Marvel Comics

I’m pretty sure all of you know by now that Marvel Comics is one of the biggest comic book companies in the world. It’s very clear that out of the two big publishing companies, Marvel is more recognized by the general public due to Marvel Studios releasing two films a year since the culmination of Phase One of their Cinematic Universe, while Fox releases one film (whether it’s X-Men or Fantastic Four) a year, and Sony does the same a new Spider-Man film every two years, although the latter may probably change due to the future spinoffs of “The Sinister Six” and “Venom”.

 

 

 

 

Marvel Comics was founded in 1939, known at the time as Timely Comics. Marvel’s first superheroes were the original Human Torch (which was an android, please don’t confuse him with the Fantastic Four member of the same name), Namor (if you don’t have any idea of who he is, let’s just say he is Marvel’s response to Aquaman), and Captain America. During the 1950’s, Marvel changed its name from Timely Comics to Atlas Comics. It was until 1961 that the company used its current name.

The first superhero team they chose to introduce was the Fantastic Four, later they began publishing titles of superheroes such as Spider-Man, Daredevil, X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and so on. Most of these superhero comics were written by none other than Stan Lee. During the 1990’s, Marvel won big amounts of money due to the popularity and recognition their comics had, so it launched the “Marvel 2099” imprint, which featured futuristic versions of the superheroes. However, in 1992, some of its most recognized writers left Marvel in order to found another comic book company, which would be known as Image Comics. Over the last decade, Marvel created new imprints such as Ultimate Marvel, Marvel Noir, etc.

In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired, for approximately between $4 billion and $4.2 billion dollars, Marvel Entertainment, which is a parent corporation of Marvel Comics.

While I prefer DC Comics more, I also think that Marvel is just as good as DC, in its own way, due to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the other Marvel-related films and TV series, which manage to entertain people, while at the same time, revealing specific details about what to expect from their next films (and seasons in the case of TV series, like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).

Feel free to comment about what movie, game, series, or a specific character or superhero team from Marvel you would like me to talk about, and then I’ll see what I can do. Have a nice day.

 

 

 

DC Comics

Most of you may already know what DC Comics is, as well as the fact that it’s one if the biggest comic book publishers in the world, being only tied with Marvel Comics. But do you know what DC stands for, and since when the editorial was founded?  The appropriate answer to those questions would be that DC stands for “Detective Comics”, and it was founded in 1934, although during that time, it was known as National Allied Publications.

 However, it was in 1937, when Detective Comics, Inc. was formed. 1938 was the year in which DC Comics began introducing superheroes, starting when Action Comics #1, best known for the debut of the character known as Superman, was published, therefore leading to the beginning of the Golden Age of Comic Books. DC Comics started to gain more popularity, so they decided to introduce other characters, such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and the first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, which was composed of lesser-known characters such as the original Flash and Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hourman, Doctor Fate, the Atom, the Spectre, etc.
 

                                                       

Then, the Silver Age of Comic Books (1956-1970) began. For DC Comics, The Silver Age is best known for the introduction of characters such as the modern Flash and Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, Supergirl, Batwoman, Bizarro, Brainiac, the Fourth World, which marked the debut of the New Gods, etc. The Silver Age was shortly followed by the Bronze Age (1970-1985), during which the comic book industry became focused on tackling real-world issues, like drug abuse and pollution, with one of the most recognizable comic books featuring those topics being the Green Lantern/Green Arrow comics.

Finally, the Modern Age of Comic Books, also known as the Dark Age of comic Books, was the period during which the characters of DC were significantly altered, becoming darker and more complex. Some of the characters’ franchises were rebooted in order to be able to be fit for the modern audience, one good example would be “Batman: Year One,” which retells Batman’s first year of his crime fighting career. In time, darker storylines began to rise more frequently such as “The Death of Superman”, “Batman: Knightfall”, “Emerald Twilight” (which is a Green Lantern story), not to mention “The Dark Knight Returns” and “Watchmen”, which were considered the darkest comic book stories of all time. In 2011, DC Comics revamped its continuity again, this relaunch would be known as “The New 52”.

In my opinion, DC Comics is the best comic book editorial company ever. Why? Because it has the most interesting characters, you can read the same storylines over and over again without getting bored, and it also manages to entertain people long enough in order for them to be encouraged to buy more comic books of that company.

Well, thanks for your attention. Feel free to comment on my blog about what DC Comics character, storyline, game, or movie would you like me to talk about, and stay tuned for more details about comic books.

  

Introduction to the World of Comic Books

 

Do you know what a comic book is? Imagine finding a book or magazine featuring a superhero, such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Avengers, X-Men, or Spider-Man, on the cover, and participating in fascinating adventures where danger, fiction, and emotions are combined. Well, that is what you're going to find in this blog, along with the individual origin stories of the superheroes and the supervillains, as well as the greatest story arcs in which these characters appear. Not to mention that this blog will also feature reviews of the games, novels, movies, and even TV series, whether they are animated or live-action, in which these characters are involved, from the worst adaptations to the best ones, from the most controversial to the most critically acclaimed, from the adaptations with lack of character development to the ones that manage to perfectly capture the essence of the characters, what are their motivations, and most importantly, what are their goals.
So, now you know what a comic book is about, you will probably want to know more about the companies that produce them, like DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Dark Horse Comics. Don’t worry, my dear readers, you will soon discover how these companies contribute to the world of comic books.
My name is Adrián Ramírez, but you can call me Adrian, and just like you, I'm a big fan of comic books, especially the comic books that feature superheroes. The function of my blog is to inform people about each one of the characters that appear in the comics, and letting the general audience know that the characters t that they already know about, and appear in the comic book superhero films and TV series that have been released, aired and announced so far, are just a small quantity compared to the vast amount of characters that can be found in the original source of inspiration, in the form of these comics. I highly recommend you to stay tuned for more details. See you soon and have a nice day.