Marvel Feature

Starting out promisingly, Marvel Feature looked as though it could be a prime vehicle for the company to introduce new characters and re-boot existing ones whose popularity may have dwindled i the recent years...

From the beginning, Marvel Feature brought out The Defenders, maybe the most awkward teaming of heroes to gain their own book.

The Defenders made their proper debut in Marvel Feature #1 - #3,  but the team actually came about by tying in a storyline from three different titles, Doctor Strange #183 (November 1969), Sub-Mariner #22 (February 1970), and The Incredible Hulk #126 (April 1970). With Dr. Strange cancelled, he needed a home, and it was decided by Roy Thomas that it would be beneficial to have these 3 seemingly-incompatible heroes in one book. The Defenders earned thier own title shortly after this.

Moving on to issues #4 through #10, there was a concerted effort to bring back Ant-Man as a solo feature; it seemed like it had a good chance, with fine writing by Mike Friedrich and art by Herb Trimpe and Craig Russell, but alas did not catch hold with the collective comic community.

Soldiering on for only another 2 issues, the book introduced the concept of having a "team-up" book starring The Thing, a formula that would eventually find greater success in Marvel Two-In-One.

Still, although cancelled after 12 issues, the overall idea of Marvel Feature would prove to be a good one; but one which would do much better with other titles like Marvel Premier and Marvel Spotlight.

The Defenders issues are particularly hot with collectors, fetching some impressive sale prices on the market.