Guide Note

Marvel Comics is one of the largest and most well-known comic book publishers in the world, rivaled only by DC. The best-known Marvel characters, many of them co-created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, include Spider-Man, the X-Men and The Hulk. Marvel Comics is a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, which also produces cartoons and feature films based on Marvel Comics characters. A few recent films based on Marvel characters include Iron Man and ' The Incredible Hulk.

Fast Facts

1. Founded: 1939
2. Previous names: Timely Comics, Atlas Comics
3. Editor-in-chief: Joe Quesada

Marvel was founded as Timely Comics in 1939. At that time the company did not focus soley on superhero comics, publishing humor comics, adventure and western comics, and several other genres. By the 1950 the company was known as Atlas Comics, And some of the biggest names in comics- Joe Simon and Stan Lee to name a few- had already been working for the company for some time. Following the success of DC's Justice League superhero book in the early 1960s, the superhero genre was beginning to show itself as the dominant genre it would become. By this time the company had its second name change to Marvel Comics and began vigorously building its superhero titles. Among the successful titles that came out of this period are The Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, and The X-Men. Marvel was also had veritable stable of top talent on staff, including Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and John Romita. Their success hinged on creating characters and writing stories about people with genuine human flaws and problems as opposed to DC's seemingly-infallible and unflappable heroes. The "Marvel Method" still survives today and is still fueling the company's success.