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
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. 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. In 1961, writer-editor Stan Lee revolutionized superhero comics by introducing superheroes designed to appeal to older readers than the predominantly child audiences of the medium. Modern Marvel's first superhero team, the titular