91-412: The Drummer may refer to: Drummer (comics) , a fictional character from the comic book Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday The Drummer (2007 film) , a Hong Kong film directed by Kenneth Bi The Drummer (2020 film) , an American film starring Danny Glover The Drummer (play) , a 1716 play by Joseph Addison The Drummer (Flanagan) ,
182-653: 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
273-414: 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
364-543: A Nazi rocket scientist, Süskind participated in Dowling's space expedition. Endowed with the powers of invisibility and force field generation (like the Fantastic Four's Invisible Woman), Süskind is Dowling's principal assassin. She wears special goggles that Dowling invented for her; these goggles enable her to see when using her powers, as light passes through an invisible woman's eyes. Leather's mother, Miriam,
455-492: A "piece of crap" years after his death when telling Jakita about him. A brilliant scientist from the hidden and technologically advanced African city of Opak-re. She and Elijah Snow became lovers during the latter's journey to Opak-re in the early 1930s. After Elijah departed the city to continue exploring the world, she and Blackstock began an affair which led to the birth of their daughter, Jakita Wagner. Elijah returned to Opak-re to find that she and her child had been exiled from
546-617: 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
637-463: A better world for both their homelands. With the exception of Brass, he and the rest of the superhuman cabal were killed by the Bleed invaders. He is the father of Anna Hark, a Secret Society member and an exponentially powerful corporate figure allied with Planetary. He is possibly meant as an homage to Yellow Peril anti-heroes such as Sax Rohmer 's Fu Manchu . Marvel Comics Marvel Comics
728-586: 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
819-678: A bronze sculpture "The Drummer" (fairy tale) , one of Grimms' Fairy Tales "The Drummer" (song) , a 2022 song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title The Drummer . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Drummer&oldid=1169172276 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
910-541: 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
1001-502: 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
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#17328012874201092-518: 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
1183-505: 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
1274-518: 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
1456-535: 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
1547-442: 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 ,
1638-461: A member of Axel Brass' superhuman cabal, Hark is dead by the start of the main storyline. While his past is never explored in any significant detail, Hark was a super genius whose power and influence threatened global stability; years after his death, Brass recalls him as the greatest mind that ever came out of Asia. He and Brass originally met as enemies, but Brass was able to convince Hark that instead of fighting each other they should cooperate towards
1729-591: 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
1820-598: 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
1911-469: 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
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#17328012874202002-525: 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
2093-489: A pitch black duster and stetson with a metallic mask to cover his face. Always busy fighting crime, he never bothered much with his wife. As a result she had an affair with a loan shark, leading to the birth of Bret's "son", William Leather. With the exception of Brass, he and the rest of the superhuman cabal were killed by the Bleed invaders. He is meant to be an homage to pulp magazine antiheroes like The Green Hornet , The Shadow and The Spider . A Century Baby from Asia and
2184-525: A reference to the Satan Claw, signature weapon of Nick Fury's rival Baron Strucker . An agent of the Hark Corporation, and sent by employer Anna Hark to investigate an alien device found in the foundations of a building. On coming into contact with the device Wilder is transformed into a metahuman and learns that the device is called a "travelstone", and part of the emergency escape system of
2275-543: 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
2366-419: A sentient spacecraft. Learning that the vessel requires living beings to perform functions such as fuel, propulsion and navigation, Wilder locates other metahumans from an experiment called Science City Zero who serve as the components of the ship and allow it to leave Earth with its new crew. It is eventually revealed that Hark - operating in conjunction with John Stone - engineered Wilder's initial encounter with
2457-404: 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
2548-533: 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
2639-465: A space expedition and reappear with metahuman abilities (a reference to Marvel Comics ' Fantastic Four ). The Four then act as a covert organization and begin to hoard the world's secrets for themselves. The leader of the Four. The creator of Science City Zero (a project involving experimentation on political dissidents, which often resulted in mutations), Dowling uses a secret military project to launch
2730-576: 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
2821-593: A trait Snow characterizes as having been inherited from both of her parents. The Drummer is the information gathering specialist of the Planetary field team, with his code name referring to the drum sticks he uses to aid his concentration. He was initially one of several children who were orphaned and kidnapped by the Four, due to the children's ability to communicate with and control electronic systems, and also gain information directly from their surroundings. The Four were planning to use these children to gain control over
