Marvel Visionaries: Roy Thomas

Marvel Visionaries

by Roy Thomas, Stan Goldberg (Illustrator), Gene Colan (Illustrator)

Watch Roy Thomas take the Fantastic Four from the sublime to the ridiculous as the team confronts racism, social injustice and the Impossible Man Meanwhile, the Sub-Mariner fights Dragon Man The Vision joins the Avengers The Hulk finds his way to "Heaven," and Captain Marvel escapes the Murder Maze The origin of the Invaders Secrets of Doctor Strange revealed Dracula in Salem and the X-Men in Japan And who is Starr the Slayer? Plus: rarely seen stories from Marvel's Silver Age of humor and romance Collects Modeling With Millie #44, Tales Of Suspense #73; Avengers #35, #57-58, #100; Sub-Mariner #8 & #14; Not Brand Ecch #12; Captain Marvel #19; X-Men #64; Chamber Of Darkness #4; Amazing Adventures # (5, 6 or 8); Incredible Hulk #147; Fantastic Four #119 & 176; Dracula Lives #1; Giant-Size Invaders #1; & Doctor Strange #9

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

351 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2006

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[David Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun. Had a couple of my favorite comics from when I was 8 or 9.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roy Thomas is probably my favorite Marvel writer, however this is not a great sampling. It is better to read the full extent of his runs like Avengers or Conan. This unfortunately was a slog.

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but I did not love it. Usually, I tend to breeze through anthologies like this, but this one seemed to take forever. It just did not hold my attention overall. I think an issue is that many of the comics in this collection have not aged well. You have to give credit where it is due: Roy Thomas wrote comics in just about every genre. However, it does not follow they were great. It means the guy was flexible. The collection provides a nice sampling of Marvel's works in the 1960s and 1970s. Some comics are better than others, but overall, it is a good collection.

There is also much social commentary as this was a time when racism, sexism, and other issues were at the forefront of American society, and so the comics do reflect that as the superheroes have to confront some of those issues. Having said, there are also moments that may make today's readers cringe such as Roy's work on "Modeling with Millie." Let's just say today's feminists may have a thing or two to say about Millie's passivity and leave it at that. So, the collection also serves a bit as a time capsule for those who like to get a feel for times past. The collection also includes some silly spoofs and a bit of horror even; the guy really could do diverse work.

I think that casual readers may just want to browse and find their favorite comics: Avengers, Fantastic Four, so on. More hardcore Marvel fans may want to add this to their collections for the sake of completion. If nothing else, this is part of the Marvel Visionaries series, a series the company uses to highlight their best writers and/or specific titles. I have enjoyed other volumes in the series, and while this particular volume was a bit inconsistent for me, I still found it good entertainment overall; I am glad I was able to add it to my collection. Let us admit that at times the old comics could be pretty cheesy, and yet, at times, that is the sort of simple pleasure a comic book reader seeks. Overall, this is certainly a series I will continue to seek. And I may revisit this volume here and there.

[Christopher Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good sampler of Roy, but, ironically, not the best way to view him. Better to follow one of his many long runs on a title and really see what he can do. Like his Avengers run, or his Conan run, or...