The Marvel Super Heroes
Genre	Superhero Action Adventure
Based on	Characters byMarvel Comics
Written by	June Patterson Don Christensen Jewell Schubel James Carmichael
Directed by	Ray Patterson Grant Simmons Don Lusk Sid Marcus Shamus Culhane Sam Cornell Kay Wright Ed Rehberg Clyde Geronimi
Voices of	Bernard Cowan Don Mason Jack Creley Claude Rae Len Carlson Henry Ramer Max Ferguson John Vernon Vita Linder Chris Wiggins
Narrated by	Bernard Cowan
Theme music composer	Jacques Urbont
Opening theme	"The Marvel Super Heroes Have Arrived!"
Ending theme	"The Merry Marvel Marching Society"
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	65 (195 segments)
Production
Executive producer	Robert L. Lawrence
Animators	Bob Bentley Dan Bessie Ed Demattia Fred Grable Ralph Somerville Nick Tafuri Bill Ackerman Otto Feuer Chic Otterstrom Russ von Neida Dan Bessie Ellsworth Barthen Doug Crane Irv Dressler Milt Stein Frank Onaitis Bror Lansing Sal Malmone
Editors	Hank Gotzenberg George Mahana Walter B. Corso
Running time	16–18 min
Production companies	Grantray-Lawrence Animation Marvel Comics Group
Original release
Network	First-run syndication
Release	September 1966 (1966-09) – December 1966 (1966-12)
Related
Spider-Man

The Marvel Super Heroes^[1] is an Americananimated television series starring fivecomic booksuperheroes fromMarvel Comics. The first TV series based onMarvel characters, it debuted insyndication on American television in 1966.^[2]

Produced byGrantray-Lawrence Animation, headed by Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson, and Robert Lawrence,^[3] it was an umbrella series of five segments, each approximately seven minutes long, broadcast on localtelevision stations that aired the show at different times. The series ran initially as a half-hour program made up of three seven-minute segments of a single superhero, separated by a short description of one of the other four heroes. It has also been broadcast as a mixture of various heroes in a half-hour timeslot, and as individual segments as filler or within achildren's TV program.^[4]

The segments were "Captain America", "The Incredible Hulk", "Iron Man", "The Mighty Thor" and "The Sub-Mariner".^[5]

Sixty-five half-hour episodes of three seven-minute chapters were produced, for a total of 195 segments that ran initially in broadcast syndication from September to December 1966.^[6][7]

The series hadlimited animation produced viaxerography, consisting of edited images from the comics. Generally, the only movement involved the lips when a character spoke, the eyes, and the occasional arm or leg, or a fully animated blacksilhouette. The series used the original stories largely in their entirety, showcasingJack Kirby,Steve Ditko andDon Heck art, among others, from theSilver Age of Comic Books.

Stan Lee, Marvel's editor and art director at the time, said in 2004 that he believed publisherMartin Goodman negotiated the deal with Grantray-Lawrence and that Lawrence chose the characters to be used. Lawrence rented Lee and his wife apenthouse apartment at 30 East 60th Street, nearMadison Avenue, for Lee's use while he worked on the series. Lee lived inHewlett Harbor,New York, onLong Island, at the time. Lee recalled, "I really don't remember any reaction from the Marvel artists involved. I wish I could claim to have written the [theme song] lyrics, because I think they're brilliant, but alas, I didn't".^[8] The songs were written byJacques Urbont.^[9] In the meantime, series distributorSteve Krantz made a deal to subcontract production ofThe Mighty Thor segments toParamount Cartoon Studios, headed byShamus Culhane.^[10]

Marvel announced the series in the "Marvel Bullpen Bulletins" of the November 1966 issues, stating in that monthly fan page's hyperbolic style that, "It won't be long before our swingin' super-heroes [sic] make their star-studded debut on TV, appearing five nights a week — that's right, five — count 'em — five nights a week, for a half-hour each night. So you've just got time to make sure your set's in good working order — check your local paper for time and station — and prepare to have a ball!"^[11]

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(November 2014)

