10 Biggest Milestones That Defined Marvel History

Marvel didn’t create the superhero. They didn’t redefine the superhero by starting the Silver Age. Instead, they got on the bandwagon in the Golden and Silver Ages, and rode it to success. Right now, the publisher is the most well-known purveyor of superheroes in the world. Their comics took the sales charts from DC and have held them in a stranglehold for decades. Sometimes, DC would get power back, but most of the time Marvel has been on top. They revolutionized the superhero in many ways, taking all of the things that other publishers created and finding new ways to use them. The House of Ideas created something amazing, and changed the fictional world forever.

Looking at the history of Marvel, there are a lot of amazing moments, but some of them stand out more than others. These are the biggest moments in the publisher’s history, each of them building something that helped make them everyone’s favorite superhero publisher. These ten Marvel milestones changed the course of their history, giving readers some of the most important moments in comic history.

10) Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars

Marvel has become known for their event comics, and this makes sense, since the publisher created them with 1982’s Marvel Super Heroes Contest of Champions. However, that book really doesn’t fit the modern event moniker — there were no tie-in issues and the series didn’t matter at all. However, in 1984, the publisher would release the first event that we in the present would recognize as such: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck. This story brought together the greatest heroes and villains in battle to win the prize of the One Beyond All. It was a major series that had repercussions for the rest of the Marvel Universe and would begin the reign of event comics, which continues to this day.

9) Infinity Gauntlet

Infinity Gauntlet was always a blockbuster, but in 2025, the story has a very important legacy. Jim Starlin, George Perez, and Ron Lim gave readers the heroes of the universe battling against Thanos, who gained godhood thanks to the Infinity Gauntlet. This is an excellent story, and has been beloved since it dropped in the early ’90s, but it’s taken on new importance because it served as the spine for the first three Phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It led to the company’s greatest success ever and has become even more legendary than it once was.

8) Civil War

Civil War had major repercussions for the Marvel Universe, and changed everything for years. The story, by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, was the culmination of plots set up years before in books like Avengers, New Avengers, Captain America, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Iron Man, and pit Cap and Iron Man against each other, with the rest of the superhero community choosing sides. The story’s shockwaves would be felt for years after its ending, and it was adapted into one of the most beloved MCU films, Captain America: Civil War. While it’s not the most well-received event, many hate it to this day, it’s one of the most important to the publisher’s comics and movies.

7) Tales of Suspense (Vol. 1) #39

Iron Man has become one of the most important superheroes in history because of his popularity in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Tales of Suspense (Vol. 1) #39, by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Don Heck, introduced readers to Tony Stark, a wealthy arms producer who is injured by his own munitions and taken hostage, commanded to make weapons. Instead, he created the Iron Man armor and became a superhero. Since then, the character’s importance to the comics has risen and fallen, but his place as the most popular hero in the most popular movie franchise ever means that his first appearance is extremely important to the history of the House of Ideas.

6) Incredible Hulk (Vol. 1) #181

Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and what he does is garner millions of fans in any medium he shows up in. The Incredible Hulk (Vol. 1) #181, by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe, introduced readers to the ol’Canucklehead. Wolverine became one of the most popular characters in the history of the comic industry and has made the migration to the big and small screens. While an argument can be made that Hulk or Thor should be there, Wolverine has outpaced them in popularity and has gotten even more popular since 2024, when Logan returned in Deadpool & Wolverine. The character has appeared in thousands of comics since then and has carved his own place in the history of superheroes.

5) Amazing Fantasy (Vol. 1) #15

Spider-Man has proven to be one of Marvel’s most popular, if not their most popular, superheroes. Peter Parker first appeared in Amazing Fantasy (Vol. 1) #15, by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and readers would learn of his tragic story, as he gained powers and become something better than he was and then lost his uncle Ben, teaching him that with great power came great responsibility. He was a character that every kid reading comics could understand, because he was one of them. Marvel had already been pulling ahead of DC when this issue came out, but it’s the book that really presaged Marvel’s eventual reader dominance and showed that their method of creating characters was perfect.

4) Avengers (Vol. 1) #1

The Avengers have become Marvel’s most recognizable team, thanks to the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Avengers weren’t Marvel’s first superhero group, but they were the most traditional, taking a page out of the book of the Justice League and the Justice Society. Avengers #1, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, brought the publisher’s five solo heroes — Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man, and the Wasp — together to battle Loki. This would lead to some of the biggest moments in Marvel history, and create a team that has ridden the wave of popularity from the bottom to the top. The MCU made them superstars, but they’ve always played a huge role in the history of the Marvel Universe.

3) Giant-Size X-Men #1

The X-Men are the bestselling team in superheroes, and that has nothing to do with their Silver Age first appearance in X-Men (Vol. 1) #1. The original version of the team fell from grace pretty quickly, and the book was made into a reprint comic. However, in 1974, Marvel decided to give them another chance with Giant-Size X-Men #1, by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. This book saw Professor X and Cyclops recruit a new team of mutants, consisting of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Wolverine, Thunderbird, Banshee, and Sunfire, to rescue the old team from the mutant island of Krakoa. This new version of Marvel’s merry mutants was a hit, and X-Men (Vol. 1) #94 would continue their adventures, with writer Chris Claremont joining Cockrum with Wein as editor. This book laid the groundwork for the modern X-Men and is vital to the history of comics.

2) Captain America Comics #1

So, a lot of people would include Marvel Comics #1 on this list, since it was the first Marvel comic; however, that book was just the introduction to Human Torch and Namor, two important but not vital characters. On the other hand, 1941’s Captain America Comics #1, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, introduced the hero that would become the most popular Marvel hero of the Golden Age: Captain America. Steve Rogers has stood the test of time, and this issue began his journey across the decades. It was a piece of superhero perfection from a time when the superhero was just crawling out of the primordial waters, and gave the House of Ideas a character that would link its entire existence together.

1) Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #1

DC Comics began the Silver Age of Comics with Showcase #4 in 1956, and had massive success. Marvel was still doing comics, but they were doing monster, sci-fi, Western, and romance comics to no small acclaim. They saw the success DC was having, so publisher Martin Goodman had Stan Lee and Jack Kirby create new superheroes. Kirby took him and Joe Simon’s Challengers of the Unknown from DC, subtracted a member, and added superpowers. Lee did the words, and Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #1 was born. This is the beginning of the Marvel Universe as we know it; without this comic, we’d never have what we have today.

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