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Uncle Ben

Uncle Ben

:This article is about the Spider-Man comic book character. See also Uncle Ben's, a brand of rice and other foods. Benjamin "Uncle Ben" Parker is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe published by Marvel Comics. He is an important figure in the history of the Spider-Man titles, and often appears in flashbacks. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15, and was killed later that issue.

Biography

When Richard and Mary Parker were killed, Richard's older brother Ben and his wife, May, took in their orphaned son Peter and raised him. Ben was eventually killed by a burglar; Peter subsequently captured the burglar, and was horrified to realize that it was the same burglar who he could have captured earlier that day, except that he had chosen to not get involved. As a result, Peter considered himself morally responsible for Ben's death, and resolved to fight crime as a superhero, vowing to always take his responsibilities seriously.

"With great power must come great responsibility"

The often-quoted Spider-man theme of "with great power there must also come great responsibility" (typically misquoted as "with great power comes great responsibility") is widely attributed to Uncle Ben. However, this was not initially true. In Amazing Fantasy #15, the phrase appears in a narrative caption in the comic's last panel, not as spoken dialogue. In fact, Ben has only two lines in the entire comic. However, later stories and flashbacks that took place when Ben was still alive retroactively made the phrase one of Ben's many homilies he would lecture Peter with. Recent reinterpretations of Spider-Man, such as the Spider-Man movie and the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, depict Ben as using this phrase while he is still alive.

Notability

Uncle Ben was notable as one of the few comic book deaths that stuck. He is a member of the "Big Three", referring also to Jason Todd and Bucky, other characters whose revivals would negate major character motivation and development. In fact, if one includes the Ultimate Marvel rebooted continuity, Uncle Ben is the only one to have stayed dead across all major continuities. However, with both Jason Todd and Bucky returning recently, this leaves Uncle Ben as the only one.

Portrayal in media

In the successful film adaptation released in 2002, Uncle Ben was played by Cliff Robertson. In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, he was voiced by the late Brian Keith.

Franklin Richards's Uncle Ben

Franklin Richards of the Fantastic Four often refers to Benjamin Grimm, the Thing, as "Uncle Ben". Interestingly, Franklin Richards's middle name is Benjamin—the same as the middle name of Peter Benjamin Parker, Spider-Man. This is not entirely coincidental; Ben Parker and the Thing are, respectively, the namesakes of Peter Parker and Franklin Richards.

Spider-Girl's Uncle Ben

Like her father, Mayday also has an Uncle Ben. However, unlike her dad, May never knew her Uncle Ben. May's Uncle Ben, is Ben Reilly, the Spider-Man clone. However, when Mayday asked her dad about him, Peter left out the fact that Ben was really Peter's clone. Also, if Spider-Girl had any children in the future, they too would have an Uncle Ben - May's baby brother, and Peter & MJ's second child. However, it is unknown after who the young Ben was named after - As Peter & MJ named May after Peter's Aunt May, Mayday asked which Uncle Ben the new born was named after, her Uncle Ben, or his (Peter's) Uncle Ben. Peter then asked if it really mattered, which May responded to with "I guess not". Parker, Uncle Ben

Uncle Ben's

:This article is about the brand of rice and other foods. For the Spider-Man comic book character, see Uncle Ben. Uncle Ben's is a brand name for parboiled ("converted") rice and related food products. It is owned by Mars, Inc.; in the U.S., by its subsidiary Masterfoods. The brand was first used by a company called Converted Rice, Inc., which was later bought by Mars. Uncle Ben's rice was the top-selling rice in America from 1950 until the 1990s.[http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1999/1213/6414178a.html]

Uncle Ben

According to Mars, Uncle Ben was an African-American rice-grower in Texas known for the quality of his rice[http://www.unclebens.com/about.aspx]; Mars does not supply any further biographical detail about this person. The rice packages carry an image of an elderly African-American man dressed in a bow-tie, perhaps a steward in the Uncle Tom tradition[http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/tom/] or perhaps a Chicago maitre d'hotel, Frank Brown.[http://www.prmuseum.com/kendrix/trinity.html]

External link

- [http://www.unclebens.com/ Official Web site of Uncle Ben's brand]

Marvel Universe

The Marvel Universe is the fictional shared setting where most of the comic stories published by Marvel Comics take place.

History

Though the concept of a shared universe was not new or unique to comics in 1961, writer/editor Stan Lee, together with several artists including Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, created a series of titles where events in one book would have repercussions in another title and serialized stories would show characters grow and change. Headline characters in one title would make cameo or guest appearances in other books. Eventually many of the leading heroes assembled into a team known as the Avengers. This was not the first time that Marvel's characters had interacted with one another—Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Original Human Torch had been rivals in Marvel's "Golden Age"—but it was the first time that a comic book publisher's characters seemed to share a world. The Marvel Universe was also notable for setting its central titles in New York City. Care was taken to portray the city and the world as realistically as possible with the presence of superhumans affecting the common citizens in various ways. Over time, a few Marvel Comics writers lobbied Marvel editors to incorporate the idea of a multiverse; this plot device allows one to create several fictional universes which normally do not overlap. What happens on Earth in the main Marvel Universe would normally have no effect on what happens on a parallel Earth in another Marvel-created universe. However, storywriters would have the creative ability to write stories in which people from one such universe would visit this alternate universe. When characters from one universe meet characters from another universe that they normally do not interact with, this is termed a crossover. In 1982, Marvel published the mini-series Contest of Champions, in which all of the major heroes in existence at the time were gathered together to deal with one threat. This was Marvel's first miniseries. Each issue contained biographical information on many major costumed characters; these biographies were a precursor to Marvel's series of reference material, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, which followed shortly on the heels of Contest of Champions. In 1986, in honor of Marvel Comics' 25th anniversary, then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter launched the largely-unsuccessful New Universe line of comics. The New Universe was intended to be a more realistic, self-contained superhero universe, but due to a combination of a lack of editorial support and a general disinterest on the part of the readers, the line was cancelled after three years. Over the years, as the number of titles published increased and the volume of past stories accumulated, it became increasingly difficult to maintain internal consistency and continuity. In order to continue publishing stories of its most popular characters, maintaining the status quo became necessary. Change and growth for characters was replaced with the illusion of change. Unlike its main rival DC Comics, Marvel has never engaged in a drastic reboot of their continuity. Minor attempts have been made in recent years to produce stories more accessible for neophyte readers such as the Heroes Reborn titles, which occurred in a pocket universe where many of the major Marvel heroes were exiled for a year. A greater attempt has been made with the Ultimate titles; this series of titles is in a universe unrelated to the main Marvel continuity, and essentially is starting the entire Marvel Universe over again, from scratch. Ongoing "Ultimate" comics now exist for the X-Men, the Avengers (in the form of the Ultimates), Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four. Sales of these titles are strong, and indications are that Marvel will continue to expand the line, effectively creating two Marvel Universes existing concurrently. In 2002, a study was done of the interactions between characters in the Marvel Universe (Alberich, R., Miro-Julia, J. & Rosselló, F. Marvel Universe looks almost like a real social network. [http://www.nature.com/nsu/020218/020218-17.html][http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/cond-mat/0202174]) which revealed that the Marvel Universe shares some non-random features with the social networks of collaborating scientists or co-starring movie actors. This pattern developed without deliberate coordination among the various writers over the years. The most socially networked character in the Marvel Universe is Captain America.

