Comic Recommendation: Marvels

The first Saturday of May, as some of you might be aware, is Free Comic Day.  I took advantage of this and visited my local comic store and picked what I think is a great compilation.

Marvels was a four issue comic series released in the mid 90's, and I sadly did not know about it until a few years ago.  It tells the story of a news photographer named Phil Sheldon who is witness to the rise of the superhero, referred  to at first as "Marvels".  It is a great place to start for people who don't really read comics or are familiar with the cannon.  You won't find parallel universes or doppelganger clones here, only really solid storytelling that focuses more on Sheldon's perspective of things rather than the heroes themselves.  This may sound kinda counter-intuitive: who the hell reads comics for the regular people in them?  Yet the great dialog and character development pulls you in and smothers you with a pillow made of plot development and drama.

The art style here is very unique, and quite frankly, gorgeous.  Alex Ross worked on the art; many might recognize it from the DC mini-series Kingdom Come.  It looks very realistic, while at the same time not making superheroes look ridiculous, a la Batman and Robin.  Emotion is conveyed well by this drawing style, and ultimately gives characters more depth.

So if you're new to comics or just want a short-but-sweet read, check out Marvels!