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2912-433: Is Dowling's primary field operative as Greene is reserved for only the most dangerous missions and Süskind typically participates only in clandestine operations. At some point prior to the story, Leather killed someone dear to Elijah Snow. He is eventually captured by Planetary and tortured by Snow into revealing the location of Süskind and Dowling. The last mention of him is near the end of the series when Snow tells Jakita and
3003-640: 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
3094-650: Is also a member of the Secret Society (others include the Aviator; Bret Leather; Thomas Edison , the inventor; Hark, an Asian mastermind; Jimmy, a U.S spy; and Lord Blackstock). In 1945 the Society builds a quantum computer, which appears as a manifestation of the multiverse. With the exception of Brass, the entire Society is killed preventing an invasion of his dimension by a group of superhumans meant to correspond to DC Comics ' Justice League , whose own dimension
3185-450: Is an homage to Fu Manchu , the clever crime lord character by Sax Rohmer . A spy and sometime confidant of Snow. He is nearly as old as Snow yet appears to be no older than 50. Revealed to be an unwilling agent of the Four, and eventually saved by Snow. He began his career in espionage with the OSS during World War II. According to Snow, Stone essentially invented psychological operations. It
3276-529: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Drummer (comics) Planetary is an American comic book limited series created by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics . Describing themselves as "Archaeologists of the Impossible", Planetary is an organization determined to discover
3367-403: Is on the verge of destruction. Crippled in the battle, Brass watches over the computer for over four decades until rescued by the Planetary field team. Brass recuperates in a Planetary hospital and acts as an adviser and confidant to Elijah Snow. Brass's character is an homage to Doc Savage . Like Jakita Wagner, Anna Hark is the daughter of a Century Baby and Secret Society member (Hark). Heir to
3458-442: Is revealed that the reason he does not age is because of some remedy and/or technological enhancement the Four shared with him. Stone is an homage to Marvel's Nick Fury and Ian Fleming's James Bond . John Stone also has a strange right hand, which he calls "The Devil's Paw". This hand might well be inspired by Michael Moorcock 's Corum Jhaelen Irsei - Moorcock's name appears on a streetsign in an earlier issue. This could also be
3549-576: 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 ",
3640-507: 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
3731-682: 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
The Drummer - Misplaced Pages Continue
3822-515: 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
3913-538: The Lost City of Opar , from Tarzan's novels) the infant was abandoned due to the forbidden nature of their union. Having loved her mother, Snow arranges for the infant's adoption by a German couple (hinted to be the same couple that raised The High of the Wildstorm Universe). Jakita develops superhuman abilities (e.g. enhanced strength, speed, and senses), but also possesses a very low tolerance for boredom,
4004-647: 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
4095-489: 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
4186-526: 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,
4277-570: 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
4368-577: 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
4459-685: The Drummer that he is undergoing mental rehabilitation to restore his personality as well as physical therapy to restore his eyes. What Snow plans to do with him after his recovery is unknown. A former World War II fighter pilot, Greene participated in Randall Dowling's space expedition and was mutated into an immensely durable but hideous being (similar to the Fantastic Four's Thing ). Barely capable of speech, Greene remained in seclusion unless required by Dowling to engage in extremely hazardous missions. An adventurer and Century Baby, Axel Brass
4550-465: The Four into space, and secretly brokers a bargain with an alien race to gain metahuman abilities. In return, Dowling promises the alien beings the Earth. Dowling himself has the ability to "stretch" his mind, and "pilfer" information from the minds of those who have been in his proximity. This stretching ability is a nod to Mr. Fantastic's body-stretching powers. Randall Dowling's lover and the daughter of
4641-799: 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
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#17328012874204732-465: The Hark Legacy, Anna is Jim Wilder's employer and manipulates him into becoming a metahuman. Despite having manipulated Wilder, she cares for him a great deal, routinely calling him to see if he is eating properly as well as warmly embracing him after he had been away. Eventually, she is convinced by Elijah Snow to ally with Planetary and spread the resources previously hoarded by The Four. Her father
4823-579: 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
4914-760: 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,
5005-520: 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
