Paul Brian McCoy

Paul Brian McCoy's second volume of his "Mondo Marvel" series covers the period January to June 1963 and continues his experiment to read through Marvel's early '60s output in order, commenting on and contextualising the stories with each other and with the real world in general. He comments on each successive issue are done as if he was reading it for the first time with no reference to what he knows happens next or to his knowledge of the evolution of the Marvel Universe. His approach is hugely readable, irreverent and fun but with a huge respect for the best of the stories. He is also hugely perceptive with his comments on some of the stranger and darker aspects of the comics and by extension American society; the obsession with the perceived Communist threat and the treatment of women characters, particularly Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four. being recurrent themes. McCoy also has plenty of scorn to pour on the ludicrousness of the Ant-Man concept and the general ineptitude of the Human Torch solo stories – his comments are scathing and biting, but with an underlying love of the tales and concepts. "Mondo Marvel, Volume 2" is a great read and is just as good as the first volume and I very much look forward to the next volume. The book looks at each of the following in detail: "Fantastic Four" issues 10 through 15; "Strange Tales" 104 - 109; "Tales to Astonish" 39 - 44; The Incredible Hulk" 5 and 6; "Journey Into Mystery" 88 - 93; "Tales of Suspense" 39 - 42; "Amazing Spider-Man" 1 and 2 and "Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos" issue 1. The creators discussed include Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, Larry Lieber, Sol Brodsky, Al Hartley, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, Joe Sinnott, Robert Bernstein and Ernie Hart. As always it is hugely striking to see the level of work and the creative energy unleashed by Lee and Kirby, whose work (individually or as a team) appears in virtually every issue overviewed here.… (lisätietoja)

number of years ago Paul Brian McCoy began reading each of Marvel's superhero titles in chronological order beginning with Fantastic Four issue 1 from November 1961. McCoy sought to critique and comment on each successive issue as if he was reading it for the first time with no reference to what he knew happened next or as if he had no knowledge of the evolution of the Marvel Universe. The original comments were posted at the www.comicsbulletin.com website and are now collected into book form and it make for a fascinating read. McCoy obviously has a deep knowledge and love of the characters, allied to a sense of the ridiculousness of the whole superhero concept. His comments are therefore well-founded, thoughtful and thought-provoking and, at times, not without the touch of the controversial if not the sacrilegious for certain sections of the fanboy community. The writing strikes an excellent balance between being laugh-out-loud funny and critically astute. McCoy's commentary on the Thing's psychological condition and the ineffectiveness of Reed Richards are nicely observed as is Stan Lee's fall back plotting contrivance of communists and aliens. Following McCoy's commentary is a fascinating way to see the building blocks of the "Marvel Universe" being incrementally piled up. It is also a fascinating to see what a psychologically dark and dangerous place the Marvel world was and exactly how dark and dangerous the original Marvel Age heroes were in these creatively explosive days of the early 1960's. "Mondo Marvel" is a great idea that is superbly delivered through great writing and by some really excellent, enjoyable and insightful commentary. Volume 2 is already queued on my e-reader.… (lisätietoja)