X-Men Unlimited V1 (1990’s)

This title allowed new and lesser-known writers and artists to write and draw X-Men comics. The comics were also usually self-contained stories; with the exception of a tie-in to the Onslaught crossover. This was particularly unique during the late 1990s when most X-Men titles frequently had story arcs that were several issues long. It ran as a quarterly feature releasing four issues per year until late 2002 when it converted into a monthly title.

Daredevil V1 (2017)

Following the release of Volume 5, Issue 28, much like with other Marvel series as part of the Marvel Legacy event, the Daredevil series official numbering was rebooted back to the original numbering which started with Issue 595 which was released on November 8, 2017, where Daredevil’s longtime nemesis the Kingpin became the Mayor of New York City and begins a campaign to make costumed vigilantes officially criminals. Although Murdock’s attempt to set up a sting operation results in his allies being arrested when the Kingpin turns this trap against him, Fisk’s legal manipulations work against him when he is attacked by the Hand, leaving Fisk in a coma and Murdock legally mayor of New York from his position as deputy mayor due to a loophole added by a prior administration that had not been amended, allowing Matt to take control of the city and release his fellow heroes to help him stop the Hand.

Alien: Thaw (2023)

Talbot Engineering Inc. is under new management – and its brilliant chief scientist, Batya Zahn, will do just about anything to get her family off the icy moon where they’ve been conducting research on water conservation. But there’s more than glacial springs to find in this forgotten corner of the galaxy. When they discover an extraordinary organism buried in the ice, it doesn’t take long for tensions to heat up. What is hidden in the snow comes forth in the thaw – and no one will be welcoming this spring. But Zahn is not willing to give up her work to this unexpected threat without a fight, no matter what horrors emerge from the ice in the black of night.

 

Incredible Hulk V1 (1970’s)

The 1970s saw Banner and Betty nearly marry in The Incredible Hulk #124 (Feb. 1970). Betty ultimately married Talbot in issue #158 (Dec. 1972). The Hulk also traveled to other dimensions, one of which had him meet empress Jarella, who used magic to bring Banner’s intelligence to the Hulk, and came to love him. It was during this period that the Hulk helped to form the Defenders.

Captain Marvel V5 (2002)

The third Captain Marvel is Genis-Vell, who first appeared in Silver Surfer Annual #6 (1993) using the codename of “Legacy”. The character is the genetically-engineered son of Mar-Vell and his lover Elysius, created from the late Mar-Vell’s cell samples and artificially aged to physical, if not emotional, maturity. Genis, like his father, wears the Nega-Bands, possesses Cosmic Awareness, and is, for a time, bonded with Rick Jones. Although the pair do not get along at first, they eventually become good friends. Genis goes insane and threatens to destroy the universe.

After dying and resurrecting himself—with the secret aid of Baron Helmut Zemo—Genis-Vell joins the Thunderbolts under the name Photon. However, in accelerating his resurrection, Zemo links Genis to the ends of time, causing a degenerative effect on the universe. To prevent the inevitable destruction of all existence, Zemo scatters pieces of Genis-Vell’s body through time and the Darkforce Dimension.

Thor (Silver Age)

Thor debuted in the science fiction/fantasy anthology title Journey into Mystery #83 (cover-date Aug. 1962), and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller-plotter Jack Kirby. A different version of the mythological Thor had appeared previously in Venus #12-13 (Feb.-April 1951).

In a 1984 interview Kirby said “I did a version of Thor for D.C. in the Fifties before I did him for Marvel. I created Thor at Marvel because I was forever enamored of legends, which is why I knew about Balder, Heimdall, and Odin. I tried to update Thor and put him into a superhero costume, but he was still Thor.” And in a 1992 interview, Kirby said “[I] knew the Thor legends very well, but I wanted to modernize them. I felt that might be a new thing for comics, taking the old legends and modernizing them.”

