X-MEN The Characters and Their Universe

by Michael Mallory

"Mutants Among Us" In 2005, the planet Earth fell under the control of a mutant. He goes by the title "King Magnus", but that is not his real name. He is an uneasy mix of savior to his particular race and ruthless destroyer of anyone who stands in his way. He used to be known as Magneto because of his special ability to manipulate magnetic fields and use that power as both a defensive and offensive weapon. He will probably be known as Magneto again. But as of this particular moment in time he is Magnus Rex, ruler of the world- at least within that uniquely flexible reflection of reality called the Marvel Universe.

This coffee-table sized book tops out at 288 pages of X-Men excitement! Approx. dimensions: 14" by 11"

Genres: Nonfiction, Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Reference, Art

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 29, 2006

About the author

Michael Mallory is an internationally-recognized authority on the subjects of film, animation and 20th century pop-culture, and the author of sixteen nonfiction books, which include The Art of Krampus, Essential Horror Movies, and Marvel: The Characters and their Universe. With the legendary American animation artist Iwao Takamoto he co-authored the memoirs Iwao Takamoto: My Life With a Thousand Characters, and has written more than 600 magazine and newspaper articles that have been published worldwide. A former newscaster, occasional actor, and frequent public speaker, Mike lives and works in the greater Los Angeles area.

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book for my X-Men loving fiance and he was not disappointed. Though the text could be better at times, the pictures and the sheer amount of X-Men history packed into this book is worth the price. My only negatives were that there was no character spotlight for Rogue, but that is a personal nitpick as she is my favorite X-Man, and that Mallory frequently tried to pull parallels between X-Men and Harry Potter. We get it. You think that J.K. Rowling took her idea of Hogwarts from Xavier's boarding school, and that the struggle between mutants and normal humans is the same one that Rowling used in her wizard vs. muggle mentality. I would just have rather that those opinions been left out to solely focus on the amazing creation that is the X-Universe. Still, it is a gorgeous volume and makes a nice coffee table book for comic fans. I give it three stars.

[R Killian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wonder if many reviewers have read this book. It's littered with errors and misinformation (not understanding the progression of Angel to Archangel, strangely characterizing Havok's plasma as "blasts of heat", an image of Bobby Drake undergoing his secondary mutation that is mislabeled as him "demonstrating his transformation", a condescending correction surrounding Generation X that is incorrect, a picture of Deadpool that suggests Mr. Sinister is the one pictured--!...)

It seems to have been written with lazy, cursory research, and an emphasis on tying itself into the then-current X-Men movies, as that seems to be the major extent of its (as a result, extremely incorrect) knowledge about Lady Deathstrike.

Packaged nicely and with some nice art, but since the information inside is questionable at best, that's all there is to be said for it. Not worth the time at all.

[Annika · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very basic introduction to the X-Universe. Madelyne Pryor's name was spelled a few different ways throughout the book and I don't think any of them were the correct spelling. Would have appreciated the usage of the term "Earth-616" to distinguish the main continuity from the alternate realities and characters presented, especially when talking about the Summers family tree.

[Joshua Bertram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aside from a few editing screwups, this is a very well put-together book, nicely bound in black leather and full of gorgeous full-colour gloss images. It's basically an overview of 40 years of X-Men history (covering up to just past the release of X-Men: the Last Stand). A must have for True Believers!

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful book was a wonderful Christmas gift from a wonderful friend

[Jocelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great coffee table book. Wonderful illustrations and great stories about the X-Men.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this for myself. Love the size, photographs, and background of the characters. Great coffee table book.

[Jessica L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone who has minimal information on the X-men, this book helped me get caught up in the information for up until 2005.

[Jeremy Echols · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't want to sound like that guy, but this book was grossly inaccurate in a lot of the details provided about the x-men. For example, one page details Storm as having lost her parents in a plane crash, while a classic comic panel on the same page states that her parents died from a bomb. Dates are wrong, storylines are misattributed to other series: bottom line, the information in this book is a mess.
Pictures are pretty, though.