Sean Howe’s brilliant and comprehensive Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (HarperCollins) tells the secret origin story of the comics giant, from the creative chaos of a bunch of ’60s dreamers to the globe-conquering house of ideas it is today. I’ve known Sean since this book plan was just a tiny (Omega the) unknown in the dusty longbox of his mind, so getting the chance to talk to him about Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Merry Marvel Bullpen, and the time one staffer pulled an all-nighter manually erasing Hellcat’s nipples was a blast. It’s a fun conversation even for those who don’t know their Jim Sterankos from their Paste-Pot Petes. I’m only sorry we didn’t have time for my hard-hitting series of questions about the true motivations of Batroc the Leaper.

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story is on sale Tuesday, October 9. You can check out some of the amazing art Sean mentions at his Tumblr page.

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