History of the Marvel Universe

History of the Marvel Universe #1-6

by Mark Waid, Javier Rodriguez (Illustrator), Álvaro López

The Marvel Universe is a sprawling, interconnected web of rich history...and now, it's all coming together! Writer Mark Waid and artist Javier Rodriguez chronicle the definitive history of the Marvel Universe from its very beginnings to the modern day - and perhaps beyond! And woven through the moments you know is a brand-new tale featuring previously unknown secrets and shocking revelations, connecting dozens of threads from the Marvel Universe's past and present! From the Big Bang to the twilight of existence, this sweeping saga covers every significant Marvel event and provides fresh looks at the origins of every fan's favorite stories! It's the greatest tale ever told -and a story you've never seen before!

COLLECTING: HISTORY OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE 1-6

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Comic Book, Fantasy

232 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2020

About the author

Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.

Reviews

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is brilliant, one of those books any Marvel reader will want in their collection. Galactus narrates the entire history of the Marvel universe from the very birth of its existence, its the kind of book an avid Marvel reader will truly appreciate, it can work as a manual for readers and writers alike, with extra information on the end, referencing the books you need to read for each story arc.

Artwise this is a phenomenal book too, with every event beautifully illustrated with a unique meaningful design, very colorful and psychedelic, you could easily make a poster out of each page if you removed the dialogue bubbles.

Highly recommended to all Marvel readers.

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a far flung future at the end of time Galactus recounts the history of the Marvel (comic book) universe from the dawn of the universe, through all the great Ages and beyond. And reading this long history, I'm really beginning to think that Brian Michael Bendis time at the helm will never be bettered - say it after me - Avengers Disassembled, Civil War, Secret Invasion, House of M, Dark Reign and Siege... it's just utterly glorious! 7 out of 12 for this actual book though :)

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly excellent history of the Marvel Universe and beautifully illustrated to boot. I recommend this to anybody interested in the Marvel Universe, from folks who’ve only recently discovered it through the movies to forty-year veterans of the original comicbooks like me. Seriously, don’t miss this one, Marvel fans.

[Ignacio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo que hace Javier Rodríguez para contar la Historia del Universo Marvel es brutal. La inteligencia detrás de cada composición de página y encuadre, qué pone en cada viñeta y cómo lo pone, lleva a tus ojos por un viaje en el que tienes que detenerlos constantemente para disfrutar de cada detalle. O no, porque el tebeo admite una lectura más rápida en el que agarrar las secuencias generales para, después, ver cómo se han reflejado en las viñetas los personajes y los giros de cada historia. Supongo que aquí también tiene mucho que ver la coordinación con Waid. Entre los dos consiguen que el tebeo sea entendible aunque algunos personajes y situaciones inevitablemente aparecen in media res, cuando ya tenían su pasado. Sí que, a partir del cuarto número, que termina con Onslaught, el tema ya se vuelve muy loco, monopolizado ya del todo por la sucesión de eventos transformadores-revampirización de los orígenes... Pero así se ha construido la continuidad.

Por cierto, pedazo traducción con gramática inglesa se marcaron en Panini. Uno pensaba que las ediciones de lujo llevaban aparejada una corrección.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Galactus and Franklin Richards witness the end of the Universe, they have a talk about all of the things that have happened so far. Galactus recounts some of the Marvel Universe's most important moments, detailing a rich history of amazing and incredible people, events, and realities.

Mark Waid handled the difficult task of summing up … well, everything that has happened so far. And of course, there's plenty of stuff missing - but you really get a sense of the Marvel Universe as a whole by the time you put the book down. I think Waid is a modern master in terms of comic book writing, and he uses every trick he has to make this feel fluid and keep the pace interesting without getting muddled by all the things that happen.

For me, the star of the show is Javier Rodriguez. His art is some of the most creative and beautiful that I have seen in a comic book …pretty much ever. I had to stop multiple times just to let the art breathe as that is what it deserves. I even went as far as to look up the pencil work online just to see it without the word balloons, and it's still really amazing to look at. I gave the book another star based on the art alone.

This is a great summary of the Marvel Universe, and I think new readers would enjoy getting the cliff notes of major events. Highly recommended for new and old fans of the Marvel Universe.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

History of the Marvel Universe is just a tremendous piece of work from Mark Waid and especially Javier Rodriguez. If you're deep in the Marvel weeds (as I am), this is an absolute must-read. It brilliantly encapsulates the last 80 years of Marvel content, tying the sprawling web of multiverses together in six-issues of Franklin Richards/Galactus-narrated story.