Concepts

The central concept of the Marvel Universe is that it is just like the real world, except that superheroes (and supervillains) exist. It is more than just that, however. The Marvel Universe includes examples of most major science fiction and fantasy concepts, and writers keep adding more continuously. Further, these concepts are often (though not always) developed in ways that don't contradict each other, but instead form a unified background. This concept is fairly rare; another example of a fictional universe that seeks to use all types of fantastic elements is the DC Universe. Reality: Earth in the Marvel Universe has all the features of the real one: same countries, same personalities (politicians, movie stars, etc.), same historical events (World War II, 9/11, etc.), and so on. However, it also adds fictional ones, such as countries like Wakanda or Genosha, and organizations like the espionage agency, S.H.I.E.L.D and its enemy, HYDRA. It must be noted that, due to the fact that Marvel's publishers do not want to allow their characters to age, the setting of the stories has to be updated every few years; Marvel's major heroes were created in the 60's, but the heroes have only been allowed to age about a decade in that time. Unlike DC Comics, who uses the idea that interference with time by villains caused reality to reboot a few times, Marvel simply assumes that the stories happen in the space of years instead of decades; this is known as a sliding timescale. Thus, the events of previous stories are considered to have happened within a certain number of years prior to the publishing date of the current issue. Where stories reference real-life historic events, these references are later ignored or rewritten to suit current sensibilities. For example, the origins of Iron Man and Professor X were recently changed to refer to armed conflict in Afghanistan, where they had originally referred to southeast Asia and the Korean War. It must be noted that the Marvel Comics company itself exists WITHIN the Marvel Universe, and versions of people such as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby have appeared in some of the stories! The Marvel of this reality publishes comics that adapt the actual adventures of the superheroes (except for details not known to the public, like their secret identities.) Super Heroes and Villains: The tradition of using costumed secret identities to fight (or commit) evil had long existed in this world (for example, with the medieval Black Knight) but it came into prominence during the days of the American 'Wild West' with heroes such as the Phantom Rider. During the 20th Century, the tradition was reinvigorated, first by Captain America in the 40s (not the first costumed hero of the time, but the most influential) and then by the Fantastic Four in modern times. Marvel's major heroes (the ones who get involved in most of the important events) are the ones created from 1961 to 1963, during Marvel's "Silver Age": Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Thor, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s director, Nick Fury. Unlike the DC Universe, few of Marvel's 1940s characters have become major characters in modern publications; Captain America is a major character, and to a lesser extent his contemporary, the Sub-Mariner, is as well, primarily due to the fact that both of these characters were reintroduced to readers and to the Marvel Universe during the 1960s. The Avengers and the X-Men are also major players, although the memberships of both groups have often changed to include otherwise minor characters. The Avengers have included most of Marvel's major heroes as members at one time or another. The X-Men contains some of Marvel's most popular characters, such as Wolverine, though individually they are not as influential and did not come into prominence until the 1980s (except for Professor X). Dr. Strange has often formed an ad hoc team of heroes called The Defenders to help him deal with major menaces to the world, often including the Hulk, the Submariner and/or the Silver Surfer, as well as other heroes. Origin of superhuman powers: Most of the superhumans in Marvel's Earth owe their powers to the Celestials, cosmic entities who visited Earth one million years ago and experimented on our prehistoric ancestors (a process they also carried out on several other planets). This resulted in the creation of two hidden races, the godlike Eternals and the genetically unstable Deviants, in addition to giving some humans an "x-factor" in their genes, which sometimes activates naturally, resulting in sometimes superpowered, sometimes disfigured individuals called mutants. Others require other factors (such as radiation) for their powers to come forth. These powers are usually random; rarely do two people have the exact same set of powers. It is not clear why the Celestials did this, although it is known that they continue to observe humanity's evolution. (A Marvel series called Earth X explored one possible reason: that superhumans are meant to protect a Celestial that is "growing" inside Earth; but this series repeatedly contradicts previously established Marvel continuity). The majority of the public is unaware of what may cause superhuman powers. Other possible origins for superhuman powers include: magic, genetic manipulation or bionic implants. Some heroes and villains have no powers at all but depend instead on hand-to-hand combat training or advanced technological equipment. In the Marvel Universe, technology is slightly more advanced than in the real world; this is due to unique individuals of genius intelligence, such as Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) of the Fantastic Four. However, most of the really advanced devices (such as powered armor and death rays) are too expensive for the common citizen, and are usually in the hands of government organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D., or powerful criminal organizations like A.I.M. One major company producing these devices is Stark International, owned by Anthony Stark (Iron Man)but there are others. Advanced technology has also been given to humans by hidden races, aliens, or time travelers like Kang the Conqueror, who is known to have influenced the robotics industry in the past. Marvel tries to explain most superpowers scientifically, usually through the use of pseudoscientific concepts, such as:
- Psionic energy, which is assumed to be an invisible, unknown form of energy generated by all living brains that has the ability to manipulate other forms of matter and energy.
- Extradimensional space: dimensions that can be tapped in order to pull mass from them (to add to objects on Earth) or taken away from those objects and be stored in those "pocket dimensions" to be retrieved later. This is how characters like the Hulk can grow and shrink with no visible absorption of mass. A type of subatomic particles called Pym Particles can be used for this effects. (Note that many giant-sized characters have the secret ability to manipulate gravity to handle their increased weight.) The change in mass can be in the form of a density change instead, allowing a character to become harder or incorporeal. Some characters can seem to ‘transform’ themselves (or others) into unliving substances, or even pure energy, by storing their bodies in extradimensional space and replacing them with bodies made from matter or energy from that dimension, while their souls remain on Earth, controlling their new body. Travel into other dimensions can also be used as a way to "teleport" by re-entering the Earth dimension at a different point from the exiting one.
- The Darkforce is an unknown, dark substance from another dimension (known simply as the Darkforce Dimension) that can be summoned and manipulated in many ways: to create impenetrable darkness, to solidify it in various forms, and (most notably) to absorb the "life energy" from living beings (not all users can use all these effects). The Darkforce can be also be used to travel to and from its home dimension, but this is dangerous to all except those with Darkforce powers. Some believe that the Darkforce is sentient and sometimes has an evil influence on those who use it. Various heroes and villains have versions of Darkforce powers, including Darkstar, the first Blackout, the Shroud, Cloak and Quagmire (of the Squadron Supreme Universe). Cloak seems to be the prime 'portal' to the Darkforce, however.
- The Living Light is the opposite of the Darkforce: a form of energy that resembles light and also comes from its own dimension, but has healing effects on living beings (except ones made of darkness or Darkforce.) It is unknown if it might be sentient. Cloak's partner, Dagger seems to be the Living Light's main avatar.
- The Power Cosmic is a force that can alter reality, allowing the user to do whatever he or she wants (including breaking the laws of physics), only being limited by how much cosmic energy the character can tap at a time. It seems to be part of the universe itself, and is mostly used by cosmic entities. The Heralds of Galactus, including Silver Surfer and Nova are imbued with the Power Cosmic. Magic also appears to be like a form of energy, except that it can defy the laws of physics naturally. However, it does have rules of its own to follow, which vary with the method of invocation, usually in the form of spoken spells. It appears to be present in everything, even living beings. All humans in the Marvel Universe have the ability to use magic, but only if properly trained. Most people are unaware that magic actually works. In addition, powerful magical beings from other dimensions have created specific, extremely powerful magical spells that they allow to be used (often indiscriminately) by those sorcerers who invoke their names; one example is the trinity of beings called The Vishanti, who serve as patrons to heroic sorcerers. At any given time, there is a sorcerer on Earth whose task is to protect the universe against extradimensional mystical invaders; this sorcerer is known as the Sorcerer Supreme, an office currently held by Doctor Strange.
- ‘Hellfire’ is a magical force that resembles fire, but is cold and hurts the soul rather than the physical body; it is used mostly by demonic beings. Nonhuman races: A degree of paranoid fear against mutants exists due to stories of mutants being a race or even a species (Homo superior or Homo sapiens superior) that is evolving and is meant to replace normal humans. This has caused organizations to form to deal with the problem, who can be divided into three camps: those who seek peaceful coexistence between mutants and normal humans (the X-Men and their affiliated groups), those who seek to control or eliminate humans to give mutants safety or dominance (Magneto and his followers, as well as other mutants such as Apocalypse), and those who seek to regulate or eliminate mutants in favor of humans. The latter often use the robots known as Sentinels as weapons. In addition to mutants, Eternals and Deviants, several other intelligent races have existed secretly on Earth. These include: The Inhumans, another genetically unstable race (like the Deviants, but in their case its due to their use of a substance called 'Terrigen') that was created by a Kree experiment long ago; The Subterraneans, a race of humanoids adapted to living below the surface, created by the Deviants (some subterraneans were transformed into 'Lava Men' by a demon); and Homo mermanus, a humanoid race of water-breathers that lives in Earth's oceans. Most of these races have advanced technology but existed hidden from humanity until recent times. More variants of humanity can be found in the Savage Land (see places, below.) Alien races: The Marvel Universe also contains hundreds of intelligent alien races. Earth has interacted with many of them due to the fact that a major "hyperspace warp" happens to exist in our solar system. The three major space empires are:
- the Kree, who rule the Kree Galaxy (actually the Greater Magellanic Cloud)
- the Skrulls, who rule the Skrull Galaxy (the Andromeda Galaxy)
- the Shi'ar, who rule the Shi'ar Galaxy (no known real-world counterpart) The three are often in direct or indirect conflict, which occasionally involve Earth people; in particular, the Kree and Skrulls are ancient enemies, and the Kree-Skrull War has involved humans on several occasions. Another prominent alien race is The Watchers, immortal and wise beings who watch over the Marvel Universe and have taken a sacred vow not to intervene in events, though the Watcher assigned to Earth, Uatu, has violated this oath on several occasions. The Elders of the Universe are ancient aliens who have often had great impact on many worlds, for billions of years, acting alone or as a group. Many other races exist, and have formed an “Intergalactic Council” to have their say on matters that affect them all, such as interference from Earth humans in their affairs. Supernatural creatures : Also abundant in the Marvel Universe are legendary creatures such as gods, demons and vampires. The ‘gods’ of most polytheistic pantheons are actually powerful, immortal human-like races from other dimensions who visited Earth in ancient times, and became the basis of many legends (obviously not all such legends can be true, since they contradict scientific facts, as well as each other.) Besides mythological gods, many deities made up by Marvel writers exist as well, such as the Dark Gods, enemies of the Asgardians. Note that many persons and beings have falsely pretended to be gods or demons during history; in particular, none of the ones claiming to be figures from Judeo-Christian beliefs (such as Satan, God, or the Angels) have turned out to be the real article (this is obviously a conscious decision from Marvel Comics’ part.) Similarly, demons are evil magical beings who take affairs in the matters of the universe, one of the most notorious being Mephisto. Others include Nightmare, D'Spayre, N'Astirah, Dormammu, and Shuma-Gorath. Most of the current generation of gods have been revealed to be the descendants of the Elder Goddess Gaea. The two most prominent pantheons are the Asgardians (of whom Thor is a member) and the Olympians (of whom Hercules is a member). The lords of the various pantheons sometimes gather in groups known as the Council of Godheads and Council of Skyfathers. The gods were forced to stop meddling with humanity (at least openly) a thousand years ago by the Celestials, and most people today believe them to be fictional. Cosmic entities: Above all other beings in the Marvel Universe are the cosmic entities, beings of unbelievably great levels of power (the weakest can destroy planets) who exist to perform duties that maintain the existence of the universe. Most do not care at all about "lesser beings" such as humans, and as a consequence their acts can occasionally be dangerous to mortals. When dire threats threaten the universe it is not uncommon for these beings to gather together to discuss the threat, and even act.

