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.
Hero Collector, like last month, is early off the blocks for April 2021 solicitations through Diamond Comic Distributors. With a bunch of DC Comics hardcover graphic novels and Marvel Movie figurines. #145 – Aquaman: Time and Tide RRP: €16.99/£11.99 (not US available) SKU: DCGUK145, Barcode: 977205437358445 Format: Hardcover; Print Spec: 175 x 260mm Author(s): Peter David […]
DC Comics has issues details of the comic books that will be made available for retailer exclusive covers for April 2020. To get an exclusive retailer cover from Marvel or DC, shops, shows or creators have to order a minimum of 3000 copies, with subsequent variants of the variant at 1500 and 1000. They pay […]
After the insane success of The Amazing Spider-Man #55 cover by Patrick Gleason – which has led to a second printing that far outstripped orders for the first printing – he will be doing a similarly-styled cover for the new anthology series Carnage: Red, White, & Blood #1 for March. And now we know the […]
Rorschach is the latest unauthorised sequel to Watchmen, by Tom King and Jorge Fornes, published by DC Comics. In the first issue of the series, we heard a cassette tape based on a real-life seance event, with Frank Miller, Otto Binder and Randy Cox – with the addition of a fictional Wil Myerson. In Rorschach, […]
There is a long-honored trope in fiction about "the man on the wall," one charged with the defense of all that matters who has to make impossible choices and do unthinkable things, in S.W.O.R.D. #2, the mutant nation of Krakoa has decided that they want Abigail Brand as that person, heading a complex and potentially […]
One of the challenges with the newly canonical comic books is the need to balance the menace and mastery of Darth Vader against the desire to deepen his sense of loss and, in some ways, justify his failures. Star Wars: Darth Vader #9 is one of the rare ones that perfectly balances the struggle between […]
For comic book publishers like, Marvel, trying to get comics out of the door and on time – or not as late as they will otherwise be – there are a number of tactics. In these current time of trials, there is a lot less negotiation that can be done as reality has a tendency […]
After the insane success of The Amazing Spider-Man #55 cover by Patrick Gleason – which has led to a second printing that far outstripped orders for the first printing – he will be doing a similarly-styled cover for the new anthology series Carnage: Red, White, & Blood #1 for March. And also naming what these […]
Plenty of comics getting second, third and even fifth printings, Phantom Starkiller from Scout Comics, Ha Ha from Image, Gwenom Vs Carnage and Amazing Spider-Man from Marvel, I Walk With Monsters from Vault and lots for Seven Secrets from Boom. Covers where we have them… PHANTOM STARKILLER #1 3RD PTG DEC208153 SCOUT COMICS (W) Peter […]
I remember when people used to joke about Darkhawk being revived. But now it's happening. In a trademark-preserving 30th anniversary special, Marvel Comics will be publishing the Darkhawk: Heart Of The Hawk one-shot in April, with three stories including the character's creators, Danny Fingeroth and Mike Manley. And they are suggesting that the one-shot will lead […]
Neal Kirby, the son of comics legend Jack Kirby, has issued a statement in response to insurrectionists who stormed the United States Capitol last week in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election, after being egged by President Donald Trump and his circus sideshow of an inner circle last […]
Okay, this is one of those things that looks like it costs a lot of money… and really does. A copy of the first appearance of Spider-Man, in Amazing Fantasy #15, signed by the character's creators Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. With a CGC grade of 5.5, it is being auctioned by Heritage Auctions, as […]
Shinobi Shaw, Sebastian's Shaw son, first appeared in X-Factor #67 in the nineties, created by Chris Claremont and Whilce Portacio. But right from the beginning, there were questions regarding Shibobi Shaw's lineage, as he mass density controlling powers were more similar to fellow Hellfire Club member, his "uncle" Henry Leyland. It was an issue that […]
Aside from the Bilderberg Group or the Bohemian Grove, few meetings are shrouded in secrecy like Marvel's semi-annual creative summits. Inside the walls of these covert gatherings, comics industry elite plot super-mega-crossover events that will shake the Marvel Universe to its foundations, long-term creative directions for the Marvel Universe that will be dropped as soon […]
Marvel Comics has thrown up a teaser for Miles Morales: Spider-Man #25 out in April as a comic that "kicks off the Clone Saga". Words that may fill some Spider-Man fans with dread. Telling us "In April 2021, things get wild for Miles. Stay tuned tomorrow for more information" and promising "double trouble, it's worth […]
Iron Man and Nick Fury have never looked more enticing. Up for auction right now is an art page from Marvel Swimsuit Special #1 by John Romita Jr. It features Tony Stark and Nick Fury on a beac in their speedos and with massive amounts of hair all over their bodies. Dare I say this […]
The recent Amazing Spider-Man #55 got a lot of orders – and interest – because of its rather striking cover by Patrick Gleason. The cover was parodied before it was even published by The Amazing Sycophant and the Winnie The Pooh/Deadpool mashup Do You Pooh. Despite a big increase in orders, the comic book managed […]
ComicBookExclusives is a new comic bookseller, set up expressly to create and sell retailer exclusive covers from various publishers. And their first such cover was for the much-in-demand Star Wars: The High Republic #1 from Marvel, with artwork by Paolo Villanelli as a homage to the original Clone Wars #1 comic book cover by Dave Filoni. […]
Promoting the upcoming X-Men series Way Of X by Si Spurrier and Bob Quinn, Marvel stated "The soul of Krakoa is at stake. Only Nightcrawler and his team can help mutants defeat their inner-darkness and find a new way to live. This is the "Way of X"!" Spurrier is keen to state "I should probably […]
Marvel is to publish its first Alien comic book from March 2021 – officially, of course. It has had the Brood running around for decades. And they have Phillip Kennedy Johnson writing the series – the same writer DC Comics just tapped to lead the Superman comic books from March as well. It will rather […]