• Len Carlson^[12] -Quicksilver,Loki,^[13]Odin,^[13]Nathan Garrett / Black Knight,^[14]Mad Thinker,^[14] President,Morgan Stark,^[14] Moon Man^[14]
• Bernard Cowan^[12] - Narrator,^[14][13]Steve Rogers / Captain America, Captain Torak, Morgan
• Jack Creley^[12] -Donald Blake / Thor,^[13] Asgardian Sentry
• Max Ferguson^[12] -Bruce Banner / Hulk^[15][16][13]
• Vita Linder^[12] -Jane Foster,^[13]Scarlet Witch,Sharon Carter,Peggy Carter,Lorelei, Neri,^[13] Celia Rawlings,Lady Dorma
• Don Mason^[12] -Rick Jones,^[13]Clint Barton / Hawkeye (regular voice)
• Claude Rae^[12] -Thunderbolt Ross,^[13]Zeus,^[13] Seidring,^[13] Cerberus, J.B. Stardust,Power Man
• Henry Ramer^[12] -Mandarin,^[14] Major Uberhart,Melter,Doctor Doom, Wolfgang, Vashti, Sando / Colonel Kranz
• John Vernon^[12] -Tony Stark / Iron Man,^[17][14][13]Namor,^[17]Glenn Talbot, Major Corey
• Chris Wiggins^[12] - Hawkeye (Iron Man segments),^[14]Kraven,^[14]Grey Gargoyle,^[13] Byrrah,Balder,^[13]Jack Frost,^[14]Count Nefaria,^[14] Happy Hogan's grandfather^[14]

• Carl Banas -Bucky Barnes^{[citation needed]}
• Len Birman -Hercules,^[13]Giant-Man /Goliath,^[13]Swordsman,Boomerang
• Vern Chapman -Edwin Jarvis,Super-Adaptoid
• Henry Comor -Gargantus,^[14]Calvin Zabo / Mister Hyde,^[13]Executioner^[13]
• Rod Coneybeare -Zarrko,^[13]Cobra,^[13]Ringmaster,Super-Skrull, Cyclops, Attuma
• Peg Dixon^{[18][better source needed]}
• Gillie Fenwick -Baron Zemo,Radioactive Man,Leader,Batroc the Leaper,Space Phantom, Cedric Rawlings,Heimdall,^[13] Director,^[13] Sandu,^[13] Premiere Pouldu, Lava King
• Margaret Griffin -Pepper Potts,^[14]Black Widow,^[14] Countess de la Spiroza,^[14]Enchantress,^[13]Scarlet Witch
• Tom Harvey -Happy Hogan,^[14]Iceman,Chameleon,^[14]Absorbing Man,^[13]Crimson Dynamo,^[14] Borok,^[14] Edam,^[14]Angel
• Paul Kligman -Red Skull,Krang,Mole Man,^[14]Metal Master,Professor X
• Douglas Master - Harrington Boyd^[14]
• Ed McNamara -Titanium Man^[14]
• Maxine Miller -Betty Ross,^[13]Norn Queen
• Mona O'Hearn -Wasp,^[13]Hippolyta
• Billie Mae Richards - Newsboy^[13]
• Alfie Scopp - Captain

ForWNAC-TV in Boston, Arthur Pierce portrayed Captain America in live-action segments. Actors portraying other characters, including Doctor Doom, Hulk, and Bucky, also appeared in live-action segments. The segments were scripted byJerry Siegel.^[19]

Appearing in guest roles were:

• X-Men — The original lineup ofAngel,Beast,Cyclops,Iceman, andMarvel Girl appeared in a Sub-Mariner episode, "Dr. Doom's Day / The Doomed Allegiance / Tug of Death". The story was an adaptation ofFantastic Four #6 (Sept. 1962) andFantastic Four Annual #3 (1965) but since Grantray-Lawrence Animation did not own rights to theFantastic Four, the producers substituted the X-Men, who were referred to as the "Allies for Peace".
• The Avengers — Episode 8 ofThe Incredible Hulk was an adaptation ofAvengers #2 (Nov. 1963), and co-starred Thor, Iron Man (with his early golden armor recolored to match the red-and-gold design featured in the Iron Man episodes),Giant-Man, andWasp. The lineup beginning inAvengers #4 (March 1964), with Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, the Wasp and the newly installed Captain America, appears in severalCaptain America episodes, as does the later line-up fromAvengers #16 withHawkeye,Quicksilver, andScarlet Witch.