Cosmology

Dimensions

As mentioned under history, the Marvel Universe is really a multiverse, with several universes coexisting simultaneously without affecting each other directly. There’s a score of such dimensions, ranging from the Earthlike to the totally alien. Some are magical in nature and others are scientific; some are inhabited and others are not. These include realities like the Microverse, Darkforce Dimension, the Mojoverse, and many more.

Time

Another noteworthy feature of the Marvel Universe is that time "branches out" creating new alternate realities when certain important events happen. Those realities can also spawn realities of their own. There exists hundreds, probably thousands of such realities. It is unknown why this happens, though a warp known as the Nexus of All Realities exists in a swamp in the Florida of the main Marvel Universe (known as Earth-616). For the most part this does not matter, as most beings are unaware that this occurs, or even that their universes were recently "born" from another. However, organizations exist that try to monitor or manipulate the various realities. These include the Captain Britain Corps, the Time Variance Authority, and Kang the Conqueror's forces. See Continuities, below.

Places

Certain places, some of which exist in real-life and some of which are fictional, figure prominently in the Marvel Universe.

New York City

Most of the action of Marvel Comics takes place in New York City. New York City is the site of many places important to superheroes:
- Avengers Mansion - currently destroyed, but long the home of the Avengers
- Baxter Building and Four Freedoms Plaza - fictional buildings that have, at one time or another, been the home of the Fantastic Four
- Daily Bugle - fictional newspaper building where Peter Parker (Spider-Man) works as a photographer for J. Jonah Jameson
- the Raft, a fictional prison for superpowered villains, located on Ryker's Island (modeled after the real-life Riker's Island; note the different spelling); the Raft is the successor to the earlier superhuman prison called the Vault, located in Colorado
- Sanctum Sanctorum - fictional abode of Doctor Strange located in Greenwich Village
- Stark Tower - fictional skyscraper of the New Avengers
- Hell's Kitchen - Home and protectorate of Daredevil New York City is a center of industry, serving as the headquarters of:
- Stark Industries, owned by Tony Stark, Iron Man
- OsCorp, formerly owned by Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin Two universities are also especially prominent in the Marvel Universe:
- Columbia University - real university whose alumni include Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Elektra Natchios, and Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic)
- Empire State University - fictional university whose alumni include Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Emma Frost, and Johnny Storm (the Human Torch)

Elsewhere

- Atlantis - home of Namor the Sub-Mariner
- Attilan - home of the Inhumans
- Deviant Lemuria - undersea home of the Deviants located at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
- Genosha - island dwarf-nation off the coast of Africa, north of Madagascar; an apartheid-like state where mutants were once enslaved
- Helicarrier - Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. reside on a floating military base.
- Latveria - fictional country ruled by Doctor Doom
- Madripoor - fictional city, modeled after Singapore, to which Wolverine has connections
- Olympia - mountain city of the Eternals, located on Mount Olympus in Greece.
- Salem Center - a hamlet in the town of North Salem, Westchester County, New York
- X-Mansion - home of the X-Men, located in Salem Center
- Danger Room - training center for the X-Men
- Savage Land - a fictional place with tropical climates and prehistoric animals located in the heart of Antarctica.
- Titan - main moon of Saturn and technologically advanced home to the Titan Eternals.
- Wakanda - An African nation ruled by T'Challa, the Black Panther.

Artifacts

Some items have been created specifically for the Marvel Universe and carry immense powers:
- Adamantium - a virtually indestructible metal alloy, which is best known for being integrated into the skeleton and claws of Wolverine.
- Carbonadium
- Cosmic Cube
- Cosmic Egg
- Darkhold
- Infinity Gems/Infinity Gauntlet - Six gems that grant their owner supreme power over Mind, Power, Soul, Time, Space, and Reality. They can be combined in the Gauntlet.
- Mandarin's rings
- Mjolnir
- M'Kraan Crystal - The "nexus of realities". By entering the crystal, the user can enter any universe they wish. The protector of the crystal is singular in all universes, with the same memories in each, which suggests that the reality immediately surrounding the crystal is anchored in place.
- Serpent Crown
- Siege Perilous
- Tallus
- Ultimate Nullifier
- Unstable Molecules
- Vibranium

Continuities

The action of most Marvel Comics titles takes place in a continuity known as Earth-616. Note that in Marvel Comics, the concept of a continuity is not the same as "dimension" or "universe"; for example, characters like Mephisto and Dormammu hail from alternate dimensions and the Celestials from another universe, but they all nevertheless belong to Earth-616. A continuity should also not be confused with an imprint; for example, while the titles of some imprints, such as Ultimate Marvel, take place in a different continuity, some or all publications in other imprints, such as Epic Comics, Marvel MAX, and Marvel UK, take place within the Earth-616 continuity. Other continuities besides Earth-616 include:
- 1602
- Age of Apocalypse
- Alterniverse
- Amalgam
- Days of Future Past
- Earth X
- Exiles
- Heroes Reborn
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Marvel 2099
- Marvel Age
- Marvel Mangaverse
- Marvel Zombies
- MC2 (the Spider-Girl universe)
- Mojoverse
- New Universe
- Squadron Supreme
- Supreme Power
- Ultimate Marvel
- Ultraverse
- What If
- What The--?! (formerly Not Brand Echh)
- X-Men Adventures (based on X-Men: The Animated Series)
- X-Men: Evolution (based on the X-Men Evolution animated series)
- X-Men: The Movie (adaptation of the X-Men movie)

Crossovers and major events

- The Original Galactus Saga (1966)
- Kree-Skrull War (1971 - 1972)
- The Korvac Saga (1978)
- Dark Phoenix Saga (1980)
- Days of Future Past (1981)
- Contest of Champions (1982)
- Secret Wars (1984 - 1985)
- Secret Wars II (1985 - (1986)
- The Fall of the Mutants (1987)
- The Evolutionary War (1988)
- Inferno (1988 - 1989)
- Atlantis Attacks (1989)
- Acts of Vengeance (1989 - 1990)
- The X-Tinction Agenda (1990)
- Infinity Gauntlet (1991)
- Operation: Galactic Storm (1992)
- Infinity War (1992)
- X-Cutioner's Song (1992)
- Maximum Carnage (1993)
- Infinity Crusade (1993)
- Fatal Attractions (1993)
- Starblast (1994)
- The Phalanx Covenant (1994)
- Clone Saga (1994 - 1997)
- Age of Apocalypse (1995)
- Avengers: The Crossing (1995)
- Onslaught (1996)
- Operation: Zero Tolerance (1997)
- Heroes Reborn (1996-1997)
- Heroes Return (1997)
- Contest of Champions II (1998)
- Avengers Forever (1998 - 2000)
- Maximum Security (2000)
- Infinity Abyss (2002)
- Secret War (2004 - 2005)
- Avengers Disassembled (2004)
- House of M (2005)
- Decimation (2006)

External links

- [http://www.marvelcomics.com Marvel Comics official site]
- [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/index.htm Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe]
- [http://www.marvunapp.com/master/mastguid.htm Master List of Marvel Characters]
- [http://www.knightmare6.com/faq Knightmare6, A Comic Book FAQ for different companies (including Marvel)] Category:Marvel Comics Category:Fictional universes

Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics, (AKA Marvel Entertainment Group, Marvel Characters, Inc., and Marvel Enterprises, Inc.) sometimes called by the nickname The House of Ideas, is an American comic book company. Its best-known comics include The Fantastic Four, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and X-Men. Since the 1960s, it has been one of the two largest American comics companies, along with DC Comics. right right right

History

Origins

right), the first comic from Marvel precursor Timely Comics. Art by Frank R. Paul]] Marvel Comics was founded by established pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman in 1939 as an eventual group of subsidiary companies under the umbrella name Timely Comics. Its first publication was Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), featuring the first appearance of Carl Burgos' android superhero, the Human Torch, and the first generally available appearance of Bill Everett's mutant anti-hero Namor the Sub-Mariner. The contents of that sales blockbuster were supplied by an outside packager, Funnies, Inc., but by the following year Timely had a staff in place. The company's first editor, the writer-artist Joe Simon, teamed with soon-to-be industry legend Jack Kirby to create one of the first patriotically themed superheroes, Captain America, in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). It, too, proved a major sales hit. While no other Timely character would be as successful as these "big three", some notable heroes — many continuing to appear in modern-day retcon appearances and flashbacks — include the Whizzer, Miss America, The Destroyer, the original Vision, and Paul Gustavson's The Angel. Timely also published one of humor cartoonist Basil Wolverton's best-known features, Powerhouse Pepper. Sales of all comic books declined drastically in the post-war era, and the superheroic übermensch archetype popular during the Depression and the war years went out of fashion. Like other comics companies, Timely — generally known as Atlas Comics in the 1950s — followed pop-cultural trends with a variety of genres, including funny animals, Western, horror, war, crime, humor, romance, spy fiction and even medieval adventure, all with varying degrees of success. An attempted superhero revival in 1953-54 with the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner and Captain America failed. In 1957, Atlas nearly closed its doors due to the bankruptcy of its distributor, American News Service. This summer of 1957 debacle is infamously known as the "Atlas Implosion". The final comic to bear the famous Atlas Globe on its cover was Dippy Duck #1, the only "Atlas" comic with an October 1957 cover date. The Atlas "one-shots" of 1957 reveal that Martin Goodman was attempting to open a new range of "kiddies" titles just as the ax fell. Goodman switched to the distributor Independent News on constrained terms that allowed him only a limited number of titles per month. The surviving sixteen titles are sometimes referred to as the "sweet sixteen" (published bi-monthly, eight titles per month), the first of which to bear the new "Ind." label was Patsy Walker #73, ironically (like Dippy Duck) bearing an October 1957 cover date. The sixteen survivors of the summer of 1957 (the two fantasy and two war titles clearly were simply using up left over "inventory") reveal that the best selling titles were westerns (Kid Colt Outlaw starring in two titles) and girl humor (led primarily by Millie the Model along with Patsy Walker and Hedy Wolfe). The two fantasy titles (Strange Tales and World of Fantasy) clung on printing "inventory" (stories stored away in summer 1957) from late 1957 until late 1958. At the end of 1958 Martin Goodman attempted a new direction (after recently reviving Journey into Mystery) by launching a short-lived space fantasy sci-fi range of stories in six titles :Strange Worlds #1, World of Fantasy #15 , Strange Tales #67, Journey into Mystery #50, Tales of Suspense #1 and Tales to Astonish #1. The space fantasy tales were unsuccessful and faded out after less than a year, but by the end of 1959 most of these titles (Strange Worlds and World of Fantasy were both cancelled) were now sporting covers featuring great hulking monsters and featuring a line-up of Jack Kirby-drawn stories (often inked by Dick Ayers) followed by Steve Ditko's wonderful mysterious "ooky" tales and Don Heck's very atmospheric rendering of jungle/prison escapes and weird adventures. The Kirby/Ayers monster stories were riding on the coattails of popular movie trends of the time with a science fiction bent. Ind-Marvel also expanded its line of girls humor titles in 1959-61 with Kathy the Teen-Age Tornado (Oct 1959) and Linda Carter, Student Nurse (Sept 1961). This fact along with the fanstasy title expansion of late 1958 (and the addition of Amazing Adventures, cover dated June 1961 -- a title which eventually became the Lee & Ditko showpiece Amazing Adult Fantasy before becoming Amazing Fantasy #15 which in turn led to Amazing Spider-Man #1) clearly reveal that Martin Goodman and Stan Lee were looking for ways to expand their comics line.

1960s

Stan Lee), the cornerstone of Marvel and the introduction of a new style of superhero. Art by Jack Kirby.]] In the wake of DC Comics' success reviving superheroes in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly with The Justice League of America, Marvel decided to follow suit. Editor/writer Stan Lee and freelance artist Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four, vaguely reminding one of DC's adventuring quartet the Challengers of the Unknown. The book was a success, and Marvel began publishing further superhero titles featuring such heroes and anti-heroes as the Hulk, Spider-Man, The Mighty Thor, Ant-Man, Iron Man, the X-Men and Daredevil, and such memorable antagonists as Doctor Doom, Magneto, Galactus, the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. The most successful new series was The Amazing Spider-Man, by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Marvel's comics were noted for focusing on characterization to a greater extent than most superhero comics before them — Spider-Man in particular, its young hero suffering from self-doubt and mundane problems like any other teenager. Marvel superheroes are often flawed, freaks, and misfits, unlike the perfect, handsome, athletic heroes found in previous traditional comic books. Some of the Marvel heroes looked like villains and monsters. In time, this non-traditional approach would revolutionize comic books. Peter Sanderson, in an October 10, 2003, column for IGN.com [http://comics.ign.com/articles/595/595576p1.html], said that

"DC was the equivalent of the big Hollywood studios: After the brilliance of DC's reinvention of the superhero ... in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it had run into a creative drought by the decade's end. There was a new audience for comics, now, and it wasn't just the little kids that traditionally had read the books. The Marvel of the 1960s was in its own way the counterpart of the French New Wave.... Marvel was pioneering new methods of comics storytelling and characterization, addressing more serious themes, and in the process keeping and attracting readers in their teens and beyond. Moreover, among this new generation of readers were people who wanted to write or draw comics themselves, within the new style that Marvel had pioneered, and push the creative envelope still further."

