While the world still reels from the incredible news that Disney is purchasing Marvel Comics (the company, not just starting a pull-list at the local comics shop), I noticed a great article in the current issue of Maxim magazine (the Sept. issue, with Milla Jovovich on the cover). This issue is--of course--so hot it came wrapped in plastic, but some enterprising person liberated it from its protective baggie in my local CVS store (one of THREE in about a 4 block radius), and I was leafing through it, purely for editorial content, I assure you, when I found--lo and behold--an article celebrating Marvel's 70th anniversary.
With nary a cover mention, "The Amazing! Incredible! Uncanny Oral History of Marvel Comics," by Sean T. Collins, occupies six pages in the issue, including a great new illustration by Marvel stalwarts John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson. It's exactly as advertised: an oral history of the company from the late 1930s through now (although admittedly, the word "oral" has a whole new context when used in an issue of Maxim). While the oral part is light, there's a lot of good stuff here, and I can't help myself hoping Collins (who is a blogosphere mainstay, writing about comics here) expands this into a book. I love oral histories...I've read two great ones, one on Saturday Night Live, the other on the porn industry and there's a book called The Box sitting on my shelf for over a decade now which is an oral history of television.
Included in this article are observations from such esteemed Face Front-ers as Stan Lee ('nuff said!), Joe Quesada, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Mark Millar, Tom Brevort, Chris Claremont, Steranko, Herb Trimpe, Roy Thomas and more, plus previously-employed Marvel talent like Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Bob Harras, Jim Shooter, Tom DeFalco and Louise Simonson. Even Fantagraphics' Gary Groth gets into the act. There's also some excellent illustrations accompanying the article, and it's definitely worth a look. Not sure how much longer Milla lingers on the newsstand (it doesn't appear to be on the Maxim website), so you may want to seek this out...or then again you might not. Good thing Marvel squeaked this one into Maxim now...I'm not sure Disney would want it now that they've entered that corporate fold.
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