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The first Marvel Comic was produced in 1939, simply titled "Marvel Comics". It featured several characters which went on to become huge comic stars, such as The Human Torch, The Angel, and The Submariner.

During the 40's, Marvel mainly relied on one popular character, Captain America. His popularity soared as we just stepped into World War II shortly after he was published. He stood for freedom and justice and fought the tyranny of evil such as the Nazis.

Super Hero comics temporarily died out during the 50's. Horror and Sci-Fi comics were "In" then. Once the C.C.A. (Comics Code Authority) stepped in, however, they made certain that there were standards for comics, and no longer could Horror or Sci-Fi comics show such gruesome scenes. As the 60's rolled in, Super Heroes were the main thing again.

In 1961, Marvel's first series came to life as what is the now known as "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine". Fantastic Four sold well featuring The Human Torch and newly introduced characters such as Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman.

Marvel wasn't the only company at the time to come up with a catchy Super Hero comic, however. Amazing Fantasy #15 featured a new Super Hero sensation, Spider-Man. This issue went on to sell many copies and Marvel pursued the character. In 1962, Marvel obtained the rights to Spider-Man and gave him his own comic series. Also, in 1962, The Incredible Hulk was born. Probably the reason he was and is so popular is his relationship to the reader. He is a superhero that remains human in the inside.

1963 was a big year for Marvel. They came out with two new Super Hero teams that year; the Avengers and the X-Men. The Avengers featured all the big super heroes; Thor, Iron, Man, The Incredible Hulk, and even the return of Captain America, while the X-Men stared a new trend; mutants; humans born with super powers who must struggle with being different. The Angel returned in this one. The 60's was a good time for Marvel. All of the comics they had created in the 60's had sold well and gave Marvel the money to strive for new ideas.

The 70's spawned LOTS of new ideas. Marvel started several new series such as Conan the Barbarian, What If?, and more. They also came up with many new eyecatching stories for classics like Spider-Man and X-Men. They even made the very first Marvel Universe movies, although they didn't fare too well. Neither did their Spider-Man animated series. Still, Spider-Man did have his own album back then. One idea that did well was a live action series based on the Incredible Hulk comics. I'd say the 70's was Marvel's most popular year or at least, it was my favorite. Even X-Men has reprints of their classic stories of the 70's during the 80's.

The 80's featured more than reprints however. Many more series were started such as a second X-Title, X--Factor. Marvel produced more titles by the end of the 80's than they had ever produced before. They had around 40 some titles in the subscription pages of some of the comic books produced in 1989.

The 90's sparked new art styles and drew in many, young talented artists such as Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefield. Characters were definitely more realstic and action was a lot more fierce. Comics were approaching real-life issues more often. Still, Marvel continued to follow the standards of the C.C.A and did well.

While many of Marvel's best young writers and artists left during the early to mid 90's to form their own company, Marvel still prospered. Marvel had many new ideas such as a temporary universe change during the "Age of Apocalypse". They also have two animated series then; Spider-Man and X-Men. Both series were highly acclaimed and were on the air often. Even today, you can find reruns of these two series on television.

2000 and beyond. The popularity of comics started to decrease thanks to the newfound popularity and realisticness of video games and the shrinking ideas in comics. Still, Marvel found a way to maintain its popularity. It created two new animated series, Spider-Man Unlimited and The Avengers. It also produced an live action X-Men movie that sold extrememly well at the box office. A Spider-Man one is to be released in theatures soon.

So, what is planned for the future of Marvel Comics? More movies, more Marvel Comics video games, and hopefully, more animated series. Marvel has shrunk its comic lineup in order to provide more simple selections, but it has changed many teams in order to provide new character backgrounds and ideas. If Marvel can keep the ideas flowing, then they will continue to do well and keep their reign as the best selling comic book company around.

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