Marvel decided to introduce a sidekick in Human Torch #2 of Toro, a human boy. Toro had all the powers of the Human Torch. [I discovered later that this comic came out in December of 1940 – thus this entry is a little bit out of order]
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As I mentioned before, I never knew there were so many Marvel Comics characters named after obscure Golden Age characters they had introduced decades earlier*. Marvel Mystery Comics #13 (September 1940), introduced a new hero to Timely/Marvel’s Golden Age of Comics: The Vision. No, not the android from the 1960s, but an alien from Jupiter […]
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In Mystic Comics #4 (June 1940), Timely Comics Inc (later Marvel) introduces the first costumed female superhero, Black Widow. Claire Voyant is a spiritual medium who is overcome by evil powers while performing a seance. She puts “Satan’s curse” on the family who later die in a car crash. The surviving brother murders Claire and […]
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Timely Comics (aka Marvel) continues its experiment of having its two most popular characters, the Human Torch and Namor, the Sub-Mariner, battle each other in a whopping 22+ page, action-packed story in Marvel Mystery Comics #9 (May 1940). The characters reach a stalemate, resulting in another cliffhanger by the end of the issue.
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As promised the previous month, Marvel Mystery Comics #8 (April 1940), brings the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch together in one battle that spans two stories in that issue.
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Timely Comics (the company that later became Marvel Comics) continued to innovate by inventing the first superhero crossover. The above panel in Marvel Mystery Comics #7 (March 1940) is the first time comic book characters from different “strips” have hinted at a shared universe. The Human Torch and Namor, the Sub-Mariner would clash in the […]
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Timely Comics (the company that became Marvel Comics) debuted a new comic book in January 1940, Mystic Comics, with the improbably-named character of Flexo the Rubber Robot (or Flexo the Rubber Man). That’s right, this was a robot that could stretch, which makes Flexo the first superhero with that power! It’s hard to believe I’ve […]
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In December 1939, we finally get a new company, that is not DC, creating a superhero character that has an impact outside of comic books, with the introduction of Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics #1 (actually #2 because of the ash-can edition) by Fawcett Comics. Captain Marvel, sometimes confused with the wizard Shazam, who gave […]
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In Marvel Mystery Comics #3 (November 1939), Namor the Sub-Mariner meets Betty Dean the Undercover Police Officer. Bill Everett did a great job illustrating and writing this new character, giving her the right amount of heart and sincerity which she used to try and steer our fiery anti-hero to the side of us poor surface […]
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The third superhero introduced in Marvel Comics #1 (August 1939), was The Angel, created by Paul Gustavson. The Angel that would not see success beyond the Golden Age of Comics, though he did give his name to one of the original X-Men, much like The Human Torch was reborn as a different character in the […]
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