Here’s the CBS Sunday Morning piece about me and the book.
“Brilliant, eccentric, moving and wholly wonderful… Wolk proves to be the perfect guide for this type of adventure: nimble, learned, funny and sincere… “All of the Marvels” is magnificently marvelous. Wolk’s work will invite many more alliterative superlatives. It deserves them all.” —Junot Díaz, The New York Times Book Review
“Wolk pulls off an extraordinary feat in this tour-de-force, distilling over 60 years of Marvel Comics stories into a fascinating guide that will resonate with true believers and neophytes alike. . . . Comics fans will be riveted.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Wolk’s light and humorous style appeals, and this work would be a marvelous addition to any library’s collection. It will likely become a bible for serious comics fans and a useful introduction and reference guide for all others. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“An affectionate, lively, charmingly footnoted whistle-stop tour through Marvel Comics that acknowledges the many places where the comics stumble as well as the many where they shine. Wolk is unwavering in his belief that comics are for everyone, and he offers numerous jumping-on points for new readers. Every comics fan needs this book.” —Booklist
“A simultaneously wide-ranging and engagingly specific guide to the sprawling realm of comics culture.” —Kirkus
“Wolk hasn’t just read the entire Marvel catalog—an extraordinary feat all on its own—he’s managed to extract thematic and narrative threads from the the longest running continuous narrative in human history and to identify key pillars upon which to build his exploration of what the Marvel universe is, and what’s so damn interesting about it. No prior knowledge or familiarity with Marvel (or comics, even!) is expected or required, which means this is it, the book we’ve been waiting for, the long-desired guidebook for newcomers and lifelong fans alike. If someone is curious about getting into Marvel comics and doesn’t know where to start? Start here.” —Kelly Sue DeConnick (Captain Marvel, Avengers Assemble)
“Some of us are haunted by the memory of a childhood glimpse of some vast evocative dream; others exasperated by the slick iconography that has taken over our screens, wallets, and eyeballs. If you’re like me, it’s both. For all of us, Douglas Wolk’s naked dive into the Marvel source code is a revelation, a tour both electrifying in its weird charisma, and replenishing in its loving specificity. As an account of how a motley gang of accidental collaborators created a vernacular mythology out of the dodgiest of commercial occasions, it’s also a testament, and a tribute. Like Greil Marcus in Mystery Train or Manny Farber in Negative Space, Wolk pushes aside paraphrase to free up an encounter with what’s been there all along, homegrown art.” —Jonathan Lethem
“Over the past sixty years, Marvel has published a lot of comics—a stack nearly twenty stories high! Douglas Wolk has read his way to the top of Excelsior Towers, and in All of the Marvels he shares with us the view of the entire Marvel Universe. Whether a die-hard fan or a comic book novice, you’ll find this entertaining and engaging book endlessly rewarding, as Wolk highlights the culture in this form of popular culture.” —James Kakalios, physics professor at the University of Minnesota and author of The Physics of Superheroes
“What sounds like a madman’s quest turns out to be a deeply emotional hero’s journey. The best work yet from the best writer about the medium of comics.” —Brian K. Vaughan (Saga)
“Thorough, fascinating and joyfully executed, All of the Marvels is essential reading for fans and scholars alike. A magisterial work of pop culture research.” —G. Willow Wilson (Ms. Marvel)
“Wolk is a knowledgeable, generous guide, lighting the potentially more confusing corners of the Marvel Universe with enthusiasm, humour and humility… If you’re at all curious about how Spider-Man and his amazing friends spent the last 60 years and why so many of us love them, this is the handbook you need.” –The Scotsman