Marvels is told from the street-level view of Phil Sheldon, a New York City photojournalist who dedicates his life to covering the superheroes and villains that populate the world and their effect on humankind.  The work, which is richly painted by Ross, serves as a historical overview of the Marvel Universe, from the debut of the Human Torch (1939) to the death of Gwen Stacy (1973).

Marvels was originally released in early 1994 and won the Eisners for best finite series, best painter (for Ross), and best publication design (for Comicraft). Ross also won the best artist Harvey for the work.

Fittingly, Ross will be contributing a variant cover to the relaunched Fantastic Four series, which bows on August 8 (see “Preview: 'Fantastic Four' #1 Variant Covers”) and an art book featuring his work for Marvel will be in stores on October 2 (see “Alex Ross's Marvelous 'Marvelocity'”).  Busiek is busy writing for a TV series based on Astro City, for which Ross provided covers (see “Alex Ross's Marvelous 'Marvelocity'”).