At long last the next two volumes of Mondo Marvel are finally here!
Paul Brian McCoy returns to the Sensational Sixties to read and react to the creation of the Marvel Comics Superhero Universe, month by month, issue by issue! Sometimes irreverent, sometimes way-too-serious, he looks on in wonder at one of the greatest feats of world-building in Pop Culture, sharing insights and laughs along with heaps of praise and sprinkles of embarrassment (yes, Ant-Man, I’m looking at you).
June 18, 2015 – MONDO MARVEL Volume Three July 1963 – Dec. 1963
Iron Man goes through a creative rough patch! Thor does some struggling of his own before finally getting it together with giant-sized adventures! Spider-Man proves the high school is just awful! Ant-Man finally realizes his powers are kind lame and gets gigantic instead! Wasp continues to hang around! The Fantastic Four travel through space and time! The Howling Commandos keep on fighting the good fight! Doctor Strange debuts and brings a distinctively darker tone to the Marvel Universe while Lee and Kirby go back to the creation of humanity and show us it’s a Norse World, baby! Best of all, The Avengers arrive on the scene for those battles that are just too big for one hero, and The X-Men show us that being different is okay! As long as you’re not too different! Or evil! Or something!
June 19, 2015 – MONDO MARVEL Volume Four Jan. 1964 – June 1964
The Fantastic Four continue to bicker and then have awesome adventures! Sue Storm and Alicia become real characters, while the Wasp continues to be an embarrassment! Even being Giant Man isn’t working out for Hank! Spider-Man becomes Marvel’s flagship title thanks to excellent writing and amazing art! Iron Man continues to flounder, but we meet his Doctor Doom: The Mandarin, and he’s not the racist caricature I expected! We also learn that if you’re a scientist in the Marvel Universe, you’re just a small discovery away from using your inventions for crime! Also, there are aliens EVERYWHERE! The blind adventurer Daredevil makes his debut! Thor’s adventures start to get bigger and bolder! Sgt. Fury confronts racism! Evil Mutants debut in The X-Men, and The Avengers feature the dramatic return of Captain America!
And be sure to check out the first two volumes!
MONDO MARVEL Volume One Nov. 1961 – Dec. 1962
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MONDO MARVEL Volume Two Jan. – June 1963