Marvel-ous Comic Books|惊奇再现

Marvel-ous Comic Books

by Marcus Maurice

The history of one of the most prestigious comic book companies in the world

　　Comic books have been around for a long time. One of the oldest comic book companies, Marvel Comics, was started in 1939 under the name, Timely Comics, by Martin Goodman. At the time, Goodman was already a publisher and was trying to cash in on the new fad of comic books. The first comic book Goodman published was called Marvel Comics, which would go on to sell over 900,000 copies. From those amazing numbers, Goodman knew he was on to something good. His second comic two years later was entitled Captain America Comics #1, and it introduced the world to the superhero of the same name.

　　Journey into Mystery was the first comic to be published under the Marvel Comics brand in 1961. Marvel went on to gain a reputation for adding a more human side to its comic book characters. Many people were drawn to Spider-Man since he was full of self-doubt and had the same problems that normal people had. This separated Marvel from its rival, DC Comics, whose heroes like Superman were from epic backgrounds. As a result, people can generally relate better to Marvel Comics' characters.

　　Goodman's wife's cousin, Stanley Leiber, worked for him from the beginning. Leiber used the pen name, Stan Lee, and has gone on to become one of the biggest names in comic book history. This is because he created and co-created some of the most popular superheroes of all time, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, and the Fantastic Four. Lee changed the face of comic books in many ways. For example, he gave credit to the talented people who drew the art by allowing their names to appear in the comics, and he transformed the way the writers interacted with fans. It is no surprise, therefore, that Lee's name is synonymous with Marvel Comics.

     1.   Why did Goodman start printing comic books?

(A) He thought it would be a great opportunity to make some money.

(B) He had loved superheroes his whole life.

(C) He wanted to try something new.

(D) He was a great artist.

     2.   What is the main difference between Marvel and DC Comics?

(A) DC Comics are much cheaper.

(B) Marvel Comics' characters are easier to relate to than DC Comics.

(C) DC Comics weren't in English at first.

(D) Marvel Comics' storylines were more abstract.

     3.   What is NOT something that Lee did?

(A) Created a lot of well-known superheroes.

(B) Gave people who drew comic books more exposure.

(C) Altered12 how artists and fans interacted.

(D) Got a lot of plastic surgery on his face.

惊奇再现

全球其中一家最负盛名漫画公司的历史

　　漫画出现在世上已经很久了。其中历史最悠久的漫画公司之一──漫威漫画（旧译为惊奇漫画），是在 1939 年从登记在马汀．古德曼名下的《时代漫画》揭开序幕。古德曼当时已经是一个出版商，并试图藉着漫画掀起的新潮流来大赚一笔。古德曼所发行的第一本漫画就叫《漫威漫画》，后来销售了九十多万本。从这个惊人的数字来看，古德曼知道他走对了方向。两年后他的第二本漫画命名为《美国队长漫画》第一集，并向世界介绍这位同名的超级英雄。

　　1961 年发行的《神秘之旅》是漫威漫画这个品牌所推出的第一部漫画。漫威漫画继而为其漫画人物添加更人性化的一面而声名大噪。许多人被蜘蛛人这个角色所吸引，因为他不仅充满了自我怀疑，而且也会遭遇到常人所会面临到的问题。这就让漫威漫画与其竞争对手 DC 漫画间有了区隔，DC 漫画中的英雄，如超人，就有英雄般的背景。因此，大家普遍对漫威漫画中的角色更有认同感。

　　古德曼妻子的堂弟史丹利．利伯，从一开始就和他一起奋战。利伯使用了『史丹．李』这个笔名，而这个名字后来成了漫画史上最伟大的名字之一。这是由于他创造及共同创造了某些史上最受欢迎的超级英雄，如蜘蛛人、绿巨人浩克、X 战警、钢铁人、雷神索尔以及惊奇四超人等。李用许多方式改变了漫画的风格。举例来说，他将功劳归于那些有天份的画家，并让他们的大名出现在漫画上，另外他还改变了作者与漫画迷之间的互动方式。因此，史丹．李与漫威漫画间划上等号也就不足为奇了。

答案： 1. A 2. B 3. D