Timely Comics
Encyclopedia
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
.
During this era, called the Golden Age of comic books
, "Timely" was the umbrella name for the comics division of pulp magazine
publisher Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate
entities all producing the same product. The company was founded in 1939 as Timely Publications, based at his existing company, Red Circle
, in the McGraw-Hill Building
at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City
. In 1942, it moved to the 14th floor of the Empire State Building
, where it remained until 1951.
In 1939, with the emerging medium
of comic books proving hugely popular, and the first superhero
es setting the trend, pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman
founded Timely Publications, basing it at his existing company. Goodman — whose official titles were editor
, managing editor, and business manager
, with Abraham Goodman officially listed as publisher — contracted with the newly formed comic-book "packager" Funnies, Inc. to supply material.
His first effort, Marvel Comics
#1 (Oct. 1939), featured the first appearances of writer
-artist
Carl Burgos
' android superhero
, the Human Torch, and Paul Gustavson
's costumed detective
the Angel. As well, it contained the first generally available appearance of Bill Everett
's mutant
anti-hero
Namor the Sub-Mariner
, created for the unpublished movie-theater giveaway comic Motion Picture Funnies Weekly
earlier that year, with the eight-page original story now expanded by four pages.
Also included were Al Anders' Western
hero the Masked Raider
; the jungle lord Ka-Zar the Great
, with Ben Thompson adapting 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 adventurer Ken Masters, drawn and possibly written by Art Pinajian
under the quirky pseudonym
"Tohm Dixon" or "Tomm Dixon" (with the published signature smudged); "Now I'll Tell One", five single-panel, black-and-white gag cartoons by Fred Schwab
, on the inside front cover; and a two-page prose story by Ray Gill, "Burning Rubber", about auto racing
. A painted cover by veteran science-fiction pulp artist Frank R. Paul
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. The latter is identical except for a black bar over the October date in the inside-front-cover indicia, 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
as editor
. Simon brought along his collaborator, artist Jack Kirby
, followed by artist Syd Shores
.
There is evidence that "Red Circle Comics" — a name that would be used for an unrelated imprint
of Archie Comics
in the 1970s and 1980s — may have been a term in use as Goodman prepared to publish his first comic book. As official Marvel historian Les Daniels
describes, the name Red Circle
was "a halfhearted attempt to establish an identity for what was usually described loosely as 'the Goodman group' [made] when a new logo was adopted: a red disk surrounded by a black ring that bore the phrase 'A Red Circle Magazine.' But it appeared only intermittently, when someone remembered to put it on [a pulp magazine's] cover. Pulp historian Richard Paul Hall is more expansive, giving Red Circle as the name for Goodman's pulp and book publishing company, noting that, "Goodman used the Red Circle Group logo between 1937 and 1939 to promote his line." Within this framework, historian Jess Nevins
writes that, "Timely Publications [was how] Goodman's group [of companies] had become known; before this it was known as "Red Circle" because of the logo that Goodman had put on his pulp magazines...." A variation was used as a publishing imprint
on some Timely comics, with the Michigan State University
's Comic Art Collection Reading Room Index giving Red Circle Magazines as an "American comics publisher, a Timely-Marvel imprint", and listing issues of Comic Capers (1946), Snafu (1956) and My Own Romance (1960) as examples.
through #159 (Aug. 1957) — and Timely began publishing additional series, beginning with Daring Mystery Comics
#1 (Jan. 1940), Mystic Comics
#1 (March 1940), Red Raven Comics
#1 (Aug. 1940), The Human Torch #2 (premiering Fall 1940 with no cover date and having taken over the numbering from the unsuccessful Red Raven), and Captain America Comics
#1 (March 1941). Going on sale in December 1940, a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor
and already showing the hero punching Hitler in the jaw, that first issue sold nearly one million copies.
With the hit characters Human Torch and Sub-Mariner now joined by Simon & Kirby's seminal patriotic hero Captain America, Timely had its "big three" stars of the era fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books
. Rival publishers National Comics
/ All-American Comics
, the sister companies that would evolve into DC Comics
, likewise had their own "big three": Superman and Batman
plus the soon-to-debut Wonder Woman
. Timely's other major competitors were Fawcett Publications
(with Captain Marvel
, introduced in 1940); Quality Comics
(with Plastic Man
and Blackhawk
, both in 1941); and Lev Gleason Publications
(with Daredevil, introduced in 1940 and unrelated to the 1960s Marvel hero
).
