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Providing children as well as adults with hours upon hours of reading some of the very best dialogue ever to be put on paper, and witnessing some of the best drawings to be sketched, in 1939, a new type of entertainment media is born. This is no doubt the birth of what is to become one of the greatest comic book companies of all time – Marvel Comics.

Originally in 1939 Marvel was founded under the name of ‘Timely Publications’ by a young but already highly popular Martin Goodman. It was with Timely Publications that we saw comics created which reflected the war, the new way of life, and also when new characters such as Ziggy Pig and Silly seal were born.

All through the 1940′s Timely Publications would continue to grow and gain momentum when suddenly in 1950 the name was changed to Atlas Comics. This was a smart move on Goodman’s behalf because post-war America was tired of the same old superheroes. They needed something new and fresh. They got exactly that with Atlas Comics. Atlas expanded into new genres such as westerns, drama, humor and espionage to name but a few! Although Atlas had great success, they did not attempt to innovate and instead let popular culture provide them with all the material they needed.

Fast forward to 1961 when a new brand of comic books in launched. Marvel Comics is born and with it comes a new comic anthology – ‘Amazing Adventures’ which proves to be a smash! All the while a strong rivalry was created between Marvel and DC Comics. In response to DC Comic’s ‘Justice League of America’, Marvel Comics came forward with the acclaimed ‘The Fantastic 4′ during this time. Back in the spotlight again were some new superheroes and it was time for Marvel to take that spotlight.

Marvel worked on a variety of comic book series which would secure its’ place as Comic Book King. These included Spider-man, X-men, The Hulk, Daredevil, Iron Man and so many more.

Why on earth was Marvel Comics such a smashing success? A simple word to describe their success is the word ‘humility’. Your traditional athletic, handsome, perfect superheroes weren’t being created in the Marvel comic books. Marvel steered away from the defacto standard and revolutionized characterization allowing the readers to relate and therefore make personal connections with the superheroes.

Spider-man, for example, has mixed feelings about his super powers and is filled with self doubt making him a very relatable character. Quite frankly it is great stories combined with intricate character build-ups that led to the success and finally top spot as Comic Books kings for Marvel Comics.

Even if you walk into a store today you’ll still see Marvel Comic Books everywhere, and they are as popular as ever. Even adults are into these books! New series are being printed all of the time in the Marvel Universe. Through perseverance, effort and time, Martin Goodman managed to create the greatest Comic book company ever known and for that and all the great stories along the way – We thank him.

Filed under: Fun Stuff on August 13th, 2009