{"product_id":"marvel-comics-the-untold-story-isbn-9780061992117","title":"Marvel Comics: The Untold Story","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe defining, behind-the-scenes chronicle of one of the most extraordinary, beloved, and dominant pop cultural entities in America’s history -- Marvel Comics – and the outsized personalities who made Marvel including Martin Goodman, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby.  \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sean Howe’s history of Marvel makes a compulsively readable, riotous and heartbreaking version of my favorite story, that of how a bunch of weirdoes changed the world…That it’s all true is just frosting on the cake.”  —Jonathan Lethem\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the first time, \u003cem\u003eMarvel Comics\u003c\/em\u003e tells the stories of the men who made Marvel: Martin Goodman, the self-made publisher who forayed into comics after a get-rich-quick tip in 1939, Stan Lee, the energetic editor who would shepherd the company through thick and thin for decades and Jack Kirby, the WWII veteran who would co-create Captain America in 1940 and, twenty years later, developed with Lee the bulk of the company’s marquee characters in a three-year frenzy. Incorporating more than one hundred original interviews with those who worked behind the scenes at Marvel over a seventy-year-span, \u003cem\u003eMarvel Comics\u003c\/em\u003e packs anecdotes and analysis into a gripping narrative of how a small group of people on the cusp of failure created one of the most enduring pop cultural forces in contemporary America.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eIn the early 1960s, a struggling company called Marvel Comics presented a cast of brightly costumed characters distinguished by smart banter and compellingly human flaws: Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the X-Men. Over the course of half a century, Marvel's epic universe would become the most elaborate fictional narrative in history and serve as a modern American mythology for millions of readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the first time, \u003cem\u003eMarvel Comics\u003c\/em\u003e reveals the outsized personalities behind the scenes, including Martin Goodman, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and generations of editors, artists, and writers who struggled with commercial mandates, a fickle audience, and—over matters of credit and control—one another. \u003cem\u003eMarvel Comics\u003c\/em\u003e is a story of fertile imaginations, lifelong friendships, action-packed fistfights, and third-act betrayals—a narrative of one of the most extraordinary, beloved, and beleaguered pop-cultural entities in America's history.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“A warts-and-all, nail-biting mini-epic about the low-paid, unsung ‘funnybook men’ who were unwittingly creating twenty-first century pop culture. If you thought the fisticuffs were bare and bloody on the four-color page, wait ‘til you hear about what went down in the Marvel bullpen.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePatton Oswalt\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Exhaustively researched and artfully assembled, \u003ci\u003eMarvel Comics\u003c\/i\u003e is a historical exploration, a labor of love, and a living illustration of how the weirdest corners of the counterculture can sometimes become the culture-at-large.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChuck Klosterman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Page after page, Sean Howe’s \u003ci\u003eMarvel Comics\u003c\/i\u003e manages to be enchantingly told, emotionally suspenseful and totally revelatory. If I knew more about superpowers, I’d be able to explain how he did it.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSloane Crosley\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sean Howe is to Marvel Comics what Procopius was to the Byzantine Empire: a court gossip of breathtaking thoroughness and exactitude, and a sly and nuanced writer. It is imperative that this work not fall into the hands of alien species, or we’re done for.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLuc Sante\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Fascinating, compelling reading. . . . Exhaustively researched. . . . What ultimately propels you to keep turning the pages of this fat, enjoyable book are the endless anecdotes about how the Marvel Universe was shaped.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Miami Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Hugely entertaining.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Republic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A vivid account. . . . Comics have proven an enduring art form, gaining new fans without losing the old ones. Howe’s exhaustively researched love letter to Marvel should find grateful readers among both groups.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A superpowered must-read for anyone hooked on comics, as well as a gripping story for someone merely enlightened by a genre that’s always had to fight for respect. It’s much more about ordinary, flawed humans than super men and women, and therein lies its excellence.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Howe, a widely published critic with a real knack, rare for his field, for reporting, gets farther inside the company than anyone else has. . . .An essential read for anyone who loves comics, but civilians with a taste for gossip will enjoy it too.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Daily Beast\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A corporate biography of America’s most significant comic-book publisher and a definitive portrait of comics in American culture. . . . Howe offers vivid reporting and enticing detail. . . . The result is a book both authoritative and charmingly readable.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sean Howe’s gripping new history lays out five decades of Marvel adventures and insanity, and will make you believe that comic-book creators have even weirder lives than their mutant creations.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eMarvel Comics\u003c\/em\u003e is a meticulous chronicle of the real secret origins of the superhero, a tragic love story about the relationship between a long parade of passionate, talented superhero devotees and the company that didn’t love them back.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“It’s about time somebody wrote \u003cem\u003eMarvel Comics: The Untold Story\u003c\/em\u003e, and it looks like Sean Howe was the right guy for the job. Howe’s clear-eyed history. . . is as full of colorful characters, tragic reversals and unlikely plot twists as any book in the Marvel canon.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Exhaustively researched and extraordinarily compelling. . . . A quasi-Shakespearean portrayal of Marvel as it moves from spirited upstart to ruthless corporate colossus.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSalon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sean Howe’s history of Marvel makes a compulsively readable, riotous and heartbreaking version of my favorite story, that of how a bunch of weirdos changed the world—or, to paraphrase Little Richard, ‘They Got What They Wanted But Lost What They Had.’ That it’s all true is just frosting on the cake.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJonathan Lethem\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sean Howe’s history of Marvel makes a compulsively readable, riotous and heartbreaking version of my favorite story, that of how a bunch of weirdos changed the world. That it’s all true is just frosting on the cake.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJonathan Lethem\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A jittery, hilarious, anecdotal, and exhaustive history of the company. It unspools like a late-night reminiscence by an enthusiastic, forever digressing raconteur, eager to spill every juicy bit of gossip. . . . If you’re a comics fan, this is essential reading. If you’re not, then it’s merely fascinating. Howe has written a biographical history of modern America’s id.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGQ\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A jittery, hilarious, anecdotal, and exhaustive history of the company. . . . If you’re a comics fan, this is essential reading. If you’re not, then it’s merely fascinating. Howe has written a biographical history of modern America’s id.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGQ\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Written crisply with lots of original reporting, \u003cem\u003eMarvel Comics\u003c\/em\u003e is a must for any superhero or pop-culture fan.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Sean Howe reveals the real-world battles and triumphs behind the biggest name in comics.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44887978672357,"sku":"NP9780061992117","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780061992117.jpg?v=1730227870","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/marvel-comics-the-untold-story-isbn-9780061992117","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}