Marvel Books

If you need to brush up on your Guardians comic knowledge ahead of Vol. 2’ s imminent release, there’s a handy trio of tomes that’ll stand you in good stead this month. DK’s Guardians Of The Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide To The Cosmic Outlaws ( ★★★ ), by Nick Jones, is primarily aimed at a pre-teen audience. Boldly coloured and broken down by character, there’s a lot for a casual fan to wrap their noggin around (the timeline is a brain-scrambler). If you want the lowdown on anyone who’s ever been affiliated with the superteam (including Cosmo the Spacedog), look no further.

Meanwhile, Titan’s Guardians Of The Galaxy: Creating Marvel’s Spacefaring Super Heroes ( ★★★★ ), by Mark Sumerak, assembles a gallery of cover art to drool over. Tracing the Guardians’ evolution from their 1969 debut through to the 2008 reboot that planted the seeds for the film version, it’s an interesting read if you can tear your eyes away from the gorgeous artwork.

And if you want a broader take, the latest edition of DK’s Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History ( ★★★★★ ), from Tom Defalco, Peter Sanderson, Tom Brevoort and Matthew K. Manning, is a handsome, slipcased volume, charting the history of the publisher from 1939 through the Golden, Silver, Bronze and Modern Ages. Placing the comics’ major moments in a historical context, and featuring full colour splashes (including a look back at the questionable run of swimsuit specials – Wolverine in skimpy cutoffs!), it’s a concise, addictively informative coffee-table heavyweight.