Thirty years ago, Alex Ross had a vision of a new series showing the Marvel heroes in a way they’d never been seen before. The first realization of that idea became the blockbuster MARVELS — but today Alex finally brings about his original vision: An anthology of stories by unique, exceptional talents, many of whom are doing Marvel characters for the very first time. Over this showcase series you’ll see work by such artists as Adam Hughes, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dan Brereton and more, linked together by an overarching story by Alex and Steve Darnall.
Category: Marvel Iron Age
Cable & Deadpool (2004)
Cable & Deadpool was published by Marvel Comics beginning in 2004. The title characters, Cable and Deadpool, shared the focus of the book. The series was launched following the cancellation of the characters’ previous ongoing solo series. The book’s mix of humor, action, and intricate plotting have won it a devoted fanbase. Marvel Comics canceled the series with issue #50 to make way for a new Deadpool ongoing series that began on September 10, 2008, and a new Cable ongoing series that was launched in March 2008. Cable & Deadpool were ranked #7 on Marvel.com’s list of “The 10 Greatest Buddy Teams” of all time.
Moon Knight V8 (2016)
Marc Spector wakes up in a mental institute with no recollection of his past or how he got there. The staff, led by Dr. Emmet, seems to have supernatural powers and thwart Marc’s attempts to recover his past. Marc is shown evidence that he is a mentally ill man who has convinced himself he is also Moon Knight, a vigilante he’s seen on the news. Khonshu contacts Marc and explains that Emmet is an avatar like him, one who is connected to the Othervoid god Ammit. Khonshu decides it is now time for him to completely dominate Marc Spector’s body. Marc denies Khonshu and fights him with the help of all of his alters. Marc accepts that whether they are the result of childhood trauma or Khonshu’s interference, his alters are a part of him and have been for most of his life. After defeating Emmet and Khonshu, Marc resumes his life as Moon Knight, determined to be a protector and crime-fighter on his own terms rather than as a tool of anyone else. Later, Marc and Khonshu resume their bond.
Marc Spector: Moon Knight V1 (1989)
Moon Knight was created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin. He first appeared in Werewolf by Night #32 (August 1975).
In 1989, a third Moon Knight volume, titled Marc Spector: Moon Knight was published. It was the longest-running series, lasting sixty issues. This volume introduces Moon Knight’s teenage sidekick Jeff Wilde, also known as “Midnight,” the son of Midnight Man, a villain from the first volume of the series. At this time, Moon Knight first encounters the Black Cat. Turned into a cyborg by the Secret Empire, Midnight is seemingly killed in the “Round Robin” story arc of Amazing Spider-Man, spanning issues #353-#358.
The series was canceled with issue #60 (March 1994), with four of the last six issues drawn by Stephen Platt, who was hired by Image Comics based on the strength of his work on the series.
X-Force V5 (2020)
X-Force is the CIA of the mutant world-one half intelligence branch, one half special ops. Beast, Jean Grey and Sage on one side, Wolverine, Kid Omega and Domino on the other.
New Avengers V3 (2013)
New Avengers was renumbered as a new volume in January 2013, written by Jonathan Hickman and originally drawn by Steve Epting. The new volume shifted its focus to the powerful group known as the Illuminati, which includes Black Bolt, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, and Namor, who reassembled to confront the threat of incursions. Black Panther and Reed Richards discovered that universal decay centered on Earth was causing universes to collide with one another, with Earth at the focal point. In issue #3, Black Panther, who had previously opposed the existence of the Illuminati, joined the group, and the Beast was brought in to fill the spot vacated by the death of Professor X. In the same issue, Captain America leaves. In issue #12, after having helped the Illuminati to defeat Thanos‘s army, Black Bolt’s brother Maximus joined the team. Bruce Banner joined the team in Avengers Vol. 5 #28 after discovering the universal decay on his own.
Thunderstrike (1993)
Following Thor #459, Masterson was introduced as “Thunderstrike” in the eponymous series starting in June 1993. The series lasted approximately two years. Thunderstrike ran for 24 issues, the series canceled in September 1995. Creator Tom DeFalco has often claimed that the book outsold Thor and The Avengers combined at the time of its cancellation; although this has been shown to be extremely unlikely.
The Sentry V2 (2005)
In 2005, the Sentry received a second miniseries, written by Paul Jenkins and drawn by John Romita, Jr., which ran for eight issues. The Sentry also appeared in The Mighty Avengers as a member of that team, and later in Dark Avengers in a similar capacity, and as protagonist in The Age of the Sentry miniseries. He appeared as a regular character in the Dark Avengers series from issue #1 (March 2009) until the time of his death in the Siege limited series.
Generation X (1994)
A spin-off of the X-Men, the team was created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo. Generation X debuted during the 1994 “Phalanx Covenant” storyline, and appeared in their own monthly series in September 1994 with Generation X #1 (November 1994).
Generation X consisted of teenage mutants designed to reflect the cynicism and complexity of the series’ namesake demographic. Unlike its predecessor the New Mutants, the team was not mentored by X-Men founder Charles Xavier at his New York estate, but by Banshee and former supervillainess Emma Frost at a splinter school in western Massachusetts.
Amazing Spider-Man V3 (2015)
Following the 2015 Secret Wars event, a number of Spider-Man-related titles were either relaunched or created as part of the “All-New, All-Different Marvel” event. Among them, The Amazing Spider-Man was relaunched as well and primarily focuses on Peter Parker continuing to run Parker Industries, and becoming a successful businessman who is operating worldwide. It also tied with Civil War II (involving an Inhuman who can predict possible future named Ulysses Cain), Dead No More (where Ben Reilly [the original Scarlet Spider] revealed to be revived and as one of the antagonists instead), and Secret Empire(during Hydra’s reign led by a Hydra influenced Captain America/Steve Rogers, and the dismissal of Parker Industries by Peter Parker in order to stop Otto Octavius).






















































