In 1971, the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee to do a comic book story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. However, the industry’s self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority, refused to approve the story because of the presence of narcotics, deeming the context of the story irrelevant. Lee, with Goodman’s approval, published the story regardless in The Amazing Spider-Man #96-98 (May–July 1971), without the Comics Code seal. The market reacted well to the storyline, and the CCA subsequently revised the Code the same year.[
Howard the Duck #8 (January 1977). Cover art by Gene Colan and Steve LeialohaGoodman retired as publisher in 1972 and Lee succeeded him, stepping aside from running day-to-day operations at Marvel. A series of new editors-in-chief oversaw the company during another slow time for the industry. Once again, Marvel attempted to diversify, and with the updating of the Comics Code achieved moderate to strong success with titles themed to horror (The Tomb of Dracula), martial arts, (Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu), sword-and-sorcery (Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja), satire (Howard the Duck) and science fiction (2001: A Space Odyssey, "Killraven" in Amazing Adventures, Star Trek, and, late in the decade, the long-running Star Wars series). Some of these were published in larger-format black and white magazines, that targeted mature readers, under its Curtis Magazines imprint. Marvel was able to capitalize on its successful superhero comics of the previous decade by acquiring a new newsstand distributor and greatly expanding its comics line. Marvel pulled ahead of rival DC Comics in 1972, during a time when the price and format of the standard newsstand comic were in flux. Goodman increased the price and size of Marvel's November 1971 cover-dated comics from 15 cents for 39 pages total to 25 cents for 52 pages. DC followed suit, but Marvel the following month dropped its comics to 20 cents for 36 pages, offering a lower-priced product with a higher distributor discount.
Goodman, now disconnected from Marvel, set up a new company called Seaboard Periodicals in 1974, reviving Marvel's old Atlas name for a new [[Atlas Comics line, but this lasted only a year-and-a-half.[27] In the mid-1970s a decline of the newsstand distribution network affected Marvel. Cult hits such as Howard the Duck fell victim to the distribution problems, with some titles reporting low sales when in fact the first specialty comic book stores resold them at a later date.[citation needed] But by the end of the decade, Marvel’s fortunes were reviving, thanks to the rise of direct market distribution—selling through those same comics-specialty stores instead of newsstands.
Marvel held its own comic book convention, Marvelcon ’75, in spring 1975, and promised a Marvelcon ’76. At the 1975 event, Stan Lee used a Fantastic Four panel discussion to announce that Jack Kirby, the artist co-creator of most of Marvel’s signature characters, was returning to Marvel after having left in 1970 to work for rival DC Comics. In October 1976, Marvel, which already licensed reprints in different countries, including the UK, created a superhero specifically for the British market. Captain Britain debuted exclusively in the UK, and later appeared in American comics.
Vietnam, The Cold War And the Superheros
Whereas superhero comics were happy to dive into the conflicts of World War II, the industry paid comparatively little attention to the Vietnam War. As mentioned, it wasn’t the sort of conflict that lent itself as easily to battles of good and evil. However, several heroes had their origins in the war-torn regions of Southeast Asia. Tony Stark’s original story has him injured and taken captive by Wong-chu, an Asian nemesis only marginally less stereotypical than the Japanese villains of the WWII-era. The Iron Man comics have since updated this origin and shifted Iron Man’s debut to the modern Middle East.
The superhero most closely associated with Vietnam, though, is The Punisher. His origin story states that Frank Castle served valiantly in many conflicts in Vietnam and Cambodia, before coming home to his family and seeing them gunned down in the crossfire of a mob war. While the version of Punisher seen in the regular Marvel Universe has had his origin updated to suit the passage of time just like Iron Man, the version seen in Punisher MAX remains a Vietnam vet. As Garth Ennis showed in his copious Punisher work, only a conflict as horrific and dehumanizing as the Vietnam War could have birthed a killer like Punisher. Beginning with “Born” and ending with “Valley Forge, Valley Forge,” Ennis book-ended his run with tales of Vietnam’s lingering impact on the vigilante.
Marvel’s comics weren’t quite so afraid to tackle Cold War conflicts. Heroes like Iron Man began to square off with Russian villains like Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man. Nuclear war became a frequent threat for heroes to avert. Nick Fury emerged as a stylish super-spy operating in the unpredictable landscape of post-WWII espionage.
In the ’80s, Captain America began to reflect the growing sense of disillusionment with American government and politicians. Steve Rogers temporarily resigned his post as Cap, instead taking up the mantle of Nomad. Rogers made it clear he fought for the American ideal, not the American government, and this sentiment resonated with many readers.
