Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing,
Inc., a division of Marvel Entertainment, Inc.
Marvel counts among its
characters such well-known properties as Spider-Man, the X-Men and their member
Wolverine, the Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Iron Man,
Daredevil, Ghost Rider and many others. Most of Marvel's fictional characters
are depicted as inhabiting a single shared world; this continuity is known as
the Marvel Universe.
The comic book arm of the company was founded in
1939 as Timely Publications and was generally known as Atlas Comics in the
1950s. Marvel's modern incarnation dates from the early 1960s, with the
launching of Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack
Kirby, Steve Ditko, and others. Marvel has since become one of the largest
American comics companies, along with DC Comics.