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Marvels #2: Review

Feb 1994
Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross

Story Name:

Marvels Book Two: Monsters

Review & Comments

Rating:
5 stars

Marvels #2 Review by (September 28, 2020)

Review: Don’t know what to say about this comics event that others haven’t said before and better than I could. I’ll chance it. Herein we see the lighter and darker sides of the presence of the Marvels: the heroes are admired and honored by the public but the mutants like the X-Men are perceived as frightening and dangerous. Phil’s excitement over the former leads him to propose a book on these heroic newcomers but it’s when he loses control facing the X-Men that he begins to question his attitudes. But it’s his discovery of Maggie in his basement that shocks him into the realization that his neighbors are no better than the Nazis in their fear and hatred of a small child, no matter how different she looks. His despair and confusion at the end are not just for Maggie but for his world.  

Comments: Story set in the first half of the 1960s in the real-life Marvel chronology. Far too many references to list here; please consult MARVELS ANNOTATED. Maggie’s fate is revealed in MARVELS: EYE OF THE CAMERA #5-6.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Marvels #2 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

A street battle between the Avengers and the Masters of Evil has the city transfixed as the adventures of the beloved heroes make for great theater. The Fantastic Four also thrills the populace. Phil Sheldon snaps the pictures and pitches a book about the Marvels to a publisher. But then the X-Men appear, with a report that they tried to kill a man; Phil hears later that they may have been trying to save him but the crowd grows ugly and turns on the mutants, with Phil, caught up in the moment, hurling a brick at Iceman; he hears Cyclops say that they humans aren’t worth it before they go. Phil turns over the mutants in his mind, along with the reports that they are homo superior, mankind’s replacement. He worries over his kids’ idolization of the Marvels, he attends Alicia Masters’ art show and sees the FF and Tony Stark, Reed Richards and Sue Storm announce their engagement. But the anti-mutant sentiment grows. Phil returns to his quiet suburban neighborhood to find his neighbors have formed a mob, pursuing rumors that mutants have been sighted in the area. Phil goes in and finds his kids have been sheltering a little mutant girl named Maggie. And seeing her, Phil realizes the mutants are not a menace….

Reed and Sue’s wedding is the biggest event of the year but soon everyone is watching a debate on the mutant menace between Charles Xavier and Bolivar Trask; during the debate, Trask unleashes his Sentinels to hunt down mutants and the city goes crazy, anti-mutant riots breaking out everywhere, stopped only by the Sentinels spreading through the skies. Phil rushes home to find Maggie has left, not wanting the Sheldons to be endangered any longer. Phil’s daughter wants to know if Maggie will be all right but he doesn’t know….



Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Alex Ross (Cover Penciler)
Alex Ross (Cover Inker)
Alex Ross (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Cyclops
Cyclops

(Scott Summers)
Invisible Woman
Invisible Woman

(Sue Storm)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
Mr. Fantastic
Mr. Fantastic

(Reed Richards)
Professor X
Professor X

(Charles Xavier)

Plus: Alicia Masters, Bolivar Trask, Masters of Evil, Sentinels.

> Marvels: Book info and issue index

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