Future Comics was an American comic book publishing company founded by industry polymath Bob Layton , and his creative partners (Layton's mentor, artist/editor Dick Giordano and his frequent writing-partner David Michelinie , CFO Allen Berrebbi) and publisher Skip Farrell .
95-564: Having achieved great success by relaunching Marvel Comics 's Iron Man in the 1970s (with co-writer David Michelinie), Bob Layton had gone on to considerable acclaim in the early to mid-1990s at Valiant Comics , where he worked "first as co-architect of the Valiant Universe, and then, as Editor-in-Chief and Senior Vice President." Layton left Valiant, his home in New York City and the comics industry itself in 1996, and moved to Florida for
190-634: A Once Upon a Time graphic novel was announced for publication in September. With Disney, Marvel announced in October 2013 that in January 2014 it would release its first title under their joint "Disney Kingdoms" imprint "Seekers of the Weird", a five-issue miniseries. On January 3, 2014, fellow Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm announced that as of 2015, Star Wars comics would once again be published by Marvel. Following
285-414: A Cold War culture that led their creators to revise the superhero conventions of previous eras to better reflect the psychological spirit of their age. Eschewing such comic book tropes as secret identities and even costumes at first, having a monster as one of the heroes, and having its characters bicker and complain in what was later called a "superheroes in the real world" approach, the series represented
380-969: A "sizable layoff" of "employees in non-critical positions" in January, 2003 (not long after the Diamond deal). The following month, on February 17, "Future Comics' office was vandalized" and the computer network disabled by a virus which severely compromised Future's e-commerce ventures. In addition, " PDF files of our latest crop of books were corrupted" by the virus, delaying the newly solicited-through-Diamond issues of Metallix and Freemind , giving Future "almost two months without any income from sales," even as debts accumulated. Future announced in April 2003 that it had hired Jason Hughes as Sales and Marketing Manager, but despite this, and continual but slow-moving interest from Hollywood, after seven issues each of Metallix and Freemind , three of Deathmask and zero of Future's fourth-title ( The Peacekeeper ) having seen print,
475-604: A Marvelcon '76. At the 1975 event, Stan Lee used a Fantastic Four panel discussion to announce that Jack Kirby , the artist co-creator of most of Marvel's signature characters, was returning to Marvel after having left in 1970 to work for rival DC Comics . In October 1976, Marvel, which already licensed reprints in different countries, including the UK, created a superhero specifically for the British market. Captain Britain debuted exclusively in
570-580: A brief time. During his time as president, he appointed his associate editor, prolific writer Roy Thomas , as editor-in-chief. Thomas added "Stan Lee Presents" to the opening page of each comic book. A series of new editors-in-chief oversaw the company during another slow time for the industry. Once again, Marvel attempted to diversify, and with the updating of the Comics Code published titles themed to horror ( The Tomb of Dracula ), martial arts ( Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu ), sword-and-sorcery ( Conan
665-536: A cash and stock deal worth approximately $ 4 billion, which if necessary would be adjusted at closing, giving Marvel shareholders $ 30 and 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they owned. As of 2008, Marvel and its major competitor DC Comics shared over 80% of the American comic-book market. As of September 2010, Marvel switched its bookstore distribution company from Diamond Book Distributors to Hachette Distribution Services . Marvel moved its office to
760-494: A change that proved to be a great success. Marvel often presented flawed superheroes, freaks, and misfits—unlike the perfect, handsome, athletic heroes found in previous traditional comic books. Some Marvel heroes looked like villains and monsters such as the Hulk and the Thing . This naturalistic approach even extended into topical politics. Comics historian Mike Benton also noted: In
855-505: A chord with the older readers, including college-aged adults. In 1965, Spider-Man and the Hulk were both featured in Esquire magazine's list of 28 college campus heroes, alongside John F. Kennedy and Bob Dylan . In 2009, writer Geoff Boucher reflected that, Superman and DC Comics instantly seemed like boring old Pat Boone ; Marvel felt like The Beatles and the British Invasion . It
950-498: A controversial personality, Shooter cured many of the procedural ills at Marvel, including repeatedly missed deadlines. During Shooter's nine-year tenure as editor-in-chief, Chris Claremont and John Byrne 's run on the Uncanny X-Men and Frank Miller 's run on Daredevil became critical and commercial successes. Shooter brought Marvel into the rapidly evolving direct market , institutionalized creator royalties, starting with
1045-506: A crossover that allowed Marvel to relaunch some of its flagship characters such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four , and outsource them to the studios of two of the former Marvel artists turned Image Comics founders, Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. The relaunched titles, which saw the characters transported to a parallel universe with a history distinct from the mainstream Marvel Universe, were
