Marvels would be a critical and commercial hit. It would win the 1994 Eisner Awards for Best Finite Series, and Alex Ross would win the Best Painter award. The mini-series would be a boost to Busiek and Ross, skyrocketing them to fame in the comics world. The two of them would continue on the theme of "everyday life in a superhero universe" in the comic Astro City.
In 2004, with Marvels celebrating its tenth anniversary, it was suggested that a sequel be done. That is what led to Marvels: Eye of the Camera. With the original Marvels ending at the dawn of the Bronze Age, it was appropriate that the sequel show Sheldon witnessing the events of the Marvel Universe of the 1970s and 1980s.
Busiek had to do heavy amounts of research for this miniseries. He had made an outline of the six issues he planned the story to be, but he was starting to feel weighed down two issues in. Enter Roger Stern. Stern and Busiek had worked together in the past on Iron Man's book and the 1998-1999 Avengers Forever miniseries. The two would brainstorm, Stern would write a page-by-page outline, and then they'd go back-and-forth on revisions and amending. And from there, this sequel was born. Let's take a look at Marvels: Eye of the Camera #1!
The cover is pretty cool. A Jay Anacleto piece, it depicts a photograph of the Thing in traffic. It allows a reminder that Phil Sheldon is a photographer that caught many of the major moments of the early Marvel moments in the eye of his camera (heh). The photo makes the Thing look frightening instead of heroic, showing the theme of this series: Phil witnessing the Marvel Universe during its darker times of the 1970s and 1980s.
"Chapter One: Just One Little Thing"
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Penciler: Jay Anacleto
Inker: Jay Anacleto
Colorist: Brian Haberlin
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Editors: Tom Brevoort, Jeanine Schaefer
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
The story begins with Phil Sheldon and his family (his wife Doris and daughters Jennifer and Beth) having dinner together.
Jen and Beth are fighting at the table, but Phil himself is a bit distracted. His photograph of the President emerging from an airplane to go to a United Nations meeting made the front page. It's a good thing, as front-page photos tend to get more money. However, he feels bored by the world. He puts the paper down, the paper showing a headline of Reed Richards' rocket flight [Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961)].
Doris asks Phil what's up. Phil's been feeling a bit tired lately, and he's got a lot on his mind. He has a family to support, and he's wondering if he should get out of freelance photography. He was happy with the job, but it's a young man's game. He's got an interview lined up to be a member of the New York Bulletin's staff, and he's considering going for it.
Phil heads out to an assignment for the New York Globe. He's photographing a workers' strike at a hotel. Afterwards, Sheldon heads to the Bulletin's offices, where he meets Harry Jager. The Bulletin's walls have framed front pages: "Living Colossus!" [Tales of Suspense #14 (February 1961)], "Gorgilla Sighted!" [Tales of Suspense #18 (June 1961)], "Has Earth Been Conquered?" [Strange Tales #90 (November 1961)], "Is There a Wizard in Greenwich Village?" [Strange Tales #110 (July 1963)].
The Bulletin specializes in "speculative journalism", and they need a photo editor. Jager thinks Phil is perfect for the job as he's seen some rather...Marvelous things during his time covering World War II. Phil got a rep for it, and it's made him trusted by the public.To demonstrate what Jager wants, the man holds up a newspaper showing a photograph of what looks like a group of Chinese mutants [Yellow Claw #2 (December 1956)].
Jager wants to do a scare piece about them. Sheldon is able to get through the interview, but it leaves him lamenting. Sheldon covered the Second World War. The Fall of the Third Reich. Stalin. He also covered the rise of what he called "The Marvels". The Original Human Torch. Namor. Captain America. Is this what is left? Glorified tabloids? He gets a couple of days to think about it. Much to his chagrin, Sheldon found himself considering the job. After all, it paid well, and there were benefits.
As he's considering the job, Doris tells him that Jenny is having trouble in school. She's had issues before, as she's a bit of a fighter, but in this case...it's schoolwork. Jenny won't do her classwork. It's interrupted by a newscaster reporting the events of Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961). Nuclear plants are being dragged underground, and Johnny Storm (the second Human Torch) was spotted flying through the sky. The crisis passes, and things seem quiet for about a day.
Sheldon gets a call from J. Jonah Jameson. There's a press conference in Washington, DC. He wants Sheldon to cover it alongside Ben Urich. The two witness a military helicopter landing near the White House, and its occupants introduce themselves.
The Fantastic Four make their public debut, and the Silver Age of Marvel Super-Heroes has begun. And with that, more heroes seem to rise. Some entertainer named Spider-Man [Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962)], and rumors of a big monster stomping around the Southwestern United States [The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962)]. Thor appears. It seems like Phil is encountering something new. Namor rampaging up Fifth Avenue [Fantastic Four #6 (September 1962)], Ant-Man making his debut. Later, at an amusement park, Sheldon gets to witness the Human Torch in action [Strange Tales #101 (October 1962)].
