Marvel

Stan Lee co-created Spider-Man in 1962 and wrote the first 100 issues of "The Amazing Spider-Man." Steve Ditko helped invent the hero and provided stellar artwork on the first 38 issues of ASM. I'll be pulling out five of the best stories that Lee and Ditko created about the web-slinging superhero.

Ever since the Human Torch entered the public consciousness in the golden age of comics, we've been fascinated with fire-based characters. Here are 13 from Marvel Comics for your consideration.

Doctor Bruce Banner, bathed in gamma radiation, becomes the gray giant known as the Hulk in this inaugural issue. How does the Hulk's origin follow the path Propp's morphology dictates?

Knowledge is power. Super knowledge is superpower. The Marvel Universe has its share of smarty-pants wearing heroes and villains. Here I list many of the big brains of the MU.

The Marvel Universe has kept the spirit of vampires alive through new stories using classic monsters as well as making new kinds of vampires based in science. Here we learn more about these blood-sucking monsters like Dracula and Morbius.

With all of the hype that’s gone on in the last few months over the Avengers Movie and The Amazing Spider-man, you’d have to have been living under a rock to not know that comic book fiction is making a definite comeback into popular culture. Sure, we all know all of the major characters from television and some of the movies that have been made over the last decade. The characters of the Hulk, Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and Thor are best known. These are the other guys.

First appearing in 1961, the Fantastic Four graced the pages of their own comic in both human and superhuman ways. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's classic comic book tale is discussed at length here.

The use of metals within every universe is important regardless of whether they’re used for good or for evil. The same blacksmith that shoes a horse is usually the same one that makes chainmail.

A guide for those of you looking to get into reading Marvel comics for the first time.

Count down ten fascinating facts about Spider-Man's antihero counterpart Venom!

Learn ten surprising facts about Spider-Man villain Dr. Octopus you probably didn't know about!

Robots and androids play an important role in the Marvel Universe. Artificial intelligence does not necessarily mean artificial life. Learn more about these synthetic super beings who are not human.

The Marvel Universe, while being quite progressive to the plight of the Native American, still has a good amount of ridiculous stereotypes that don't belong in any kind of publication.

Abandon all hope because Seth Tomko reviews the third volume of The Immortal Hulk.

Over the last 50 years, Marvel Comics has amassed some pretty powerful villains. However, the term "villain" and "threat" are not necessarily synonymous. Should you see any of these characters within the plot, you should be a little worried for the hero or team.

One of the many epic potential character lines to come from the mind of Jack Kirby was The Eternals. Within that mythology, he works in Celestials, Eternals, and Deviants. Here's your primer.