Other notable Timely characters, many seen both in modern-day retcon
appearances and in flashbacks, include the Angel, the next-most-popular character in terms of number of appearances; the Destroyer and the Black Marvel
, two early creations of future Marvel chief Stan Lee
; super-speedster the Whizzer
; the flying and super-strong Miss America
; the original Vision, who inspired Marvel writer Roy Thomas
in the 1960s to create a Silver Age
version of the character
; and the Blazing Skull
and the Thin Man
, two members of the present-day New Invaders.
Just as Captain America had his teenage sidekick Bucky
and DC Comics' Batman had Robin
, the Human Torch acquired a young mutant partner, Toro
, in the first issue of the Torch's own magazine. The Young Allies — one of several "kid gangs" popular in comics at the time — debuted under the rubric the Sentinels of Liberty in a text story in Captain America Comics #4 (June 1941) before making it to the comics pages themselves the following issue, and then eventually into their own title.
Seeing a natural "fire and water" theme, Timely was responsible for comic books' first major crossover, with a two-issue battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner that spanned Marvel Mystery Comics #8-9 — telling the story, Rashomon
-style but years before Rashomon, from the two characters' different perspectives.
After the Simon & Kirby team moved to DC late 1941, having produced Captain America Comics through issue #10 (Jan. 1942), Al Avison
and Syd Shores
became regular pencilers of the celebrated title, with one generally inking
over the other. Stan Lee
(né Stanley Lieber), a cousin of Goodman's by marriage who had been serving as an assistant since 1939, at age 16½, was promoted to interim editor just shy of his 19th birthday. Showing a knack for the business, Lee stayed on for decades, eventually becoming Marvel Comics' publisher in 1972. Fellow Timely staffer Vincent Fago would substitute during Lee's World War II
military service
.
The staff at that time, Fago recalled, was, "Mike Sekowsky
. Ed Winiarski
. Gary Keller was a production assistant and letterer. Ernest Hart
and Kin Platt
were writers, but they worked freelance; Hart also drew. George Klein
, Syd Shores, Vince Alascia
, Dave Gantz
, and Chris Rule were there, too".
tie-in and original funny animal
comics as Terrytoons Comics
, Mighty Mouse
, All Surprise Comics, Super Rabbit Comics
, Funny Frolics, and Funny Tunes, renamed Animated Funny Comic-Tunes. Former Fleischer Studios
animator
Fago, who joined Timely in 1942, headed this group, which consisted through the years of such writer/artists as Hart, Gantz, Klein, Platt, Rule, Sekowsky, Frank Carin (né Carino), Bob Deschamps, Chad Grothkopf, Pauline Loth, Jim Mooney
, Moss Worthman a.k.a. Moe Worth, and future Mad
magazine cartoonists Dave Berg and Al Jaffee
.
Features from this department include "Dinky" and "Frenchy Rabbit" in Terrytoons Comics; "Floop and Skilly Boo" in Comedy Comics; "Posty the Pelican Postman" in Krazy Komics and other titles; "Krazy Krow" in that character's eponymous comic; "Tubby an' Tack", in various comics; and the most popular of these features, Jaffee's "Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal
" and Hart's "Super Rabbit", the cover stars of many different titles. Timely also published one of humor cartoonist
Basil Wolverton
's best-known features, Powerhouse Pepper
. The first issue, cover-dated January 1943, bore no number, and protagonist
Pepper looked different from his more familiar visualization (when the series returned for four issues, May-Nov. 1948) as the bullet-headed naif in the striped turtleneck sweater.
Additionally, Timely in 1944 and 1945 initiated a sitcom
selection of titles aimed at female readers: Millie the Model
, Tessie the Typist and Nellie the Nurse; the company continued to pursue women readers later in the decade with such superheroines as Sun Girl
; the Sub-Mariner spin-off Namora
; and Venus, the Roman goddess
of love, posing as a human reporter.
#55 (May 1944). As well, some comics' covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12 (Winter 1946-47), were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt the name in 1961.
