Aliens
In July 2020, Marvel Comics gained the rights to publish Alien and Predator in the wake of Fox's sale to Disney.[14] Since 2023, the company has been republishing comics originally produced by Dark Horse Comics as part of the Epic Collection.
Amazing Spider-Man
The Peter Parker version of Spider-Man first appeared in 1962's Amazing Fantasy #15, before the character's ongoing series, Amazing Spider-Man, launched with a cover date of March 1963.
Notable storylines include: The Death of Gwen Stacy in Vol. 7: The Goblin's Last Stand; Kraven's Last Hunt in Vol. 17; Spider-Man No More! in Vol. 3; and Venom in Vol. 18.[15]
Ant-Man/Giant-Man
The character Hank Pym first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27, from 1962. In the first Epic Collection, his debut as both Ant Man (Tales to Astonish #35) and Giant Man (Tales to Astonish #49) is covered, plus the introduction of Janet van Dyne/Wasp (Tales to Astonish #44).
Avengers
The first Avengers line-up consisted of Iron Man, Ant Man, Wasp, Hulk, and Thor. They were soon joined by Silver Age Captain America in issue #4, which is collected in Volume 1: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
With a revolving cast of characters, major storylines include The Kree-Skrull War (Volume 5: This Beachhead Earth); Under Siege (Volume 16); and The Korvac Saga (Volume 10: The Yesterday Quest)[16]
Avengers West Coast
Even though the Epic Collections are titled Avengers West Coast, the comic was published as The West Coast Avengers up until issue #46.
Volume 7: Ultron Unbound contains the first appearance of James Rhodes as War Machine, as well as the origin story for the Julia Carpenter version of Spider-Woman.
Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch showed her initial slip into madness in #56, reproduced in Vol. 5: Darker Than Scarlet. This eventually led to the events of "House Of M" and the "No More Mutants" Marvel age.[17]
Black Panther
Volume 1 of the Black Panther Epic Collection has the character's first appearance in Fantastic Four #52-53. Between that and the rest of the volume, he joins The Avengers with issue #52, which is collected in The Avengers Epic Collection Volume 3: The Masters of Evil.[18]
His origin story is in The Avengers #87 (The Avengers Epic Collection Volume 5: This Beachhead Earth), before departing the team after issue #126 (The Avengers Epic Collection Volume 7: The Avengers/ Defenders War).
After that, his story continues in the rest of Panther's Rage.
Black Widow
The debut of Natasha Romanova as the Black Widow is as an Iron Man villain in Tales Of Suspense #52. She is a reformed supporting character with The Avengers through the rest of Volume 1, and did not get her own individual series until 1999 - which is collected as a Modern Era Epic Collection Volume 1: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.
Blade
Blade first appeared as a side character in The Tomb of Dracula series, beginning in 1973. He largely disappeared from Marvel Comics between 1976 and 1992, when he reappeared in Ghost Rider.
Captain America
The first comics appearance of Captain America was in Captain America Comics #1 from 1940, printed by Timely. Nothing from that era is collected in the Epic Collection, which begins with the character's Silver Age return, in Strange Tales #114, from 1963.
Notable storylines include Mark Gruenwald's Captain America No More, which stretches through Vol. 14: The Captain; Death of the Red Skull by J. M. DeMatteis in Vol. 11: Sturm und Drang; Operation: Rebirth by Mark Waid in Vol. 22: Man Without a Country; and The Strange Death of Captain America by Jim Steranko in Vol. 2: ''The Coming of... The Falcon''.[19]
Carnage
The villain Carnage has never had an ongoing series, with all Epic Collection releases compiled of miniseries, or appearances in various Spider-Man comics. Large parts of Carnage Volume 1: Born in Blood are also reprinted in Amazing Spider-Man Volume 25: Maximum Carnage.
Conan
From 2022, Marvel lost the license to publish new Conan comics. "The trademark for the name Conan and the names of Robert E. Howard's other principal characters, is maintained by Conan Properties International and licensed to Cabinet Entertainment. This company, or new owners, now wish to publish Conan comic books themselves. And so won't be renewing the Marvel Comics license."[20]
This led to the cancellation of the second King Conan Epic Collection. The license ended up with Titan Publishing.[21]
Conan the Barbarian: The Original Marvel Years
Conan the Barbarian: The Original Marvel Years
Daredevil
Notable storylines include Frank Miller's run, through volumes eight and nine; the fall of Kingpin in Vol. 15: Last Rites; and the introduction of Typhoid Mary in Vol. 13: A Touch Of Typhoid.[22]
Deadpool
The first appearance of Deadpool is also contained in New Mutants Epic Collection Volume 8: The End of the Beginning. Volume 1 of his own Epic Collection contains various cameos and miniseries, before the character's first ongoing series is collected from Volume 2: Mission Improbable.
