Title: Marvel Knights: Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale: Yellow, Blue, Gray & White Omnibus.
Writer(s): Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale.
Artist(s): Tim Sale.
Colourist(s): Matt Hollingsworth, Steve Buccellato & Dave Stewart.
Letterer(s): Richard Starkings & Comicraft.
Publisher: Marvel.
Format: Hardcover – Omnibus.
Release Date: December 18th 2018.
Pages: 664.
Genre(s): Comics, Science-Fiction.
ISBN13: 9781302914059.
My Overall Rating:
Where love can thaw through the coldest of hearts, it can also break the toughest of them all into the tiniest of pieces. For some beloved heroes, it is through love that they discover their darkest regrets and their greatest callings. Despite the incredible emotional toll that they must carry, it is these very life-defining stories that bring them to make the toughest decisions in their lives. And sometimes, all they can do is remember these stories to their graves, or share them with those who are willing to listen. Collecting all four colour stories by the Eisner award-winning duo of writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale, this omnibus presents fans with a stunning and complete look at four of Marvel’s greatest heroes recounting a significant loss early in their days of vigilantism. This omnibus collects Daredevil: Yellow #1-6, Spider-Man: Blue #1-6, Hulk: Gray #1-6, and Captain America: White #1-6.
What is Marvel Knights: Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale: Yellow, Blue, Gray & White Omnibus about? In Daredevil: Yellow, Matthew Murdock recounts the tragic events that culminate in the astonishing arrival of Hell’s Kitchen’s paramount hero as he falls in love with the mesmerizing Karen Page. In Spider-Man: Blue, Peter Parker reminisces the early days when he fell in love with Gwen Stacy only to realize what he would later never get to have with her. In Hulk: Gray, Bruce Banner explains the tragedy that wasn’t just his transformation but his realization that Betty Ross, daughter of his greatest rival, would be the only person to break the Incredible Hulk. In Captain America: White, Steve Rogers goes down memory lane to share his early adventures with his partner in crime Bucky Barnes.
“The measure of a man is not in how he gets knocked down to the mat… it is in how he gets up!”
— Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale (2002)
Brilliantly revisiting the early days of superheroism of these iconic characters, writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale excel in delivering a cohesive selection of tragic chapters in the lives of four heroes that connect together through their exploration of love and loss. With symbolic use of specific colours that depict emotional trauma and moral ambiguity, the story brilliantly puts forth the sheer swagger of these heroes, whether it is through their illustrious dialogue or their impressive charm. While romance and tragedy are key ingredients to these stories, notably bringing out the most vulnerable moments in their life, they also include a fair proportion of action and adventure that depict these characters’ unique skillset, whether it may be their acrobatic skills or their brute strength. While some stories convey their emotional punch with much more efficiency, others do struggle to find their footing, but all succeed in telling a story that highlights the power of love and the burden of loss.
Those familiar with artist Tim Sale’s work will not be surprised by his one-of-a-kind style in these stories and will be impressed by the tone and emotion he is able to convey throughout each of them. While most of his design works wonderfully with writer Jeph Loeb’s story and ideas, there are instances where the story seems to simply fit perfectly with his artistic vision, allowing panels to convey far more than it could’ve without the words to embellish the moment with poetry and power. The occasional splash pages, especially to emphasize certain love interests or costumed vigilantism, make for spectacular moments as well. The colouring also gives the story an additional layer of complexity in terms of narrative depth, as previously mentioned in terms of symbolism, but also allows for excellent atmospheric tone and mood.
Marvel Knights: Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale: Yellow, Blue, Gray & White Omnibus is a wonderful collection of emotional stories centered around loss and love and told by Daredevil, Spider-Man, Hulk, and Captain America.
Roars and Echoes 
This sounds like a pretty tough read. But is it actually emotional, or just the authors trying to get that reaction from the readers?
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It’s not necessarily purely depressive. They’re all sad stories with a touch of gratitude in the dialogue where these heroes see these past experiences as something allowing them to become better people/heroes. It’ll also depend on how connected you are to these characters. 😛
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The use of colours and the art is brilliant!
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Yes, it is! Thanks for reading, Sophie!
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I wasn’t familiar with these stories but you have me curious about them. I love “smaller” more emotional stories. They can be a very pleasant break from all the universe shattering ones. Daredevil was a character I used to want to read more of. He seemed a bit underrated but perhaps more to my liking in some ways. Maybe I saw him as a little less flashy, a little more down to earth and relatable. The others I did read from time to time but none of them were favorties of mine, though I did enjoy a Captain America reboot (not sure how many of those there’ve been now). The artwork in these looks appealing, I could see myself enjoying that if the stories are equally strong. Do you have a favorite of the four stories?
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And that’s exactly what these are. Smaller, more intimate, self-contained stories. And you’re right, there’s something so darkly fascinating with Daredevil and he definitely figures among those Marvel heroes I try to read more of. As for Captain America, I think you’d have definitely found intriguing what Ed Brubaker had to offer when he took over the series. It’s tough to say which is my favourite but I equally liked them all, except for Captain America: White which stretched the core concept a bit too much. I did enjoy the tone of Daredevil: Yellow a lot though!
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I really like the look of this and it does sound interesting. Is this one I can just jump into?
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Yep. They’re self-contained and mostly revisit the origin story with an emotional twist. You will, however, get spoiled on some major deaths from past classic story-arcs in each story (for example, in Spider-Man: Blue, Peter narrates the story and he’s speaking about someone he lost). Then again, these losses are so “popular” that they’re almost considered common knowledge for readers so you can always tell yourself that they aren’t really spoilers in the end hahah
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Oh I don’t mind being spoiled at all, so it’ll work for me 😊
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