Not Brand Echh (1967)

Not Brand Echh is a satiric comic book series published by Marvel Comics that parodied its own superhero stories as well as those of other comics publishers. Running for 13 issues (cover-dated Aug. 1967 to May 1969), it included among its contributors such notable writers and artists as Stan LeeJack KirbyGene ColanBill EverettJohn and Marie Severin, and Roy Thomas. With issue #9, it became a 68-page, 25¢ “giant”, relative to the typical 12¢ comics of the times. In 2017, a 14th issue was released.

Its mascot, Forbush Man, introduced in the first issue, was a superhero wannabe with no superpowers and a costume of red long johns emblazoned with the letter “F” and a cooking pot, with eye-holes, covering his never-revealed head. His secret identity was eventually revealed in issue #5 (Dec. 1967) as Irving Forbush, Marvel’s fictitious office gofer.

Silver Surfer V2 (1982)

The galactic herald returns in this jam-packed one-shot! Silver Surfer recalls happier times with the Fantastic Four. With Norrin Radd becoming a distant memory with each passing day, will Surfer ever recover the man he once was? Surfer returns to his homeland Zenn-La to find absolute devastation. A new quest begins for Silver Surfer — one that involves finding his soulmate, Shalla Bal!

Avengers V9 (2023)

The world is ever in peril, and a new team of Avengers mobilizes to meet any dangers that dare threaten the planet. But when Terminus attacks, a new and insidious danger rears its head: one that the Avengers know all too well, and one that comes to them in the most dangerous of guises – that of a friend.

 

Werewolf by Night (1972)

The Werewolf by Night character first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #2 (Feb. 1972) and was based on an idea by Roy Thomas. The series name was suggested by Stan Lee and the debut story was crafted by Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog. The character made additional appearances in Marvel Spotlight #3 and #4 and then graduated to his own eponymous series in September 1972. Werewolf by Night was published for 43 issues and ran through March 1977. Issue #32 contains the first appearance of Moon Knight. Jack Russell co-starred with Tigra in Giant Size Creatures #1 (July 1974), which was the first appearance of Greer Grant as Tigra instead of the Cat. That series was retitled Giant-Size Werewolf with its second issue.

Morbius: The Living Vampire (2013)

The ALL-NEW Michael Morbius? Morbius, is back, but on the run and desperate to quell his vampiric tendencies. But has the midnight son really changed? As Morbius tries to stay under the radar, a new threat arises, and they want Morbius dead.

Punisher V8 (2009)

Marvel relaunched The Punisher War Journal in 2009 as simply Punisher, with a thematic link tied to the events of the “Dark Reign” storyline. As part of his work on the character, Rick Remender wrote the one-shot title Dark Reign: The List – Punisher, which, as part of the “Dark Reign” storyline, shows the character dismembered and decapitated by Daken.

Deadpool V1 (1997)

In 1997, Deadpool was given his own ongoing title, initially written by Joe Kelly, with then-newcomer Ed McGuinness as an artist. Deadpool became an action comedy parody of the cosmic drama, antihero-heavy comics of the time. The series firmly established his supporting cast, including his prisoner/den mother Blind Al and his best friend Weasel. The ongoing series gained cult popularity for its unorthodox main character and its balance of angst and pop culture slapstick and the character became less of a villain, though the element of his moral ambiguity remained. The writer Joe Kelly noted, “With Deadpool, we could do anything we wanted because everybody just expected the book to be cancelled every five seconds, so nobody was paying attention. And we could get away with it.”

The series was taken over by Christopher Priest who noted that he found Kelly’s issues to be “complex and a little hostile to new readers like me” and that by issue 37, he realized that “it was okay to make Deadpool look stupid.”

Fantastic Four (Silver Age)

The Fantastic Four debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium. The Fantastic Four was the first superhero team created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, who developed a collaborative approach to creating comics with this title that they would use from then on. As the first superhero team title produced by Marvel Comics, it formed a cornerstone of the company’s 1960s rise from a small division of a publishing company to a pop culture conglomerate.

Death of Doctor Strange (2022)

Doctor Stephen Strange was the world’s greatest neurosurgeon and the Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, defending the world against invasions from other dimensions and supernatural threats. He has lost and regained the role several times and journeyed to the strangest of places, even met Eternity itself, but he has always been there to defend this dimension against threats of every size and shape imaginable.

And now he’s dead.

Who will protect the Earth? Who will keep the supernatural evils at bay?

And who killed Doctor Strange?

Giant Size Creatures/Werewolf (1974)

The Werewolf by Night character (birth name Jacob Russoff, legal name Jacob Russell, nicknamed Jack) first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #2 (Feb. 1972) and was based on an idea by Roy Thomas. The series name was suggested by Stan Lee and the debut story was crafted by Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog. The character made additional appearances in Marvel Spotlight #3 and #4 and then graduated to his own eponymous series in September 1972. Jack Russell co-starred with Tigra in Giant Size Creatures #1 (July 1974), which was the first appearance of Greer Grant as Tigra instead of the Cat. That series was retitled Giant-Size Werewolf with its second issue.