Defenders
Doctor Strange led the initial version of Defenders, with a team also composed of Hulk and Namor. As opposed to other Marvel teams, such as The Fantastic Four or Avengers, Defenders tended to focus on mystical enemies.
The origin of the team is also covered in Doctor Strange Epic Collection Volume 3: A Separate Reality; Incredible Hulk Epic Collection Volume 4: In the Hands of HYDRA and Namor The Sub-Mariner Epic Collection Volume 3: Who Strikes for Atlantis?
Doctor Strange
Created by Steve Ditko, Doctor Strange first appeared in Strange Tales #110. The character was popular enough that the book became Doctor Strange with issue #169.
Major stories for the character include Triumph & Torment (Volume 8) and A Separate Reality (Volume 3).[23]
Excalibur
The basic pitch of Excalibur is X-Men set in the United Kingdom. Writer Chris Claremont, who worked on Uncanny X-Men for 16 years, was born in London and launched the series in 1987. The initial line-up contained former X-Men Shadowcat, Phoenix and Nightcrawler - as well as fellow Claremont creation, Captain Britain.
Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with Kirby drawing the first 102 issues. A storyline highlight includes the debut of Galactus, plus This Man, This Monster! in Volume 3: The Coming Of Galactus.[24]
Generation X
Generation X is a team of young mutants, mentored by Banshee and Emma Frost, created after the events of 1994's X-Men event, Phalanx Covenant. That event is reprinted at the beginning of Volume 1: Back To School, before the advent of the ongoing Generation X series.
Compared to the rest of the 1990s X-books, Generation X was pitched differently. "This was a book stripped of all the gimmicks that were so common in the '90s. (Writer Scott Lobdell) understood that the X-Men are essentially the comic book equivalent of a soap opera, and that the real focus should always lie upon the interaction between the team members."[25]
Ghost Rider
After a seven-issue run in Marvel Spotlight, the Johnny Blaze version of Ghost Rider got his own ongoing series. The book ran for 11 years, and 81 issues, from 1973 to 1983.
Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch
Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Epic Collection Vol. 1: Vengeance Reborn was originally solicited as Ghost Rider Epic Collection Vol. 6 Vengeance Reborn.[26] The decision to split the line was taken shortly before the book went to print with distributor, Penguin Random House, reflecting the change.[27]
Guardians of the Galaxy
The 1960s Guardians of the Galaxy are largely separate from the rest of Marvel continuity.[28] Volume 2 includes the first six issues of the characters' first ongoing series, debuting in 1990.
Hawkeye
The original Hawkeye Epic Collection has Clint Barton as the superhero archer. Volume 1: The Avenging Archer includes the Mark Gruenwald miniseries, which is "particularly noteworthy for launching Hawkeye's longstanding relationship with Mockingbird, and for being an early exploration of the character's hearing loss and how he comes to deal with that."[29]
Incredible Hulk
The Hulk debuted in his own book in 1962. Notable storylines include: Future Imperfect in Volume 20; Wolverine Versus Gray Hulk in Volume 15; and Hulk Versus Juggernaut in Volume 19.[30][31]
Iron Fist
The first Epic Collection for Iron Fist contains the character's first full 1970s run, before the series was cancelled. Following that, Iron Fist joined Luke Cage in the series Power Man & Iron Fist.
Iron Man
Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense in 1963, before getting his own series five years later. The character was a founding member of The Avengers in 1963.
His most famous storyline, Demon In A Bottle will be released in September 2026.
Other notable tales include: The Invincible Iron Man across Volume 10: The Enemy Within and Volume 11: Duel Of Iron; plus Armor Wars in Volume 13: Stark Wars.[32][33]
Killraven
Jonathan Raven - Killraven - is a freedom fighter who appeared in 22 issues of Amazing Adventures, before the series was cancelled in 1976. Issue #31, collected in Killraven's only Epic Collection, "is notable as the first mainstream comic to feature an interracial kiss".[34]
Luke Cage
In 1972, Luke Cage became the first Black American superhero to star in his own comic-book series.[35] The book was retitled Luke Cage, Power Man, then simply Power Man from issue #17.
