This summer special was a 25¢ "giant", relative to the typical 12¢ comics of the times.[2]
First series
The first ongoing series of this name began as Fantasy Masterpieces, initially a standard-sized, 12¢ anthology reprinting "pre-superhero Marvel" monster and sci-fi/fantasy stories. With issue #3 (June 1966), the title was expanded to a 25-cent giant reprinting a mix of those stories and Golden Agesuperhero stories from Marvel's 1940s iteration as Timely Comics. Fantasy Masterpieces ran 11 issues (Feb. 1966–Oct. 1967) before being renamed Marvel Super-Heroes with #12 (Dec. 1967).[3]
While continuing with the same mix of reprint material, this first volume of Marvel Super-Heroes also began showcasing a try-out feature as each issue's lead. This encompassed solo stories of such supporting characters as Medusa of the Inhumans, as well as the debuts of Captain Marvel (#12),[4] the Phantom Eagle (#16)[5] and the Guardians of the Galaxy (#18).[6] The Spider-Man story drawn by Ross Andru in issue #14 was originally planned as a fill-in issue of The Amazing Spider-Man but was used here when that title's regular artist John Romita Sr. recovered more quickly than anticipated from a wrist injury.[7] Andru would become the regular artist on The Amazing Spider-Man several years later.[8]
Under either name, this series' Golden Age reprints represented the newly emerging comic-book fandom's first exposure to some of the earliest work of such important creators as Jack Kirby, Bill Everett, and Carl Burgos, and to such long-unseen and unfamiliar characters as the Whizzer and the Destroyer. Fantasy Masterpieces #10 (Aug. 1967) reprinted the entirety of the full-length All-Winners Squad story from the (unhyphenated) All Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946). Fantasy Masterpieces #11 (Oct. 1967) re-introduced the work of the late artist Joe Maneely, a star of 1950s comics who had died in a train accident.
Marvel Super-Heroes became an all-reprint magazine beginning with #21 (July 1969) (except for an original "Tales of the Watcher" story in #23), and a regular-sized comic at the then-standard 20-cent price with #32 (Sept. 1972). This reprint series lasted through issue #105 (Jan. 1982).[3]
A second series titled Fantasy Masterpieces ran from #1-14 (Dec. 1979–Jan. 1981), reprinting truncated versions of the 1968 Silver Surfer series, and Adam Warlock stories from Strange Tales and Warlock.
Second Series
The 15-issue Marvel Super-Heroes (vol. 2) (May 1990–Oct. 1993)[9] was published quarterly and generally printed "inventory stories," those assigned to serve as emergency filler. The first issue featured a Brother Voodoo story drawn by Fred Hembeck in a dramatic style rather than his usual "cartoony" art.[10]
Stories in Marvel Super-Heroes Vol 2
Issue #
A Story
B Story
C Story
D Story
E Story
F Story
G Story
1
Moon Knight
Collected in Moon Knight Omnibus Vol. 2
Hercules
Hellcat
Brother Voodoo
Collected in Marvel Masterworks: Brother Voodoo
Speedball
Collected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel
Magik/New Mutants
Collected in New Mutants Omnibus Volume 3
Black Panther
Collected in Black Panther Epic Collection Volume 3: Panther's Prey
2
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark
Collected in She-Hulk Epic Collection Volume 4: The Cosmic Squish Principle
No F Story
6
X-Men
Collected in X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda Omnibus
Power Pack
Collected in Power Pack Classic Omnibus Vol 2
Cloak & Dagger
Sabra
Speedball
Collected in Speedball: The Masked Marvel
7
Cloak & Dagger
Shroud
Marvel Boy
No E Story
8
Iron Man and Squirrel Girl
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, vol. 1: Squirrel Power and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl & The Great Lakes Avengers
Sub-Mariner
No D Story
9
Avengers West Coast
Thor
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark
10
Vision and Scarlet Witch
Sub-Mariner
Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers)
Collected in Ms. Marvel Epic Collection: The Woman Who Fell to Earth
11
Ghost Rider
Giant-Man
Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) and Rogue
Collected in Ms. Marvel Epic Collection: The Woman Who Fell to Earth
12
Dr. Strange
Falcon
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark
13
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark
14
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark
Dr. Strange
Speedball
15
Iron Man
Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection: The Return of Tony Stark
Volstag
Collected in Thor: The Warriors Three: The Complete Collection
The name itself reappeared, without a hyphen, as part of the title of a 12-issue, company-wide crossover miniseriesMarvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (May 1984–April 1985).[13] The 1985-1986 sequel was titled simply Secret Wars II.
The final series of this title was the six-issue Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine (Oct. 1994–March 1995), a 100-page book reprinting 1970s and 1980s Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Iron Man and Hulk stories in each issue.[14]
References
^DeFalco, Tom; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1960s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 119. ISBN978-0756641238. To help support the new animated television show, Martin Goodman told Stan Lee to produce a comic called Marvel Super Heroes.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 125: "Captain Mar-Vell was a Kree warrior sent to spy on Earth, by Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan."
^DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 131: "Aviation buff Herb Trimpe, who flew his own biplane for many years, teamed up with writer Gary Friedrich to create flying ace the Phantom Eagle."
^DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 134: "The Guardians of the Galaxy were a science-fiction version of the group from the movie Dirty Dozen (1967) and were created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Gene Colan."
^Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1960s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 43. ISBN978-0756692360. When John Romita sprained his wrist, Marvel hired artist Ross Andru to draw a fill-in issue of The Amazing Spider-Man to give Romita time to recover. However, never less than a consummate professional, Romita turned in his work on schedule as promised, leaving the company with an extra Stan Lee-scripted Spider-Man story on their hands.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Saffel, Steve (2007). "An Exploding Icon The 1970s". Spider-Man the Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon. London, United Kingdom: Titan Books. p. 66. ISBN978-1-84576-324-4. Having done a special stand-alone Spider-Man story in Marvel Super-Heroes #14, May 1968, Andru came aboard as the ongoing artist with Amazing #125, October 1973.