Marvel Fireside Books were a series of full-colortrade paperbacks featuringMarvel Comics stories and characters co-published by Marvel and theSimon & Schuster division Fireside Books from 1974 to 1979. The first book, 1974'sOrigins of Marvel Comics, was very successful, and inspired a series of annual sequels.^[1]

These books enabled fans of the oldcomic books to have access to the stories without having to pay exorbitant prices for the original back issues. It introduced new readers to the work ofStan Lee,Jack Kirby,Steve Ditko, and other Marvel creators, and packaged the material in a traditional book format that carried more cachet than the flimsy pamphlet style of a typical comic book. Many of the books featured painted covers illustrated by such artists asBob Larkin,^[2]John Romita Sr., andEarl Norem. In this way, the series was an antecedent to the now common practice of packaging "classic" stories into archival editions and trade paperback collections including Marvel's 1998 bookGrandson of Origins of Marvel Comics.

Marvel PublisherStan Lee came up with the idea of compiling the origins of some of their most popular characters in a book format similar toJules Feiffer's 1965 bookThe Great Comic Book Heroes. Teaming up with Fireside, the paperback imprint of Simon & Schuster, Marvel initially producedOrigins of Marvel Comics in 1974,^[3] featuring the origins of theFantastic Four, theHulk,Spider-Man,Thor, andDoctor Strange. Like the books to follow,Origins featured a foreword by Lee, and short introductions to each section, which followed the format of presenting the character's origin followed by a contemporary story by current Marvel contributors.

Origins of Marvel Comics was followed in 1975 withSon of Origins of Marvel Comics, featuring the origins of theX-Men,Iron Man, theAvengers,Daredevil,Nick Fury, theWatcher, and theSilver Surfer.

The twoOrigins books were followed byBring on the Bad Guys, origins of a selection of Marvel villains; andThe Superhero Women, featuring some of Marvel's most popular female superheroes. Eventually, the series moved away from origin stories and published collections of classic stories with individual characters such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk,Captain America, and Doctor Strange.^[4]

One of theMarvel Fireside Books superhero story editions was not a reprint but an original story.The Silver Surfer (1978) by Stan Lee, with art by Kirby andJoe Sinnott, was a new take on the late 1960s icon; and is considered by many to be one of the first true "graphic novels".^[5]

In conjunction with their reprint collections, Marvel and Fireside also produced a number of activity and game books byOwen McCarron, how-to books, and even a cookbook, again all featuring Marvel characters. The most well-known and popular book of this kind was 1978'sHow to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, which is still in print.

Marvel/Fireside published 24 different books, many with multiple printings in both hardcover and paperback.

• The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience,^[6] 114 pages, September 1978,ISBN 978-0671242251

• Origins of Marvel Comics collectsFantastic Four #1 and #55,The Incredible Hulk #1 and #118,Amazing Fantasy #15,The Amazing Spider-Man #72,Journey into Mystery #83,Thor #143, andStrange Tales #110, #115, and #155,^[7] 254 pages, September 1974,ISBN 978-0671218638
• Son of Origins of Marvel Comics collectsX-Men #1,Tales of Suspense #39 and #97,The Avengers #1,Daredevil #1 and #47,Strange Tales #135, andThe Silver Surfer #1,^[8] 249 pages, October 1975,ISBN 978-0671221669
• Bring on the Bad Guys: Origins of the Marvel Comics Villains collectsFantastic Four #5,Fantastic Four Annual #2,Strange Tales #126–127,Journey into Mystery #112–113, and 115,Tales of Suspense #66–68,The Amazing Spider-Man #40,Tales to Astonish #90–91, andThe Silver Surfer #3,^[9] 253 pages, October 1976,ISBN 978-0671223557
• The Superhero Women: Featuring the Fabulous Females of Marvel Comics collectsThe Amazing Spider-Man #62 and #86,Marvel Feature vol. 2 #4,Fantastic Four #22,Ms. Marvel #1,Thor #189–190,The Cat #1,Tales to Astonish #44,Savage Tales #1, andShanna the She-Devil #2,^[10] 254 pages, November 1977,ISBN 978-0671229283
• The Best of Spidey Super Stories collectsSpidey Super Stories #2, 4, 9–10, 16, 18–19, and 22,^[11] 128 pages, January 1978,ISBN 9780671242206
• The Incredible Hulk collectsThe Incredible Hulk #3,Fantastic Four #12,The Avengers #3,Tales to Astonish #60–74 and #88,^[12] 253 pages, July 1978,ISBN 978-0671242244
• Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles collectsFantastic Four #25–26,Daredevil #7,X-Men #3,The Silver Surfer #4,Tales of Suspense#79–80,Tales to Astonish #82,Strange Tales #139–141, andThe Amazing Spider-Man #69,^[13] 253 pages, November 1978,ISBN 978-0671243913
• The Amazing Spider-Man collectsThe Amazing Spider-Man #42–43, 82, and 96–98,^[14] 128 pages, May 1979,ISBN 978-0671248130
• The Fantastic Four collectsFantastic Four #4, 48–50, and 87,^[15] 128 pages, September 1979,ISBN 978-0671248123
• Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts collectsStrange Tales #111, 116, 119–120, 123, 131–133,The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2, andMarvel Premiere #3,^[16] 132 pages, October 1979,ISBN 9780671248147
• Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty collectsCaptain America Comics #3,Tales of Suspense #59, 63, 79–81,The Avengers #4, andCaptain America #110 and 122,^[17] 128 pages, October 1979,ISBN 978-0671252328

• Lee, Stan (June 1976).The Mighty Marvel Superheroes Fun Book. Vol. 1. Simon & Schuster.ISBN 978-0671223106.; 128 pp.
• Lee, Stan; Picardo, Ann (September 1976).The Mighty Marvel Comics Strength and Fitness Book. Simon and Schuster.ISBN 978-0671223120.; 128 pp.
• Lee, Stan (June 1977).The Mighty Marvel Superheroes Fun Book. Vol. 2. Touchstone.ISBN 978-0671227586.; 128 pp.
• The Mighty Marvel Superheroes Cookbook. September 1977.ISBN 978-0671225599.; 95 pp.
• How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. December 1977.ISBN 978-0671530778.; 192 pp.
• The Mighty Marvel Fun Book. Vol. 3. July 1978.ISBN 978-0671242237.; 128 pp.
• Marvel Mazes to Drive You Mad. October 1978.ISBN 978-0671243388.
• The Mighty Marvel Pin-Up Book. November 1978.ISBN 978-0671243906.; 45 pp.
• Lee, Stan (January 1979).The Mighty Marvel Fun Book. Vol. 4. Touchstone.ISBN 9780671243890.
• The Mighty Marvel Fun Book. Vol. 5. October 1979.ISBN 9780671248154.
• Hovanec, Helene; Lee, Stan (August 1979).Marvel Word Games. Touchstone.ISBN 978-0671248086.
• The Mighty Marvel Jumbo Fun Book. 1979.ISBN 9780671248109.; 352 pp.

• Marvel Books
• Marvel Press
• Marvel Masterworks
• Marvel Premiere Classic
• The Official Marvel Try-Out Book

• Tribute page to the Marvel Fireside Books series
• Collected Comics Library Podcast #54 (Feb. 2, 2006).
• Website with retrospective reviews of the Marvel Fireside Books

• 1974 comics debuts
• 1979 comics endings
• Comic book collection books
• Comics by Jack Kirby
• Comics by Stan Lee
• Defunct American comics
• Marvel Comics one-shots
• Marvel Comics titles
• Simon & Schuster books

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata