Marvel, a name known in the world of comics and around the world. It is a name recognized by young and old, men and women, and people of all ethnic groups. Whether in comics, movies, toys, the internet, or any other type of media, Marvel is known globally. It is especially a brand recognized by many in the United States. But just because it's popular, is it appropriate to buy their products? Just because Marvel is a big name, does that make it a name Americans should associate with? Marvel is an economic asset to America with its activities spanning across the globe as well as a representative of the American dream. What makes the brand most unique is that its core product has a constructive and decent impact on American consumers. Many would think that such a well-known name would have started out big and made it big, but that wasn't the case. Marvel actually struggled with its creation, but managed to pull through to become the huge success it is today. The recognized name was at first what might be called an imitator; whatever stories sold, Marvel would sell too. As one of the company's founders said, "whatever other people were selling, we would do the same...I loved making my own designs, but I got paid" (quoted in Lacter). If originality wasn't a conflict, competition certainly was. During the 1940s, DC Comics was the leading American brand in the comic book industry with the creation of superheroes and original storylines, such as Superman. However, Marvel wasn't crushed so easily, thanks to one man's dream of creating his own characters. Stan Lee was born during the Great Depression, a time when many were struggling to get by. “My first memory... in the middle of a paper... he was the most enduring of men, but he was the most caring and the most courageous. Like the plot of the X-Men; those who possessed the mutant gene had special abilities and were considered inhuman and were therefore discriminated against by their fellow humans. This story was told through the eyes of mutant characters such as Wolverine or Strom, who were actually as human as possible, giving a moral that one should not be judged by what they are, but by who they are . A morality influenced by the diversity of America's ethnic groups, religions and beliefs. Marvel also shows that no one is truly perfect and no one is truly corrupt, such as with the mighty Thor and his brother Loki, a storyline in which the hero is flawed and the villain is heroic. Thor is the hero but has the flaw of being too proud, while Loki, despite being the villain, is not really evil but simply chooses to attract attention using evil methods..