Release: June 14, 1994
Cover: August, 1994
$2.95
Credits: Alex Ross and Steve Darnall
12 pages
| Previous | Next | |
|---|---|---|
| Marvel Comics #1 | PRELUDE | |
| Fantastic Four #1 | Reading order | Fantastic Four #2 |
…on that day of my freedom in 1939, this world had its first confrontation with the fantastic. The golden age of miracles would begin, and in the years to come, the world would know the presence of the unnatural and extraordinary as part of reality.
To remind my readers, the goal here is to start with Fantastic Four #1, and read the Marvel Universe in order from that point forward. It may get confusing because this is my third post and I’m not yet at Fantastic Four #2. I first wanted to jump back in time with the first in an irregular series of “Prelude” posts to talk about the introduction of the original Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1. That inspired me to now jump far forward for the first of an even less regular series of “Postlude” posts, that pull in comics from the future.
Marvels is a 4-issue limited series published by Marvel in 1994. After the conclusion of the series, this was released, a behind-the-scenes “Issue Zero” which includes some concept artwork, commentary from the creators, and a story from the original pitch for Marvels, originally serialized in Marvel Age #130-133. It’s that story we consider here.
It’s not really a new story. It’s the same story we just talked about in Marvel Comics #1. Really, it’s just the first four pages of that story retold. It’s also one of the best comics I’ve ever read.
Marvels is one of my favorite comic series and a pivotal inspiration for my current undertaking. Its pitch is that it tells the story of the Marvel Universe from the eyes of an outsider, a noncombatant. A photojournalist named Phil Sheldon is the star, and the big Marvel events are in the background. But what fascinated me isn’t that it told the story from a different point-of-view; what fascinated me was that there is a story to be told. That idea clicked and resonated with me. That all these series in an interconnected universe combine together to form a story. In a previous post, I’d referred to a tapestry I’d sought to explore. The Marvels series convinced me that what I wanted to do was read a story, a very big story.
In many ways, that story begins with the Human Torch escaping from captivity. These words end the comic and capture perfectly what I’m aiming for in attempting to understand the Marvel Universe as a story: “…on that day of my freedom in 1939, this world had its first confrontation with the fantastic. The golden age of miracles would begin, and in the years to come, the world would know the presence of the unnatural and extraordinary as part of reality.”
In Marvel Comics #1, the first 4 pages are told from Professor Horton’s POV. The Human Torch is an object, silent and motionless. This retells those 4 pages in expanded form from the POV of the Torch himself. We learn he does have some thoughts about what’s happening around him.
The story begins with a quote from the Mary Shelley novel, Frankenstein, recognizing what the original story owes to that seminal novel, often considered the first work of science fiction. To hammer in the point, Professor Horton is referred to as a modern-day Prometheus, suggestive of the subtitle of the Frankenstein novel.
The writer had perhaps similar questions to me when first reading Marvel Comics #1. Where did the Torch learn so much about our world? He adds an answer. We learn Professor Horton had supplied a feed of information while the Torch slumbered in captivity. This is at once touching and sad. It’s good he was getting an education, but it means he was awake and aware the whole time he was encased in steel. The story recognizes the tragedy of this and makes it the emotional focus of the inner monologue that forms the narrative. “Was it possible that while I believed in him as a father… he did not believe in me as a son?”
The story is by Alex Ross, famous for detailed paintings of superheroes, that evoke a sense of what these characters might look like in real life. The comic is a showcase of his Marvel artwork, starting with this story.
Rating: ★★★★★, 95/100
Characters:
- Human Torch
- Phineas Horton
| Previous | Next | |
|---|---|---|
| Marvel Comics #1 | PRELUDE | |
| Fantastic Four #1 | Reading order | Fantastic Four #2 |
