| Marvel Super-Heroes | |
|---|---|
Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (Dec. 1967), the character's debut. Cover art by Gene Colan and Frank Giacoia
| |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Varied |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | Dec. 1967 – Jan. 1982 |
| No. of issues | 94 |
| Main character(s) | List |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | List |
| Penciller(s) | List |
| Inker(s) | List |
| Colorist(s) | List
|
| Editor(s) | Stan Lee |
Marvel Super-Heroes is the name of several comic book series and specials published by Marvel Comics.
The first was the one-shot Marvel Super Heroes Special #1 (Oct. 1966) produced as a tie-in to The Marvel Super Heroes animated television program,[1] reprinting Daredevil #1 (April 1964) and The Avengers #2 (Nov. 1963), plus two stories from the 1930s-1940s period fans and historians call Golden Age of comic books: "The Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner Meet" (Marvel Mystery Comics #8, June 1940), and the first Marvel story by future editor-in-chief Stan Lee, the two-page text piece "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" (Captain America Comics #3, May 1941).
This summer special was a 25¢ "giant", relative to the typical 12¢ comics of the times.[2]
The first ongoing series of this name began as Fantasy Masterpieces, initially a standard-sized, 12¢ anthology reprinting "pre-superhero Marvel" monster and sci-fi/fantasy stories. With issue #3 (June 1966), the title was expanded to a 25-cent giant reprinting a mix of those stories and Golden Age superhero stories from Marvel's 1940s iteration as Timely Comics. Fantasy Masterpieces ran 11 issues (Feb. 1966–Oct. 1967) before being renamed Marvel Super-Heroes with #12 (Dec. 1967).[3]
While continuing with the same mix of reprint material, this first volume of Marvel Super-Heroes also began showcasing a try-out feature as each issue's lead. This encompassed solo stories of such supporting characters as Medusa of the Inhumans, as well as the debuts of Captain Marvel (#12),[4] the Phantom Eagle (#16)[5] and the Guardians of the Galaxy (#18).[6] The Spider-Man story drawn by Ross Andru in issue #14 was originally planned as a fill-in issue of The Amazing Spider-Man but was used here when that title's regular artist John Romita Sr. recovered more quickly than anticipated from a wrist injury.[7] Andru would become the regular artist on The Amazing Spider-Man several years later.[8]
Under either name, this series' Golden Age reprints represented the newly emerging comic-book fandom's first exposure to some of the earliest work of such important creators as Jack Kirby, Bill Everett, and Carl Burgos, and to such long-unseen and unfamiliar characters as the Whizzer and the Destroyer. Fantasy Masterpieces #10 (Aug. 1967) reprinted the entirety of the full-length All-Winners Squad story from the (unhyphenated) All Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946). Fantasy Masterpieces #11 (Oct. 1967) re-introduced the work of the late artist Joe Maneely, a star of 1950s comics who had died in a train accident.
| Issue (cover date) | Character(s)/Story title | Writer(s) | Penciller(s) | Inker(s) | Collected in Marvel Masterworks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #12 (Dec. 1967) |
"The Coming of Captain Marvel" | Stan Lee | Gene Colan | Frank Giacoia | Captain Marvel Volume 1 978-0785111788 |
| #13 (March 1968) |
Captain Marvel in "Where Walks the Sentry" | Roy Thomas | Gene Colan | Paul Reinman | |
| #14 (May 1968) |
Spider-Man in "The Reprehensible Riddle of the Sorcerer" | Stan Lee | Ross Andru | Bill Everett | Spider-Man Volume 8 978-0785120742 |
| #15 (July 1968) |
Medusa in "Let the Silence Shatter" | Archie Goodwin | Gene Colan | Vince Colletta | The Inhumans Volume 1 978-0785141419 |
| #16 (Sept. 1968) |
"The Phantom Eagle" | Gary Friedrich | Herb Trimpe | Herb Trimpe | The Incredible Hulk Volume 7 978-0785166689 |
| "The Un-human" (Previously unpublished Golden Age Human Torch story) | Hank Chapman | Dick Ayers | Dick Ayers | Atlas Era Heroes Volume 2 | |
| #17 (Nov. 1968) |
"The Black Knight Reborn" | Roy Thomas | Howard Purcell | Dan Adkins | The Avengers Volume 7 978-0785126805 |
| #18 (Jan. 1969) |
"Guardians of the Galaxy" | Arnold Drake | Gene Colan | Mike Esposito (as "Mickey Demeo") |
The Defenders Volume 4 978-0785166276 |
| #19 (March 1969) |
Ka-Zar in "My Father, My Enemy" | Arnold Drake and Steve Parkhouse |
George Tuska | Sid Greene | Ka-Zar Volume 1 978-0785159575 |
| #20 (May 1969) |
Doctor Doom in "This Man, This Demon" | Roy Thomas and Larry Lieber | Larry Lieber and Frank Giacoia | Vince Colletta | Marvel Rarities Volume 1 978-0785188094 |
| #23 (Nov. 1969) |
"Tales of the Watcher: Melvin and the Martian " | Stan Lee | Tom Palmer | Tom Palmer |
Marvel Super-Heroes became an all-reprint magazine beginning with #21 (July 1969) (except for an original "Tales of the Watcher" story in #23), and a regular-sized comic at the then-standard 20-cent price with #32 (Sept. 1972). This reprint series lasted through issue #105 (Jan. 1982).[3]
A second series titled Fantasy Masterpieces ran from #1-14 (Dec. 1979–Jan. 1981), reprinting truncated versions of the 1968 Silver Surfer series, and Adam Warlock stories from Strange Tales and Warlock.