Lee became one of the best-known names in comics, with his charming personality and relentless salesmanship of the company. The "voice" of Stan Lee is what one senses in so many of the Marvel Comics of the first half of the 1960s. His sense of humor and general light-hearted manner, and the depiction of the Bullpen (Lee's name for the staff) as one big happy family. In later years it became clear the artists often had as much to do with Marvel's product and success as Lee. Jack Kirby in particular is often credited as the creative well from which sprang many of the cosmic ideas and characters of The Fantastic Four and The Mighty Thor (such as The Watcher, The Silver Surfer and Ego the Living Planet) while Steve Ditko is recognized as the driving artistic force behind the moody atmosphere and street-level naturalism of Spider-Man and the surreal atmosphere of Dr. Strange. Lee, however, continues to deserve great credit for his well-honed skills at dialog and story sense; for his keen hand at choosing and motivating artists and in assembling creative teams; and for his uncanny ability to connect with the readers. In 1968, company founder Martin Goodman sold Marvel Comics and his other publishing businesses to the Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation. It grouped these businesses in a subsidiary called Magazine Management Co. Goodman remained as publisher.

1970s

Martin Goodman). Art by Gene Colan and Steve Leialoha]]In 1972, Goodman retired as publisher and was succeeded by Lee, who stepped aside from running day-to-day operations at Marvel. A series of new editors-in-chief oversaw the company during another slow time for the industry. Once again, Marvel attempted to diversify, and achieved moderate success with titles themed to horror (Tomb of Dracula), martial arts, (Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu), sword-and-sorcery (Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja), satire (Howard the Duck) and science fiction ("Killraven" in Amazing Adventures). Some of these were published in larger-sized black-and-white magazines, targeted for mature readers. Marvel was able to capitalize on its successful superhero comics of the previous decade by acquiring a new newsstand distributor and greatly expanding its comics line. Even more importantly, during a time when the price and format of the standard newsstand comic were in flux, Marvel captured a significant piece of DC's market share by offering a lower-priced product with a higher distributor discount. In 1973, Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation changed its name to Cadence Industries, which in turn renamed Magazine Management Co. as Marvel Comics Group. Goodman, now completely disconnected from Marvel, created a new company called Atlas/Seaboard Comics in 1974, reviving Marvel's old Atlas name, but this project lasted only a year-and-a-half. In the mid-1970s, Marvel was affected by a decline of the newsstand distribution network. Cult hits such as Howard the Duck were the victims of the distribution problems, with some titles reporting low sales when in fact they were being resold at a later date in the first specialty comic-book stores. An attempt by Marvel to buy DC was frustrated by DC's refusal to sell its entire library of characters (wanting to retain control of Superman and Batman), and DC was sold to Warner Communications instead. By the end of the decade, Marvel's fortunes were reviving, thanks to the rise of direct-market distribution (selling through those same comics-specialty stores instead of newsstands) and the sales increase of previously borderline books — such as the canceled '60s title The Uncanny X-Men, revived to become a hit series under team of writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne, or the more naturalistic, urban-crime superhero comic Daredevil, by writer/artist Frank Miller.

1980s

Frank Miller). Art by Mike Zeck]]By the 1980s, one-time wunderkind Jim Shooter was Marvel's Editor-in-Chief. Although a controversial personality, Shooter cured many of the procedural ills at Marvel (including repeatedly missed deadlines) and oversaw a creative renaissance at the company. This renaissance included institutionalizing creator royalties, starting the Epic imprint for creator-owned material, and launching a brand-new (albeit ultimately unsuccessful) line named New Universe, to commemorate Marvel's 25th anniversary, in 1986. However, Shooter was responsible for the introduction of the company-wide crossover (Contest of Champions, Secret Wars) and was accused by many creators, especially near the end of his tenure, of exercising his job in a draconian manner and interfering with the writers' creative process. In 1981 Marvel purchased the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises animation studio from famed Looney Tunes director Friz Freleng and his business partner David H. DePatie. The company was renamed Marvel Productions Ltd. and it produced well known animated TV series such as G.I. Joe, The Transformers and Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, Dungeons & Dragons and movies based on the G.I. Joe and The Transformers TV series. Following the acquisition of Marvel by Ronald Perelman, Marvel Productions sold its back catalog to Saban Entertainment and Marvel management permanently closed the animation studio opting to have its animation projects contracted out to third party production companies. In 1982, Marvel launched its creator-owned imprint Epic Comics, specifically for the "direct market," the emerging retail phenomenon of comic-book stores. In 1988, Marvel was bought by investor/entrepreneur Ronald Perelman, who made Marvel a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and oversaw a great increase in the number of titles published by the company.

1990s

New York Stock Exchange), one of many spin-offs of The Amazing Spider Man. Art by Todd McFarlane]] Marvel earned a great deal of money and recognition during the early decade's comic-book boom, launching the highly successful 2099 line of comics set in the future (Spider-Man 2099 etc.) and the creatively daring though commercially unsuccessful Razorline imprint of superhero comics created by novelist and filmmaker Clive Barker. Yet by the middle of the decade, the industry had slumped and Marvel filed for bankruptcy amidst accusations that Perelman had strip-mined the company for his own gain. The casualties included the comic-book distribution industry in 1994, when Marvel announced it was acquiring Heroes World to use as its exclusive distributor. As the industry's other major publishers made exclusive distribution deals with other companies, the loss of the industry's largest companies threw the majority of the comic book distributors out of business. Although Marvel's plan failed, only Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. now exists as the major distributor of comic books in North America, a development many comic retailers believe profoundly damaged the business status of the industry. Investor Carl Icahn attempted to take control of Marvel, but after protracted legal battles, in 1997 control of the company landed in the hands of Isaac Perlmutter, owner of the Marvel subsidiary Toy Biz. With his business partner Avi Arad and publisher Bill Jemas and editor-in-chief Bob Harras, Perlmutter helped Marvel back on its feet. In addition to Marvel revitalizing its comics line, several of its properties have been licensed to become hit movies, most notably X-Men and Spider-Man. Creatively and commercially, the '90s were dominated by the use of gimmickry to boost sales, such as variant covers, cover enhancements and regular company-wide crossovers that threw the universe's continuity into disarray. In 1996, Marvel had almost all its titles participate in the Onslaught Saga, a crossover that allowed Marvel to relaunch some of its flagship characters, such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, in the Heroes Reborn universe, in which Marvel defectors Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld were given permission to revamp the properties from scratch. After an initial sales bump, sales quickly declined below expected levels, and Marvel killed the experiment after its planned one-year run; the characters returned to the Marvel Universe proper. In 1998, the company launched the imprint Marvel Knights, taking place within Marvel continuity; helmed by soon-to-become editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, and featuring tough, gritty stories showcasing such characters as the Inhumans and Daredevil, it achieved substantial success.

2000s

With the new millennium, Marvel Comics escaped from bankruptcy and again began diversifying its offerings. In 2001, Marvel withdrew from the Comics Code Authority and established its own Marvel Ratings System for comics. It also created new imprints, such as MAX, a line intended for mature readers, and Marvel Age, developed for younger audiences, including children. In addition to this is the highly successful Ultimate Marvel imprint, which allowed Marvel to reboot their major titles by deconstructing and updating their major superhero and villian characters to introduce to a new generation. This imprint exists in a universe parallel to the proper Marvel continuity, which allowed the writers freedom from the characters' convoluted history and the ability to redesign them, and to maintain their other ongoing series without replacing the established continuity. This also allowed Marvel to capitalize on an influx of new readers who were not familiar with comics but became familiar with their characters through their film franchises, making it easier for a mainstream audience to follow. The company has also revamped its graphic novel division, establishing a bigger presence in the bookstore market. Marvel remains a key publisher in the comics business, even as the industry has dwindled to a fraction of its peak size decades earlier. Stan Lee is no longer officially connected to the company, save for the title of "Chairman Emeritus," but remains a visible face in the industry and occasionally remarks on his fondness for the characters. In 2002, he sued successfully for a share of income related to movies and merchandising of Marvel characters, based on a contract between Lee and Marvel from the late 1990s; according to court documents, Marvel had used "Hollywood accounting" to claim that those projects' "earnings" were not profits. Regardless, Marvel has also become a key player in Hollywood, with many of its characters being turned into successful film franchises, with perhaps the best examples being X-Men starting in 2000, and Spider-Man beginning in 2002.

