Book Reviews: Alien Vault & The Spider-Man Vault (From Philadelphia’s Running Press!)

Over the course of the past couple of years, so-called “Vault” books have showcased the histories of everything from Star Wars to Marvel Comics. What makes these massive coffee table tomes unique is that they include removable material that is the closest thing the publishing world can get to DVD and Blu-ray special features. (Usually these items include reproductions of vintage collectibles, movie posters, crew paraphernalia and other drool-worthy goodies). This holiday season sees the release of two new of these types of releases, and if you are a fan of either the Alien franchise or your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man they are utterly invaluable.

First up, Ian Nathan’s Alien Vault accurately bills itself as “the definitive story of the making of the film,” and for anyone who has ever experienced the terror of Ridely Scott’s masterpiece (that’s right, I’m saying it’s better than Blade Runner), it is a perfect organism full of new insights. As someone who has poured over plenty of books about the flick over the years, I was thrilled to find that opening this vault introduced me to tons of unfamiliar stories about Alien’s production.

Spanning from the movie’s initial conceptualization to its release, it chronicles the inside story behind the sci-fi epic through interviews with the film’s key players. (The sequels and spin-off novels are giving a passing mention mainly to contextualize the saga as a whole…so hopefully we will get an Aliens Vault book someday). Arguably the most fascinating thing about the book is its Chip Kidd-esque design that highlighted by rare and previously unseen photographs — including unused poster prototypes and a terrific picture of the man inside the creature costume, Bolaji Badejo. As for the enclosed items, they feature everything from a replica H.R.

Giger painting of the Space Jockey to a sticker of the Nostromo crew patch design and a mini Japanese Alien movie poster that is just begging for you to frame it. To badly paraphrase the film’s tagline, in your home everyone can hear you scream with delight at how great the Alien Vault is. Okay, that was a really inexcusable joke to make. Seriously though, check it out.

When writing The Spider-Man Vault (published by Philly’s Running Press imprint) authors Peter A. David and Robert Greenberger had their work cut out for them. You see, much of Spidey’s history has already been covered in exhaustive detail in works like Stan Lee’s Amazing Marvel Universe, Lee Daniels’ Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics and the similar The Marvel Vault. Naturally there was bound to be some overlap between this and in those books, but thanks to David and Greenberger’s breezy writing at no point does the material here feel repetitive.

Because the wallcrawler’s complex history is condensed into 190 pages, this book is more of a fun pop culture overview than anything else. The only real sticking point I had with this is that it didn’t spend enough time on Spidey’s TV and film excursions — especially the trippy 1960s cartoon and the insane Japanese live-action TV show from the late 1970s. This small nitpick aside, The Spider-Man Vault more than lives up to its promise of being a “museum in a book” thanks to removable ephemera like reproduction art and trading cards.

On a personal note, I feel obligated to mention that this book actually elicited a squeal of delight from me by including a picture of the ultra-rare “Spider-Man: Old and New” poster that I haven’t seen since I took it off the wall of my childhood bedroom in 1988. That nostalgic trip back in time single-handedly won me over. The fact that the rest of the book is equally great was just a bonus really. Thwip!

Alien Vault by Ian Nathan
$35. Voyageur Press

The Spider-Man Vault by Peter A. David and Robert Greenberger
$49.99. Running Press