What do you think?
Rate this book
Essential Marvel Saga #1
Essential Marvel Saga, Vol. 1
See for yourself how the Marvel Age of Heroes began as one of comicdom's coolest chroniclers follows the FF, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Daredevil and others from origins into adventure! Recounting the first appearances of Marvel's greatest menaces, including Doctor Octopus, Doctor Doom, Magneto, and Loki! The awakening of the Sub-Mariner and Captain America! Ancient enigmas, wartime wonders and more from the first years of the House of Ideas!
Collects Marvel Saga #1-12.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 30, 2008
3 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 21, 2018
Essential Marvel Saga volume 1 contains Marvel Saga 1-12.
Back before my wife was my wife, she had a lot of questions about the characters she was seeing in the Marvel movies. Eventually, I bought her this. To this day, I don't think she's picked it up but I tried.
Marvel Saga is an abridged version of the first few years of Marvel's Silver age, told more or less chronologically. Most of the art is panels taken from the silver age books themselves, although art from some later retcons/reveals is also used, as well as new material by Ron Frenz.
The book breezes through the birth of Galactus and the creation of the Eternals and the Deviants by the Celestials, the rise of the Kree and Skrull, the fall of Atlantis, and the gunfighters of the old west in just a couple pages.
The meat of the book starts with the Fantastic Four, of course, and the formation of Alpha Flight, which I did not know was concurrent with the Fantastic Four's origin. Imagine a silver age Alpha Flight comic. Anyway, the book continues to hit all the high notes from this part of the silver age, like the origins of The Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, the X-Men, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and The Avengers. The book ends with a recap of Captain America's origin and his joining the Avengers. No Daredevil just yet, he must show up in volume 2.
I read a couple issues of this as a kid and loved it. As an adult, I enjoyed it. When the time it was released, it was as it said it was: The History of the Marvel Universe. By only hitting the high notes and working some of the later stuff into it, it avoids messy stuff like Reed Richards and Ben Grimm serving in World War II together and things of that nature. Pre-Internet, it was also a great way for a kid to learn what happened in comics decades before he or she was born. I know I didn't know of Cap's Kooky Quartet or the Frightful Four before I picked it up back in the day.
While unavoidably dated, Essential Marvel Saga was still enjoyable. I think Marvel should do something similar every ten years or so as a service to new readers. Also, Sue Storm should have ended up with Namor. Three out of five stars.
Back before my wife was my wife, she had a lot of questions about the characters she was seeing in the Marvel movies. Eventually, I bought her this. To this day, I don't think she's picked it up but I tried.
Marvel Saga is an abridged version of the first few years of Marvel's Silver age, told more or less chronologically. Most of the art is panels taken from the silver age books themselves, although art from some later retcons/reveals is also used, as well as new material by Ron Frenz.
The book breezes through the birth of Galactus and the creation of the Eternals and the Deviants by the Celestials, the rise of the Kree and Skrull, the fall of Atlantis, and the gunfighters of the old west in just a couple pages.
The meat of the book starts with the Fantastic Four, of course, and the formation of Alpha Flight, which I did not know was concurrent with the Fantastic Four's origin. Imagine a silver age Alpha Flight comic. Anyway, the book continues to hit all the high notes from this part of the silver age, like the origins of The Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, the X-Men, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and The Avengers. The book ends with a recap of Captain America's origin and his joining the Avengers. No Daredevil just yet, he must show up in volume 2.
I read a couple issues of this as a kid and loved it. As an adult, I enjoyed it. When the time it was released, it was as it said it was: The History of the Marvel Universe. By only hitting the high notes and working some of the later stuff into it, it avoids messy stuff like Reed Richards and Ben Grimm serving in World War II together and things of that nature. Pre-Internet, it was also a great way for a kid to learn what happened in comics decades before he or she was born. I know I didn't know of Cap's Kooky Quartet or the Frightful Four before I picked it up back in the day.
While unavoidably dated, Essential Marvel Saga was still enjoyable. I think Marvel should do something similar every ten years or so as a service to new readers. Also, Sue Storm should have ended up with Namor. Three out of five stars.
April 15, 2024
This is basically a "clip show" of the history of the Marvel Universe. This volume touches super briefly on the creation of the universe and early Earth, then quickly shoots forward to the Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, then Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and some of the other core players. It brings in Captain America and Namor, then the X-Men, the founding of the Avengers, and more.
I'm assuming they've reused a lot of panels from classic comics, as the art style frequently changes. It's put together in an almost scrapbook style, with little paragraphs next to images giving you the encyclopedia entry history of what's happening.
If nothing else, it saves you the time of going back and reading a lot of these early Marvel comics, which are, if I'm being generous, not great. The art is a mixed bag and often fairly primitive looking, and the writing...Well. It's something. I crap a lot on Stan Lee's writing style, and I think I'm more than justified in doing so. But it's not like he was the only one.
