Welcome again to Garish Summit and its continuing story of intrigue among the socially prominent. There -- in stately splendor far removed from the squalid village below -- they fight their petty battles over power and money.

-- "Garish Summit"
Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding
(Bob & Ray)

Here's something author Dan Raviv has in common with Ronald Perelman, Carl Icahn and Ike Perlmutter: none of them are comics fans.

According to Comic Wars: How Two Tycoons Battled Over the Marvel Comics Empire -- And Both Lost, Perelman, Icahn and Perlmutter had never even read a comic book. As for Raviv, a prize winning and best-selling non-fiction author and journalist, while he may have read them, he clearly is not of the geek mentality. He's a journalist with a flair for dramatizing historical situations, and has never before written a book about business or media.

Raviv's lack of fanboy obsession with the characters in the comics enables him to bring a relatively objective point of view to the financial and interpersonal dealings that went on in the infamous tug of war between Icahn and Perelman for control of Marvel, a war which ultimately made it a matter of survival for Perlmutter and partner Avi Arad to try -- and succeed -- in taking over the troubled company.

Money Talks
The downside of the non-fanboy point-of-view is that Raviv's story is told mostly from the business and financial angles. Much mention is made of Arad's love of the characters, and certainly Stan Lee is given his rightful due for the work he did over the decades in creating and nurturing the characters and the company. A few key artists -- Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita -- are mentioned once or twice. Artist Herb Trimpe is quoted, and former editor-in-chief Bob Harras gets a mention or two. But for the most part, the writers, artists and editors are portrayed as virtually interchangeable, as just manufacturers of the "product" that is comics. For just one example, considering that he was a very active editor-in-chief for much of the Perelman period, it's notable that Tom DeFalco isn't mentioned even once. Also, Raviv's take on content-related matters is shaped by what he's read in the public record, as are his impressions of the fan community.

While the Marvel characters -- Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men -- are colorful and exotic, and the Tycoons of the title are certainly men of oversized personalities, much of their battle went on in courtrooms where the combatants were lawyers whose weapons were facts -- or at least, data -- and convoluted legal arguments that can, and do, make one's eyes glaze over. If you can get past the idea that you have to understand every twist and turn of the legalistic elements, then this is an enjoyable book.