269 – Patsy Walker

Timely Comics (aka Marvel Comics these days) introduced a new female character in Miss America Comics #2 (September 1944): Patsy Walker. Although the Patsy Walker feature was in the “teen humor” genre, like Archie, I did learn from Wikipedia that she is an important character for Marvel because she one of the few that bridged […]

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260 – Marvel-ous Violence

Throughout 1944, Timely Comics (Marvel) featured increasingly vicious covers as its heroes were shown battling Nazis and Japanese soldiers in surprisingly violent ways. Here, Captain America is shown simultaneously punching, kicking and shooting three different Japanese soldiers, while Bucky Barnes uses a flamethrower on another in an effort to prevent a bridge from being blown […]

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256 – Submariner’s Head Trauma

By 1944, the shape of Namor’s head has evolved in an increasingly bizarre triangle-shape direction, as seen by the panel above from Sub-Mariner #13 (April 1944). His body has also gotten considerably more muscular, but his head really makes it hard to take him seriously. Two-and-a-half years is a short time for the look to […]

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252 – Agony and Torture

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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238 – There She Is

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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237 – Early Vultures and Moles

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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222 – Captain America Two-Parter

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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214 – Miss Fury

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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212 – Marvel Boy?

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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