, a Marvel mainstay from 1946 on, recalled that, "The atmosphere at Timely was very good, very funny. ... [I worked in] a big art room and there were about 20 artists in there, all stacked up. Syd[ Shores]
was in the last row on my side, and there was another row on the other side. Dan DeCarlo
was there, several other people — Vince Alascia
was an inker; Rudy LaPick
sat right behind me," with Mike Sekowsky
"in another room".
Yet after the wartime boom years — when superheroes had been new and inspirational, and comics provided cheap entertainment for millions of children, soldiers and others — the post-war era found superheroes falling out of fashion. Television
and mass market paperback books now also competed for readers and leisure time. Goodman began turning to a wider variety of genres than ever, emphasizing horror
, Westerns
, teen humor, crime
and war comics, and introducing female heroes to try to attract girls and young women to read comics.
In 1946, for instance, the superhero title All Select Comics was changed to Blonde Phantom Comics, and now starred a masked secretary
who fought crime in an evening gown
. That same year, Kid Komics eliminated its stars and became Kid Movie Comics. All Winners Comics became All Teen Comics in January 1947. Timely eliminated virtually all its staff positions in 1948.
The precise end-point of the Golden Age of comics is vague, but for Timely, at least, it appears to have ended with the cancellation of Captain America Comics at issue #75 (Feb. 1950) — by which time the series had already been Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues, with the finale featuring merely anthological horror/suspense tales and no superheroes. Sub-Mariner Comics had already ended with #32 (June 1949), and the company's flagship title, Marvel Mystery Comics
, starring the Human Torch, ended that same month with #92, becoming the horror
anthology Marvel Tales
beginning with issue #93 (Aug. 1949). Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company
, the newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated Nov. 1951.
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...
arm of American 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....
, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become 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...
.
During this era, called 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...
, "Timely" was the umbrella name for the comics division of pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
publisher Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
entities all producing the same product. The company was founded in 1939 as Timely Publications, based at his existing company, Red Circle
Red Circle (publishing)
Red Circle is the name used to refer to American publisher Martin Goodman's group of book and pulp magazine publishing corporations. Some of this group of corporations continued into Goodman's comic-book publishing arm, Timely Comics, which would evolve by the 1960s into Marvel Comics.Official...
, in the McGraw-Hill Building
330 West 42nd Street
330 West 42nd Street is also known as the McGraw Hill Building. The original McGraw-Hill building was located at 469 Tenth Avenue. This second McGraw-Hill building, on 42nd Street was completed in 1931, the same year as the completion of the Empire State Building. The architect was Raymond Hood...
at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1942, it moved to the 14th floor of the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
, where it remained until 1951.
Creation
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
of comic books proving hugely popular, and the first 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 —...
es setting the trend, 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....
founded Timely Publications, basing it at his existing company. Goodman — whose official titles were 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...
, managing editor, and business manager
Business manager
In a general context, a business manager is a person who manages the work of others in order to run a business efficiently and make a large profit...
, with Abraham Goodman officially listed as publisher — contracted with the newly formed comic-book "packager" Funnies, Inc. to supply material.
His first effort, Marvel Comics
Marvel Mystery Comics
Marvel Mystery Comics is an American comic book series published during the 1930s-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books...
#1 (Oct. 1939), 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
In biology and especially genetics, a mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character, arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not...
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 were 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 the Great
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...
, with Ben Thompson adapting 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 adventurer Ken Masters, drawn and possibly written by Art Pinajian
Art pinajian
Art Pinajian was an American artist and comic book creator active from the late 1930s throughout the 1950s, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. He was a member of the Eisner-Iger Studio in 1938-39 and of Funnies, Inc. in 1939-42...
under the quirky pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Tohm Dixon" or "Tomm Dixon" (with the published signature smudged); "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, "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 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. The latter is identical except for a black bar over the October date in the inside-front-cover indicia, 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....
.