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#17330857363941140-510: A deal brokered by Malibu Comics ' owner Scott Mitchell Rosenberg . Three years later, on November 3, 1994, Rosenberg sold Malibu to Marvel. In purchasing Malibu, Marvel now owned computer coloring technology that had been developed by Rosenberg, and also integrated the Ultraverse line of comics and the Genesis Universe into Marvel's multiverse . Earlier that year, the company secured
1235-528: A deal with Harvey Comics , whereas Marvel took on the publishing and distribution of Harvey's titles. In late 1994, Marvel acquired the comic book distributor Heroes World Distribution to use as its own exclusive distributor. As the industry's other major publishers made exclusive distribution deals with other companies, the ripple effect resulted in the survival of only one other major distributor in North America, Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. Then, by
1330-442: A line of digital comics , Marvel AR, a software application that provides an augmented reality experience to readers and Marvel NOW! , a relaunch of most of the company's major titles with different creative teams. Marvel NOW! also saw the debut of new flagship titles including Uncanny Avengers and All-New X-Men . In April 2013, Marvel and other Disney conglomerate components began announcing joint projects. With ABC ,
1425-584: A month, maybe more, and ... suddenly we went ... to either eight or 12 books a month, which was all Independent News Distributors would accept from us." The company was briefly renamed to Goodman Comics in 1957 under the distribution deal with Independent News . The first modern comic books under the Marvel Comics brand were the science-fiction anthology Journey into Mystery #69 and the teen-humor title Patsy Walker #95 (both cover dated June 1961), which each displayed an "MC" box on its cover. Then, in
1520-580: A monthly or annual subscription fee. At the December 2007 the New York Anime Fest, the company announcement that Del Rey Manga would published two original English language Marvel manga books featuring the X-Men and Wolverine to hit the stands in spring 2009. In 2009 Marvel Comics closed its Open Submissions Policy, in which the company had accepted unsolicited samples from aspiring comic book artists, saying
1615-465: A new Atlas Comics line, but this lasted only a year and a half. In the mid-1970s a decline of the newsstand distribution network affected Marvel. Cult hits such as Howard the Duck fell victim to the distribution problems, with some titles reporting low sales when in fact the first specialty comic book stores resold them at a later date. But by the end of the decade, Marvel's fortunes were reviving, thanks to
1710-525: A number of different titles. Goodman's business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of corporations all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these shell companies through which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery Comics #55 (May 1944). As well, some comics' covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12 (Winter 1946–47), were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt
1805-476: A quick-fix for current problems within the comics industry ." Writing that "such a move would seem more viable since... a trade paperback has a much longer shelf life [than a monthly comic issue]," mass market and bookselling logic seemed to also (as did Schweier) tacitly supports Future's move, but it was not to be. Ironically paralleling the similarly timed arc of equally short-lived publisher CrossGen towards "a mass market format", Future's move came "far too late in
1900-543: A reputation for focusing on characterization and adult issues to a greater extent than most superhero comics before them, a quality which the new generation of older readers appreciated. This applied to The Amazing Spider-Man title in particular, which turned out to be Marvel's most successful book. Its young hero suffered from self-doubt and mundane problems like any other teenager, something with which many readers could identify. Stan Lee and freelance artist and eventual co-plotter Jack Kirby 's Fantastic Four originated in
1995-567: A result." Necessarily speculative, this estimate proved "entirely false," and after distributing 90,000 copies of Metallix #1 (at a cost of some "$ 16,000 in promotional expenses," to cover the free nature of the product), Future "didn’t get a single percentage point bump in . . . sales." In addition to the struggle to navigate between the contradictory and mutually exclusive demands of retailers either for Diamond distribution or non-Diamond distribution, Future Entertainment suffered serious setbacks behind-the-scenes. Financial mismanagement necessitated
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#17330857363942090-404: A series of junk bonds that he used to acquire other entertainment companies, secured by MEG stock. Marvel earned a great deal of money with their 1980s children's comics imprint Star Comics and they earned a great deal more money and worldwide success during the comic book boom of the early 1990s, launching the successful 2099 line of comics set in the future ( Spider-Man 2099 , etc.) and
2185-559: A short retirement. Layton returned to comics in 1998, working on a couple of Elseworlds for DC Comics with Dick Giordano, before returning to Marvel (and Iron Man ) for a mini-series with frequent collaborator David Michelinie. His experiences at Marvel, however, left him disillusioned with mainstream comics and its post-slump "glut of inferior products," caused in large part by an inability in publishers to focus on "quality content," rather than "superficial elements and ancillary products development." Realizing that "as much as people love
