Year: 2002
Marvel had an incredible turnaround in 2001, and keeps the momentum going in 2002. The year was so good that I couldn’t keep to just the top 10 stories. 2001 went up to 11. This time, it’s a full 20.
Major Events:
- Major runs begin: Mark Waid’s FF, Gail Simone’s Deadpool, and Geoff Johns’ Avengers
- Major runs end: Casey and Philips’ X-Men, Busiek Avengers
- Black Captain America and American Black Panther
- Aunt May learns Peter Parker’s secret
- Reed and Sue have a daughter, Valeria
- Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy return to Shang-Chi
- John Buscema passes away
- Jason Aaron writes his first story for Marvel
- ‘Nuff Said, an event where entire issues or portions of issues of Marvel books had no words–a linewide moment of silence in remembrance of September 11.
- Daredevil becomes the new Kingpin
- There is a student Riot at Xaviers, which debuts many very imaginative characters
- X-Statix get their own series!
Major Deaths: Eternity, White Tiger, Sophie of Stepford Cuckoos, Spot, Black Panther and Darkstar (not)
Cancellations: Lots of cancellations that really were relaunched within a few months. A few others that largely deserved to be cancelled.
Top 10 New Characters
- Fantomex
- Captain America (Isaiah Bradley)
- Valeria Richards
- Dust
- The Hood
- Dead Girl
- Entropy and Epiphany (Eternity’s children)
- Black Panther (Kaspar Cole)
- Agent X
- Stacy X
Top 20 Stories:
- Amazing Spider-Man #37-39
- Daredevil #26-31
- Daredevil: Yellow
- New X-Men #121
- Fantastic Four #60
- Marvel Knights #16-17
- Marvel Knights Double Shots #1
- Spider-Man Blue
- Deadpool #65-66
- Black Panther #50-56
- Spider-Man Tangled Web #18
- Chamber miniseries
- Spider-Man’s Tangled Web #14
- Fantastic Four #61
- Daredevil #33-37
- X-Statix #1-5
- Soldier X miniseries
- Captain Marvel #1-6
- New X-Men #128-130
- X-Force #129