Marvel

Marvel Publishing Inc is a company more widely known as Marvel Comics, and a subsidiary branch under Marvel Entertainment and Toy Biz Inc, that produces comic books and other forms of related media (movies, toys, video games, animated television, etc). Marvel Entertainment is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on an established cast of over 5,000 characters. Marvel counts among its library of heroes some grand names, including Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, The Fantastic Four, Captain American, and the X-Men. Almost all of Marvel’s fictional characters are in the same universe (or reality) known commonly as the Marvel Universe.

Marvel’s ancestry can be traced back to May 1933 with the publication of Western Supernovel magazine. In 1939, the company was originally coined Timely Publications and began publishing comic books, starting with Marvel Comics #1. The company started its comic-book sales in 1939 under the title Timely Publications. By the 1950s it had become more generally known as Atlas Comics. Marvel’s real roots started with the Fantastic Four in 1961. Other superhero titles were soon to follow from creators such as Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, and many others. In 1989 Ronald Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings group of companies bought Marvel Entertainment, the parent company of Marvel Comics, from New World Entertainment for 82.5 million dollars (US).

Since its debut into the Comic business, Marvel has become the biggest comic book publisher over its long time competitor, DC Comics. Issac Perlmutter, Marvel’s CEO, has been quoted as saying “It is a mini-Disney in terms of intellectual property. Disney's got much more highly recognized characters and softer characters, whereas our characters are termed action heroes. But at Marvel we are now in the business of the creation and marketing of characters." On August 31, 2009, the Walt Disney Company announced its wish to finalize the deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for 4 billion dollars (US) in cash and stock. It has been stated that Ike Perlmutter, Marvel's CEO, would continue to oversee the Marvel properties, and work directly with Disney executives to integrate them into Disney's businesses.