864 – Torch Goes Solo

As DC did before with its teen heroes Superboy and Robin in the 1940s, Marvel attempted to spin the Human Torch out into solo adventures in Strange Tales #101 (July 1962). The story itself is pretty forgettable, but they do establish a few facts: Johnny Storm is still in high school and is (somehow) still […]

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854 – The Amazing Spider-Man!

My favorite Marvel character finally makes his debut in Amazing Fantasy #15 (June 1962): Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man! Like Superman and Batman, we pretty much all know the origin story, but it’s still so much fun to show some of that old Steve Ditko art. After getting bit by a radioactive spider, high school […]

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422 – Namor as a Boy

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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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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206 – Captain Marvel Jr Gets His Own Book

Freddy Freeman (Captain Marvel Jr) gets his own comic book in October 1942. A nice retelling of his origin story and then more battling World War II foes for Freddy! As far as I can tell, this is the first time a “junior” superhero gets their own solo comic book, beating Superboy by seven years!

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