Marvel Comics Mini-Books and X-Men The Art And Making Of The Animated Series

A big thank-you and shout out to Abrams Books/Abrams ComicArts/Marvel Entertainment for the incredible review copies featuring my favorite subject: comic books!

Way back in the early 1960s kids could drop a dime or a quarter into a small vending machine and receive a Marvel Comics MIni-Book in a plastic container.

Six Mini-Books made up the collection and millions of them sold!  

In the 1960s comic books were a fad.  They were that generation's disposable entertainment.  Very few people actually collected comic books.  Even fewer held onto the Marvel Mini-Comics.

For that reason they are highly collectible today.

Longtime comic book collector and writer Mark Evanier, along with Abrams ComicArts/Marvel Entertainment, has collected all six books in the series in a miniature hardback collection.

Seven books come in the slip case boxed set-the additional title contains the history of the Marvel Comics Mini-Books that contains art galleries of each book in its original size!

The six titles that make up the collection include Sgt. Nick Fury, The Incredible Hulk, Millie The Model, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Mighty Thor and Captain America.

Each book has been upsized and features the full text and spot illustrations seen in the original Marvel Comics Mini-Books.

If you’re a Marvel Zombie and remember belonging to the Merry Marvel Marching Society than these books offer a fascinating nostalgic trip down Marvel Comics Memory Lane.

Each book is a small hardback with a special retro deign cover along with the name of the character featured in the book along its spin. The Mini-History book is chock full of fun information along with photos by Geoff Spear.

What a wonderful slice of nostalgia.  I remember how excited I was to see the original Marvel Comics Mini-Books and if I remember correctly I managed to collect all six.  Unfortunately I no longer have them but the Marvel Comics Mini-Books boxed set makes for a fine and fun substitute.

When the X-Men movie came out in the year 2000 many believe it launched the Marvel Renaissance.

I beg to differ.

Back in the early 1990s Saban Animation made the decision to adapt and create animated half-hour shows featuring Marvel Comics’ X-Men.

Many of the stories and plots came directly from the comic book series-most from the famous John Byrne/Dave Cockrum/Marc Silvestri/Jim Lee/Chris Claremont periods

For an animated series it stayed remarkably faithful to its source material.

Abrams Books and Eric and Julia Lewald have compiled an impressive oversize hardbound book with a killer X-Men animated character cover that delves into the history of the popular animated series.

The book's title is X-Men The Art And Making Of The Animated Series.

I watched every episode and enjoyed each.  I’m proud to say I have the entire series on DVD.

The book goes in extreme detail about the making of the show, from character and set deigns, voice actors, the soundtrack, storyboards and more.

Page after page is filled with production sketches, designs, final illustrations, color guides and resource materials to create the look of the series.

It‘s a comic book fan's ultimate dream come true!

I poured over the pages of original art, animation cells, tie-in merchandise, historical text about The X-Men and Marvel Comics, how the animated series came about and full episode listings and creator credits.

As a retired graphic designer and cartoonist I appreciate the incredible amount of talent it took to pull off the animated series.

I’m as equally impressed by the hard work, research and hours spent pouring over reference material to turn out this incredible and ‘Uncanny’ book.

It’s beautifully designed, very well written and it’s brimming with so much art and illustrations it’s a veritable visual candy feast for the eyes.

Kudos to the creative team for a job well done.