Marvel Comics is a New York City-based comic book publisher, a property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and numerous others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand.
Brian Michael Bendis is an American comic book writer and artist.
Black Cat is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard, and Dave Cockrum, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194. Felicia Hardy is the daughter of Walter Hardy, a world-renowned cat burglar. She trained herself in various fighting styles and acrobatics and, after deciding to follow in her father's footsteps, adopted the costumed identity of Black Cat. She has the subconscious ability to affect probability fields, producing "bad luck" for her enemies. Throughout her history, Black Cat has sometimes been an enemy, love interest, and an ally of the superhero Spider-Man.
Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May and has historically been cross-promoted with the release of a superhero film. Over two thousand participating stores give away millions of comic books annually. The event was proposed by Joe Field in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer magazine and Free Comic Book Day was launched in 2002, coordinated by the industry's single large distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors. FCBD has become an official Children's Book Week event and has inspired similar events for German- and Dutch-language comics industries. The twenty-second edition of FCBD was held on May 4, 2024.
Jessica Campbell Jones-Cage, professionally known as Jessica Jones, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appeared in Alias #1 as part of Marvel's Max, an imprint for more mature content, and was later retroactively established to have first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #4 in the Silver Age of Comic Books as an unnamed classmate of Peter Parker, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. Within the context of Marvel's shared universe, Jones is a former superhero who becomes the owner of Alias Private Investigations. Bendis envisioned the series as centered on Jessica Drew and only decided to create Jones once he realized that the main character he was writing had a distinct-enough voice and background to differentiate her from Drew, though deciding to still name the character after her on the basis of how "two [people] can have the same first name".
Al Ewing is a British comics writer who has mainly worked in the small press, for 2000 AD, and for Marvel Comics.
Dan Slott is an American comic book writer, known for his work on Marvel Comics books such as The Amazing Spider-Man, as well as She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, The Superior Spider-Man, Tony Stark: Iron Man, The Mighty Avengers, and Fantastic Four. His work for DC Comics includes the books Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and Batman Adventures.
Spider-Woman is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Archie Goodwin and Marie Severin, the character first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32. 50 issues of an ongoing series titled Spider-Woman followed. At its conclusion, she fell into disuse, supplanted by other characters using the name Spider-Woman.
Rocket Raccoon is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Keith Giffen, the character first appeared in Marvel Preview #7. He is an intelligent, anthropomorphic raccoon, who is an expert marksman, weapon specialist and master tactician. His name and aspects of his character were inspired by the Beatles' 1968 song "Rocky Raccoon". Rocket Raccoon appeared as a prominent member in the 2008 relaunch of the superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy.
Carol Susan Jane Danvers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gene Colan, the character first appeared as an officer in the United States Air Force and a colleague of the Kree superhero Mar-Vell in Marvel Super-Heroes #13. Danvers later became the first incarnation of Ms. Marvel in Ms. Marvel #1 after her DNA was fused with Mar-Vell's during an explosion, giving her superhuman powers. Debuting in the Silver Age of comics, the character was featured in a self-titled series in the late 1970s before becoming associated with the superhero teams the Avengers and the X-Men. The character has also been known as Binary, Warbird, and Captain Marvel at various points in her history.
She-Hulk (Lyra) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Jeff Parker and Mitch Breitweiser, the character first appeared in Hulk: Raging Thunder #1(August 2008). Lyra is an antihero who is known under the codename of She-Hulk. She is from an alternate future of the Marvel Universe's main timeline. She is the daughter of that reality's Thundra and the Marvel Universe's Hulk. The character was also a member of the Defenders and the Avengers Academy at various points during her history.
Spider-Island is a 2011 comic book storyline starting in The Amazing Spider-Man and crossing over into other comic books published by Marvel Comics, most of which were limited series or one-shots specifically for this storyline. The main plot involves the inhabitants of Manhattan Island mysteriously gaining powers similar to Spider-Man. It features the return of the Jackal and the Queen to the Marvel Universe and laid the ground work for the second volume of the Scarlet Spider series. The main story overall received positive reviews, with critics praising its action, humor, style, and plot.
Avengers vs. X-Men is a 2012 crossover event that was featured in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The event, consisting of an eponymous limited series and numerous tie-in books, involves the return of the Phoenix Force and the subsequent war between the Avengers and the X-Men. The 12-issue twice-monthly series was first published in April 2012, and features a storyline by Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman and Matt Fraction, with a rotating team of artists including John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel and Adam Kubert.
Nova is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, a space-faring member of the intergalactic police force known as the Nova Corps, was created in 2011 by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuinness, based on the original Nova Richard Rider.
Marvel Now! is a comic book branding for the relaunch of several ongoing comic books published by Marvel Comics, that debuted in October 2012 with new #1 issues. The relaunch also included some new titles, including Uncanny Avengers and All-New X-Men. Described as a shifting of the Marvel Universe following the conclusion of the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Marvel Now! entailed changes to both the publishing format and the universe to attract new readers. Publishing changes included new creative teams for each of the titles and the in-universe changes included changes to character designs and new storylines. It marked the next stage of the Marvel ReEvolution initiative, which began in March 2012. The original run went through several waves before coming to an end in May 2015 at the start of the "Secret Wars" storyline. A second Marvel Now!, Marvel Now! 2.0, debuted in 2016 following the "Civil War II" storyline. Marvel Now! 2.0 was followed in 2017 by Marvel Legacy.
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up was an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in July 2013. The series is written by Christopher Yost with artwork by a rotating team of artists including David Lopez, Paolo Rivera, and Marco Checchetto. A direct successor to Avenging Spider-Man and a spiritual successor to Marvel Team-Up, whose name it plays on, the series is an expansion of the Superior Spider-Man brand by Marvel Entertainment, and is notable for featuring the first appearance of the character concept of a (then-unnamed) giant spider who turned into a young girl before being taken in by the X-Men.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-in comic books are limited series or one-shot comics published by Marvel Comics that tie into the films and television series of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The comics are written and illustrated by various individuals and each typically consists of one to four issues. They are intended to tell additional stories about existing characters, or to make connections between MCU projects, without necessarily expanding the universe or introducing new concepts or characters.
Ms. Marvel is the name of several superheroines appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was originally conceived as a female counterpart to the superhero Mar-Vell / Captain Marvel. Like Captain Marvel, most of the bearers of the Ms. Marvel codename gain their powers through Kree technology or genetics. The first incarnation of Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #13. The second incarnation, Sharon Ventura, debuted in The Thing #27. The third incarnation, Karla Sofen, made her first appearance in Captain America #192. The fourth and current incarnation, Kamala Khan, made her debut in Captain Marvel #14.
A-Force is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in May 2015 as a part of Marvel's "Secret Wars" crossover storyline. It was created by writers G. Willow Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, and artist Jorge Molina. It features Marvel's first all-female Avengers team called the A-Force. The team first appeared as part of an alternate universe during "Secret Wars" but later reemerged in Marvel's primary continuity.
The Amazing Spider-Man#129, with its subtitle being "The Punisher Strikes Twice!" is a 19-page-long single issue of the American comic book The Amazing Spider-Man, published by Marvel Comics in 1974. The issue is well known for being the first appearance of the character called the Punisher, who at that point in time was portrayed as an antagonist of Spider-Man but would later become one of Marvel's most popular and successful characters. The issue is also the first appearance of the Jackal, a supervillain who would go on to become one of Spider-Man's main adversaries and an integral part of the infamous mid-'90s Spider-Man storyline the Clone Saga.
