The penultimate Avengers Endgame film has just been released. So, more than ever, MARVEL is everywhere. Suffice to say that every die hard super heroes fan – who hasn’t yet seen this big screen blockbuster – is terrified each time a ‘spoiler alert’ pops-up on their social media feed. Oh, the sheer panic in their eyes is enough to make even The Hulk nervous!

MARVEL may be everywhere right now, but it never really went away did it? In fact, the super heroes have been around in the consciousness of popular culture for a whopping eight decades. To celebrate this a major new exhibition was originally conceived for the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) in Seattle, Unites States. It has since moved on to the The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Universe of Super Heroes the exhibition is, by all accounts, pretty spectacular. It boldly showcases 80 years of MARVEL history with original comics pages, amazing sculptures, artefacts, original commissions, panoramic hallways and interactive displays. It’s a super hero geek’s paradise! (some might say on par with getting a sensual, candle-lit massage from Thor or Black Widow…. well, whatever floats your boat?!).

OK, so you can’t get to the USA to see the show for real? Don’t worry because there’s also an official catalogue, MARVEL: Universe of Super Heroes (published by our friends, Verlag für moderne Kunst in Vienna) of which we’re honoured to be the UK promoter and purveyor. It’s awesome. It’s shiny. It’s in stock!!! This book is an instant classic and a lasting legacy of the exhibition itself, not least of super hero culture.

If you’re still not convinced that this is the perfect souvenir for you, then please take the late, great Stan Lee’s word for it…

“Even though the ‘new’ Marvel Super Heroes seemed to be selling like hotcakes in 1961 and 1962, it was more likely that, by the next year, another fad would come down the pike to replace them. But Marvel never lost its momentum – and now we’ve even got this majestic museum exhibition, MARVEL: UNIVERSE OF SUPER HEROES! […] The exhibition is guaranteed fun for every visitor, from dyed-in-the-wool Marvelites to folks who wouldn’t know Iron Man from a steam iron. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be blown away by the exhibition!” 

Stan wrote that especially for the book (it’s on page 5). So, now are you convinced?!