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.
Darkhawk is a Marvel character who first appeared in his own series, Darkhawk #1 (March 1991), and was officially created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Mike Manley. The character appeared in a series of self-titled comics from 1991-1995, then in several limited series and events since in the years since. There's been a threat […]
You may have read a bunch of Empyre spoilers yesterday. But none of them touch this week's Empyre #0: Fantastic Four by Dan Slott and RB Silva. Which has a very different take on events. We looked at this a few months ago, but with the comic book in question out this week, here's a […]
So, you're probably aware of Marvel's early 1990s comic efforts to bolster their sales by any means necessary. And you're fully aware that summer is in full swing…put the two together and what do you get? That's right – The Marvel Swimsuit Specials. Now, I won't deny that at face value they are "mature" art […]
There are comic book series almost every comic fan knows, there are comic book characters that most everyone knows, there are specific comic books most every comic reader knows, and then there are the more obscure issues that slip through the cracks. What makes obscure comics so interesting and vital is discovering those books that […]
There are comic book series almost every comic fan knows, there are comic book characters that most everyone knows, there are specific comic books most every comic reader knows, and then there are the more obscure issues that slip through the cracks. What makes obscure comics so interesting and vital is discovering those books that […]
Welcome to the fourth Comics & Complication series. The first dealt with the concept of heroism and The Nail, the second looked into anger and World War Hulk, and the third is about comics as propaganda for social change. The Comics Code Authority, or CCA, was formed in the early 1950s to allow comic publishers […]
There has been much mock, none more so from Bleeding Cool's own Jude Terror over the upcoming Empyre event comic from Marvel. Mostly around the spelling. Despite a bump in post-shutdown orders, numbers on Empyre are relatively low as, it seems, some folk are just not sure what's going down, and if they'll like it. […]
We looked at an earlier planned Hamilton stage play adapted comic book by Brent Schoovener. It's not the first time Hamilton has made it into comics, Marvel's Deadpool V Gambit by Ben Acker, Ben Blacker and Danilo Beyruth featured an unofficial appearance, although again there were issues with licensing rights, and Lin Manuel Miranda's face […]
It's a sign, to some degree, that the grinding of the machine is beginning to return to normal. Comic books sell, sell well, sell out, and a second printing can be part of the planned promotional process as well, sometimes using the same guts of a comic book as created for the first printing, set […]
Back in May, Bleeding Cool looked at American talk show host and conservative political commentator Sean Hannity's tendency to wear a Punisher Stars And Stripes lapel pin on Fox News. Featuring the flag of the USA laid over the symbol of Marvel Comics vigilante serial killer, The Punisher. But it's not the only one he […]
Empyre #1 launches next week. With the Kree and Skrulls united behind one leader, the Kree/Skrull hybrid Hulkling (son of the original Captain Marvel) and on their way to fight the Cotati on Earth's Blue Area of the Moon, there is a lot of Marvel history that lead here, A LOT. Going all the way […]
The Ruins Of Ravencroft mini-series span out of the Absolute Carnage event, the location for the symbiotic takeover and summoning of the great of Knull to Earth, by Cletus Kasady and the Carnage symbiote, and all its children. Ravencroft was destroyed, the mini-series has excavated its history, rewriting the Marvel Universe and inserting Knull into […]
Jesse Schedeen at IGN has the PR-arranged announcement that Marvel Comics has acquired the licenses to create and publish comic books based on the movies Alien and Predator. These licenses have been held by Dark Horse Comics for thirty years but – with Fox now owned by Disney, it was only a matter of time. […]
Kieron Gillen has been talking (lots) about picking up the Warhammer… hammer at Marvel Comics, a new comic book line based on the RPG from Games Workshop, of which he has talked a lot in the pub and occasionally brought along painted figures. On his newsletter, he revealed it was the real name for his […]
Every week your Local Comic Book Shop, hopefully, gets in a weekly assortment of comics, trades, posters, action figures, and other goodies from Diamond. Now some of these goodies sell out fast from your LCBS, so Tuesday and Wednesday LCBS retailers get on the phone (more often the computer) and let Diamond know they need more. Or […]
We have previews of Empyre #2. Including what appears to be a scene of Hulking thrusting his Emperor Sword straight through Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, while everyone seems to be threatened by branches. Remember our article about the danger of big speeches, a week ago? It also sees the trinity of Thor, Iron Man and […]
Last week, Bleeding Cool ran some gossip about upcoming plans from Marvel Comics for 2020/2021. We mentioned that some comic book creative teams had not chosen to be part of the Empyre event, as many were "keeping their powder dry for the Big Knull Super Event, the cosmic sequel to Absolute Carnage led by Donny Cates and Jason Aaron for 2021 […]
Greetings from the coal face of the direct comics market, the advance reorders chart. Where retailers try to increase their orders of certain comics ahead of sale. Where supply and demand and most accurately reflected, where you can see which books are hot, where new orders are coming in and how retailers are reacting to […]
Marvel has become over the years the House of Events, more than the House of Ideas that it once claimed to be. There are usually at least four to five Event Crossovers (series that are significant "event storylines" that are separate from regular ongoings and serve as the "backbone" of the story, which then has […]
In the upcoming Wolverine #3, as the monthly series part of the Dawn Of X comic book from Ben Percy and Adam Kubert returns to publication in July, it might be worth keeping an eye on where this series is going. With Wolverine trying to fit into the whole Krakoa way of things, as a […]
