In Atlas/Marvel’s Mystic Comics #10 (April 1952), it becomes pretty clear that someone over at Atlas (perhaps a Mr. Stan Lee?) is really jealous of the attention that E.C. Comics is getting. Each story features a little blurb that pays homage to an E.C. comic book: Cryptic Tales, Vault of Evil, Crypt of Shadows… I’m […]
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Speaking of riffing on ideas, Marvel Tales #107 (February 1952) has a tale called “Going My Way?” wherein a spooky ghost utters the phrase repeatedly to the driver of a car, who comes to realize he has died and this is an angel of death. The famous Twilight Zone episode “The Hitch-Hiker” also used this […]
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Wow, my 500th entry! It’s hard to believe I’ve been doing this for almost two years! I’m happy to see that I’m well into what I am calling the “Early Silver Age”, where many of the horror and science fictions stories are interesting, even if superheroes themselves have faded down to just a few exceptions. […]
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In February 1951, Marvel (Timely Comics) sold their first issue of the comic book Strange Tales. It is a mixture of horror-sci-fi stories, but in later years it becomes the home of Doctor Strange and Nick Fury.
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Timely (Marvel) Comics debuted War Comics #1 (September 1950). While most war comics of the time are primarily propaganda vehicles, the first story is particularly heavy-handed. A young soldier spends his time complaining to his fellow officer about why the U.S. is involved in the Korean War. Of course by the end of the story, […]
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In August 1950, Timely (Marvel) Comics gave superheroes one more shot with the introduction of Marvel Boy #1, created by Stan Lee and Russ Heath. Marvel Boy was Robert Grayson, the son of a Jewish scientist who fled the Earth during World War II when his wife was killed and ended up in Uranus. This […]
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The very very last vestige of Timely (Marvel) Comics’ superheroes occurs with Captain America’s Weird Tales #75 (November 1949). The cover mentions Captain America, but the book is very clearly EC Comics-inspired (down to the left-hand vertical title bar) with anthological horror tales. The magazine probably needed to include “Captain America” in the title so […]
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The final issue of Sub-Mariner Comics #23 also came out in March 1949. Like the Human Torch’s last issue, it features an origin story for the Sub-Mariner that goes much deeper into Namor’s birth, early life, than has ever been seen before. I don’t know if this was just a backup story they had lying […]
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March 1949 ends another Timely (Marvel) superhero solo book with Captain America #73 (March 1949). With its next issue, it becomes “Captain America’s Weird Tales”, a horror comic, which maybe was fore-shadowed by the truly macabre ads for toys in this issue. Pictured above is Rita, a babygirl doll with long vivacious red hair that […]
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In Marvel Mystery #92 (February 1949), the Human Torch‘s origin story is re-told, with a framing story of his creator, Professor Horton, passing away. This is also the last appearance for years of the original Human Torch. After this issue, Marvel Mystery Comics is renamed to Marvel Tales and becomes a horror / supernatural anthology […]
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