It should be no surprise whatsoever that I love Marvel Comics. I do. Very much. I believe I've made that apparent over the past two or three years, both on this blog and on Twitter.That said, this story/article/oral history of Marvel Comics is fascinating to me. I first came across it via Ryan Penagos (@Agent_M on Twitter), but it's certainly worth the read if you A) like comic books or B) enjoy reading the history of a company that rose to greatness, fell into bankruptcy and internal strife and disruption and rose from the ashes (like it's own Phoenix character), as told by the creators and editors that lived it themselves.
Tons of great quotes, but two of my favorites are here (from article writer Sean T. Collins)...
"While artists like Kirby and Steve Ditko added personal style and psychedelic flourishes to Lee’s soap-operatic stories, Lee became an in-demand speaker on campuses and a fixture in the comics’ letters column, painting Marvel as one big, happy family fans were welcome to join."
...and this (not necessarily good quote) from Executive Editor Tom Brevoort about Marvel at its peak...
"Everyone had expense accounts. Christmas parties became decadent affairs—the
hotel in Grand Central Station, big ice sculptures of Spider-Man, crazy DJs in a
control room like Professor X. It was an insane spectacle of excess."
The story does a great job of reflecting both the good and the bad, and it's seriously worth reading.
Here's the link one more time. Enjoy: http://www.maxim.com/humor/stupid-fun/83588/amazing-incredible-uncanny-oral-history-marvel-comics.html?p=1
On a final note, here's my favorite recent comic book image. It's a cover from an upcoming Captain America comic by Leinil Yu...
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