Alpha Flight is the name of several comic book titles featuring the team Alpha Flight and published by Marvel Comics , beginning with the original Alpha Flight comic book series from 1983 to 1994.
101-472: Marvel Omnibus is a line of large format, high quality, full color, hardcover graphic novel omnibuses published by Marvel Comics . They often contain complete runs, either by collecting multiple consecutive issues, or by focusing on the works of a particular writer or artist. The first omnibus released was Fantastic Four Vol. 1 in June 2005. It was 848 pages, and collected the first 30 issues and an Annual of
202-653: 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
303-414: 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
404-759: A 1,000-page omnibus. The top choice was the Spider-Man story The Death of Gwen Stacy ; followed by Civil War ( represented by Captain America #25 from the 2005 run), then Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt An anthology featuring adaptations of classic literature. An anthology series that collects all the comics released in the month a landmark character debuted. As part of the Marvel multiverse, other fictional continuities exist. Books in this section still contain Marvel characters; however, they are alternate versions who don't, or rarely, interact with characters from
505-617: 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
606-586: 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
707-541: 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
808-502: 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
909-518: 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
1010-505: 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
1111-518: 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
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#17327905323301212-524: 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
1313-535: 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
1414-466: A different flavor from what they’re buying”, but leading to comics companies avoiding “finding new readers... by selling more to existing ones”. The vast majority of Marvel omnibuses released between 2005 and September 2016 had a variant. The practice largely disappeared until early 2020, although, by 2021, every new Marvel omnibus again had more than one cover. Marvel’s Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, David Gabriel, said: “As long as no one
1515-477: A further series of one-shots was announced at the 2019 New York Comic Con. Marvel's The End omnibus contains the full run of all material across 18 years. The first appearance of Marvel Zombies was in Ultimate Fantastic Four #21, written by Mark Millar. He said: “I had this idea on the plane from Scotland about a superhero arriving from another dimension with a zombie plague and biting
1616-442: 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 ,
1717-591: 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
1818-598: 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
1919-469: 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
2020-525: 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
2121-422: A one-shot titled Alpha Flight: True North featuring the original lineup (with the exception of Aurora ) and written by Canadian writers Jim Zub , Jed MacKay and Ed Brisson to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the company. In August 2023, the team returned in a five-issue limited series written by Ed Brisson and drawn by Scott Godlewski , as part of the " Fall of X " relaunch. The lineup includes most of
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#17327905323302222-587: 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
2323-543: 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
2424-455: A response to "so much backstory that the stories (in the main books) were almost incomprehensible." Bill Jemas, President of Marvel Enterprises from 2000 to 2004, wrote: “Joe Quesada and I started the Ultimate books because we wanted Marvel to get back in touch with kids. We wanted Marvel's great teen heroes - Spidey and the X-Men - to star in comics for 2001 kids.” The first Ultimate universe
2525-404: 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
2626-533: 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
2727-423: A special Omnibus Edition which also allows us to gather new extras, redo files that need fixing and get the best possible re-creation available for all the pages. This process in turn allows us to then put out a better version of the paperback and keep that one in stock.” The omnibus launched three years after Marvel released its first oversized hardcover (or OHC). With the lines running side-by-side while sharing
2828-576: 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
2929-448: Is a largely standalone series, created by Peter B. Gillis and Brent Anderson, that was published by Marvel Comics from 1986. It saw “an alien invasion of Earth, countered by a programme that turned humans into superhumans, but would kill them in a year.” There were disputes over the series' ownership up until Gillis's death in June 2024. The Strikeforce: Morituri universe is designated as Earth-1287 . Ultimate Marvel launched in 2000 as
3030-441: Is designated as Earth-1610 . After Ultimate Spider-Man , Ultimate X-Men , and The Ultimates , Ultimate Fantastic Four was the final core book to launch in Marvel's new universe. Writers Mark Millar and Brian Michael Bendis worked together with artist Adam Kubert for the first six-issue arc, before Warren Ellis took on the series. Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City -based comic book publisher ,
