All of the Marvels

I think that one of the most challenging claims to make in the modern day is to say that you aren't a fan of Marvel. Whether you're a boardroom executive or a Somali pirate everyone knows who Captain America is, what color the Hulk is, and which aisle of the hardware store Thor is liable to beeline towards. Ever since 2008's Iron Man, Marvel has dominated the box office, and their IP has transitioned from something niche and misunderstood to one of the central pillars of modern pop culture.

All of the Marvels is exactly what it says on the tin. In this book, we are taken from the early cape comics of the 1950s and early 60s to the modern crossover-event-driven era. After a thorough and disclaimer-ridden introduction, Douglas Wolk takes us character-by-character and event-by-event in a looping survey of the most beloved and relevant stories from within the canon. All of the Marvels tries to give the reader all the background required (and then some) to appreciate the nuances and allegory that are packed into the very best storylines and anthologies. I knew that Marvel was a self-referential body of work, but All of the Marvels opened my eyes to the depth with which the artists and writers have imbued their comics.

All of the Marvels is a great guide for new comic readers and gives an overview of major Marvel universe events. That said, it's too meandering and unorganized to get a gold star for readability. There is a lengthy (and much appreciated) introduction that aims to explain the objective and structure of the book but purposely omits a reading order. The body of the work mainly jumps between the popular Marvel characters and in each section tries its best to explain their individual stories chronologically. The appendix is a decade-by-decade encapsulation of the general trends of each Marvel era. As a casual fan, I found myself getting lost during the scenic tour of the Marvels. It would have been helpful if the appendix had been provided as a roadmap from the beginning.

Personally, I continue to find my interest in Marvel waning; I've read through some comics but I'm with the majority in saying that I primarily interact with the IP through their films. Maybe it's because I've aged out of the golden demographic and the movies aren't made for me anymore, or maybe my perception of declining quality is accurate. I hoped this book would rekindle my interest in Marvel or point me toward something better suited to my tastes. While my hopes were let down on that front, reading through Marvel at such a distant remove does highlight how the corpus has changed over the years and how I am just one of the latest set of fans to find the earth changing beneath my feet.

TL;DR: This book delivers on its promises to bridge something like 60 or 70 years of storylines across a single book. It does a passable job of filling modern readers in on the unappetizing bulk of Marvel's back catalog. It's also short! I didn't realize at the time of purchase but this book is actually 50% index.