2280-533: A solid success amidst a generally struggling industry. In 1997, Toy Biz bought Marvel Entertainment Group to end the bankruptcy, forming a new corporation, Marvel Enterprises . With his business partner Avi Arad , publisher Bill Jemas , and editor-in-chief Bob Harras , Toy Biz co-owner Isaac Perlmutter helped stabilize the comics line. In 1998, the company launched the imprint Marvel Knights , taking place “with reduced [Marvel] continuity,” according to one history, with better production quality. The imprint
2375-560: A time, drive-in film monsters another time—and even other comic books, particularly the EC horror line. Atlas also published a plethora of children's and teen humor titles, including Dan DeCarlo 's Homer the Happy Ghost (similar to Casper the Friendly Ghost ) and Homer Hooper (à la Archie Andrews ). Atlas unsuccessfully attempted to revive superheroes from late 1953 to mid-1954, with
2470-557: A whole. I’m extremely grateful to Bill for all of his contributions .... In 1987, Puma Blues publisher Dave Sim fell into dispute with Diamond over Sim's decision not to use Diamond to distribute the Cerebus graphic novel High Society . As a result, Schanes, in his role as National Account Representative, informed Sim: "If it is your intention to pick and choose which products you want distributors to carry, it should be our privilege to choose what we wish to distribute. Therefore, it
2565-631: Is a New York City -based comic book publisher , a property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics , and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics . The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee , Jack Kirby , Steve Ditko , and numerous others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over
2660-415: Is our feeling we should no longer carry and promote Puma Blues ." At that time, Diamond distributed an estimated 33% of the series' print run. Puma Blues creators Stephen Murphy and Michael Zulli responded with an open letter titled "Not Fade Away," stating their intent to continue with or without Diamond's support. Later in 1988, Diamond backed down and agreed to distribute The Puma Blues , but
2755-565: The X-Men: The Animated Series which was aired on Fox Kids , they later released Spider-Man: The Animated Series on the network as well. In 1993, Marvel teamed up with Thomas Nelson to create Christian media genre comics, including a Christian superhero named The Illuminator, they made adaptions of Christian novels too, including In His Steps , The Screwtape Letters , and The Pilgrim's Progress . In 1996, Marvel had some of its titles participate in " Heroes Reborn ",
2850-498: The American News Company —which shortly afterward lost a Justice Department lawsuit and discontinued its business. Atlas was left without distribution and was forced to turn to Independent News , the distribution arm of its biggest rival, National (DC) Comics , which imposed draconian restrictions on Goodman's company. As then-Atlas editor Stan Lee recalled in a 1988 interview, "[We had been] turning out 40, 50, 60 books
2945-670: The Comics Code Authority (CCA) approval seal, due to the violence depicted in the issue. The CCA, which governed the content of American comic books, rejected the issue, requiring that changes be made. Instead, Marvel simply stopped submitting comics to the CCA. It then established its own Marvel Rating System for comics. Marvel also created new imprints , such as MAX (an explicit-content line) and Marvel Adventures (developed for child audiences). The company also created an alternate universe imprint, Ultimate Marvel , that allowed
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3040-509: The Epic Comics imprint for creator-owned material in 1982; introduced company-wide crossover story arcs with Contest of Champions and Secret Wars ; and in 1986 launched the ultimately unsuccessful New Universe line to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Marvel Comics imprint. Star Comics , a children-oriented line differing from the regular Marvel titles, was briefly successful during this period, although hampered by legal action by
3135-627: The Silver Surfer , and such memorable antagonists as Doctor Doom , Magneto , Galactus , Loki , the Green Goblin , and Doctor Octopus , all existing in a shared reality known as the Marvel Universe , with locations that mirror real-life cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Marvel even lampooned itself and other comics companies in a parody comic, Not Brand Echh (a play on Marvel's dubbing of other companies as "Brand Echh", à la
3230-479: The United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee to do a comic book story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. However, the industry's self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority , refused to approve the story because of the presence of narcotics, deeming
3325-476: The 21-page monthly comics," an over-reliance on "product [which] is being written exclusively for a niche audience... [means that] comics are not attractive to a mass market readership," Layton joined with Giordano (who also lived in Florida) and Michelinie to create a company which would produce "more mainstream—stuff that could be read by the 'Average Joe'." The formation of Future Entertainment (or "Future Comics")
