Marvel Graphic Novel

Marvel Graphic Novel (MGN) is a line of graphic novel trade paperbacks published from 1982 to 1993 by Marvel Comics.[1] The books were published in an oversized format, 8.5" x 11", similar to French albums. In response, DC Comics established a competitor line known as DC Graphic Novel.

Not to be confused with The Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection.

Marvel Graphic Novel
Cover of Marvel Graphic Novel #1: "The Death of Captain Marvel" (1982). Art by Jim Starlin
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Format	8.5" x 11"
Genre	Science fiction Superhero Sword and sorcery
Publication date	1982 – 1993
No. of issues	75
Main character(s)	List Captain Marvel Elric New Mutants X-Men Star Slammers Killraven The Futurians Dazzler Starstruck The Swashbucklers She-Hulk Tigra The Wasp Conan the Barbarian Greenberg the Vampire Thor The Shadow
Creative team
Written by	List Jim Starlin Roy Thomas Chris Claremont Don McGregor John Byrne Rick Veitch Steve Gerber Jim Shooter Elaine Lee Bill Mantlo Alan Zelenetz David Michelinie Don Kraar Dennis O'Neil
Artist(s)	List Jim Starlin P. Craig Russell Bob McLeod Brent Anderson Walt Simonson Dave Cockrum Rick Veitch Val Mayerik Michael Kaluta Jackson Guice Charles Vess Mark Badger
Penciller(s)	List Ron Wilson Frank Springer Greg LaRocque Marc Silvestri John Byrne Gary Kwapisz Paul Ryan
Inker(s)	List Armando Gil Vince Colletta Kim DeMulder Art Nichols Russ Heath
Colorist(s)	List Steve Oliff Glynis Wein Paty Cockrum Petra Scotese Bob Sharen
Editor(s)	List Louise Jones Archie Goodwin Bob Budiansky Al Milgrom Laurie Sutton Ralph Macchio Jim Shooter Christopher Priest Mike Carlin Larry Hama Ann Nocenti

Publication history

The decision to launch the line was made in late 1979, after strong sales reports for the summer. Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter envisioned the "books as being in the format of European albums, with cardboard covers, full-color, slick pages."[2] In September 1980, Shooter indicated the line was delayed because of complications in putting together the contracts, which he was drafting in consultation with Marvel attorneys.[3] In early 1981, Marvel hired Michael Z. Hobson away from Scholastic Books to be Vice-President/Publishing. His expertise in writing author contracts, which was greater than Shooter's, was a key reason.[4] A few months later, contracts with writer/artist Jim Starlin were finalized for The Death of Captain Marvel and Dreadstar.[5]

The Death of Captain Marvel, the first book in the line, was published in January 1982.[6] Marvel numbered stories through 1985 up to number 20, but released many other stories in the same format that are considered unnumbered parts of the series according to the Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. Overstreet continued numbering beyond the original "official" numbering, following a Marvel-published list of graphic novels. When the list stopped being published, Overstreet stopped trying to number the issues, halting at number 38, although they list 29 more issues published from 1983 through 1991, although the list is known not to include every graphic novel from this period.

The line was divided evenly between author-owned and company-owned titles. Several characters were featured in an issue of Marvel Graphic Novel before receiving their own miniseries or ongoing series. The most successful of these was The New Mutants, which ran for 100 issues.[7] Other series which were spun-off from a Marvel Graphic Novel are Dreadstar,[8] Void Indigo, Starstruck, and The Swords of the Swashbucklers. In addition, Star Slammers had a miniseries published by Malibu Comics and Futurians was a short-lived title published by Lodestone Comics.