Journey into Mystery was retitled Thor (per the indicia, or The Mighty Thor per most covers) with issue #126 (March 1966). “Tales of Asgard” was replaced by a five-page featurette starring the Inhumans from #146–152 (Nov. 1967 – May 1968), after which featurettes were dropped and the Thor stories expanded to Marvel’s then-standard 20-page length.

Incredible Hulk V1 (1980’s)

In the 1980s, Banner once again gained control over the Hulk, and gained amnesty for his past rampages; however, due to the manipulations of supernatural character Nightmare, Banner eventually lost control over the Hulk. It was also established that Banner had serious mental problems even before he became the Hulk, having suffered childhood traumas that engendered Bruce’s repressed rage. Banner comes to terms with his issues for a time, and the Hulk and Banner were physically separated by Doc Samson. Banner is recruited by the U.S. government to create the Hulkbusters, a government team dedicated to catching the Hulk. Banner finally married Betty in The Incredible Hulk #319 (May 1986) following Talbot’s death in 1981. Banner and the Hulk were reunited in The Incredible Hulk #323 (Sep. 1986) and with issue #324, returned the Hulk to his grey coloration, with his transformations once again occurring at night, regardless of Banner’s emotional state. In issue #347 the grey Hulk persona “Joe Fixit” was introduced, a morally ambiguous Las Vegas enforcer and tough guy. Banner remained repressed in the Hulk’s mind for months, but slowly began to reappear.

Spider-Man V1 (1990’s)

Spider-Man ran for 98 issues from 1990 to 1998. The series was re titled Peter Parker: Spider-Man with issue #75, but only on the covers, the series was still under its original Spider-Man title in the comic’s legal indicia, printed on the title page, from #75 to #98; the comic book would not officially be titled Peter Parker: Spider-Man until the volume 2 series relaunch.

The series originally was conceived as a showcase for Todd McFarlane. McFarlane, who until then had only been known as an artist, was hugely popular at the time and the series was created by editor Jim Salicrup so that McFarlane could pencil, ink, and write a Spider-Man title of his own, starting with the “Torment” storyline.

The series was a massive sales success with over 2.5 million copies printed. McFarlane stayed on the title until issue #16 (November 1991) in which the story was printed in a landscape format. He would go on to create the character Spawn and help found Image Comics in 1992. He was succeeded on the title by Erik Larsen, who had succeeded McFarlane on The Amazing Spider-Man two years earlier, and would later join him in the founding of Image. Larsen wrote and drew the six-issue story arc “Revenge of the Sinister Six” (#18–23). Writer Don McGregor and artist Marshall Rogers crafted a two-part story in issues #27–28 dealing with gun violence.

After that came a quick procession of different contributors, including writers Tom DeFalco, Ann Nocenti, David Michelinie, J. M. DeMatteis and Terry Kavanagh, and pencillers Ron Frenz, Klaus Janson and Jae Lee. The creative-team musical chairs settled with Spider-Man #44 (March 1994) when writer Howard Mackie and penciller Tom Lyle began a run on the title – Lyle through #61, and Mackie for over 6 years, through cancellation and into Vol. 2.

Deadpool V3 (2012)

As part of Marvel’s Marvel NOW! initiative a new Deadpool ongoing series was launched. He is also a member of the Thunderbolts. In the 27th issue of his new series, as part of “All-New Marvel NOW!”, Deadpool was married for the third time. Initially a secret, his bride was revealed in the web comic Deadpool: The Gauntlet to be Shiklah, Queen of the Undead. Deadpool also discovers that he has a daughter by the name of Eleanor from a former flame of Deadpool named Carmelita.

X Lives of Wolverine (2022)

The mutant best known as Wolverine has lived many lives under many identities and in many places, but never before has the fate of the future been so entwined with the past! Fan-favorite eras of Wolverine’s saga are explored anew, along with never-before-seen episodes as Logan must travel to various points in time to prevent the death of a key figure in mutant history. But these LIVES are only one side of the story…