The 15-issue Marvel Super-Heroes (vol. 2) (May 1990–Oct. 1993)[9] was published quarterly and generally printed "inventory stories," those assigned to serve as emergency filler. The first issue featured a Brother Voodoo story drawn by Fred Hembeck in a dramatic style rather than his usual "cartoony" art.[10]
| Issue # | A Story | B Story | C Story | D Story | E Story | F Story | G Story |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moon Knight
Collected in Moon Knight Omnibus Vol. 2 |
Hercules | Hellcat | Brother Voodoo
Collected in Marvel Masterworks: Brother Voodoo |
Speedball
Collected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel |
Magik/New Mutants
Collected in New Mutants Omnibus Volume 3 |
Black Panther
Collected in Black Panther Epic Collection Volume 3: Panther's Prey |
| 2 | Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark |
Rogue/X-Men
Collected in X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda Omnibus |
Daredevil | Speedball
Collected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel |
Tigra | Red Wolf | Falcon |
| 3 | Captain America | Wasp | Speedball | Hulk | Blue Shield | Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)
Collected in Marvel Masterworks Captain Marvel Vol 6 |
No G Story |
| 4 | Spider-Man and Nick Fury | Daredevil | Wonder Man
Collected in Wonder Man Omnibus Vol. 1 |
Spitfire | Speedball | Black Knight | |
| 5 | Thor | Thing
Collected in The Thing Omnibus Vol 1 |
Speedball
Collected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel |
Dr. Strange | She-Hulk
Collected in She-Hulk Epic Collection Volume 4: The Cosmic Squish Principle |
No F Story | |
| 6 | X-Men
Collected in X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda Omnibus |
Power Pack
Collected in Power Pack Classic Omnibus Vol 2 |
Cloak & Dagger | Sabra | Speedball
Collected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel | ||
| 7 | Cloak & Dagger | Shroud | Marvel Boy | No E Story | |||
| 8 | Iron Man and Squirrel Girl
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, vol. 1: Squirrel Power and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl & The Great Lakes Avengers |
Sub-Mariner | No D Story | ||||
| 9 | Avengers West Coast | Thor | Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | ||||
| 10 | Vision and Scarlet Witch | Sub-Mariner | Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)
Collected in Ms. Marvel Epic Collection: The Woman Who Fell to Earth | ||||
| 11 | Ghost Rider | Giant-Man | Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) and Rogue
Collected in Ms. Marvel Epic Collection: The Woman Who Fell to Earth | ||||
| 12 | Dr. Strange | Falcon | Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | ||||
| 13 | Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark |
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark |
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | ||||
| 14 | Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark |
Dr. Strange | Speedball | ||||
| 15 | Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark |
Volstag
Collected in Thor: The Warriors Three: The Complete Collection |
Thor | Dr. Druid | No E Story | ||
In September 1979, the Marvel UK series The Mighty World of Marvel was retitled Marvel Superheroes[11] after a brief run under the title Marvel Comic.[12]
The name itself reappeared, without a hyphen, as part of the title of a 12-issue, company-wide crossover miniseries Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (May 1984–April 1985).[13] The 1985-1986 sequel was titled simply Secret Wars II.
The final series of this title was the six-issue Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine (Oct. 1994–March 1995), a 100-page book reprinting 1970s and 1980s Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Iron Man and Hulk stories in each issue.[14]
To help support the new animated television show, Martin Goodman told Stan Lee to produce a comic called Marvel Super Heroes.
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When John Romita sprained his wrist, Marvel hired artist Ross Andru to draw a fill-in issue of The Amazing Spider-Man to give Romita time to recover. However, never less than a consummate professional, Romita turned in his work on schedule as promised, leaving the company with an extra Stan Lee-scripted Spider-Man story on their hands.
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Having done a special stand-alone Spider-Man story in Marvel Super-Heroes #14, May 1968, Andru came aboard as the ongoing artist with Amazing #125, October 1973.
