for at least all of the main characters in the Marvel Universe and I got some of that. I would summarize this book as "A guy read all the Marvel Comics and he's also able to bond with his son. Here are some comics he thinks are cool."

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. Though kinda dry at the start I found this book really interesting and a must read for marvel fans.

I had the opportunity to read an early galley of the upcoming book All Of The Marvels by Douglas Wolk. He took on the herculean task of reading more than 27,000 Marvel comics in order to present a "traveller's guide" to those looking to dove into the rich tapestry that is the Marvel narrative.

Being a life-long comic reader myself, one who discovered Marvel in the early 70's, I have my own winding history with their output. However, mine was even spotty - preferring Spider-Man and team titles like the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men to others like Thor, Daredevil or Iron Man. Having a Marvel Unlimited subscription has helped me in recent years to correct that, allowing me to devour runs of titles I never picked up back in the day.

Wolk does a good job in this book giving an overview of certain issues to vist, also hitting some spotlights on specific favorite characters (as much as 320 pages will allow). There is a stronger focus on runs post-2000 as well as the early years from the 1960's. The 70's and 80's get some mention too, while the 90's - a very rough period for comics in general - gets a deserved glossing over.

One particular thing I really liked is the Appendix which gives a nice overview of the Marvel universe history in just a few pages. I would recommend highly for folks who might only know Marvel from the movies or TV shows to read that first.

This book is scheduled for an October release. I had already tagged it for my to-order list for the library. I think it contains some solid advice on tackling a deep dive into the Marvel continuity that will benefit my patrons.



https://mcmaenza.blogspot.com/2021/07/book-review-all-of-marvels-by-douglas.html

Probably the hardest thing for a diehard comic book fan to do is explain a well-known comic book's plot in a way that outsiders would understand. Wolk not only pulls this off, he does it time and time again, without ever over-explaining a comic's history or background.

A great book for any Marvel reader or Marvel curious person. The breadth of the Marvel superhero comics universe spanning from the 60s until now can be incredibly intimidating to readers. This book covers major arcs in a few different ways. There may be one chapter following a character or team and then another about the major crossover events. This is not an encyclopedia or character but instead a more broad and narrow look at the specifics of a genre that is continually changing. As a more modern reader who has only experienced the newer arcs, the chapter on Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl was spot on. The author does not gloss over past racism and sexism, which as especially covered in the chapters on Black Panther and Shang-Chi. Overall, a great read, highly recommended.