Growing up, I was always a sucker for fictional technical manuals. As a lover of the most obscure and useless of trivia, I spent many hours going through books like the “Star Trek Technical Manual” to look at all the imagined corners of the Enterprise. It was so much fun to learn about that stuff just to learn it. It’s a special badge of honor to be able to see some hallway on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and confidently know what’s around the corner. You give me the space to learn something hopelessly obscure and I am there for it. While it certainly never got me into many parties with the cool kids, it was fun all the same.
So it makes my heart happy to see that Marvel Comics is putting out a new book that offers something to slavishly obsess over. The publisher has announced pre-orders for “Marvel Anatomy: A Scientific Study of the Superhuman” are live. The book will feature in-depth illustrations of the inner workings of Marvel Comics’ heroes and villains.
Written by Marc Sumerak and Daniel Wallace, the book will feature art by Jonah Lobe.
“Marvel Anatomy: A Scientific Study of the Superhuman”
Fans will be able to pore over the inner workings of their favorite characters and get a better sense of how their bodies work. From humans to mutants to aliens and beyond, each lovingly rendered picture will offer untold treasures of trivia. If you ever wanted to know what Venom’s teeth are made of or how thick The Thing’s skin really is, then you will be in heaven.
“100+ unique illustrations — beautifully illustrated cross sections combined with fascinating insights capture each Super Hero’s and Super Villain’s unique set of powers — revealing the anatomy of 60+ fan-favorite Marvel characters, including Spider-Man, Hulk, Thanos, Mystique, Thing, Squirrel Girl, Venom, and Groot,” the listing reads.
The sample pages released so far look gorgeous and will make a perfect gift for Marvel obsessives. Even the cover looks incredible, combining Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vetruvian Man and Wolverine- designed to look like an ornate tome. That design is intentional, as it is made to look like Wakandan research compiled by Shuri and Black Panther. Positioning the book as being part of the Marvel comic universe makes it so much more than a simple anatomy lesson. Each page features lettering and symbols which evoke Wakandan symbology. The whole thing is just unbelievably cool.
You can pre order your copy now at your favorite book retailer. It is set for release on September 27th, 2022.
Yes, there is a DC Comics version available, too.
