The book Marvels is perfect for people who are sort of interested in super hero comics, but do not know a lot of the history.

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Alex Ross

The story in Marvels follows Phil Sheldon, a news reporter fascinated with the cities superheroes or “Marvels” as he calls them.

Marvels gives the reader the perspective of normal people and what it’s like living in a town full of extraordinary people. The Marvels are misunderstood, feared, but also loved and cherished. As the story moved forward, so does Phil’s views on the marvels. At the beginning he too is skeptical of them, almost afraid. As years past he begins to see that the heroes just want to save human kind, and instead of getting thanks they are met with fear.

One thing I thought was interesting was how the X-men were portrayed. While other marvels were misunderstood they did also sometimes get the gratitude of the public. But, the X-men were hated and feared most of all. People felt unsafe and did not want mutants around their town. I find it interesting that the mutants were hated so much. What makes them so different than say the Human Torch or Sub Mariner? Do they all not have some power that is not human? The answer came to me at one of my graphic novel book club meetings. It’s about the origin story. Heroes like Spider-Man, The Hulk or the Fantastic Four are all some type of science gone wrong. X-men are born with their powers, meaning two normal parents could give birth to a mutant baby and that was seemingly too much to handle.

As the story goes on, Phil becomes detached from his family. This shows how big news reporting was back in that time. However, Phil realizes the importance of his family when his daughters bring home a little mutant girl. At one point Phil tells his fiancé that their wedding will have to have to wait. He feels like he cannot protect his family. I think this was him afraid and running from the future.

The book does a good job of highlighting all the major marvel heroes and events and can be understood even if a person as never picked up a comic book. I myself am not a big cape comic fan, but I found this very enjoyable. Perhaps because I see it as somewhere in-between cape and non-cape.

The thing about this book that caught my eye the most was the art. Alex Ross is one of comic’s best known and highly acclaimed artists. His use of water color and photorealism are one of a kind. Alex Ross uses real people as focal points and creates his art by posing people how the hero or person would look in the comic. He captures emotion and detail very well and puts a lot of heart and soul into his time consuming art.

The only down fall of this story is how it ends; I feel like it ends too abruptly. In the story Phil decides to publish a book of photos of the Marvels. As the story winds down he talks about losing his optical eye, but in some ways I don’t think he ever had it. Phil mentions in the book wanting to write a novel and write about how humankind should see the Marvels. As a reader I was excited about seeing him do this, but it just sort of tapers off and is merely something said in passing.

All in all I really enjoyed this book. Alex Ross is my favorite comic book artist and his work in this is truly breathtaking.