History of Marvel Comics


Marvel Comics

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This article is about the comic book company using this name beginning in 1961. For the earlier comic book series, see Marvel Mystery Comics.
Marvel Comics
Parent company Marvel Entertainment, LLC
(The Walt Disney Company)
Status Active
Founded October 1939; 76 years ago(as Timely Comics)
Country of origin United States
Headquarters location 135 W. 50th Street, New York City
Key people
  • Axel Alonso (EIC)
  • Dan Buckley (publisher, COO)
  • Stan Lee (former EIC, publisher)
Publication types Comics/See List of Marvel Comics publications
Fiction genres Crime, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction, war, Western
Imprints imprint list
Official website Official website


Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications, and by the early 1950s had generally become known as Atlas Comics. Marvel’s modern incarnation dates from 1961, the year that the company launched The Fantastic Fourand other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others.

Marvel counts among its characters such well-known superheroes as Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Thor, Hulk, Deadpool and Ant-Man, such teams as the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, theFantastic Four, the Inhumans and the X-Men, and antagonists such as Doctor Doom, The Enchantress, Green Goblin, Ultron, Doctor Octopus, Thanos, Magneto and Loki. Most of Marvel’s fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe, with locations that mirror real-life cities. Characters such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Daredevil and Doctor Strange are based in New York City,[1][2]whereas the X-Men have historically been based in Salem Center, New York[3][4][5] and Hulk’s stories often have been set in the American Southwest.[6]



Timely Publications[edit]

Main article: Timely Comics


Martin Goodman founded the company later known as Marvel Comics under the name Timely Publications in 1939.[7][8] Martin Goodman, a pulp magazine publisher who had started with a Western pulp in 1933, was expanding into the emerging—and by then already highly popular—new medium of comic books. Launching his new line from his existing company’s offices at 330 West 42nd Street, New York City, he officially held the titles of editor, managing editor, and business manager, with Abraham Goodman officially listed as publisher.[8]

Timely’s first publication, Marvel Comics #1 (cover dated Oct. 1939), included the first appearance of Carl Burgos’ android superhero the Human Torch, and the first appearances of Bill Everett’s anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner,[9] among other features.[7] The issue was a great success, with it and a second printing the following month selling, combined, nearly 900,000 copies.[10] While its contents came from an outside packager, Funnies, Inc.,[7] Timely had its own staff in place by the following year. The company’s first true editor, writer-artist Joe Simon, teamed with artist and emerging industry notable Jack Kirby to create one of the first patriotically themed superheroes,[11] Captain America, in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). It, too, proved a hit, with sales of nearly one million.[10] Goodman formed Timely Comics, Inc., beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941.[12][13]

While no other Timely character would achieve the success of these “big three”, some notable heroes—many of which continue to appear in modern-day retcon appearances and flashbacks—include the Whizzer, Miss America, the Destroyer, the original Vision, and the Angel. Timely also published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton’s best-known features, “Powerhouse Pepper”,[14][15] as well as a line of children’s funny-animal comics featuring popular characters like Super Rabbit and the duo Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal.

Goodman hired his wife’s cousin,[16] Stanley Lieber, as a general office assistant in 1939.[17] When editor Simon left the company in late 1941,[18] Goodman made Lieber—by then writing pseudonymously as “Stan Lee”—interim editor of the comics line, a position Lee kept for decades except for three years during his military service in World War II. Lee wrote extensively for Timely, contributing to a number of different titles.

Goodman’s business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of corporations all operating out of the same office and with the same staff.[13] One of these shell companiesthrough which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55 (May 1944). As well, some comics’ covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12 (Winter 1946–47), were labeled “A Marvel Magazine” many years before Goodman would formally adopt the name in 1961.[19]

Atlas Comics[edit]

Main article: Atlas Comics (1950s)

The post-war American comic market saw superheroes falling out of fashion.[20] Goodman’s comic book line dropped them for the most part and expanded into a wider variety of genres than even Timely had published, featuring horror, Westerns, humor, funny animal, men’s adventure-drama, giant monster, crime, and war comics, and later adding jungle books, romance titles, espionage, and even medieval adventure, Bible stories and sports.

Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company, the newsstand-distribution company he owned,[21] on comics cover-dated November 1951 even though another company, Kable News, continued to distribute his comics through the August 1952 issues.[22] This globe branding united a line put out by the same publisher, staff and freelancers through 59 shell companies, from Animirth Comics to Zenith Publications.[23]

Atlas, rather than innovate, took a proven route of following popular trends in television and movies—Westerns and war dramas prevailing for a time, drive-in movie monsters another time—and even other comic books, particularly the EC horror line.[24] Atlas also published a plethora of children’s and teen humor titles, including Dan DeCarlo’s Homer the Happy Ghost (à la Casper the Friendly Ghost) and Homer Hooper (à la Archie Andrews). Atlas unsuccessfully attempted to revive superheroes from late 1953 to mid-1954, with the Human Torch (art by Syd Shores and Dick Ayers, variously), the Sub-Mariner (drawn and most stories written by Bill Everett), and Captain America (writer Stan Lee, artist John Romita Sr.). Atlas did not achieve any breakout hits and, according to Stan Lee, Atlas survived chiefly because it produced work quickly, cheaply, and at a passable quality.[25]


Marvel Comics[edit]

The first modern comic books under the Marvel Comics brand were the science-fiction anthology Journey into Mystery #69 and the teen-humor title Patsy Walker #95 (both cover dated June 1961), which each displayed an “MC” box on its cover.[26] Then, in the wake of DC Comics’ success in reviving superheroes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly with the Flash, Green Lantern, and other members of the team the Justice League of America, Marvel followed suit.[n 1]

In 1961, writer-editor Stan Lee revolutionized superhero comics by introducing superheroes designed to appeal to more all-ages readers than the predominantly child audiences of the medium. Modern Marvel’s first superhero team, the titular stars of The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961),[27] broke convention with other comic book archetypes of the time by squabbling, holding grudges both deep and petty, and eschewing anonymity or secret identities in favor of celebrity status. Subsequently, Marvel comics developed a reputation for focusing on characterization and adult issues to a greater extent than most superhero comics before them, a quality which the new generation of older readers appreciated.[28] This applied to The Amazing Spider-Man title in particular, which turned out to be Marvel’s most successful book. Its young hero suffered from self-doubt and mundane problems like any other teenager, something with which readers could identify.

Lee and freelance artist and eventual co-plotter Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four originated in a Cold War culture that led their creators to revise the superhero conventions of previous eras to better reflect the psychological spirit of their age.[29] Eschewing such comic-book tropes as secret identities and even costumes at first, having a monster as one of the heroes, and having its characters bicker and complain in what was later called a “superheroes in the real world” approach, the series represented a change that proved to be a great success.[30]


Comics historian Mike Benton also noted:

In the world of [rival DC Comics’] Superman comic books, communism did not exist. Superman rarely crossed national borders or involved himself in political disputes.[31] From 1962 to 1965, there were more communists [in Marvel Comics] than on the subscription list of Pravda. Communist agents attack Ant-Man in his laboratory, red henchmen jump the Fantastic Four on the moon, and Viet Cong guerrillas take potshots at Iron Man.[32]

All of these elements struck a chord with the older readers, such as college-aged adults, and they successfully gained in a way not seen before. In 1965, Spider-Man and the Hulk were both featured in Esquire magazine’s list of 28 college campus heroes, alongsideJohn F. Kennedy and Bob Dylan.[33] In 2009 writer Geoff Boucher reflected that, “Superman and DC Comics instantly seemed like boring old Pat Boone; Marvel felt like The Beatles and the British Invasion. It was Kirby’s artwork with its tension and psychedelia that made it perfect for the times—or was it Lee’s bravado and melodrama, which was somehow insecure and brash at the same time?”[34]


Marvel even lampooned itself and other comics companies in a parody comic, Not Brand Echh (a play on Marvel’s dubbing of other companies as “Brand Echh”, à la the then-common phrase “Brand X”).[35]


Cadence Industries ownership[edit]

In 1968, while selling 50 million comic books a year, company founder Goodman revised the constraining distribution arrangement with Independent News he had reached under duress during the Atlas years, allowing him now to release as many titles as demand warranted.[21] Late that year he sold Marvel Comics and his other publishing businesses to the Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation, which continued to group them as the subsidiaryMagazine Management Company, with Goodman remaining as publisher.[36] In 1969, Goodman finally ended his distribution deal with Independent by signing with Curtis Circulation Company.[21]

In 1971, the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee to do a comic book story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. However, the industry’s self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority, refused to approve the story because of the presence of narcotics, deeming the context of the story irrelevant. Lee, with Goodman’s approval, published the story regardless in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 (May–July 1971), without the Comics Code seal. The market reacted well to the storyline, and the CCA subsequently revised the Code the same year.[37]


