''Marvel Spotlight'' is a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

series published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

as a try-out book. It stood out from Marvel's other try-out books in that most of the featured characters made their

first appearance In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interes ...

in the series. The series originally ran for 33 issues from November 1971 to April 1977. A second volume ran for 11 issues from July 1979 to March 1981.

Publication history

''Marvel Spotlight'' was one of three tryout books proposed by

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which ...

after he transitioned from being Marvel Comics' writer and editor to its president and publisher, the others being '' Marvel Feature'' and '' Marvel Premiere''. The advantage of such tryout books was that they allowed the publisher to assess a feature's popularity without the marketing investment required to launch a new series, and without the blow to the publisher's image with readers if the new series immediately failed. The series began with a

Red Wolf The red wolf (''Canis rufus'') is a canine native to the southeastern United States. Its size is intermediate between the coyote (''Canis latrans'') and gray wolf (''Canis lupus''). The red wolf's taxonomic classification as being a separate s ...

story. Editor

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly ...

explained: "Stan eeand I decided it'd be a good idea to have a book with an American Indian hero. ... Stan didn't want it as a modern-day character. I guess he was trying to see if he could find a way to get a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

to sell, because everybody in the field wanted to write or draw a Western". Following this successful try-out, Red Wolf was given his own series, as were Werewolf by Night,Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 154: "With the changes to the Comics Code in place, Roy Thomas came up with the idea for a series called 'I, Werewolf'...Stan Lee liked the concept but decided to rename it 'Werewolf by Night'".

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

,Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 156: "Co-created by editor Roy Thomas, writer Gary Friedrich, and artist Mike Ploog, the new Ghost Rider was Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt performer". the Son of Satan,Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 160: "Stan Lee suggested doing a series called ''Mark of Satan'', and Roy Thomas amended the idea to 'The Son of Satan'". and Spider-Woman. In addition to launching new series, ''Marvel Spotlight'' hosted some significant stories with established characters. Issue #31 provided a retroactive explanation for why

Nick Fury Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, he first appeared in '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos' ...

(inextricably associated with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

due to his starring role in '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos'') remained so youthful, in the form of an experimental longevity serum. After a run of nearly six years, the series ended with ''Marvel Spotlight'' #33 (April 1977). The series was revived in 1979, initially as simply a place to publish inventory stories from the recently cancelled '' Captain Marvel''. However, once these leftover tales were exhausted, the series went on to feature other characters. Tako Shamara first appeared in ''Marvel Spotlight'' vol. 2 #5 (March 1980), in a story by

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's '' The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's ''The New Te ...

and

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

. In his first appearance the character battled a huge dragon from the past called a Wani, a monster that destroyed his ancestors' villages in 1582. The creature that Tako battled was intended to be

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

but since Marvel no longer had the rights to the character, which lapsed the previous year, the creature was modified to a dragon called The Wani. Issue #8 featured the final Captain Marvel solo story before the character's death. The second volume was cancelled after just 11 issues. In contrast to the original series, only one issue (#5) featured a new character, and none of them led to the featured character getting their own series. Jim Salicrup, who edited and/or did cover copy on most of the second volume, said that he was excited about reviving ''Marvel Spotlight'', but that "it was probably a mistake to launch a new title with material from a recently canceled comic. I suspect that as an editor, I was hoping to give Captain Marvel another chance, but sometimes it's better to let things go. As a result, for the most part, the series seemed to exist just to burn off existing inventory". In December 2005, the ''Marvel Spotlight'' title was used for a series of comic book-sized magazines, usually featuring profiles of and interviews with Marvel creators (one writer and one artist each issue), or spotlighting special Marvel projects such as '' Stephen King's The Dark Tower''.

The issues

Volume 1 (November 1971 – April 1977)

Volume 2 (July 1979 – March 1981)

Collected editions

* '' Essential Werewolf by Night'' Vol 1 includes ''Marvel Spotlight'' #2–4, 576 pages, October 2005, * ''Essential Ghost Rider'' Vol. 1 includes ''Marvel Spotlight'' #5–12, 560 pages, December 2006, * ''Essential Marvel Horror'' ** Vol. 1 includes ''Marvel Spotlight'' #12–24, 648 pages, October 2006, ** Vol. 2 includes ''Marvel Spotlight'' #26, 616 pages, November 2008, * ''Essential Moon Knight'' Vol. 1 includes ''Marvel Spotlight'' #28–29, 560 pages, February 2006, * '' Siege Prelude'' includes ''Marvel Spotlight'' #30, 264 pages, January 2010, * ''Essential Spider-Woman'' Vol. 1 includes ''Marvel Spotlight'' #32, 576 pages, December 2005, * ''

Marvel Masterworks ''Marvel Masterworks'' is an American collection of hardcover and trade paperback comic book reprints published by Marvel Comics, with the main goal of republishing classic ''Marvel Comics'' storylines in a hardcover, premium edition, often with ...

: Deathlok'' Vol. 1 includes ''Marvel Spotlight'' #33, 368 pages, November 2009,

References

External links

* * {{Steve Ditko 1971 comics debuts 1977 comics endings 1979 comics debuts 1981 comics endings Comics anthologies Comics by Archie Goodwin (comics) Comics by Gerry Conway Comics by Marv Wolfman Comics by Steve Ditko Comics by Steve Gerber Defunct American comics