Marvel Comics Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide's parent company. Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications, and by the early 1950s, had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel branding began in 1961, the year that the company launched "The Fantastic Four" and other superhero titles created by Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and many others. Marvel counts among its characters such
Superhero comics the "Captain America" story arc of the superhero's political disillusionment by Steve Englehart. This was eventually supplanted by more sophisticated character driven titles of "The Uncanny X-Men" by Chris Claremont and John Byrne for Marvel and "The New Teen Titans" by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez for DC. Anti-Hero becomes popular with appearances of the Punisher, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and a 1980s revival of Daredevil by Frank Miller. Superhero Comics became darker with the release of landmark deconstructive works such as "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight Returns", which led to many imitations. In the 1990s, Image Comics released successful new