Coffee table books, in general, are supposed to be pretty books with big, colourful pictures and a concise yet comprehensive amount of writing to make it worthy of display. Marvel Year by Year is thus a perfect examples of how a coffee table book is supposed to look like. We are presented with a beautiful book that tells the story of Marvel from conception to the present, year by year, in chronological order with extraordinary artwork – by Marvel itself – to add a little something extra to this true, remarkable story. The foreword is by Stan Lee, the afterword by Joe Quesada… it’s updated and expanded, and frankly it would give any comic book lover wet dreams for weeks.

Marvel Year by Year isn’t just a beautiful book that’s filled with images of comic heroes and super villains, which we obviously all love and adore, it’s also a showcase of the evolution of art, plots, humans and so on. The colour coded years, which makes it easy to find something specific in this large book, it’s easy to see how human history and specific events crossed over and influenced the comics. The tireless effort into creating this magnificent piece of art (it will never just be a book, it’s a piece of art through and through), is not only beautiful and informative, but also something that should be in every library.


Is Marvel Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle expensive? Yes, unfortunately this book is going to be a little expensive for the everyday Joe, but it’ll be worth every penny you spend. What’s more is that I’m fairly sure Marvel Year by Year would make any man a very happy man, especially if he has a love for comic books and superhero stuff. It’s the perfect gift, and seeing as Valentine’s Day is coming up, now’s the right time to start saving your money, ladies. I mean, if he doesn’t ask you to marry him after you present this bad boy as a Valentine’s Day gift to him, he really isn’t worth your time…

(review originally posted on www.killeraphrodite.com) ( )