comic book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
series published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, 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 G ...
from 1964 to 1994 and a flip magazine series published Marvel Comics by from August 2005 to February 2007. Both series primarily
reprint
A reprint is a re-publication of material that has already been previously published. The term ''reprint'' is used with slightly different meanings in several fields.
Academic publishing
In academic publishing, offprints, sometimes also known ...
ed
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
stories.
''Marvel Tales Annual''
In the 1960s, during the
Silver Age of Comics
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books, the Silver ...
, the series ''Marvel Tales'' began as a summer special, ''Marvel Tales Annual'', for its first two issues (1964–1965). Like typical annuals of the time, these were 25¢ "giants", relative to the typical 12¢ comics of the time. In 1966, the series became a bimonthly and later monthly reprint title, featuring
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
stories primarily, from #3–291 (July 1966 – Nov. 1994).
The first annual was a 72-page reprint anthology that gathered
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
origin stories from the previous two years, as well as a
war comics
War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II.
History American war comics
Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began inc ...
story. An introduction to the
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Superhero teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardia ...
of the time, it contained complete debut stories of
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...
,
Ant-Man
Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, his first appearance was in '' Tales to Astonish'' #27 (January 1962) as Dr. Henry ...
,
Iron Man
Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...
, and
Thor
Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
, and excerpts of the first appearances of the
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 ...
,
Giant-Man
Giant-Man is the alias used by several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in association with the alias Ant-Man. Hank Pym first appeared as Giant-Man in ''Tales to Astonish'' #49, though he had appea ...
, the red-and-gold-armor version of Iron Man, and the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Dick Ayers
Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...
,
Stan Lee
Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...
,
Don Heck
Donald L. HeckDonald L. Heck at the Social Security Death Index. Retrieved on Septem ...
,
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...
,
Joe Orlando
Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian Americans, Italian-American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' and ...
,
Paul Reinman
Paul J. Reinman (; born Joseph Paul Reinmann, ; 2 September 1910 – 27 September 1988)Paul J. Reinmen
Flo Steinberg
Florence Steinberg (March 17, 1939 – July 23, 2017) was an American publisher of one of the first independent comic books, the underground comics, underground/alternative comics hybrid ''Big Apple Comix'', in 1975. Additionally, as the secretary ...
Grand Comics Database
The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...
. Spider-Man co-creator
Steve Ditko
Stephen John Ditko. Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular ac ...
was conspicuously absent from the staff photos, which historians later cited as evidence of him starting to distance himself from Marvel. Comics historian Nick Caputo has noted that "By 1964 the new heroes were an essential part of Marvel's line, with only the western and teen-romance strips remaining. The ''Marvel Tales Annual'' was an easy way to introduce their top features to a growing audience." He also observed that "''Marvel Tales Annual'' # 1 represents an era that is almost inconceivable today, when access to old stories and comics in the form of expensive hardcover editions or trade paperbacks is the standard. To many kids the presence of an over-sized comic book on the racks in the spring and summer months represented an adventure of near-mythic proportions."
The second annual similarly reprinted ''
The X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...
'' #1 and '' The Avengers'' #1, the eight-page origin of
Doctor Strange
Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...
, a non-debut story starring the Hulk, and a standalone, five-page science-fiction story, "A Monster Among Us", from '' Amazing Adult Fantasy'' #8.
Ongoing series
Beginning with issue #3 (July 1966), the title was published bimonthly, continuing in the 25¢-giant format through #33. Through issue #12, ''Marvel Tales'' reprinted some of the earliest issues of ''
The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American superhero American comic book, comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of t ...
'', as well as some of the earliest stories of Thor, Ant-Man, and
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...
member the
Human Torch
The Human Torch (Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm) is a fictional superhero character 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 ar ...
(from his solo feature in ''Strange Tales'').
The Ant-Man stories were replaced after a few issues by anthological science-fiction stories framed as "Tales of the
Wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...
", introduced by Ant-Man's female partner. These in turn were replaced by 1950s
Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to:
* Atlas Comics (1950s), one of the two comic publishing companies that would be the forerunner of Marvel Comics
* Atlas/Seaboard Comics
Atlas/Seaboard Comics is a line of comic books published by the American company S ...
reprints of the superhero
Marvel Boy
M-11
M-11 is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Originally known as the Human Robot, the character was named "M-11" in the 2006 to 2007 ''Agents of Atlas'' miniseries as an allusion to its first ...
in issues #13–16. That was dropped with #17, when 18-page Thor reprints replaced the earlier 13-page Thor reprints.
''Marvel Tales'' was revamped to feature two Spider-Man reprints and one Doctor Strange reprint in issues #28–31 — with the exception of #30, where the Strange backup was replaced by an original story featuring the X-Men member
Angel
An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...
, written by
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
co-creator
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He was the co-creator of ...
in one of his rare Marvel outings. An Iron Man story served as backup in #32, after which ''Marvel Tales'' became a standard-priced series reprinting a single Spider-Man story each issue, occasionally with a new or reprinted backup story. Issue #100 (Feb. 1979) included a new Hawkeye and the Two-Gun Kid story.
The reprints had minor details and cultural references changed in the stories to contemporary ones. Storytelling errors in the original stories were occasionally corrected. Marvel Comics writer and editor
Tom DeFalco
Tom DeFalco (born June 26, 1950) is an American comic book writer and editor well known for his association with Marvel Comics, with long runs on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Thor (comic book), Thor'', ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' ...
stated in a 2016 interview that "One reviewer at the time was so incensed with some of my changes that she suggested that someone should bring a gun to a convention and 'blow me away'." DeFalco considered legal action against the reviewer and her publisher as a result. In addition to changing topical references, Marvel decided to alter the background characters in several issues to present greater racial
diversity
Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to:
Business
*Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce
*Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers
* ...
in the stories. Comics historian Brian Cronin remarked in 2018 that "it was an interesting change to make New York City seem more like the real New York City." ''Marvel Tales'' #159 (Jan. 1984) included a parody page which reimagined Spider-Man's
Aunt May
Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...
as a jogger and his high school classmates as punk rockers. The alterations to the reprinted stories ended with this issue. Filmmaker Bob DeNatale, who was the assistant editor on ''Marvel Tales'' at the time explained in a 2018 interview that "I always hated the updated cultural references in the reprints. When I was hired, Danny ingerothbasically put me in charge of the ''Marvel Tales'' reprints so he could spend his time and energy on the new stories, so I stopped making any changes to the original script.
Although the series was a reprint title, it often featured new covers, most notably by artist
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic-book creator, best known for his work as an artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horror-fantasy series '' Spawn,'' as well as bein ...
on issues #223–239. ''Marvel Tales'' was cancelled with issue #291 (Nov. 1994).
''Marvel Tales Flip Magazine''
Marvel published a flip magazine titled ''Marvel Tales Flip Magazine'' (Aug. 2005 – Feb. 2007) reprinting Spider-Man stories from ''
The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American superhero American comic book, comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of t ...
'' (vol. 2) on one side, and, on the other,
Araña
Aña "Anya" Sofia Corazón (surname alternatively shown without diacritic, Corazon, over the years) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, writer Fiona Avery, a ...
, from ''
Amazing Fantasy
''Amazing Adult Fantasy'', retitled ''Amazing Fantasy'' in its final issue, is an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics from 1961 through 1962, with the latter title revived with superhero features in 1995 and in the 20 ...