''Marville'' is a 2002

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

published by American company

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The series was written by

Bill Jemas Bill Jemas () is an American media entrepreneur, writer, and editor, known for his tenure as president of Fleer Entertainment Group during the 1990s, and for his work as vice president of Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2004. During his time at Marvel ...

, and the stories involve satirical comments on comic book industry conventions and trends.

Plot

In the year 5002,

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

and

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...

have a son named Kal-

AOL AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

Kal-El Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

), whom they send back in time to the year 2002 to save him when they believe a meteor strike will destroy the Earth. Al attempts to become a superhero, despite his lack of superpowers, and becomes friends with a cab driver named Mickey and a police officer named Lucy. Although Al becomes rich and famous for capturing criminals, he is upset that crime is still rampant. In the year 5002, the world was not actually destroyed, and Ted Turner sends the time machine back to Al so he can come home. Instead, Al uses the time machine to travel to the dawn of creation and meet

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, so he can determine the meaning of life and the nature of morality so he can be a proper hero. At the dawn of time they meet a man named Jack, who is ambiguous as to if he is actually God or not. Jack takes them through the creation of life on Earth and then to the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

period, and then to the evolution of the first human beings as nomadic hunter-gatherers led by

Wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

, the first human being. Along the way, Jack discusses with them the means behind which life evolved in this manner and why, among other philosophical concepts, and the characters come to the conclusion that God is responsible for engineering life and guiding its evolution. Jack explains he is showing them these events because

World War III World War III, also known as the Third World War, is a hypothetical future global conflict subsequent to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). It is widely predicted that such a war would involve all of the great powers, ...

is going to happen, and he wants them to understand the nature of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

so they can work to prevent it. In the year 2002, Al pitches his story to the head of an unspecified comics company, framed as a recap of the events of the comic (though several things Al mentions did not occur in previous issues in the manner he claims). The unseen editor likes the story, but refuses to turn it into a comic because he believes it will not sell to mainstream audiences. Issue #6 ends with an open letter from Jemas discussing his experiences with publishing the comic and announcing the creation of a new Marvel imprint,

Epic Comics Epic Comics (also known as the Epic Comics Group)Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins: The Truth About the Epic Comics Group!" Marvel comics cover-dated November 1982. was an imprint of American publishing company Marvel Comics, active from 1982 to ...

; issue #7 does not actually contain any story content related to the events of ''Marville'' and is a submissions guideline book for creators on how to submit their work to Epic Comics.

U-Decide

Marville was created as part of Marvel's U-Decide promotional campaign, in which fans would decide which of three books would survive. The event involved one existing book (

Peter David Peter Allen David (September 23, 1956 – May 24, 2025), often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Grea ...

's '' Captain Marvel'', whose numbering was restarted at issue #1) and two new books (''Marville'' and Ron Zimmerman's '' Ultimate Adventures''), and was based around a bet between David and Jemas, of which Marvel editor-in-chief

Joe Quesada Joseph Quesada (; born January 12, 1962'' Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comic book artist, writer, editor, and television producer. He became known in the 1990s for his work on various Valiant Comics books, ...

later became a part. Jemas changed the stakes of the bet a few issues into ''Marville'', stating that the loser would take a pie in the face for charity. Despite this, both ''Marville'' and ''Ultimate Adventures'' ended fairly quickly, while the rebooted ''Captain Marvel'' would last 25 more issues, for a total of 60 issues when combined with the first run.

Reception

For its confusing plot, wanton sexuality, and thinly veiled promotional nature, ''Marville'' was universally panned by critics, and is regularly referred to as one of the worst comics of all time. ''

ComicsAlliance ComicsAlliance is an American website dedicated to covering the comic book industry as well as comic-related media, and is owned by Townsquare Media. The site has been nominated for multiple awards including a 2015 Eisner Award win in the categ ...

'' included ''Marville'' in their list of the 15 Worst Comics of the Decade, calling it little more than a "publicity stunt", and Rob Bricken of

io9 ''io9'' is a sub-blog of the technology blog ''Gizmodo'' that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under ...

likened the work to "shooting heroin directly into your adrenal gland." ''

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...

'' ranked Kal-AOL (and the rest of the ''Marville'' cast) as one of the "superheroes that Marvel wants you to forget." ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' called it "abominable", "nearly unpublishable", and — despite its professional-quality production values — "fundamentally amateurish", condemning Jemas for using the Marvel corporation as "a

vanity press A vanity press or vanity publisher, sometimes also subsidy publisher, is a book printer that is paid by authors to Self-published, self-publish their books. A vanity press charges fees in advance and does not contribute to the development of the ...

for himself".With great power comes a bizarre lack of responsibility case file #44: ''Marville''
by Nathan Rabin, at ''

''; published September 10, 2015; retrieved July 15, 2018

References

{{Reflist Marvel Comics limited series Parody comics Satirical comics 2002 comics debuts 2003 comics endings Parody superheroes Fiction about Neanderthals Comics about comics Science fiction comics Comics set in the 2000s Comics about time travel Comics about God