Thank you to Abrams Books for sending a copy of The Super Hero’s Journey in exchange for an honest review.
In the new graphic novel The Super Hero’s Journey from Abrams Books imprint Marvel Arts, Mutts cartoonist Patrick McDonnell conducts an experiment to rival those of Reed Richards himself. Part postmodern pop-culture pastiche, part personal memoir and part McDonnell’s own newspaper comic strip-influenced take on the classic characters, The Super Hero’s Journey is a surprising and memorable graphic novel.
The Super Hero’s Journey
As hinted above, to a certain degree, The Super Hero’s Journey feels like an experiment, or perhaps a complicated equation. While they are assembled in service of an original story, The Super Hero’s Journey has a foundation built on panels of original Marvel Comics art. This art is by many members of the 1960s-era mighty Marvel Bullpen. Furthermore, it is largely accompanied by the unadulterated dialogue by Stan Lee.
At certain points throughout the narrative, these original Marvel Comics art panels give way to McDonnell’s renditions of the characters. If you are familiar with the daily newspaper strip Mutts, you will quickly identify this art as McDonnell’s. As he explains in the book’s back matter, “With this book I mostly refrained from doing any preliminary sketches and went right to ‘finishes,’ drawing more the way I did in grammar school notebooks, mindlessly scribbling my favorite super heroes. I wanted this book to capture the feeling of childhood.”
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In addition to the narrative described above, the story is intertwined with elements of a personal memoir. These scenes flash back to McDonnell’s childhood in 1960s New Jersey. On top of all this, several pages depart from McDonnell’s cartooning to deliver reproductions of “quite large—five or six feet” paintings that “were done with acrylic latex paint, ink, pencil, color pencil, oil stick, watercolor, and collage on canvas.”
But buckle up, True Believers: the equation grows more complicated still. McDonnell has also included more than two dozen quotations, from sources that range from Charles Dickens to Jack Kirby to Marianne Williamson. Both the art and the quotes are cited on a pair of well-designed backmatter pages. These are accompanied by a “letters page” with a cartoonist Q&A, plus photos and artifacts from McDonnell’s childhood.
Marvelous Mutts
Naturally, the question is: does the experiment succeed? The answer is a resounding “yes.” And better yet, no one even had to be turned into an orange rock monster in the process.
The Super Hero’s Journey is an engaging read. Furthermore, it’s an enlightening look at how Marvel Comics inspires McDonnell’s cartooning work. If you are a fan of Mutts, this element is particularly interesting. And if you are the sort of Mutts fan who geeked out when Joe Sinnot inked a strip in 2019? Well, then The Super Hero’s Journey is required reading.
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However, anyone who is passionate about pop culture would find something in this book to dig into. This is because the examination of the relationship between massive cultural properties like Marvel Comics with one’s personal life is fascinating. And, because you are reading this review on Geek Girl Authority, this element is probably personally relevant for you, as it was for me.
Available Now
Finally, a word about the presentation of The Super Hero’s Journey. This is a large, slim hardcover with a dust jacket which when removed reveals McDonnell’s versions of the characters on a cover designed to evoke lined composition paper. The endpapers feature stylized art of The Watcher, a key figure in the narrative. Overall, the package is extremely well-designed. Furthermore, it seems sturdy enough to withstand the repeated readings demanded by the graphic novel.
In addition to the work by McDonnell, The Super Hero’s Journey features comics by Lee, Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck and Vince Colletta. It was lettered by Todd Klein and features additional coloring by Robert McDonnell. It is available at your local bookstore and/or public library now.
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