During the summer of 1973, Englehart and artists Bob Brown and Sal Buscema produced “The Avengers-Defenders Clash” storyline which crossed over between the two team titles. “The Celestial Madonna” arc linked Mantis’ origins to the very beginnings of the Kree-Skrull conflict in a time-spanning adventure involving Kang the Conqueror,and Immortus, who were past and future versions of each other.Mantis was revealed to be the Celestial Madonna,who was destined to give birth to a being that would save the universe.It was revealed that the Vision’s body had only been appropriated, and not created by Ultron, and that it originally belonged to the 1940s Human Torch. With his origins clear to him, the Vision proposed to the Scarlet Witch. The “Celestial Madonna” saga ended with their wedding, presided over by Immortus. The Beast and Moondragon joined the team soon after. George Pérez became the title’s artist with issue #141 (Nov. 1975) which saw the start of a seven-part story featuring the Squadron Supreme and the Serpent Crown. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart’s run on The Avengers eighth on its list of the “Top 10 1970s Marvels”.
During his two years on the title, Roger Stern augmented the backgrounds of long-established Spider-Man villains, and with Romita Jr. created the mysterious supervillain the Hobgoblin in #238-239 (March–April 1983) Fans engaged with the mystery of the Hobgoblin’s secret identity, which continued throughout #244-245 and 249-251 (Sept.-Oct. 1983 and Feb.-April 1984). One lasting change was the reintroduction of Mary Jane Watson as a more serious, mature woman who becomes Peter’s confidante after she reveals that she knows his secret identity. Stern wrote “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man” in The Amazing Spider-Man #248 (January 1984), a story which ranks among his most popular.
David Michelinie took over as writer in #290 (July 1987) that led to the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. The “Kraven’s Last Hunt” storyline by writer J.M. DeMatteis and artists Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod crossed over into The Amazing Spider-Man #293 and 294. Issue #298 (March 1988) was the first Spider-Man comic to be drawn by future industry star Todd McFarlane, the first regular artist on The Amazing Spider-Man since Frenz’s departure. McFarlane revolutionized Spider-Man’s look. His depiction – large-eyed, with wiry, contorted limbs, and messy, knotted, convoluted webbing – influenced the way virtually all subsequent artists would draw the character. McFarlane’s other significant contribution to the Spider-Man canon was the design for what would become one of Spider-Man’s most wildly popular antagonists, the supervillainVenom. Issue #299 (April 1988) featured Venom’s first appearance (a last-page cameo) before his first full appearance in #300 (May 1988). The latter issue featured Spider-Man reverting to his original red-and-blue costume.
Other notable issues of the Michelinie-McFarlane era include #312 (Feb. 1989), featuring the Green Goblin vs. the Hobgoblin; and #315-317 (May–July 1989), with the return of Venom. In July 2012, Todd McFarlane’s original cover art for The Amazing Spider-Man #328 sold for a bid of $657,250, making it the most expensive American comic book art ever sold at auction.
Jonathan Hickman wrote a story arc in the Avengers and New Avengers comic, ending in the 2015 crossover Secret Wars. His return was announced in March 2019. Some days later, it was detailed that he would write two comic books, House of X and Powers of X, with penciling by Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva. Marvel Editor in Chief C. B. Cebulski said that “We are excited to have Jon back with the Marvel family, and we could not have asked for a better creative team to help usher the X-Men into a whole new era”
Both comics were released as a company wide relaunch of the X-Men. All the ongoing X-Men comics were cancelled: Uncanny X-Men, Mr. and Mrs. X, X-Force, X-23, and the Age of X-Man tie-in miniseries.
