792 – Marvel Monsters: February 1961

Those wacky Atlas / Marvel comics are still covered in giant monsters in February 1961. This volley includes Spragg, Googam (Son of Goom), Rommbu, and… Magneto. No, not that Magneto. This Magneto is an 8-foot tall, not-too-bright human, Hunk Larken, who gets continuously picked on for his lack of brains until he is fed up […]

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759 – Marvel Monsters: July 1960

Atlas/Marvel Comics continues to explore the “giant monster” concept in July 1960. Interestingly, all three comics have monsters with names of future Marvel superheroes / villains: The Hulk, The Thing, and Krang.

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758 – Incredibly, Not The Hulk

The modern Marvel era inches closer with Atlas Comics’ Journey Into Mystery #62 (July 1960) where one of the “Marvel monsters” is given the name “The Hulk”. A giant orange hairy metal creature is discovered next to a shattered spaceship and nursed back to life by Joe Harper, who feeds the creature electricity. The creature […]

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574 – Electro! Kinda!

In Captain America #78 (May 1954), Atlas (Marvel) continues to try to make their superheroes exciting by adding new super-villains. This time, the Commies create their own version of a “super soldier” to square off against Captain America. Ivan Kronov is given electrical powers and the name Electro. Like electric cars, he has one slight […]

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562 – The Vulture Returns!

The Human Torch and Toro are not the only ones who have returned from the Golden Age. One of the Golden Age villains called “The Vulture” makes an appearance. Actually it’s not clear this is the same Vulture that appeared back during World War II, since that was a Captain America villain, but nonetheless it […]

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554 – Robotman Retires

In “The Human War Machine!”, a story in Detective Comics #202 (Oct 1953), the Golden Age Robotman (Robert Crane) makes his final appearance. In it, he shows off some of his powers one last time. Including being bullet-proof: As well as having stretchable arms? DC will later revive the name and the concept with the […]

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515 – Mordo Combat

Atlas (Marvel) Comics had quite a few publications (more than DC) throughout the Golden and Early Silver many of which were driven by Stan Lee. In the anthological Adventures Into Weird Worlds #11 (July 1952), a one-shot villain named “Swami Mordo” makes an appearance, who shares a name and some characteristics of one of Doctor […]

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135 – The Vision

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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124 – The First Black Widow

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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