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105-675: This is an incomplete list of characters from the Star Wars Expanded Universe , now rebranded Star Wars Legends . The accompanying works were declared non-canon to the Star Wars franchise by Lucasfilm in 2014. This list applies only to characters who completely appear in Legends media, and who therefore do not exist in the canon continuity. For characters belonging to the canon continuity, see List of Star Wars characters . A dark side entity, Abeloth began as

210-653: A Once Upon a Time graphic novel was announced for publication in September. With Disney, Marvel announced in October 2013 that in January 2014 it would release its first title under their joint "Disney Kingdoms" imprint "Seekers of the Weird", a five-issue miniseries. On January 3, 2014, fellow Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm announced that as of 2015, Star Wars comics would once again be published by Marvel. Following

315-414: A Cold War culture that led their creators to revise the superhero conventions of previous eras to better reflect the psychological spirit of their age. Eschewing such comic book tropes as secret identities and even costumes at first, having a monster as one of the heroes, and having its characters bicker and complain in what was later called a "superheroes in the real world" approach, the series represented

420-596: A television series of the same name (2008–2020). These reveal that Anakin had a Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano , during this period. Various characters seen only briefly in the films or in other spin-off material are featured in more depth. At this time, Lucas denied any plans to ever make a Star Wars sequel trilogy . As of 2004, over 1,100 Star Wars titles had been published, including novels, comics, non-fiction, and magazines. Then-president of Lucas Licensing, Howard Roffman, estimated that there were more than 65 million Star Wars books in print. He said, "The books are

525-617: A Marvelcon '76. At the 1975 event, Stan Lee used a Fantastic Four panel discussion to announce that Jack Kirby , the artist co-creator of most of Marvel's signature characters, was returning to Marvel after having left in 1970 to work for rival DC Comics . In October 1976, Marvel, which already licensed reprints in different countries, including the UK, created a superhero specifically for the British market. Captain Britain debuted exclusively in

630-586: A brief time. During his time as president, he appointed his associate editor, prolific writer Roy Thomas , as editor-in-chief. Thomas added "Stan Lee Presents" to the opening page of each comic book. A series of new editors-in-chief oversaw the company during another slow time for the industry. Once again, Marvel attempted to diversify, and with the updating of the Comics Code published titles themed to horror ( The Tomb of Dracula ), martial arts ( Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu ), sword-and-sorcery ( Conan

735-541: A cash and stock deal worth approximately $ 4 billion, which if necessary would be adjusted at closing, giving Marvel shareholders $ 30 and 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they owned. As of 2008, Marvel and its major competitor DC Comics shared over 80% of the American comic-book market. As of September 2010, Marvel switched its bookstore distribution company from Diamond Book Distributors to Hachette Distribution Services . Marvel moved its office to

840-502: A change that proved to be a great success. Marvel often presented flawed superheroes, freaks, and misfits—unlike the perfect, handsome, athletic heroes found in previous traditional comic books. Some Marvel heroes looked like villains and monsters such as the Hulk and the Thing . This naturalistic approach even extended into topical politics. Comics historian Mike Benton also noted: In

945-518: A chord with the older readers, including college-aged adults. In 1965, Spider-Man and the Hulk were both featured in Esquire magazine's list of 28 college campus heroes, alongside John F. Kennedy and Bob Dylan . In 2009, writer Geoff Boucher reflected that, Superman and DC Comics instantly seemed like boring old Pat Boone ; Marvel felt like The Beatles and the British Invasion . It

1050-505: A controversial personality, Shooter cured many of the procedural ills at Marvel, including repeatedly missed deadlines. During Shooter's nine-year tenure as editor-in-chief, Chris Claremont and John Byrne 's run on the Uncanny X-Men and Frank Miller 's run on Daredevil became critical and commercial successes. Shooter brought Marvel into the rapidly evolving direct market , institutionalized creator royalties, starting with

1155-416: A crossover storyline. The Star Tours ride was opened at Disney Parks in 1987 to commemorate the saga's 10th anniversary. Following the series' 10th anniversary, the release of Star Wars spin-off media was largely halted. In 1987, the fan newsletter Bantha Tracks was absorbed by the official Lucasfilm magazine, which focused on the company's projects outside of Star Wars . Some fans feared that

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1260-518: A crossover that allowed Marvel to relaunch some of its flagship characters such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four , and outsource them to the studios of two of the former Marvel artists turned Image Comics founders, Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. The relaunched titles, which saw the characters transported to a parallel universe with a history distinct from the mainstream Marvel Universe, were

1365-524: A deal brokered by Malibu Comics ' owner Scott Mitchell Rosenberg . Three years later, on November 3, 1994, Rosenberg sold Malibu to Marvel. In purchasing Malibu, Marvel now owned computer coloring technology that had been developed by Rosenberg, and also integrated the Ultraverse line of comics and the Genesis Universe into Marvel's multiverse . Earlier that year, the company secured