House of X #1 NM $9House of X #2 NM $9House of X #3 NM $5House of X #4 Variant NM $5House of X #4 NM $5House of X #5 NM $5House of X #6 NM $5
In 2008, a new Deadpoolongoing series written by Daniel Way with artist Paco Medina began as a Secret Invasion tie-in. In the first arc, the character is seen working with Nick Fury to steal data on how to kill the Skrull queen Veranke. Norman Osborn steals the information that Deadpool had stolen from the Skrulls, and subsequent stories deal with the fallout from that. Writer Daniel Way explained, “the first thing Osborn does to try and take care of the situation is to bring in a hired gun to take Deadpool down, which would be Tiger-Shark. That would be the standard thing to do, but of course everything about Deadpool is non-standard. So it goes completely awry and Norman has to get more serious about things.” The story also sees the return of Bob, Agent of HYDRA; “I don’t want the book to become ‘Deadpool and Friends’ so characters will drift in and out, but Bob was someone I definitely wanted to bring in. It just had to be at the perfect moment and when I was putting this storyline together that moment presented itself.”
After Claremont’s run, the X-Men were divided into two color-coded squads, with a Blue team headlining the adjectiveless X-Men title, while the Gold team, consisting of Archangel, Colossus, Jean Grey, Iceman and Storm, appeared in Uncanny. This roster was later joined by Bishop, another refugee from the future.After Claremont’s departure, Jim Lee continued as plotter, while John Byrne scripted from #281 to #286. Byrne was replaced as scripter from #286 by Scott Lobdell, who was fully credited as writer from #289. The “X-Cutioner’s Song” crossover was released in the fall of 1992 and resulted in the outbreak of the Legacy virus, a mutant-specific plague which continued as a story element in X-Men comics until 2001.
A new Sorcerer Supreme rises! Doctor Strange is dead! And a new Sorcerer Supreme has taken the title, or should we say Sorceress? Haunted by her recently returned memories, Clea longs to bring Stephen Strange back from the dead! But when a mysterious group attacks the magical realm, Clea must rise to the duties of Sorcerer Supreme. For she is now the sole protector of Earth against magical threats.
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 inkerGeorge 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.
Tales to Astonish #54 VF- $120Tales to Astonish #56 G- $14Tales to Astonish #58 G-VG $26Tales to Astonish #58 VG- $29Tales to Astonish #60 G $22Tales to Astonish #61 VG $29Tales to Astonish #65 FN+ $69Tales to Astonish #67 VF- $75Tales to Astonish #68 VF- $75Tales to Astonish #71 FN $29Tales to Astonish #72 FN $30Tales to Astonish #75 FN+ $30Tales to Astonish #78 FN $20Tales to Astonish #80 FN+ $30Tales to Astonish #83 VF+ $55Tales to Astonish #86 VF- $40Tales to Astonish #87 VF- $40Tales to Astonish #88 FN+ $25Tales to Astonish #89 VF+ $55Tales to Astonish #90 VF- $120Tales to Astonish #92 FN+ $29Tales to Astonish #94 VF- $29Tales to Astonish #95 VF $30Tales to Astonish #96 FN+ $20
Captain America continued from Tales of Suspensewith artwork by Kirby, as well as a short run by Jim Steranko, and work by many of the industry’s top artists and writers. It was called Captain America and the Falcon from #134 (Feb. 1971) to #222 (June 1978) although the Falcon’s name was not on the cover for issues #193, 200, and 216. The 1972–1975 run on the title by writer Steve Englehart and artist Sal Buscema saw the series become one of Marvel’s top-sellers. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart and Buscema’s run on Captain America fourth on its list of the “Top 10 1970s Marvels”. Kirby returned to the series as writer and penciler with issue #193 (Jan. 1975) ]and remained through #214 (Oct. 1977).
