Marvels: Eye of the Camera

Marvels (Collected Editions)

by Kurt Busiek, Jay Anacleto (Contributor)

Follows Marvel superhero action from the perspective of Phil Sheldon, a newspaper photographer who witnessed some of the more spectacular battles and events, from the Avengers and the X-Men to Secret Wars and Werewolf By Night.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

144 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.

Busiek did not read comics as a youngster, as his parents disapproved of them. He began to read them regularly around the age of 14, when he picked up a copy of Daredevil #120. This was the first part of a continuity-heavy four-part story arc; Busiek was drawn to the copious history and cross-connections with other series. Throughout high school and college, he and future writer Scott McCloud practiced making comics. During this time, Busiek also had many letters published in comic book letter columns, and originated the theory that the Phoenix was a separate being who had impersonated Jean Grey, and that therefore Grey had not died—a premise which made its way from freelancer to freelancer, and which was eventually used in the comics.

During the last semester of his senior year, Busiek submitted some sample scripts to editor Dick Giordano at DC Comics. None of them sold, but they did get him invitations to pitch other material to DC editors, which led to his first professional work, a back-up story in Green Lantern #162 (Mar. 1983).

Busiek has worked on a number of different titles in his career, including Arrowsmith, The Avengers, Icon, Iron Man, The Liberty Project, Ninjak, The Power Company, Red Tornado, Shockrockets, Superman: Secret Identity, Thunderbolts, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, JLA, and the award-winning Marvels and the Homage Comics title Kurt Busiek's Astro City.

In 1997, Busiek began a stint as writer of Avengers alongside artist George Pérez. Pérez departed from the series in 2000, but Busiek continued as writer for two more years, collaborating with artists Alan Davis, Kieron Dwyer and others. Busiek's tenure culminated with the "Kang Dynasty" storyline. In 2003, Busiek re-teamed with Perez to create the JLA/Avengers limited series.

In 2003, Busiek began a new Conan series for Dark Horse Comics, which he wrote for four years.

In December 2005 Busiek signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. During DC's Infinite Crisis event, he teamed with Geoff Johns on a "One Year Later" eight-part story arc (called Up, Up and Away) that encompassed both Superman titles. In addition, he began writing the DC title Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis from issues 40-49. Busiek was the writer of Superman for two years, before followed by James Robinson starting from Superman #677. Busiek wrote a 52-issue weekly DC miniseries called Trinity, starring Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Each issue (except for issue #1) featured a 12-page main story by Busiek, with art by Mark Bagley, and a ten-page backup story co-written by Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, with art from various artists, including Tom Derenick, Mike Norton and Scott McDaniel.

Busiek's work has won him numerous awards in the comics industry, including the Harvey Award for Best Writer in 1998 and the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 1999. In 1994, with Marvels, he won Best Finite Series/Limited Series Eisner Award and the Best Continuing or Limited Series Harvey Award; as well as the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story (for Marvels #4) in 1995. In 1996, with Astro City, Busiek won both the Eisner and Harvey awards for Best New Series. He won the Best Single Issue/Single Story Eisner three years in a row from 1996–1998, as well as in 2004. Busiek won the Best Continuing Series Eisner Award in 1997–1998, as well as the Best Serialized Story award in 1998. In addition, Astro City was awarded the 1996 Best Single Issue or Story Harvey Award, and the 1998 Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series.

Busiek was given the 1998 and 1999 Comics Buyer's Guide Awards for Favorite Writer, with additional nominations in 1997 and every year from 2000 to 2004. He has also received numerous Squiddy Awards, having been selected as favorite writer four years in a row from 1995 to 1998,

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice follow up series to the original Marvels story. Nice art and a great plot giving you insight into the early days of the Marvel Universe from as street level view. Very recommended

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
It's an epilogue to Marvels that didn't quite do it for me.
It. Was. Depressing.
Other than finding out what happened to the little mutant girl, Maggie, there was nothing here that I couldn't have lived my entire life without reading. The art was beautiful, but unless you're an expert on what happened in the Marvel universe during the 70's and 80's I think a lot of the story will go over your head.

[Antonin Januska · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely loved this Comic book. I know that a lot of people criticize it for its haphazard focus on superheros but for me, it was indicative of Phil's disposition toward the heroes.

