Marvel let the fans have say in the contents of the "Marvel 75th Anniversary Omnibus" hardcover via a vote on its website, and on Friday revealed the results of what will be include in the November-debuting collection.
The stories included range from the debut of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's "Fantastic Four" in 1961 (the issue widely considered the dawn of the "Marvel Age"), the original "Galactus Trilogy," the "If This Be My Destiny...!" story arc from "Amazing Spider-Man" by Lee and Steve Ditko, the debut of Wolverine in "Incredible Hulk" #181, the debut of the "All-New, All-Different" X-Men, "Days of Future Past," Elektra's death in "Daredevil" #181, 2002's "The Ultimates" #1 from Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, and the last year's "Hawkeye" #11, which recently won the Eisner Award for Best Single Issue.
"Marvel's 75th Anniversary belongs to our fans as much as it does to our creators and everyone behind the scenes," Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso said in a statement. "We wish we could've printed every story you chose but, of course, if we had, the book would be unmovable! So we poured over your top 75 and selected to print the best, brightest and most iconic stories -- 'Assembling the Avengers,' 'The Coming of Galactus,' 'The Death of Captain Marvel,' 'Days of Future Past' and more -- to make this Omnibus your one-stop shop for 75 years of Marvel history."
Te 1,000-page omnibus includes:
"Fantastic Four" (1961) #1 (debut of Fantastic Four), #48-50 ("Galactus Trilogy") & #285 ("Hero," by John Byrne)
"Hulk" (1962) #1
"Avengers" (1963) #1 (debut of The Avengers) & #57 (first appearance of The Vision")
"Amazing Spider-Man" (1963) #31-33 ("If This Be My Destiny...!"), #50 ("Spider-Man No More!") & #121-122 ("The Night Gwen Stacy Died")
"Incredible Hulk" (1968) #181 (first appearance of Wolverine)
"Giant-Size X-Men" #1 (debut of All-New, All-Different X-Men)
"X-Men" (1963) #141; "Uncanny X-Men" (1981) #142 ("Days of Future Past")
"Daredevil" (1964) #181 (death of Elektra)
"Marvel Graphic Novel" #1 ("The Death of Captain Marvel") & #5 ("X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills")
"Thor" (1966) #337 (first appearance of Beta Ray Bill)
"Marvels" #1 (inaugural issue of acclaimed miniseries by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross)
"X-Men Alpha" (first issue of "Age of Apocalypse" event)
"Thunderbolts" (1997) #1 (first Thunderbolts appearance, famed surprise ending)
"Amazing Spider-Man" (1999) #36 (post-Sept. 11 tribute issue)
"The Ultimates" (2002) #1 (debut of The Ultimates)
"Captain America" (2005) #25 ("The Death of Captain America")
"Hawkeye" (2012) #11 ("Pizza is my Business")
The omnibus also includes "material from" "Captain America Comics" (1941) #1 (first appearance of Captain America), "Amazing Fantasy" (1962) #15 (first appearance of Spider-Man) and "Amazing Spider-Man" (1963) #248 ("The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man") & #700 ("Dying Wish," prelude to the "Superior Spider-Man" era).
The full ranking of the fan vote -- with "The Death of Gwen Stacy" in the top spot -- can be found on Marvel.com.
