Books for Role-players: Disney – Marvel Super Heroes Magazine #1


Marvel Super Heroes Magazine #1
Marvel Superhero Heroes Magazine is a superhero magazine supporting the Marvel line of comic books published by Disney.
By Aaron T. Huss

Children recognize superheroes, and with the recent release of Marvel Heroic Roleplaying from Margaret Weis Productions (you can read the review here), now is a great time to introduce those children to the hobby of tabletop role-playing games. But there is one difficult aspect: Where do these same children go to learn more about the characters they may want to play? Do you run out and purchase a pile of comic books and set them off to read them? You could, but it would be tricky to really learn about the characters. Do you hand them the Basic core rulebook and tell them to read it? They’re children, so this may not be very likely. Instead, why not hand them a copy of the newest Marvel magazine, Marvel Super Heroes Magazine?

Published by Disney at a very affordable price (only $4.99), this magazine is designed for children in their youth (ages 8 – 10). But is it just another comic book? Nope, it’s much more than just a comic book packaged differently. It’s a monthly guide to the Marvel universe (well, at least certain aspects of it) in a way that embraces the target audience (just look at the style of art on the cover). So how does one learn about the Marvel universe using this magazine? Well, I’ll answer that below.

CONTENT

Marvel Super Heroes Magazine issue #1 is a multi-part magazine consisting of a number of ways for your child to learn about the Marvel Universe.

If He Be Worthy is a short comic about Thor, depicting him and Loki. The comic is a quick lesson about how selflessness is more important than being the hero, although this lesson may go over a child’s head. What it basically is depict Thor as more than just a hero wielding his hammer. He is a hero because of the deeds he does for others, not just the evil he extinguishes.

Tidbits of information regarding different Marvel heroes and heroines are contained within with information on Black Widow, the Avengers, Hawkeye, and Captain America.

Rounding out the magazine are some fun activities and pull-out poster, again embracing the target audience.

OVERALL

When you consider that many children recognize superheroes before fantasy fighters, you may want to embrace some of the currently available superhero role-playing games. To teach those children more about the Marvel universe in an easier way, the Marvel Super Heroes Magazine is a great buy.

RATINGS

Publication Quality: 10 out of 10
I was happy to see that the comic did not exhibit the same art style as the cover (the youthful version with hard edges and very defined features), it made the comic book that much better of a read. The overall magazine has a definite appeal for the target audience and is laid out extremely well with a great mixture of information, activities, and the comic.

Value Add: 8 out of 10
It’s a bit of a stretch to connect this to role-playing, but trying to introduce something such as a role-playing game to children can prove difficult if they don’t understand what role they’re assuming. By looking through a magazine such as this, they get a better sense of who the different heroes are and if they would want to assume that role or not.

Overall: 9 out of 10
Marvel Super Heroes Magazine #1 is a great magazine and a cool way of introducing children to the Marvel universe (either in a more in-depth way or fresh from the start) and bringing them into role-playing games such as Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. A definite must-have for parents who like superhero role-playing.

Share this post:

Related Posts

Leave a Comment