List of graphic novels in the Marvel Graphic Novel line

Number	Title	Year	Writers	Artists	Notes	Citations
Officially numbered titles
1	The Death of Captain Marvel	1982	Jim Starlin			[6][9]
2	Elric: The Dreaming City	1982	Michael Moorcock Roy Thomas	P. Craig Russell		[9]
3	Dreadstar	1982	Jim Starlin			[8][9]
4	The New Mutants	1982	Chris Claremont	Bob McLeod	first appearance of the New Mutants	[7][9]
5	X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills	1982		Brent Anderson	elements of this story are used in the film X2	[9]
6	Star Slammers	1983	Walt Simonson			[9]
7	Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds	1983	Don McGregor	P. Craig Russell		[9]
8	Super Boxers	August 1983	Ron Wilson John Byrne	Ron Wilson		[9]
9	The Futurians	1983	Dave Cockrum			[9]
10	Heartburst	1983	Rick Veitch			[9]
11	Void Indigo	1983	Steve Gerber	Val Mayerik		[9]
12	Dazzler: The Movie	1984	Jim Shooter	Frank Springer		[9]
13	Starstruck: The Luckless, the Abandoned and Forsaked	1984	Elaine Lee	Michael Kaluta	collection of the Starstruck stories serialized in Heavy Metal	[9]
14	The Swords of the Swashbucklers	October 1984	Bill Mantlo	Jackson Guice		[9]
15	The Raven Banner (A Tale of Asgard)	1984	Alan Zelenetz	Charles Vess		[9]
16	The Aladdin Effect	1985	David Michelinie	Greg LaRocque	features Storm, the She-Hulk, Tigra, and the Wasp	[9]
17	Revenge of the Living Monolith	June 1985		Marc Silvestri Geof Isherwood		[9][10]
18	The Sensational She-Hulk	1985	John Byrne	John Byrne Kim DeMulder		[9]
19	Conan the Barbarian: The Witch Queen of Acheron	1985	Don Kraar	Gary Kwapisz		[9]
20	Greenberg the Vampire	1985	J. M. DeMatteis	Mark Badger		[9]
Overstreet-numbered titles
21	Marada the She-Wolf	1985	Chris Claremont	John Bolton	collects material originally serialized in Epic Illustrated #10-12	[9]
22	Amazing Spider-Man: Hooky	1986	Susan K. Putney	Bernie Wrightson		[9][11]
23	Doctor Strange: Into Shamballa	1986	J. M. DeMatteis Dan Green	Dan Green		[9]
24	Daredevil: Love and War	1986	Frank Miller	Bill Sienkiewicz		[9]
25	Alien Legion: A Grey Day to Die	1986	Carl Potts Alan Zelenetz	Frank Cirocco		[9]
26	Dracula: A Symphony in Moonlight & Nightmares	1986	Jon J Muth			[9]
27	Emperor Doom	1987	David Michelinie	Bob Hall	features the Avengers	[9]
28	Conan the Reaver	1987	Don Kraar	John Severin		[9]
29	The Incredible Hulk and the Thing: The Big Change	1987	Jim Starlin	Bernie Wrightson		[9]
30	A Sailor's Story	1987	Sam Glanzman		biographical story about Sam Glanzman's service aboard the USS Stevens (DD-479) during World War II	[9]
31	Wolfpack	1987	Larry Hama	Ron Wilson		[9]
32	Death of Groo	1987	Mark Evanier	Sergio Aragones		[9]
33	The Mighty Thor: I, Whom The Gods Would Destroy	1988	Jim Shooter Jim Owsley	Paul Ryan		[9]
34	Cloak and Dagger: Predator and Prey	1988	Bill Mantlo	Larry Stroman		[9]
35	The Shadow: Hitler's Astrologer	1988	Dennis O'Neil	Michael Kaluta Russ Heath		[9]
36	Willow: Movie Adaptation	1988	Mary Jo Duffy	Bob Hall Romeo Tanghal		[9]
37	Hercules Prince of Power: Full Circle	1988	Bob Layton			[9]
38	Silver Surfer: Judgment Day	1988	Stan Lee	John Buscema		[9]
Unofficially-numbered titles
39	The Inhumans	1988	Ann Nocenti	Bret Blevins		[9]
40	The Punisher: Assassin's Guild	1988	Mary Jo Duffy	Jorge Zaffino		[9]
41	Who Framed Roger Rabbit	1988	Don Ferguson Daan Jippes	Dan Spiegle Daan Jippes		[9]
42	Conan of the Isles	1988	Lin Carter L. Sprague DeCamp Roy Thomas	John Buscema Dave Simons		[9]
43	The Dreamwalker	1989	Miguel José Ferrer Bill Mumy	Gray Morrow		[9]
44	Ax	1988	Ernie Colón			[9]
45	Arena	1989	Bruce Jones			[9]
46	The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives	1989	Gerry Conway	Alex Saviuk Andy Mushynsky		[9]
47	Kull: The Vale of Shadow	1989	Alan Zelenetz	Tony DeZuniga		[9]
48	A Sailor's Story Book Two: Winds, Dreams and Dragons	1989	Sam J. Glanzman			[9]
49	Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment	1989	Roger L. Stern	Mike Mignola Mark Badger		[9]
50	Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection	1989	Archie Goodwin	Howard V. Chaykin		[9]
51	The Punisher: Intruder	1989	Mike Baron	Bill Reinhold		[9]
52	William Gibson's Neuromancer: The Graphic Novel	1989	Tom DeHaven William Gibson	Bruce Jensen		[9]
53	Conan the Barbarian in The Skull of Set	1989	Doug Moench	Paul Gulacy Gary Martin		[9]
54	Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom	1989	Bob Foster	Todd Kurosawa Dan Spiegle Bill Langley		[9]
55	Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe	1989	Mark Gruenwald	Paul Ryan Al Williamson		[9]
56	Power Pack & Cloak and Dagger: Shelter from the Storm	1989	Bill Mantlo	Sal Velluto Mark Farmer		[9]
57	Rick Mason: The Agent	1989	James D. Hudnall	John Ridgway		[9]
58	Silver Surfer: The Enslavers	1990	Stan Lee Keith Pollard	Keith Pollard Chris Ivy		[9]
59	Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth	1990	Gerry Conway Roy Thomas	Michael Docherty Tony DeZuniga		[9]
60	Rio Rides Again	1990	Doug Wildey			[9]
61	The Black Widow: The Coldest War	1990	Gerry Conway	Ernie Colón Mark Farmer George Freeman Mike Harris Val Mayerik Josef Rubinstein		[9]
62	Ka-Zar: Guns of the Savage Land	1990	Chuck Dixon Timothy Truman	Gary Kwapisz Ricardo Villagran		[9]
63	Spider-Man: Spirits of the Earth	1990	Charles Vess			[9][12]
64	The Punisher: Kingdom Gone	1990	Chuck Dixon	Jorge Zaffino		[9]
65	Wolverine: Bloodlust	1990	Alan Davis	Alan Davis Paul Neary		[9]
66	Excalibur: Weird War III	1990	Michael Higgins	Tom Morgan Josef Rubinstein		[9]
67	Wolverine: Bloody Choices	1991	Tom DeFalco	John Buscema		[9]
68	Avengers: Death Trap - The Vault	1991	Danny Fingeroth	Ron Lim Fred Fredericks James Sanders III		[9]
69	Conan the Rogue	1991	John Buscema Roy Thomas	John Buscema		[9]
70	Punisher: Blood on the Moors	1991	Alan Grant John Wagner	Cam Kennedy		[9]
71	Silver Surfer: Homecoming	1991	Jim Starlin	Bill Reinhold		[9]
72	Spider-Man: Fear Itself	1992	Stan Lee Gerry Conway	Ross Andru Mike Esposito		[9]
73	Conan: The Ravagers Out of Time	1992	Roy Thomas	Michael Docherty		[9]
74	Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday's Web	1992	D.G. Chichester	Larry Stroman Mark Farmer		[9]
75	Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir	1993	Jim Starlin	Joe Chiodo		[9]