Captain America #120 G-VG $5Captain America #121 VG $7Captain America #122 VF- $19Captain America #123 VG $7Captain America #125 VF+ $29Captain America #126 VF $79Captain America #127 NM- $49Captain America #128 VF- $24Captain America #129 VF $19Captain America #131 VF- $15Captain America #133 FN+ $24Captain America #137 VG $15Captain America #138 VF $49Captain America #142 FN $9Captain America #143 FN $6Captain America #144 VG $19Captain America #146 FN $6Captain America #147 FN $4Captain America #148 VF $9Captain America #149 FN $6Captain America #150 FN-VF $19Captain America #151 VF-NM $29Captain America #152 VF-NM $29Captain America #153 VF-NM $74Captain America #154 VF- $29Captain America #155 VG $6Captain America #156 VF $18Captain America #157 VF-NM $39Captain America #158 NM- $39Captain America #161 FN $8Captain America #163 FN+ $14Captain America #164 VF-NM 49Captain America #166 FN+ $14Captain America #167 FN $9Captain America #168 VF+ $129Captain America #170 VF+ $29Captain America #170 FN+ $12Captain America #172 FN $7Captain America #174 GD+ $5Captain America #175 FN+ $8Captain America #177 VF+ $19Captain America #178 VF $7Captain America #179 FN+ $4Captain America #180 VF+ $69Captain America #181 VF $11Captain America #182 F-VF $4Captain America #183 FN+ $14Captain America #184 VF+ $5Captain America #185 VF+ $14Captain America #185 VF $12Captain America #186 FN $6Captain America #187 FN+ $6Captain America #190 VF-NM $12Captain America #191 FN+ $6Captain America #192 FN-VF $14Captain America #192 FN+ $9Captain America #193 NM $89Captain America #194 FN+ $5Captain America #195 VF $12Captain America #196 VF+ $15Captain America #197 FN+ $9Captain America #198 FN+ $8Captain America #199 NM- $25Captain America #200 VG $3Captain America #201 VG-FN $4Captain America #202 FN $6Captain America #203 FN- $4Captain America #204 FN- $4Captain America #205 VF-NM $10Captain America #206 VF-NM $10Captain America #207 FN+ $6Captain America #208 VF+ $39Captain America #209 VF-NM $45Captain America #210 FN-$4Captain America #211 VG-FN $3Captain America #213 F-VF $6Captain America #214 FN- $4Captain America #215 FN $5Captain America #216 VF+ $11Captain America #218 VF-NM $12Captain America #219 VF- $6Captain America #220 FN-VFN $4Captain America #221 FN+ $3Captain America #222 F-VF $6Captain America #224 NM $14Captain America King-Size Special #1 VG $9Captain America Special #2 VF $12Captain America Annual #3 VF $12Captain America Annual #4 VF $12Captain America Giant Size #1 FN+ $12
The first major development of the 80’s was the breakdown of Henry Pym, with his frequent changes of costume and name being symptomatic of an identity problem and an inferiority complex. After he abused his wife, failed to win back the confidence of the Avengers with a ruse and was duped by the villain Egghead, Pym was jailed. Pym would later outwit Egghead and defeated the latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil single-handedly, and proved his innocence. Pym reconciled with the Wasp, but they decided to remain apart. Pym retired from super-heroics, but returned years later.
This was followed by several major storylines, such as “Ultimate Vision” in which the Vision took over the world’s computer systems in a misguided attempt to create world peace; the formation of the West Coast Avengers; and “Avengers Under Siege” which involved the second Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil taking over the mansion and severely injuring Jarvis and Hercules. “Assault on Olympus” featured Hercules’ father, Zeus, blaming the Avengers for his son’s injuries and brought them to Olympus for trial, and the “Heavy Metal” arc saw the Super Adaptoid organized several robotic villains for an assault on the team. New members during the 1980s included Tigra; the She-Hulk;Monica Rambeau (then going by the name Captain Marvel);Starfox (the brother of Thanos); Hawkeye’s wife, Mockingbird; and Namor, while Henry Pym emerged from retirement to join the West Coast Avengers. Spider-Man was again offered membership, but failed to gain admission due to security concerns by the Avengers’ government liaison.
The villain Nebula falsely claimed to be the granddaughter of Thanos. The team relocated for a period to a floating island off the coast of New York called Hydrobase after Avengers Mansion was severely damaged during the events in “Under Siege”. Hydrobase was later sunk during the Acts of Vengeance crossover.
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