Goodman retired as publisher in 1972 and installed his son, Chip, as publisher,[38] Shortly thereafter, Lee succeeded him as publisher and also became Marvel’s president[38] for a brief time.[39] During his time as president, he appointed as editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, who added “Stan Lee Presents” to the opening page of each comic book.[38]

A series of new editors-in-chief oversaw the company during another slow time for the industry. Once again, Marvel attempted to diversify, and with the updating of the Comics Code achieved moderate to strong success with titles themed to horror (The Tomb of Dracula), martial arts, (Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu), sword-and-sorcery (Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja), satire (Howard the Duck) and science fiction (2001: A Space Odyssey, “Killraven” in Amazing Adventures, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and, late in the decade, the long-runningStar Wars series). Some of these were published in larger-format black and white magazines, under its Curtis Magazines imprint. Marvel was able to capitalize on its successful superhero comics of the previous decade by acquiring a new newsstand distributor and greatly expanding its comics line. Marvel pulled ahead of rival DC Comics in 1972, during a time when the price and format of the standard newsstand comic were in flux.[40] Goodman increased the price and size of Marvel’s November 1971 cover-dated comics from 15 cents for 36 pages total to 25 cents for 52 pages. DC followed suit, but Marvel the following month dropped its comics to 20 cents for 36 pages, offering a lower-priced product with a higher distributor discount.[41]

Goodman, now disconnected from Marvel, set up a new company called Seaboard Periodicals in 1974, reviving Marvel’s old Atlas name for a new Atlas Comics line, but this lasted only a year and a half.[42] In the mid-1970s a decline of the newsstand distribution network affected Marvel. Cult hits such as Howard the Duck fell victim to the distribution problems, with some titles reporting low sales when in fact the first specialty comic book stores resold them at a later date.[citation needed] But by the end of the decade, Marvel’s fortunes were reviving, thanks to the rise of direct market distribution—selling through those same comics-specialty stores instead of newsstands.

Marvel held its own comic book convention, Marvelcon ’75, in spring 1975, and promised a Marvelcon ’76. At the 1975 event, Stan Lee used a Fantastic Four panel discussion to announce that Jack Kirby, the artist co-creator of most of Marvel’s signature characters, was returning to Marvel after having left in 1970 to work for rival DC Comics.[43] In October 1976, Marvel, which already licensed reprints in different countries, including the UK, created a superhero specifically for the British market. Captain Britain debuted exclusively in the UK, and later appeared in American comics.[44]

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars#1 (May 1984). Cover art by Mike Zeck.[45]

In 1978, Jim Shooter became Marvel’s editor-in-chief. Although a controversial personality, Shooter cured many of the procedural ills at Marvel, including repeatedly missed deadlines. During Shooter’s nine-year tenure as editor-in-chief, Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s run on the Uncanny X-Men and Frank Miller’s run on Daredevil became critical and commercial successes.[46] Shooter brought Marvel into the rapidly evolving direct market,[47] institutionalized creator royalties, starting with the Epic Comics imprint for creator-owned material in 1982; introduced company-wide crossover story arcs with Contest of Champions and Secret Wars; and in 1986 launched the ultimately unsuccessful New Universe line to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Marvel Comics imprint. Star Comics, a children-oriented line differing from the regular Marvel titles, was briefly successful during this period.

Despite Marvel’s successes in the early 1980s, it lost ground to rival DC in the latter half of the decade as many former Marvel stars defected to the competitor. DC scored critical and sales victories[48] with titles and limited series such as Watchmen, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Byrne’s revamp of Superman, and Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing.

Marvel Entertainment Group ownership[edit]

In 1986, Marvel’s parent, Marvel Entertainment Group, was sold to New World Entertainment, which within three years sold it to MacAndrews and Forbes, owned by Revlon executive Ronald Perelman.

Spider-Man #1, later renamed “Peter Parker: Spider-Man” (August 1990; second printing). Cover art byTodd McFarlane.

Marvel earned a great deal of money and recognition during the comic book boom of the early 1990s, launching the successful 2099 line of comics set in the future (Spider-Man 2099, etc.) and the creatively daring though commercially unsuccessful Razorline imprint of superhero comics created by novelist and filmmaker Clive Barker.[49][50] In 1990, Marvel began selling Marvel Universe Cards with trading card maker SkyBox International. These were collectible trading cards that featured the characters and events of the Marvel Universe. The 1990s saw the rise of variant covers, cover enhancements, swimsuit issues, and company-wide crossovers that affected the overall continuity of the fictional Marvel Universe


In 1996, Marvel had some of its titles participate in “Heroes Reborn”, a crossover that allowed Marvel to relaunch some of its flagship characters such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, and outsource them to the studios of two of the former Marvel artists turned Image Comics founders, Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. The relaunched titles, which saw the characters transported to a parallel universe with a history distinct from the mainstream Marvel Universe, were a solid success amidst a generally struggling industry,[52] but Marvel discontinued the experiment after a one-year run and returned the characters to the Marvel Universe proper. In 1998, the company launched the imprint Marvel Knights, taking place within Marvel continuity; helmed by soon-to-become editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, it featured tough, gritty stories showcasing such characters as the Inhumans, Black Panther and Daredevil.

