Marvel Comics in the ’90s was a very strange place. The company had numerous million selling comics, and kicked off the decade like a house on fire. However, they went all in on the collector’s market, and over-printed everything, all while “innovating” the gimmick cover. The House of Ideas almost killed the entire comic industry with their greed, devoting more energy to chasing Image Comics and putting out gimmick covers than telling great stories that kept readers coming back. However, the end of the decade would see them start to reverse course, and put out comics that fans were happy to read, beyond the X-Men and Spider-Man books that fans had bought the entire decade.
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Looking back over the ’90s at Marvel, there are a lot of bad comics and stories (more than at DC, at least), but there also were some cool ongoings series. These were the books that buoyed the company even in its darkest times, and still stand up today. These ten Marvel ongoing series were the best of the ’90s, books that helped keep the company alive through their most tumultuous decade.
10) New Warriors
The New Warriors were supposed to be the next superstars, and while that didn’t work out for them — the X-Men books got all of the attention — New Warriors (Vol. 1) was actually a pretty good book throughout the decade of extreme. Boasting talent like Fabian Nicieza, Mark Bagley, Darick Robertson, and more, the book was full of great superhero adventures that kept fans coming back for years. It’s one of those books that you’d never think to read, but you definitely should.
9) Untold Tales of Spider-Man
Spider-Man is Marvel’s most relatable hero, but by 1995, he wasn’t the most popular because of the Clone Saga. Fans just wanted some basic Spider-Man adventures and Marvel gave that to them with Untold Tales of Spider-Man, from writer Kurt Busiek and artist Pat Oliffe. This book, which only cost a $1.50, told flashback Spidey stories and it was fantastic. Fans loved the back to basics approach of the book, as Busiek and Oliffe were able to take the ideas of the past and bring them to the present. This is perfect Spider-Man, and one of the character’s finest moments in any decade.
8) Thunderbolts
“Onslaught” changed the Marvel Universe, sending the Avengers and Fantastic Four to another universe created by Franklin Richards. This led to the Heroes Reborn comics, but Earth-616 needed a replacement for their greatest heroes, and we got that from Thunderbolts. This book from Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley starred the titular team, who had been introduced in The Incredible Hulk #449, and kicked the whole thing off with a bang, revealing they were actually Masters of Evil. This book was flawless, with Busiek and Bagley giving readers some of the best superhero action and adventure ever.
7) Captain America (Vol. 3)
Captain America (Vol. 1) entered the decade still under the pen of writer/editor Mark Gruenwald, but he eventually left the book before his untimely death. The book floundered until Mark Waid and Ron Garney took it over, but the “Heroes Reborn” deal was already made, and they were kicked off the book without ever being told about the deal. Captain America (Vol. 2) was terrible, but the third volume of the series brought back Waid and Garney. They were amazing together, and the book was so good. Garney would leave before the ’90s ended, with former X-Men artist Andy Kubert took over the and it looked fantastic. It was perfect Cap action, and is one of the best periods in the character’s history.
6) The Mighty Thor (Vol. 2)
Thor in the ’90s suffered the same fate of everyone without an X on their costume not named Spider-Man, his book falling from esteem by fans, even when Marvel put hot artist Mike Deodato on the book. It ended with “Heroes Reborn”, and wouldn’t return until the summer of ’98, after Heroes Reborn: The Return the heroes back and the “Heroes Return” books had started dropping earlier in the year. The Mighty Thor (Vol. 2), by Dan Jurgens and John Romita Jr. brought the character back in a Jack Kirby-esque book that was amazing. Jurgens had wrote Superman for years, so he was perfect for the God of Thunder, and this volume of the character’s adventures is some of the finest Thor action of all time.
5) Avengers (Vol. 3)
The ’90s were a disaster for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Marvel couldn’t pay readers to read their book as the ’90s went on, and “Heroes Reborn” failed. However, Avengers (Vol. 3) was everything that fans could have wanted. Kurt Busiek, off successes like Marvels, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, and Thunderbolts, was tapped to write the book with legendary artist George Perez. They brought classic Avengers flavor to the team, and their run is a best of all time one on the title. This book wasn’t exactly flawless, especially after the amazing “Ultron Unlimited” ended, but it was just what the doctor ordered for fans.
4) The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk was the bestselling comic that wasn’t the X-Men or Spider-Man throughout the ’90s. Writer Peter David wrote the book in the decade until 1998, and while Joe Casey’s short run wasn’t as good, it was still a great book. It boasted some of the best artists of the ’90s — Dale Keown, Gary Frank, Liam Sharp, Chris Bachalo, Mike Deodato, Adam Kubert, and numerous fill-in artists — and David was giving readers awesome stories, giving the book a mini-reboot every few years so it wouldn’t get stale. The ’90s stretch of The Incredible Hulk was consistently amazing for eight years, which isn’t something a lot of books can say in any decade.
3) Wolverine (Vol. 2)
The ’90s were awesome for Wolverine fans, full of brilliant stories from Wolverine (Vol. 2). This book was mostly written by Larry Hama, who wrote the book from 1990 to 1997, with Ben Raab, Warren Ellis, Chris Claremont, and Erik Larsen writing the book after he left. Superstar artists like Marc Silvestri, Adam Kubert, and Leinil Yu gave fans amazing art, along with numerous fill-in artists over the decade. Wolverine (Vol. 2) was the best solo ongoing of the ’90s; its quality ranged from amazing to great, never dropping to the level of most Marvel books of the decade, and it sold like hot cakes, outselling just about every Marvel solo but Spider-Man books (and it did outsell them at times).
2) X-Men (Vol. 2)
X-Men (Vol. 2) kicked off with the bestselling comic of all time, and stayed vital throughout the ’90s. It was constantly trading off the top sales spot with Uncanny X-Men, and is one of the most important ’90s Marvel books. The book boasted writers Chris Claremont, Fabian Nicieza, Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, and Alan Davis, with art from Jim Lee, Andy Kubert, Paul Smith, Carlos Pacheco, Adam Kubert, and Davis, along with many fill-in artists. This book was consistently awesome, and even when the writing wasn’t the best, the art was. Marvel would have died without this book (that can be said for all of this list’s top four), and its ’90s issues are some of the best works of the decade from the publisher.
1) Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1)
Uncanny X-Men was Marvel’s flagship in the ’80s, even if fans of the decade of excess didn’t want to admit it. In the proceeding decade of extreme, though, no one tried to deny it and most fans embraced it. Uncanny was the book that everyone read, and Marvel kept the best possible talent on it: Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, Marc Silvestri, Andy Kubert, John Byrne, Whilce Potracio, Scott Lodbell, John Romita Jr., Brandon Peterson, Joe Madureira, Steve Seagle, Bryan Hitch, Chris Bachalo, Adam Kubert, Alan Davis, and many more. It was the ’90s Marvel book, and is full of great X-stories.
What’s your favorite ’90s Marvel ongoings? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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