Marvel Comics was started by pulp publisher Martin Goodman in 1939 with the anthology comic book title Marvel Comics (which was changed to Marvel Mystery Comics with issue #2). During the golden age of comics, the publisher developed a popular core of characters including Captain America, Bucky, Human Torch, Submariner, Miss America, Golden Girl, Red Skull, and many others by creators such as Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Bill Everett, Stan Lee, and others.
Goodman used a number of corporate brands for Marvel throughout his tenure, including Timely Publications, Atlas Comics.
During the years following World War II, like many comic book publishers, the company transitioned to horror, crime, romance, and western titles among others. Marvel titles from this era include Journey into Mystery, Marvel Tales, Strange Tales, Venus, and countless others.
But the 1961 debut of The Fantastic Four signalled the start of the Marvel Universe we're familiar with today. Characters and teams such as Hulk, Ant Man, Wasp, Avengers, X-Men and more by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita, and others became the foundational characters which Marvel has expanded upon since that time.
In 1968, a company called Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation acquired Marvel from founder Martin Goodman. Marvel was acquired by film and media company New World Entertainment in 1986. New World sold the publisher to Ronald Perelman in 1989, who took the company public.
After riding high on a booming comics market and trading cards and other merchandise through the next few years, but its fortunes quickly turned with a slumping industry and other factors, and Marvel filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 1996.
Toy Biz, headed by Avi Arad and Isaac Perlmutter, acquired Marvel the next year, ending the bankruptcy. In 2004, Marvel Studios' acquired funding from Merrill Lynch to self-finance its own films, and with the 2008 debut of Iron Man, the company's rise to prominence in both the American and global film industry began. The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment on December 31, 2009, for $4 Billion.
There are a lot of Marvel Comics solicitations changes coming down the pipe. Some see comic book creators get a helping hand with schedules. Others occur for more creative reasons. And others happen because of solicitation mistakes. And you get to decide which is which. Though a quite exciting one for The Union #1, which […]
All the Local Comic Shop Day variants so far. Marco Davanzo, Executive Director of ComicsPRO – the organization that runs Local Comic Shop Day – says the goal is still the same, "To get comic fans into their local shop for the holidays. To celebrate the local comic shop" But Local Comic Shop Day 2020 […]
This is the Top Ten Bleeding Cool Bestseller List, as compiled by a number of comic stores from their sales on Wednesday and Thursday. It measures what are known as the "Wednesday Warriors", those who can't wait till the weekend to get this week's comics. Though thanks to DC, Tuesday Titans too. And this week, […]
In Guardians Of The Galaxy #7, it's a new day in the farthest reaches of the universe as all the great spaceborne empires come together in their own Paris Peace Conference to ratify guidelines and come to a common understanding. Because this is the Marvel universe, of course, that means some brand of shenanigans are […]
I checked this out last week and Runaways #32, solicited before lockdown, is still on the Marvel Comics schedules, for February 2021. Well, Marvel has decided to bring things forward a lot sharpish. The long-awaited Runaways #32 is bring brought right back onto the schedules for next Wednesday, the 28th of October. No time for […]
We are looking at January now but back in July, Marvel Comics announced it had the Aliens and Predator licences from Disney-purchased Fox, after decades at Dark Horse. We might get to see what Marvel will be doing with them later in 2021. But for now, Marvel is running a bunch of Marvel Vs Aliens […]
This is the listing from Marvel's January 2021 solicitations (to be published in May), for The Complete Kirby War & Romance books, with the bookstore cover and the direct market exclusive variant, celebrating the non-superhero work of Jack Kirby that was his staple for much of the nineteen fifties, especially war and romance comic books […]
For the longest time, Brett Booth – artist on Titans, Teen Titans, Flash, Nightwing, Flash Forward and Justice League at DC Comics – has been wanting to work for Marvel again. With a little X-Men under his belt, I understand that Marvel editorial thought his art style was too old fashioned, too "nineties" and associated […]
No more Frankensteining – here are the full Marvel January 2021 solicitations for Marvel Comics. And there are still plenty of surprises. As King In Black gets well underway… VENOM #32 DONNY CATES (W) • IBAN COELLO (A/C) VARIANT COVER BY RYAN STEGMAN SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY RYAN STEGMAN MARVEL VS ALIEN VARIANT COVER BY […]
King in Black: Return of the Valkyries #1 is one of the many King In Black titles coming in December and January – you can see a checklist of them here. Marvel has now revealed Phil Noto's designs for a new Valkyrie, one of the host of deities who defend Asgard on their winged steeds, […]
So in Amazing Spider-Man, Norman Osborn has gone through an Axis-style reversal of personality. And confirming the final-page reveal of Amazing Spider-Man #50, regarding just who Kindred really is. It remained Bleeding Cool's contention that this is the pre-One More Day version of Harry Osborn, sent to hell when he died after becoming the Green […]
Today's Guardians Of The Galaxy is a post-Empyre diplomatic mission, with politics, conferences, betrayals, threats, allegiances, and treaties from all manner of prominent Marvel Universe species, some you'll remember, some you'll go "oh I remember them from the eighties". If you were alive in the eighties. Because this comic book may also appeal to those […]
What with all the signs of The Reckoning War upon us in Fantastic Four – especially today's Fantastic Four #25 (spoilers) – it might make sense to revisit Dan Slott's run on She-Hulk which included many Reckoning War references. Well. intriguingly, Amazon has listed the upcoming hardcover oversized Omnibus volume at a full 60% off […]
As Bleeding Cool may have mentioned before, twenty-or-so-years ago, Dan Slott used to drop something into a number of his comic books at Marvel about something he would call The Reckoning War. A storyline that would upend the future of the Marvel Universe, centred on She-Hulk but involving The Watcher, the Fantastic Four, Gauntlet, Iron Man, Southpaw and […]
Well, Dan Slott and Marvel Comics did promise "And a new, major, permanent status quo change for Marvel's First Family" after Empyre, in Fantastic Four #25. And not just about a potential revival of the Reckoning War (we'll get to that). Today's Fantastic Four #25 sees a major cosmic battle take place on Earth, between […]
Sometimes I look at American writers writing Captain Britain and Excalibur comic books for Marvel and I feel a little like, well, a little like Brian Braddock in today's Excalibur #13. Pure xenophobia on my part, I know. I'm always going to want the likes of Dave Thorpe, Alan Davis, Alan Moore, Jamie Delano, Kieron […]
Some of today's Marvel Comics feature a full checklist for The King In Black event. And while some crossover events state that you don't have to buy every tie-in to enjoy the experience, The King In Black appears to have been learning from X OF Swords and is demanding the opposite. So that's you told. […]
It's Declan Shalvey time, it seems. Now, there certainly seems to be an awful lot of Hulk around at the moment from Marvel Comics. Immortal Hulk, Maestro, Immortal She-Hulk and yet another Immortal Hulk mini-series. Still no movie though. And now in January, Declan Shalvey is adding another, writing a new Immortal Hulk one-shot, Flatline. […]
As the Bleeding Cool Bestseller List recorded every month, the Maestro series by Peter David and Dale Keown, a followup to their Hulk: Future Imperfect series from around thirty years ago, was a smash hit for Marvel Comics, outselling Immortal Hulk – and at a higher price point too. Well, in January, Peter David gets […]
Marvel Comics announced that in January, writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Minkyu Jung will end their run on the Magnificent Ms Marvel comic book with an oversized finale issue #18. Marvel generally doesn't announce final issues, they just allow readers to notice that a book has gone missing from its future solicitations. So there is […]
