All of the marvels: a journey to the ends of the biggest story ever told
Description
"The first-ever full reckoning with Marvel Comics' interconnected, half-million-page story, a revelatory guide to the "epic of epics"--and to the past 60 years of American culture--from a beloved authority on the subject who read all 27,000+ Marvel superhero comics and lived to tell the tale. The superhero comic books that Marvel Comics has published since 1961 are, Douglas Wolk notes, the longest continuous, self-contained work of fiction ever created: over half a million pages to date, and growing. The Marvel story is a gigantic mountain, smack in the middle of contemporary culture. Thousands of writers and artists have contributed to it. Every schoolchild recognizes its protagonists: Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men. 18 of the 100 highest-grossing movies of all time are directly based on parts of it. And not even the people telling the story have read the whole thing--nobody's supposed to. So, of course, that's what Wolk did: he read all 27,000 comics that make up the Marvel universe thus far, from Alpha Flight to Omega the Unknown. And then he made sense of it: seeing into the ever-expanding story, in its parts and as a coherent whole, and seeing through it, as a prism through which to view the landscape of American culture. In Wolk's hands, the mammoth Marvel narrative becomes a funhouse-mirror history of the past 60 years, from the atomic night-terrors of the Cold War to the technocracy and political division of the present day--a boisterous, tragicomic, magnificently filigreed epic about power and ethics, set in a world transformed by wonders. As a work of cultural exegesis, this is sneakily significant, even a landmark; it's also ludicrously fun. Looking over close to sixty years of Marvel's comics, Wolk sees fascinating patterns -- the rise and fall of particular cultural aspirations, and of the storytelling modes that conveyed them. He observes the Marvel story's progressive visions and its painful stereotypes, its patches of woeful hackwork and stretches of luminous creativity, and the way they all feed into a potent cosmology that echoes our deepest hopes and fears. This is a huge treat for Marvel fans, but it's also a revelation for readers who don't know Doctor Strange from Doctor Doom. Here, truly, are all of the marvels"--
Subjects
Subjects
More Details
ISBN:
9780735222168
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Staff View
Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 6f7a2fa1-a82c-a8e3-5956-6002e189a848 |
---|---|
Grouping Title | all of the marvels a journey to the ends of the biggest story ever told |
Grouping Author | douglas wolk |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2024-05-03 09:21:25AM |
Last Indexed | 2024-05-03 09:21:45AM |
Solr Fields
accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
Wolk, Douglas
author_display
Wolk, Douglas
available_at_iv
Ivoryton Library
detailed_location_iv
Ivoryton Adult Nonfiction
display_description
"The first-ever full reckoning with Marvel Comics' interconnected, half-million-page story, a revelatory guide to the "epic of epics"--and to the past 60 years of American culture--from a beloved authority on the subject who read all 27,000+ Marvel superhero comics and lived to tell the tale. The superhero comic books that Marvel Comics has published since 1961 are, Douglas Wolk notes, the longest continuous, self-contained work of fiction ever created: over half a million pages to date, and growing. The Marvel story is a gigantic mountain, smack in the middle of contemporary culture. Thousands of writers and artists have contributed to it. Every schoolchild recognizes its protagonists: Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men. 18 of the 100 highest-grossing movies of all time are directly based on parts of it. And not even the people telling the story have read the whole thing--nobody's supposed to. So, of course, that's what Wolk did: he read all 27,000 comics that make up the Marvel universe thus far, from Alpha Flight to Omega the Unknown. And then he made sense of it: seeing into the ever-expanding story, in its parts and as a coherent whole, and seeing through it, as a prism through which to view the landscape of American culture. In Wolk's hands, the mammoth Marvel narrative becomes a funhouse-mirror history of the past 60 years, from the atomic night-terrors of the Cold War to the technocracy and political division of the present day--a boisterous, tragicomic, magnificently filigreed epic about power and ethics, set in a world transformed by wonders. As a work of cultural exegesis, this is sneakily significant, even a landmark; it's also ludicrously fun. Looking over close to sixty years of Marvel's comics, Wolk sees fascinating patterns -- the rise and fall of particular cultural aspirations, and of the storytelling modes that conveyed them. He observes the Marvel story's progressive visions and its painful stereotypes, its patches of woeful hackwork and stretches of luminous creativity, and the way they all feed into a potent cosmology that echoes our deepest hopes and fears. This is a huge treat for Marvel fans, but it's also a revelation for readers who don't know Doctor Strange from Doctor Doom. Here, truly, are all of the marvels"--
