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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.
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.
Several Marvel Comics writers wanted to do a crossover with DC Comics's Justice League of America (JLA), the superhero team featuring Batman, SupermanMetropolis, his home, with the Daily Planet building in the background. Superman is a fictional character and superhero, created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, who first appeared in comic books in 1938, and eventually became the most popular comic book, Wonder WomanWonder Woman is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero created by William Moulton Marston. She is the best known of the female superheroes. Origin and Her Creator William Moulton Marston was an educational consultant in 1940 for Detective Comics, In, AquamanAquaman is a fictional superhero published by DC Comics. He is King Orin, the ruler of Posideonis, an undersea city which is part of the undersea land of Atlantis in the DC Universe. Not only is he capable of living underwater, but he also commands the cr, Green LanternGreen Lantern is a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. The name "Green Lantern" has been applied to multiple fictional characters. Common among all incarnations is that they are armed with a special ring which allows the wearer to do nearly an and others. However, at this time inter-company crossovers were not being done. As such, writer Mark GruenwaldMark Gruenwald (1953-1996) was an American comic book writer and editor. Gruenwald got his start in comics fandom, publishing his own fanzine, Omniverse which explored the concept of continuity. In 1978 he was hired by Marvel Comics, where he spent the re wrote a series of stories about the Squadron SupremeThe Squadron Supreme is a team of comic book superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. It is best known for being a thinly disguised version of DC Comics' Justice League of America, and for the 12-issue miniseries that made this group famous. Early Histo, a group of superheroes on an alternate Earth (not in the main Marvel Universe) that effectively were the Justice League. There were very close analogues to all the main DC Comics superheroes, but since they were given different names and costumes (yet astonishingly similar backstories) Marvel Comics could maintain plausible deniability. This was one of the industry's biggest in-jokes. However, the writers of the storylines containing the Squadron Supreme did not take the characters as a joke, and treated them with great respect; they effectively allowed Marvel writers to write JLA stories. In 1986 Marvel published a Squadron Supreme 12 issue maxi-series that was groundbreaking for its time, and is considered a predecessor to similar comics such as WatchmenWatchmen is a 1986 graphic novel written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons. It is one of the most important superhero stories, ushering in a new era of adult-oriented mainstream comics. The title is a reference to the Latin phrase "Quis custodiet ip and Kingdom ComeKingdom Come is a comic book miniseries published by DC Comics, written by Mark Waid and painted by Alex Ross. It concerns the efforts of Superman and the Justice League in the near future to control the growing population of new superheroes. Alex Ross pa.
In 1982 Marvel published the mini-series Contest of Champions where all of the major heroes in existence at the time were gathered together to deal with one threat. 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.
In 1986, in honor of Marvel Comics' 25th anniversary, then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter launched the largely-unsuccessful New Universe line of comics.
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. 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. 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. (Some rumors exist that if sales continue to increase and more titles are added, Marvel may consider making the Ultimate universe its main universe.)
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. [1][2]) 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.