There is evidence that "Red Circle Comics" — a name that would be used for an unrelated imprint
Red Circle Comics
Red Circle Comics was an imprint used by Archie Comics Publications, Inc. to publish non-Archie characters, especially their superheroes, in the 1970s and '80s.-Phase 1: 1970s:...
of Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
in the 1970s and 1980s — may have been a term in use as Goodman prepared to publish his first comic book. As official Marvel historian Les Daniels
Les Daniels
Leslie Noel Daniels III, known as Les Daniels was an American writer.-Background:He attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he wrote his master's thesis on Frankenstein, and he worked as a musician and as a journalist.-Career:He was the author of five novels featuring the...
describes, the name Red Circle
Red Circle (publishing)
Red Circle is the name used to refer to American publisher Martin Goodman's group of book and pulp magazine publishing corporations. Some of this group of corporations continued into Goodman's comic-book publishing arm, Timely Comics, which would evolve by the 1960s into Marvel Comics.Official...
was "a halfhearted attempt to establish an identity for what was usually described loosely as 'the Goodman group' [made] when a new logo was adopted: a red disk surrounded by a black ring that bore the phrase 'A Red Circle Magazine.' But it appeared only intermittently, when someone remembered to put it on [a pulp magazine's] cover. Pulp historian Richard Paul Hall is more expansive, giving Red Circle as the name for Goodman's pulp and book publishing company, noting that, "Goodman used the Red Circle Group logo between 1937 and 1939 to promote his line." Within this framework, historian Jess Nevins
Jess Nevins
John J. Nevins, MA/MS, is an American author and librarian, born 30 July 1966 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author of the World Fantasy Award-nominated Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana , and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction...
writes that, "Timely Publications [was how] Goodman's group [of companies] had become known; before this it was known as "Red Circle" because of the logo that Goodman had put on his pulp magazines...." A variation was used as a publishing imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
on some Timely comics, with the Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
's Comic Art Collection Reading Room Index giving Red Circle Magazines as an "American comics publisher, a Timely-Marvel imprint", and listing issues of Comic Capers (1946), Snafu (1956) and My Own Romance (1960) as examples.
Golden Age of Comic Books
Marvel Comics was rechristened Marvel Mystery Comics with issue #2 (Dec. 1939) — the magazine would continue under that title through #92 (June 1949) before becoming Marvel TalesMarvel 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...
through #159 (Aug. 1957) — and Timely began publishing additional series, beginning with Daring Mystery Comics
Daring Mystery Comics
Daring Mystery Comics is an American comic-book series published by Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics, during the 1930-1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books...
#1 (Jan. 1940), Mystic Comics
Mystic Comics
Mystic Comics is the name of four comic book series published by the company that would eventually become Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books...
#1 (March 1940), Red Raven Comics
Red Raven
Red Raven is a fictional comic-book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Joe Simon and Louis Cazeneuve in Red Raven Comics #1 Red Raven is a fictional comic-book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Joe Simon and Louis Cazeneuve in Red Raven Comics #1 Red Raven is a...
#1 (Aug. 1940), The Human Torch #2 (premiering Fall 1940 with no cover date and having taken over the numbering from the unsuccessful Red Raven), and Captain America Comics
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
#1 (March 1941). Going on sale in December 1940, a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
and already showing the hero punching Hitler in the jaw, that first issue sold nearly one million copies.
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...
. Rival publishers National Comics
National Publications
National Publications was one of the companies that would later become DC Comics. The corporation was originally two companies: National Allied Publications and Detective Comics.They two merged in the 1930s to become...
/ All-American Comics
All-American Comics
All-American Comics was the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from April 1939 to October 1948, at which time it was renamed All-American Western. In 1952, the title was changed again to All-American Men of...
, the sister companies that would evolve into DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, likewise had their own "big three": Superman and Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
plus the soon-to-debut Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
. Timely's other major competitors were Fawcett Publications
Fawcett Publications
Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett . At the age of 16, Fawcett ran away from home to join the Army, and the Spanish-American War took him to the Philippines. Back in Minnesota, he became a...
(with Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
, introduced in 1940); Quality Comics
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
(with Plastic Man
Plastic Man
Plastic Man is a fictional comic-book superhero originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Cole, he first appeared in Police Comics #1 ....
and Blackhawk
Blackhawk (comics)
Blackhawk, a long-running comic book series, was also a film serial, a radio series and a novel. The comic book was published first by Quality Comics and later by DC Comics. The series was created by Will Eisner, Chuck Cuidera, and Bob Powell, but the artist most associated with the feature is Reed...
