This article is about the ic book pany using this name beginning in the earlier ic book series,see Marvel Mystery Comics. Marvel Worldwide Inc.,monly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Marvel Comics Group,is an American publisher of ic books and related 2009,The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment,Marvel Worldwide's parent pany. Marvel started in 1939 as Timely Publications,and by the early 1950s had generally bee known as Atlas 's modern incarnation dates from 1961,the year that the pany launched The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee,Jack Kirby,Steve Ditko,and many others. Marvel counts among its characters such well-known properties as Spider-Man,the X-Men,Wolverine,the Fantastic Four,Iron Man,the Hulk,Thor,Captain America,the Silver Surfer,Daredevil,Doctor Strange,the Guardians of the Galaxy,and the Avengers and antagonists such as the Green Goblin,Doctor Octopus,Kingpin,Magneto,Doctor Doom,Loki,Galactus,Thanos,the Abomination,and the Red of Marvel's fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe,with locations that mirror real-life such as Spider-Man,the Fantastic Four,the Avengers,Daredevil,and are based in New York City,[1][2] whereas the X-Men have historically been based in Salem Center,New York,[3][4][5] and the Hulk's stories have usually been set in the American Southwest.[6] In 2013 Marvel held a share of the ics market,pared to its petitor DC Comics' parison,the panies held and shares in 2008