Marvel comics never really managed to maintain the brilliance of its 60s heyday. In the seventies, the British comic 2000AD brought a whole new vaguely punkish attitude to the super-hero, with the creation of characters such as Judge Dredd and Halo Jones. It was also a breeding ground for a new crop of writers - headed by Alan Moore, who went to America in the 80s to create arguably the greatest comic series ever written: Watchmen, which called into question the whole basis of the super-hero - especially in its character Rorschach - a kind of semi-psychotic Batman:
(Rorschach, from Alan Moore's Watchmen.)
Stan Lee has never been willing to adapt to the innovations brought about by figures like Moore and as a result Marvel increasingly seems stuck in a bit of a timewarp. Still to this day though, its roster of classic characters is without equal in the world of comics.