From zero to hero: how the Spider-Man franchise was saved
Bringing diversity to the ailing Spidey universe has helped free the characters, leading to an increase in both box office and critical acclaim
Best books of 2018
Observer critics pick their must reads of 2018, from life in 50s Harlem to a tale about the Troubles via Michael Wolff’s lurid profile of Donald Trump
Boys’ love to Pokémon: British Museum to host major show on manga
Exhibition will be largest on the comic books and graphic novels ever held outside Japan
Best books of 2018: Hilary Mantel, Yuval Noah Harari and more pick their favourites
Our favourite authors on the most outstanding books they read this year
Graphic novel ‘steeped in Islamophobia’ pulled after protests
A Suicide Bomber Sits in the Library by Jack Gantos and Dave McKean withdrawn after more than 1,000 people object
‘Mini-Disney’: Judge Dredd publisher to open UK film and TV studios
Rebellion, which has previously announced a Dredd TV show and a Rogue Trooper film, will film both in former printworks in Didcot, Oxfordshire
Stan Lee, the progressive genius: Michel Faber pays tribute to Marvel’s mythmaker
From student antiwar protests in Spider-Man to antisemitism in X-Men … Stan Lee, who died this week, explored profound themes through the prism of escapist entertainment
Stan Lee was working on a new superhero called Dirt Man, says daughter
JC Lee says the late co-creator of Marvel was helping her develop Dirt Man, after ‘trying to get him to do a character with me my entire life’
Square Eyes by Anna Mill and Luke Jones review – dystopian visions
An inventive, immersive adventure vividly imagines a bleak near future shaped by sinister software
Why Smilin’ Stan Lee was the greatest superhero of them all
He started out filling the inkwells at a pulp magazine and ended up spawning an $11bn juggernaut. Our writer salutes a legend – and the musclebound crusaders who lit up his childhood
‘The greatest superpower is luck’: Stan Lee in quotes
As well as creating a universe of enduring characters, Stan Lee spent a lifetime championing equality, diversity, and the rich art of comic books
‘He saved my life’: readers’ memories of Stan Lee
We asked you to share your tributes and memories of the comic book legend. Here’s what some of you said
Home After Dark review – small town blues in 50s America
David Small’s tale of a sad, isolated teenager and his angry father is timely in the age of Donald Trump
‘There will never be another Stan Lee’: fans and stars pay tribute
Actor Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Winston Duke, and Seth Rogen among those who hailed the creator of Marvel comics
Stan Lee: Spider-Man, X-Men and Avengers creator dies aged 95
Almost as famous as his Marvel superheroes, Lee was known for bringing complex emotional life to cartoon characters