Official Press Release
In honor of our fantastic 40th Anniversary, we asked True Believers of all ages to select the 100 best Marvel Comics ever -- and we're reprinting the Top 25 based on your votes! Over 50,000 ballots were sent in to The House, each one hand counted and tabulated with tenacity by our very own boisterous Bullpen! The results were sealed and guarded by the loyal Lockjaw... until now!
What are the top titles that we've ever printed? The voting spanned every era of Marvel majesty -- but we're not saying what incredible issues came out as the elite winners just yet, gang! After all, what fun is a countdown if you already know what's waiting in the top spots? The only way to find out is to head in to your local comics shop and pick up the red-hot reprint collections as we work our way down to what you, the mighty Marvel masses, have deemed the #1, hands-down champion -- the Greatest Marvel Comic Of All Time!
So while we're not spoiling all the fun by revealing the entire list, we will get the ball rolling by unveiling a portion of your picks! Let's start the countdown off in style by revealing what you chose as the Greatest Marvels Of All Time, starting with book #100 and running all the way down to pick #26! Drumroll, please!
100. Generation X #1
99. Captain America (Vol. 1) #444
98. Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #232 (1st issue by John Byrne!)
97. X-Factor #87 ("Psychiatrist" story by Peter David & Joe Quesada!)
96. Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #101 (1st appearance of Morbius!)
95. Iron Man (Vol. 3) #1
94. Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #18 (1st appearance of Super Skrull)
93. Uncanny X-Men #145 (Dr. Doom & Murderworld!)
92. Captain Marvel #34 (Mar-vell tragically contracts cancer!)
91. Uncanny X-Men #121 (1st appearance of Alpha Flight!)
90. Uncanny X-Men #283 (1st appearance of Bishop!)
89. Secret Wars #8 (Intro of the black costume!)
88. Uncanny X-Men #248 (1st issue by Jim Lee!)
87. X-Factor #24 (1st appearance of Archangel!)
86. X-Men #53 (1st appearance of Onslaught!)
85. Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #238 (1st appearance of Hobgoblin!)
84. Amazing Spider-Man #194 (1st appearance of Black Cat!)
83. Avengers #57 (1st app. of Vision)
82. Amazing Spider-Man #90 (Death of Capt. Stacy!)
81. Captain America #117 (1st appearance of Falcon!)
80. Fantastic Four Annual #3 (Marriage of Reed & Sue!)
79. Tales of Suspense #57 (1st appearance of Hawkeye)
78. Amazing Spider-Man #31
77. Uncanny X-Men #266
76. X-Force #1
75. Punisher War Journal #6 (vs. Wolverine, with art by Jim Lee!)
74. X-Factor #6 (1st appearance of Apocalypse!)
73. Iron Man #55 (1st appearance of Thanos!)
72. Uncanny X-Men #162
71. Uncanny X-Men #172
70. Uncanny X-Men #14 (1st appearance of Sentinels!)
69. Uncanny X-Men #212
68. X-Men #30 (Wedding of Scott & Jean!)
67. Amazing Spider-Man #13 (1st appearance of Mysterio!)
66. X-Factor #1
65. Uncanny X-Men #129 (1st appearance of Kitty Pryde!)
64. Uncanny X-Men #256 (Intro of "new" Psylocke!)
63. Uncanny X-Men #210 ("Mutant Massacre"!)
62. New Mutants #1
61. Uncanny X-Men #100 (vs. the Sentinels!)
60. Uncanny X-Men #303 (Death of Illyana!)
59. Iron Fist #14 (Intro of Sabretooth!)
58. Fantastic Four #100
57. Amazing Spider-Man #298 (1st issue by Todd McFarlane!)
56. Uncanny X-Men #9 (vs. the Avengers!)
55. Iron Man #225 ("Iron Wars"!)
54. Marvel Spotlight #5 (Intro of Ghost Rider!)
53. Fantastic Four #4 (Return of the Sub-Mariner!)
52. Amazing Spider-Man #2 (Intro of Vulture!)
51. Uncanny X-Men #108
50. Amazing Spider-Man #129 (Intro of the Punisher!)
49. Uncanny X-Men #171
48. Uncanny X-Men #225
47. Uncanny X-Men #159
46. Avengers (vol. 3) #1
45. Amazing Spider-Man #50 (Intro of the Kingpin!)
44. Uncanny X-Men #12 (Intro of Juggernaut!)
43. Amazing Spider-Man #6 (Intro of the Lizard!)
42. Uncanny X-Men #58 (Intro of Havok!)
41. Uncanny X-Men #3 (Intro of the Blob!)
40. Wolverine #145
39. Incredible Hulk #340 (vs. Wolverine!)
38. Uncanny X-Men #2
37. Wolverine #4 (Of the Claremont/Miller mini-series!)
36. Secret Wars #1
35. Amazing Spider-Man #3 (Intro of Dr. Octopus!)
34. Silver Surfer #1 (By Stan Lee & John Buscema!)
33. Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #12 (The Thing vs. The Hulk)
32. Uncanny X-Men #95 (The death of Thunderbird!)
31. Journey Into Mystery #83 (1st appearance of Thor!)
30. Uncanny X-Men #4 (Intro of the Brotherhood!)
29. Tales of Suspense #39 (1st appearance of Iron Man!)
28. Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #5 (Intro of Dr. Doom!)
27. Amazing Spider-Man #14 (1st appearance of the Green Goblin!)
26. Daredevil #1 (1st issue of the Marvel Knights run!)
Okay, so what received enough votes to make it into the titanic Top 25? In October, we'll publish five mega-sized mags that will collect four stunning stories each, presenting in whole picks #25 through #6... then, in November, we'll unveil the Top 5 as separate special reprint editions! So, which cool comics made the cut? Did your prized issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN make the list? Will your favorite issue of FANTASTIC FOUR be immortalized for all eternity? Or will those x-citing X-MEN claim the bragging rights?
Keep your eyes peeled for these magnificent mags:
100 Greatest Marvels Collected Edition #1 (reprinting picks #25 - #22) - on sale Oct. 3rd
100 Greatest Marvels Collected Edition #2 (reprinting picks #21 - #18) - on sale Oct. 10th
100 Greatest Marvels Collected Edition #3 (reprinting picks #17 - #14) - on sale Oct. 17th
100 Greatest Marvels Collected Edition #4 (reprinting picks #13 - #10) - on sale Oct. 24th
100 Greatest Marvels Collected Edition #5 (reprinting picks #9 - #6) - on sale Oct. 31st
100 Greatest Marvels #5: ? - on sale Nov. 7th
100 Greatest Marvels #4: ? - on sale Nov. 7th
100 Greatest Marvels #3: ? - on sale Nov. 14th
100 Greatest Marvels #2: ? - on sale Nov. 21st
100 Greatest Marvels #1: ? - on sale Nov. 28th
'Nuff Said!
Bill Rosemann
Marketing Communications Manager
Marvel Comics