1470-535: A deal with Harvey Comics , whereas Marvel took on the publishing and distribution of Harvey's titles. In late 1994, Marvel acquired the comic book distributor Heroes World Distribution to use as its own exclusive distributor. As the industry's other major publishers made exclusive distribution deals with other companies, the ripple effect resulted in the survival of only one other major distributor in North America, Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. Then, by

1575-442: A line of digital comics , Marvel AR, a software application that provides an augmented reality experience to readers and Marvel NOW! , a relaunch of most of the company's major titles with different creative teams. Marvel NOW! also saw the debut of new flagship titles including Uncanny Avengers and All-New X-Men . In April 2013, Marvel and other Disney conglomerate components began announcing joint projects. With ABC ,

1680-591: A month, maybe more, and ... suddenly we went ... to either eight or 12 books a month, which was all Independent News Distributors would accept from us." The company was briefly renamed to Goodman Comics in 1957 under the distribution deal with Independent News . The first modern comic books under the Marvel Comics brand were the science-fiction anthology Journey into Mystery #69 and the teen-humor title Patsy Walker #95 (both cover dated June 1961), which each displayed an "MC" box on its cover. Then, in

1785-598: A monthly or annual subscription fee. At the December 2007 the New York Anime Fest, the company announcement that Del Rey Manga would published two original English language Marvel manga books featuring the X-Men and Wolverine to hit the stands in spring 2009. In 2009 Marvel Comics closed its Open Submissions Policy, in which the company had accepted unsolicited samples from aspiring comic book artists, saying

1890-660: A mortal woman who came across the immortal Force entities, the Ones, on their mysterious home world. Taking on the mantle of the Mother, Abeloth helped The Father keep the peace between her warring dark side of the force Son and light side of the force Daughter for many years. However, fearing her own mortality, the Mother bathed in the Pool of Knowledge and drank from the Font of Power, in hopes of remaining with her immortal family. The result

1995-469: A new Atlas Comics line, but this lasted only a year and a half. In the mid-1970s a decline of the newsstand distribution network affected Marvel. Cult hits such as Howard the Duck fell victim to the distribution problems, with some titles reporting low sales when in fact the first specialty comic book stores resold them at a later date. But by the end of the decade, Marvel's fortunes were reviving, thanks to

2100-525: A number of different titles. Goodman's business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of corporations all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these shell companies through which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55 (May 1944). As well, some comics' covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12 (Winter 1946–47), were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt

2205-543: A reputation for focusing on characterization and adult issues to a greater extent than most superhero comics before them, a quality which the new generation of older readers appreciated. This applied to The Amazing Spider-Man title in particular, which turned out to be Marvel's most successful book. Its young hero suffered from self-doubt and mundane problems like any other teenager, something with which many readers could identify. Stan Lee and freelance artist and eventual co-plotter Jack Kirby 's Fantastic Four originated in

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2310-674: A sequel, which resulted in Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978). Lucas originally intended to use this as the basis for a potential low-budget sequel to Star Wars , but when it became one of the most successful films of all time, Lucas decided to write his own story for the film sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (1980). While this was in production, Lucas approved the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), with which he had limited involvement. Running from April 1977 to May 1986,

2415-404: A series of junk bonds that he used to acquire other entertainment companies, secured by MEG stock. Marvel earned a great deal of money with their 1980s children's comics imprint Star Comics and they earned a great deal more money and worldwide success during the comic book boom of the early 1990s, launching the successful 2099 line of comics set in the future ( Spider-Man 2099 , etc.) and

2520-533: A solid success amidst a generally struggling industry. In 1997, Toy Biz bought Marvel Entertainment Group to end the bankruptcy, forming a new corporation, Marvel Enterprises . With his business partner Avi Arad , publisher Bill Jemas , and editor-in-chief Bob Harras , Toy Biz co-owner Isaac Perlmutter helped stabilize the comics line. In 1998, the company launched the imprint Marvel Knights , taking place “with reduced [Marvel] continuity,” according to one history, with better production quality. The imprint

2625-576: A time, drive-in film monsters another time—and even other comic books, particularly the EC horror line. Atlas also published a plethora of children's and teen humor titles, including Dan DeCarlo 's Homer the Happy Ghost (similar to Casper the Friendly Ghost ) and Homer Hooper (à la Archie Andrews ). Atlas unsuccessfully attempted to revive superheroes from late 1953 to mid-1954, with

2730-564: A way of extending the fantasy of Star Wars . The movies have had a really profound effect on a couple of generations. Star Wars has become a cultural touchpoint, and our fans are avidly interested in exploring more stories." Originally, Lucasfilm tracked the narrative content of the Expanded Universe in story bibles , alongside official reference books such as A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (1984/1994) and