More than just the smart, touching narration and perfect downsizing of immense Marvel events, Javier Rodriguez's artwork is the true star of the show. You could probably skip the text boxes from Mark Waid and get a feel for Marvel history purely from Rodriguez's gorgeous murals. That said, I definitely found myself pouring over the appendices, one for each issue, that provided a deeper dive into the characters and events portrayed in the comic. Certainly seems like the perfect starting point for a reader who is interested in a specific storyline.

I knew that History of the Marvel Universe had scratched an itch for me when I finished the book and immediately turned back to page one to start over again. The layman might not be so fascinated by the book, but the true Marvel nerd will surely fall in love.

[Ant Tellez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7/5.0

Brilliant artwork and a nostalgic ingredient really brings the essence of this story to life. Mark Waid celebrates both the decorated creativity of what Marvel has established itself to be while at the same time showcasing the potential of what is yet to come.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I read this for the art.

The 'story', such as it is, is that Franklin Richards and Galactus are sitting at the end of the universe, and decide to recount everything that happened, in six issues. It's mostly just a 'remember this?' kind of trip down memory lane, from the big tentpole events to some of the tinier storylines for individual characters.

What enhances it is the artwork, because Javier Rodriguez turns every page into some kind of Where's Wally type of spot-the-reference, and manages to interpret entire multi-comic storylines into single page splashes over and over. It's beautifully done, and a lesser artist wouldn't have managed to be half as successful with it all.

There are no big revelations here, nothing major that ties together everything in the Marvel Universe in a big bow. But it sure is pretty.

[Trike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically the Marvel Handbook in story form, and it’s amazingly cohesive for such a sprawling, messy, often contradictory universe created by dozens of people over almost 75 years. It’s a nearly impossible task, but Waid mostly pulls it off. I say “mostly” only because he had to leave several things out, but they’re all included in the extensive appendix that’s nearly as long as the main story.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Good and very info heavy, I especially enjoyed the loose narrative in which the history was delivered to the reader. The art is great and the writing incredibly informative, great for figuring out which parts of the Marvel universe you want to read.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, that’s what daddy likes.

[Julio RGuez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pues es un repaso a la historia del universo Marvel, quién se lo podría imaginar?
En una conversación en el fin del universo, una conversación entre Franklin Richards y Galactus repasa el universo Marvel desde el Big Ban hasta la actualidad y con un breve vistazo a lo que vendrá y a historias futuras ya contadas en el pasado.
He de reconocer que hay un momento en que se hace pesado la lectura del cómic. Digo el cómic porque esto tiene una parte de cómic que son seis capítulos y luego todo un glosario enciclopédico de personajes y eventos que han ido ocurriendo. Esta parte no la he leído con todo el detenimiento del mundo, pero ahí está para consultar cuando haga falta.

[Ondra Král · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je to trochu jako číst ilustrovanou Wikipedii. Mé nerdské srdíčko několikrát zaplesalo a strašně se mi líbí až sterankovské panelování některých stránek. Obří plus za anotace, povinnost pro všechny skalní marveláky.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive history of the Marvel Universe, told by Galactus to his herald Franklin Richards, during the final moments of the universe eons into the future (conveniently, our narrator is slowly fading away as he recounts this history, and happens to disintegrate just as he gets up to our current modern era of tales). This was much more entertaining than reading an encyclopedia format, and the artwork by Javier Rodríguez is phenomenal. He expertly captures the likeness of so many strange and unique characters throughout all of Marvel's history.

Though this was a truly enjoyable read and a must-have for any fan of the Marvel Universe who wants to have a solid understanding of its history but might not have the time, universal interest, or money to have explored all of the events via the original stories in which they appeared, there are a couple of minor strikes against it. The first issue mostly sets up the overall Marvel cosmology, and those abstract "characters" such as Eternity, Infinity, the Living Tribunal, and so forth don't interest me much, and have always struck me as entirely too cheesy. As such, the first issue is significantly less enjoyable than those that follow.

And secondly, the book gives far too much weight to the last five years worth of stories. Given that the Marvel Universe spans 80 years worth of stories, perhaps they should have extended this to 8 issues (or 9, with the cosmic setup taking the first one), spending a full issue on each decade. Instead, they gloss over entire decades in half an issue, while the last issue (of 6) is solely devoted to the last five years. This gives the whole book an unbalanced feeling, and I'd have preferred they spent more time on some of the classic stories that the modern reader may be less familiar with. Any large volume like this is going to leave things out (for example, I don't believe the Punisher is ever mentioned, and the murder of his family is a pretty important Marvel event), but overall writer Mark Waid did a good job of including most of the seminal events that continue to affect the stories of today.

