By Jackie Shannon
After the success of its series of BFI Film Classics, Bloomsbury now takes readers on a thoughtful, literate and often eye-opening journey into the universe of superheroes and super-villains with its new series, Marvel Age of Comics.
There might be talk of audience fatigue, and slowly sagging box office, but cinematically, it is still the age of the superhero. Big budget cape-and-cowl flicks remain hugely popular, and their appeal has long bled out exponentially from the rusted-on fan-boys-and-girls and young kids that have always been the obvious demographic. Superheroes have always been an essential thread in the rich pop cultural tapestry, but they have now formed an even bigger part of the picture. Off the fringes, and into the mainstream, the superhero is front and centre, and the reasons behind this current campaign of pop cultural hegemony are just as wide-ranging as the number of caped-and-cowled crusaders on our movie and TV screens.
One of the biggest reasons for the continued superhero success, however, is unquestionably the enormous popularity of Marvel Studios, and feeding into that, of course, is the long and rich history of Marvel Comics before it. New driving force James Gunn might be looking to reset the DC cinema world with a new slate of films, but Marvel is still soaring above the superhero horde with its theatrical output. The high-profile success of Marvel at the movies has stoked interest in the comic books that inspired them, and now, after taking a deep dive into some of the most loved movies of all time with its run of BFI Film Classics books, publisher Bloomsbury has turned its savvy attentions to Marvel.
The BFI Film Classics series saw highly regarded writers (including the likes of Salman Rushdie, Manohla Dargis, Amy Taubin, Simon Callow, Marina Warner, Greil Marcus and Mark Kermode) delivering in-depth books on classic films like The Wizard Of Oz, Touch of Evil, The Birds, Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, Do The Right Thing and many, many more. With the increased popular presence of Marvel, and the extraordinary amount of material it has produced, it’s wholly fitting that Bloomsbury has now turned its literary, highly informed eye to the comic book powerhouse and some of its most important publications.
Bloomsbury has hooked in with Marvel to launch a new book series, Marvel Age of Comics. Following the format of The BFI Film Classics series, this new collection invites great writers (and comic fans) to explore their favourite corners of the Marvel universe in great depth. Taking in the 85-plus-year history of Marvel Comics, each book takes the reader on a compelling journey into the creators, characters, history, and cultural forces that have shaped the Marvel Universe, all with full-colour curated artwork and materials. Marvel Age Of Comics will be a continuing run, but the series opens with three fascinating books.
Acclaimed writer, editor, publisher, and historian Chris Ryall – the co-founder of Image Comics and Syzygy Publishing, the Editor-at-Large at Abrams ComicArts, and the former Chief Creative Officer at IDW Publishing – walks on the wild side with his deep dive into Daredevil: Born Again, one of the most bleak and dark-hued arcs of one of Marvel’s darkest characters. The inspiration for the recent Disney+ series of the same name, Daredevil: Born Again saw writer Frank Miller (Sin City) and artist David Mazzucchelli put Marvel’s street-level anti-hero through the physical and emotional wringer. “Frank Miller’s return to writing Daredevil raised the stakes for characters in then-unheard-of ways,” says Chris Ryall. “David Mazzucchelli was on a rapid artistic rise at the time he and Miller joined forces, and the pieces were in place for their first partnership to be something truly special.”
In the second book in Bloomsbury’s Marvel Age of Comics series, UK-based Paul Cornell – who has written episodes of Elementary, Doctor Who, Primeval, and Robin Hood, as well as runs for Marvel and DC on Batman and Robin, Wolverine and Young Avengers – takes a different approach. With The Mighty Avengers vs. The 1970s, Paul Cornell explores how the groundbreaking comic book team-up series reflected the social changes in the US and around the world during that tumultuous decade, which reverberated with the events and societal fracture of The Vietnam War, Watergate, the Women’s Liberation Movement, and The Black Panther Party. “I like to think,” says Paul Cornell, “that what might be the central message of Avengers during the 1970s – that ‘outsiders’ of all kinds can and should be included in the ranks of the main, official, team – is one that supported me through those difficult years. It’s certainly a message that bears repeating today.”
The third book in Bloomsbury’s Marvel Age of Comics series trips out with one of the publishing house’s weirdest and most mind-bending characters. In Doctor Strange: A Decade of Dark Magic, Brooklyn-based writer, book editor, and award-winning comics editor Stuart Moore – who has written three volumes of The Zodiac Legacy, as well as prose and comics set in the universes of Marvel, DC Comics, Stargate, The Transformers, Conan the Barbarian, and Star Trek – takes a very personal approach to Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme. Stuart Moore was introduced to Doctor Strange when he was sixteen. “That summer, poring through my friend’s cosmic collection, led me to a lifetime of wonder,” says Moore. “Maybe you’ve got a friend like him, someone who introduced you to an enduring passion at a critical time in your life. And maybe, just maybe, that passion is Marvel comics.”
Marvel Comics have long offered rich, multi-layered, vibrant and profoundly imaginative narratives, and Bloomsbury’s Marvel Age Of Comics series of books applies the kind of highly detailed, thoughtful and keenly intelligent appraisal that they so richly deserve.
For more information, click here.
