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The Marvel Swimsuit Special primarily features pin-up style illustrations of characters from Marvel's main franchises, including the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and others such as Alpha Flight. The tone of the series is broadly tongue-in-cheek and humorous, rather than explicitly erotic. Both male and female characters are included in the Marvel Swimsuit Special; DeFalco stated that the series "[broke] a lot of walls in terms of sexualizing some of the male characters," though the inclusion of male characters was hypothesized by critics as preemptively deflecting criticism that the series sexually objectified women. Early issues in the series featured mostly women and included men primarily in group images, though by the mid-1990s it had achieved a more equitable gender balance, with male characters featured in both group images and pin-up style illustrations. According to writer Warren Ellis, male characters were included at the direction of Christian Cooper, who edited the final two issues of the Swimsuit Special.[5]
Multiple artists are featured in each edition of the magazine, including Joyce Chin, Mike Deodato, Jan Duursema, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, Adam Hughes, Joe Madureira, Joe Phillips, Dan Panosian, Joe Quesada, Brian Stelfreeze, and numerous others. The first issue in the series, Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue, featured multiple parody advertisements and fake interviews with various Marvel characters, though these sections were removed or scaled back in subsequent issues.
Each issue has a theme, setting, and a briefly-outlined plot that served as a framing device for the issue's illustrations. Marvel Illustrated: The Swimsuit Issue is set during the "Super Olympics" organized by Stark Industries in the Savage Land, with the images presented as characters modelling swimwear designed by Janet van Dyne. Marvel Swimsuit Special #1 is set in Wakanda, with the illustrations presented as photographs from Black Panther and Monica Lynne's engagement party. Marvel Swimsuit Special #2 centers on Pip the Troll using the Infinity Gems to transport the heroes of the Marvel Universe to Monster Island for a beach party. Marvel Swimsuit Special #3 follows the celebration of "The Water Festival of the Inhumans" on the Moon, while Marvel Swimsuit Special #4 centers on the prince of Madripoor inviting heroes to the country to boost its tourism industry. Friends, Foes, & Rivals follows the heroes of the Marvel Universe creating a swimsuit issue in response to the Roxxon Energy Corporation creating an unauthorized AI-generated swimsuit issue with their likenesses.