Cage's two Epic Collections contain the full 1970s run for the character as, in an effort to avoid full cancellation for the series in 1977, Cage was paired with Danny Rand in the joint book Power Man & Iron Fist.
Marvel Two-in-One
Marvel Two-in-One features Fantastic Four member, The Thing, teaming up with a different Marvel superhero each issue. Issue #21 is excluded because it features Doc Savage, a licensed character not owned by Marvel Comics.
Master of Kung Fu
The Master of Kung Fu Epic Collections showcases the character Shang-Chi, who was born out of the 1970s craze for martial arts content. "Marvel Comics wanted to adapt the television series Kung Fu as a comic book, but with WarnerMedia, the property's owner, also owning Marvel's rival DC Comics, that was never going to happen."[36]
Marvel's own series was popular enough to last until 1983 and issue #125.
Meanwhile, Epic Collection Volume 3: Traitors to the Crown was cancelled due to rights issues.[37]
Micronauts
Based on a Mego Corporation toy line, the Micronauts comics were produced by Marvel between 1979 and 1986. Marvel re-acquired the publishing rights in 2023.[38] The series is complete with five volumes.
Moon Knight
The character of Moon Knight debuted as a villain in 1975's Werewolf By Night, though by his appearance in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #22, he was seen as more heroic.
Notable storylines include writer Doug Moench's run in Vol. 2: Shadows of the Moon; and the introduction of Midnight Man in the first Epic Collection.[39]
Morbius
Morbius The Living Vampire first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 from 1971, which is also collected The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection #6: The Death Of Captain Stacy.
Both Morbius Epic Collections were released ahead of the 2022 Morbius film.
Ms. Marvel
The Carol Danvers version of Ms. Marvel first appears in #1 of her own self-titled series in 1977. Many of her appearances are reprinted through Avengers Epic Collections, however her most notable storyline, involving pregnancy and alcoholism, from Avengers #200, appears in Volume 2: The Woman Who Fell to Earth.
Namor the Sub-Mariner
As a character, Namor "traces so far back that the character was established before Marvel Comics even existed". His first comics appearance in 1939 "was included in Marvel Comics #1, the first publication by Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics."[40]
None of Namor's Golden Age appearances have been collected in the Epic Collection, with Volume 1 consisting of Silver Age cameos in other books and his shared series in Tales to Astonish. His own series, Sub-Mariner, launched in 1968.
New Mutants
Vol. 2: The Demon Bear Saga contains art from Bill Sienkiewicz "who made New Mutants one of the most visually bold series of the 80s". Sienkiewicz "preferred to push the boundaries of what was considered acceptable for the superhero comic book medium".[41]
Other notable storylines include "We Were Only Foolin", issue #45, which is collected in Vol. 4: Fallen Angels; and the elevation of Magneto to headmaster in issue #35, from Vol. 3: Asgardian Wars.[42]
The first appearance of Deadpool is in issue #98, and, after issue #100, both of which are republished in Vol. 8: The End of the Beginning, the story continues with the X-Force Epic Collection.
Planet of the Apes Adventures
Following Fox's sale to Disney. in 2020, Marvel Comics reacquired a series of publishing rights, including Alien, Predator, and Planet of the Apes.[14]
As well as releasing new Planet of the Apes material, Marvel's Epic Collection has republished full-color comics initially produced in 1975.[43] The first Planet of the Apes book is so far the smallest in the Epic Collection at just 224 pages. It re-tells the 1968 film storyline, and the 1970 sequel.
Power Man & Iron Fist
In an effort to avoid cancellation for the separate Iron Fist and Luke Cage books, Marvel created Power Man & Iron Fist in 1977. The Epic Collection contains almost the full series until its 1986 cancellation. The missing issue 73 is collected within Rom: Spaceknight volume 2: The Original Marvel Years.
Punisher
Punisher was first an antagonist in Amazing Spider-Man #129 from 1974. The character got his own miniseries in 1986, before a full ongoing a year later.
Notable storylines collected as an Epic Collection include: the Circle of Blood miniseries and a crossover spanning Punisher #10 and Daredevil #257 - both contained within Volume 2: Circle of Blood.
Rom: Spaceknight
Marvel's original 1979 comic, Rom: Spaceknight, ran for seven years and was based on a toy line. IDW Publishing produced Rom comics from 2016, before Marvel regained the license in 2023.[44] Even though the series includes licensed characters, stories take place in Marvel's main Earth-616 universe. In the first two Epic Collections, there are appearances from the X-Men, Power Man and Iron Fist, plus The Brotherhood of Mutants.
