TOP 13 LISTS | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

May13

The TOP 13 Comics Characters Created by MARV WOLFMAN

Posted by Dan Greenfield on May 13, 2026

The TOP 13 Comics Characters Created by MARV WOLFMAN

The writer turns 80! Dig this BIRTHDAY SALUTE by friend and former colleague Bob Greenberger… — UPDATED 5/13/26: Marv Wolfman turns 80! Perfect time to reprint this piece celebrating his 75th birthday in 2021! Dig it! — Dan — Marv Wolfman was born May 13, 1946. He’s a huge favorite here at 13th Dimension — click here to check out THE MARV WOLFMAN INTERVIEWS — and so we’ve got a special column by historian and former colleague Bob Greenberger, celebrating the famed writer’s TOP 13 greatest character creations. Oh, and in tandem with this piece, click here for HOW FANS REACTED WHEN THE NEW TEEN TITANS DEBUTED IN 1980. Here’s Bob: — By ROBERT GREENBERGER Marv Wolfman’s mom met his dad, they had sex and the DC Universe was never the same. Marvelous Marv turns 75 today and since he is an accomplished writer and editor credited with creating countless heroes, villains, and supporting players for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, we’re celebrating his arrival by looking at 13 of his best creations (in alphabetical order to avoid fighting). — Bibbo Bibbowski. Created with Jerry Ordway, the Metropolis blu- collar working stiff was a regular at the Ace O’ Clubs bar when he first met his idol. This seeming innocuous moment in Adventures of Superman #428 (May 1987) resonated with readers and he kept making appearances. His phrase that Superman was his “fav’rit” hero became his trademark and ever since, Bibbo has represented the world’s citizens who support the Man of Steel through thick and thin. Even after buying the bar, he remains an everyman whose superpower seems to be surviving retcons. He’s even made it to television and film (former Jimmy Olsen Jack Larson played a bartender named “Bo” in Superman Returns). One reason he may resonate so well is that he was based on a pal of Ordway’s. — Black Cat. One of Marv’s talents is creating characters to fill specific needs, such as Felicia Hardy, designed to be a foil for Spider-Woman when he was writing the character. He brought her with him when he was promoted to writing Amazing Spider-Man and Hardy has been a part of Peter Parker’s life ever since her arrival in Issue #194 (July 1979). With a character design by Dave Cockrum, Marv gave her talents borrowed from the classic Tex Avery cartoon...

May12

13 New FAMOUS FIRST EDITION Treasuries We Want to See

Posted by Dan Greenfield on May 12, 2026

13 New FAMOUS FIRST EDITION Treasuries We Want to See

It’s plausible… — UPDATED 5/12/26: Diggin’ in the vault time — when we go deep into the recesses of the shadowy subterranean 13th Dimension headquarters for great columns that deserve another look. This one first ran in May 2020. Since this was first published, New Fun Comics #1 was released as a Facsimile Edition, close to its original 1935 10″ x 15″ dimensions. It wasn’t labeled a Famous First Edition, like the 2020 hardcover. But you never know what can happen, especially when you consider that DC is now publishing standard-size classics as treasuries. Dig it. — Dan — DC recently released its first Famous First Edition treasury in more than four decades with the oversized hardcover reprint of 1935’s New Fun Comics #1. Naturally, this compelled me to call upon the treasury expert of treasury experts Rob Kelly to summon a list of 13 more comics deserving such an august presentation. (In fact, Rob reviews the New Fun edition on the latest episode of the podcast TreasuryCast. Click here.) So here are 13 NEW FAMOUS FIRST EDITION TREASURIES WE WANT TO SEE: By ROB KELLY To celebrate its 85th anniversary, DC has revived the classic Famous First Edition series of treasury-sized comics to reprint New Fun Comics #1, the first-ever issue of all-new material — from the publisher that would eventually become DC Comics. A truly handsome book, it appears DC spared no expense to commemorate their humble (yet ambitious) beginnings as a company. As someone who owns every single Famous First Edition from the 1970s, this was a welcome addition to that series’ storied, if brief, history. To that end, we thought, why stop there? Now that DC has decades of additional historic releases under its belt, why not keep the Famous Firsts going and give some other books the deluxe treatment? Sure, comics of previous decades are a lot more accessible now than they were in the 1970s, but I still maintain that there is a lot of value — in every sense of the word — to issuing keepsake editions of comics that truly left a mark on the medium. So, to that end, here are 13 NEW FAMOUS FIRST EDITION TREASURIES WE WANT TO SEE: — Detective Comics #38 During the heyday of Famous First Edition, a lot of DC’s biggest icons — Superman, Batman, Wonder...

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