| Marvel Super-Heroes | |
| Schedule: | Varied |
| Ongoing: | n |
| Superhero: | y |
| Publisher: | Marvel Comics |
| Date: | Dec. 1967 – Jan. 1982 |
| Issues: | 94 |
| Editors: | Stan Lee |
| Subcat: | Marvel Comics |
| Sort: | Marvel Collectors' Item Classics |
Marvel Super-Heroes is the name of several comic book series and specials published by Marvel Comics.
The first was the one-shot Marvel Super Heroes Special #1 (Oct. 1966) produced as a tie-in to The Marvel Super Heroes animated television program,[1] 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 Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner Meet" (Marvel Mystery Comics #8, June 1940), and the first Marvel story by future editor-in-chief Stan Lee, the two-page text piece "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" (Captain America Comics #3, May 1941).
This summer special was a 25¢ "giant", relative to the typical 12¢ comics of the times.[2]
The first ongoing series of this name began as Fantasy Masterpieces, initially a standard-sized, 12¢ anthology reprinting "pre-superhero Marvel" monster and sci-fi/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 superhero stories from Marvel's 1940s iteration as Timely Comics. 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 of the Inhumans, as well as the debuts of Captain Marvel (#12),[3] the Phantom Eagle (#16)[4] and the Guardians of the Galaxy (#18).[5] The Spider-Man story drawn by Ross Andru in issue #14 was originally planned as a fill-in issue of The Amazing Spider-Man but was used here when that title's regular artist John Romita Sr. recovered more quickly than anticipated from a wrist injury.[6] Andru would become the regular artist on The Amazing Spider-Man several years later.[7]
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, Bill Everett, and Carl Burgos, and to such long-unseen and unfamiliar characters as the Whizzer and the Destroyer. Fantasy Masterpieces #10 (Aug. 1967) reprinted the entirety of the full-length All-Winners Squad story from the (unhyphenated) All Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946). Fantasy Masterpieces #11 (Oct. 1967) re-introduced the work of the late artist Joe Maneely, a star of 1950s comics who had died in a train accident.
| Issue (cover date) | Character(s)/Story title | Writer(s) | Penciller(s) | Inker(s) | Collected in Marvel Masterworks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "The Coming of Captain Marvel" | Stan Lee | Gene Colan | Captain Marvel Volume 1 | |
| Captain Marvel in "Where Walks the Sentry" | Roy Thomas | Gene Colan | ||
| Spider-Man in "The Reprehensible Riddle of the Sorcerer" | Stan Lee | Spider-Man Volume 8 | ||
| Medusa in "Let the Silence Shatter" | Gene Colan | The Inhumans Volume 1 | ||
| "The Phantom Eagle" | Gary Friedrich | Herb Trimpe | The Incredible Hulk Volume 7 | |
| "The Un-human" (Previously unpublished Golden Age Human Torch story) | Hank Chapman | Dick Ayers | Dick Ayers | Atlas Era Heroes Volume 2 | |
| "The Black Knight Reborn" | Roy Thomas | The Avengers Volume 7 | ||
| "Guardians of the Galaxy" | Gene Colan | Mike Esposito (as "Mickey Demeo") | The Defenders Volume 4 | |
| Ka-Zar in "My Father, My Enemy" | Arnold Drake and Steve Parkhouse | George Tuska | Ka-Zar Volume 1 | |
| Doctor Doom in "This Man, This Demon" | Larry Lieber and Frank Giacoia | Vince Colletta | Marvel Rarities Volume 1 | |
| "Tales of the Watcher: Melvin and the Martian " | Stan Lee | Tom Palmer | Tom Palmer |
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 series, and Adam Warlock stories from Strange Tales and Warlock.
The 15-issue Marvel Super-Heroes (vol. 2) (May 1990 - Oct. 1993)[8] was published quarterly and generally printed "inventory stories," those assigned to serve as emergency filler. The first issue featured a Brother Voodoo story drawn by Fred Hembeck in a dramatic style rather than his usual "cartoony" art.[9]
| Issue # | A Story | B Story | C Story | D Story | E Story | F Story | G Story | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moon KnightCollected in Moon Knight Omnibus Vol. 2 | Hercules | Hellcat | Brother VoodooCollected in Marvel Masterworks: Brother Voodoo | SpeedballCollected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel | Magik/New MutantsCollected in New Mutants Omnibus Volume 3 | Black PantherCollected in Black Panther Epic Collection Volume 3: Panther's Prey | |
| 2 | Iron ManCollected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | Rogue/X-MenCollected in X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda Omnibus | Daredevil | SpeedballCollected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel | Tigra | Red Wolf | Falcon | |
| 3 | Captain America | Wasp | Speedball | Hulk | Blue Shield | Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell)Collected in Marvel Masterworks Captain Marvel Vol 6 | No G Story | |
| 4 | Spider-Man and Nick Fury | Daredevil | Wonder ManCollected in Wonder Man Omnibus Vol. 1 | Spitfire | Speedball | Black Knight | ||
| 5 | Thor | ThingCollected in The Thing Omnibus Vol 1 | SpeedballCollected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel | Dr. Strange | She-HulkCollected in She-Hulk Epic Collection Volume 4: The Cosmic Squish Principle | No F Story | ||
| 6 | X-MenCollected in X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda Omnibus | Power PackCollected in Power Pack Classic Omnibus Vol 2 | Cloak & Dagger | Sabra | SpeedballCollected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel | |||
| 7 | Cloak & Dagger | Shroud | Marvel Boy | No E Story | ||||
| 8 | Iron Man and Squirrel GirlCollected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, vol. 1: Squirrel Power and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl & The Great Lakes Avengers | Sub-Mariner | No D Story | |||||
| 9 | Avengers West Coast | Thor | Iron ManCollected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | |||||
| 10 | Vision and Scarlet Witch | Sub-Mariner | Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)Collected in Ms. Marvel Epic Collection: The Woman Who Fell to Earth | |||||
| 11 | Ghost Rider | Giant-Man | Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) and RogueCollected in Ms. Marvel Epic Collection: The Woman Who Fell to Earth | |||||
| 12 | Dr. Strange | Falcon | Iron ManCollected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | |||||
| 13 | Iron ManCollected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | Iron ManCollected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | Iron ManCollected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | |||||
| 14 | Iron ManCollected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | Dr. Strange | Speedball | |||||
| 15 | Iron ManCollected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark | VolstagCollected in Thor: The Warriors Three: The Complete Collection | Thor | Dr. Druid | No E Story | |||
In September 1979, the Marvel UK 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 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, Daredevil, Iron Man and Hulk stories in each issue.