Collected editions

• Essential Killraven includes Marvel Graphic Novel #7: Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds, 504 pages, July 2005, 978-0785117773
• Essential Dazzler Vol. 2 includes Marvel Graphic Novel #12: Dazzler: The Movie, 688 pages, April 2009, 978-0785137306
• Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades includes Marvel Graphic Novel #12: Dazzler: The Movie, #16: The Aladdin Effect, and #18: The Sensational She-Hulk, 1,160 pages, January 2011, 978-0785143260
• Spider-Man: The Graphic Novels collects Marvel Graphic Novel #22: The Amazing Spider-Man: Hooky, The Amazing Spider-Man: Parallel Lives, The Amazing Spider-Man: Spirits of the Earth, and Spider-Man: Fear Itself, 280 pages, June 2012, 978-0785160656

Marvel Original Graphic Novel

In 2013, Marvel started publishing a new line of graphic novels titled Marvel Original Graphic Novel or Marvel OGN.

Title	Year	Writers	Artists	ISBN	Notes	Citations
Avengers: Endless Wartime	2013	Warren Ellis	Mike McKone	978-0785184676	Features the Avengers against an ancient enemy from Thor's past.	[13]
Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business	2014	Mark Waid James Robinson	Gabriele Dell'Otto Werther Dell'Edera	978-0785184409	Revolves around Peter Parker, not Spider-Man, being targeted by a vengeful Kingpin. As Parker combats the threat, he is helped by a woman who claims to be his long-lost sister, Teresa.	[14]
X-Men: No More Humans		Mike Carey	Salvador Larroca	978-0785154020	Features the aftermath of the "Battle of the Atom" event.	[15]
Thanos: The Infinity Revelation		Jim Starlin		978-0785184706	Features the return of Adam Warlock.	[16]
Avengers: Rage of Ultron	2015	Rick Remender	Jerome Opeña	978-0785190400	Explores the early relationship between Hank Pym and Ultron and features two generations of the Avengers.	[17]
Thanos: The Infinity Relativity		Jim Starlin		978-0785193036	Adam Warlock, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Silver Surfer, Gladiator, and the reunited Infinity Watch join together to thwart the threat of Annihilus.	[18]
Thanos: The Infinity Finale	2016	Jim Starlin	Ron Lim	978-0785193050	Concludes Starlin's first Infinity trilogy.	[19]
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe		Ryan North	Erica Henderson	978-1302903039		[20]
Deadpool: Bad Blood	2017	Chris Sims	Rob Liefeld	978-1302901530	The return of Rob Liefeld to Marvel, with a new Deadpool story featuring Cable and Domino.	[21]
Thanos: The Infinity Siblings	2018	Jim Starlin	Alan Davis	978-1302908188	This is the first OGN in a trilogy. Jim Starlin has stated that this trilogy will be his final Thanos story.	[22]
Thanos: The Infinity Conflict				978-1302908140	The second book in Starlin's final Thanos trilogy.	[23]
Thanos: The Infinity Ending	2019	Jim Starlin	Alan Davis	978-1302908164	The conclusion to Starlin's final Thanos trilogy.	[24]