Anyway. On to volume 2. These were made in the mid 80s. I believe the first volume covers the 60s and maybe a bit into the 70s. But other than Doctor Strange, it didn't seem to dive too deep into a lot of the weirder characters that were big in the 70s. We'll see.
I'm assuming they've reused a lot of panels from classic comics, as the art style frequently changes. It's put together in an almost scrapbook style, with little paragraphs next to images giving you the encyclopedia entry history of what's happening.
If nothing else, it saves you the time of going back and reading a lot of these early Marvel comics, which are, if I'm being generous, not great. The art is a mixed bag and often fairly primitive looking, and the writing...Well. It's something. I crap a lot on Stan Lee's writing style, and I think I'm more than justified in doing so. But it's not like he was the only one.
Anyway. On to volume 2. These were made in the mid 80s. I believe the first volume covers the 60s and maybe a bit into the 70s. But other than Doctor Strange, it didn't seem to dive too deep into a lot of the weirder characters that were big in the 70s. We'll see.
December 28, 2021
I'm an avid collector of the Marvel Essentials library, but trying to scour each of those books is a challenge, plus there's characters I simply don't care about.
The Essential Marvel Saga however, is very a enjoyable and digestible compilation of decades of Marvel comics history. The book begins chronologically with the Marvel creation myth and goes throughout the ages, even exploring obscure heroes from the past. My favorite was the obvious mention of Conan the Barbarian, but not really saying who it was (gotta love copyrights).
The black and white art work is also incredible, as someone who's background was manga, I appreciate the inks, shading, and linework. I personally find some of the colored issues jarring.
Some of the illustrations are ripped straight out of their original comics, some are original pieces for the book.
Overall, the Marvel Saga is a great compilation if not maybe questionable cannon nowadays, and a great summary to get one up to speed the breadth and scope of the Marvel Universe. Can't wait to read the next volume!
The Essential Marvel Saga however, is very a enjoyable and digestible compilation of decades of Marvel comics history. The book begins chronologically with the Marvel creation myth and goes throughout the ages, even exploring obscure heroes from the past. My favorite was the obvious mention of Conan the Barbarian, but not really saying who it was (gotta love copyrights).
The black and white art work is also incredible, as someone who's background was manga, I appreciate the inks, shading, and linework. I personally find some of the colored issues jarring.
Some of the illustrations are ripped straight out of their original comics, some are original pieces for the book.
Overall, the Marvel Saga is a great compilation if not maybe questionable cannon nowadays, and a great summary to get one up to speed the breadth and scope of the Marvel Universe. Can't wait to read the next volume!
February 3, 2022
An excellent series to bring someone up to speed on the "original" history of the Marvel universe. Since the publication of this series, Marvel continuity has undergone a number of "soft" reboots which change some of the information learned in this series. Still, this is a good way to learn the important events of Marvel Comics without the cost associated with trying to find all the back issues. Also, at least as of now, this series does not appear in the Marvel App only the new and more compact History of the Marvel Universe series is available. If you want to know pre-reboot Marvel, then this is the series you need to read.
July 2, 2011
Borrowed from Drew.
Despite the grandiose title, this is little more than a cut-and-paste job put together to summarize the history of the Marvel universe. To that end, it's actually quite useful, giving a good sense of the origins and major battles of a variety of comic characters.
On the other hand, it suffers from the fact that most of the early comics were quite silly. Compressed in this way, the flaws are made much more apparent. Characters change their powers and motivations faster than they change their costumes.
Despite the grandiose title, this is little more than a cut-and-paste job put together to summarize the history of the Marvel universe. To that end, it's actually quite useful, giving a good sense of the origins and major battles of a variety of comic characters.
On the other hand, it suffers from the fact that most of the early comics were quite silly. Compressed in this way, the flaws are made much more apparent. Characters change their powers and motivations faster than they change their costumes.
December 15, 2015
A very interesting look at the history of the Marvel Universe that most fans my age remember and prefer. If you're a fan of the Marvel Now stuff, or any of it spawned by the movies, this book will probably read like an out of date textbook to you.
This volume covers the first 12 issues of Marvel Saga, from the Big Bang to Captain America joining the Avengers.
This volume covers the first 12 issues of Marvel Saga, from the Big Bang to Captain America joining the Avengers.
April 24, 2014
A little dull, but informative nonetheless. Even though it's a little on the boring side, it's easy skimming to finish the history. Plus, a lot of it is recaps of what's in the same saga but other volumes, making it even easier to skim.
November 8, 2013
Has some more detail added to the already known origin stories of the Marvel Universe. Worth a skim or two.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews