World Comic Book Review

19th April 2024

Marvel Vehicles: Owner’s Workshop Manual (review)

Marvel Vehicles
Owner’s Workshop Manual (review)

(Haynes Publishing, 2014)
Writer: Alex Irvine

Haynes manuals are well-known to car and motorcycle enthusiasts as an eminent resource for the maintenance and repair of certain types of vehicles. The series of manuals covers approximately 300 cars and 150 motorcycles.

Occasionally however Haynes branches out into areas outside of motor vehicles. This manual, on the vehicles appearing in US comic book publisher Marvel Comics, is one such example.

This is an entertaining read. It is written as if it is a declassified document from Marvel Comics’ go-to espionage agency, SHIELD. There is a lot of chatter throughout, some of which is distracting and a little indulgent, and some of which is extremely funny (especially the description of Deadpool’s spacecraft, the “Bea Arthur”).

But the cutaway diagrams are excellent, and exhibit.meticulous care:

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Perhaps the only thing which this text is missing is repair tips. It would have been useful to know how to change a tyre on the Spider-Mobile. This is not a masterful piece of writing. But it is a lot of fun and will appeal to fans of not just Marvel Comics.