2835-652: A year after Return of the Jedi . The Truce at Bakura (1993) depicts the immediate aftermath of the aforementioned film. In 1993, Dark Horse published Tales of the Jedi , expanding the fictional universe to the time of the Old Republic , approximately 4,000 years before the films. Later, the series spawned the Knights of the Old Republic computer roleplaying games, which led to many new productions set during

2940-640: 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

3045-676: Is always room for variation. In August 2005, Lucas said of the Expanded Universe: I haven't read any of the novels. I don't know anything about that world ... But I do try to keep it consistent ... if I come up with a name or something else, I look it up and see if it has already been used. When I said [other people] could make their own Star Wars stories, we decided that ... we would have two universes: My universe and then this other one. They try to make their universe as consistent with mine as possible, but obviously they get enthusiastic and want to go off in other directions. Regarding

3150-494: Is to present a continuous and unified history of the Star Wars galaxy, insofar as that history does not conflict with, or undermine the meaning of Mr. Lucas's Star Wars saga of films and screenplays." Lucasfilm's director of fan relations Steve Sansweet clarified: When it comes to absolute canon, the real story of Star Wars , you must turn to the films themselves—and only the films. Even novelizations are interpretations of

3255-670: The Republic comic book series, appears in Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002). The 2003 animated series Clone Wars and various spin-off books, comics, and video games explore the titular conflict in more detail leading up to Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). Ahead of the film's release, Lucas announced a 3D "continuation" of Clone Wars , which was released as the animated film The Clone Wars (2008) and

List of Star Wars Legends characters - Misplaced Pages Continue

3360-644: The Star Wars comic book series from Marvel Comics met with such strong sales that former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter credited it with saving Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978. The series became one of the industry's top selling titles in 1979 and 1980. An adaptation of the third theatrical film, Return of the Jedi , was released as a separate four-issue limited series (1983–1984). Two novel trilogies with original storylines were written, The Han Solo Adventures by Brian Daley (1979–1980), and 1983's The Adventures of Lando Calrissian by L. Neil Smith . Daley also wrote radio dramatizations of

3465-795: The Star Wars Encyclopedia (1998). In 2000, LucasArts lead tester Leland Chee was hired as Continuity Database Administrator for Lucas Licensing, and developed a database of franchise continuity based in part on 1998's encyclopedic Star Wars: Behind the Magic CD-ROM . The database came to be known as the Holocron , a term used within the Star Wars universe for "ancient repositories of knowledge and wisdom". The Holocron consists of over 55,000 entries for franchise characters, locations, species, and vehicles. Lucas Licensing's managing editor Sue Rostoni said in 2001, "Our goal

3570-576: The X-Men: The Animated Series which was aired on Fox Kids , they later released Spider-Man: The Animated Series on the network as well. In 1993, Marvel teamed up with Thomas Nelson to create Christian media genre comics, including a Christian superhero named The Illuminator, they made adaptions of Christian novels too, including In His Steps , The Screwtape Letters , and The Pilgrim's Progress . In 1996, Marvel had some of its titles participate in " Heroes Reborn ",

3675-507: The American News Company —which shortly afterward lost a Justice Department lawsuit and discontinued its business. Atlas was left without distribution and was forced to turn to Independent News , the distribution arm of its biggest rival, National (DC) Comics , which imposed draconian restrictions on Goodman's company. As then-Atlas editor Stan Lee recalled in a 1988 interview, "[We had been] turning out 40, 50, 60 books

3780-682: The Comics Code Authority (CCA) approval seal, due to the violence depicted in the issue. The CCA, which governed the content of American comic books, rejected the issue, requiring that changes be made. Instead, Marvel simply stopped submitting comics to the CCA. It then established its own Marvel Rating System for comics. Marvel also created new imprints , such as MAX (an explicit-content line) and Marvel Adventures (developed for child audiences). The company also created an alternate universe imprint, Ultimate Marvel , that allowed

3885-515: The Epic Comics imprint for creator-owned material in 1982; introduced company-wide crossover story arcs with Contest of Champions and Secret Wars ; and in 1986 launched the ultimately unsuccessful New Universe line to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Marvel Comics imprint. Star Comics , a children-oriented line differing from the regular Marvel titles, was briefly successful during this period, although hampered by legal action by

3990-662: The Galactic Federation of Free Alliances , as well as the Lost Tribe of the Sith (after her murder of Sith Grand Lord Darish Vol). She was eventually destroyed by the combined efforts of Skywalker and his Sith counterpart, Darth Krayt , leader of the One Sith . King of Korriban during the time of the First Sith Empire. His reign lasted nearly three hundred years, and he wielded two massive axes. He

4095-647: The Silver Surfer , and such memorable antagonists as Doctor Doom , Magneto , Galactus , Loki , the Green Goblin , and Doctor Octopus , all existing in a shared reality known as the Marvel Universe , with locations that mirror real-life cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Marvel even lampooned itself and other comics companies in a parody comic, Not Brand Echh (a play on Marvel's dubbing of other companies as "Brand Echh", à la

