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imprisoned, but announces his intention to turn the prison into the capital of his new
empire. A follow-up series by Morrison was promised, but never materialized. None-
theless, Noh-Varr, now also known as Captain Marvel , was re-introduced in 2007 and
currently appears in Dark Avengers.
Selected Bibliography: Daniels, Les. Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s
Greatest Comics. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1991.
Marc-Oliver Frisch
MARVEL COMICS. One of the two (along with DC ) publishing houses that have
dominated the American comic book industry since the early 1960s, Marvel has
produced comics in a wide variety of styles and genres, but it is primarily known
for its superhero comics. Th e company’s most recognizable characters include
Spider-Man , the Incredible Hulk , and the X-Men.
Martin Goodman founded the company as Timely Publications in 1939. Th e Sub-
Mariner and the Human Torch were early hits, but Timely had diffi culty building
on their success until the introduction of Captain America in early 1941. Th e patri-
otic hero, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby , was an immediate smash. Another
important fi gure at Marvel, Stan Lee , came to the company in 1940. Lee’s talents lay
in writing and editing. When Simon and Kirby left at the end of 1942, Lee became the
major editor and writer at the company for the next 30 years.
Th e fortunes of the company, now operating as Atlas Comics, were buoyed by the
general popularity of comics during and immediately after World War II. Th ough the
company continued to rely on its popular superheroes , it also diversifi ed into other
types of comics, especially as the popularity of superheroes declined after the war.
As crime , romance , and We s t e r n s became popular, the company followed industry
trends and added these genres to its lineup. By 1950, they were producing more than
80 monthly titles in a wide variety of genres, though many titles were short-lived. In
the 1940s and 1950s, the company derived its success primarily by copying what was
successful at other publishers rather than by innovation.
Th e industry decline in the mid-1950s hit the company hard. Although Atlas
published some crime and horror comics, its lineup was diverse enough that the
Comics Code had little direct impact. Th ough almost all publishers suff ered from
the bad publicity surrounding comics, the situation at Atlas was exacerbated by
distribution problems. After the collapse of distributor American News in 1957, the
company found itself with no distributor for its 75 monthly titles. It survived only
because Goodman struck a deal with DC, under which DC distributed eight Marvel
books a month (16 bimonthly titles) through its Independent News distributorship.
Th e 16 titles were fi lled with completed stories from inventory.
Late in 1958, Atlas began to publish newly commissioned material again. Kirby
and other artists returned, and the company produced a number of largely forgettable
comics. In 1960, when Goodman learned of the success of DC’s Justice League of