Think about it. All through the series, he commented on how "things were simpler" back during WWII and before that. It WAS simpler. If you fought the nazis, you were shown as a "hero". However, just like the time in history this book took place in, things weren't so black and white, so simple. Things were much more complicated. And it showed.

Phil also made a lot of great comments on the state of the media at that time. Again, during WWII and before that, the media was positive, trying to improve the morale of the people. In the 70s and 80s, media was all about controversy.

The book showed that very nicely. On top of that, having such a "depressing" ending showed that Phil was a human. A normal being. While many heroes from his era were back, they did not seem older or anything like that. But Phil was. The book was great in showing his small bit of GREAT influence on the world as a human, as someone without powers. And I liked the ending too.

I did, however, have some issues with the book:

* It was confusing to see superhero you remember from pre-WWII era (in the original Marvels book) come back the same age as before.
* It was also confusing having superheroes introduced as "new superheroes" when we've seen them before. Spider-man is a good example. Twenty years go by and he's still a young dashing photographer? There also used to be two human torches so that was bizarre. And for example, FF came back in this book yet the book started off with Reed Richards landing and the FF turning into superheroes for the first time? Very strange. Phil did touch on how the X-men from WWII era were the same as the current ones and that journalists just didn't do their due diligence.

[Matt Bromagin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly never knew they made a sequel to Marvels - one of my favorite mini-series. Excellent sequel that most definitely holds up to its predecessor. It was great to see Maggie again. The events of the second issue always had a profound effect on me. Phil throwing the brick when he finds himself in the mob, and of course, Maggie's disappearance and all the unanswered questions it resulted in.

It was also cool to see them go through another couple of decades. I always wondered what Phil's reaction to characters like the The Punisher would have been. I also like how they brought up werewolves and vampires - referring to Marvel's in-continuity horror comics. That was a great segue into the next series I started - Marvel's Tomb of Dracula.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sequel to my favorite comic series of all time and would’ve been okay if they’d just let it go. The artwork is fine but not near the level of Alex Ross’s panels.

But damn if I didn’t get a bit verklempt at the end..

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvels is brilliant. This is a decent book, but it simply doesn't live up to its predecessor. I'm not sure I can put my finger on why, exactly, that is. Maybe it's because the subject matter just isn't as awe-inspiring. Instead of the birth of the cornerstones of the Marvel universe, this is the nitty gritty, what makes it run decade in and decade out: the distrust of normal people. And while that was a major plot point in the original, there were other things going on there. This is basically all about that. Which makes it pretty repetitive. Superhero does something great, has one second of praise, is almost immediately framed or smeared, is cleared, lather, rinse, repeat. And while that is, the ebb and flow of the Marvel universe, especially anything related to mutants, seeing it reduced like this is just depressing. But if you've been wondering about the fate of Maggie, and I think we almost all have, it's a relief to get to finally know the rest of her story.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like superheroes, you owe it to yourself to find a copy of the original Marvels book. This is only for completionists who read the first one.

This is very good. It's ultimately a little too long, so the emotion kind of cycles around a few times because there's nowhere to progress. The back-material explains that this story was really just going to be an epilogue to the original. That's right. It's the Hemingway conclusion. Here, we see how Marvels would have ended if brought to its real end. Touching, but not pleasant.

* * *

Huh. I didn't remember reading this at all. Gonna knock it down a start. It's like an add-on to the Marvels book, but it's weirdly inconsistent in parts. And the "happy" ending seems awfully implausible.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A respectable follow-up to Marvels but not quite as good. It's a little confusing, though, because unlike the original, in which events in the Marvel universe happen in-universe in the same years the comics were published, this uses a sliding timescale that compresses Marvel universe events from the mid-sixties to the late eighties into less than ten years. For example, the main character's daughter who was an elementary schooler in the first series when the X-Men debut (1961) is a teen learning to drive during the events of 1988's Fall of the Mutants crossover.

[Kerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved the original, but I just couldn't get into this one. In the beginning it didn't feel like a sequel and I was bored to tears. "If it ain't broke don't fix it" is what they say and I think this book was completely unnecessary. Marvels did not need a sequel.