3420-516: The Atlas years, allowing him now to release as many titles as demand warranted. Late that year, he sold Marvel Comics and its parent company, Magazine Management , to the Perfect Film & Chemical Corporation (later known as Cadence Industries) , though he remained as publisher. In 1969, Goodman finally ended his distribution deal with Independent by signing with Curtis Circulation Company . In 1971,
3515-557: The Barbarian in 1970, Red Sonja ), satire ( Howard the Duck ) and science fiction ( 2001: A Space Odyssey , " Killraven " in Amazing Adventures , Battlestar Galactica , Star Trek , and, late in the decade, the long-running Star Wars series). Some of these were published in larger-format black and white magazines, under its Curtis Magazines imprint. Marvel was able to capitalize on its successful superhero comics of
3610-563: The Barbarian title was canceled in 1993 after 275 issues, while the Savage Sword of Conan magazine had lasted 235 issues. Marvel published additional titles including miniseries until 2000 for a total of 650 issues. Conan was picked up by Dark Horse Comics three years later. In a cross-promotion, the November 1, 2006, episode of the CBS soap opera Guiding Light , titled "She's a Marvel", featured
3705-783: The Galaxy . Its stable of well-known supervillains includes Doctor Doom , Magneto , Green Goblin , Kingpin , Red Skull , Loki , Ultron , Thanos , Kang the Conqueror , Venom , and Galactus . Most of Marvel's fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe , with most locations mirroring real-life places; many major characters are based in New York City. Additionally, Marvel has published several licensed properties from other companies. This includes Star Wars comics , twice from 1977 to 1987 , and again since 2015 . Pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman created
3800-562: The Human Torch (art by Syd Shores and Dick Ayers , variously), the Sub-Mariner (drawn and most stories written by Bill Everett ), and Captain America (writer Stan Lee , artist John Romita Sr. ). Atlas did not achieve any breakout hits and, according to Stan Lee, survived chiefly because it produced work quickly, cheaply, and at a passable quality. In 1957, Goodman switched distributors to
3895-466: The Internet. For two years after the initial launch, Layton and Giordano "mapped out a daring, but sound, business plan that would allow an independent publisher to be profitable in a market dominated by Marvel, DC and Diamond ." Realizing that the workings of the direct market ultimately played a large factor in the survival of the smaller publishers, they decided that the best way forward was to circumvent
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3990-732: The Sports Illustrated Building in October 2010. Marvel relaunched the CrossGen imprint, owned by Disney Publishing Worldwide , in March 2011. Marvel and Disney Publishing began jointly publishing Disney/Pixar Presents magazine that May. Marvel discontinued its Marvel Adventures imprint in March 2012, and replaced them with a line of two titles connected to the Marvel Universe TV block . Also in March, Marvel announced its Marvel ReEvolution initiative that included Infinite Comics,
4085-511: The UK, and later appeared in American comics. During this time, Marvel and the Iowa-based Register and Tribune Syndicate launched a number of syndicated comic strips — The Amazing Spider-Man , Howard the Duck , Conan the Barbarian , and The Incredible Hulk . None of the strips lasted past 1982, except for The Amazing Spider-Man , which is still being published. In 1978, Jim Shooter became Marvel's editor-in-chief. Although
4180-512: The character Harley Davidson Cooper (played by Beth Ehlers ) as a superheroine named the Guiding Light. The character's story continued in an eight-page backup feature, "A New Light", that appeared in several Marvel titles published November 1 and 8. Also that year, Marvel created a wiki on its Web site. In late 2007 the company launched Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited , a digital archive of over 2,500 back issues available for viewing, for
4275-485: The company closed down). The company released its entire catalog digitally in 2012. It included unpublished issues of Deathmask, Metallix and Peacekeeper. Future published the graphic novel Colony late in 2012 in a joint venture with IDW Publishing. Late in 2018, Future released 5 issues that had previously been available only in digital with Peacekeeper finally seeing print along with subsequent issues of Future's previous titles. Marvel Comics Marvel Comics
4370-471: The company decided it had to "redirect [its] efforts into a more profitable market," and stopped soliciting individual issues. Citing "rising art & editorial costs," Layton notes that such "costs are simply not aligned to the percentage of sales in the comics industry." Therefore, in August 2003 (after a brief hiatus - Deathmask and Freemind' s last issues were dated May; Metallix #6 was June), Future Comics announced that it would be concentrating not on
4465-415: The company in April 2013. CEO Steve Geppi remarked at the time of Schanes' departure: As a co-founder of Pacific Comics in 1971, Bill already had over a dozen years of experience in comic retailing, distribution and publishing when he came to work for me in 1985. Since then, Bill’s vision, creativity and dedication have contributed greatly not just to Diamond’s success, but to the success of our industry as