, both in 1941); and Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications
Lev Gleason Publications, founded by Leverett Gleason, was the publisher of a number of popular comic books during the 1940s and early 1950s, including Daredevil, Crime Does Not Pay, and Boy Comics....
(with Daredevil, introduced in 1940 and unrelated to the 1960s Marvel hero
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
).
Other notable Timely characters, many seen both in modern-day retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
appearances and in flashbacks, include the Angel, the next-most-popular character in terms of number of appearances; the Destroyer and the Black Marvel
Black Marvel
The Black Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Al Gabriele, he first appeared in Mystic Comics #5 , published by Marvel's 1940s forerunner Timely Comics during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic...
, two early creations of future Marvel chief Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
; super-speedster the Whizzer
Whizzer (Robert Frank)
The Whizzer is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared during the 1930s-1940s period that fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.-Publication history:...
; the flying and super-strong Miss America
Miss America (Marvel Comics)
Miss America is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49 Miss America (Madeline Joyce Frank) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery...
; the original Vision, who inspired Marvel writer Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
in the 1960s to create a Silver Age
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
version of the character
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...
; and the Blazing Skull
Blazing Skull
The Blazing Skull is a fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, created during the 1930-'40s Golden Age of Comic Books for Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics...
and the Thin Man
Thin Man (comics)
The Thin Man is a fictional, American comic book character in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. Created by artist Klaus Nordling and an unknown writer in Mystic Comics #4 , published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the time fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books, the...
, two members of the present-day New Invaders.
Just as Captain America had his teenage sidekick Bucky
Bucky
Bucky is the name of several fictional characters, masked superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as a sidekick character in Captain America Comics #1 , published by Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics...
and DC Comics' Batman had Robin
Robin (comics)
Robin is the name of several fictional characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson, as a junior counterpart to DC Comics superhero Batman...
, the Human Torch acquired a young mutant partner, Toro
Toro (comics)
Toro is the name of two characters from Marvel Comics. The first Toro was originally featured in Timely Comics and later as a Marvel Comics superhero who appeared as the partner of the original Human Torch.-Publication history:...
, in the first issue of the Torch's own magazine. The Young Allies — one of several "kid gangs" popular in comics at the time — debuted under the rubric the Sentinels of Liberty in a text story in Captain America Comics #4 (June 1941) before making it to the comics pages themselves the following issue, and then eventually into their own title.
Seeing a natural "fire and water" theme, Timely was responsible for comic books' first major crossover, with a two-issue battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner that spanned Marvel Mystery Comics #8-9 — telling the story, Rashomon
Rashomon (film)
The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
-style but years before Rashomon, from the two characters' different perspectives.
After the Simon & Kirby team moved to DC late 1941, having produced Captain America Comics through issue #10 (Jan. 1942), Al Avison
Al Avison
Alfred Avison is an American comic book artist known for his work on the Marvel Comics characters Captain America and the Whizzer during the 1930-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of comic books....
and 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....
became regular pencilers of the celebrated title, with one generally inking
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
over the other. Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
(né Stanley Lieber), a cousin of Goodman's by marriage who had been serving as an assistant since 1939, at age 16½, was promoted to interim editor just shy of his 19th birthday. Showing a knack for the business, Lee stayed on for decades, eventually becoming Marvel Comics' publisher in 1972. Fellow Timely staffer Vincent Fago would substitute during Lee's World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
.
Mike Sekowsky
Michael Sekowsky was a Jewish American comic book artist best known as the exclusive penciler for DC Comics' Justice League of America during most of the 1960s, and as the regular writer and artist on Wonder Woman during the late 1960s and early 1970s.-Early life and career:Mike Sekowsky began...
. Ed Winiarski
Ed Winiarski
Ed Winiarski , who sometimes signed his work "Win" or "Winny" and sometimes used the pseudonym Fran Miller, is an American comic book writer-artist known for both adventure stories and funny-animal cartooning in the late-1930s and 1940s Golden Age of comic books.A former animator, Winiarski was one...
. Gary Keller was a production assistant and letterer. Ernest Hart
Ernie Hart
-Early life and career:Ernie Hart was part of the Timely Comics "animator" bullpen, separate from the superhero group producing comics featuring the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner and Captain America...
and Kin Platt
Kin Platt
Kin Platt was an American writer-artist best known for penning radio comedy and animated TV series, as well as children's mystery novels, for one of which he received the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award....
were writers, but they worked freelance; Hart also drew. George Klein
George Klein (comics)
George D. Klein was an American comic book artist and cartoonist whose career stretched from the 1930s and 1940s' Golden Age of comic books...
