''Marvel Feature'' was a comic book showcase 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 19 ...

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'', 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 writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Publications which w ...

after he transitioned from being Marvel Comics' writer and editor to its president and publisher, the others being '' Marvel Spotlight'' 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, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

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, Doctor Strange, and the Sub-Mariner 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 Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, Ant-Man's first appearance was in ''Tales to Astonish'' #27 (January 1962) but first appeared in costum ...

was the lead of ''Marvel Feature'' for issues #4–10, paired with his un-billed female companion, the Wasp, 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 professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for publishe ...

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 ''Tales to Astonish'' is the name of two American comic book series and a one-shot comic published by Marvel Comics. The primary title bearing that name was published from January 1959 to March 1968. It began as a science-fiction anthology tha ...

'' series, all written by Stan Lee. ''Marvel Feature'' #11 featured a battle between the

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focus ...

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. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

and featured an early

Thanos Thanos is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, and first appeared in '' The Invincible Iron Man'' #55 ( cover date February 1973). An Eternal– Deviant w ...

appearance. 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 '' Marvel Two-in-One''. The series was cancelled as of issue #12. Though it had been 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), like most tryout series, it could not 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 who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

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

wrote issues #1, #6, and #7, while

Bruce Jones Bruce Jones may refer to: * Bruce Jones (actor) (born 1953), British actor *Bruce Jones (American football) (1904–1974), American football player *Bruce Jones (comics) (born 1944), American comic book writer *Bruce Jones (surfboards) (?–2014), ...

scripted the other issues. Except for issue #1, drawn by Dick Giordano, 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 () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

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