Now, as devastated as I was that Marvel and Hasbro stopped making the beloved Marvel Legends line of action figures, (though the sculpts were admittedly much better looking when they used to be made by Toybiz), I was delighted to find out that the new 3 and 3/4 inch Marvel Universe Line from Hasbro was set to include 25th Anniversary Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars.

There’s six 2 figure sets in all, each set coming with a reprint of issue of the series. The first wave includes a 2-pack of Captain America and villain Klaw, (I freaking LOVE Klaw! I’ve been dying for a Bowen bust of him for years!), along with issue #1. Then there’s the Human Torch and Wolverine with issue 2, and Thunderball and Spider-Man with issue 3.

I zipped over to Target, and now I’m the proud owner of all three sets from Wave 1. I think they’re pretty cool looking. They’re well-articulated, though some of the paint jobs seem to be a bit sloppy. I still prefer the larger Marvel legends, still and all.

Despite that, I’ll still probably pick up Wave 2, which includes an angry Hulk and Cyclops with issue 4, Iron Man and Spider-Woman with issue 7, and Spider-Man in his iconic black costume along with Magneto and issue 8.

Nostalgia, and my uncontrollable need to be a consumer, will compel me to seek out every Secret Wars tie-in that Marvel sees fit to produce. It may not be good for my bank account, but really… who needs money?

Two years later, in 1941, Captain America was created by writer Joe Simon and legendary comic artist Jack "King" Kirby, a patriotic hero created to take on the Axis during World War 2. Captain America Comics #1 even featured the Captain socking Hitler square in the jaw.

In the 1950s, Timely became Atlas Comics, and superheroes weren't as popular anymore. As a result, Atlas switched genres often; flooding the market with horror books, war stories, romance comics, Westerns, funny animals...basically trying to capitalize on whatever was hot at the time. Goodman tried to cast a wide net and wanted to focus on volume rather than innovation and creativity.

It was the 1960's that finally saw the creation of the Marvel Universe with The Fantastic Four #1. Goodman had taken note of how well rival company DC Comics was doing with the superhero team book Justice League of America, and he wanted a team all his own. He turned to writer Stan Lee, who started at Timely as a teenager, basically hired to be a gofer in 1939 before moving up the ranks until he was named Editor. Stan "The Man", along with Jack Kirby, came up with the Fantastic Four, a family of adventurers who hijacked a rocket and were bombarded with "Cosmic Rays" in space. As a result, the foursome gained strange powers when they crashed back to Earth.

Needless to say, the book was a smash hit, and was soon followed by other iconic heroes created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, etc. Characters like the Hulk, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor, The X-Men, and Marvel's most recognizable character, The Amazing Spiderman. Lee created a Marvel universe that centered primarily in and around New York City, while DC's heroes fought crime in such fictional cities as Metropolis and Gotham. Lee created heroes that were tortured and outcasts, like the monstrous Hulk and the misunderstood Mutant X-Men. And Lee tried to give his heroes identifiable problems, best embodied by Spiderman's alter-ego Peter Parker, a nerdy teenager with money problems that was unlucky in love. DC's heroes, in contrast, were seemingly perfect ideals. What could hurt Superman?

Lee also tried to give readers a peek behind the creative curtain, updating fans with his Bullpen Bulletins, monthly reports about Marvel's creative talent. He wrote a long-standing opinion column called Stan's Soapbox, and he created the Marvel fan clubs the Merry Marvel Marching Society and FOOM, (Friends of Ol' Marvel). He also was one of the first to actually print fan's feedback in a letters column in his comics. Stan wanted fans to feel like they were "in the know", like they were part of the club reading Marvel Comics, and he was more than proud to be the public face of the comics he, along with others, created.

Marvel marched on, from the first Marvel mini-series, Contest of Champions, to the first company-wide crossover, Secret Wars, to the recent Marvel Universe splitting Civil War. Marvel went from the boom of the speculators market of the 1990s to the bust of bankruptcy, and back to the successful multi-media company it is today. The comics themselves have evolved from the Silver Age of the advent of the Fantastic Four, "The Worlds Greatest Comic Magazine!", to die cut holographic foil covers on the 1990s, to the digital, downloadable motion comics at Marvel.com. From the less than humble Captain America serial of 1944, to the flop of Howard The Duck the movie in 1986, to the blockbuster Spiderman and X-Men movie film franchises of today. The Marvel Universe has permeated the world of pop culture. Spiderman is every bit as recognizable the world over as Mickey Mouse.

Okay... enough rambling. Lol I truly meant for this to be a brief overview of the beginings of Marvel Comics, but it's hard to be succinct about something so massive. I'll be getting into the current state of the Marvel U in my next post. As Stan The Man used to say... Excaliber! At least, it was something like that...

Have you read... Current State Of The Marvel Universe?