Atlas: Marvel Boy - The Uranian

Marvel Boy: The Uranian #1-3

by Jeff Parker, Felix Ruiz (Contributor)

A young man has travelled billions of miles through space in a rocket to help our world. But is Earth of the 1950's ready for a new super hero? Before he became the dark figure the Agents of Atlas call The Uranian, Bob Grayson raced through the skies as Marvel Boy! From the critically acclaimed writer of Agents of Atlas and Fall of The Hulks: Alpha comes this all-new look back at one of Marvel's first heroes!
Plus: this volume comes packed with tales from Marvel's vault of Golden Age Marvel Boy classics.

Collecting: Marvel Boy: The Uranian 1-3, Fantastic Four 164-165

Genres: Graphic Novels, Marvel, Comics, Science Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 23, 2010

About the author

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Reviews

[Joel Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I'm a huge fan of Jeff Parker's excellent Agents of Atlas series. This starts with a Parker scribed story with fluid, but sometimes sketchy art by Felix Ruiz. In this version, the titular Uranian has been sent back to Earth by a council of Uranians who hope to have him gain the trust of the Earthlings in order to betray that trust and perhaps take over and inhabit the Earth.

Then, the book abruptly slaps in some Golden Age original Uranian (or Marvel Boy as he is called in that time frame) stories that are mostly of interest for historical purposes. In this version, the Uranians are peaceful and not duplicitous and the Uranian's scientist father has sent him back to earth to help resolve the violence of Earth.

After a number of these stories, two Fantastic Four stories are featured, which portray the Uranian/Marvel Boy as the Crusader, who is avenging himself upon bankers who failed to finance his father's efforts to save the peaceful people of Uranus. Because of this failure to give his father loans, the Uranians all died, including the Uranian's girlfriend. The Uranian is portrayed as a bad guy and murderer who is eventually tricked by Reed Richards into absorbing too much sunlight and exploding.

So the book manages to provide a broad overview of different ways the character of the Uranian/Marvel Boy/the Crusader was treated over the years, but I was hoping for a more consistent version that was entirely scribed by Parker.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The original material in this TPB was all right, but not as good or as much fun as Jeff Parker's work in Atlas. The reprint of marvel Boy's adventures from the 1950s are above avaerage stories for that time period, but they play so-so nowadays.

[Matt Sabonis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this one's a bit different, but Parker gives his most enigmatic Atlas character a great deal more depth, building up some possible plotlines for the future of his (sadly, not-to-be) Agents of Atlas series, and he makes Bob not only more interesting, but also more likable. Great stuff.

[Alex Sarll]

I think the Uranian may be the only superhero whose name is also an archaic term for a homosexual. The main story here is reliably entertaining Parker, the original fifties strips which pad out the collection are beautiful but batshit crazy (especially the one about a magic Communist pen).