Building the House of Ideas

A Hulk-sized tome spanning eight decades of the heroic rise of Marvel as it magically mutated from 1939's four-color upstart to 1960s pop-culture dynamo to current Hollywood hit. It includes essays by Roy Thomas, near 2 000 images, and a four-foot-wide timeline suitable for framing !

« The monumental history of a kingdom in red, blue, and yellow, beautifully unleashed in a lavish tome. It's thrilling, a masterful conservation of the wonders forged by dreamers whose tears and passion fueled Marvel's unmatched impact on 75 years of pop culture. Face it, tiger, you just hit the jackpot. »

-  Glen David Gold

« Rascally Roy and the team at TASCHEN have painstakingly produced a stunning history book... a volume for and by the truest of "True Believers" ! Nuff Said. »

-  Stan Lee

« An artifact of delirious beauty and profound curatorial passion, 75 Years of Marvel is the stupendous history of the comics pantheon that for better or worse helped forge the lexicon of our dreams. A must-have. »

-  Junot Díaz

«  Marvel -ous ! »

-  Tom Wolfe

« Many readers say they don't like referring to our mags as "comic" mags. We understand their feeling, but we must disagree ! It is our intention, here at Marvel, to produce comics which are so well written and well drawn, that they'll elevate the entire field in the minds of the public ! After all, comic magazines are an art form, as creative and enjoyable as any other ! It is up to us, the producers, and you, the fans, to make comics something to be proud of. »

-  Stan Lee , letters page, Fantastic Four No. 24, March 1964

Face front, true believers ! From the very first issue of pulp impresario Martin Goodman's Marvel Comics in 1939, the comic book creators of Marvel's Golden Age flipped the traditional fantasy script by placing the inhuman and the invincible in the real world. With the likes of the fiery android Human Torch , vengeful sea prince Sub-Mariner , and pip-squeak-turned-paragon Captain America , Marvel created a mythological universe grounded in a world that readers recognize as close to their own, brimming with humor and heartache.

In the early 1960s, this audacious approach launched the creation of heroes who have since become household names -  Spider-Man , the Incredible Hulk , the Fantastic Four, Iron Man , the Avengers, Thor , the X-Men  - the list goes on. Fans still celebrate it as the Marvel Age of comics, an era populated by a pantheon of bickering heroes, misunderstood monsters, and noble villains.

In celebration of Marvel's 75th anniversary, TASCHEN presents a magnum opus of the most influential comic book publisher today , with an inside look not only at its celebrated characters, but also at the « bullpen » of architects whose names are almost as familiar as the protagonists they brought to life - Stan « the Man » Lee, Jack « King » Kirby , along with a roster of greats like Steve Ditko, John Romita, John Buscema, Marie Severin , and countless others. With essays by comics historian and former Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas , this book delves into the heart of thousands of costumed characters who continue to fight the good fight in comics, movies, and toy aisles of the world.