4200-514: The Star Wars franchise. In The Secret History of Star Wars , Michael Kaminski suggests this renewed interest was a factor in Lucas's decision to create the prequel trilogy . Around this same time, the comics license was transferred to Dark Horse Comics , who launched a number of series set after the original film trilogy, including the popular Dark Empire sequence (1991–1995) by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy . The comic launched months after

4305-551: The Thrawn trilogy, made its film debut in the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi , before being featured more heavily in the prequel trilogy. An eponymous comic book series , later subtitled Republic , launched in 1998 and introduced Ki-Adi-Mundi ahead of his appearance in the films. In 1999, Star Wars book publishing moved from Bantam Spectra to Del Rey Books . A new series set between 25 and 30 years after

List of Star Wars Legends characters - Misplaced Pages Continue

4410-489: The United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee to do a comic book story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. However, the industry's self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority , refused to approve the story because of the presence of narcotics, deeming

4515-526: The Atlas years, allowing him now to release as many titles as demand warranted. Late that year, he sold Marvel Comics and its parent company, Magazine Management , to the Perfect Film & Chemical Corporation (later known as Cadence Industries) , though he remained as publisher. In 1969, Goodman finally ended his distribution deal with Independent by signing with Curtis Circulation Company . In 1971,

4620-570: The Barbarian in 1970, Red Sonja ), satire ( Howard the Duck ) and science fiction ( 2001: A Space Odyssey , " Killraven " in Amazing Adventures , Battlestar Galactica , Star Trek , and, late in the decade, the long-running Star Wars series). Some of these were published in larger-format black and white magazines, under its Curtis Magazines imprint. Marvel was able to capitalize on its successful superhero comics of

4725-577: The Barbarian title was canceled in 1993 after 275 issues, while the Savage Sword of Conan magazine had lasted 235 issues. Marvel published additional titles including miniseries until 2000 for a total of 650 issues. Conan was picked up by Dark Horse Comics three years later. In a cross-promotion, the November 1, 2006, episode of the CBS soap opera Guiding Light , titled "She's a Marvel", featured

4830-684: The Disney streaming service Disney+ . In early 2020, a final season of The Clone Wars animated series debuted on the streaming service. In February 2020, it was announced that a new line of books and comics, labeled The High Republic , would begin publishing starting in August. The line takes place 200 years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace and will not overlap any films or series currently planned for production. In December 2020, multiple live-action series were announced for Disney+, including Obi-Wan Kenobi , Andor , Lando , three Mandalorian spin-offs, and The Acolyte (set during

4935-604: The Essential Legends Collection for the franchise's 50th anniversary, starting with Heir to the Empire , Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and Shatterpoint . In its 2014 announcement, Lucasfilm explained that the only preexisting works to be considered canonical within the franchise would be the primary episodic films and the 2008 The Clone Wars film and TV series. The announcement called these works "the immovable objects of Star Wars history,

5040-799: The Galaxy . Its stable of well-known supervillains includes Doctor Doom , Magneto , Green Goblin , Kingpin , Red Skull , Loki , Ultron , Thanos , Kang the Conqueror , Venom , and Galactus . Most of Marvel's fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe , with most locations mirroring real-life places; many major characters are based in New York City. Additionally, Marvel has published several licensed properties from other companies. This includes Star Wars comics , twice from 1977 to 1987 , and again since 2015 . Pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman created

5145-585: The High Republic). On April 2, 2021, several legacy Star Wars films and series were added to Disney+. The Bad Batch debuted on May 4. Multiple comics relaunched in 2020, moving to the era between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi . The Star Wars Legends fictional universe spans multiple eras. The names, symbols, and dates of the publishing eras were first introduced in October 2000 and were refined up to February 2015: Citations Marvel Comics Marvel Comics

5250-458: The Holocron database in 2012, Chee said: "What sets Star Wars apart from other franchises is that we develop a singular continuity across all forms of media, whether it be the films, TV series, video games, novels and comics, and the Holocron is a key component to Lucasfilm being able to do this." The Holocron was divided into five levels of canon (in order of precedence): In October 30, 2012,

5355-579: The Human Torch (art by Syd Shores and Dick Ayers , variously), the Sub-Mariner (drawn and most stories written by Bill Everett ), and Captain America (writer Stan Lee , artist John Romita Sr. ). Atlas did not achieve any breakout hits and, according to Stan Lee, survived chiefly because it produced work quickly, cheaply, and at a passable quality. In 1957, Goodman switched distributors to

