Marvel Press

Marvel Press is the prose novel imprint for Marvel Comics jointly published with Disney Books.

Marvel Press

Parent company	Disney Publishing Worldwide
Status	active
Founded	1982
Headquarters location	New York, NY
Key people	John Nee (publisher)[1] Ruwan Jayatillek (SVP)
Publication types	novels, children's books
Fiction genres	Superhero
Official website	books.disney.com/book-author/marvel-press/

Background

Marvel first licensed two prose novels to Bantam Books, which published The Avengers Battle the Earth Wrecker by Otto Binder (1967) and Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White (1968). Pocket Books pick up the license in 1978, publishing nine books.^[2]

History

Marvel Books

Marvel Books division was set up in 1982^[3] to initially published coloring books and sticker sets, and was intended to also publish prose novels.^[4] Harry Flynn was hired as vice president of Marvel Books.^[5] In 1986, Marvel agreed with Fisher Price to launch a Fisher Price line with 15 books in 1986 and 32 books in 1987.^[3]

Beginning in 1994, Berkley Boulevard and the since-defunct Byron Preiss Multimedia Company joined to publish Marvel prose novels until Preiss' legal troubles caused a temporary halt to the line in June 1999. Berkley completed the line in 2000 with a total of 45 novels and seven anthologies. The Preiss Company also teamed with Pocket Books from 1996 to 1997 for a young adult books line, including two choose-your-own-adventure books.^{[citation needed]} In 2000 Preiss' BP Books/iBooks launched a new book line, distributed by Simon & Schuster, that ended in 2002.^[2]

Marvel Press

In 2003, following publication of the prose young adult novel Mary Jane, starring Mary Jane Watson from the Spider-Man mythos, Marvel Entertainment announced the formation of the publishing imprint Marvel Press, saying in a press release it planned to launch with three prose novels, aimed at various ages, in 2004, and publish at least 12 in 2005.^[6] With few books issued under the imprint, Marvel and Disney Books Group relaunched the Marvel Press imprint in 2011 with the Marvel Origin Storybooks line.^[7]

Near the end of 2012, Marvel launched a line of prose novels based on adapting popular storylines in a loosely shared universe.^[8] Hyperion Books announced in February 2013 a partnership with Marvel to publish in June two prose novels, She-Hulk Diaries and Rogue Touch.^[9] In March 2013, Marvel and GraphicAudio will release a 6 hours audio version of the "Civil War" prose novel with sound effects, cinematic music and narration.^[10]

Marvel Entertainment announced a new pre-school franchise, Marvel Super Hero Adventures, in September 2017 consisting of a short-form animated series along with publishing and merchandise during "Marvel Mania" October.^[11][12] In the publishing field, Marvel Press issued chapter books beginning in September. The first early reader chapter books was Deck the Malls! teamed Spider-Man with Spider-Gwen written by MacKenzie Cadenhead and Sean Ryan and art by Derek Laufman. Three additional chapter books were planned continuing into 2018.^[11] John Nee was appointed in January 2018 as publisher of Marvel Comics and Marvel Press.^[1]

In addition to its Marvel Press division efforts,^[13] Marvel Entertainment in 2019 agreed to two prose publishing licensing agreements.^[14] In September 2019, Scholastic signed a young reader agreement with the first two books to be published in 2020.^[13] The following month, Asmodee games company agreed to a multi-year novel publishing deal for its new fiction imprint, Aconyte, to debut in the fall 2020 in three formats: trade paperback, ebook and audio and distributed by Simon & Schuster in North America.^[14]

See also

• List of novels based on Marvel Comics
• Marvel Fireside Books

• Children and Young Adult Literature portal

References

1. "Marvel Names New Publisher as Dan Buckley Assumes President Role Full-Time". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
2. DeCandido, Keith R.A. "Marvel Comics in Prose: An Unofficial Guide". SFF.net. Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
3. "Marvel Grows into $100 Hulk". Variety. 17 September 1986. p. 92. Archived from the original (jpeg) on 20 July 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
4. Schmuckler, Eric (February 11–22, 1985). "Clash of the Comic Book Giants". New York City Business via JimShooter.com. p. 28. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
5. Gilroy, Dan (1986-09-17). "Marvel Now a $100 Million Hulk: Marvel Divisions and Top Execs". Variety. p. 81. Archived from the original (jpeg) on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
6. Weiland, Jonah (May 26, 2004). "Marvel Announces Creation of New Prose Imprint, Marvel Press". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
7. Alverson, Brigid (July 15, 2011). "SDCC '11 | Disney to unveil Marvel Press imprint at San Diego". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
8. Adler, Matt (October 15, 2012). "NYCC: Axel Alonso, Peter David & Others On Marvel's Prose Novels". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
9. Reid, Calvin (February 7, 2013). "Marvel, Hyperion Plan Women's Fiction Starring She-Hulk and Rogue". publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
10. Wright, Eddie (July 30, 2012). "Marvel's 'Civil War' To Become A 'Movie In Your Mind'". geek-news.mtv.com. Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
11. McMillan, Graeme (September 7, 2017). "Marvel Launches Multiplatform 'Super Hero Adventures' Preschooler Program (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
12. Whyte, Alexandra (September 8, 2017). "Marvel swings into preschool content". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications Ltd. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
13. McMillan, Graeme (September 4, 2019). "Marvel Teams With Scholastic for 'Avengers,' 'Shuri' Projects". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
14. McMillan, Graeme (October 11, 2019). "Marvel Teams With Gaming Company Asmodee on Book Projects". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 11, 2019.