The Mighty Marvel Dictionary (thuh my-tee mahr-vuhl dik-shuh-ner-ee)
noun: an illustrated A-to-Z glossary that provides readers of all ages a redefined, never-before-seen exploration of the code names, items, teams, locations, and sound effects that have shaped Marvel Comics for over 85 years
Featuring more than 1,000 definitions of the words that have been the foundation of Marvel Comics’ epic stories, this illustrated compendium is the perfect gift for Marvel fans of all ages.
The Mighty Marvel Dictionary by Robb Pearlman will be published October 29, 2024. BenBella Books provided an early galley for review.
I've been reading Marvel Comics since I was a kid in the 70's, and I would have loved to have had a book like this when I was first starting out. It is expansive and fun, featuring definitions of both everyday words along with similar usages in the Marvel Universe. For example: you'll see a definition for the word abomination along with a definition for the character Abomination. It is really helpful to show how the comic creators have adapted words in other ways.
More important is the phonetic pronunciations that come with each word. Every wondered how certain character names were pronounced? Now you know. Two that were tricky as a kid were Magneto and Submariner; surprisingly neither have entries in this book though.
The illustrations are drawn from over the entire Marvel publishing history as well. Some shots I remember quite fondly from books I have read over the many decades.
The only negative I had was that several major players, like the two noted above for example, are missing entries. While I get that not every word/name can be covered in the allotted pages and some decisions had to be made regarding who was in and who was out, I found some of the inclusions and exemptions a little bit baffling. If there is ever a second edition with expanded page count, maybe this oversight will be corrected.
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