Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide’s parent company. Marvel was started in 1939 by Martin Goodman under a number of corporations and imprints but now known as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in 1961, the year that the company launched The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others. Marvel counts among its characters such well-known superheroes as Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Black Widow, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Blade, Daredevil, the Punisher and Deadpool.
