The Best Marvel Comic of the 1970s

This introductory chapter explains how several trends and individuals had come together to eventually produce “the best Marvel comic of the 1970s.” The comic in question is, in fact, Enigma (1993), by Vertigo, an imprint of Marvel's rival, DC Comics. To explain this discrepancy and why the 1970s is a particularly significant era in Marvel's history, the chapter explores the various characteristics which make Enigma an artistic success. It argues that Enigma was indeed a product of trends, aspects, approaches, and characters that were already developed in Marvel titles from the 1970s. And yet the same Marvel-derived features that give Enigma its strength arrive in a form that even the most permissive editors at Marvel would never have let see the light of day. Seen from the perspective of 1970s Marvel, the artistic triumph of Enigma is bittersweet, its creators materialized the aspirations that the publishing industry, the Comics Code, and the broader culture never let their predecessors achieve in their purest form.