94-543: In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse , Earth-616 is the primary continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place. The designation "Earth-616" has its origins in Captain Britain comics from the early 1980s and can be attributed to both Dave Thorpe and Alan Moore . The term was first used in "Rough Justice", a story credited to both Alan Moore and Alan Davis published in July 1983 by Marvel UK in
188-653: 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
282-414: 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
376-617: 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
470-586: 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
564-541: 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
658-502: 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
752-518: 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
846-505: 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
940-518: 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
1034-524: 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
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#17327729059001128-535: 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
1222-442: 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 ,
1316-591: 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
1410-598: 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
1504-469: 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
1598-525: 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
1692-543: 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
1786-697: A role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), with the central and main universe having been known as Earth-199999 in external media and Earth-616 in internal media. The concept was first introduced in Doctor Strange (2016) before becoming the focal point of the franchise in " The Multiverse Saga " (2021–present). Additionally, the Multiverse has also been explored in the X-Men film series , Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), and
1880-404: 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
1974-533: 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
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#17327729059002068-576: 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
2162-640: 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
2256-551: Is a single dimension, such as Earth-616 , the mainstream Marvel Universe. A reality is the collection of a universe, where a version of the planet Earth exists, and the various other dimensions associated with it, like Asgard, the Dark Dimension, or the Negative Zone. Universes, where a planet Earth exists, are infinite, and there is (generally) one version of Asgard, one version of the Dark Dimension, one version of
2350-475: Is an "alternate timeline". Earth-616 is the established main universe where the majority of Marvel books take place. The Marvel multiverse is protected from imbalance by the Living Tribunal , a vastly powerful humanoid cosmic entity, who is one for the entire multiverse. It may act to prevent one universe from amassing more power than any of the others or from upsetting the cosmic balance in some way. It
2444-609: Is as yet unstated. The numeric designations of these alternate universes have been confirmed by Marvel Comics throughout the years and compiled in 2005's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes , and in Marvel publications since the release of the Handbook . Many official numbers are random or use other numbers as a base, the best example of this is Ultimate Marvel . 1610
2538-656: Is only overseen by the One-Above-All , an omnipotent entity said to have created the entire Marvel Multiverse. According to the origin mythology, at the beginning there was only one universe, The First Firmament, but due to actions of Celestials existing there, it diverged. Then, the Multiverse went through several incarnations and eventually the Big Bang caused the existence of the Seventh Cosmos, where most well-known heroes originated. The seventh iteration of
2632-528: Is the swapped numbers of 616 with a 0 to differentiate it from the already existing 161. In addition, many universes have also been designated with numbers by fans with various methods for the numbering, such as the birth date of an important Marvel staff member (artist Nelson Ribeiro for the Transformers U.S. Universe, Earth-91274 ) or the spelling of a name with a touch-tone phone ( Animated Silver Surfer Earth-936652, spells out Zenn-La). In 2014, during
2726-658: The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes . The numerical designations for these are rarely revealed outside of reference works such as the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 . A.R.M.O.R. and Project Pegasus however seem to possess vast knowledge of other Marvel realities, using the same designations; whether this is simply narrative convenience on behalf of Marvel's authors or an unusual decision by these agencies to use an effectively alien catalog method
2820-573: The Spider-Verse franchise , with an emphasis on the latter regarding multiple versions of Spider-Man. The Multiverse is the collection of alternate universes that share a universal hierarchy. A large variety of these universes were originated from another due to a major decision on the part of a character. Some can seem to be taking place in the past or future due to differences in how time passes in each universe. Often, new universes are born due to time traveling; another name for these new universes
2914-576: 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 ",
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3008-507: 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
3102-682: 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
3196-515: 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
3290-580: The Molecule Man results in the destruction of the Multiverse, triggering various 'incursions' as Earths crash together and destroy each other, the Beyonders' assault culminating in Doctor Doom stealing the power of the remaining Beyonders and bringing the last of the parallel universes together into a single 'Battleworld'. Doom rules this reality for eight years until key heroes and villains from
