Talk:Publication history of Marvel Comics crossover events

This list was moved from the Marvel Universe page because the article had gotten too long. Note it was originally in the form of a table but I changed the format to allow more detail to be added to the events. Also note this page will only cover events that happened after Fantastic Four #1 (the "Modern Era" of the Marvel Universe.) Other events should be added to the Timeline of the Marvel Universe instead. Wilfredo Martinez 02:57, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

Working definition

We need a working definition of "major event", with regard to this article and Major events of the DC Universe. My definition is that a major event affects the continuity of more than one character, team, or series. "Planet Hulk" affects the Incredible Hulk, so it is not a major event. "Civil War" affects everyone on American soil, and "Annihilation" affects everyone, so they are. My defintion does not affect certain items on this list, such as "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", which has been shown to affect characters other than Spider-Man. --Chris Griswold (☎☓) 18:52, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

I disagree. A story(line) is major if it is a landmark in the company's publishing history or is the focus of significant marketing and/or press. -- StAkAr Karnak 19:28, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

You're correct as long as we're talking about the publishing history of a company; but here we're talking about the continuity of a fictional universe. Otherwise we would have to add things such as the publication of Epic Comics or the Marvel/DC crossovers; those belong in other articles. I suggest we open this to discussion in the Wikicomics Notice Board until the matter is settled. -Wilfredo Martinez 20:48, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

As I stated on WP:CMC's talk page, a story is only "major" for ourselves as editors if a reputable secondary source deems it so. Anything else is POV or original research. --Newt_ΨΦ 01:38, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree. Therefore I added the "Unreferenced"-Template to encourage authors to cite such sources. If no sources saying the event is "major", the event is to be removed from this article. --Martin de la Iglesia 07:28, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Suggestions?

How about including the Psi Wars? Although it was a battle between Psylocke and Shadow King only, it also affected all psi-sensitive characters throughout the Marvel universe. Just a thought...

Affected, how? Was it a permanent (which I had started to make changes on this page yesterday, adding other events and making the chronology more precise but everything was removed. So bad...

70's event

In the definition of event, I think that duration can be a factor. This can be seen in the events I include. They are not all famous and several of them happen behind the scenes for months before being resolved in a main storyline but they crossed over at least two series. Even though by Contest of Champions/Secret Wars standard, they don't seem like events in the modern sense they were at the time major crossovers and the forerunners of modern events.

The Kree-Skrull War goes from Avengers 89 to 97, so this is not just oct 71 to Feb 72. The Inhumans feature in Amazing Adventures crossovers with it.

A big omission is the Thanos War. This ran in Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Avengers, Marvel Feature 11 and 12, Iron Man in 1973-74.

Several of Steve Englehart storylines could qualify: Avengers/Defenders War; Celestial Madonna; Secret Empire (Captain America, X-Men, Beast in Amazing Adventures), There is the Avengers (154-156) story that crossed over with Super-Villain Team-Up 8-10.

There was also the Mister Kline storyline that involved Iron Man and Daredevil over many months (DD 78-84, IM 41-45, Sub-Mariner 42, 1971)

The Villains War in Iron Man involved many villains (not just Iron Man villains) and lasted more than one year (IM 69-81, 1974-75)

There was the Conspiration storyline (mostly in Captain America and Hulk from 1977 to 1979 but also Machine Man)

The death of Gwen Stacy is not a major event of the Marvel Universe. It is a major event of Spider-Man as well as a major event of the history of comics.

There was a sub-plot crossing over several Marvel titles involving three mysterious figures from 1974 to 1979, one of them was revealed to be Tyrannus in Incredible Hulk in the conclusion to the story. (this had to do with earthquakes) (MTU 15,19,20,26,28; Uncanny X-Men 119, Hulk 209, 238-243)

In the eighties, there was a huge crossover with winter time (casket of ancient winters) and Dire Wraiths (from Rom). There was snow in all Marvel Comics and the Dire Wraiths appeared in X-Men and Fantastic Four.

On the other hand, Phoenix Saga concerns only the X-Men as well as Days of Future Past and even to a large degree Dark Phoenix Saga. The popularity of the X-Men tends to distort in importance what happens in their series and diminish what happens in other series. I don't see how Death of Captain Marvel, Kraven's last hunt and Clone Saga are majorevents of the fictional reality Marvel Universe--Leocomix 23:46, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

Limit the number of events

Wouldn't this article be more helpful if much more helpful if (like Major events of the DC Universe) its list of "major events" was more limited to only the absolute biggest events of the Marvel U.--Darknus823 (talk) 05:28, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

That was my original intention, but, being part of a Wiki, it will ultimately contain what the general public wants to put in it, regardless of rules. The best we can do is keep an eye on its content as regularly as we can. I agree the article could use a good trimming. -Wilfredo Martinez (talk) 04:08, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Post-SI event

I took out the "Post Secret Invasion" listing, because there is currently no information about/for one. While it is highly likely that there will be something in regards to the fallout, it doesn't really need to be listed under "major events", just like "The Initiative" isn't listed as a post-Civil War "event".