Indicia Weirdness, Marvel Edition
That last post got me curious, so I went to check. Marvel Comics Group only became listed as the publisher of Avengers in 1973, a full ten years after the series had been launched. For the first 58 issues, it was officially published by “Vista Publications, Inc.” – a publisher which just happened to have the same address as the Marvel Comics offices, unsurprisingly – with absolutely no mention of Marvel Comics anywhere outside of the logo on the cover.
For #59, Avengers was published by “Perfect Film & Chemical Corp.” although the copyright is shared between that company and “Marvel Comics Group,” receiving its first indicia mention.
Starting with #60 and running through #109, the comic was published by “Magazine Management Co.,” which shared the copyright with Marvel Comics Group. #110 is when Marvel Comics officially becomes the publisher of the series.
I seem to remember reading somewhere – maybe The Secret History of Marvel Comics? – about Martin Goodman’s love of happily swapping out shell companies in order to work the books in his favor, but I have to admit, I hadn’t realized it went on so late into the success of Marvel as a brand.
Fun With Numbers
In 1986, as every comic book fan who was around at the time can remember, Marvel Comics celebrated its 25th anniversary. There were special anniversary covers for the entire line to reinforce the point.
Then, in 2009 – 23 years later, for those of you in the audience who hate math – Marvel Comics celebrated its 70th anniversary. That celebration included a lot of reprints, including this one, which “celebrate[s] a senses-shattering 70 years of Marvel Comics.”
Two years later, in 2011, Marvel Comics celebrated its 50th anniversary, which again included lots of anniversary covers. It should come as no surprise, then, to read that this year, Marvel Comics is celebrating its 75th anniversary.
If Marvel wants to add in some more chances for special anniversary issues, it’s worth pointing out that the words “Marvel Comics” don’t actually appear in the indicia of Avengers until #59, published at the end of 1968, so we’re still four years away from that particular 50th anniversary…
This dovetailed with another feeling I had about the book—it should feel “low budget.” If this story was a movie, it wouldn’t be The Avengers, with the spectacular effects $220 million dollars can buy. It wouldn’t even be the Ocean’s Eleven remake, with a gorgeous cast of glamorous A-listers. This comic is about the struggles of a broke bunch of C-list losers. Every choice I make in the art needs to support that. I can draw a slick, contemporary superhero costume, but no one in this story is going to have one. I want my cast to look uncomfortable and a little foolish in their super-suits. The characters in Superior Foes are mostly drawn to look like they’d take third place in a cosplay contest.
The Superior Steve Lieber writes about the process in coming up with the look for his work on Marvel’s Superior Foes of Spider-Man.
