Year: 1995
Major Events:
- The spiderverse has been replaced by the cloneverse, which rendered most Spider-Man comics unreadable overnight. But at least you have Untold Tales of Spider-Man to read.
- The X-verse is replaced by the Age of Apocalypse, rendering most x-books irrelevant overnight.
- “Cosmic Powers” serial miniserieses; Hands of the Mandarin; Avengers: The Crossing; Atlantis: Rising; Legion Quest; Punisher: Countdown
- More DC/Marvel crossovers as well as Ultraverse crossovers
- Marvel’s “Edge” publishing line and the “Over the Edge” event
- Mark Gruenwald’s very, very long run on Captain America ends
- Foundational artist Don Heck passes away
- Marvel gets rid of cornerboxes, yet another sign that it has lost its way
Important Deaths: Nick Fury (not), Galactus (not), Titanium Man, Rusty Collins, Tyler Dayspring.
Best New Series: Punisher. Runner up: Untold Tales of Spider-Man.
Cancellations: This year was a major purge year. Marvel ended Thunderstrike, Warlock, Fantastic Force, Guardians of the Galaxy, Night Thrasher, Namor, Midnight Sons Unlimited, F4 Unlimited, Nova, Morbius, Darkhawk, Blade, Secret Defenders, and all three Punisher books.
Top 10 New Characters:
This was a REALLY bad year for Marvel. Obviously, there were lots of interesting characters introduced in the various Age of Apocalypse alternate realities, but nearly all were wiped out at the end of the event. Some of them survived the event, like Dark Beast, X-Man, Blaquesmith, and others. Other than that, not much worth mentioning. And I say that with intention: Neither Joseph-the-Magneto-Clone nor Pete Wisdom are worth mentioning.
Top 10 Stories
- Doctor Strange #72-75
- Skrull Kill Krew miniseries
- Punisher #1
- Incredible Hulk #424-426
- Untold Tales of Spider-Man #1
- Captain America #444-448
- Thunderstrike #16
- Doctor Strange #79
- Thor #491-494
- Untold Tales of Spider-Man #2