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5460-604: The Jedi or long before A New Hope ( e.g. the Tales of the Jedi series). The time period shortly before the original trilogy (including the rise of the Galactic Empire and the personal histories of Anakin Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine ) was left open for Lucas to develop in the form of a prequel trilogy, which began with Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999). The character Aayla Secura , introduced in 2000 in

5565-558: The Jedi , was part of a multimedia campaign that also included a comic book series and video game . The multimedia project was largely meant to reinvigorate the franchise ahead of the prequel trilogy, along with Lucas's 1997 Special Editions of the original trilogy. Lucas incorporated elements of the Expanded Universe into the Special Editions; for example, Coruscant , the New Republic capital planet created by Zahn in

5670-535: The Old Republic era, such as the Bane Trilogy and the Knights of the Old Republic comic line. In 1994, Lucas Licensing's Allan Kausch and Sue Rostoni discussed the relationship between Lucas' creations and the derivative works by other authors: Gospel, or canon as we refer to it, includes the screenplays, the films, the radio dramas and the novelizations. These works spin out of George Lucas' original stories,

5775-473: The Special Editions, prequels, and The Clone Wars ) in incorporating multiple spin-off elements into his series. Some cancelled The Clone Wars episodes were adapted into books and comics in The Clone Wars Legacy multimedia project. After The Force Awakens , multiple films were released, including the anthology films Rogue One (2016) and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), as well as

5880-760: The Sports Illustrated Building in October 2010. Marvel relaunched the CrossGen imprint, owned by Disney Publishing Worldwide , in March 2011. Marvel and Disney Publishing began jointly publishing Disney/Pixar Presents magazine that May. Marvel discontinued its Marvel Adventures imprint in March 2012, and replaced them with a line of two titles connected to the Marvel Universe TV block . Also in March, Marvel announced its Marvel ReEvolution initiative that included Infinite Comics,

5985-449: The UK, and later appeared in American comics. During this time, Marvel and the Iowa-based Register and Tribune Syndicate launched a number of syndicated comic strips — The Amazing Spider-Man , Howard the Duck , Conan the Barbarian , and The Incredible Hulk . None of the strips lasted past 1982, except for The Amazing Spider-Man , which is still being published. In 1978, Jim Shooter became Marvel's editor-in-chief. Although

6090-433: The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for US$ 4.06 billion (equivalent to about US$ 5.39B in 2023 due to inflation). Subsequently, Lucasfilm formed the "Lucasfilm Story Group", which was established to keep track of and define the canon and unify the films, comics, and other media. Among its members are Chee, Kiri Hart, and Pablo Hidalgo . To prevent the planned sequel trilogy from being beholden to and restrained by

6195-404: The actions of the Sith Lord Darth Caedus , the Jedi (led by Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker ) launched an attack on Centerpoint and destroyed the ancient space station. This resulted in the eventual destruction of Sinkhole Station, allowing Abeloth to finally leave her prison. Using her dark side powers, Abeloth possessed the charismatic Senator Rokari Kem, whom she used to assume control of

6300-414: The animated television series Star Wars Rebels , which was released a month later. Marvel began publishing new Star Wars comic book series in January 2015, and the Journey to Star Wars publishing initiative included books and comics tying in to the sequel trilogy films. The first sequel trilogy film, The Force Awakens , was released in December 2015. There was some minor fan backlash against

6405-456: The character Harley Davidson Cooper (played by Beth Ehlers ) as a superheroine named the Guiding Light. The character's story continued in an eight-page backup feature, "A New Light", that appeared in several Marvel titles published November 1 and 8. Also that year, Marvel created a wiki on its Web site. In late 2007 the company launched Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited , a digital archive of over 2,500 back issues available for viewing, for

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6510-399: The characters and events to which all other tales must align." It was also made clear that a planned Star Wars sequel trilogy, and subsequent works developed within the restructured canon, would not be based on Legends material but could possibly draw from it. The first new canonical novel was A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller , published in September 2014, acting as a prologue to

6615-584: The company later known as Marvel Comics under the name Timely Publications in 1939. Goodman, who had started with a Western pulp in 1933, was expanding into the emerging—and by then already highly popular—new medium of comic books. Launching his new line from his existing company's offices at 330 West 42nd Street, New York City, he officially held the titles of editor , managing editor , and business manager , with Abraham Goodman (Martin's brother) officially listed as publisher. Timely's first publication, Marvel Comics #1 ( cover dated Oct. 1939), included

6720-469: The company to reboot its major titles by revising and updating its characters to introduce to a new generation. Some of the company's properties were adapted into successful film franchises, such as the Men in Black film series (which was based on a Malibu book), starting in 1997, the Blade film series, starting in 1998, the X-Men film series, starting in 2000, and the highest grossing series, Spider-Man , beginning in 2002. Marvel's Conan

6825-442: The company's entire publishing line. This branding pattern, being typically either a full-body picture of the characters' solo titles or a collection of the main characters' faces in ensemble titles, would become standard for Marvel for decades. In 1968, while selling 50 million comic books a year, company founder Goodman revised the constraining distribution arrangement with Independent News he had reached under duress during