[Nazary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story about the age of "Marvels" through the eyes of a photographer in the 70s/80s. I love stuff like this. Seeing the effects of all those super heroes on everyday folks. It's a solid read that reveals a new side of the Marvel U

[Frank Byrns · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, not great sequel to the fantastic MARVELS mini-series.

Read that one instead, if you haven't.

[Sara J. (kefuwa) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review pending. Atm, am still vacillating between 4 and 5 on this... but I've never read the first Marvels. Soooo... hmm...

[Christian Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read this in individual floppies, but preferred to review the story overall.

So “Eye of the Camera” is really good. It’s “comic book” good. But do I think it’s “Kurt Busiek great?”

Well, not necessarily.

To point out the obvious, it is unfortunate to see that Alex Ross wasn’t involved in this project. At the same time, the artwork is still exceptional. It’s painted like before, but in my opinion, it doesn’t translate entirely. Figures seem more wooden than Ross’s.

The story is good, though it does meander. It almost seems as if Busiek wasn’t sure what point it was he wanted to make. Our “hero,” Mr. Phil Sheldon goes from loving the Marvels to resenting them to ultimately believing that they are the future of humanity. The first issue seems nearly unnecessary, and the second issue provides a viewpoint that is all but abandoned by issue three. Perhaps there could have been some editing to make it a bit more cohesive, but what do I know? I’ve never written a comic before in my life.

Regardless, this is a fun story. And if I call it “Kurt Busiek GOOD,” trust me in that that means it is head over heels above what most other people put out.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series--five or six, I think--is a follow-up to the sublime Marvels. It wasn't quite as good as the original story, but still worth reading. I love the idea of telling superhero stories from the point of view of an observer (in this case, a newspaper photographer in New York City). Phil, the main character, spends his entire career capturing shots of the iconic events from Marvel history. During this time, he lives his life like a regular person: he fall in love, gets married, has children, works, and eventually retires. Through it all, the Marvels exist around him, and it is his changing view of them that drives the narrative. Phil seems like a real person to me: he gets too caught up in his work, he questions whether or not he's made a difference in the world, or if he's made the right choices about his life and his family. It's good stuff.

Very different take on superheroes and comic books. Highly recommended.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

While still in the same general tone as the other Marvels book, there's something about Eye of the Camera that just felt a little off, like we had taken this story a little too far and there wasn't as much to explore. Sure, Busiek still has a way with words that his distinctly his own and this book feels right at home with the rest of them, but maybe it's hard to be all that invested in this photographer's story any more?

And it took a while for the book to really get to its focus, which turned out to be the rise of the mutants. There was a clear effort to touch on the progression of time like when it highlighted the rise of more horrific, monster style heroes and villains and then the back and forth drama of heroes both in and out of costume.

Still, it was an interesting enough piece and quite beautifully illustrated with some amazing spreads all worthy of becoming posters themselves.

[Willie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went through a lot of trouble to put hands on this book. My library inevitably had to order it from another library four states away. It seemed worth the trouble because I really wanted to know what happened to the mutant in the first book. I later discovered I really DIDN'T want to know what happened to her, it was a better story if you don't know, not because the result of what happened was boring or uninteresting, but because wondering what happened and drawing your own conclusion was the most interesting part of the story.

If you want to read a great love letter to comics through the seventies to probably the early nineties (I had a slightly hard time with the timeline as some of these stories referenced were more obscure.) then this is a great book to read. But don't read it to find out what happens to Maggie, you'll leave dissapointed.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compared to Marvels, this volume fell a little flat for me. I think it was because fewer of the references were explained or contextualized for me. While I appreciated the glossary of past issues/events, I would have preferred if Phil had narrated or explained the significance of more of these "historic" occurrences. First of all, I'm not a Marvel expert, so the meaning behind many of these events is lost of me. Second, the perspective of a "real person" in a world of superheroes is what was so touching and thought-provoking in the first book.

P.S. Once again, the art was masterful.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvels didn't need a sequel. Doing this without Alex Ross is kind of pointless. It's not bad, but it wasn't necessary.

