cover image Marvel Universe

Marvel Universe

Peter Sanderson. ABRAMS, $49.5 (256pp) ISBN 978-0-8109-4285-1

Captain American, Spider-Man, Wolverine, the nonviolent Doctor Strange, caster of rhymed spells, the swashbuckling vigilante Daredevil, the Manhattan-based Fantastic Four, Eastern European tyrant Doctor Doom, the rampaging Incredible Hulk and his alter-ego, mild-mannered physicist Bruce Banner, are among the heroes and villains we meet in this lavish, nostalgic survey of Marvel Comics' major characters, story lines and artists. Sanderson, Marvel's former archivist, views these fantasies as a modern-day mythology recasting age-old themes of heroism and human struggle in pop cultural trappings. His entertaining text, decked out with kinetic story-captioned artwork, insets and comic-book lore, interprets these comics as parables of the Cold War, space race, multiple personality disorder, teen angst, love and hate between the sexes--and as good, old-fashioned storytelling with more than camp appeal for adults. Featuring 400 color illustrations, the book is a visual knockout. BOMC selection. (Nov.)