Marvel 75 Years: From Pulp to Pop!

Emily Vancamp presents this unique experience, tracing Marvel's history and development from the first graphic novel to the latest blockbuster...

Without knowing it, I was a fan of Stan Lee responsible for positively altering our affective memory for all eternity, which teenager, child, adult never dreamed of having super powers and being a superhero? A bit of the history of characters from Marvel comics to cinema, going through an almost possible bankruptcy to become a great power, with billionaire franchises, in 75 years... The x-men are still my only favorites along with spider-man... s2...

75 years cannot be condensed into 45 minutes, and this is evidence of that. Everything is rushed through and skimmed over, in one long infomercial about Marvel. Some really key figures in Marvel's history are interviewed, alongside needless celebrities speaking the obvious. It's a good surface level timeline of Marvel's history, which does its job, but is now dated and not interesting enough to watch now.

BY BORROWING A PAGE from the founder of MARVEL COMICS now Parent Company, the Comics producer was able to at once give us an on screen History of the company and at the same time get the public to watch what was essentially an Infomercial.

IT MAY BEEN about the ups & downs of publishing 4 color illustrated stories, but it was much more. Much as Walt Disney's DISNEYLAND TV Show, the unbridled plugging of both TV and Theatrical films in production passes for entertainment.

AS FOR THE overall effect and intent of the production we are left with mixed emotions. While a good deal of its content was nothing more than this aforementioned self-promotion, on the other hand, it brought out so much previously unseen bits of comics history.

VINTIGE PHOTOS OF people like Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Publisher, Martin Goodman,. were presented to us. Added to that are countless likenesses of historical and now priceless$$ collector$ item$.

INCLUDED ARE RECENT interviews with a sort of veritable WHO'S WHO IN THE COMICS World. These people's participation make the project highly worthwhile; raising the film a notch or two in the scheme of things. As the years go by, we will truly appreciate what has been done here.

IF WE MAY be so bold as to offer one other objection to the handling of the story of the Super Hero Comic, it is that it was glossed over too quickly and omitted any mention of some other very important contributors to the Art Form of Sequential Art. The impetus generated by the appearance of the Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster collaboration of SUPERMAN in DC's ACTION COMICS no. 1 is mentioned, but only in passing.

OTHERS WHO CONTRIBUTED so much to the business deserved to at least get an honorable mention, such as: Will Eisner and his Comic Book/Strip THE SPIRIT, Bill Parker & C.C. Beck's CAPTAIN MARVEL and Creator/Writer/Editor, Jerry Iger.

BUT THEN AGAIN, this was MARVEL'S Show and it's only fair that they should enjoy the Lion's share of the Spotlight for both their printed and celluloid "Joke Books."*

PERHAPS WE'LL SOON see a more Comprehensive & Multi Episode program covering all aspects of the business.

RED'S SUGHGESTION BOX: How about someone adapting something like Steranko's HISTORY OF THE COMICS to the screen? And just you remember Mr. Hollywood Producer, who suggested it!**

NOTE * There was no mention of any previous adaptations of Timley/Atlas/Marvel Comics to the screen, of which there was one. The production of the CAPTAIN America Serial (Republic Pictures, 1944) is the only one prior to 1966's animated MARVEL TALES TV. The revisionists had a field day, though, as very little was left of the Simon & Kirby's World War Comics hero. His name (from Steve Rogers to Grant Gardner), his occupation (from Soldier to District Attorney) were casualties of the pen. There wasn't any connection to the War, although it was out in 1944!

NOTE ** Before we call it a day, let us make mention of a story that has been circulating around for some time. The tale is that of a proposed SUB-MARINER Live Action TV Series that never materialized. It was said to have Richard Egan in the role of Atlantian, Prince Namor. Lord, if that were true, all the athletic & muscular Mr.Egan would have needed was a set of "Mr. Spock" ears!

This consists of interviews with the cast and crew(as well as famous fans), all of whom have something compelling to add within their area of expertise(and there is a very clear love of what they're working on), clips from the MCU films and behind-the-scenes footage.

It's 41 and a half minutes long. This is found on Disney+. It doesn't spoil the movies.

They talk about the history of Marvel Comics and Studios. Why Guardians of the Galaxy was chosen for adaptation. Turning from stuff like romance(!) to superheroes. Stan Lee's humble beginnings and influence. Affecting people's perception of WWII, creating Captain America in response to the Nazis. Depicting him punching Hitler on the cover. The troops loving to read about Steve Rogers. Seduction of the Innocent, the Comics Code Authority, and how it negatively affected the industry. Creating the Fantastic Four. How the Hulk was inspired by Frankenstein's Monster, and came out of the Nuclear Age. Spider-Man being the first teenage superhero, the first one with real life problems. Drawing frames like they were storyboards, and as if the character was coming at the reader. Writing stories about big political issues of the day, including trying to inspire better treatment of minorities. The soapbox. Shows, both animated and live action. The gritty 1980s. Bankruptcy. Making Iron Man 1, and how risky it was, how little people thought of it before it came out. Becoming part of the House of Mouse. The Netflix shows. We get a very brief preview of the then-unreleased Agent Carter.

I recommend this to any fan of the property. 8/10

This is one of at least three 75yr celebratory documentaries about Marvel and the first one I've seen. It stands at only 40 minutes and therein lies the problem.

It takes a look back at Marvels humble beginnings, where Stan Lee & Jack Kirby came in, the shifts in popularity and the bankruptcy that caused the distribution of characters.

Truth is telling a story like this that dates back all the way to WW2 cannot be summed up in 40 minutes and that makes the whole thing feel extremely rushed.

This is prime material for a documentary, but not to be compacted into little more than half an hour.

There are some good interviews with both people from the industry, cast and crew of the modern Marvel cinematic universe and lots of celebrity fans but even they are little more than sound bites.

Great content but just not enough of it.

The Good:

Good selection of interviewees

Emily VanCamps

Fairly eye opening

The Bad:

Far too short

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Hearing them say that the thing Marvel do best is get the best directors during this James Gunn debacle is quite interesting