Sgt Fury
Nick Fury and his early tales are collected as Sgt. Fury. The initial run, from 1963, was more of a war comic than something from the superhero genre.
She-Hulk
She-Hulk was "the last major character Stan Lee co-created for Marvel", with Jennifer Walters as the estranged cousin of Bruce Banner.[45] The series was revolutionary in the way it consistently broke the fourth wall.[46]
Silver Surfer
The Silver Surfer first appeared in Fantastic Four #48, where he saved the Earth and was exiled as a result.
Notable storylines include Rebirth of Thanos, split between Vol. 5: The Return of Thanos and Vol. 6: Thanos Quest; Freedom in Vol. 3; and Parable in Vol. 4.[47]
Star Wars (Legends)
Marvel's first 1977 comic was a six-issue adaptation of the original film. The series ran for 107 issues and three Annuals until 1986, featuring stories set between the original trilogy of films, as well as adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Rights briefly went to Blackthorne Publishing, before being acquired by Dark Horse Comics. The company produced over 100 Star Wars titles until 2014.
Following the October 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, it was announced that the Star Wars comics license would return to Marvel Comics in 2015.
In April 2014, Lucasfilm rebranded the majority of the Star Wars Expanded Universe as Legends, only keeping the theatrical Skywalker saga and the 2008 Clone Wars film and television series as canon. This means only Star Wars Modern Era Epic Collections are properly included in the official lore.[48]
Marvel's Senior Vice President of sales and marketing, David Gabriel, said the Star Wars releases would "be bouncing around to different periods of Star Wars history with each Epic Collection, constructing one huge tapestry, collecting full unbroken runs of all the greatest Star Wars comics from the past 35 years."
The Original Marvel Years
Thor
The character of Thor launched in Journey Into Mystery #83 and became so popular that the book was retitled to Thor with issue #126.
Some of the character's most notable storylines - including The Surtur Saga and The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill - are yet to be reprinted in an Epic collection, though others include To Wake the Mangog in Volume 4, and The Eternals Saga in Volume 10.[52]
Thunderbolts
Created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, the Thunderbolts team first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #449, from January 1997.
That issue has yet to be reprinted in the Hulk series of Epic Collections.
Venom
Venom did not get his own ongoing Marvel Comics series until 2003. Marvel's legacy numbering for the title started with 1993's, Lethal Protector, with various miniseries making up 60 issues before crossing into the Modern Era.[53]
Wolverine
Wolverine's first appearance is collected in Incredible Hulk Epic Collection Vol. 7: And Now... The Wolverine. The character has many more appearances, beginning in X-Men Epic Collection Vol. 5: Second Genesis, before his first miniseries is reproduced in X-Men Epic Collection Vol. 10: God Loves, Man Kills.
Notable storylines in Wolverine's own Epic Collection line include the character fighting sentient cocaine, and Jungle Adventure, both in Vol. 2: Back to Basics; the Bone Claw Era (Vol. 8: The Dying Game); and the Origin miniseries (Vol. 13: Blood Debt).[54][55]
X-Factor
Launched in 1986, X-Factor featured Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Marvel Girl and Iceman, the original line-up of X-Men from 1963.
The team debuted in Fantastic Four #286, with notable storylines including the introduction of villain Apocalypse in Volume 1: Genesis & Apocalypse, the conclusion of the Inferno event in Volume 4: Judgment War, plus the introduction of a new roster, led by Havok, in Volume 7: All-New, All-Different X-Factor.[56][57]
X-Force
The first appearance of X-Force is in New Mutants Epic Collection Volume 8: The End of the Beginning. That book leads directly into X-Force Epic Collection Volume 1: Under the Gun.
A notable storyline includes Destination Unknown from Vol. 7: Zero Tolerance.[58]
X-Men
The X-Men Epic Collection has three distinct periods. Volumes 1 to 4 reprint Classic X-Men books, written by Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, chronicling the period up to the comic's cancellation in 1970, and various guest appearances in other Marvel titles between 1970 and 1975.[59]
Volume 5: Second Genesis starts with the reinvention of the team, in Giant-Sized X-Men from 1975. It then reproduces Chris Claremont's iconic 16-year run on Uncanny X-Men, concluding with volume 19: Mutant Genesis.
Volume 20: Bishop's Crossing starts the collection of material published after Claremont's exit in 1991.
