The History of Marvel Comics

Podcast Transcript

Marvel Comics has been one of the most prolific comics publishers over the last century.

Not only have they been one of the biggest comic publishers, but they have also created some oft he most famous fictional characters in the modern world.

Popular superheroes like Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Avengers have cemented Marvel’s place in popular consciousness and built a brand worth billions.

Learn about the origins, development, and minds behind Marvel Comics on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Marvel Comics origin story can be traced back to 1939 and Martin Goodman.

Marvel was first published as part of Timely Publications, a magazine that focused on pulp fiction. Goodman had previously worked on creating Western pulp stories, but had wanted to take a chance at publishing something new.

Goodman decided to invest in comic books. This was largely a result of smaller companies that had been making comics pushing larger companies to take a risk on comics. Around this time, the popularity of comics was already rapidly growing, so Goodman took the leap.

Goodman published the first Marvel Comics in October 1939. The comics sold for 10 cents and proved a smashing success, selling 900,000 copies. It was so successful, in fact, that they reprinted the comic in the following month.

The first Marvel Comic featured two characters still used today: Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch. Both characters were considered to be rebellious and proved popular with the American audience. Although this version of the Human Torch wasn’t the same as the member of the Fantastic Four.

Marvel Comics was initially produced by an external packager named “Funnies, Inc.” This packager was responsible for the entire creation process, including writing, illustrating, editing, and printing the comic books, before selling the finished product to the main publishing company.

However, by 1940, Timely Publications had assembled its own staff to produce and publish comics without the aid of an outside third party. They hired their own editors, writers, and artists. The first two of these were Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

The duo of Simon and Kirby worked together to create their own original superhero stories. They focused on developing a patriotic character, which eventually became Captain America.

The first Captain America story, Captain America Comics #1, was published in March of 1941 and was another smashing success, selling almost a million copies. A copy of this issue was sold at auction in 2022 for $3.12 million.

Captain America’s popularity was particularly high because the character debuted before the United States formally entered World War II.

Captain America was presented as a character with the highest levels of human strength, speed, and endurance, rather than possessing superhuman powers.

Captain America became a symbol of American Patriotism and a propaganda figure, serving as a character who fought the Nazis. The comics continued to sell well after the US joined the war in late 1941.

Because of these successes, Goodman formally made “Timely Comics, Inc.,” in April of 1941. The company thrived during wartime.

While the first three Timely Comics characters were successful, none of the others achieved the same level of popularit, though they have appeared in modern comics and flashbacks. This led to a decline in the popularity of the superhero genre in the late 1940s.

The lull in the superhero genre was fairly short due to the outbreak of the Korean War. The comics once again capitalized on war-related themes.

To further diversify the company, Goodman opted to change the name of Timely Publications to “Atlas Publishing.” He also branched into new genres, including romance, Westerns, and horror, trying to capitalize on popular trends.

The potential success was cut short as Goodman faced financial struggles. He had been working to revive the superhero genre by creating new comics featuring his most popular characters. Still, he didn’t achieve breakout success and really only survived because his comics were cheap to make and the quality was passable.

Sales were severely damaged by two major events: the failure of Atlas’s new distributor following a lawsuit with the United States Justice Department, and the formation of a US Senate committee that claimed comics were inspiring imitative violence among young people.

Forced to seek a new distributor, Goodman partnered with “Independent News,” the same company used by their main competitor, D.C. Comics. While this partnership imposed strict limitations, it successfully sustained the business. In 1957, the company briefly changed its name to “Goodman Comics” before changing its name to “Marvel Comics.”

In the late 1950s and early 60s, D.C. Comics succeeded in reviving the superhero genre by publishing more comics featuring its most popular characters and by forming the Justice League of America, which saw those characters cross over and work together.

Marvel capitalized on D.C.’s success and revitalized the popularity of its comics.

Much of this can be attributed to Stan Lee.

Goodman had previously hired his wife’s cousin, Stanley Lieber, in 1939. The boy was just 16 years old when he became an office assistant and was later promoted to an interim editor of the comics line in 1941. When he was appointed in 1941, he wrote under the pseudonym “Stan Lee.”

Lee held the position of editor of the comics for decades, with the only break being his three years of service in World War II.

In 1961, Lee made a decision that revolutionized the comic book genre. This choice was to introduce heroes targeted to an older readership rather than children. This choice ushered in the “Marvel Age of Comics.”

The first of these new comics was “The Fantastic Four,” published in 1961. This comic was the first modern superhero team created by Marvel and completely broke comic-book conventions. The characters were presented as celebrities, with nuances that allowed them to be petty, hold grudges, and be people rather than symbols.

This choice completely changed Marvel’s image. They went from a more standard comic book publisher to a brand focused on adult themes and stories.

One of the best examples of this change was in the newly developed character of Spider-Man, who first appeared in 1962 in Amazing Fantasy #15. Spider-Man was co-created by another important member of the Marvel team, Steve Ditko.

