What The--?! works that spoof some of their all-time greatest successes. For example, in issue #2, Byrne creates a tale pitting his work on the Fantastic Four franchise against his work with Superman. The issue goes so far as to have the Lex Luthor character complain about the changes Byrne made to the Superman legend after DC Comics' "Crisis on Infinite Earths". Though it carried the Marvel Comics label on the front left corner, "What The--?!" touted itself as being published by "Marble Comics". "What The--?!" parodied Marvel institutions such as the legendary Marvel Comics fan mail page, with staged articles called
Superhero comics characters including the Anti-Hero Spawn which were predominantly creator owned as opposed to Marvel and DC's which were corporate owned. The Comic Book Mini Series Kingdom Come brought an end to the popularity of the Anti-Hero and encouraged instead a reconstruction of the genre with superhero characters that endeavored to combine artistic and literary sophistication with idealism Superhero comics Superhero comics are one of the most common genres of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Superhero comics feature