Behind The Scenes of the "Secret History Of Marvel Comics" P1

Let's make this a weekly feature, okay? Last week, and the week before, we let you behind the scenes of putting together my latest book: a collaboration with Dr. Michael J. Vassallo entitled The Secret History Of Marvel Comics: Jack Kirby and the Moonlighting Artists at Martin Goodman’s Empire that makes its debut at the San Diego Comicon in July of 2012. And everyone's been asking us "just what exactly is this book about?" What's the angle from which we are approaching "Martin Goodman's Empire?" Are we focusing on his skin/smut magazines that ran parallel to those for-kidlet superhero comics in the 1940s, 50s and 60s? (Nah, boring.) Is this going to be some academic exercise into the financial maze that was Goodman's interconnected web of companies and dummy imprints found in the indicia of all his comics? (Yawn!) What is the scope of this book and how will it truly please comic-book fans of Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Bill Everett, Alex Schomburg, Matt Baker, Joe Maneely, and so many more (it totally will, in ways no other book ever has!), as well as fans of pulp and magazine illustrations, the sci-fi genre and L. Ron Hubbard, Tom Cruise, John Travolta and the rest of the Scientology crowd...plus Liberace, Elizabeth Taylor, and Jackie Gleason fans? Yes, Doc V. and me aren't known for the sacrifice bunt when we can swing for the Green Monster instead, so here's a sneak peak at the book's entry in the Fantagraphics catalog for Spring/Summer 2012 that gives a lot more on the scope of the project...but not all the details, so come back next week when we reveal the secret origin of how this book came to life in the Fortress of Sequential Art...