Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American publisher of comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide's parent company.

Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications, and by the early 1950s had generally become known as Atlas Comics. Marvel's modern incarnation dates from 1961, the year that the company launched The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others.

Marvel counts among its characters such well-known properties as Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Thor, Hulk and Ant-Man, such teams as the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Fantastic Four, the Inhumans and the X-Men, and antagonists such as Doctor Doom, The Enchantress, Green Goblin, Ultron, Doctor Octopus, Thanos, Magneto and Loki. Most of Marvel's fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe, with locations that mirror real-life cities. Characters such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Daredevil and Dr. Strange are based in New York City, whereas the X-Men have historically been based in Salem Center, New York and Hulk's stories often have been set in the American Southwest.

Marvel

Marvel may refer to:

Places

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In print

Comics

Business

X-Men

The X-Men are a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the characters first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963). They are among the most recognizable and successful intellectual properties of Marvel Comics, appearing in numerous books, television shows, films, and video games.

The X-Men are mutants, a subspecies of humans who are born with superhuman abilities. The X-Men fight for peace and equality between normal humans and mutants in a world where antimutant bigotry is fierce and widespread. They are led by Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X, a powerful mutant telepath who can control and read minds. Their archenemy is Magneto, a powerful mutant with the ability to generate and control magnetic fields. Professor X and Magneto have opposing views and philosophies regarding the relationship between mutants and humans. While Professor X works towards peace and understanding between mutants and humans, Magneto views humans as a threat and believes in taking an aggressive approach against them, though he has found himself working alongside the X-Men from time to time.

Marvel Masterworks

Marvel Masterworks is an American collection of hardcover and trade paperback comic book reprints published by Marvel Comics. They are printed in full color and feature various titles from the Golden Age, Pre-Code (Atlas Era), Silver Age, and Bronze Age of comics.

The collection started in 1987, with volumes reprinting the issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, and The Avengers. Approximately 10 issues are reprinted in each volume. In 2013 Masterworks published its 200th volume. The Masterworks line has expanded from such reprints of the 1960s period that fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books to include the 1930s–1940s Golden Age; comics of Marvel's 1950s Pre-Code forerunner, Atlas Comics; and even some reprints from the 1970s period called the Bronze Age of Comic Books.

There is also a black-and-white trade paperback line, Essential Marvel, with approximately 25 comics per volume; and the full-color, oversized, hardcover Omnibus line, each volume of which reprints the equivalent of three to four Masterworks.

Roy Thomas

Roy William Thomas, Jr. (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E. Howard's character and helped launch a sword and sorcery trend in comics. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes – particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America – and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Thomas was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2011.

Early life

Thomas was born in Jackson, Missouri, United States. As a child, he was a devoted comic book fan, and in grade school he wrote and drew his own comics for distribution to friends and family. The first of these was All-Giant Comics, which he recalls as having featured such characters as Elephant Giant. He graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 1961 with a BS in Education, having majored in history and social science.