Marvel Mystery Comics is an American comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 series published during the 1930s-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books

Golden Age of Comic Books

The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...

. It was the first publication of Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...

' predecessor, Timely Comics

Timely Comics

Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....

, a division of Timely Publications.

Premiere issue: Marvel Comics #1

In 1939, pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman

Martin Goodman (publisher)

Martin Goodman born on was an American publisher of pulp magazines, paperback books, men's adventure magazines, and comic books, launching the company that would become Marvel Comics....

 expanded into the newly emerging comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 field by buying content from comics package Funnies, Inc.. His first effort, Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), from his company Timely Publications

Timely Comics

Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....

, featured the first appearances  of writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

-artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

 Carl Burgos

Carl Burgos

Carl Burgos was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating the original Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1 Carl Burgos (né Max Finkelstein, April 18, 1916, New York City, New York; died March 1984) was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating...

' android superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

, the Human Torch, and Paul Gustavson

Paul Gustavson

Paul Gustavson née Karl Paul Gustafson was an American-immigrant comic-book writer and artist. His most notable creations during the Golden Age of Comic Books were The Human Bomb for Quality Comics, and the Angel, who debuted in Marvel Comics #1 , the first publication of Marvel Comics forerunner...

's costumed detective

Detective

A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

 the Angel. As well, it contained the first generally available appearance of Bill Everett

Bill Everett

William Blake "Bill" Everett, also known as William Blake and Everett Blake was a comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner and co-creating Daredevil for Marvel Comics...

's mutant

Mutant (Marvel Comics)

In comic books published by Marvel Comics, a mutant is an organism who possesses a genetic trait called an X-gene that allows the mutant to naturally develop superhuman powers and abilities...

 anti-hero

Anti-hero

In fiction, an antihero is generally considered to be a protagonist whose character is at least in some regards conspicuously contrary to that of the archetypal hero, and is in some instances its antithesis in which the character is generally useless at being a hero or heroine when they're...

 Namor the Sub-Mariner

Namor the Sub-Mariner

Namor the Sub-Mariner is a fictional comic book character in the Marvel Comics universe, and one of the first superheroes, debuting in Spring 1939. The character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for Funnies Inc., one of the first "packagers" in the early days of comic books that supplied...

, created for the unpublished movie-theater giveaway comic, Motion Picture Funnies Weekly

Motion Picture Funnies Weekly

Motion Picture Funnies Weekly is a 36-page, black-and-white American comic book series created in 1939, and designed to be a promotional giveaway in movie theaters...

 earlier that year, with the eight-page original story now expanded by four pages.

Also included was Al Anders' Western

Western comics

Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...

 hero the Masked Raider

Masked Raider

The Masked Raider is an American comic book character who appeared in American comic books published during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Created by writer-artist Al Anders, he first appeared in the Timely Comics' anthology series Marvel Comics #1 , and ran...

; the jungle lord Ka-Zar

Ka-Zar

Ka-Zar is the name of two jungle-dwelling comics fictional characters published in the United States. The first appeared in pulp magazines of the 1930s, and was adapted for his second iteration, as a comic book character for Timely Comics, the 1930s and 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics...

 the Great, with Ben Thompson adapting over the first five issues the story "King of Fang and Claw" by Bob Byrd in Goodman's eponymous pulp magazine Ka-Zar #1 (Oct. 1936); the non-continuing-character story "Jungle Terror," featuring an adventurer named Ken Masters, written by the quirkily named Tohm Dixon; "Now I'll Tell One", five single-panel, black-and-white gag cartoons by Fred Schwab

Fred Schwab

Fred Schwab was an American cartoonist whose humor panels and short features were published in a wide variety of comic books from at least 1938 to 1950, during a period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. His notable comic-book appearances include Timely Comics' Marvel Comics...

, on the inside front cover; and a two-page prose story by Ray Gill

Ray Gill

Ray Gill holds the Football League appearance record for Chester City.The full-back played in 406 league games for Chester from 1951 to 1962, putting him seven ahead of Ron Hughes and 10 ahead of Trevor Storton...

, "Burning Rubber", about auto racing

Auto racing

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...

. A painted cover by veteran science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 pulp artist Frank R. Paul

Frank R. Paul

Frank Rudolph Paul was an illustrator of US pulp magazines in the science fiction field. He was born in Vienna, Austria and died at his home in Teaneck, New Jersey....

 featured the Human Torch, looking much different than in the interior story.

That initial comic, cover-dated October 1939, quickly sold out 80,000 copies, prompting Goodman to produce a second printing, cover-dated November 1939 and identical except for a black bar in the inside-front-cover indicia over the October date, and the November date added at the end. That sold approximately 800,000 copies. With a hit on his hands, Goodman began assembling an in-house staff, hiring Funnies, Inc. writer-artist Joe Simon

Joe Simon

Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...

 as editor

Editing

Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...

. Simon brought along his collaborator, artist Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....

, followed by artist Syd Shores

Syd Shores

Sydney Shores was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America both during the 1940s, in what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, and during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books....

.

As Marvel Mystery Comics

The Torch and the Sub-Mariner would continue to star in the long-running title even after receiving their own solo comic-book series shortly afterward. The Angel, who was featured on the covers of issues #2-3, would appear in every issue through #79 (Dec. 1946).

Other characters introduced in the title include the aviator the American Ace (#2, Dec. 1939), with part one of his origin reprinted, like the first part of the Sub-Mariner's, from Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1; the Ferret; and writer-artist Steve Dahlman's robot hero Electro (appearing in every issue from #4-19, Feb. 1940 - May 1941). Issue #13 saw the first appearance of the Vision, the inspiration for the same-name Marvel Comics superhero

Vision (Marvel Comics)

The Vision is the name of three fictional characters that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The first Vision was created by the writer-artist team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in Marvel Mystery Comics #13 The Vision is the name of three fictional characters that...

 created in 1968. The original Vision appeared in solo stories through Marvel Mystery Comics #48.

As Marvel Tales

In 1949, with the popularity of superheroes having waned, the book was converted into the horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 anthology Marvel Tales

Marvel Tales

Marvel Tales is the title of three American comic-book series published by Marvel Comics, the first of them from the company's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics...

 from issue #93-159 (Aug. 1949 - Aug. 1957), when it ceased publication. Note: This is a different Marvel Tales than that published by Marvel in starting in the 1960s and primarily reprinting Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...

stories.

Reprints

• Marvel Comics #1: 70th Anniversary Edition (reprints #1 with modern coloring, 2009)
• Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus (Marvel Comics #1; Marvel Mystery Comics #2-12)
• Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 1 (Marvel Comics #1, Marvel Mystery Comics #2-4)
• Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 2 (Marvel Mystery Comics #5-8)
• Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 3 (Marvel Mystery Comics #9-12)
• Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 4 (Marvel Mystery Comics #13-16)
• Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 5 (Marvel Mystery Comics #17-20)
• Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 6 (Marvel Mystery Comics #21-24)