References

1. Marvel Graphic Novel at the Grand Comics Database
2. "Newswatch: 'Spectacular' Sales Prompt New Projects". The Comics Journal. Stamford, Connecticut: Fantagraphics Books (52): 7–8. December 1979.
3. Groth, Gary (November 1980). "Pushing Marvel into the '80s: An Interview with Jim Shooter". The Comics Journal. Stamford, Connecticut: Fantagraphics Books (60): 80–107.
4. "Newswatch: Michael Z. Hobson Named Marvel V.P./Publishing". The Comics Journal. Stamford, Connecticut: Fantagraphics Books (62): 13. March 1981.
5. Howe, Sean (2012). "Trouble Shooter". Marvel Comics The Untold Story. New York, New York: HarperCollins. p. 237. ISBN 978-0061992100.
6. DeFalco, Tom; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1980s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 207. ISBN 978-0756641238.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
7. DeFalco "1980s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 209: "Since the first three Marvel Graphic Novels had sold so well, Marvel decided to launch the new series The New Mutants in the same format."
8. Buttery, Jarrod (September 2019). "Dreadstar: Jim Starlin's Odyssey". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (115): 35–54.
9. Overstreet, Robert M. (2019). Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (49th ed.). Timonium, Maryland: Gemstone Publishing. pp. 853–854. ISBN 978-1603602334.
10. Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1980s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 150. ISBN 978-0756692360. In this story written by David Michelinie and drawn by Marc Silvestri, Spider-Man was recruited by Captain America into battle with a giant living monolith of Egyptian origins to prevent the creature from destroying the entire city.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
11. Manning "1980s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 156: "Writer Susan K. Putney and artist Bernie Wrightson delivered a memorable graphic novel that removed Spider-Man from his usual urban setting and placed him in a fantasy world of magic and mysticism."
12. Cowsill, Alan "1990s" in Gilbert (2012), p. 190: "The magnificent painted artwork of Charles Vess was the star of the show in this 86-page hardback graphic novel."
13. Phegley, Kiel (June 12, 2013). "Warren Ellis Readies Avengers: Endless Wartime". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 7, 2014.
14. Truitt, Brian (June 17, 2013). "Spider-Man gets a sister in 2014's 'Family Business'". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014.
15. Schedeen, Jesse (May 28, 2014). "Graphic Novel Review: X-Men - No More Humans". IGN. Archived from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
16. Overstreet, p. 1083
17. Dietsch, T.J. (July 25, 2014). "SDCC 2014: Avengers: Rage of Ultron". Marvel Comics. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016.
18. Morse, Ben (November 19, 2014). "Jim Starlin Returns with Thanos: The Infinity Relativity". Marvel Comics. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014.
19. Morse, Ben (July 2, 2015). "Jim Starlin Gives Thanos a Finale". Marvel Comics. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016.
20. Overstreet, p. 1118
21. Arrant, Chris (November 11, 2015). "Liefeld Working On New Deadpool Book With X-Men '92 Writers". Newsarama. Archived from the original on November 15, 2015.
22. Johnston, Rich (December 19, 2017). "Jim Starlin Clarifies Why Infinity Siblings Will Be His Final Thanos Story". BleedingCool. Archived from the original on September 6, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
23. Morrison, Matt (March 22, 2018). "Marvel Announces Thanos Graphic Novel (That Led Creator To Quit)". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019.
24. Johnston, Rich (March 11, 2019). "Final Part Of Jim Starlin's Last Thanos Story – The Infinity Ending?". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019.

External links

• Marvel Graphic Novel at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• The Definitive Graphic Novels List by Bob Rozakis (Note: Rozakis uses a different numbering from Overstreet on MGN #32-35.)