Picture books have never been more entertaining!
Remember elementary school when your art teacher would walk you through creating 3D stories out of flat paper? The glue, the tape, rows of colorful construction paper, loads of hand tracing, and tons of fun. Now, with fandom pop-up books, grown-up fans can relive their favorite moments from iconic films and shows through intricate, often interactive, paper scenes. And if you know anything about the world of adult pop-up books, then you’ve likely heard of paper engineer and pop-up master Matthew Reinhart. His latest creation? The Marvel Superheroes Ultimate Pop-Up Book, published by Abrams Books. This new title is full of superheroes, villains, and all the best moments in the Marvel universe.
We got a chance to see the book in action for the very first time at New York Comic Con (NYCC) and each page is more exciting than the last. Spreads feature members of The Avengers that literally pop off the page with movie-accurate posing. Each member of the team has a small box next to their figure that details more about the character and their storyline. With comic-inspired graphics and interactive moments — like a transforming Hulk — this book makes a perfect gift for any Marvel fan.
We spoke to the New York Times best-seller at NYCC about the process behind the Marvel Superheroes Ultimate Pop-Up Book, the art of the pop-up, and how you can get started making your very own pop-up book at home.
The Pop Insider: We love pop-up books! What was the process behind creating Marvel Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book?
Matthew Reinhart: Making a pop-up is a long process. It starts with coming up with the basic concepts for every spread. This book was especially challenging because there are so many characters, so you must decide who gets to star. Once we figure out the characters, then the next step is actually engineering the pop-up, so I’m cutting and folding paper in my studio and figuring out how well these pieces go together and then taking it apart and rebuilding — It’s kind of insane. After that, I work with different artists. I begin by making art guides that specify how to draw each character. For example, when drawing Captain America, his arm has to be separate from his body. So I’ll work with those artists — they make the artwork, send it back to me, and then I put all that art on the pieces for each pop. So it’s a long process.
PI: What makes this book a must-have for collectors?
MR: Well, this is the first Marvel superhero pop-up that I’ve ever done, and it has as many characters as we could get in there. I think is really fun that you get to sort of armor up some of your favorite characters. One of my favorites here, or the one that is worth the price of admission, as they say — is just having Hulk smash out of the page right here.
The Pop Insider: We were actually just looking at that part, we love it. And the angles of the cuts just really make it look like it’s coming toward you.
MR: Yeah, it’s actually inspired by a toy from like, I think it was like the late ‘90s or maybe early 2000s. It was an action figure of Hulk where he actually would smash out of a little containment unit. So, I loved that.
PI: What was your favorite spread to make and why?
MR: They’re all favorites. I think one of my favorites was actually the first spread, which is Spider-Man, just because this pop was in my head for probably about 15 years. I’ve been wanting to do this for so long and I love the way his hand kind of flicks out and it has the web. So, having him sort of float above New York City, a place I used to live for many many years — like 25 years — and to be able to make the pop-up of New York and have Spidey at the top like that, that’s-
PI: Iconic.
MR: Iconic. It’s a —Yeah, it’s a good job. It’s a good job.
PI: The interactive elements and surprise moments in all of your pop-up books are delightful, from mask-switching moments to “pull me” levers that tell a story in seconds. Can you tell us more about the role the element of surprise plays in the creation of the Marvel pop-up book and other pop-up books you’ve worked on?
MR: With all superheroes, Marvel heroes, you’re always surprised about when they’re able to change their identities or able to power up. Then you have characters like the Fantastic Four who all transform into other things. So I wanted that moment in this. It’s fun, it’s a surprise, and I used to have pop-ups when I was a kid and they were kind of eh. So, if an adult is gonna get this, they want to be surprised. Kids want to be surprised. I want to be surprised. I’m completely jaded about pop-up books, so I want it to be exciting. It’s really important for me to make something that’s special. Like, [the Avengers spread] was super hard [points to The Avengers spread] cause there are like four miniature pop-ups that are happening all at once.
PI: What about other pop-ups that you’ve made? I know that we’ve covered the Stranger Things pop-up that you did. We included it in the must-have merch section of our Holiday Gift Guide.
MR: So that book is one where I worked with another paper engineer and sort of art directed. Similar to this pop-up book, we worked together and figured out what we were going to make. What’s, like the big, iconic thing? What do you want to see? When working on that Stranger Things book, you want that Demogorgon, and you want that thing huge. Like, big enough to put your face in if you wanted to. That’s what we try to do with all these different books, is find the big exciting thing. What do you wanna be surprised with? What do you wanna see in 3D? But it’s the same exact process, the first thing is figuring out how all these pieces go together and cutting and folding paper. Literally, in my studio, that’s what I’m doing. It’s not a computer program, it’s me, you know, cutting and folding. It’s like craft class.
PI: This is the latest in a long list of pop culture pop-up books you’ve worked on. What, if anything, stood apart for this Marvel book?
MR: I was lucky enough for this popup, to be able to like, use as many different characters as possible. I think this one was really hard tearing down the characters. Cause like-
PI: Yeah, it’s the Marvel universe.
MR: It’s, it’s insane. So there were a lot of characters that I couldn’t necessarily jam in there. But, you know, you do the best you can. So there was such a wealth of content that — I think for this book that was different than the other ones. Although I’ve done Star Wars, even Star Wars is limited compared to the Marvel Universe.
PI: Thinking back across your pop culture pop-up books, what are some of your all-time favorite spreads or designs?
MR: Overall, okay, so I have a thing. Star Wars is my thing. I did a Star Wars book back in 2007, that was like a regional trilogy and there’s a Darth Vader pop in that, that is just the mask and when it opens up you can sort of see Anakin for a few seconds, and then it goes up over space. I also love Transformers and I did a Transformers pop, where the pop-ups actually are 3D and transform. Those were great. But, like, the Spider-Man pop? That was one that was really fantastic to finally execute, and Galactus is actually pretty fabulous as it gets really tall. I feel like in every book I do, there’s always something in it that I think is cool. Even if it’s a simple one.
PI: What, in your opinion, is the appeal of licensed pop-up books for fans?
MR: They’re for older collectors, there is something that takes you back to when they were young and it’s something that you had, and it’s surprising. It just sounds cheesy, but, like, there’s this magic that happens. I know it sounds weird, but something that you don’t know occurs, like on the page. It was flat, then it becomes this thing. So I think there’s that. There are so many different collectibles that people get usually at these events, but there’s something about pop-up books.
PI: What is something most fans wouldn’t know about the making of pop-up books?
MR: Depending on how complicated the book is, it can take up to a year to make a book like this. It’s a long process of going back and forth, but it is a handmade piece of art. Like when you get one, I designed the original by hand and then assembled it. We do use computers to do some of the guidelines, which are like, kind of outline. But it all starts as a handmade craft. So maybe that.
PI: Any advice for people who want to create pop-up books?
MR: Well, there’s a lot. Practice like crazy. On my YouTube channel, I do like a pop-up master class so I can teach you the basics of how to do it. There are all kinds of templates on there. But it’s really about cutting and folding paper and seeing how it works. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes. I think that young people always think that they’re gonna understand it from watching a couple of demos on YouTube. And you’ll learn a little but, like, you gotta practice. Make a lot of mistakes, but just stick to it, you know? Stick to it and keep trying and keep figuring it out. I make mistakes all the time. My studio is filled with mistakes. Well, the recycling can is filled with mistakes.
Marvel Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book is available to preorder at the links below, and will hit shelves on Nov. 15.