3131-472: Is just taking advantage of customers and retailers, I think it [the production of variant covers] is going to continue to grow for a while.” These books contain stories that take place in the primary Marvel Universe . This fictional continuity is often referred to as Earth-616 , with a legacy that stretches back to 1939. Jim Starlin's interpretation of Adam Warlock was named by Publishers Weekly as one of Marvel's 10 hidden gems. The 1975 to 1977 portion of
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3232-576: 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 ",
3333-592: The Adam Warlock omnibus “is a heady, trippy sci-fi epic about what happens when a lab-created ‘perfect man‘ discovers that the evil messiah of the cruel intergalactic church he's been battling is, in fact, his own future self.” The omnibus also contains the introduction of infinity gems and Gamora. The all-Canadian team of Alpha Flight was first introduced in Uncanny X-Men #120, written by Chris Claremont, alongside John Byrne ; who also provided art for
3434-507: 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
3535-682: 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
3636-515: 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
3737-647: 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
3838-489: 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
3939-526: 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,
4040-491: The Avengers when they showed up to contain the problem. Everyone hated it. It was so universally loathed and everyone thought I was kidding when I suggested it.” Despite that, after the first appearance, the concept grew to launch its own series, with Marvel Zombies and Marvel Zombies 2 written by The Walking Dead creator, Robert Kirkman . The initial Zombies universe is designated Earth-2149 . Strikeforce: Morituri
4141-570: 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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4242-577: 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
4343-507: The DCU for Kingdom Come.” The Earth X universe is designated as Earth-9997 . After a two-year run on The Incredible Hulk in the 1990s, writer Peter David and artist Dale Keown re-teamed for Hulk: The End , a one-shot showcasing the character's final days. The success of that book led to multiple miniseries in the following six years, chronicling the final days of various Marvel Universe superheroes. After 12 years with no further material,
4444-799: 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
4545-524: 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
4646-760: 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,
4747-520: 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
4848-550: The authorities.” That issue is collected in Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer Omnibus Vol. 1 . Marvel Comics held the rights to publish Godzilla comics for two years from 1977. The series ended after 24 monthly issues, when copyright holder Toho “asked for a large increase to its license fee after the first year of the series, and an even larger increase after the second year”. In 2024, “thanks to an exciting new collaboration with Toho International”, Marvel released
4949-519: 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
5050-483: The comic. Senior vice president at Marvel, David Gabriel, told the New York Times the idea came from “trying to come up with a product tie-in for the Fantastic Four film to be released that summer — ‘something to get the extreme collector excited‘.” The book “sold out in a few weeks” and Kuo-Yu Liang, a vice president for Diamond Comic Distributors, said that trend for larger, more-expensive books: “reflects
5151-584: 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
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#17327905323305252-668: 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
5353-442: 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
5454-579: 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
5555-541: 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
5656-545: The demographics of the consumer, who is both older and more affluent.” After that success, four omnibuses followed in 2006: Alias (March), Uncanny X-Men Vol.1 (May), Eternals (July), and New X-Men (December). The line has seen enormous growth, with 12 omnibuses released in 2009; 19 in 2014; 33 in 2019; and 89 in 2024. The creation of an omnibus allows Marvel to improve its overall process of releasing collected editions. Gabriel said: “[Material has] been allowed to go out of press, say Secret Wars , in order for us to create
5757-503: 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
5858-533: The events of the company-wide crossover " Secret Wars " in 2015, a relaunched Marvel universe began in September 2015, called the All-New, All-Different Marvel . Alpha Flight (comic book) Created by John Byrne , the team first appeared in X-Men #120 (April 1979 ). The team was originally merely a part of the backstory of the X-Men 's Wolverine but, in 1983, Marvel launched an eponymous series featuring
5959-526: 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
6060-487: The first major, openly gay character created by Marvel Comics, Northstar generated significant publicity in the mainstream press and Alpha Flight #106 sold out in a week, despite the fact that the series was not a very popular title. It is the only comic book issue to have been inducted into the Gaylactic Hall of Fame . The event was also controversial, and almost no mention was made of his sexual orientation for