, Syd Shores, Vince Alascia
Vince Alascia
Vincent Alascia , also known as Nicholas Alascia, was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America during the Golden Age of comics, and for his 23-year run as inker on a single creative team, with penciler Charles Nicholas Wojtkowski and writer Joe Gill at Charlton Comics...
, Dave Gantz
Dave Gantz
Dave Gantz was an American artist and sculptor who wrote children's books and worked as a newspaper cartoonist.Gantz penciled and inked comic books in the 1940s and 1950s, often working for Timely Comics....
, and Chris Rule were there, too".
Funny animals, and people
The superheroes were the products of what Timely referred to as the "adventure" bullpen. The company also developed an "animator" bullpen creating such movieFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
tie-in and original funny animal
Funny animal
Funny animal is a cartooning term for the genre of comics and animated cartoons in which the main characters are humanoid or talking animals, with anthropomorphic personality traits. The characters themselves may also be called funny animals...
comics as Terrytoons Comics
Terrytoons
Terrytoons was an animation studio founded by Paul Terry. The studio, located in suburban New Rochelle, New York, operated from 1929 to 1968. Its most popular characters included Mighty Mouse, Gandy Goose, Sourpuss, Dinky Duck, Deputy Dawg, Luno and Heckle and Jeckle; these cartoons and all of its...
, Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...
, All Surprise Comics, Super Rabbit Comics
Super Rabbit
Super Rabbit is a fictional, funny-animal superhero in comic books published by Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics, during the 1930s and '40s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. Created by cartoonist Ernie Hart, he first appeared in Comedy Comics #14 Super...
, Funny Frolics, and Funny Tunes, renamed Animated Funny Comic-Tunes. Former Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
Fago, who joined Timely in 1942, headed this group, which consisted through the years of such writer/artists as Hart, Gantz, Klein, Platt, Rule, Sekowsky, Frank Carin (né Carino), Bob Deschamps, Chad Grothkopf, Pauline Loth, Jim Mooney
Jim Mooney
James Noel "Jim" Mooney was an American comic book artist best known as a Marvel Comics inker and Spider-Man artist, and as the signature artist of DC Comics' Supergirl, both during what comics historians and fans call the Silver Age of comic books...
, Moss Worthman a.k.a. Moe Worth, and future Mad
Mad (magazine)
Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...
magazine cartoonists Dave Berg and Al Jaffee
Al Jaffee
Abraham Jaffee , known as Al Jaffee, is an American cartoonist. He is notable for his work in the satirical magazine Mad, including his trademark feature, the Mad Fold-in. As of 2010, Jaffee remains a regular in the magazine after 55 years and is its longest-running contributor...
.
Features from this department include "Dinky" and "Frenchy Rabbit" in Terrytoons Comics; "Floop and Skilly Boo" in Comedy Comics; "Posty the Pelican Postman" in Krazy Komics and other titles; "Krazy Krow" in that character's eponymous comic; "Tubby an' Tack", in various comics; and the most popular of these features, Jaffee's "Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal
Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal
Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal are fictional, funny-animal comic-book characters created by cartoonist Al Jaffee for Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books....
" and Hart's "Super Rabbit", the cover stars of many different titles. Timely also published one of humor cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Basil Wolverton
Basil Wolverton
Basil Wolverton was an American cartoonist, illustrator, comic book writer-artist and professed "Producer of Preposterous Pictures of Peculiar People who Prowl this Perplexing Planet", whose many publishers included Marvel Comics and Mad.His unique, humorously grotesque drawings have elicited a...
's best-known features, Powerhouse Pepper
Powerhouse Pepper
Powerhouse Pepper is a fictional, comic-book humor character who appeared in comics published in the 1940s by Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics...
. The first issue, cover-dated January 1943, bore no number, and protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Pepper looked different from his more familiar visualization (when the series returned for four issues, May-Nov. 1948) as the bullet-headed naif in the striped turtleneck sweater.
