Providing children as well as adults with hours upon hours of reading some of the very best dialogue ever to be put on paper, and witnessing some of the best drawings to be sketched, in 1939, a new type of entertainment media is born. This is no doubt the birth of what is to become one of the greatest comic book companies of all time – Marvel Comics.

Originally in 1939 Marvel was founded under the name of ‘Timely Publications’ by a young but already highly popular Martin Goodman. It was with Timely Publications that we saw comics created which reflected the war, the new way of life, and also when new characters such as Ziggy Pig and Silly seal were born.

Timely Publications continued to pick up momentum and achieve exponential growth all through the 1940′s, then suddenly in 1950, it was branded under the new name ‘Atlas Comics’. This was a smart move on Goodman’s behalf because post-war America was tired of the same old superheroes. They needed something new and fresh. They got exactly that with Atlas Comics. They expanded into genres such as humor, westerns, drama, espionage and so much more! Although Atlas had great success, they did not attempt to innovate and instead let popular culture provide them with all the material they needed.

Fast forward to 1961 when a new brand of comic books in launched. Marvel Comics launches their first comic anthology ‘Amazing Adventures’ and it proves to be a hit. By this time a strong rivalry had developed between DC comics and Marvel. It was during this time that Marvel released their acclaimed ‘The Fantastic 4′ in response to DC’s ‘Justice League of America’. Back in the spotlight again were some new superheroes and it was time for Marvel to take that spotlight.

Marvel worked on a variety of comic book series which would secure its’ place as Comic Book King. The series included X-Men, The Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-man and several more.

Why on earth was Marvel Comics such a smashing success? There’s an easy way to explain this and it’s known as humility. Your traditional athletic, handsome, perfect superheroes weren’t being created in the Marvel comic books. They broke the norm and revolutionized characterization allowing the reader to make a personal connection with their favourite superheroes.

For example, there is Spider-man, who is filled with self doubt and mixed feelings about his powers. It is without doubt, the great character build ups combined with great storylines that topped Marvel Comics as the King of the funny pages.

Even if you walk into a store today you’ll still see Marvel Comic Books everywhere, and they are as popular as ever. Even adults are into these books! New series are being printed all of the time in the Marvel Universe. Through perseverance, effort and time, Martin Goodman managed to create the greatest Comic book company ever known and for that and all the great stories along the way – We thank him.

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