Marvel History - 1980

By the 1980s, one-time DC wunderkind Jim Shooter
was Marvel's editor-in-chief. Although a controversial personality,
Shooter cured many of the procedural ills at Marvel (including
repeatedly missed deadlines) and oversaw a creative renaissance at the
company. This renaissance included institutionalizing creator
royalties, starting the Epic imprint for creator-owned material in 1982, and launching a brand-new (albeit ultimately unsuccessful) line named New Universe,
to commemorate Marvel's 25th anniversary, in 1986. However, Shooter was
responsible for the introduction of the company-wide crossover (Contest of Champions, Secret Wars)
and was accused by many creators, especially near the end of his
tenure, of exercising his job in a draconian manner and interfering
with the writers' creative process.^{[citation needed]} . In 1981 Marvel purchased the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises animation studio from famed Looney Tunes director Friz Freleng and his business partner David H. DePatie. The company was renamed Marvel Productions and it produced well-known animated TV series and movies featuring such characters as G.I. Joe, The Transformers, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, and such TV series as Dungeons & Dragons, as well as cartoons based on Marvel characters, including Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

In 1986, Marvel was sold to New World Entertainment, which within three years sold it to MacAndrews and Forbes, owned by Revlon executive Ronald Perelman. Perelman took the company public on the New York Stock Exchange
and oversaw a great increase in the number of titles Marvel published.
As part of the process, Marvel Productions sold its back catalog to Saban Entertainment (acquired in 2001 by Disney), and Marvel management closed the animation studio, opting to outsource.^{[citation needed]}