''Origins of Marvel Comics'' is a 1974 collection of
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
comic book stories, selected and introduced by Marvel writer and editor
Stan Lee
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...
. The book was published by Fireside Books, an imprint of
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...
, and was Marvel's first
trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to:
* Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book
* Trade paperback (comics)
In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...
collection.
The book collected the first story and a more recent story starring five of Marvel's star characters:
The Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first s ...
,
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
,
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...
,
the Hulk
The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book ...
and
Doctor Strange
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...
.
[ Lee wrote an introduction to the collection, and anecdotes introducing each story.
The book was very successful, and was followed by annual sequels in the ]Marvel Fireside Books
''Marvel Fireside Books'' were a series of full-color trade paperbacks featuring Marvel Comics stories and characters co-published by Marvel and the Simon & Schuster division Fireside Books from 1974 to 1979. The first book, 1974's ''Origins of Mar ...
series: ''Son of Origins of Marvel Comics'' (1975), ''Bring on the Bad Guys'' (1976) and ''The Superhero Women'' (1977).[
]
Style
Lee's introduction to the ''Fantastic Four'' section typifies his "tongue-in-cheek verbosity and ad-man hyperbole":
:In the beginning Marvel created the Bullpen and the Style.
:And the Bullpen was without form, and was void; and darkness was upon the face of the Artists. And the Spirit of Marvel moved upon the face of the Writers.
:And Marvel said, Let there be The Fantastic Four. And there was The Fantastic Four.
:And Marvel saw The Fantastic Four. And it was good.
''Origins'' supports Lee's self-created mythology of himself as the master creator of Marvel Comics. Matt Yockey observes that "Lee invokes his own childhood love of the pulp character The Spider
The Spider is an American pulp-magazine hero of the 1930s and 1940s. The character was created by editor Harry Steeger and written by a variety of authors for 118 monthly issues of ''The Spider'' from 1933 to 1943. A 119th Spider novel manuscrip ...
as a primary motivation for creating Spider-Man. He thus articulates a narrative of transformation from fan to professional that makes his own textual self-production in the comic books more personal and identifiable to readers."[
]
Contents
The book contained the following stories:
* "The Fantastic Four" (''Fantastic Four'' #1, November 1961)
* "When Strikes the Silver Surfer!" (''Fantastic Four'' #55, October 1966)
* "The Hulk" (''The Incredible Hulk
The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...
'' #1, May 1962)
* "A Clash of Titans" (''The Incredible Hulk'' #118, August 1969)
* "Spider-Man!" (''Amazing Fantasy
''Amazing Adult Fantasy'', retitled ''Amazing Fantasy'' in its final issue, is an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics from 1961 through 1962, with the latter title revived with superhero features in 1995 and in the 2000 ...
'' #15, August 1962)
* "Rocked By... the Shocker!" (''The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...
'' #72, May 1969)
* "Thor the Mighty and the Stone Men from Saturn!" (''Journey Into Mystery
''Journey into Mystery'' is an American comic book series initially published by Atlas Comics (1950s), Atlas Comics, then by its successor, Marvel Comics. Initially a horror comics anthology, it changed to giant-monster and science fiction stori ...
'' #83, August 1962)
* "And Soon Shall Come the Enchanters!" (''Thor'' #143, August 1967)
* "Doctor Strange, Master of Black Magic!" (''Strange Tales
''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics comics anthology, anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (feature), Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their d ...
'' #110, July 1963)
* "The Origin of Doctor Strange" (''Strange Tales'' #115, December 1963)
* "The Fearful Finish!" (''Strange Tales'' #155, April 1967)
The cover was illustrated by John Romita Sr.
John V. Romita (; born January 24, 1930) is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and for co-creating characters including the Punisher and Wolverine (character), Wolverine. He was indu ...
Reception
A contemporary review in '' the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix'' criticized Lee's bombastic style: "Though his patronizing tone is entertaining for the first few paragraphs, he seems to forget one of his own conclusions about the readers of comics books ic that they are not necessarily youthful devotees who are accustomed to being lectured, but rather may be reasonably intelligent and educated people who will quickly tire of Lee's self-centred and falsely casual manner." However, the review allows that the book offers "substantial information of the early evolution of the comic book and its first steps to becoming a true piece of 20th century art."
Author Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...
wrote an unusual review of ''Origins of Marvel Comics'' for ''The Los Angeles Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', "Here's a Pictorial Tonic to Relieve Virus Plaguing a World with Too Much Reality," praising the "intellectual-with-a-small-i" who enjoys both highbrow literary classics and middlebrow comic strips. In a florid passage, Bradbury wrote, "I sing the full wide-open-alert-unbiased, sometimes splendidly mediocre, pig-that-flies man and woman and their dirty children with bright faces. If this sounds like a description of you with your secret guilts for having loved the wrong films and wrong books, Stan Lee's new volume is the very stuff for you."
A critical review in '' The Spectrum'', the University at Buffalo
The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...
student newspaper, savaged Lee's style: "The writing is stylistically crummy, which wouldn't be so jarring if Lee hadn't made such a big deal about his style. It takes an embarrassing iccombination of pretentiousness, awkwardness, insecurity, and ignorance to write a sentence like, 'Myself when born was christened Stanley Martin Lieber — truly an appellation to conjure with.'" The review also groused, "Production values were expendable to the publisher. Lee introduces one Spiderman icstory, but instead another one is printed. The Dr. Strange stories near the end of the book are placed in the wrong relationship to the introductory copy; one of them is thrown in ''after'' the epilogue. Maybe they'll fix these things in subsequent printings. Then again, Marvel's mistakes are legend, by now. Maybe they'll leave them in."
In ''Give Our Regards to the Atom-Smashers! Writers on Comics,'' Christopher Sorrentino
Christopher Sorrentino (born May 20, 1963) is an American novelist and short story writer of Italian and Puerto Rican descent. He is the son of novelist Gilbert Sorrentino and Victoria Ortiz. His first published novel, ''Sound on Sound'' (1995), ...
points out that, in the mid-70s, the stories chosen to represent the modern style were all from the late 1960s: "The message coming through loud and clear was that Marvel had already peaked."
Sequels
''Origins of Marvel Comics'' was followed in 1975 with ''Son of Origins of Marvel Comics,'' featuring the origins of the X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
, Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...
, the Avengers
Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to:
Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe
* Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes
**Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...
, Daredevil
Daredevil may refer to:
* A stunt performer
Arts and media Comics
* Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications), a fictional 1940s superhero popularized by writer-artist Charles Biro
* Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), a Marvel comic book superher ...
, Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, he first appeared in ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos ...
, the Watcher, and the Silver Surfer
The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...
. In addition to the single release, ''Origins'' and ''Son of Origins'' were offered as a two-volume set in a slipcased edition.[
The two ''Origins'' books were followed by ''Bring on the Bad Guys'', origins of a selection of Marvel villains; and ''The Superhero Women,'' featuring some of Marvel's most popular female superheroes. Eventually, the series moved away from origin stories and published collections of classic stories with individual characters such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, ]Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
, and Doctor Strange.
References
{{reflist
1974 books
Comic book collection books
Marvel Comics titles
Simon & Schuster books
Works based on Marvel Comics