Despite its minor shortcomings, this is a fantastic experience and one I'd highly recommend, particularly to someone who's only experienced Marvel from the MCU films and wants to learn more about the comics but doesn't know where to start. Each event mentioned has detailed annotations in the back that provide more detail and lay out exactly what issues they're contained in, so if something in particular sparks your interest it's very easy to know exactly where to go to find the original stories.

4. 5 STARS

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a traditional fanboy but this series was special. It was like converting one of those Marvel Encyclopedias that I read on a car ride to Canada and created a head canon with.

This is an expert (not quite an auteur) doing a Grand Design style cosmic love letter about the Marvel Universe.

Waid does an amazing job lining up the trajectory and Rodriguez does some of the best art of the year here.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoy books like this but they do often underscore just how insane all the crossover events make things

[Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vi dirò, forse dare un 5/5 è esagerato, ma non sono davvero riuscito ad essere obiettivo: tutto perché apprezzo queste tipologie di storie, questi mega-articoloni di Wikipedia illustrati. Tuttavia, ci sono comunque una lunga serie di motivazioni (ma ne citerò solo i principali) del perché questa storia merita, non dico il massimo dei voti, ma comunque dei voti alti.

Innanzitutto, Mark Waid riesce ad iniettare pathos ed emozione in quello che potrebbe grezzamente essere definito come un mero "riassunto illustrato". Certo, la continuità dell'Universo Marvel è in continua evoluzione e tra un anno potrebbe anche darsi che, quanto narrato in "History of the Marvel Universe" sia tutto da rivedere. Tuttavia, Waid - da scaltro e sapiente scrittore qual è - non si concentra tanto sul cosa si raccontare, ma il come, facendo trasudare da ogni sua parola il sense of wonder con cui Stan Lee, Jack Kirby e tanti altri diedero vita a questa seconda casa di carta e china di tanti lettori. Si denota tanto tantissimo il sincero attaccamento a questo universo, alle sue dinamiche, ai suoi abitanti e i suoi avvenimenti piccoli e grandi e questo è forse l'elemento principale che fa progredire il lettore nella lettura. La "scusa" poi che tutto sia raccontato attraverso le esperienze di un vecchio Franklin Richards e un morente Galactus è un escamotage intelligente e che permette di tirare le fila alla fine della narrazione.

Da non dimenticare poi i disegni di uno strepitoso, in formissima, pazzesco e decisamente mostruoso Javier Rodriguez, che qui dà veramente sfoggio di tutte le sue abilità, creando tavole creative, eclettiche e d'impatto che danno vita ai testi di Waid ma, soprattutto, creano una sintesi - sia a livello concettuale, che artistico - dei vari periodi che la storia va a toccare. E' davvero difficile descrivere quanto - più di tante altre storie, anche quelle seminali per il mondo del fumetto - i disegni, in questa storia, sia funzionali ai testi, a partire dalle transazioni delle varie vignette, o dalla capacità riassuntiva di Rodriguez nel mostrare - con una sola pagina, o addirittura con un solo personaggio - il cuore di un determinato periodo o storia. Si prenda come esempio la splash-page che illustrano "La Saga del Clone" dell'Uomo Ragno o la prima "Civil War" di Mark Millar e Steve McNiven.

Forse qualche passaggio sarà confusionario, se letta da neofiti, però "La Storia dell'Universo Marvel" dà al lettore gli strumenti necessari per amare l'Universo Marvel e tutti i suoi abitanti che, ogni giorno, danno speranza ad ognuno di noi, raccontandoci di un mondo pieno di meraviglie.

[César Rodríguez Cuenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pues muchísimo texto. Es increíblemente vago lo que han hecho, literalmente son cajas de texto sobre dibujos de lo que ha ido pasando, que entiendo que es más entretenido que un libro de texto sobre historia, pero pa hacerme algo sin alma me veo un vídeo de Youtube explicándome lo mismo. Se salva de tener una sola estrella porque el dibujo me ha gustado.
Medio libro es la historia y otro medio son datos curiosos y cosas más específicas, me los iré leyendo pa convertirme en el friki máximo.

[Elyia · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

I LOVED this.

I loved how this was framed. It was a Story told to someone who was going to take the narrators place.

The art work is beautiful and detailed.

The facts were a little overwhelming, but this was just because I wasn't too familiar with the marvel universe.