5096-541: The ability to distort space and time in his immediate vicinity, Chase was recruited by Snow, and assumed leadership of the field team when Snow left Planetary. A team was confronting a group that planned to raid fiction stories for profit. Chase is seemingly killed during this mission but he has managed to 'freeze' himself. With the aid of the Planetary group, Chase returns. The Four are the principal antagonists of (Planetary) . Randall Dowling, Kim Süskind, William Leather and Jacob Greene are four astronauts who disappear during
5187-519: 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
5278-621: The city and befriended its citizens. He later fathered Jakita with Anaykah, a beautiful scientist from Opak-re (and originally Snow's lover). An ally of both Axel Brass and Elijah Snow, Blackstock is killed attempting to fight off the Bleed invaders. Blackstock is a metahuman Tarzan analogue, and the name is similar to Tarzan's own, Lord Greystoke; while his other name, Kevin Sack, is similar to Kevin Plunder , Marvel Comics' own Tarzan analogue. Snow did not think highly of Blackstock, referring to him as
5369-492: The city as it is forbidden for Opak-re's citizens to reproduce with outsiders. Anaykah entrusted her infant daughter to Elijah, believing him to be a loving man and that she knows he will do what is right. She then returned to Opak-re in the hopes that her people would forgive her. Elijah remembers her as the first true love of his life. Son of John Leather (AKA the Dead Ranger, a reference to The Lone Ranger ), Bret Leather
5460-584: 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
5551-668: 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
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#17328012874205642-442: 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
5733-579: 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
5824-541: 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
5915-503: 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
6006-526: 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
6097-402: 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
6188-516: 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
6279-402: The internet. When the Planetary field team attempted to free the captive children, they are killed by Four agents, with Jakita Wagner only able to save the Drummer. He is then adopted by Snow and recruited into Planetary. Ambrose Chase was a Planetary field team member, and the son of a test subject from Science City Zero, an experimentation center created by the Four's Randall Dowling. Born with
6370-495: 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
6461-469: 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,
6552-416: 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
6643-501: 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
6734-410: 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
6825-403: 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
6916-500: 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
7007-406: 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
7098-438: 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
7189-611: 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
7280-433: 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
7371-439: 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
7462-668: The travelstone. Wilder is an homage to Captain Marvel . Kevin Sack, also known as Lord Blackstock, is a Century Baby and the father of Jakita Wagner. He came of age in Africa, and at some point befriended the people of Opak-re, a technologically advanced society hidden deep in the African jungle. After returning to England as a young adult, he found that his family had purchased a noble title. Elijah Snow first met him during his expedition to Opak-re; with Blackstock's help, Snow gained entry into
7553-530: 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
7644-523: 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
7735-488: The world's secret history. Elijah Snow is initially presented as a vagrant missing many memories of his past. Snow is recruited as an investigator for the Planetary field team by Jakita Wagner. Possessing the ability of heat subtraction, Snow assists the Planetary team. Snow's memories eventually return and he realizes that he is in fact a Century Baby (all born on January 1, 1900, and exhibiting radically decreased aging and other superhuman abilities), and that his recruitment
7826-419: 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
7917-623: 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
8008-411: Was a Century Baby and a member of Axel Brass' superhuman cabal. His father having been a Texas Ranger, Bret grew up with a firm respect for the law. After inheriting a fortune from his father, Bret moved from Texas to Chicago and funded a progressive newspaper. Growing bored with the socialite lifestyle, he decided to take advantage of his superpowers and fight crime as The Spider; his outfit consisted of
8099-487: 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
8190-471: Was not the beginning of his history with Planetary; he is in fact the enigmatic Fourth Man who created Planetary. IGN named him 54th of the Top 100 Comic Book Heroes. During Elijah Snow's absence, metahuman Jakita Wagner is the field leader for the Planetary team. Eventually revealed to be the daughter of Lord Blackstock (another Century Baby) and a scientist in the hidden African city of Opak-Re (a reference to
8281-454: Was the wife of Bret Leather, a Century Baby and costumed adventurer. As Miriam was unfaithful to her husband, Leather was cheated of his birthright and did not inherit his father's abilities. Leather then joins Dowling, having been promised true power. Courtesy of the space expedition Leather participates in, he receives amplified strength, durability and energy projection, the latter his point of similarity to (the Fantastic Four's Human Torch). He
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