6930-455: The context of the story irrelevant. Lee, with Goodman's approval, published the story regardless in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 (May–July 1971), without the Comics Code seal. The market reacted well to the storyline, and the CCA subsequently revised the Code the same year. Goodman retired as publisher in 1972 and installed his son, Chip, as publisher. Shortly thereafter, Lee succeeded him as publisher and also became Marvel's president for

7035-476: The creatively daring though commercially unsuccessful Razorline imprint of superhero comics created by novelist and filmmaker Clive Barker . In 1990, Marvel began selling Marvel Universe Cards with trading card maker SkyBox International . These were collectible trading cards that featured the characters and events of the Marvel Universe. The 1990s saw the rise of variant covers , cover enhancements, swimsuit issues , and company-wide crossovers that affected

7140-443: The duo Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal . Goodman hired his wife's 16-year-old cousin, Stanley Lieber, as a general office assistant in 1939. When editor Simon left the company in late 1941, Goodman made Lieber—by then writing pseudonymously as " Stan Lee "—interim editor of the comics line, a position Lee kept for decades except for three years during his military service in World War II . Lee wrote extensively for Timely, contributing to

7245-424: The film, and while they are largely true to George Lucas' vision (he works quite closely with the novel authors), the method in which they are written does allow for some minor differences ... The further one branches away from the movies, the more interpretation and speculation come into play. LucasBooks works diligently to keep the continuing Star Wars expanded universe cohesive and uniform, but stylistically, there

7350-438: The first Thrawn novel and was a sequel to those novels; it notably resurrected the film characters Emperor Palpatine and Boba Fett . Zahn was critical of the concept of resurrecting Emperor Palpatine through cloned bodies, feeling it undermined and contradicted the meaning of the ending of Return of the Jedi . The Jedi Prince series of young-reader novels, released between 1992 and 1993, depicts Luke, Leia, and Han about

7455-407: The first appearance of Carl Burgos ' android superhero the Human Torch , and the first appearances of Bill Everett 's anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner , among other features. The issue was a great success; it and a second printing the following month sold a combined nearly 900,000 copies. While its contents came from an outside packager, Funnies, Inc. , Timely had its own staff in place by

7560-402: The following month dropped its comics to 20 cents for 36 pages, offering a lower-priced product with a higher distributor discount. In 1973, Perfect Film & Chemical renamed itself as Cadence Industries and renamed Magazine Management as Marvel Comics Group. Goodman, now disconnected from Marvel, set up a new company called Seaboard Periodicals in 1974, reviving Marvel's old Atlas name for

7665-516: The following year. The company's first true editor, writer-artist Joe Simon , teamed with artist Jack Kirby to create one of the first patriotically themed superheroes, Captain America , in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). It, too, proved a hit, with sales of nearly one million. Goodman formed Timely Comics, Inc., beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941. While no other Timely character would achieve

7770-428: The franchise had come to an end, and the period between 1987 and 1991 has been called the "Dark Times." There were some bright spots in this era, however. In 1987, West End Games began publishing Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game , and the subsequent ancillary role-playing game material such as sourcebooks, gamebooks, and adventure modules. These have been called "the first publications to expand greatly beyond what

7875-484: The franchise. Most works produced after April 25, 2014 are part of the official canon as defined by Lucasfilm, although a handful of Legends media has still been released after said date. The first Star Wars spinoff material was Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1976), the novelization of the 1977 film. Lucas later commissioned Alan Dean Foster , who ghostwrote the novelization, to write

7980-495: The middle of the decade, the industry had slumped, and in December 1996 MEG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In early 1997, when Marvel's Heroes World endeavor failed, Diamond also forged an exclusive deal with Marvel —giving the company its own section of its comics catalog Previews . Marvel in the early to mid-1990s expanded their entries in other media, including Saturday-morning cartoons and various comics collaborations to explore new genres. In 1992, they released

8085-469: The most part and expanded into a wider variety of genres than even Timely had published, featuring horror , Westerns , humor, talking animal , men's adventure -drama, giant monster, crime , and war comics , and later adding jungle books, romance titles, espionage , and even medieval adventure, Bible stories and sports. Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company,

8190-416: The name in 1961. The company begin identifying the group of its comic division as Marvel Comic Group , on some comics cover-dated November 1948, when the company set up an in-house editorial board to compete with the likes of DC and Fawcett , even though the legal name is still Timely. The post-war American comic market saw superheroes falling out of fashion. Goodman's comic book line dropped them for

8295-501: The newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated November 1951 even though another company, Kable News , continued to distribute his comics through the August 1952 issues. This globe branding united a line put out by the same publisher, staff and freelancers through 59 shell companies, from Animirth Comics to Zenith Publications. Atlas, rather than innovate, took a proven route of following popular trends in television and films— Westerns and war dramas prevailing for