Marvels ended with photographer Phil Sheldon passing the torch to his assistant Marcie. But this volume is still focussed on Phil, who is still taking pictures. We're now in the late 70's and 80's, so things take a more mature turn, with the debut of the Punisher, Bullseye killing Elektra, the Siege of Avengers Mansion and ending at the death of the X-Men fighting the Adversary. Phil is trying to make a follow-up book. His publisher wants a book on villains, but Phil wants to fight the cynacism of the world and create a book which restores faith in the heroes.

[Hex75 · Rating 5 out of 5]

il degno seguito di una pietra miliare del fumetto: la magia di "marvels" resta intatta, e anche se quel vertice non viene superato si resta comunque commossi difronte al miglior omaggio possibile ai supereroi della marvel. ogni tavola è un riferimento a qualche episodio storico della continuity marvel, e anche stavolta tocca prestare attenzione ad ogni piccolo particolare (le foto, le prime pagine dei giornali) per non perdersi nulla.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect to enjoy this as much as Marvels but I did. Every bit as much.

The juxtaposition of Phil's real life amidst the wonders of the Marvel Universe was perfect.

I did miss Alex Ross' wonderful art but the art here was nothing to sneeze at.

I would highly recommend both the original Marvels and this! Especially to someone wanting to get a feel for Marvel's past without having to read all of it.

[Chris W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid yet extremely depressing epilogue to Marvels. In many ways it's showcasing the effects of "dark and gritty" emphasis within in comics and how that permeates through in the comic universe but also towards the readers. All of this is shown through the people's reaction to quitessential big dark events of the late 70s, 80s and early 90s works referenced here.

It's well written with decent artwork Just relentlessly depressing. At least at the end there is a semblance of hope and optimism

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this, but not as much as the original MARVELS series. This was much darker, and the ending was a real downer. The painted art from Jay Anacleto was gorgeous, and I liked that the story focused on some of the bronze age characters like The Punisher, Ghost Rider, Wolverine, as well as some of the Marvel horror characters.

This would have been better if it wasn't quite so depressing, but it was still a good read.

[Evan Dossey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Eye of the Camera well enough. The Art isn't Ross, but it's close. The problem is that once Phil starts living through the 70's and 80's, he has to contend with both the darker tone and sheer amount of stories told. It starts to feel a little more reference-heavy, in an unnatural way. It feels more like a comic book story, rather than a man witnessing stories around him. Anyway, really disappointed at the lack of references to Moon Knight, because I'm an idiot.

[Marco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read this as single issues when the series came it out and remember being a bit disappointed back then. Rereading this now, years later, I find I have to stand by that assessment.
Where the original MARVELS just blew me away, this sequel simply cannot compete. And I think a big part of it is the art. Which is not, in itself, bad!
But it just doesn't capture the mix of both grandeur and grounded naturalism that made Alex Ross' work stand out so much!

[Matthew Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm finally done with Phil's story!! Woohoo! This was a comic series with some little successes, but I fear its greatest achievement was also its biggest setback; opting to tell the story from a photographer's perspective, essentially a narrator, sidelines the superheroes and instead emphasizes the repercussions on the world around them, simultaneously grounding the story in a destroyed world and sidestepping any of the drama that caused it to be so.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unnecessary sequel that takes a darker turn. Marvels was perennial--this focuses on the tonally depressing 70s-80s.

Lung cancer, Wolverine, The Punisher, Ghost Rider, Frank Miller's Daredevil, Vietnam, Secret Wars, etc.

It's not bad--but it's not the spectacle when Ross was involved. But it also adds a little closure to Phil Sheldon's story.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Marvels. Writers Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern turn in a moving story about the latter part of photographer Phil Sheldon's life. It made me think about what my legacy will be as far as my children are concerned. Artist Jay Anacleto is good, but not as good as Alex Ross on the original series. This was still a terrific read, and gets my highest recommendation.

[Luci · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvels was really good. This one, not so much. It's very sad and almost bitter at times. The art is good and it's cool to see a lot of those characters from another viewpoint but this was a very sad and almost underdeveloped sequel.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad that this at least attempted to continue the story set forth in Marvels instead of just going for a different viewpoint of the original story. Hopefully the fourth series from Alex Ross does better by the characters/stories.

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is basically the version of Watchmen for the marvel universe.

An emotional journey through the eyes of a journalist dying from cancer and all the challenges associated with it.

Through the whole story we witness dozens of references to events from the marvel universe history.