Marvel Comics’ origins are like much of American popular film and publishing culture rooted in the work of Jewish promoters and creators that were not part of the old boy’s club. For years tethering on the fringes of American culture, publishing super heroes, westerns, romance and horror comics, Marvel Comics found its breakthrough when they rebooted their super hero lines after noticing the success gained by dominant competitor National Comics Periodical or DC Comics.
Marvel Comics’ first attempt was the Fantastic Four whose first issue cover copied the layout of a Justice League comic book cover. However, instead of the cardboard characters that could be exchanged for one another, Marvel Comics played with archetypes. It gave comics an almost dysfunctional family with Reed Richards – Mr. Fantastic, Susan Richard – the Invisible Woman, Ben Grimm – the Thing and Johnny Storm – the Human Torch.
But the genius displayed by Jack Kirby when he created these super heroes was not a lonely affair. Elsewhere other Marvel Comics creators were busy creating distinct characters that could take on the DC Comics’ stable of established franchises. Steve Ditko co-created, like Jack Kirby, Spider-man with Stan Lee. Spider-man was not even an adult, yet called himself a man. He had money problems and had to learn the hard way what it meant to be a super hero. Unlike the DC Comics’ characters, he wasn’t a Silver Spoon. Every achievement, he earned on his own.
Before the end of the 1960s, the Marvel Comics’ revolution was in full swing and part of the American cultural landscape where questions were asked of authority figures and answers were expected by younger generations of Americans.
It’s in this world that a creative mix of planets, aliens, mutants and freak accidents created one of the most robust and diverse fictional universe with a continuity so strong and pervasive that it continues to this day to impact Marvel Comics.
But the years were not easy for Marvel who, unlike competitor DC Comics was not swallowed by a large entertainment company until 2008 when Disney bought the company that had almost been on the brink of bankruptcy several times, had been absorbed, resold, devalued and forced to sell licenses to its valuable properties to the highest bidders under less than favourable terms.
Marvel Comics helped create in comics that feeling of Coke or Pepsi by being the upstart challenger to the established brand DC Comics who had access to the best known super hero characters until Marvel started establishing its own stable outside of comics. This desire by Marvel to have its own brand of super heroes known the world over has taken a renewed meaning recently with a slate of successful movies carefully produced by Marvel and other partners to reflect in film what comic book fans have known all along about Marvel. It’s really a house of ideas.
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