format_category_iv
Books
format_iv
Book
id
6f7a2fa1-a82c-a8e3-5956-6002e189a848
isbn
9780735222168
itype_iv
ADULT BOOK
LEAP 28 Day Book
LEAP 28 Day Book
last_indexed
2024-05-03T15:21:45.703Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_iv
741.5 WOL
owning_library_iv
Ivoryton Library
owning_location_iv
Ivoryton Library
primary_isbn
9780735222168
publishDate
2021
publisher
Penguin Press
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Comic books, strips, etc. -- Publishing -- United States -- History
Comic books, strips, etc. -- United States -- History and criticism
Literature and society -- United States -- History
Marvel Comics Group -- History
Comic books, strips, etc. -- United States -- History and criticism
Literature and society -- United States -- History
Marvel Comics Group -- History
title_display
All of the marvels : a journey to the ends of the biggest story ever told
title_full
All of the marvels : a journey to the ends of the biggest story ever told / Douglas Wolk
title_short
All of the marvels
title_sub
a journey to the ends of the biggest story ever told
topic_facet
Comic books, strips, etc
History
History and criticism
Literature and society
Publishing
History
History and criticism
Literature and society
Publishing
Solr Details Tables
item_details
Bib Id | Item Id | Shelf Loc | Call Num | Format | Format Category | Num Copies | Is Order Item | Is eContent | eContent Source | eContent URL | Detailed Status | Last Checkin | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b26780859 | .i6632886x | Wallingford Adult Nonfiction | 741.5973 WOLK | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | waan | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66847138 | East Lyme Public Adult Non-Fiction | 741.5973 Wolk | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | elan | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66272646 | Guilford Adult Non-Fiction | 741.5 WOLK | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | guan | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66384242 | Orange/Case Adult Nonfiction Book | 741.597 Wolk | 1 | false | false | Due May 31, 2024 | oran | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i6565920x | Norwich/Otis Adult Nonfiction | 741.5973 WOL | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | nwan | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66350815 | North Haven Adult Nonfiction | 741.5973 Wolk, Douglas | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | nhan | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i67358512 | Ivoryton Adult Nonfiction | 741.5 WOL | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | ivan | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66358267 | Meriden Adult Non-Fiction | 741.5973 WO | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | mean | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i65812104 | Branford/Blackstone Adult Nonfiction | 741.5973 WOL | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | bran | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66349126 | West Haven Main Adult Non-fiction | 741.5973 WOLK | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | wman | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i69329114 | Lyme Adult Nonfiction | 741.5973 WOL | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | lyan | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66413205 | New London Adult Non Fiction | 741.5973 WOL | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | nlan | |||||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66930467 | Madison/Scranton Adult Nonfiction | 741.5973 WOLK | 1 | false | false | On Shelf | maan |
record_details
Bib Id | Format | Format Category | Edition | Language | Publisher | Publication Date | Physical Description | Abridged |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b26780859 | Book | Books | English | Penguin Press | 2021 | 367 pages : illustrations (black & white) ; 24 cm |
scoping_details_iv
Bib Id | Item Id | Grouped Status | Status | Locally Owned | Available | Holdable | Bookable | In Library Use Only | Library Owned | Holdable PTypes | Bookable PTypes | Local Url |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ils:.b26780859 | .i6632886x | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66847138 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66272646 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66384242 | Checked Out | Checked Out | false | false | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i6565920x | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66350815 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i67358512 | On Shelf | On Shelf | true | true | true | false | false | true | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66358267 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i65812104 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66349126 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i69329114 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66413205 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 | ||
ils:.b26780859 | .i66930467 | On Shelf | On Shelf | false | true | true | false | false | false | 9999 |