Phil is excited by all these new developments. After all, he's busier than ever. One day, he and his daughter Jenny is in his darkroom.
He's hoping that maybe getting her into photography will help her with her troubles in school. The radio in the darkroom mentions that the Fantastic Four are a bit strapped for cash [Fantastic Four #9 (December 1962)]. He asks Jenny to get a bottle of Perceptol for him. She fetches the wrong bottle, and he realizes her problem: She has trouble seeing. Phil himself was about her age now when he started needing glasses, too. Later, Phil and Ben are discussing a new strange phenomenon running around: Mutants.
The photos are of two incidents involving mutants: a kid in Nassau freezing a punk in ice [X-Men #44 (May 1968)], and a kid in Omaha shooting rays out of his eyes [X-Men #38 (November 1967)]. Ben states the theory that these "mutants" may be the next stage in human evolution, and that radiation is causing it. Ben's been asked to look into the idea of some massive mutant conspiracy to take over the world, even though he thinks it's nonsense.
Phil returns home, finding that the idea of mutants...frightens him to a degree...and he's not sure why. He's knocked out of his thoughts by Jenny and Beth asking him if they can join the Ant-Man Fan Club [Tales to Astonish #53 (March 1964)]. All the kids at school are joining it. They watch a news report of the Thing at Muscle Beach. He's there to promote a movie about the FF [Fantastic Four #9 (December 1962)].
That night, Beth has a nightmare. She got scared the Thing was going to get her, because Jenny compared him to the Golem of Jewish mythology. Phil assures Beth that the Thing would never harm her. He's just a man. Yes, he's very strong and tough, and has skin made of rock, but he's still a man.
It leads Phil to wonder...is this why people fear mutants and not other heroes like the Thing and Spider-Man? Those heroes were given powers by external circumstances, but for mutants...it's in their own genetic code. They're literally born with their powers. Mutants are perhaps a sign that humanity is going extinct...or maybe mutants and enhanced humans are two sides of the same coin. "Normal" humanity is going away...scary thoughts to have on a dark night.
A week later, Phil is leaving an optometrist, having gotten a nice new pair of glasses for Jenny.
He's also got a new assignment: An armored figure called "Iron Man" had shown up near the Stark Industries plant in Flushing. The Bugle's also been running pieces about Spider-Man being a menace. As Phil heads for the subway, he hears people debating mutants and heroes. Phil looks up at the sky, and realizes something: The world is changing.
Years later, Phil heads out to the rocket site where the Fantastic Four made their fateful flight, the one that transformed them into Marvel's First Family. The site is abandoned now, cordoned off. Phil had heard that the local government wanted to make it into a tourist attraction. He thinks about how things had changed since then. The rise of the X-Men and the Avengers. Captain America's return [Avengers #4 (March 1964)]. Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Girl's wedding [Fantastic Four Annual #2 (September 1964)]. Galactus's first appearance [Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966)]. Even the time that Phil and his family temporarily took in a mutant girl named Maggie (back in the original Marvels miniseries).
The photographer takes a couple pictures, then heads out. He has something to do. He and Doris arrive at Mercy General Hospital. Sheldon's been feeling ill lately, and the tests are back. Sadly, it's not good. Phil Sheldon has lung cancer.
This comic was pretty good. The best thing about the comic is the paralleling going on here. We see the world changing on both a big and a small scale. The changes in Phil's life parallel with the Marvel Universe. As shown in the original Marvels, his faith in the heroes was shattered with the death of Gwen Stacy, the event that in the real world, is credited with the beginning of the Bronze Age of Comics, a time when comics got more "dark" and "mature", for good and for ill. It's appropriate that in a time when the Marvel Universe witnesses the rise of monsters like Morbius and the Son of Satan, anti-heroes like the Punisher and Wolverine, and the heroes dealing with the consequences of their actions, does Phil Sheldon end up having to deal with a disease that has changed...and taken many lives.
I also have to give a special shoutout to Jay Anacleto for the artwork here. Alex Ross doesn't do the art duties for this sequel, but that's alright. Anacleto is a great artist, and honestly...I think his artwork is a better fit for this miniseries than Alex Ross would be. Ross is very good at making characters look bright and heroic. Anacleto's style is a great fit for this series as the style and muted color palette help push the idea that the world is getting darker.
For me, one of the fun things of this book, like with the original Marvels, is references to the various events going on in Marvel books. I'm a nut for history and continuity, and it's really cool seeing these events from another perspective.
Eye of the Camera is a criminally underrated miniseries, in my opinion. I think it's a very worthy sequel to the original Marvels, and worth checking out. If you want to check it out for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2010 trade paperback Marvels: Eye of the Camera. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time, where we join the heroes of the Marvel Universe as they engage in a Contest of Champions...
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