MARVEL ENTERPRISES INC. New York, New York; A (Super) Heroic Effort To Turn Things Around.(THE NEW AMERICA)

Byline: ADELIA CELLINI LINECKER

With all the "bang-zoom!" it can muster, Marvel Enterprises Inc. is lifting a page from its comic-book universe. Just as Peter Parker morphed from a 98-pound weakling into Spider-Man, Marvel has transformed itself from a bankrupt toy maker into a profitable entertainment firm.

Spidey himself played a key role in the comeback. Last year's movie based on the legendary comic-book hero grossed $822 million and fueled sales of nearly 2 million videogames. But there's more to this turnaround story than one blockbuster flick about a guy who harnesses the skills of an arachnid. Marvel Chief Executive Allen Lipson says his firm is fundamentally different than it was when it emerged from bankruptcy in 1998. The biggest change is that Marvel shed its capital-intensive toy-making plants in favor of selling licenses to its 4,700 characters.

"Marvel today is a much more focused company," Lipson said. "We recognize today that we are an entertainment company that is based on our intellectual property." The previous incarnation of Marvel took form in 1989, when Ron Perelman bought the company and made it into a corporate giant producing trading cards and toys.

The hope was that Marvel would reap a windfall from the period's comic-book craze, which drove investors to pour money into comics believing they were sure-bet collectors items.

Marvel even considered funding its own movies. The strategy seemed to work for a while.

Then the comic-book craze ended -- and Marvel began bleeding red ink. The firm lost money each year between 1997 and 2001.