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‘Marvel: Unforgettable Stories’ (review)

Selected and introduced by
Patton Oswalt & Jordan Blum

Written and Illustrated by Various
Published by The Folio Society

 

Let’s get one thing out of the way right from the beginning: The Folio books by the Folio Society just look plain awesome.

The Folio Society takes traditional comic book fare and examines them at a different level. Their scanning process in making their books is quite impressive as well. For this particular book, they collect some of the more incredible issues from Marvel’s past.

I’ve pretty much read them all before, which is part of the issue, because there are no real surprises to be had, knowing what is going to occur in each story.

Still, this is all about the presentation, and that is truly incredibly spectacular.

This particular book is also a curation by Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum, the two writers of the book Minor Threats. It has a beauty of a cover too, by the legendary Marcos Martin. It really is a perfect cover for this book. Now, as to the book’s stories themselves: how are they?

Well, the first one up is Amazing Spider-Man #33, the legendary issue by Steven Ditko and Stan Lee. Even though, I have seen this and read this particular issue a thousand and one times, the presentation is great. I especially love how the color really pops off the page here. It is a beautiful story and it definitely should be in here, front and center, and it is a terrific entry.

Daredevil #191 is another fantastic entry in this tome.

This is the last issue of Daredevil written and illustrated by Frank Miller and inked by Terry Austin’s and it is a great entry. I probably would have chosen Daredevil #181 or even #227 as being a bit more significant in the run, but I am not mad that this issue is here.

I also similarly enjoy the entry of Uncanny X-Men #205 as it is a good collaboration between writer Chris Claremont and artist Barry Windsor-Smith. The artwork in this one is worth the price alone by itself. Rarely has Windsor-Smith’s art been so beautifully reproduced. It looks amazing. I could only hope we would get more work of Windsor-Smith’s given this deluxe treatment. It truly is like seeing it in front of you for the first time.

The rest of the books curated I have to say aren’t as important. It’s not that they are bad by any means. The curators make their point on why these issues are important to them.

Yet, for the rest of us, it is a bit of a headscratcher. Something like Captain America #367.

That is there in the same book as a Miller Daredevil? A Steve Ditko Spider-Man? It is not a bad story or artwork (Kieron Dwyer’s artwork is really great), but it seems rather slight.

And there isn’t a single story in here by Jack Kirby. Or even Walter Simonson? Arthur Adams? Someone please explain that one to me!

So yes, the rest are a mixed bag for the most part. Hawkeye #11 probably works the best for the unique point of view from the dog. It is cute and fun and definitely is an unforgettable story for sure . The David Aja artwork is really great in this issue as well. It is good but a bit minor.

But I might say the same for X-Factor #87. Writer Peter David and artist Joe Quesada created a heck of a tale, where all of the characters in the team go through a psychological evaluation by Doc Samson. It is funny and well drawn and I definitely remember it when I picked it off the shelf when it first came out.

Another worthy entry is Tangled Web #4 with the story “Severance Package” written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Eduardo Risso. It is a story with a unique perspective of Tom Cochrane, who is working for the Kingpin. We get to see the things Tom has to do to fulfill his role and it is a dark tale that definitely becomes rather chilling near the end. The story is great and the artwork by Risso is top notch and the presentation is really great as well.

As far as the rest of the stories in this book, I totally forgot that most of them exist. I even forgot a series or two that the stories appeared in existed. But that’s beside the point. The point is, this is a personal journey for the two curators and their favorites.

And for that much, this works.

RATING: B+

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