Spider-Man became Marvel’s most popular as many members of the audience resonated with the mundane problems teenage Peter Parker faced.

One of the best examples of these gritty, realistic stories was published almost a decade later in 1971. The US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare approached Lee to create a comic book story about drug abuse.

Lee agreed to do so and wrote a story that centered on Peter Parker dealing with drug addiction. The story was three parts and presented drug use as dangerous and in a negative light.

Despite this unglamorous portrayal of drugs, the Comics Code Authority refused to approve the story due to showing narcotics in any way, despite it being presented negatively.

Lee, with Goodman’s approval, opted to publish the story, just without the Comics Code seal. The story was received by the public remarkably well, and the Comics Code Authority ended up revising its policy in response to the issue.

Another important person in the resurgence of Marvel was the aforementioned artist and writer, Jack Kirby.

Kirby is credited with co-creating many of Marvel’s most important characters and revising the central themes and ideas of previous popular characters to accurately reflect a modern sensibility.

This approach of having “superheroes in the real world” felt more realistic to readers than other comics. Companies like D.C. were not putting their characters in modern situations. Superman was never going to bring up communism, rarely left the United States borders, and was never going to be involved in politics. Marvel took that risk.

The characters, like the Hulk or the Thing, were gritty and considered monstrous, whereas other companies presented characters at the peak of human performance. Marvel characters had flaws, were often ostracized from society, and were intertwined with current world events.

It was perfect strategy for the time, and skyrocketed Marvel back into cultural relevancy.

In 1968, Marvel was selling roughly 50 million comic books a year and decided to renegotiate its deal with Independent News. This new deal eliminated the restriction on the number of books published, allowing Marvel to release as many new works as they wanted.

Later that same year, Goodman decided to sell the company to “Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation,” which later became “Cadence Industries.” Goodman stayed with the company as a publisher, ended the distribution deal with Independent News, and then entered into a new one with “Curtis Circulation Company.”

Around the same time, longtime Marvel artist and writer Jack Kirby left Marvel for its biggest rival, D.C. Comics. He reportedly left the company for “creative differences,” feeling he was not recognized or paid enough for his ideas.

Goodman eventually retired as publisher in 1972, leaving his son, Chip, in his place. Shortly after, Stan Lee replaced him as publisher and installed Roy Thomas as editor-in-chief.

The 1970s marked a sluggish period for Marvel Comics as the industry again encountered a decline. The comic book market was shrinking, with public interest increasingly drawn to television and film, where they preferred to watch action rather than read it.

To combat this, in 1977 a television series was produced based on one of their most popular characters, The Incredible Hulk.

Profits for Marvel improved in the 1970s after the release of Star Wars. The company made a deal to adapt the film into a comic, though there were rules on what they could publish. Nonetheless, this proved to be a massive success, equaling or surpassing many of Marvel’s historic hits.

Additionally, Marvel also changed their editor-in-chief in 1978 to Jim Shooter.

Shooter was considered a controversial figure, but did wonders for Marvel by fixing many of the major procedural issues plaguing the company, namely, missing deadlines.

Many of the most successful Marvel Comics, like John Byrne’s Uncanny X-Men and Frank Miller’s Daredevil series, as well as popular crossovers like Secret Wars, were published under Shooter’s time as editor-in-chief.

In 1986, “Marvel Entertainment Group” was formed as the parent of Marvel Comics and was later sold to “New World Entertainment.” The company’s comics section remained focused on creating comic books, while the entertainment group aimed to expand the brand into other industries.

This was a major reason why the company filed for bankruptcy in 1996. Many of the acquisitions made by the entertainment group during this time created significant debt, which, combined with declining sales, led to bankruptcy.

The result was Marvel Entertainment Group reorganizing into “Marvel Enterprises” in 1998. To stay afloat, they began diversifying their offerings, established their own rating system, severed ties with the Comics Code Authority, and rebooted many of their most profitable characters.

Around the same time, some of Marvel’s most profitable properties were adapted into films, including Spider-Man, Blade, X-Men, and Men in Black. These did well and helped bring more money into the company.

In 2008, Marvel Studios released the incredibly successful film, Iron Man, and in 2009, the Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment for approximately $4 billion.

This was the first installment of the widely successful MCU, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This franchise was based around classic characters and story arcs originating in Marvel Comics. The MCU is the highest-grossing movie franchise in history, having made an estimated $32 billion worldwide.

The MCU turned Marvel characters into a major pop-culture movement in the film industry. Simultaneously, the popularity of the films brought more attention to the comics, helping raise awareness of the comic side of the industry.

Marvel Comics and Marvel Entertainment technically operate as two separate corporate entities, but are often considered interchangeable in the public eye and are typically referred to as Marvel.

From the flawed heroes introduced by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko in the 1960s to the global dominance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel reshaped what superheroes could be. Its characters struggled with rent, prejudice, responsibility, addiction, and power.

…and it all began as pivot for a pulp fiction company in the 1930s that was simply trying to take advantage of a popular trend.