It was 1939, The Wizard of Oz was playing in theaters and a small company headed by Martin Goodman was born.  This company was named Timely Comics, soon to become Marvel Comics, and it turns 75 years old this year.  In order to celebrate its 75th anniversary, Marvel is releasing the Marvel 75th Anniversary Collection #1.

The oversized book will feature cover art by Paolo Rivera and his father Joe Rivera, who does all his inking, and will highlight all the different characters that have defined Marvel over the years.  The collection will feature many different writers and artists such as Chris Samnee, James Robinson, Bruce Timm, Len Wein, and Paul Gulacy.  They will be reproducing some of Marvel’s earliest tales to bring the beginnings of Marvel’s years as a company back to life.

Of particular note to Spider-Man fans is the return of the legendary Tom DeFalco, former Editor-in-Chief of Marvel, writer on Amazing Spider-Man in the 80’s and 90’s, and friend of Superior Spider-Talk,  who will join Stan Goldberg and Scott Hanna, also friend of Superior Spider-Talk, to create a classic story centered on Peter Parker.  There are not yet any details on what that story will be about, but check back in the coming weeks for more details.  For fans of Tom DeFalco’s fantastic run on Amazing Spider-Man this should be quite exciting!

Also of note, this marks the second cover to a comic that features Peter Parker/Spider-Man reading a comic, guess he’s getting a bit pre-occupied lately.