I can’t think of a better tribute to the Marvel Universe than joining Kurt Busiek with Alex Ross in re-imagining the origins of Marvels from a completely new perspective; that of a reporter (photojournalist) seeing the world change before his very own eyes. We see all the major Marvel characters emerge in snip bits as witnessed by this common man living a common life in an uncommon time period; the time of the Marvel Super-Heroes.
The story moves on very quickly since much ground needs to be covered in the decades that bring forth heroes and galactic enemies and intertwined we find the domestic concerns of Phil Sheldon as he tries to cope with this new phenomena engulfing his and everyone’s reality. Busiek does a great job in the narrative and dialogue to keep this story moving at the right pace. I’m amazed that it could all be done in five issues!
The art of Ross makes this book the classic that it has become. This is the way origins stories need to be done to engage a new generation of comic readers and satisfy the critical requirements of older readers.
This is a must have collection for any serious comic reader.