My boyfriend and I watched a couple of the movies and I kept thinking of him throughout the book <3.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began this series really liking it, and as it progressed so did the liability level. I don't know how much of this was on Waid's part, or if some of it was because of decisions made in executive offices (editorial interference-never).

This goes to my personal bias. There is more to the Marvel than Spider-Man and the X-Men. the last two issues felt very heavy on those properties and adding some sort of coverage of all the company wide events. I know I am almost certainly in the minority when I say I would like the series to have done more with pre-history Earth, the West and WWII (Marvel has some rich history there). I almost forgot how the Lost Generation series helps resolve some Marvel continuity matters. And, I haven;t read a Marvel event in so long, because they hadn't held my interest, my lack of interest carried over to the entries.

Frankly, the series probably would have benefited if it had been more than six issues to do the history of the Marvel.

At this worst this is a fun read.

(note: read as digital floppies).

[Alex Sarll]

The sort of comic that's always a bit of a Cnut exercise (yes, I did intend that spelling, but no, I couldn't argue too hard against the other) – setting down the timeline of a fictional universe that's a palimpsest of hundreds of creators' unwittingly or deliberately contradictory work, not even being able to use any dates lest they hasten its obsolescence, yet still retaining the full knowledge that it'll be revised out of any relevance within a span so brief it wouldn't even cover a single page of said timeline. Not that the pages each cover equal units of time, of course; the first issue takes us from the beginning of the universe to Wolverine's childhood, and by the third we're already into what is allegedly the 21st century, even if it's only covering comics from the 1970s, because all of the 'modern' history of the Marvel Universe has to stay recent-ish because of the sliding timeline and not wanting to age the characters. Now, you can maybe just about pass Luke Cage and Iron Fist wearing those outfits in the noughties off as some kind of hipster revival business, but elsewhere the USSR appears not to have fallen, and a few of the fiddles have caused offence, not least the creation of a decades-long war in the invented Asian country of 'Siancong'. Granted, I have no skin in the game, but while this was clearly an ungainly fudge, I didn't think some of the constructions placed on it were fair; it's not as if the Marvel map of Europe isn't gaily scattered with invented countries, after all (though to do that and then still leave a reference to the Korean War elsewhere does feel a little like the worst of both worlds). No, the one which seemed seriously misjudged to me was tweaking the story of Isaiah Bradley so that he was a flawed attempt at reproducing Captain America's powers, rather than a sacrificial prototype. Except when I looked at the footnotes (of which there are 70 pages, a full third of the volume – and I am the weirdo for whom that is a definite bonus), it turns out that I was the one misremembering the original plot of Truth: Red, White & Black. I've checked, and it's definite Berenstein on my part. Unless, of course, our world's history of Marvel comics is as subject to revision as the world within the comics...

As a rule, though, even if they lack that League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen thrill of pieces being slotted together in new arrangements that feel unexpected yet right, the changes seldom go further than being a mildly odd or irksome. Yes, saying that Camelot is in England would set King Arthur spinning in his grave were he dead, but even I can't get too exercised about it. Magneto being Max Eisenhardt throughout? I can see why you wouldn't want to get into his various other aliases, but OK. Having the Human Torch kill Hitler, instead of Bucky? Yeah, spoils quite a good joke in one scene of one comic, but also makes a lot more sense given the burned body. Some stuff I didn't know at all and enjoyed finding out, like the in-joke of Marvel's ur-vampire going by the name Varnae, or Tarzan knock-off Ka-Zar having originally been called Kevin. And that's part of the appeal, for me, of something like this. For all I like the whole 'power of stories' idea, there's still that part of me which reads RPG sourcebooks for fun, where one of the first Marvel comics I read was the Book Of The Dead - not even really a comic at all, but an appendix to the Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe, listing characters at that time too deceased even to feature in the main Handbook. Not just 'facts' about a fictional world, but ones which no longer had any direct relevance in its present. And heavens help me, I enjoy that. Hell, even with all the characters in there who've since come back to life at least once, there's a sense in which those facts are more likely at least to be referenced in-world than some of the real world 'facts' I learned around the same time. Having an outdated account of Bucky's demise lodged in one's mind feels somehow less risky than if the brontosaurus still wanders there, or noble, chivalrous Richard the Lionheart. At least in a fictional world even facts which haven't stayed true retain a certain currency as previous truths within the metahistory of cosmic revisions; out here they're just dumb things people used to believe because we haven't got a clue.

