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Marvel Celebrates 80th Anniversary With Massive Comic

Associated Press

   LOS ANGELES - Marvel Comics is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a
   massive issue that pays tribute to its history and introduces a new
   object with implications for the superhero universe going forward.

   The Marvel Comics 1000 issue, available Wednesday, pays homage to many
   of Marvel's most recognizable characters, including Iron Man, the Hulk
   and Spider-Man, and also spotlights some lesser known ones. Each page
   is devoted to a year in Marvel's history, with the first one recounting
   the creation of the Human Torch in Marvel Comics No. 1 in 1939.

   A mix of serious and humorous stories follows, like the page devoted to
   1944 in which Captain America explains why he fights, Dr. Strange's
   struggle to keep his magic cape smelling fresh (1951), the introduction
   of Groot (1960) and a page devoted to Iron Man's suit for 2008, the
   year Marvel's blockbuster film franchise launched.

   "I definitely wanted this to be a range of experiences and not have it
   be an 80-page chucklefest" nor "an 80-page downer," said Tom Brevoot,
   the issue's editor.

   Brevoot said he gave the issue's dozens of creators general guidance,
   but also the freedom to explore a character or story line in a single
   page. Many of the pages adopt what Brevoot called a "confessional"
   approach where a character is speaking to an interviewer. The page for
   2017 features superheroes' answers to "What do you regret," or another
   in which Deadpool takes a little too long to answer one of the issue's
   recurring questions, "Why do you do what you do?"

   Brevoot said: "Even if you don't like very single page, there's another
   page right after it that's different."

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