About

Marvel Comics is an American entertainment company which produces comic books and films based on comic books. It has been behind recent action blockbusters The Avengers, Spider-Man, Thor, and Iron Man.

History

Marvel Comics, which was first called Timely Publications, was founded by Martin Goodman in 1939. The company changed its name again to Atlas Comics in 1951 before finally deciding on Marvel Comics in 1961. During the '60s their comics flurished, under the direction of comic writer, and the company's editor-in-chief Stan Lee. Famous superheros and superhero teams created during this time include The Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Iron Man, Spider Man, and the X-Men. Its parent company, Marvel Entertainment Group, changed hands multiple times during the 1980s, and Marvel Comics eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1996. In the 2000s they began expanding into film, launching their first comic based film franchise in 2000 with X-Men. On August 31st, 2009, Disney announced they would be purchasing Marvel for 4 billion dollars.^[16] After multiple film successes such as Iron Man and Spider Man Marvel released The Avengers in 2012, which became the third highest grossing film worldwide.^[21]

Online Presence

As of March 2014, the official Marvel Facebook page^[2] has over 5.9 million likes and its Twitter account^[1] has over 1.2 million followers. Its official YouTube channel^[6], which features trailers and clips from its films, has over 980,000 subscribers. Marvel also has an official Tumblr blog^[3] that features movie posters, fan art, and film clips.

Fandom

In addition to their branded social media accounts, there are many fan run sites for Marvel including Silver Surfer^[12] and www.marvelfamily.^[13] Tumblr blogs dedicated to the Marvel universe include fuckyeahmarvel^[7], themarvelageofcomics^[8], and marvel-comic.^[9] As of March 2014, there are over 1,300 submissions on Marvel's page on Fanfiction.net^[10] and over 580,000 submissions tagged Marvel on Deviant Art.^[11]

The Avengers

The Avengers first appeared in the Marvel universe in 1963 in the first issue of The Avengers.^[18] A team of Marvel superheros they consist of Black Widow, Cannonball, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Captain Universe, Falcon, Hawkeye, Hulk, Hyperion, Iron Man, Manifold, Messenger, Nightmask, Shang-Chi, Spider-Woman, Star Brand, Sunspot, and Thor. In the movie released in 2012, however, the team only consists of Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and is led by Nick Fury. A sequel to the first film, Avengers: Age of Ultron, will be released in 2015.

Hulk

The Hulk first appeared in the Marvel Universe in 1962 in the first issue of Incredible Hulk.^[14] Also known as Bruce Banner, he was a scientist infected gamma energy so whenever he becomes angry (and his heart rate increase) he becomes large, green, and incredibly strong. The most recent film about the Hulk was released in 2008 (The Incredible Hulk) and stared Edward Norton, though the role was played by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers.

X-Men

The X-Men made their first appearance in the Marvel Universe in 1963 in the first issues of X-Men.^[17] The X-Men line up consists of Angel , Armor, Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler , Emma Frost, Gambit, Husk, Iceman, Magneto, Namor, Nightcrawler, Northstar, Pixie, Professor X, Psylocke , Rogue, Storm, and Wolverine. The X-Men are mutants with superhuman abilities, for example Storm can manipulate the weather. The first X-Men film was released in 2000, with X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). In 2009 a prequel, X-Men: First Class was released followed by X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

Iron Man

Iron Man, or Tony Stark, was first introduced in 1963 in the 38th issue of Tales of Suspense.^[15] Stark is a technology genius who inherited a fortune and a weapons company when his parents died. After getting a shrapnel injury he constructs the Iron Man suit to protect himself. The first modern Iron Man film was released in 2008, with the second released in 2010 and the third in 2013. In film Iron Man is portrayed by Robert Downey Jr.

Spider-Man

Spider-Man, or Peter Parker, first appeared in 1962 in the 15th issue of Amazing Fantasy.^[20] Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and gained superhuman strength and builds a device with the ability to shoot webs out of his wrists. In the first Spider Man film trilogy (with films released in 2002, 2004, and 2007), Spider Man was played by Tobey Maguire. In 2012 The Amazing Spider-Man, the first film in the franchise's reboot was released with Andrew Garfield playing Spiderman. In 2014 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was released.

Related Memes

Science Bros

Science Bros refer to the slash pairing of Marvel comic characters Bruce Banner (The Hulk's alter ego) and Tony Stark (Iron Man) as portrayed by Hollywood actors Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. in the 2012 American superhero film The Avengers. On DeviantART and Tumblr, the pairing has inspired an extensive collection of fanart illustrating the two characters in varying degrees of intimacy, ranging from platonic friendliness to homoerotic romance.

Cool Story Bro

'Cool Story, Bro' began on 4chan's /v/ (video games) board^[8], used as a response to posts containing personal or lengthy stories as early as July 18th, 2008^[9] in a thread for sad moments in a person's gaming life. Image macros followed, initially paired with a panel from Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hercules #122.^[6] The issue was inked by Clayton Henry and Salvador Espin and published on October 29th, 2008, showing Hercules during a flashback right before he finds out his friend Queen Hippolyta had been killed.^[7]

'60s Spiderman

60's Spider-Man, also known as "Retro Spider-Man", refers to an image macro series based on still shots from the original Spider-Man cartoon series, typically featuring an absurd internal monologue that correspond with the actions depicted in the images. The image macro originated on 4chan some time in 2009 after users of the board /co/ (cartoon) began threads inviting fellow users to watch original episodes of the show together via streaming services. The overuse of stock animation like images of Spider-Man swinging across skylines was representative of the show's low-budget production, leading to plenty of funny, awkward or odd moments throughout the series.

How Do I Shot Web?

How Do I Shot Web? is a popular catchphrase paired with an image of Spider-man, that is typically used in online conversations to poke fun at n00bish behavior and bad grammar. It usually references other memes or other phenomena from popular culture.

MODOK Theme goes with trolling

MODOK Theme goes with trolling is a series of videos which consists of using MODOK's theme song from the recent video game Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in a situation where someone is trolling someone else. The music comes from the recent video game called Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Before the game was released, the playable characters were revealed on a regular basis, with a trailer showing each of them. M.O.D.O.K. was revealed in October 2010.

The Hawkeye Initiative

The Hawkeye Initiative is an art movement in which artists replace female super hero characters shown in impossible body positions with the male Marvel superhero Hawkeye, one of The Avengers.

Wolverine Crush

Wolverine Crush is a two-panel exploitable comic series featuring the Marvel superhero Wolverine looking longingly at picture frame, which often contain various humorous images superimposed over the original photograph.

External References