Additionally, Timely in 1944 and 1945 initiated a sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
selection of titles aimed at female readers: Millie the Model
Millie the Model
Millie the Model was Marvel Comics' longest-running humor title, first published by the company's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and continuing through its 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics, to 1970s Marvel.-Publication history:...
, Tessie the Typist and Nellie the Nurse; the company continued to pursue women readers later in the decade with such superheroines as Sun Girl
Sun Girl
Sun Girl, in comics, may refer to:*Sun Girl , a superheroine*Sun Girl , a supervillainess...
; the Sub-Mariner spin-off Namora
Namora
Namora is a fictional character, a superhero in the . She is from Atlantis and is the daughter of an Atlantean father and a human mother. She is the cousin of Namor the Sub-Mariner.-Publication history:...
; and Venus, the Roman goddess
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
of love, posing as a human reporter.
Marvel branding
Publisher Martin Goodman's business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of companies all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these shell companies under which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least Marvel Mystery ComicsMarvel Mystery Comics
Marvel Mystery Comics is an American comic book series published during the 1930s-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books...
#55 (May 1944). As well, some comics' covers, such as All Surprise Comics #12 (Winter 1946-47), were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt the name in 1961.
Time after Timely
Future Comic Book Hall of Fame artist Gene ColanGene Colan
Eugene Jules "Gene" Colan was an American comic book artist best known for his work for Marvel Comics, where his signature titles include the superhero series, Daredevil, the cult-hit satiric series Howard the Duck, and The Tomb of Dracula, considered one of comics' classic horror series...
, a Marvel mainstay from 1946 on, recalled that, "The atmosphere at Timely was very good, very funny. ... [I worked in] a big art room and there were about 20 artists in there, all stacked up. Syd
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....
was in the last row on my side, and there was another row on the other side. Dan DeCarlo
Dan DeCarlo
Daniel S. DeCarlo was an American cartoonist best known as the artist who developed the look of Archie Comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernizing the characters to their contemporary appearance and establishing the publisher's house style...
was there, several other people — Vince Alascia
Vince Alascia
Vincent Alascia , also known as Nicholas Alascia, was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America during the Golden Age of comics, and for his 23-year run as inker on a single creative team, with penciler Charles Nicholas Wojtkowski and writer Joe Gill at Charlton Comics...
was an inker; Rudy LaPick
Rudy Lapick
Rudolph E. "Rudy" Lapick was an American comic book artist who worked as an inker for Archie Comics for many years. He was nominated for a Shazam Award in 1974 for Best Inker .-Biography:...
sat right behind me," with Mike Sekowsky
Mike Sekowsky
Michael Sekowsky was a Jewish American comic book artist best known as the exclusive penciler for DC Comics' Justice League of America during most of the 1960s, and as the regular writer and artist on Wonder Woman during the late 1960s and early 1970s.-Early life and career:Mike Sekowsky began...
"in another room".
Yet after the wartime boom years — when superheroes had been new and inspirational, and comics provided cheap entertainment for millions of children, soldiers and others — the post-war era found superheroes falling out of fashion. Television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and mass market paperback books now also competed for readers and leisure time. Goodman began turning to a wider variety of genres than ever, emphasizing 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...
, Westerns
Western fiction
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...
, teen humor, crime
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
and war comics, and introducing female heroes to try to attract girls and young women to read comics.
In 1946, for instance, the superhero title All Select Comics was changed to Blonde Phantom Comics, and now starred a masked secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
who fought crime in an evening gown
Evening gown
An evening gown is a long flowing women's dress usually worn to a formal affair. It ranges from tea and ballerina to full-length. Evening gowns are often made of a luxury fabric such as chiffon, velvet, satin, or silk...
. That same year, Kid Komics eliminated its stars and became Kid Movie Comics. All Winners Comics became All Teen Comics in January 1947. Timely eliminated virtually all its staff positions in 1948.
The precise end-point of the Golden Age of comics is vague, but for Timely, at least, it appears to have ended with the cancellation of Captain America Comics at issue #75 (Feb. 1950) — by which time the series had already been Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues, with the finale featuring merely anthological horror/suspense tales and no superheroes. Sub-Mariner Comics had already ended with #32 (June 1949), and the company's flagship title, Marvel Mystery Comics
Marvel Mystery Comics
Marvel Mystery Comics is an American comic book series published during the 1930s-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books...
