Tales to Astonish (Silver Age)

Tales to Astonish was published from January 1959 to March 1968 . It began as a science-finction anthology that served as a showcase for such artists as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. It became The Incredible Hulk with issue #102 (April 1968). Its sister title was Tales of Suspense.

Following his one-shot anthological story in #27 (Jan. 1962), scientist Henry Pym returned donning a cybernetic helmet and red costume, and using size-changing technology to debut as the insect-sized hero Ant-Man in #35 (Sept. 1962). The series was plotted by Lee and scripted by Lieber, with penciling first by Kirby and later by Heck and others. The Wasp was introduced as Ant-Man’s costar in issue #44 (June 1963). Ant-Man and Pym’s subsequent iteration, Giant-Man, introduced in #49 (Nov. 1963), starred in 10- to 13-page and later 18-page adventures,

The Hulk, whose original series The Incredible Hulk had been canceled after a six-issue run in 1962-63, returned to star in his own feature when Tales to Astonish became a split book at issue #60 (Oct. 1964),]after having guest-starred as Giant-Man’s antagonist in a full-length story the previous issue. The Hulk had proven a popular guest-star in three issues of Fantastic Four and an issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. His new stories here were initially scripted by Lee and illustrated by the seldom-seen team of penciler Steve Ditko and inker George Roussos. This early part of the Hulk’s run introduced the Leader, who would become the Hulk’s nemesis, and this run additionally made the Hulk’s identity known, initially only to the military and then later publicly.

Fantastic Four (1980’s)

John Byrne revitalized the slumping title with his run. Originally, Byrne was slated to write with Sienkiewicz providing the art. Sienkiewicz left to do Moon Knight, and Byrne subsequently became writer, artist, and inker. Various editors were assigned to the comic; eventually Bob Budiansky became the regular editor. Byrne told Jim Shooter that he could not work with Budiansky, although they ultimately continued to work together. In 2006, Byrne said “that’s my paranoia. I look back and I think that was Shooter trying to force me off the book”. Byrne left following issue #293 (Aug. 1986) in the middle of a story arc, explaining he could not recapture the fun he had previously had on the series. One of Byrne’s changes was making the Invisible Girl into the Invisible Woman: assertive and confident. During this period, fans came to recognize that she was quite powerful, whereas previously, she had been primarily seen as a superpowered mother and wife in the tradition of television moms like those played by Donna Reed and Florence Henderson.

Marvel Comics Presents (1990’s)

Marvel Comics Presents was published from 1988 to 1995. The original plan was for the lead story to feature different members of the X-Men in solo adventures lasting between eight and ten episodes. The first ten issues featured Wolverine; others featured were Colossus, Cyclops, Havok, and Excalibur. From issue 39 onwards,Wolverine was featured as the lead story in all issues. Particularly notable was “Weapon X” in issues #72-84, which revealed Wolverine’s origin, with story and art by Barry Windsor-Smith.

The Infernal Man-Thing (2012)

Steve Gerber’s posthumous Man-Thing story “The Screenplay of the Living Dead Man”, with art by Kevin Nowlan, originally planned as a 1980s graphic novel before being left uncompleted by the artist, was revived in the 2010s and appeared as a three-issue miniseries cover-titled The Infernal Man-Thing (Early Sept.-Oct. 2012). The story was a sequel to Gerber’s “Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man” in Man-Thing #12 (Dec. 1974).

Amazing Spider-Man V1 (2000’s)

 Amazing Spider-Man reverted completely to its original numbering for #500 (Dec. 2003). Mike Deodato, Jr. penciled the series from mid-2004 until 2006. That year Peter Parker revealed his Spider-Man identity on live television in the company-crossover storyline “Civil War“, in which the superhero community is split over whether to conform to the federal government’s new Superhuman Registration Act. This knowledge was erased from the world with the event of the four-part, crossover story arc, “One More Day“, written partially by J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by Joe Quesada, running through The Amazing Spider-Man #544-545 (Nov.-Dec. 2007), Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 (Nov. 2007) and The Sensational Spider-Man #41 (Dec. 2007), the final issues of those two titles. Here, the demon Mephisto makes a Faustian bargain with Parker and Mary Jane, offering to save Parker’s dying Aunt May if the couple will allow their marriage to have never existed, rewriting that portion of their pasts. This story arc marked the end of Straczynski’s tenure as writer.

The Defenders V1 (1970’s)

The Defenders had a rotating line-up from 1972 until 1986, with Dr. Strange and the Hulk being more or less constant members along with a number of other mainstays such as Valkyrie, NighthawkHellcatthe GargoyleBeast, the Son of Satan and Luke Cage, and a large number of temporary members. The publication was retitled near the end of the run as The New Defenders but featured none of the original members and only Valkyrie, the Beast and the Gargoyle of the former long-term members. The concept was modified in the 1993–95 series Secret Defenders, in which Dr. Strange assembled different teams for each individual mission. Later, the original team were reunited in a short-lived series by Kurt Busiek and Erik Larsen. In the 2000s, Marvel published a new miniseries featuring the classic line-up. Writer Matt Fraction and artist Terry Dodson launched a new Defenders series in December 2011.

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…

Tower of Shadows (1969)

Designed to compete with DC Comics‘ successful launches of House of Mystery and House of Secrets,[2] Tower of Shadows, like its companion comic Chamber of Darkness, sold poorly despite the roster of artists featured. After its first few issues, the title, published bimonthly, began including reprints of “pre-superhero Marvel” monster stories and other SF/fantasy tales from Marvel’s 1950s and early 1960s predecessor, Atlas Comics. After the ninth issue, the title changed to Creatures on the Loose, and the comic became a mix of reprints and occasional sword and sorcery/SF series.

The Punisher V2 (1990’s)

Over the course of the 90’s, the Punisher would be shown fighting virtually every known criminal organization including the Italian Mafia, the Russian Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, the Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Chinese Triads, Jamaican Yardies, the Irish Mob, biker gangs, street gangs, gunrunning militias, muggers, killers, rapists, psychopaths, violent racists, sadists, pedophiles, and corrupt city officials. He also assaults criminal business enterprises such as drugs, weapons smuggling,money laundering, and human trafficking.

Black, White & Blood (2021)

Centers around a specific Marvel character or group, exploring different facets of their history, personalities, and adventures and features a rotating cast of all-star creators, with art entirely colored in white, black and red. Often structured as anthologies, featuring multiple short stories by various creators within each issue.