Marvel: The Comic Book

Marvel, a name known in the comic-book world and throughout the entire world. It is a name recognized by the young and old, men and women, and people of all ethnic groups. Whether in comics, movies, toys, the Internet or any other sort of media, Marvel is known on a global scale. Most of all it is a brand name recognized by many in the United States. But just because it is popular, does it make it appropriate to purchase their products? Just because Marvel is a big name, does it make a name Americans should associate themselves with? Marvel is an economic value to America with its business stretching across the world as well as a representative of the American dream. What makes the brand most unique is that its main product establishes a constructive and decent impact on American consumers.

Many would think a name this well known would have started big in order to become big, however that was not the situation. Marvel actually struggled with its creation, but managed to pull through to become the big success that it is today. The recognized name was at first what one would call a copycat; whatever stories were selling Marvel would sell, too. As a founder of the company put it “whatever other people were selling, we would do the same thing… I liked to come up with my own stuff, but I was getting paid”(qtd. in Lacter). If originality was not a conflict, competition certainly was. During the 1940’s DC Comics was America’s top mark in the comic industry with the creation of original superheroes and plots, such as Superman. However Marvel was not so easily crushed, thanks to one man’s dream of creating his own characters. Stan Lee was born during the Depression, a time in which many were struggling to pull through. “My earliest recoll...

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...he most durable of men, but was the most caring and courageous. Like the plot of the X-Men; those with the mutant gene had special abilities and were seen as inhuman and therefore were discriminated by fellow human beings. This story was told through the eyes of mutant characters such as Wolverine or Strom, who were in fact as human as can be, giving a moral that one should not be judged on what they are, but on who they are. A moral influenced by America’s diversity in ethnic groups, religions and beliefs. Marvel also shows that no one is truly perfect and no one is truly corrupt such as with the mighty Thor and his brother Loki, a scenario in which the hero is flawed and the villain is heroic. Thor is the hero but has a fault of being too proud, while Loki, despite being the villain, is not truly evil but simply choose to win attention using the wrong methods.