Marvel Knights

In 1998, Marvel Comics, which had just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, asked Quesada and Palmiotti to work for Marvel in a more exclusive capacity, and contracted them and their Event Comics partners to produce a line of Marvel books dubbed Marvel Knights. As editors of Marvel Knights, Quesada and Palmiotti worked on a number of low-profile characters such as Daredevil, Punisher, The Inhumans and Black Panther,[1] encouraging experimentation and using their contacts in the independent comics world to bring in creators such as David W. Mack, Mike Oeming, Brian Michael Bendis, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. Quesada himself also illustrated a Daredevil story written by film director Kevin Smith with Palmiotti inking the title book.

Marvel Knights stepped away from the long-running story arcs and heavy focus on continuity that was a prime feature of Marvel Comics during this period; instead, the imprint focused on strong stand-alone stories and high production qualities.[2]

In addition to the headlining Daredevil title with Smith/Quesada/Palmiotti, the line also featured initial release titles of Punisher (from Christopher Golden, Bernie Wrightson and Jimmy Palmiotti); the Inhumans (Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee and Jose Villarrubia) and Black Panther (Christopher Priest and Mark Texeria). Several of these titles laid the ground work for several Marvel TV and movie story ideas and concepts. The title went on to feature Black Widow, new Punisher titles, the Sentry and several more events.

In 2000, two-and-a-half years after starting Marvel Knights — and in large part due to the imprint's success[2] — Quesada was named editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. Palmiotti remained involved in some of the titles for a limited period either inking or editing before leaving.

In early 2006 Quesada announced that all ongoing titles under the "Marvel Knights" banner would move to the Marvel Universe imprint and that "Marvel Knights" would afterward contain high-profile limited series. Quesada explained that Marvel Knights...

is the showcase for "evergreen events" — self-contained limited series that think outside the box, that challenge readers to re-think their favorite Marvel characters and re-evaluate the legends that surround them. In other words, Marvel Knights will be a place for top talent to work without constraints, and deliver the kind of product fans deserve![3]

The change began with Daredevil #82, Black Panther #14, Moon Knight #1, Squadron Supreme #1, and Wolverine #42. Marvel Knights Spider-Man became The Sensational Spider-Man with issue #23, and Marvel Knights 4 (featuring the Fantastic Four) became simply 4 with issue #28.[3]

Fury: Peacemaker, by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was the first limited series to launch under the redefined imprint in February 2006. This was followed by Silver Surfer: Requiem by J. Michael Straczynski and Esad Ribić (2007), Spider-Man: Reign by Kaare Andrews (late 2006), Ghost Rider by Garth Ennis and Clayton Crain (2007), and Captain America: The Chosen (September 2007).

Marvel Knights editor Axel Alonso wrote in a press release:

These stand alone stories won't just challenge readers to re-think their favorite Marvel legends. . . . Oftentimes, we'll focus on characters that are off the beaten path — boiling these archetypes down to their cores. We want to build on the tradition of limited series like Ennis and Crain's Ghost Rider, Frank Cho's Shanna, the She-Devil and Robert Rodi and Ribić's Loki — each of which offered very distinct visions for Marvel characters, and each of which — judging by sales numbers — were embraced by fandom.[4]

Marvel Knights became dormant after 2013.[2] However, a six issue limited anniversary run entitled Marvel Knights 20th was started in 2018 and ran into 2019.[5]

The Marvel Knights team was a name given to Daredevil's unnamed superhero team. Besides Daredevil, the line-up consisted of Black Widow, Cloak and Dagger, Morbius, Elektra, Blade, Ghost Rider, The Punisher , Moon Knight, Shang-Chi and Luke Cage. #1

• Black Panther (vol. 3) #1–12 (November 1998 – October 1999)
• Daredevil (vol. 2) #1–81 (November 1998 – March 2006)
• Inhumans (vol. 2) #1–12 (November 1998 – October 1999)
• Marvel Knights #1–15 (June 2000 – September 2001)
• The Punisher (vol. 5) #1–37 (August 2001 – February 2004)
• Elektra (vol. 2) #1–22 (September 2001 – June 2003)
• Marvel Knights (vol. 2) #1–6 (May 2002 – October 2002)
• Captain America (vol. 4) #1–28 (June 2002 – August 2004)
• Marvel Knights 4 #1–27 (April 2004 – April 2006)
• The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #70–76 (June 2004 – October 2004)
• Marvel Knights Spider-Man #1–22 (June 2004 – March 2006)
• Wolverine (vol. 3) #13–39 (June 2004 – April 2006)
• X-Statix #21–26 (June 2004 – October 2004)
• District X #1–14 (July 2004 – August 2005)
• Black Panther (vol. 4) #1–13 (April 2005 – April 2006)

• Ant-Man's Big Christmas (2000 one-shot)
• Killraven (2001 one-shot)
• Punisher/Painkiller Jane (2001 one-shot)
• Sentry versus The Void (2001 one-shot)
• Sentry/Fantastic Four (2001 one-shot)
• Sentry/Hulk (2001 one-shot)
• Sentry/Spider-Man (2001 one-shot)
• Sentry/X-Men (2001 one-shot)
• Spider-Man/Daredevil (2002 one-shot)
• Daredevil/Bullseye: The Target (2003; 1 issue published of an intended limited series)
• Punisher: Red X-Mas (2004 one-shot)
• Punisher: Bloody Valentine (2006 one-shot)
• Punisher: Silent Night (2006 one-shot)
• Captain America: White (2008; 1 issue published of an intended limited series; finally finished in 2015, but not under the Marvel Knights banner)

• List of limited series
• MAX Comics, an adults-only R-rated imprint of Marvel Comics similar to Marvel Knights

• Marvel Knights at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)