What If, sometimes stylized as What If…?, is a comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics whose stories explore how the Marvel Universe might have unfolded if key moments in its history had not occurred as they did in mainstream continuity. Since What If debuted in 1977, the comics have been published in 14 series as well as occasional stand-alone issues. In 2024, Marvel announced that What If…? would expand to include alternate explorations of continuity within other non-Marvel Universe properties owned by their parent company The Walt Disney Company from its fifteenth volume onwards, beginning with Aliens: What If…?, based on the Alien franchise.
Douglas Moench is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Moon Knight, Deathlok, Black Mask, Harvey Bullock, Electric Warrior, and Six from Sirius. He is also known for his critically acclaimed eight-year run on Master of Kung Fu.
Paul Gulacy is an American comics artist best known for his work for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, and for drawing one of the first graphic novels, Eclipse Enterprises' 1978 Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species, with writer Don McGregor. He is most associated with Marvel's 1970s martial-arts and espionage series Master of Kung Fu.
Steven McNiven is a Canadian comic book artist. He first gained prominence on CrossGen's Meridian, before moving onto books such as Ultimate Secret, Marvel Knights 4, New Avengers, and Civil War, illustrating storylines such as "Old Man Logan."
James Palmiotti is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film.
American Dream is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Brent Anderson, the character first appeared in A-Next#1. Shannon Carter comes from an alternative future timeline of the Marvel Universe known as the MC2 Universe. She wears a costume similar to that of the comic book superhero Steve Rogers / Captain America. Her weapons are throwing disks and the trademark shield.
Cary Bates is an American comic book, animation, television and film writer. He is best known for his work on The Flash, Superman, Superboy, the Legion of Superheroes and Captain Atom. Bates is the longest-serving Superman writer, at twenty years.
The Ultimate Galactus Trilogy is a collection of three comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics. All three series are set in the Ultimate Marvel universe and are written by Warren Ellis. The series showcase the arrival of the planet-eating entity Gah Lak Tus on Earth.
Chris Warner is an American comic book writer, artist, and editor for Dark Horse Comics. He worked extensively on their mid-1990s line of Comics' Greatest World and Dark Horse Heroes. Warner has also worked sporadically for other companies, such as DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
Halo: Uprising is a four-issue American comic book limited series set in the Halo universe. The series was written by Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Alex Maleev, and published by Marvel Comics. Uprising tells a story set between the ending of the 2004 video game Halo 2 and the beginning of its sequel, Halo 3, as Earth is under attack by a collective of alien races known as the Covenant. The series was intended to be released and concluded before Halo 3 shipped on September 25, 2007, but the final issue did not appear until April 2009.
Black Spectre has two meanings for fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first Black Spectre is the name of a fictional organization which first appeared in Daredevil #108 and was created by writer Steve Gerber and penciller Bob Brown. It was a league of costumed female commandos, entranced by the Mandrill into doing his bidding, and led by Nekra. The second Black Spectre is a fictional supervillain who first appeared in Moon Knight #25 and was created by writer Doug Moench and penciller Bill Sienkiewicz. The character is one of the greatest enemies of the vigilante Moon Knight.
"Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, that ran through a self-titled eight-issue limited series and several tie-in books published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008. The story involves a subversive, long-term invasion of Earth by the Skrulls, a group of alien shapeshifters who have secretly replaced many superheroes in the Marvel Universe with impostors over a period of years, prior to the overt invasion. Marvel's promotional tagline for the event was "Who do you trust?".
Captain Britain and MI13 is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics and written by Paul Cornell, with art by Leonard Kirk. The series centers on the fictional British government agency MI: 13, which is dedicated to protecting the United Kingdom from supernatural threats. The main strikeforce is led by the superhero Captain Britain, and consists of various Marvel Comics characters that are of British descent or have a connection to the country. The series launched as a tie-in to the Secret Invasion event in May 2008 and ceased publication with issue #15.
Fury is a 2001 six issue miniseries about Nick Fury written by Garth Ennis. The series was published under Marvel's MAX imprint and featured much harder violence and explicit material than was common at the time. This caused some controversy among fans and comic creators. The series takes place outside of main Marvel comics continuity and is interconnected with other series written by Garth Ennis under the Max imprint. It was followed by a prequel and a sequel.
Battle Scars is a six-issue comic book miniseries published by Marvel Comics in 2011 and 2012. The series was created to introduce Nick Fury Jr, the black son of the original Nick Fury to correspond with the version played in the films by Samuel L. Jackson. The series also introduced the character of Phil Coulson from the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the comics.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics, premiering with a first issue cover dated 2014. It was written by Mark Waid. The series was loosely based on the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and was used by Marvel Comics to introduce many characters from the show into the world of the comics. After its cancellation it was followed by the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The series also had a spin-off named Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. which picked up after issue 9.
Generations is a limited ten-issue anthology comic book series published by Marvel Comics that ran from August to September 2017. Each issue, written and drawn by different creative teams, features a different team-up of a classic Marvel superhero with their Modern Age counterpart. The series, first teased in February 2017 with artwork by Alex Ross, immediately follows the events of the "Secret Empire" storyline which concludes with a number of modern heroes being sent through time on a journey of self-discovery. According to Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso the goal of the series was to examine who these heroes are and suggest where they might be heading in the future.
"Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." is a feature that was in the comics anthology Strange Tales which began in 1965 and lasted until 1968. It introduced the fictional spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. into the Marvel Comics world and reintroduced the character of Nick Fury as an older character from his concurrently-running series Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, which was a series set during World War II. The feature replaced the previously running Human Torch feature in the book and ran alongside the Doctor Strange feature. After the feature ended, a comic book series was published which has had several volumes as well as a comic strip. The feature was originally created by the duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who also created the original Sgt. Fury series but it was later taken over by artist and writer Jim Steranko. The feature was often censored by the Comics Code Authority due to Jim Steranko's provocative art; this art helped change the landscape of comics which Steranko continued with in the 1968 ongoing series. Much of Nick Fury's supporting cast originated in the feature and many of the devices used by these characters were often used in other comics published by Marvel.
The Trials of Shazam! is a comic book published by DC Comics from 2006 to 2008. The twelve-issue limited series, written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Howard Porter and Mauro Cascioli, was later reprinted in three paperback collections. The story was an attempt to update Captain Marvel for a modern audience. It received mixed reviews from critics and its changes to the franchise were reverted shortly after it concluded.
