Article Summary: A review of the book, Spider-Man The Visual Guide
Book Review: Spider-Man The Visual Guide
This is a review of Spider-Man: The Visual Guide to the Complete Movie Trilogy (published April 2, 2007). It is disappointing overall, given what could have been done with three films worth of material. I think it lacks more due to the fact that it seems to have been made with a younger audience in mind. A nice-looking book that can be had inexpensively, might be worthwhile for real fans to pick up, so long as your expectations are adjusted accordingly.
Overview (from the publisher)
The movies’ breathtaking excitement, nail-biting drama, and heart-stopping romance are brilliantly conveyed in an exciting new format that brilliantly conveys the bizarre double life of Spider-Man. Interactive split-page design reveals both the “sunny” and the “dark” side of the Wall-Crawler and his thrilling world. What’s more, each aspect can be viewed independently or together, as the reader wishes! Illustrated with over 200 full-color stills from the Spider-Man movies. Features profiles of all the major characters from all three movies. Themed double-page features show how recurring characters like Mary Jane, Aunt May and Harry Osborn have developed through the trilogy. MARVEL, Spider-Man and the distinctive likeness thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission. (c) 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.This book is produced under license from Marvel Characters, Inc.
Book Facts (from the publisher)
Spider-Man: The Visual Guide to the Complete Movie Trilogy (Hardcover)
by DK Publishing (Author)List Price: $19.99
Amazon Price: $13.59# Reading level: Ages 9-12
# Hardcover: 96 pages
# Publisher: DK CHILDREN (April 2, 2007)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 0756627052
# ISBN-13: 978-0756627058
# Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.2 x 1.1 inches
# Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
Written Content (3/10)
Actually, judging the written content is a bit challenging. As noted in the opening, it is geared for a younger audience, but given that these reviews are intended to serve original prop hobbyists, I have to hold it to that standard.
The actual content is quite slim and basic. On the plus side, it’s organized well enough, I suppose. But overall, it’s very light fare, merely providing one or two-line character bios, and some commentary on facts and events that are equally as brief.
Visual Collateral (4/10)
This was really the main draw of the book, and I was expecting something more along the lines of the Star Wars Visual Guides from the same publisher. This book, instead, has more of a series of cropped images from the films themselves.
Unfortunately, there is no imagery from any source other than the film, so if you’ve seen the films, expect nothing new here.
Additionally, though it is a guide to the “complete movie trilogy”, there is very little from the third film, probably because the release of the book predates the release of the film by a month or so.
The quality of the photos is more or less good, but nothing spectacular.
Presentation/Quality (5/10)
The book itself is quite unique in terms of design. It is a hardcover held together by magnets, and opens in two halves, each attached half being a hardcover book of it’s own, one on top of the other: “Everybody Loves a Hero” and “Stung By Fate”.
As noted, it is fairly well organized, attractive, and is serves as a nice quick overview of the characters seen in the films (though not so much from 3).
In summary, it’s a nice-looking book with little substance. One could probably read the entire book, cover to cover (and cover to cover again, since there are two books) in about 15 minutes. But, to the credit of the publisher, they did what they could to package the thing into an attractive work with an interesting design.
Overall Value (6/10)
The retail price is $20, which is not horrible, given that it is a hardcover and full color. But then again, there aren’t too many pages, and the content is light and thin.
It can be had via Amazon.com for $13.59 and deeply discounted at other retailers as well. If you are a fan of the films, it might be worth picking up, but I suspect there will be better offerings for the original prop hobbyist.
Conclusion and Overall Rating (4/10)
In short, even fans of the film can skip this book and not miss anything at all. It’s disappointing in that it is in many ways marketed as a DK-branded “Visual Guide”, as they are known for, but this book is an altogether different sort of volume. This book comes across as a quick capitalization on the film license, quickly put together with no resources other than the film itself.
Perhaps the upcoming, The Spider-Man Chronicles: The Art and Making of Spider-Man 3, will be a better work to accompany the new film.
Jason De Bord