Obviously this sort of thing isn't exactly an auteur gig – a Grant Morrison or Al Ewing might come up with crazy new spins on it all in their own book, but they're not the sort to sit down and do all the tidying up afterwards. Given which, Mark Waid is probably the joint-best person for the job; alongside Kurt Busiek, he's the ultimate safe pair of hands for the big superhero universes. The framing device of having the story told by Galactus to Franklin Richards at the end of all things isn't perfect – certain oddities as regards that perspective have to be lampshaded in the text – but does add a bit more personality than just having the Watcher do it again, even aside from the Watcher being another one in the 'deceased, for now' box. Yes, there are clearly many masters at Waid's back, and I doubt it's the gig he'd want to be remembered for, but I find it hard to picture anyone operating within these constraints doing it better. The art is from Javier Rodriguez, who gets pretty much the dream gig for any superhero artist, in that he gets to draw pretty much everyone, check in on all the big moments, and generally put his stamp on a whole sprawling cosmos. For the most part he earns it – there are odd panels which don't come off (and also one cover where the Scarlet Witch looks oddly like a tired Joan Crawford, but McNiven's to blame for that). It's the sort of project where once George Perez would have been the automatic choice, but where he always did great, clear likenesses even in crazily overpopulated scenes, Rodriguez' more obviously stylised approach makes it all feel a little less solid, in a good way. Sometimes it even recalls Eisner, when Rodriguez takes the opportunity to create images which are more emblematic than representational, and I'm seldom one to turn down an echo of Eisner.

Also, it's really funny what doesn't make it in. The absence of crappy crossovers such as Axis or Civil War II – which, as is always the way with crossovers, promised to change the Marvel Universe forever!!! – gave me far more enjoyment than reading them ever could have.

[Raj Bowers-Racine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly impressive achievement. Boiling 80 years of published storied and several eons of in-universe (multiverse?) continuity into one treasury edition. The framing narrative is sweet and the readability is far FAR better than I had any reason to expect. As intended, this is great way for Marvel newbies to catch up on approximately 200,000 pages of comics without actually slogging through. It also serves as nice way for old heads to reminisce and/or straighten out all the beloved stories that we half-remember reading.

[gabyspages · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so great! As a Marvel fan, who hasn't read many comics, this was the perfect way to get all the background on all the characters and all the history! I can now become that annoying Marvel fan that says ''actually in the comics...''

[El Neo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect synergy of art and storytelling.

[Tris · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was insane.

[Mr. Stick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A SYNOPSIS OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE WITHOUT HAVING TO SUFFER READING THROUGH THE EVENTS THAT SUCKED!!!

How does one sum up 60 years of Marvel's spandex soap opera? With six issues of large, sprawling, sometimes overlapping scenes that couldn't possibly fit on one page, bound in one book that's too big to fit on the shelf with everything else. Who the hell uses legal-sized paper anyway?

This was done as a personal dialogue between  Galactus and Franklin Richards as they witness the destruction of the universe at the end of time. There are even hints to some future events (some of which have since come to pass). The annotations section in the back has mostly text about each event covered in the comic pages with references to individual issues. VERY USEFUL.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more one reads Marvel comics that have cosmic implications, the more difficult it can be to reconcile the key events that take place within a greater continuity. While I am not always a fan of Mark Waid, his writing combined with his collaborators’ art makes for an incredibly accesible history that simultaneously weaves together all of majority of key events from Marvel that is great for newcomers while also helps those who are well-versed with these events to better understand the official Marvel stance on their timeline.

[salomé · Rating 3 out of 5]

le concept de galactus qui résume tout ce qui fait et a fait l’univers marvel est vraiment cool mais dans la pratique j’ai trouvé ça plutôt chiant
c’est surtout une énumération de fait historique dans l’ordre chronologique…. pas inintéressant mais juste chiant à lire surtout quand ca concerne des personnages dont tu connais à peine l’existence…
l’art style est clair, bien construit, il sert très bien le propos et je trouve que c’est une prouesse dans la composition des pages car le défi ne devait pas être facile à relever

[ik.ben.henri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice comic to get up to speed with the marvel history, but a little bit boring.

But to be honest, it's just panels of action with a narrator saying: "then this happened", "then hero x was born", "then this celestial came to earth", etc etc...

Only for the Marvel fans who don't want to read a Wikipedia page.

[Vail Chester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent framing device of 2 established Marvel characters at the end of all things reminiscing about all the wild & wacky stuff that this universe has brought to readers' imaginations for decades. (they remembered the Runaways and it brought me much joy)