4560-584: The company later known as Marvel Comics under the name Timely Publications in 1939. Goodman, who had started with a Western pulp in 1933, was expanding into the emerging—and by then already highly popular—new medium of comic books. Launching his new line from his existing company's offices at 330 West 42nd Street, New York City, he officially held the titles of editor , managing editor , and business manager , with Abraham Goodman (Martin's brother) officially listed as publisher. Timely's first publication, Marvel Comics #1 ( cover dated Oct. 1939), included
4655-653: The company to reboot its major titles by revising and updating its characters to introduce to a new generation. Some of the company's properties were adapted into successful film franchises, such as the Men in Black film series (which was based on a Malibu book), starting in 1997, the Blade film series, starting in 1998, the X-Men film series, starting in 2000, and the highest grossing series, Spider-Man , beginning in 2002. Marvel's Conan
4750-442: The company's entire publishing line. This branding pattern, being typically either a full-body picture of the characters' solo titles or a collection of the main characters' faces in ensemble titles, would become standard for Marvel for decades. In 1968, while selling 50 million comic books a year, company founder Goodman revised the constraining distribution arrangement with Independent News he had reached under duress during
4845-565: The context of the story irrelevant. Lee, with Goodman's approval, published the story regardless in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 (May–July 1971), without the Comics Code seal. The market reacted well to the storyline, and the CCA subsequently revised the Code the same year. Goodman retired as publisher in 1972 and installed his son, Chip, as publisher. Shortly thereafter, Lee succeeded him as publisher and also became Marvel's president for
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#17330857363944940-534: The creatively daring though commercially unsuccessful Razorline imprint of superhero comics created by novelist and filmmaker Clive Barker . In 1990, Marvel began selling Marvel Universe Cards with trading card maker SkyBox International . These were collectible trading cards that featured the characters and events of the Marvel Universe. The 1990s saw the rise of variant covers , cover enhancements, swimsuit issues , and company-wide crossovers that affected
5035-502: The declining direct (comics) market, but on the mass (books) market, and following publishers such as CrossGen in focusing its efforts on trade paperbacks and graphic novel -releases. Presciently, in light of subsequent more numerous shifts away from monthly comics towards collections, Philip Schweier, writing at ComicBookBin noted in September that Future's move was a bold one, but that a move away from comics one-time "cousins" (magazines)' monthly periodicity, "at this time may be only
5130-594: The distribution network offered by Diamond (and therefore the steep discounts at which Diamond buys from publishers), cut out the middleman and distribute Future's titles through the Internet, through the "Future Comics Retailers' Club". In addition, Future's "sales department [ran] a toll-free 1-800 number," and sold direct to fans. Future Comics debuted its first title - Freemind #0 - in August 2002. Co-written, edited and inked by Layton, with Michelinie as co-writer, Giordano penciling and colors and letters by Miguel Insignares and Albert T. DeGuzman respectively, Future Comics
5225-497: The duo Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal . Goodman hired his wife's 16-year-old cousin, Stanley Lieber, as a general office assistant in 1939. When editor Simon left the company in late 1941, Goodman made Lieber—by then writing pseudonymously as " Stan Lee "—interim editor of the comics line, a position Lee kept for decades except for three years during his military service in World War II . Lee wrote extensively for Timely, contributing to
5320-674: The end of 2002, Layton alleges that Diamond became "concerned that our operation might pose a threat to them," and offered a partnership. Although a stated aim of Future had been to circumvent the monopolistic distribution network, in the short term, Future was not making a profit, and the promise of higher sales and better advertising through Diamond seemed like a good offer. In addition, some retailers had expressed concern over dealing directly with Future, allegedly fearful that Diamond might make things difficult for them. Despite Future offering free shipping and large wholesale discounts and making their output "100% returnable" (thereby effectively removing
5415-561: The events of the company-wide crossover " Secret Wars " in 2015, a relaunched Marvel universe began in September 2015, called the All-New, All-Different Marvel . Bill Schanes William D. Schanes (born 1958) is an American publishing executive, active for many years in the comic book industry. One of the founders of Pacific Comics , Schanes later worked for many years for Diamond Comic Distributors . Bill and his brother Steve Schanes co-founded Pacific Comics in 1971. Pacific Comics
5510-512: The fast track," even then, and a July, 2003 press release talks of the companies works "attract[ing] the eye of some of the top names in Hollywood." Layton, Michelinie and Giordano had, by July 2003, "established a relationship" with Metrostop Entertainment and D-No Entertainment to adapt their properties for both the big and/or small screens, after what Layton described as "a shaky start," with regards to film deals, which saw Future "hooking up with
