The Marvel universe is loaded with magical worlds and now is your chance to explore them all. Marvel Universe: Map by Map is a premium, lavishly illustrated compendium of specially curated essays, boasting stunning, newly commissioned maps, illustrations, and diagrams, exploring iconic Marvel locations, and it’s available for pre-order now. Marvel shared some insight on the new book by chatting with its creators.
- Marvel Universe: Map by Map, from DK Books, will hit shelves on November 16 adn you can pre-order your copy of the new hardcover book here.
- Readers will explore both the Earthbound lands as well as the cosmic and mystical realms form the stories they know and love.
- Some of the locales include:
- Asgard
- Wakanda
- Atlantis
- Olympus
- Hell's Kitchen
- Latveria
- Knowhere
- The Savage Land
- Battleworld
- Marvel Universe: Map by Map delineates the contours of the ever-expanding, complex, and interconnected Marvel Universe, illuminating the incredible locations, epic events, and extraordinary characters that have shaped it. Boasting dazzling new artwork, gorgeous comic book visuals, and insightful, authoritative text, this is a premium, indispensable way finder for any armchair explorer.
What they’re saying:
- Cefn Ridout, senior editor at DK Licensing: “We clearly couldn’t include the entirety of the ever-expanding Marvel Universe in a 240-page book, even a coffee table-sized one, so we honed our criteria to the most iconic locations with storied histories that featured significant characters. Geographically, we also had to find as many locations as possible with existing maps that could be used as reference for our artists, so the Marvel Handbooks came in very handy. As a framework, we took a telescopic look at the MU. Starting with Super Hero Central in Manhattan, we zoom out to explore Earth’s super-powered nations, as well as the planet’s arcane regions, hidden kingdoms and lost lands. Then we travel into outer space to explore intergalactic empires and key cosmic outposts, after which our perspective widens to enter the otherworldly and ethereal realms of sorcerers, gods and demons. Finally, we cross the threshold of reality to glimpse alternative Earths and divergent timelines.”
- illustrator Matt Taylor: “Of all the maps I worked on, Mystic Realms provided a unique set of challenges. While all my other illustrations in the book required me to either map an environment that hadn’t been mapped before or wrangle locations that moved around as the comic stories required, Mystic Realms was neither of these. It was the space between spaces… dimensions of madness and chaos birthed by Steve Ditko’s madcap creativity; it pushed the definition of “map” as far as it could go. There was so much visual reference and different artists’ interpretations that it was difficult to know where to start. So, I decided to lean into that creative spirit and go a little crazy.”
- Illustrator Andrew DeGraff: “I grew up on Marvel Comics, and they've been a huge influence on me. Thor, in particular, was pretty special, so the Ten Realms of Asgard was a treat. Initially, I played with the idea of hemispherical planets that were perhaps a little too married to a cosmic aesthetic, and focused on creating wildly different landscapes. Next, we added characters to contextualize the Realms, which really helped to clear up the icier regions of Niflheim, Nidavellir, and the Jotunheim. Before going to final, we “un-planeted” the realms, envisioning them as sort of floating magical islands, which I think really works. Asgard remains a sort of utopian disc, while the others are more organic. Midgard/Earth remains the only hemispherical world, as it’s not on the same purely mystical plane as the others.”