Marvel Shares In Memoriam for Creators We’ve Lost Over the Years

This year marks the 80th Anniversary of Marvel Comics and a part of the year-long celebration includes Marvel Comics #1000, an oversized one-shot story featuring writing and art from most active creators currently in the game. That issue came out this past Wednesday and in it was an “In Memoriam” page, celebrating the lives of those we’ve lost over the past few decades, including Marvel icons Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko.

In total, over 150 names are in the touching page, something which features heroes of the Marvel Universe gathered around a memorial — artwork pulled from “The Death of Captain Marvel” (1982) storyline by Jim Starlin. You can see the complete page below.

Weighing in at 80 pages, the story features 80 different creative teams, all as a nod to Marvel’s big 80th anniversary. Cobbled together by Immortal Hulk writer Al Ewing, some of the talent included in the book includes Jason Aaron, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michale Allred, Jen Bartel, Kurt Busiek, Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Tini Howard, Jonathan Hickman, Joe Hill, JJ Kirby, Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Jeph Loeb, Phil Lord,Preist, George Perez, Alex Ross, Roy Thomas, Mark Waid, and Chip Zdarsky, to name a few.

“Our characters are mentioned in so many different ways and in so many different mediums and we always keep track,” Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski said of the project in its initial announcement. “Now these distinguished individuals are able to contribute back to the comics they grew up on.”

If you’re curious about purchasing the massive issue, here’s what ComicBook.com’s Chase Magnett had to say about it in his longform review earlier this week.

“While it is purely celebratory in nature, with even the self-deprecating jokes failing to acknowledge anything worse than a poor plot twist, this anthology cannot help but comment on the culture and history that have shaped Marvel into what it is in 2019. There is plenty of excellent discussion to be had in parsing how the history of both the publisher and its many, many contributors are retold today. The legends of foundational figures like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Stan Lee loom large, as do the future films and stories they would help inspire. Even with so many heady considerations, Marvel Comics #1000 is a tremendously fun read—a testament to the longevity and influence of superhero comics. Excelsior!”

Marvel Comics #1000 is out now (MSRP: $9.99) and a follow-up, Marvel Comics #1001, hits shelves October 2nd.