Marvel’s logo, circa 1990s

In late 1994, Marvel acquired the comic book distributor Heroes World Distribution to use as its own exclusive distributor.[53] As the industry’s other major publishers made exclusive distribution deals with other companies, the ripple effect resulted in the survival of only one other major distributor in North America, Diamond Comic Distributors Inc.[54][55] In early 1997, when Marvel’s Heroes World endeavor failed, Diamond also forged an exclusive deal with Marvel[56]—giving the company its own section of its comics catalog Previews.[57]

In 1991 Ronald Perelman, whose company, Andrews Group, had purchased Marvel Comic’s Parent corporation, Marvel Entertainment Group (MEG) in 1989, took the company public. Following the rapid rise of this stock, Perelman issued a series of junk bonds that he used to acquire other entertainment companies, secured by MEG stock. Then, by the middle of the decade, the industry had slumped, and in December 1996 Marvel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[58]

Marvel Enterprises[edit]

In 1997, Toy Biz and MEG merged to end the bankruptcy, forming a new corporation, Marvel Enterprises.[58] With his business partner Avi Arad, publisher Bill Jemas, and editor-in-chief Bob Harras, Toy Biz co-owner Isaac Perlmutter helped stabilize the comics line.[59]



In a cross-promotion, the November 1, 2006, episode of the CBS soap opera The Guiding Light, titled “She’s a Marvel”, featured the character Harley Davidson Cooper (played by Beth Ehlers) as a superheroine named the Guiding Light.[61] The character’s story continued in an eight-page backup feature, “A New Light”, that appeared in several Marvel titles published November 1 and 8.[62] Also that year, Marvel created a wiki on its Web site.[63]


In 2009 Marvel Comics closed its Open Submissions Policy, in which the company had accepted unsolicited samples from aspiring comic book artists, saying the time-consuming review process had produced no suitably professional work.[65] The same year, the company commemorated its 70th anniversary, dating to its inception as Timely Comics, by issuing the one-shot Marvel Mystery Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 and a variety of other special issues.[66][67]

Disney conglomerate unit[edit]

Writers of Marvel titles in the 2010s include (seated left to right) Ed Brubaker, Christos Gage, Matt Fractionand Brian Michael Bendis.

On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Marvel Comics’ parent corporation, Marvel Entertainment, for $4 billion[68] or $4.2 billion,[69] with Marvel shareholders to receive $30 and 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they own.[68] As of 2008, Marvel and its major, longtime competitor DC Comics shared over 80% of the American comic-book market.[70] As of September 2010, Marvel switched its bookstores distribution company from Diamond Book Distributors to Hachette Distribution Services.[71]

Marvel relaunched the CrossGen imprint, owned by Disney Publishing Worldwide, in March 2011.[72] Marvel and Disney Publishing began jointly publishing Disney/Pixar Presents magazine that May.[73]

Marvel discontinued its Marvel Adventures imprint in March 2012,[74] and replaced them with a line of two titles connected to the Marvel Universe TV block.[75] Also in March, Marvel announced its Marvel ReEvolution initiative that included Infinite Comics,[76] a line of digital comics, Marvel AR, an application software that provides an augmented reality experience to readers and Marvel NOW!, a relaunch of most of the company’s major titles with different creative teams.[77][78] Marvel NOW! also saw the debut of new flagship titles including Uncanny Avengers and All-New X-Men.[79]

In April 2013, Marvel and other Disney conglomerate components began announcing joint projects. With ABC, a Once Upon a Time graphic novel was announced for publication in September.[80] With Disney, Marvel announced in October 2013 that in January 2014 it would release its first title under their joint “Disney Kingdoms” imprint “Seekers of the Weird”, a five-issue miniseries.[69] On January 3, 2014, fellow Disney subsidiaryLucasfilm Limited, LLC announced that as of 2015, Star Wars comics would once again be published by Marvel.[81]

Following the events of the company-wide crossover Secret Wars in 2015, a relaunched Marvel universe is scheduled to begin in September 2015.[82]