5605-514: The first appearance of Carl Burgos ' android superhero the Human Torch , and the first appearances of Bill Everett 's anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner , among other features. The issue was a great success; it and a second printing the following month sold a combined nearly 900,000 copies. While its contents came from an outside packager, Funnies, Inc. , Timely had its own staff in place by
5700-495: The flagging comics industry didn't play more of a part before Future ran into difficulties, and notes that Future did itself no favors in the move from monthly comics to collections. Allen recalls: Which, Allen suggests, is not an ideal way to address a lack of sales. Future's comics properties attracted Hollywood interest swiftly. Layton mentioned as one reason to deal with Diamond in December 2002 that "the FREEMIND movie [was] on
5795-402: The following month dropped its comics to 20 cents for 36 pages, offering a lower-priced product with a higher distributor discount. In 1973, Perfect Film & Chemical renamed itself as Cadence Industries and renamed Magazine Management as Marvel Comics Group. Goodman, now disconnected from Marvel, set up a new company called Seaboard Periodicals in 1974, reviving Marvel's old Atlas name for
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#17330857363945890-506: The following year. The company's first true editor, writer-artist Joe Simon , teamed with artist Jack Kirby to create one of the first patriotically themed superheroes, Captain America , in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). It, too, proved a hit, with sales of nearly one million. Goodman formed Timely Comics, Inc., beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941. While no other Timely character would achieve
5985-456: The front-runners, both " "Metallix" and "Peacekeeper" [we]re running close behind... a staggering testament to the talents behind Future Comics," since all properties we so swiftly in development. Despite Future Comics' demise, Layton's note to investors closed on an upbeat note, reporting that: Future's planned titles were Freemind , Metallix , Deathmask , and Peacekeeper (unfortunately no issues of Peacekeeper were ever published when
6080-413: The game to prevent the company from drowning in debt," with new investors and funding unavailable to back up the decision to produce a mass market product. Future Comics cancelled its monthly titles in 2004. In 2012 the company released its entire catalog digitally. In addition to the books that had been published in print, several other stories that had never been printed were included. One of these titles
6175-436: The main risk to the retailers of unsold stock) - and thus making their product "free for all intents and purposes" - retailers were not ordering enough copies to make Future viable. Complaints over price (initially Future's output carried a retail value of $ 3.50) was addressed, and the cover price lowered to a more standard $ 2.99. When these moves didn't help, Layton felt Future was left little alternative than to take advantage of
6270-449: The marketplace." Attempting to reassure Future's own existing Retailers' Club system, Layon said that the Diamond deal did not "compromis[e] the spirit of Future Comics' unique business plan," and that their "sales policy has been clearly stated from the beginning: we'll sell to anyone as long as it's on our terms, and this Diamond deal does not compromise that policy." Layton further intimated that Future's Internet-based distribution method
6365-495: The middle of the decade, the industry had slumped, and in December 1996 MEG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In early 1997, when Marvel's Heroes World endeavor failed, Diamond also forged an exclusive deal with Marvel —giving the company its own section of its comics catalog Previews . Marvel in the early to mid-1990s expanded their entries in other media, including Saturday-morning cartoons and various comics collaborations to explore new genres. In 1992, they released
6460-461: The most part and expanded into a wider variety of genres than even Timely had published, featuring horror , Westerns , humor, talking animal , men's adventure -drama, giant monster, crime , and war comics , and later adding jungle books, romance titles, espionage , and even medieval adventure, Bible stories and sports. Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company,
6555-509: The move as a betrayal, leading Layton to retroactively admit that "abandoning our original self-distribution plan is what ultimately lead to the company's sad demise." On December 20, 2002: Citing growth and movie-deals, Layton, as Editor-In Chief said that Future had "reconsidered our planned working relationship with the industry's distribution leader-Diamond," and attempted to find a middle ground that "would allow us to do business with each other while still competing as distribution rivals in
6650-416: The name in 1961. The company begin identifying the group of its comic division as Marvel Comic Group , on some comics cover-dated November 1948, when the company set up an in-house editorial board to compete with the likes of DC and Fawcett , even though the legal name is still Timely. The post-war American comic market saw superheroes falling out of fashion. Goodman's comic book line dropped them for