8400-498: The original films, The New Jedi Order (1999–2003), was written by multiple authors and introduced a new threat: the Yuuzhan Vong , a powerful alien race attempting to invade and conquer the entire galaxy. The first novel in the series, R. A. Salvatore 's Vector Prime , killed off popular character Chewbacca . Before 1999, the bulk of Expanded Universe storytelling explored the time periods either after Return of

8505-409: The original films. StarWars.com wrote in 2014 that the novel "jumpstarted a publishing program that endures to this day and formalized the Expanded Universe". It introduced, among others, the popular characters Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade , and was followed by the sequels Dark Force Rising (1992) and The Last Command (1993). The Thrawn trilogy is widely credited with revitalizing

8610-520: The original trilogy, which aired in 1981, 1983, and 1996. The first Star Wars electronic game was released in 1979 by Kenner , followed by a handful of Atari and Parker Brothers video games in the early 1980s, mainly adaptations of film scenes. Two spin-off television films focusing on the life of the Ewoks , introduced in Return of the Jedi , aired in 1984 and 1985. The furry creatures were also

8715-410: The overall continuity of the Marvel Universe . In early 1992, seven of Marvel’s prized artists — Todd McFarlane (known for his work on Spider-Man ), Jim Lee ( X-Men ), Rob Liefeld ( X-Force ), Marc Silvestri ( Wolverine ), Erik Larsen ( The Amazing Spider-Man ), Jim Valentino ( Guardians of the Galaxy ), and Whilce Portacio ( Uncanny X-Men ) — left to form Image Comics in

8820-403: The owners of the recently defunct Harvey Comics for purposefully plagiarizing their house style. In 1986, Marvel's parent, Marvel Entertainment Group , was sold to New World Entertainment , which within three years sold it to MacAndrews and Forbes , owned by Revlon executive Ronald Perelman in 1989. In 1991 Perelman took MEG public. Following the rapid rise of this stock, Perelman issued

8925-403: The plotlines of the Expanded Universe works, the choice was made to discard that continuity. On April 25, 2014, Lucasfilm rebranded the Expanded Universe material as Star Wars Legends and declared it non-canonical to the franchise. The company's focus would be shifted towards a restructured Star Wars canon based on new material. Chee said in a 2014 Twitter post that a "primary goal" of

9030-500: The predominantly child audiences of the medium, thus ushering what Marvel later called the Marvel Age of Comics . Modern Marvel's first superhero team, the titular stars of The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), broke convention with other comic book archetypes of the time by squabbling, holding grudges both deep and petty, and eschewing anonymity or secret identities in favor of celebrity status. Subsequently, Marvel comics developed

9135-406: The previous decade by acquiring a new newsstand distributor and greatly expanding its comics line. Marvel pulled ahead of rival DC Comics in 1972, during a time when the price and format of the standard newsstand comic were in flux. Goodman increased the price and size of Marvel's November 1971 cover-dated comics from 15 cents for 36 pages total to 25 cents for 52 pages. DC followed suit, but Marvel

9240-444: The rest are written by other writers. However, between us, we've read everything, and much of it is taken into account in the overall continuity. The entire catalog of published works comprises a vast history—with many off-shoots, variations and tangents—like any other well-developed mythology. The 1996 Steve Perry novel Shadows of the Empire , set in the as-yet-unexplored time period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of

9345-525: The restructured canon, with one group successfully campaigning to buy a billboard pleading for Lucasfilm to continue the original non-canonical Expanded Universe separately from the canon. Rebels supervising director Dave Filoni reintroduced popular Legends character Thrawn into the canon in the 2016 third season of Rebels . Timothy Zahn was hired to write new canonical novels about the character. Since co-creating The Clone Wars , Filoni has followed Lucas (who incorporated Expanded Universe elements into

9450-438: The rise of direct market distribution—selling through those same comics-specialty stores instead of newsstands. Marvel ventured into audio in 1975 with a radio series and a record, both had Stan Lee as narrator. The radio series was Fantastic Four . The record was Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Superhero concept album for music fans. Marvel held its own comic book convention , Marvelcon '75, in spring 1975, and promised

9555-470: The second and third sequel trilogy films, The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Dozens of novels, comics published by Marvel and IDW , and games like Battlefront II (2017) were released. Additionally, the animated series Resistance , set in the sequel trilogy era, premiered in late 2018 and ran until early 2020. The Mandalorian , a post- Return of the Jedi live-action series written by Jon Favreau premiered in late 2019 on

9660-519: The story group would be to replace the previous hierarchical canon (of the Holocron) with one cohesive one. However, the final season of The Clone Wars , which was released in 2020, contradicted aspects of the 2016 canon novel Ahsoka . The next year, The Clone Wars spin-off series The Bad Batch contradicted canon elements of the 2015 Kanan comic book series. The Bad Batch executive producer Jennifer Corbett explained that "Everything we did