Each episode consists of three chapters.

Sources:^[13][14]

In 1985, Prism Entertainment released several segments from the series onVHS as part of their "Marvel Comics Video Library" series. Best Film & Video Corp. continued this range in the Early-1990s under their "Marvel Video!" imprint. Goldstar Video released two compilation releases which contained threevideocassettes each:Marvel Superheroes: Triple Pack #1 (UPC #024543004127) andMarvel's Mightiest Heroes: Triple Pack #2.^[20]Fox Video released a version titledMarvel's Mightiest Super Heroes Gift Set (EAN #0024543004134).

In June 2003, a selection of Hulk segments giving hisorigin story were released as a bonus feature onBuena Vista Home Entertainment's DVD release ofThe Incredible Hulk (1996).^[21]

In September 2004,Buena Vista Home Entertainment announced that they would release a five-DVD set titled "the 60s Superheroes" on June 28, 2005, which would contain all segments fromThe Marvel Super Heroes Show, each on their own disc.^[22] By February 2005, however, Buena Vista announced that the release was off the schedule.^[23]

In May 2004, Maximum Entertainment released two boxsets that each contained one disc for theCaptain America,Iron Man,Sub-Mariner andThor shows, alongsideThe Avengers: United They Stand. Both box sets made up all the respective segments from the series. The Hulk segments were not included due toFox Kids Europe previously sub-licensing them to Buena Vista the year prior.^[24] On August 1, 2005, Maximum re-releasedIron Man as a two-disc standalone set.^[25] On May 21, 2007, Maximum re-released each of the respective segments on separate two-disc sets, with each episode re-edited into continuous, half-hour segments.^{[26][27][28][29]} The sets, alongside theIron Man set, were later bundled as part of the "Marvel Superheroes Classic Collection" boxset, released in November 2007.^[30] In April 2008, a five-disc boxset containing theIron Man segments with the1994 series titled "Iron Man - Ultimate Collection" was released.^[31] Segments were also included with the standaloneIron Man 1994 DVD releases, which was soon bundled as a boxset titled "Iron Man Collection" on November 24, 2008.^[32]

In April 2008, Liberation Entertainment secured the home media rights to select Marvel shows fromJetix Europe in select European territories, including Hulk.^[33][34] On August 25, 2008, the company released a two-disc set of the Hulk segments, re-edited into 13 20-minute episodes, in the United Kingdom^[35] and Germany.^[36]

After Liberation closed its UK branch at the end of October,^[37]Clear Vision took over home media distribution of the Marvel properties. The company first released the Iron Man segments on April 19, 2010 with the 1994 series as a six-disc boxset titled "Iron Man: The Ultimate Collection" in the United Kingdom^[38] and on May 3, 2010 and May 7, 2010, they re-released the Hulk sets in the United Kingdom^[39] and Germany^[40] respectively. In 2011, the company began releasing stand-alone DVD sets of the segments which edited them similarity to the Maximum releases. In 2012, the company released a four-disc set that contained single volumes of theCaptain America,Hulk,The Mighty Thor andIron Man segments respectively, to coincide with the release ofAvengers Assemble.^[41]

• The Sub-Mariner atIMDb
• Captain America atIMDb
• The Incredible Hulk atIMDb
• Iron Man atIMDb
• The Mighty Thor atIMDb

• 1960s American animated television series
• 1960s American anthology television series
• 1960s American children's television series
• 1960s American superhero television series
• 1966 American animated television series debuts
• 1966 American television series endings
• American children's animated action television series
• American children's animated adventure television series
• American children's animated anthology television series
• American children's animated superhero television series
• Captain America television series
• Animated television series based on Marvel Comics
• First-run syndicated animated television series
• Hulk (comics) television series
• Iron Man television series
• Thor (Marvel Comics) in other media
• Television shows based on Marvel Comics
• Television series by Famous Studios
• Television series by Grantray-Lawrence Animation

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