6161-453: The first release of Fantastic Four Vol. 1 in 2005. The main ‘bookshop’ cover featured the original artwork from Fantastic Four #1, drawn by Jack Kirby ; with a ‘variant’ version of the same image produced by Alex Ross . Variant covers are exclusive for the direct market , meaning they are only available from comic book shops, or specialist retailers. The practice is polarising, being described as both “exciting options for readers who want
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#17327905323306262-402: 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
6363-516: 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
6464-545: The full run in a single omnibus. Brian Michael Bendis wrote the entirety of the Alias series, which introduced the character of Jessica Jones to the Marvel Universe. The character “eschews costumes, works and plays hard, and opens up a set of detective stories unlike any the comics had seen before. Bendis provided a character with real heart and a unique point of view, and it’s one that has broadened Marvel’s horizons across mediums.” The Alias omnibus came out in March 2006. It
6565-526: The group, which continued until 1994, lasting 130 issues as well as annuals and miniseries. Three short-lived revivals have been attempted since, most recently an eight-issue limited series in 2011–12, after the resurrection of the team in the one shot comic Chaos War: Alpha Flight during the Chaos War event. Though reluctant to take the job, John Byrne wrote and drew the series for 28 issues before handing it off to another creative team. During that time,
6666-522: The issue. The debut led to the spin-off series, with Byrne writing the first 28 issues - all of which is collected in the Alpha Flight by John Byrne omnibus. Jed MacKay's Black Cat omnibus contains the complete series. The story spun out of Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #16, where the character crossed the Thieves Guild, “leading her to go on the run both from the secret order as well as
6767-462: The licence in 2023. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl omnibus contains the full 58-issue run of the comic, written by Ryan North , with art from Erica Henderson . The series begins with the superheroine starting college, before quickly having to face down planet-wide threats. At the time of publication, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl was the longest non-event Marvel omnibus, at 1,616 pages. Since then, The Immortal Hulk omnibus has been released with
6868-410: The mainstream Earth-616 section. Marvel‘s 2099 universe was a project “intended to explore the future of the Marvel Comics universe”, that was imagined by writer Stan Lee, as something for him to work on with artist John Byrne. The collaboration “fell through”; however, the line was commissioned by Editor Joey Cavalieri. He said the books “offered a chance to create the Marvel Universe all over again. At
6969-437: The mid-2000s, large comics events had become an annual tradition for Marvel, with Avengers Disassembled (2004), House of M (2005) and Civil War (2006-2007) providing enormous sales success. Marvel have used the omnibus format to collect full events, including the main run of comics, plus all related tie-ins. The breadth of material means the company's largest omnibus is Avengers vs. X-Men , at 1,680 pages. Two more of
7070-495: 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
7171-469: 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,
7272-416: 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
7373-506: The new team, is called "You Gotta Be Kiddin' Me". The second six-issue story arc, entitled "Waxing Poetic", saw the return of some original team members as both the original versions visited in the past, and temporal copies brought to the present. The series was canceled with issue #12. In 2011, the team appeared in a series tied to the crossover storyline Fear Itself , with the newly alive team to be joined by Puck. In June 2019, Marvel Comics announced that Alpha Flight would return in
7474-501: 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
7575-410: 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
7676-403: 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
7777-500: 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
7878-406: 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
7979-614: The remainder of the first Alpha Flight series. The issue of Alpha Flight in which Northstar came out was hugely popular and the New York Magazine reported that a store in Bleecker Street in New York City resorted to making customers who wanted to buy a copy of it to buy a second comic. This was criticized but outside the law. Later they made a policy that everyone who bought a copy had to buy an issue of
8080-438: 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
8181-516: The same page count. [Director's Cut of Giant-Size X-Men #1 and Uncanny X-Men #94 –206] Marvel's first major line-wide event was Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars in 1984. The event “capitalized on the success of previous crossovers to make an epic storyline involving most of the Marvel Universe”. It also introduced Spider-Man's black costume - and ultimately the Venom symbiote. By
8282-494: The same print size, there was often confusion in regards to how Marvel classified books. In 2015, a Spider-Verse ‘oversized hardcover’ was released at 648 pages; yet, months later, a Superior Foes Of Spider-Man ‘omnibus’ came out, with only 376 pages. Both collected full runs of a Spider-Man miniseries that had been released within the prior two years. In February 2019, the Hulk: Dogs Of War ‘oversized hardcover’
8383-431: The series The Punisher War Zone as well. The store claimed they did this to prevent hoarding of the comic. The policy was in effect for thirty minutes till the store was all sold out. In the end they received only one complaint. Alpha Flight continued for 130 issues, and introduced dozens of characters and villains. The series ended in 1994. In 1997, Marvel relaunched the series with different characters. The series
8484-512: The series' storylines generally dealt with the personal problems of one or two characters at a time, seldom bringing all the members together or confronting problems outside the team itself. This approach drew some criticism. Byrne left, trading titles with then- Incredible Hulk scribe Bill Mantlo , who stepped in to become the series's longest-running writer. Later writers on Alpha Flight include James Hudnall , Fabian Nicieza , Scott Lobdell , and Simon Furman . Byrne's successor as penciler
8585-611: 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
8686-433: 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
8787-439: 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
8888-454: The top-five longest omnibuses are also events: War of the Realms (1,576) and King in Black (1,568). The following omnibuses either collect Anthology series not necessarily following one ongoing story, or collect various comics that share a unifying theme. In 2014, The company used the format to help celebrate its 75th anniversary, by allowing fans to vote for the best comics be included in
8989-454: The very beginning of the Marvel Universe of 2099, there are no superheroes. We start to see them, one by one, just as you did in the ‘60s.” The 2099 universe is designated as Earth-2099 . The Earth X universe was created by Dave Kreuger and Alex Ross, and “showed a possible near future for the Marvel Universe”. The project came from “an article for Wizard Magazine and their reaction to the amazing work Alex had done in reimagining and designing
9090-530: 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
9191-587: 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
9292-419: 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
9393-400: Was Mike Mignola , and subsequently Dave Ross, another Canadian, though he claims that his nationality was not a factor in his being chosen for the series, and that Marvel even sent him a box full of Canadian reference material after he was given the assignment. In Alpha Flight #106 (1992), writer Scott Lobdell was given permission to have the character Northstar state, "I am gay." As
9494-441: Was 2007’s Devil Dinosaur at 184 pages, while the largest oversized hardcover was 2013’s Avengers vs. X-Men Companion at 1,112 pages. The practice of having multiple covers for the same comic book has been a feature of the industry since the mid-1980s. This increased throughout the 1990s, with the five covers for 1991's X-Men #1 helping it to sell a record-breaking 8.1 million copies. Marvel omnibuses have used variants since
9595-446: Was 832 pages; while, four months later, Hulk by Loeb and McGuinness was a 912-page ‘omnibus’. The contents of an OHC and omnibus may be identical: The 2011 ‘oversized hardcover’ of X-Men: Fall Of The Mutants was re-released with the exact same page count and cover in 2022, while using ‘omnibus’ branding. Similarly, 2025’s X-Men: Fatal Attractions ‘omnibus’ has the same content to the 2012 ‘oversized hardcover’. The smallest omnibus
9696-572: 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
9797-487: 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
9898-481: Was inspired in part by Donald Glover's appearance in the TV series Community dressed as Spider-Man . Bendis said: "[Glover] looked fantastic! I saw him in the costume and thought, 'I would like to read that book.' So I was glad I was writing that book." Marvel's original 1979 comic, Rom: Spaceknight , ran for seven years and was based on a toy line. IDW Publishing produced Rom comics from 2016, before Marvel regained
9999-500: Was on Department H's consistently hidden agenda and Alpha Flight's reluctance to comply thereto. Despite initial positive buzz, the series never took off and the conspiracy plotlines were downplayed for the remaining six issues of the series. The series ended with issue #20 with most of the major storylines unresolved. In 2004, Marvel started a new volume of Alpha Flight, with the "All-New, All-Different" prefix. The first six-issue story arc, which shows Sasquatch attempting to construct
10100-618: Was the second Marvel omnibus to be released overall, and the third reprint - in 2021 - was re-titled Jessica Jones: Alias . Based on a Mego Corporation toy line, the Micronauts comics were produced by Marvel between 1979 and 1986. Marvel re-acquired the publishing rights in 2023. Miles Morales is a half-Black, half-Hispanic teenager and was created by Brian Michael Bendis. The character first appeared in Ultimate Comics: Fallout #4. Bendis told USA Today that he
10201-400: Was written by Steven Seagle , then known mainly for his work for DC Comics ' Vertigo line, with art mostly by Scott Clark and Duncan Rouleau . One issue, #13, featured guest art by Ashley Wood in an unusually conventional style for him, but still very distinctive for a Marvel superhero comic. This series ended in 1999 after only twenty issues and an annual . The focus of this series
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