When Martin Goodman began Timely Publications, he was expanding his publishing business into the relatively new medium of comics. Some of the first heroes in the early issues included Human Torch, Sub-Mariner and Captain America.
While superhero comics languished in the 1950s, there was a resurgence in the 1960s. Marvel's first superhero team was born with The Fantastic Four, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The heroes of this series were Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards), the Invisible Woman (Susan Storm), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm) and the Thing (Ben Grimm). (Note:The Fantastic Four's Human Torch is not the same character as the original Human Torch.)
Marvel is credited with beginning an approach to superheroes that dispensed with secret identities and showing characters that dealt with real world problems in addition to fighting crime. Among the most popular of these characters are the Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man and Daredevil.
Another successful team of superheroes created by Marvel is the X-Men. These characters derive their powers from mutations. True to the "Marvel Method," collaborators create these characters to deal with real world issues, such as bigotry, while using their super powers to protect humanity. Early X-Men characters include Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel and Jean Grey. Additional characters that have become even more popular in the X-Men story are Storm, Rogue and Wolverine.