3384-647: 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
3478-603: The Ultimate Marvel titles, Amazing Spider-Girl , the Marvel Adventures titles or GeNext , though it is possible that the issue of time may be related to their exclusion. This was apparently retconned during the " X-Men: Messiah Complex " storyline, where Forge stated that all mutants in possible future timelines were depowered, not in parallel universes. This, in addition to A.R.M.O.R.'s observation that Lyra arrived from an alternate reality indicates that
3572-489: 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
3666-551: The number of the beast , picked because Thorpe disliked the modern superhero genre and expressed this in various ways in his stories, including recording his opinion of the Marvel Universe with the 616 designation. As a coincidence, 616 was discovered as a variant of 666 both with the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus and Papyrus 115 in 2005. In a 2019 interview with Rich Johnston , Thorpe confirmed that
3760-526: 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,
3854-570: 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
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3948-577: 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
4042-799: 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
4136-579: 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
4230-496: The Marvel Multiverse. As such, there can logically only be one Omniverse, as anything and everything that currently exists, existed in the past, can potentially exist at any time or may exist in the future is a part of it. As stated above, nearly every imprint, timeline and appearances in other media have its own separate universe. Most of these have been cataloged by Marvel Comics in many publications, being most notable
4324-512: The Multiverse was destroyed as a consequence of the phenomena known as incursions and was eventually reborn as the eighth thanks to Reed Richards. According to him the ultimate fate of the Multiverse is to perish in all-encompassing heat death. According to Forge , mutants living on these alternate Earths have lost their powers due to M-Day , as stated in " Endangered Species "; however, this mass depowering has not been seen in any of Marvel's current alternate reality publications such as Exiles ,
4418-626: The Negative Zone, and so on, associated with each. For example, beings like Dormammu and gods like Odin hail from separate dimensions, but they all nevertheless belong to Reality-616, and other realities like the MCU, have different variants of these characters. Note that whether any given specific use of the term " Marvel Universe " refers to the Marvel Multiverse (in general) or to the Reality-616 (in particular) can only be determined by
4512-760: 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,
4606-520: 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
4700-540: The artist on the UK-published series. Davis later had a run as both writer and artist on the book. Any Marvel comic book since Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 that is not explicitly designated an alternate universe or timeline is assumed to take place within the Earth-616 continuity. It is the "status quo" that all other universes diverge from and iterate on. Earth-616 is referred to by name numerous times over
4794-459: The believed designation of Earth-8107 . This has created some debate among readers, as some believe that the "Spiders" with numbers that do not match the "original" ones are alternate versions, or if the former numbers should be completely dismissed, despite being official. In the 2015 Secret Wars series, a confrontation with the Beyonders over the fate of the various alternate versions of
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#17327729059004888-519: 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
4982-584: 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
5076-618: 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
5170-442: 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
5264-500: The context of its use. A multiverse is the collection of alternate universes, with a similar nature and a universal hierarchy. The Marvel Multiverse contains the universe that holds Reality-616, most of the What If ? universes, as well as the vast number of the alternate Marvel Universe Earths. A Megaverse is a collection of alternate multiverses, which do not necessarily need to have similar natures and universal hierarchies. The term
5358-579: 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
5452-476: 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
5546-685: The decades, primarily in Marvel UK titles, in Excalibur, or in Marvel reference texts such as the guide to Alternate Universes (2005). In addition, there are a number of other references to Earth-616: The term has also appeared in Exiles (in, among others, the House of M tie-in issues) and is in regular use by the writers of Marvel's Official Handbook s for the simplicity of the term. There has been at least one attempt within Marvel canon to change
5640-534: The designation of Earth-616. In the final story arc of X-Man (issues #71–74), writer Steven Grant began to refer to the planet as "Earth-611" due to the destruction of several other Earths (which were all apparently "higher on the list" of the Multiverse than the Marvel Earth) by a godlike entity. This change, an allusion to the events of DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths , was not adopted by other writers. Former Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort have each stated their dislike for
5734-443: 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
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#17327729059005828-407: 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
5922-402: 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
6016-442: 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
6110-495: 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
6204-400: 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,