9765-417: The subject of an American/Canadian animated television series produced by Nelvana , which ran for two seasons between 1985 and 1986. A sister series, Droids , features the further adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO . In 1985, Marvel Comics' Star Comics imprint published a bi-monthly Ewoks tie-in comic, which ran for two years, and in 1986, published an eight-issue Droids series. The two series featured

9870-611: The success of these three characters, some notable heroes—many of which continue to appear in modern-day retcon appearances and flashbacks—include the Whizzer , Miss America , the Destroyer , the original Vision , and the Angel . Timely also published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton 's best-known features, " Powerhouse Pepper ", as well as a line of children's talking animal comics featuring characters like Super Rabbit and

9975-433: The then-common phrase "Brand X"). Originally, the company's publications were branded by a minuscule "Mc" on the upper right-hand corner of the covers. However, artist/writer Steve Ditko put a larger masthead picture of the title character of The Amazing Spider-Man on the upper left-hand corner on issue #2 that included the series' issue number and price. Lee appreciated the value of this visual motif and adapted it for

10080-439: The time-consuming review process had produced no suitably professional work. The same year, the company commemorated its 70th anniversary, dating to its inception as Timely Comics , by issuing the one-shot Marvel Mystery Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 and a variety of other special issues. On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced it would acquire Marvel Comics' parent corporation, Marvel Entertainment, for

10185-530: The wake of DC Comics ' success in reviving superheroes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly with the Flash , Green Lantern , Batman , Superman , Wonder Woman , Green Arrow , and other members of the team the Justice League of America , Marvel followed suit. In 1961, writer-editor Stan Lee revolutionized superhero comics by introducing superheroes designed to appeal to older readers than

10290-587: The world of [rival DC Comics '] Superman comic books, communism did not exist. Superman rarely crossed national borders or involved himself in political disputes. From 1962 to 1965, there were more communists [in Marvel Comics] than on the subscription list of Pravda . Communist agents attack Ant-Man in his laboratory, red henchmen jump the Fantastic Four on the moon, and Viet Cong guerrillas take potshots at Iron Man. All these elements struck

10395-472: The years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand. Marvel counts among its characters such well-known superheroes as Spider-Man , Iron Man , Wolverine , Captain America , Black Widow , Thor , Hulk , Daredevil , Doctor Strange , Black Panther , Captain Marvel , and Deadpool , as well as popular superhero teams such as the Avengers , X-Men , Fantastic Four , and Guardians of

10500-623: Was Kirby's artwork with its tension and psychedelia that made it perfect for the times—or was it Lee's bravado and melodrama, which was somehow insecure and brash at the same time? In addition to Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, Marvel began publishing further superhero titles featuring such heroes and antiheroes as the Hulk , Thor , Ant-Man , Iron Man , the X-Men , Daredevil , the Inhumans , Black Panther , Doctor Strange , Captain Marvel and

10605-453: Was for a reason and it might not match 100% but it's sort of just wanting to honor what existed but also give another take on it in this story." In 2019, Marvel published a one-issue continuation of its 1977 Star Wars comic series for the company's 80th anniversary, making it the first new story to be published in the Legends continuity. In 2021, Del Rey Books announced it would be republishing several popular Legends novels as part of

10710-487: Was helmed by soon-to-become editor-in-chief Joe Quesada ; it featured tough, gritty stories showcasing such characters as the Daredevil , the Inhumans , and Black Panther . With the new millennium, Marvel Comics emerged from bankruptcy and again began diversifying its offerings. X-Force #116 X-Force #119 (October 2001) was the first Marvel Comics title since The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 in 1971 to not have

10815-410: Was known from the vintage era of the movies," and would serve as a resource for a number of franchise novelists. The lack of new Star Wars material ended with the 1991 release of Timothy Zahn 's novel Heir to the Empire . Heir to the Empire , which reached #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list , began what would become a large collection of works set before, between, and especially after

10920-460: Was that she became the dark side entity Abeloth. Working with the insectoid Killik race, the Ones worked together to construct Centerpoint Station, which they used to imprison Abeloth on their planet, surrounding it with a cluster of black holes , later known as the Maw. Following this Abeloth's family relocated to the mysterious planet Mortis, leaving her to her lonely prison. Millennia later, following

11025-444: Was the first Sith'ari. Elegos A'kla A New Republic senator. Father of Releqy A'kla. Star Wars Expanded Universe With the exception of the animated The Clone Wars TV series , non-film material produced prior to April 2014 was collectively known as the Star Wars Expanded Universe ( EU ). Lucasfilm, now under Disney, later rebranded the Expanded Universe as Star Wars Legends and declared it non-canonical to

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