By May 1945, Germany had surrendered to the Allies – yet the comic books that came out in July 1945, like Sub-Mariner Comics #17, had been written before that. In this one, Namor takes on the Order of the Blue Flower, a fascist group that looks and talks a lot like the Ku Klux Klan. […]
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Timely Comics continues its trend into gruesome territory. In Marvel Mystery Comics #64 (March 1945), Namor shows his savage side by murdering a random henchman by tossing him into an iron maiden.
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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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The second major hero to be introduce in More Fun Comics #73 (September 1941) was Aquaman, created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris. This first story featured a different origin than in later years, in which Aquaman’s father was a scientist who discovered the underwater ruins of Atlantis, then helped his son learn to live […]
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In Marvel Mystery Comics 317 (January 1941), the Human Torch and Namor appear together again, but this time as allies fighting the Nazis. The two still spar a bit with each other before they learn to cooperate. I had no idea this hallmark of Marvel Comics existed from the Golden Age!
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Is that an anti-aircraft gun or are you just happy to see me? The Sub-Mariner gets suggestive on the cover of Marvel Mystery Comics #14 (October 1940)! By this point in American comics, I’m definitely noticing a trend of showing superheroes battling Nazis or thinly-veiled Nazi-like forces. Superman, Sub-Mariner and Captain Marvel / Shazam all […]
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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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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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