''Marvel Super-Heroes'' is the name of several

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series and specials published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

Publication history

One-shot

The first was the

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

''Marvel Super Heroes Special'' #1 (Oct. 1966) produced as a tie-in to ''

The Marvel Super Heroes ''The Marvel Super Heroes'' is an American animated television series starring five comic book superheroes from Marvel Comics. The first TV series based on Marvel characters, it debuted in broadcast syndication, syndication on United States, U.S. ...

'' animated television program, 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 Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...

: "The

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of ...

and the Sub-Mariner Meet" (''

Marvel Mystery Comics ''Marvel Mystery Comics'' (first issue titled simply ''Marvel Comics'') is an American comic book series published during the 1930s–1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. It was the first publication of Mar ...

'' #8, June 1940), and the first Marvel story by future editor-in-chief

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

, the two-page text piece "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" (''

Captain America Comics Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

'' #3, May 1941). This summer special was a 25¢ "giant", relative to the typical 12¢ comics of the times.

First series

The first ongoing series of this name began as ''Fantasy Masterpieces'', initially a standard-sized, 12¢

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

reprinting "

pre-superhero Marvel Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a ...

" monster and

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became 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 The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

stories from Marvel's 1940s iteration as

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

. ''Fantasy Masterpieces'' ran 11 issues (Feb. 1966–Oct. 1967) before being renamed ''Marvel Super-Heroes'' with #12 (Dec. 1967). 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 In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

of the

Inhumans The Inhumans are a fictional superhuman race of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The comic book series has usually focused more specifically on the adventures of the Inhuman Royal Family, and many peop ...

, as well as the debuts of Captain Marvel (#12), the

Phantom Eagle Phantom Eagle is the name used by two fictional aviator heroes appearing in American comic books. The first character to use the name was teenaged Mickey Malone, a young aviator who appeared in the 1940s in Fawcett Comics publications depicting ...

(#16) and the

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It may more specifically refer to: Comic book teams * Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...

(#18). The

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

story drawn by

Ross Andru Ross Andru (; born Rostislav Androuchkevitch, June 15, 1927 – November 9, 1993) Part 1: Animation: We Leave the Army", p. 21. In 1948, Andru's first professional work as a comic strip illustrator was drawing layouts for the ''Tarzan (comics), T ...

in issue #14 was originally planned as a fill-in issue of ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

'' but was used here when that title's regular artist

John Romita Sr. John V. Romita (; born January 24, 1930) is an American comic book artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and for co-creating characters including the Punisher and Wolverine. He was inducted into the Will Eis ...

recovered more quickly than anticipated from a wrist injury. Andru would become the regular artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' several years later. 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 Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

Bill Everett William Blake Everett (; May 18, 1917 – February 27, 1973) was an American comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner as well as co-creating Zombie and Daredevil with writer Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. He was alle ...

, and Carl Burgos, and to such long-unseen and unfamiliar characters as the Whizzer and the

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

. ''Fantasy Masterpieces'' #10 (Aug. 1967) reprinted the entirety of the full-length

All-Winners Squad The All-Winners Squad is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The company's first such team, it first appeared in ''All Winners Comics'' #19 (Fall 1946), published by Marvel predecessor Timely Co ...

story from the (unhyphenated) ''

All Winners Comics ''All Winners Comics'' was the name of two American comic book series of the 1940s, both published by Marvel Comics' predecessor, Timely Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. A superhero anthology comic i ...

'' #19 (Fall 1946). ''Fantasy Masterpieces'' #11 (Oct. 1967) re-introduced the work of the late artist

Joe Maneely Joseph Maneely (; February 18, 1926 – June 7, 1958) was an American comic book artist best known for his work at Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics, where he co-created the Marvel characters the Black Knight, the Ringo Kid, the Yell ...

, a star of 1950s comics who had died in a train accident.

Original features

''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). A second series titled ''Fantasy Masterpieces'' ran from #1-14 (Dec. 1979–Jan. 1981), reprinting truncated versions of the 1968 ''

Silver Surfer The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...

'' series, and

Adam Warlock Adam Warlock (also known as simply Warlock) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character would first appear in '' Fantastic Four'' #66–67 (cover-dates September 1967 and October 1967) c ...

stories from ''

Strange Tales ''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics comics anthology, anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (feature), Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their d ...

'' and ''Warlock''.

Second Series

The 15-issue ''Marvel Super-Heroes'' (vol. 2) (May 1990–Oct. 1993) was published quarterly and generally printed "inventory stories," those assigned to serve as emergency filler. The first issue featured a

Brother Voodoo Brother Voodoo (Jericho Drumm) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #169 (September 1973). The character was created by publisher Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, L ...

story drawn by

Fred Hembeck Fred Hembeck (born January 30, 1953) is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are ...

in a dramatic style rather than his usual "cartoony" art.

Stories in Marvel Super-Heroes Vol 2

Other iterations

In September 1979, the

Marvel UK Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dill ...

series '' The Mighty World of Marvel'' was retitled ''Marvel Superheroes'' after a brief run under the title ''Marvel Comic''. The name itself reappeared, without a hyphen, as part of the title of a 12-issue, company-wide crossover

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

'' Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'' (May 1984–April 1985). 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 The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...

, Daredevil,

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

and

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...

stories in each issue.

References

External links

''Marvel Super-Heroes''
at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators {{Stan Lee 1967 comics debuts 1982 comics endings 1990 comics debuts 1993 comics endings Comics anthologies Comics by Archie Goodwin (comics) Comics by Roy Thomas Comics by Stan Lee Defunct American comics Marvel Comics one-shots Marvel Comics titles