6745-554: The new series Deathmask as well as for Freemind issue #5 and Metallix #4, plus the availability of back issues for "customers who missed the opportunity to order them directly from Future Comics." Deathmask #1 was released in March 2003, with Freemind and Metallix seeing a slight delay in publication, (due, apparently, to vandalism (below) ) and arriving in April. Sales, however, did not rise as hoped - indeed, Layton wrote to investors after Future's collapse: "orders dropped." In an attempt to boost sales, and hopefully combat
6840-501: The newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated November 1951 even though another company, Kable News , continued to distribute his comics through the August 1952 issues. This globe branding united a line put out by the same publisher, staff and freelancers through 59 shell companies, from Animirth Comics to Zenith Publications. Atlas, rather than innovate, took a proven route of following popular trends in television and films— Westerns and war dramas prevailing for
6935-410: The overall continuity of the Marvel Universe . In early 1992, seven of Marvel’s prized artists — Todd McFarlane (known for his work on Spider-Man ), Jim Lee ( X-Men ), Rob Liefeld ( X-Force ), Marc Silvestri ( Wolverine ), Erik Larsen ( The Amazing Spider-Man ), Jim Valentino ( Guardians of the Galaxy ), and Whilce Portacio ( Uncanny X-Men ) — left to form Image Comics in
7030-403: The owners of the recently defunct Harvey Comics for purposefully plagiarizing their house style. In 1986, Marvel's parent, Marvel Entertainment Group , was sold to New World Entertainment , which within three years sold it to MacAndrews and Forbes , owned by Revlon executive Ronald Perelman in 1989. In 1991 Perelman took MEG public. Following the rapid rise of this stock, Perelman issued
7125-631: The perceived "threat" of Future Comics is hardly likely to be more than sour grapes, if for no other reason than that Future's small number of titles were hardly in a position to threaten Diamond's thousands of other titles. Moreover, Allen sees more than a little hyperbole in Layton's reiteration that, prior to Diamond's involvement, Future's solo distribution system was "successful," and that the burden of blame in Future's demise thus lay (as Layton seems to imply) with Diamond. Allen also wonders why Layton's dissection of
7220-525: The perceived dual negativity from both Diamond (allegedly unhappy with Future's decision to still distribute outside of the Diamond system) and the Future Comics Retailer's Club (unhappy with Future's decision to solicit through Diamond), Layton and publisher Skip Farrell were encouraged to participate in the second Free Comic Book Day event on May 3, 2003. Diamond supposedly intimated that a successful FCBD comic would see "a 12% increase in sales as
7315-494: The predominantly child audiences of the medium, thus ushering what Marvel later called the Marvel Age of Comics . Modern Marvel's first superhero team, the titular stars of The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), broke convention with other comic book archetypes of the time by squabbling, holding grudges both deep and petty, and eschewing anonymity or secret identities in favor of celebrity status. Subsequently, Marvel comics developed
7410-406: The previous decade by acquiring a new newsstand distributor and greatly expanding its comics line. Marvel pulled ahead of rival DC Comics in 1972, during a time when the price and format of the standard newsstand comic were in flux. Goodman increased the price and size of Marvel's November 1971 cover-dated comics from 15 cents for 36 pages total to 25 cents for 52 pages. DC followed suit, but Marvel
7505-418: The promises offered by Diamond. Supposedly suggesting that Future could achieve coveted "Premier Publisher" status in Diamond's Previews comics catalog, Diamond also reportedly suggested that using their distribution network would double sales, Future Comics (which was suffering from going it alone) agreed. Unfortunately, this proved disastrous on several levels: Future's existing "Retailers' Club" network saw
7600-438: The rise of direct market distribution—selling through those same comics-specialty stores instead of newsstands. Marvel ventured into audio in 1975 with a radio series and a record, both had Stan Lee as narrator. The radio series was Fantastic Four . The record was Spider-Man: Rock Reflections of a Superhero concept album for music fans. Marvel held its own comic book convention , Marvelcon '75, in spring 1975, and promised
7695-597: The success of these three characters, some notable heroes—many of which continue to appear in modern-day retcon appearances and flashbacks—include the Whizzer , Miss America , the Destroyer , the original Vision , and the Angel . Timely also published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton 's best-known features, " Powerhouse Pepper ", as well as a line of children's talking animal comics featuring characters like Super Rabbit and
7790-433: The then-common phrase "Brand X"). Originally, the company's publications were branded by a minuscule "Mc" on the upper right-hand corner of the covers. However, artist/writer Steve Ditko put a larger masthead picture of the title character of The Amazing Spider-Man on the upper left-hand corner on issue #2 that included the series' issue number and price. Lee appreciated the value of this visual motif and adapted it for
7885-439: The time-consuming review process had produced no suitably professional work. The same year, the company commemorated its 70th anniversary, dating to its inception as Timely Comics , by issuing the one-shot Marvel Mystery Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 and a variety of other special issues. On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced it would acquire Marvel Comics' parent corporation, Marvel Entertainment, for
