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Mr. Icahn also tried to use the special voting powers of Marvel's shares in Toy Biz to take over Toy Biz's board. But to his chagrin the court ruled that, by taking over Marvel, he had triggered a change-of-control clause that evaporated the shares' clout.
Toy Biz, which had its royalty-free license to make toys based on Marvel characters and was partly owned by Marvel, also wanted to run the company. Toy Biz, the banks and Mr. Icahn, in a variety of combinations, all came close to striking a deal over a reorganization plan.
Last October, Mr. Icahn appeared to have an agreement with the banks, but they were enticed at the last minute by a proposal from Toy Biz that offered them better terms. Specifically, its plan would give the secured creditors the Panini sticker business, plus $230 million in cash and about 40 percent of the stock in a combined Toy Biz and Marvel. Mr. Icahn sued Mr. Perelman, Chase and Toy Biz, contending that ''collusive conduct'' had hurt the company.
In December, almost a year after Marvel filed for Chapter 11, the court appointed a trustee to run the company, hurtling Mr. Icahn into a distant universe, somewhere near the one occupied by Mr. Perelman. With his purchase of some bank debt, Mr. Icahn had invested a total of about $70 million in Marvel.
In February, Toy Biz put forward a modified version of its plan supported by many of Marvel's creditors. And while court approval of that deal has been delayed by further legal wrangling, it still appears likely to win. (Marvel's trustee supports it.) Another company could put forward its own offer, but the most likely suspects -- including movie studios hungry for characters on which to build Batman-like franchises -- have so far been turned off by the uncertainty and the competing legal claims.
''It's a shame,'' Mr. Friedman said, ''how a very small number of people couldn't get along and cause a pretty decent company to fall apart.''
Signs of Battle Fatigue
After the Incredible Hulk finishes one of his shirt-ripping growth spurts, he is so sapped of energy that he has to rest quietly a while before he can rise up again.
Much the same has happened to Marvel in the last decade, and it is only recently, after courtroom battles drained it of momentum, that the company is showing signs of life.
Several Marvel rides based on its characters, including ''Dr. Doom's Fearfall'' are under construction at Universal Studios' theme park in Orlando, Fla., and are expected to open next year. The first of what the company hopes will be a chain of Marvel Mania restaurants opened in January at Universal Studios Hollywood. The Universal Studios unit of the Seagram Company owns a majority stake in the football-field sized eatery, where waiters serve, among other things, ''Mutant Chicken Wings'' and an alcoholic beverage called ''Nuclear Waste'' that comes in a laboratory beaker.
Marvel's site on the Internet (www.marvelzone.com) -- where computer users can, for example, chat on line with Stan Lee, the legendary creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk and the X-Men -- is building traffic. And movie projects based on Marvel characters are again starting to work their way through the Hollywood pipeline.
The company's comic book business, under the guidance of Mr. Calamari and others who grew up in the industry, has trimmed the number of titles it publishes each month and is trying to improve the quality of those it does print. Plots that used to play out over 12 to 13 months, frustrating many readers, are being replaced by stories that end in just two.
In all, Marvel's core business is roughly the size it was before Mr. Perelman took over.
Spidey and the rest of Marvel's cast of heroes may have appeared beaten at times in recent years, Mr. Calamari said, but they will prove their resilience over time.
''If you think about how everybody, for the last two years, has done nothing but try to acquire the assets and not worry about operations, it's amazing how solid the company has been,'' he said. ''The Marvel Universe can't be destroyed.''
Photos: If the battle for control of Marvel Entertainment Group were the subject of a comic book itself, the result would be something like this parody by Amanda Conner, an artist who has drawn for Marvel, DC Comics and other publishers. (pg. 1); In 1995 the Marvel heroes Iron Man and Spider-Man frolicked with Ronald O. Perelman, center, and William H. Donaldson, then chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. (Associated Press)(pg. 10); Joseph A. Calamari was called out of retirement to help direct the Marvel business strategy. A page from the 1995 annual report promised more fun for shareholders than did the numbers, which showed a loss of $48.4 million. (pg. 11) Chronology: ''ANNALS OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE'' 1989 Jan. 6 Ronald O. Perelman buys Marvel Entertainment Group for $82.5 million from New World Entertainment. 1991 July 15 Marvel files initial public offering to raise up to $82 million, with all proceeds going to pay bank debt and to Marvel's Perelman-controlled parent companies. 1992 July 24 Marvel acquires the Fleer Corporation, a trading card company, for $286 million. 1993 April 30 Marvel acquires a 46 percent stake in Toy Biz, a toy marketer, in exchange for a royalty-free license. 1994 Aug. 4 Marvel acquires the Panini sticker company for $158.4 million. Dec. 28 Marvel acquires Heroes World Distributors, a regional wholesaler of comic books in the Northeast, intending to use it to control distribution nationally. The effort is later abandoned. 1995 March 8 Marvel buys Skybox, a trading card company, for $150 million. Dec. 31 Marvel ends the year with its first annual loss during Mr. Perelman's tenure: $48.4 million. 1996 Nov. 12 Mr. Perelman offers to invest $350 million in Marvel in a deal that would dilute the company's stock by 80 percent. Marvel shares tumble, as do its bonds, which Carl C. Icahn starts acquiring. Dec 27 Approaching the end of a year in which it lost $464.4 million, Marvel files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 1997 Feb. 26 Mr. Icahn wins the right to foreclose on a controlling interest in Marvel shares, which Mr. Perelman had put up as collateral for the company's bonds. June 20 Mr. Icahn takes control of the Marvel board and installs himself as chairman. Oct. 8 A reorganization plan agreed to by Mr. Icahn and Marvel's secured creditors collapses as Toy Biz offers a plan with better terms. Dec. 24 The bankruptcy court installs a trustee to oversee Marvel. 1998 Feb. 13 Toy Biz puts forward another reorganization plan for Marvel, supported by many creditors; that plan is awaiting court approval. April 17 New York Stock Exchange suspends trading in Marvel's shares. (pg. 10) Chart: ''Binge and Purge'' Once sales crested, profits turned to losses and the stock collapsed. Graphs show sales, profits, and stock prices since 1991. (Source: Bloomberg Financial Markets)(pg. 10)