The Marvel Universe is everywhere. It is part of our culture, part of our heritage, even part of our language. Catch phrases like... "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" ...have entered the lexicon. During the 1970s and '80s run of television's The Incredible Hulk, "hulking out" became the slang term for losing control. And there is probably not a baby-boomer alive who cannot sing at least a part of the theme song from the 1967 Spider-Man animated series.

So states Michael Mallory in his new coffee table book, Marvel: The Characters and Their Universe (M:TCATU). This massive volume provides an overview of the history of the company founded by Martin Goodman, and compares and contrasts the comics versions of the Marvel characters with their interpretations in other media. It's a breezy and entertaining read, for the most part accurate, if determinedly uncontroversial.

M:TCATU provides a breezy retelling of the high points of the history of the company that started life as Timely in the 1930s, reached a peak in the early 1940s (with tales of the Sub-Mariner, the Human Torch and Captain America), nearly disappeared in the 1950s and spectacularly reinvented itself in the 1960s, bringing to the world such pop culture icons as Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and so many more. There's even a nifty Chronology section at the back that gives the high points of each year of the company's history from 1932 to 2002. (Guess the author took a trip into the future on Dr. Doom's time platform.)

What made, and continues to make, Marvel so important to its fans is brought to light by Mallory:

...the characters inhabiting the Marvel Universe have captured not only the minds of its readers, but their hearts as well. This was driven home to [legendary artist] John Romita, Sr., a number of years ago while working on a Spider-Man story at home. "My youngest son, who is now one of the best artists in the business, was looking over my shoulder...and I'm starting to draw Peter Parker [Spider-Man], and he asks why we don't give Peter an issue where everything goes right for him," Romita recalls. "And it struck me right then and there that this kid wanted Peter Parker to have a better life. I said, 'Wow, that's the grab -- this kid cares about what happens to a paper character.'"

Prominent in the book's narrative, of course, is living legend Stan Lee, the sparkplug behind the Marvel revolution. Stan, the company's editor in chief from 1939 to 1972, and currently its Publisher Emeritus, created -- along with Jack Kirby, Steve Dirko, Bill Everett, Don Heck, Romita and others -- the major Marvel characters. Mallory lets Stan explain what made Marvel an international phenomenon and gave it the ability to connect directly with its readers:

"I tried to establish a friendly relationship between the readers and ourselves, so they didn't feel like they were just readers," notes Lee. "I wanted them to feel like they're friends, and that we're all sharing a fun time together that the outside world isn't privy to."