''Marvel Feature'' was a comic book showcase series published by

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 ...

in the 1970s. It was a tryout book, intended to test the popularity of characters and concepts being considered for their own series. The first volume led to the launch of '' The Defenders'' and ''

Marvel Two-in-One ''Marvel Two-in-One'' is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring Fantastic Four member the Thing in a different team-up each issue. Publication history Original series The concept of teaming the Thing with a differen ...

'', while volume two led to an ongoing '' Red Sonja'' series.

Volume one

''Marvel Feature'' 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 author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

after he transitioned from being Marvel Comics' writer and editor to its president and publisher, the others being ''

Marvel Spotlight ''Marvel Spotlight'' is a comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics 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 the series. The series or ...

'' 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 first series was published for twelve issues from December 1971 until November 1973. The lead story in ''Marvel Feature'' #1, by writer

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. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

and artist

Ross Andru Ross Andru (; born Rostislav Androuchkevitch, June 15, 1927 – November 9, 1993) Part 1: Animation: We Leave the Army", p. 21. In 1948, Andru's first professional work as a comic strip illustrator was drawing layouts for the ''Tarzan (comics), T ...

, featured the first team-up of the

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

Doctor Strange Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...

, and

Namor Namor McKenzie (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc., the character first appeared in '' Moti ...

as the Defenders. The first two issues of ''Marvel Feature'' were in the 52-page format, with the remaining pages filled out by a new Doctor Strange solo tale and a Sub-Mariner reprint. The Defenders continued as the stars of ''Marvel Feature'' for two more issues and then received their own self-titled series in August 1972. Ant-Man was the lead of ''Marvel Feature'' for issues #4–10, paired with his un-billed female companion, the

Wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

, starting with issue #6. Doing an Ant-Man feature was editor Roy Thomas's idea, but he found he did not have the time to write it himself and so turned it over to writer Mike Friedrich and artist Herb Trimpe. The series featured the only comics work of Trimpe's brother, Mike, who inked issue #6 over Herb's pencils. Herb Trimpe explained that Mike was a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

at the time and took on the inking job when his regular work slowed down. Issues #7–10 each featured three separate Ant-Man stories and included art by P. Craig Russell. The final issue also reprinted non-Pym stories from the '' Tales to Astonish'' series, all written by Stan Lee. ''Marvel Feature'' #11 featured a battle between the Thing and the Hulk. Issue #12 teamed the Thing and

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

and featured an early appearance of

Thanos Thanos () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in '' The Invincible Iron Man'' #55 (cover date February 1973). An Eternal– Devia ...

. Both issues were penciled by Jim Starlin. As with ''The Defenders'' before it, the concept of teaming the Thing with a different character each issue proved popular enough during its ''Marvel Feature'' tryout to justify a regular series, titled ''

''. The series was cancelled as of issue #12. Though it was successful in its intended role as a popularity gauge (both of the series spun off of ''Marvel Feature'' had long runs with generally strong sales), it was unable to sustain a readership of its own.

Volume two

The second series featured Red Sonja, a supporting character from the ancient fantasy world of ''

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

''. It was published for seven issues from November 1975 until November 1976.

wrote issues #1, #6, and #7, while Bruce Jones scripted the other issues. Except for issue #1, drawn by

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Ear ...

, the art for the series was by the creator most associated with Red Sonja, Frank Thorne. The character then received her own self-titled series in January 1977.

Collected editions

* '' Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders'' Vol. 1 includes ''Marvel Feature'' #1–3, 256 pages, July 2008, * ''Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange'' Vol. 4 includes Doctor Strange story from ''Marvel Feature'' #1, 272 pages, January 2010, * '' Essential Defenders'' Volume 1 includes ''Marvel Feature'' #1–3, 544 pages, May 2005, * ''Mighty Marvel Team-Up Thrillers'' includes ''Marvel Feature'' #11, 166 pages, 1983, * ''Essential Marvel Two-in-One'' Vol. 1 includes ''Marvel Feature'' #11–12, 576 pages, November 2005, * '' The Superhero Women: Featuring the Fabulous Females of Marvel Comics'' includes ''Marvel Feature'' vol. 2 #4, 254 pages, November 1977,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

References

{{Jim Starlin 1971 comics debuts 1973 comics endings 1975 comics debuts 1976 comics endings Comics anthologies Comics by Jim Starlin Comics by Len Wein Comics by Roy Thomas Defunct American comics Fantasy comics Marvel Comics titles