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Penguin Classics teams up with Marvel to publish new series of comic book anthologies
Penguin Classics is teaming up with Marvel Comics to publish a new series of comic book anthologies.
The Penguin Classics Marvel Collection will be the first time that Penguin Classics has published comics. The collection will present the original stories and seminal tales of key Marvel characters which will serve “as a testament to Marvel’s transformative impact on graphic fiction and icons and stories across popular culture”.
The first three books in the series, Black Panther, Captain America and The Amazing Spider-Man, will be published on 14th June, 2022.
Each title will be published in a black-spine paperback as well as a collectible hardcover edition with gold foil stamping, gold top stain edges and endpapers featuring artwork from the comics. They each include a foreword by a contemporary young adult author and a detailed scholarly introduction speaking to the enduring significance of Marvel’s iconic creations. Jason Reynolds, Nnedi Okorafor and Gene Luen Yang are among those writing forewords, while series editor Ben Saunders and Qiana J Whitted have written the scholarly introductions.
Saunders said: “The comics produced at Marvel in the 1960s can be compared to the most enduring popular music of that same tumultuous decade. Working at tremendous speed in what was widely regarded as a low-status commercial medium, the creators at Marvel initiated and participated in an aesthetic revolution. These comics have now influenced writers and artists across all forms of media—from contemporary novelists to hip hop musicians to Hollywood filmmakers. It is not hyperbole but simply a fact: these classic Marvel Comics are foundational documents of our culture.”
Jessica Harrison, publishing director of Penguin Classics, added: “Penguin Classics are the books that have shaped our culture and changed how we see the world and ourselves. Whether via the medium of poetry, prose, drama or now comics, they speak as powerfully to readers around the globe today as they did in their own time and place. For many decades, Marvel’s comics have enthralled audiences with a whole world of storytelling, visual artistry, ideas and social commentary. This is why readers return year after year to the stories of Spider-Man, Black Panther and Captain America—characters now as deeply ingrained in our culture as the folk heroes of older literary traditions.
“We are thrilled to present Marvel’s classics as Penguin Classics and to place the iconic work of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby and many other historic Marvel creators on shelves alongside the world’s greatest literature.”
Sven Larsen, vice-president of licensed publishing at Marvel Entertainment, said: “From The Odyssey to The Time Machine, the Penguin Classics list not only recognises the most important works in storytelling but also places them in their important historical and cultural context. Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Captain America have become the bedrock of countless stories across media and it’s a testament to the genius of Marvel’s writers and artists that these characters resonate so strongly today.
“It’s a remarkable honour to have these important chapters in Marvel history join this esteemed series from Penguin Random House. I can’t wait for new readers to discover these stories for the first time and I’m excited for existing fans to be able to read the new introductions, essays and other material that will provide an even deeper appreciation of these seminal works of graphic fiction.”