Editors-in-chief

The Marvel editor-in-chief has great power and oversees many creative decisions taken within the company. The position evolved sporadically. In the earliest years the company had a single editor overseeing the entire line, but as the company grew it became increasingly common for individual titles to be overseen separately. The concept of the "writer-editor" evolved, stemming from the days when Stan Lee wrote and oversaw most of the line's output. Overseeing the line in the 1970s were a series of chief editors, though the titles were used intermittently. Confusing matters further some appear to have been appointed merely by extending their existing editorial duties. By the time of the appointment of Jim Shooter in 1978 the post of editor-in-chief was clearly defined. In 1994, Marvel briefly abolished the position, replacing Tom DeFalco with five "group editors", though they each held the title "editor-in-chief" and had some editors underneath them. It reinstated the position later in the year, installing Bob Harras.
- Joe Simon (1939-1941)
- Stan Lee (1941-1942)
- Vincent Fago (acting editor during Stan Lee's military service) (1942-1945)
- Stan Lee (1945-1972)
- Roy Thomas (1972-1974)
- Len Wein (1974-1975)
- Marv Wolfman (B&W magazines 1974-1975, entire line 1975-1976)
- Gerry Conway (1976)
- Archie Goodwin (1976-1978)
- Jim Shooter (1978-1987)
- Tom DeFalco (1987-1994)
- No overall editor-in-chief (1994-1995)
- Bob Harras (1995-2000)
- Joe Quesada (2000-) Sources: [http://www.newkadia.com/MarvelComics.html], [http://www.manwithoutfear.com/interviews/ddINTWolfman.shtml], [http://www.geocities.com/marvel80s/mrv_hist.html].

Imprints

- Current
- Marvel Next
- Icon Comics
- Marvel Age
- Marvel Knights
- MAX
- Ultimate Marvel
- Defunct
- Curtis Magazines
- Epic Comics
- Marvel 2099
- Marvel Music
- Tsunami
- MC2 (only Spider Girl remains)
- Marvel UK
- Malibu Comics
- New Universe
- Paramount Comics
- Razorline
- Star Comics

External links

- [http://www.marvelpics.co.uk Official Marvel Picture site]
- [http://www.marvel.com Marvel Comics official site]
- [http://www.marvel.co.uk Official UK Marvel Site]
- [http://www.marvelstore.co.uk Official UK Marvel Store]
- [http://www.marveldatabase.com Marvel Database Project]
- [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/ The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe]
- [http://www.marveldirectory.com/ Marvel Directory]
- [http://www.comicboards.com/marvelguide Marvel Guide: An Unofficial Handbook of the Marvel Universe]
- [http://www.comics-db.com/comics/page.cgi?g=Marvel_Comics%2F Big Comic Book DataBase: Marvel Comics]
- [http://www.comicartville.com/bellmanpg2.htm A Timely Talk with Allen Bellman]
- [http://www.atlastales.com/ Atlas Tales]
- [http://www.timely-atlas.comics.org/ Timely Atlas Cover Gallery]
- [http://www.samcci.comics.org/index.html Nick Simon's Silver-Age Marvel Comics Cover Index]
- [http://collectedcomicslibrary.blogspot.com/ Collected Comics Library] Category:Comic book publishers (companies)
- Category:Companies based in New York City ja:マーヴェル・コミック simple:Marvel Comics

Flashback

Flashback may mean:
- Flashback (literary technique), any scene or episode which takes the narrative back in time from the point the story has reached, to recount events that happened before and give the back-story. See also Racconto.
- Flashback (psychological phenomenon), a psychological phenomenon in which someone remembers a past experience.
- Flashback (Voyager episode), an episode of the television show Star Trek: Voyager.
- Flashback (media group) is a Swedish media group hosting Scandinavias largest undergorund forum and the newly founded International version.
- Flashback (movie), a 1990 movie starring Dennis Hopper and Kiefer Sutherland.
- Flashback (band), several musical bands that usually play an Oldies or similiar format.
- Flashback (comic book character), a name used by two separate characters (Gardner Monroe, from Alpha Flight, and Sara Quinones, from the Blood Syndicate), both of whom had superpowers related to small-scale time travel.
- Flashback: The Quest for Identity, a computer game.

Aunt May

May Reilly "Aunt May" Parker is a fictional supporting character in the Spider-Man comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is aunt-by-marriage to Peter Parker, who leads a secret life as Spider-Man. She first appeared in Amazing Fantasy vol. 1 #15 (August, 1962). The issue was scripted by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko.

Aunt May in the comics

Aunt May and her husband, Ben, took their nephew, Peter, in after the death of his parents and raised him. Ben immediately took to the role of the boy's father but May was at first reluctant. She still remembered her parents blaming her own birth for the destruction of their marriage, and she was afraid that Peter might signal the end of her own marriage. In time, however, she warmed up to Peter, who unexpectedly strengthened the couple's marriage. After Ben's death, life became a struggle with money problems and Peter did his best to help. Peter's secret life as Spider-Man endlessly complicates both his and his aunt's lives. Aunt May lives in constant fear for her "frail" (but now unaccountably secretive) nephew who insists on a job as a freelance photographer. Parker is determined to capture Spider-Man in action, frequently submitting pictures of him to the Daily Bugle; Spider-Man is a vigilante whom Aunt May fears because of her unquestioning acceptance of the Daily Bugle's smearing. Meanwhile, Peter fears for his Aunt's well-being and the fatal shock that could result if she ever learns about his career as Spider-Man. This problem served as an easy crutch for dramatic tension in the comics for years, with Peter being torn between dealing with major crises while his Aunt needs nearly constant care. This conflict took on a bizarre turn when Aunt May had his enemy, Doctor Otto Octavius (a.k.a. Doctor Octopus) as an apparent sweetheart; Peter struggled to deal with his enemy's game while not hurting his Aunt. For decades, Aunt May was depicted as a stereotypical near senile old crone, especially after co-creator Steve Ditko left the book and the subtle undertone of her inner strength was lost. She has "died" several times. In her most recent "death", the "Aunt May" who died was, in a widely-derided plot twist, revealed to be a "genetically-altered actress" who impersonated her while May was held captive by villains. Later writers, like J. Michael Straczynski, of Babylon 5 fame, have managed to recapture Aunt May's strength and restore the nuances in her character. For instance, Straczynski had May finally learn about her nephew's secret life once and for all (in Amazing Spider-Man (volume 2) #35, #38). That resulted in a heartfelt discussion in which Aunt and Nephew confess their darkest secrets and each learned that the other was far stronger than they imagined. After their house was destroyed, Peter, Aunt May, and Mary Jane Watson moved into Stark Towers (as Spider-Man has recently joined the Avengers). Aunt May seems to be developing a romantic relationship with the Avengers' butler, Jarvis.

Alternate versions

Ultimate Aunt May

In the Ultimate Marvel version of Spider-Man, Aunt May is a strong and independent woman in her fifties, significantly younger and "cooler" than her original Marvel Universe counterpart. She refused to be destroyed by the death of her husband Ben and is a pillar of strength for Peter. She is slightly overprotective of her nephew, and not supportive of Peter's secretive behavior. Aunt May is quite good with computers and likes to search for things on the Internet. At one time she had romantic feelings for George Stacy, the policeman who investigated Ben's murder and father of Gwen Stacy. May has been seen working in an office cubicle and attending a PTA meeting.

Aunt May in the films

In the Spider-Man films, Aunt May is played by Rosemary Harris. Rosemary Harris In the 2002 film Spider-Man , Aunt May and Uncle Ben take care of their nephew, Peter Parker. Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) is shot and killed by a carjacker, who in turn is accidentally killed in a battle with Spider-Man. Peter and May share their grief for Uncle Ben. Later, when Peter has moved into an apartment with his friend Harry Osborn, Aunt May visits them on Thanksgiving. She is not shy about reprimanding Harry's father Norman for his rude and boorish behavior. Shortly thereafter, when Norman (who has become the villainous Green Goblin), learns Spider-Man's identity, he attacks May at home while she is saying her prayers. May is terrified by the Goblin's demonic appearance, and is hospitalized after the Goblin injures her. (The Green Goblin then makes a failed attempt to kill Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man's girlfriend, before the Green Goblin is killed.) In the sequel, Spider-Man 2 (2004), Aunt May continues to look after Peter, and has had financial difficulties since the death of her husband. She believes Spider-Man to be a bad person, claiming "the less we see of him, the better." However, when May's visit to the bank with Peter is interrupted by a robbery perpetrated by Otto Octavius, Octavius takes her hostage and climbs the side of a skyscraper with her. She is in turn, rescued by Spider-Man, and from that point believes that he is good. Later in the film, Peter's powers begin to wane because of a subconcious desire to live a normal life, and he decides to give up his costumed persona; Aunt May makes a speech which encourages him to resume his heroic activities. Whether she has deduced his secret identity or not is not made explicit; however, the bank robbery scene, in which she takes notice of Peter fleeing and where May reacts suspiciously after Spider-Man tells her, "We sure showed him [Doctor Octopus]," and May's later speech to Peter about the need for Spider-Man to return, suggest that she may in fact know of her nephew's alter-ego.

Amazing Fantasy

). Cover art by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. ]] Amazing Fantasy is a comic book anthology, published by Marvel Comics, that introduced the popular character Spider-Man.

Titled and Retitled

Amazing Fantasy began under the name Amazing Adventures in June 1961, running anthological monster, science fiction and suspense stories, and introducing the fledgling Marvel's first continuing character, the paranormal adventurer Dr. Droom — renamed Dr. Druid when brought back in the 1970s as a supporting character. He was phased out when the book's title changed, with issue #7 (Dec. 1961), to Amazing Adult Fantasy, a name intended to reflect the more "sophisticated" nature of its new exclusive content, the quick, quirky, twist-ending tales of writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. Steve Ditko With issue #15 (Aug. 1962), as Lee has recounted in his book Origins of Marvel Comics and elsewhere, the series, now titled Amazing Fantasy, was slated for cancelation. With nothing to lose, publisher Martin Goodman allowed Lee to experiment with a new kind of superhero — one who would be a teenager, but not a sidekick, and who would have everyman doubts, neuroses and money problems, as well as what Goodman considered a terrible name. Lee and Ditko's Spider-Man wound up proving immensely popular, and Marvel quickly launched The Amazing Spider-Man comic book. Amazing Fantasy #15, as the debut issue of Marvel's most popular character, has taken on almost mythic significance among comic-book fans. In 2001, it was ranked #1 in The 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time. Although publishing reasons were responsible for the termination of the original Amazing Fantasy series, for decades no attempts were made to relaunch the title or continue with a #16. In 1995, Marvel editor Danny Fingeroth decided a gap existed between Amazing Fantasy #15 and The Amazing Spider-Man #1, and Marvel published Amazing Fantasy #16-18, written by Kurt Busiek and painted chiefly by Paul Lee, attempting to fill that gap.

Volume 2

The title was restarted in 2004, as a means of introducing new characters for a younger audience. The first arc ran through issues #1-6, and featured a new teenaged heroine, Araña. The second arc (#7-13), published after a short hiatus, featured a revamped female Scorpion and a back-up story featuring the character called Vampire by Night (a revamp of the Werewolf by Night concept and a lead-up to Nick Fury's Howling Commandos. In issues #13-14, there were two features once more. The first one was a two-part story featuring a new hero, Vegas, with western themes in a modern setting, while the back-up story re-introduced Captain Universe. Marvel has announced that issue #15, in an attempt to replicate history, will introduce a new generation of heroes in a 48-page standalone issue, in the hope they will become as popular as Spider-Man. This heros are: Matermind Excllo, Blackjack (comics), The Great Video, Monstro, Heartbreak kid, Positron (comics) and "The guy in Spider-man's Armpit". The next arc, in issues #16-20, will introduce Death's Head 3.0, a revamp of the Marvel UK character.

Bibliography

Marvel Comics
- Amazing Adventures #1-6 (June-Nov. 1961)
- Amazing Adult Fantasy #7-14 (Dec. 1961 - July 1962)
- Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962)
- Amazing Fantasy #16-18 (Dec. 1995 - March 1996)
- Amazing FantasyVol. 2, #1- (August 2004- present) Marvel Digests
- Araña: The Heart of the Spider: Vol. 1: Heart of The Spider (Amazing Fantasy #1 - 6)
- Scorpion: Poison Tomorrow (Amazing Fantasy #7 - 13)

References

- Lee, Stan. Origins of Marvel Comics (Marvel Entertainment Group reissue, 1997) ISBN 0785105514
- Lee, Stan, and George Mair. Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (Fireside, 2002) ISBN 0684873052
- Raphael, Jordan and Tom Spurgeon. Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book (Chicago Review Press, 2003) ISBN 1556525060 Category:Marvel Comics titles

Panel

#A panel is a thing that blocks one area from another. It is usually made up of thin sheet metal. #A panel may be a flat or sculptured area that is part of a larger structure such as a piece of furniture or one element of a multi-panel screen. #A panel is a committee or jury used to decide some matter. In a legal context it may refer to a subset of a full set of appeal court judges, in contrast to an En banc hearing, which involves them all.
In accident investigations, a full investigation may involve sub-panels with expertise in differing areas, in the aircraft context perhaps covering avionics, structures, engines and so on. #A control panel is a flat area containing controls and indicators. Commonly found in aircraft but may be associated with the operation of any machinery. #A breaker panel is a flat area containing electrical circuit breakers. #A panel may be one of several objects in computer software: ##A panel is a widget commonly packaged as part of a widget toolkit for a graphical user interface. See toolbar and dialog box. Category:Graphical user interface ##A control panel is also a folder in some graphical operating system interfaces that provide tools for configuring the system. #A panel is one element of a multi-element piece of art, such as a triptych, or a piece of sequential art such as a graphic novel or comic strip. #A panel is a longitudinal statistical study in which one group of individuals are interviewed at intervals over a given period of time. #The Panel is an Australian television talk show. #A panel can be part of a structural insulated panel building system for construction.

Spider Man (movie)

Spider-Man is an extremely successful film released in 2002, directed by Sam Raimi, which stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and Willem Dafoe. It is an adaptation of the Marvel Comics comic book The Amazing Spider-Man, focusing on the title character's origins and his fight against his first major enemy, the Green Goblin, even while he struggles to show his feelings to his love, Mary Jane Watson. A sequel, Spider-Man 2, was released June 30 2004. The second sequel, Spider-Man 3, is set to be released in 2007.

Plot Summary

Spider-Man 3 Protagonist Peter Parker is an intellecutally precocious but socially inept teenager, too shy to approach Mary Jane, the girl next-door with whom he is smitten. His only friend is Harry Osborn, and even their friendship is tainted with jealousy by the fact that Harry's successful industrialist father, Norman Osborn, favors the brilliant Peter over Harry himself. Parker lives in New York City, in the Sunnyside neighborhood of the borough of Queens. On a student tour of a college's genetics laboratory (with exterior scenes shot at New York City's Columbia University)), Peter is bitten by an escaped experimental spider that has been bioengineered with various extraordinary traits. The spider's venom causes him to fall ill and he barely arrives home before collapsing into bed. After a difficult night's sleep while the venom alters his genetic makeup, he wakes up seemingly unharmed. However, he learns to his surprise that his body has changed dramatically and literally overnight. Over the course of that amazing first day, Peter learns that not only has he acquired perfect vision and muscle tone, but he has also gained greatly increased strength and agility, the ability to fire strands of strong webbing from his wrists, a "spider-sense" that gives him a psychic warning of danger, and the ability to extend a mass of minute barbs from his skin that allow him to adhere to surfaces. While he glories in these new abilities, which allow him to fend off bullies like Eugene "Flash" Thompson and jump from rooftop to rooftop with ease, his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, with whom the orphaned Peter lives, become concerned for their nephew's new strange and secretive behavior. On a trip to the library, Uncle Ben confronts Peter about it and stresses to him that with maturity and power comes great responsibility. Peter snaps at him and secretly heads off to his true destination, a sports arena that promises a $3000 prize to any man who can last three minutes in the ring with the wrestler Bonesaw McGraw. With some difficulty, Peter defeats the wrestler and is cheered as the "amazing Spider-Man." However, Peter is cheated by the fight promoter and, in retaliation, does not stop a criminal who has stolen the gate money. Walking to the library with some satisfaction, he finds that his uncle has been shot by a carjacker in the street. Ben dies in front of him. Enraged, Peter dons his spider costume to pursue the murderer using his webs for transportation for the first time. He confronts the killer in an abandoned warehouse only to learn to his horror that the killer is the same criminal he could have stopped earlier. The terrified murderer falls out of a window to his death. Peter is wracked with guilt over the death of his uncle. Uncle Ben Months later, after graduation from high school, Peter decides to live up to his uncle's words, "with great power, comes great responsibility," by becoming a superhero fighting crime all over the city. He eventually learns a way to make it pay by supplying photographs of his alter-ego to Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson, who has a continual need for Spider-Man photos though he villifies the vigilante in his paper. Norman Osborn experiences his own dramatic transformation. To save his company from losing a vital military contract, he subjects himself to a dangerous test of an experimental treatment. It increases his strength and intelligence but also drives him insane, creating a new, malevolent personality that murders anyone standing in his way. Using his company's prototype armor — a personal flight device called a glider and a green facemask from his collection — Norman lashes out as a figure later dubbed "the Green Goblin". Spider-Man and the Goblin eventually battle at the World Unity Festival held at Times Square, where the Goblin murders the company board of directors that were planning to fire Osborn. Spider-Man drives the Goblin off and saves Mary Jane as well. Times Square While Peter mourns the fact that he seems to have lost M.J. to Harry, the Goblin tempts him, after abducting him as Spider-Man, to join with him against an ungrateful world that hates him. Spider-Man refuses and the insulted Goblin vows revenge. Norman deduces that Peter is Spider-Man and begins to strike at his loved ones — first attacking Aunt May, who ends up hospitalized, and Mary Jane. Later, Harry discovers that Mary Jane has fallen for Peter, and grows bitter. In a climax on the Queensboro Bridge, the Goblin tells Spider-Man to choose whether to save the kidnapped M.J. or a tram car full of children. Spider-Man, with some help from New York City by-standers, manages to save both. The Goblin, enraged at being thwarted, brings Spider-Man to an abandoned building on Roosevelt Island, below the bridge. The Goblin promises to torture and kill Mary Jane, and then duels with Spider-Man in hand to hand combat. Spider-Man defeats him, only to see the Norman personality regain control and beg Peter to stop his attack help him control his mental problem. Yet the Goblin personality is manipulating subconsciously sets a sneak attack on Spider-Man, using the Goblin-glider's remote control. Peter barely avoids the charging glider hurtling in to spear him in the back. When he dodges, it fatally impales Norman in the chest. Honoring Norman's request not to tell Harry the truth, Spider-Man brings Norman's body home and Harry becomes convinced that Spider-Man murdered his father. At the funeral, Harry swears revenge on Spider-Man while reaffirming his friendship with Peter. Dismayed at the tragedy he seems to cause to all those close to him, he rejects Mary Jane's words of love to keep her from again becoming a potential target of his enemies. The film ends with Peter walking away from M.J., while trying to make the best of the situation with a victory lap as he swings around the city with ease.

Critical reaction

The general critical reaction was enthusiastic, with Maguire and Dafoe singled out for particular praise. There were complaints about the second half of the film being rather derivative and the CGI being overused towards the end. The relatively flat acting from most of the other lead actors, especially Kirsten Dunst and James Franco, also created some criticisms. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, some of the CGI shots of New York were redone to remove the World Trade Center from the shots. Some vocal comic-book fans aired complaints about the change made in Spider-Man's webs. In the comic books, Peter Parker invented a mechanical web-shooting device, while in the movie he produced his webbing naturally. The film was a hit, grossing $403,706,375 in its theatrical run in North America, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year and the fifth highest grossing of all time. Its $114,844,116 opening weekend set a record, and the movie became the first to earn over $100 million in a weekend. It had an equally successful home-video release. Maguire, previously known as a baby-faced character actor, became a major star. According to court documents, Marvel Comics tried to use "Hollywood accounting" to deprive Stan Lee of due royalties from the films, claiming the film's "earnings" were not profits. Lee successfully sued in 2002. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2458083.stm]

Original trailer

The movie's original trailer, released in 2001, showed a group of bankrobbers on their getaway in a helicopter. However, they are stopped by Spider-Man with a giant spider-web between the two towers of the World Trade Center. The trailer was pulled after the events of September 11, 2001 attacks, as was the movie's original promotional poster, which showed the reflection of the towers in Spider-Man's eyes. The poster later appeared with the towers' reflection removed; the trailer remains unreleased since, and did not appear on any DVD release. The original theatrical trailer can be viewed here: [http://rantspace.org/blog/archives/000547.shtml]

Trivia

- In Spider-Man, Peter's Uncle Ben drives a 1978 beige Oldsmobile Delta. This model of car has appeared in all but one of director Sam Raimi's films.
- Sum 41's "What We're All About" plays in Uncle Ben's car before he drops him off at the library.
- Peter Parker has spider-web wallpaper in his bedroom.
- Spider-Man creator, Stan Lee, makes a cameo appearance for three seconds during the parade sequence of the film, appearing shocked by Spider-Man and the Green Goblin fighting.
- Actor Cliff Robertson, who plays Uncle Ben, has the middle name "Parker," which is Ben's last name.
- Both in the movie and comic adaptations, Peter Parker has a poster of Albert Einstein.
- In the scene where Jameson asks why Spider-Man is on his front page, there is a possible reference to Venom; Robbie says ,"The problem is we don't have a decent picture. Eddie's been on it for weeks". This could be a reference to Venom's human alter-ego, Eddie Brock, who is a newspaper photographer.
- The climax of the film is loosely based on The Amazing Spider-Man #121-122, in which the Goblin kidnaps Spider-Man's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy and suspends her over a bridge. Gwen is killed by the fall and the Goblin is later impaled by his own glider. The main differences in the movie is that it is Mary Jane and she survives.
- A tv spot for Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (released in the same year) spoofed Spider-Man: a text (in the same "Spider-Man" font, with web in the background) said: "This summer comes up the greatest hero..." and then Yoda appears.
- Another TV spot for Eight Legged Freaks, also released in the same year, spoofed the opening scenes of "Spider-Man": webs are seen flying, and a shadow of a costumed man appears. In the next scene (from Eight Legged Freaks), a citizen is heard saying, "It's a spider, man."

External links

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- [http://www.movietourguide.com/movie.php?action=showmovie&movieid=8 Movie Tour Guide.com - Maps and directions to Spider-man Filming Locations] Category:Marvel Comics movies Category:2002 films ja:スパイダーマン (映画)

Ultimate Spider-Man

Ultimate Spider-Man is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series is a modernized reimagining of the long-running marvel comic Spider-Man. It is set outside of the Marvel Universe continuity in the Ultimate Marvel Universe. The title began publishing in 2000 under writer Brian Michael Bendis, who took the original 11-page origin story and expanded it into a 150-page story arc. The artist was Spider-Man veteran Mark Bagley. This duo has been collaborating to this day.

Characters

Peter Parker alias Spider-Man

Peter Parker is 15 years old when the story starts in Ultimate Spider-Man #1. He is an intelligent but shy student at Midtown High School and is frequently ostracized. Peter lost his parents in a plane crash and lives in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, in the house of Uncle Ben and Aunt May Parker. On a field