The stories in Timely (Marvel) Comics seem to veer off into the grotesque more than other comic book companies of the time. I found this particular Captain America panel of artwork by Syd Shores and Al Alvison pretty shocking and gratuitous from February 1944.
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In September 1943, Otto Binder created Miss America for Marvel Mystery Comics #49, because we needed more patriotic-themed super-heroines, apparently (remember Liberty Belle?). Miss America is Madeline Joyce, the daughter of a billionaire who encounters a freak accident in an experimental electrical laboratory and gains superhuman strength and the ability to fly.
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I picture Stan Lee in the 1960s poring through old Marvel comic books in search of new villain ideas and coming across Captain America #32 (Sept 1943). In that issue, Captain America faces off against two new Nazi villains in two separate stories: The Mole Man and The Vulture. Not to be confused with their […]
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Captain America has a “continued next month” story in February 1943. I’m starting to notice this more now so it seems like some comic book companies feel comfortable enough with their readership to pull this stunt. The next issue even has a “previously” panel:
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Miss Fury newspaper strip reprints were collected into a comic book by Timely Comics (the company that became known as Marvel Comics) in December 1942. At first black and white, full color stories started in Issue #2. The character was known as Black Fury in the context of the stories, and I imagine her skin-tight […]
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More “name-squatting” continues in the Golden Age – we see a character name “Marvel Boy” created by Timely Comics during the hey-day of Fawcett Comics’ Captain Marvel craze. This is actually the second story featuring this version of Marvel Boy, Martin Burns. As Wikipedia points out, both stories were pretty different and the character never […]
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Just your average innocent thought bubble from an adventure that Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers (Captain America) had in a Nazi-infested bowling alley.
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In Marvel Mystery Comics #32 (April 1942), the Red Skull unmasks Captain America and discovers his secret identity as Steve Rogers. I believe this is the first time a villain learns the secret identity of a costumed hero and survives.
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U.S. comic books keep up their strong support for World War II throughout 1942. In March 1942, almost every comic book had their heroes fighting the Japanese or the Germans. In the March 1942 issue of Marvel Mystery Comics (#31), the Human Torch gives it to the Japanese.
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Jack Kirby and Joe Simon jumped the Timely/Marvel Comics ship at the end of 1941 and landed at National/DC Comics just as the U.S. was entering World War II. in Star Spangled Comics #7 (February 1942), they debuted a Captain America-resembling hero named The Guardian who took a bunch of orphaned newsboys under his wing […]
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