7980-519: The wake of DC Comics ' success in reviving superheroes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly with the Flash , Green Lantern , Batman , Superman , Wonder Woman , Green Arrow , and other members of the team the Justice League of America , Marvel followed suit. In 1961, writer-editor Stan Lee revolutionized superhero comics by introducing superheroes designed to appeal to older readers than
8075-573: The world of [rival DC Comics '] Superman comic books, communism did not exist. Superman rarely crossed national borders or involved himself in political disputes. From 1962 to 1965, there were more communists [in Marvel Comics] than on the subscription list of Pravda . Communist agents attack Ant-Man in his laboratory, red henchmen jump the Fantastic Four on the moon, and Viet Cong guerrillas take potshots at Iron Man. All these elements struck
8170-434: The wrong type of representation for [their] needs." Future Comics future-proofed its concepts by "specifically tailor[ing]" each series to allow for easy translation: Metrostop Entertainment co-founder, Robert Keyghobad, described Future Comics as "not only a producer's dream, but a screenwriter's as well. They're a true diamond in the rough," "an original work that speaks to you." In the seven months since December, Deathmask
8265-468: The years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand. Marvel counts among its characters such well-known superheroes as Spider-Man , Iron Man , Wolverine , Captain America , Black Widow , Thor , Hulk , Daredevil , Doctor Strange , Black Panther , Captain Marvel , and Deadpool , as well as popular superhero teams such as the Avengers , X-Men , Fantastic Four , and Guardians of
8360-481: Was Peacekeeper #1. Later in 2012, Future partnered with publisher IDW Publishing to publish the graphic novel Colony . Colony was marketed as Dick Giordano's last work. Commenting somewhat wryly on Layton's description of events, ComicBookGalaxy's Christopher Allen casts doubt on some of Layton's pronouncements about the restructuring and ultimate failure of Future Comics. He notes, in particular that Layton's critique of Diamond's "monopoly" and alleged concern over
8455-610: Was Kirby's artwork with its tension and psychedelia that made it perfect for the times—or was it Lee's bravado and melodrama, which was somehow insecure and brash at the same time? In addition to Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, Marvel began publishing further superhero titles featuring such heroes and antiheroes as the Hulk , Thor , Ant-Man , Iron Man , the X-Men , Daredevil , the Inhumans , Black Panther , Doctor Strange , Captain Marvel and
8550-489: Was an early pioneer in the direct market method of selling comic books , as well as a publisher in its own right (beginning in 1981) which actively promoted creator-owned properties. At Pacific, Bill Schanes "took on the nuts-and-bolts aspects of business and accounting." Pacific collapsed in 1984. Schanes joined Steve Geppi 's Diamond Comic Distributors company in 1985, rising to the position of Vice President for Purchasing. After 28 years with Diamond, Schanes departed
8645-443: Was announced by Bob Layton and Dick Giordano "at a press conference on Saturday, June 9th, 2000," during Charlotte, North Carolina 's Heroes Convention . In addition to wanting to produce comics for the 'Average Joe', Layton and Giordano had heard numerous retailers decry "the callous way they were being treated by Diamond," so Future intended to revolutionize comics distribution by directly selling to readers and retailers alike via
8740-459: Was being somewhat hampered by some retailers not having easy access, and noted that, since Future was "already do[ing] business with several of Diamond's competitors," it was "only fair" to "show them the same respect." Dick Giordano praised Bill Schanes and Steve Geppi , citing his decades-long relationship with them (and Diamond) through DC's early entry into the direct sales market. Diamond's January 2003 Previews catalog contained listings for
8835-482: Was helmed by soon-to-become editor-in-chief Joe Quesada ; it featured tough, gritty stories showcasing such characters as the Daredevil , the Inhumans , and Black Panther . With the new millennium, Marvel Comics emerged from bankruptcy and again began diversifying its offerings. X-Force #116 X-Force #119 (October 2001) was the first Marvel Comics title since The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 in 1971 to not have
8930-449: Was said to have joined Freemind in "leading the charge in Hollywood," described by Keyghobad as "more than your traditional story of good vs. evil... filled with magic, a unique setting and incredibly complex and dark characters," while Freemind was Future's launch title, an "incredibly cerebral and character driven comic that reflects the expansion of the human spirit." The press release closed, optimistically, with noting that alongside
9025-403: Was soon being praised critically as a new Valiant or Marvel. Future's second title ( Metallix ) followed a few months later, and their best-seller Deathmask launched in March 2003, by which time "almost half of 1,100 comic retail shops in America were signed up" to buy direct from Future. Before Deathmask would reach shops, however, Future's distribution system underwent a radical shift. By
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