DK Publishing, which scored a major (and enduring) hit with The Marvel Encyclopedia in 2006, is back with Marvel Chronicle ($50), a deluxe, full color, 352-page, year-by-year survey of the history of the “House of Ideas” from its “superheroes with hang-ups” origins in the early 1960s to the present era of major events such as Civil War and Secret Invasion.  Written by Tom Brevoort, Tom DeFalco, and Michael Manning, Marvel Chronicle starts with the birth of Marvel in 1961 noting all the key events that happened in the Marvel universe that year and contextualizing them with a contemporaneous list of real-world events such as (for 1961), the inauguration of JFK, the Russians putting the first man in space, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the first Green Berets sent to Vietnam, and the publication of Catch 22. 

Reading this volume appears to be the easiest way to gain a grasp of the development of the Marvel universe thanks to its incremental, year-by-year approach that allows the readers to see exactly how the core of the mighty Marvel machine has developed over the decades.

DK is publishing the oversize (9 7/8” x 11 7/8”) Marvel Chronicle in October and this is likely to be one of the best-selling holiday volumes of 2008 because of the high perceived value that results from its heft, its die-cut Marvel “M” hardcover, and its deluxe presentation box that also includes two exclusive prints of the dynamic cover art done by Jim Cheung.