6298-517: The mystic trinity of Vishanti to defend the world against threats primarily magical in nature from within and beyond and bearing the Eye of Agamotto . Later on, many writers would use and reshape the Multiverse in titles such as Exiles , X-Men , and Ultimate Fantastic Four . New universes would also spin out of storylines involving time-traveling characters such as Rachel Summers , Cable , and Bishop , as their actions rendered their home times alternate timelines . The multiverse also plays
6392-416: 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
6486-501: 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
6580-410: The number was derived from subtracting 50 from 666, but that the reference to the number of the beast was due to the fact that the designation was intended for the "Crooked World" of the Jaspers' Warp storyline. However, when Moore wrote the story for The Daredevils , the Crooked World was designated Earth 238, and Earth 616 was used by Saturnyne to differentiate Brian Braddock, the Captain Britain of
6674-456: The office and only really see it used online for the most part. I think the term really came into vogue when the Ultimate Universe came into prominence, but in my world, the language and distinctions are simple, there is the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe. Anything other than that reeks of all that DC Earth 1, Earth 2, Earth Prime stuff which I've never really taken to, but then again, I got into DC when they got rid of all that stuff so it
6768-410: 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
6862-403: 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
6956-508: The pre-existing Multiverse are discovered and released by Doctor Strange , who had been acting as Doom's 'sheriff' until the discovery of the survivors gave him an alternative. In the heroes' final assault on Doom's fortress, the Molecule Man, who had been the source of Doom's power, transfers Doom's power to Mister Fantastic when Doom acknowledges that Reed would have done a better job as 'God' than he did. Having restored Earth-616 as it
7050-500: 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
7144-406: 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
7238-523: The publication of the " Spider-Verse " storyline, writer Dan Slott posted on Twitter that the numbers that appear in wiki entries and handbooks do not count, only those that are published within "actual" stories do. This was in response to the questions that the different numbers for some Earths appearing in Spider-Verse brought up, such as the Spider-Friends being from Earth-1983 and not
7332-646: The regular Marvel Comics universe, from the other members of the Captain Britain Corps , each of which inhabit different universes. After its use in The Daredevils , the designation was later used by the American branch of Marvel Comics in the Excalibur title, which frequently referred to Captain Britain's early UK-published adventures. This comic was written by Chris Claremont , who had created Captain Britain, and pencilled by Alan Davis,
7426-438: 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
7520-462: The seventh issue of the anthology comic The Daredevils (and was later reprinted in the Captain Britain trade paperback). Due to this, it is often credited to Moore, though Davis said in 2007 that the term had been internally established earlier by Thorpe, who was the previous writer for Captain Britain , as part of the "Captain Britain folklore". He said that it came from a variation on
7614-611: 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
7708-467: The term Earth-616. I can tell you for sure that those of us actually working on the books virtually never use the term—and I kind of wince inside whenever I hear somebody use it. It just sounds so stupid to my ear, and so counter to the kind of mindset we try to foster in regard to the stories we create and the thinking we try to employ. I never use it, I hate the term pure and simple and agree with Tom's assessment of it. I can't remember ever hearing it in
7802-433: 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
7896-439: 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
7990-453: The topology of the Marvel Multiverse is based on new realities branching off from key nodes of a timeline instead of strictly parallel dimensions. Not every alternate dimension is an entire independent universe, but instead maintain a parasitic relationship to a parent reality. Others can exist outside the multiversal structure altogether. The classification system for alternate realities was devised, in part, by Mark Gruenwald . A universe
8084-530: 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
8178-587: 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
8272-419: 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
8366-623: 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
8460-434: Was before the Beyonders' incursions began, Mister Fantastic departs to recreate the multiverse with the company of his restored family. Below is a short, non-comprehensive list of some of the most noteworthy and significant universes in the Marvel Multiverse. Most of these were designated in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe on both physical print and the digital Appendix. Marvel Comics Marvel Comics
8554-486: Was established as being protected by Merlyn . Each universe has a Captain Britain designated to protect its version of the British Isles. These protectors are collectively known as the Captain Britain Corps . This numerical notation was continued in the series Excalibur and other titles. Each universe of the Multiverse in Marvel also appears to be defended by a Sorcerer Supreme at nearly all times, appointed by
8648-582: Was from and for a different era than my own. Multiverse (Marvel Comics) Within Marvel Comics , most stories take place within the fictional Marvel Universe , which in turn is part of a larger multiverse . Starting with the Captain Britain story in The Daredevils #7, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616 , and the Multiverse
8742-487: 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
8836-533: Was posited in the 21st century edition of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes , and building on Mark Gruenwald 's original definition of the term, the Omniverse consists of all of fiction and reality combined, including all the works that are outside of Marvel's copyright restrictions, and therefore also outside
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