, starring the Human Torch, ended that same month with #92, becoming 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...
beginning with issue #93 (Aug. 1949). Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
, the newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated Nov. 1951.
Timely characters and creators
List of characters making multiple appearances, either in Timely Comics solely or in Timely and subsequent companies Atlas Comics and Marvel Comics| Character | Debut | Reintroduced (Modern Age) | Creators |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angel | Marvel Comics Marvel Mystery Comics Marvel Mystery Comics is an American comic book series published during the 1930s-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books... #1 (Nov. 1939) |
The Avengers Avengers (comics) The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers... #97 (March 1972); U.S. Agent U.S. Agent U.S. Agent is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually those starring Captain America and the Avengers. He was created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary in Captain America vol... #3 (Aug. 1993) |
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... (writer-artist) |
| Black Marvel Black Marvel The Black Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Al Gabriele, he first appeared in Mystic Comics #5 , published by Marvel's 1940s forerunner Timely Comics during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic... |
Mystic Comics Mystic Comics Mystic Comics is the name of four comic book series published by the company that would eventually become Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books... #5 (March 1941) |
Stan Lee Stan Lee Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.... (writer), Al Gabriele Al Gabriele Albert Gabriele or possibly Alfred Gabriele was an American comic book artist during the 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books... (penciller-inker) |
|
| Black Widow | Mystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940) | Marvels #1 (Jan. 1994) The Twelve #1 (March 2008) |
George Kapitan (writer), Harry Sahle Harry Sahle Harry Frank Sahle was an American comic book artist who drew for such publishers as Archie Comics, Quality Comics and the Marvel Comics precursor company Timely Comics during the 1930s-1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books.In 1940, with writer George Kapitan, Sahle... (penciller-inker) |
| Blue Blade Blue Blade The Blue Blade is an American comic book character owned by Marvel Comics who exists in that company's Marvel Universe. His only appearance was in USA Comics #5, published in the 1940s by Marvel's forerunner, Timely Comics, during a period that is known as the Golden Age of Comic Books.After the... |
U.S.A. Comics U.S.A. Comics U.S.A. Comics was an American comic-book series published by Marvel Comics' 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books.... #5 (Summer 1942) |
The Twelve #1 (March 2008) | 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.... (penciller), Charles Nicholas (inker) |
| Blazing Skull Blazing Skull The Blazing Skull is a fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, created during the 1930-'40s Golden Age of Comic Books for Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics... |
Mystic Comics #5 (March 1941) | The Avengers #97 (March 1972); The Avengers vol. 3, #82 (July 2004) | |
| Blonde Phantom Blonde Phantom The Blonde Phantom is a fictional masked crime fighter in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Syd Shores for Marvel predecessor Timely Comics, she first appeared in All Select Comics #11 , during the 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden... |
All Select Comics All Select Comics All Select Comics is an American comic book series published by Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books... #11 (Fall 1946) |
The Sensational She-Hulk #4 (July 1989) | Stan Lee (writer), 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.... (penciller), Charles Nicholas (inker) |
| Blue Blaze | Mystic Comics #1 (March 1940) | Harry Douglas (writer-penciller-inker) | |
| Bucky Bucky Bucky is the name of several fictional characters, masked superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as a sidekick character in Captain America Comics #1 , published by Marvel's 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics... |
Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) | As Winter Soldier: Captain America vol. 5, #1 (Jan. 2005) As Captain America: Captain America vol. 5, #34 (Jan. 2008) |
|
| Blue Diamond Blue Diamond (comics) Blue Diamond is a fictional character, a superhero in comic-books published by Marvel Comics, debuting under the company's 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics.... |
Daring Mystery Comics Daring Mystery Comics Daring Mystery Comics is an American comic-book series published by Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics, during the 1930-1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books... #7 (April 1941) |
Ben Thompson (penciller-inker) | |
| Captain America Captain America Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby... |
Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) | The Avengers #4 (March 1964) | 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... (writer), 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.... (penciller), Joe Simon and Al Liederman (inkers) |
| Captain Terror | U.S.A. Comics #2 (Nov. 1941) | ||
| Captain Wonder Captain Wonder (Timely Comics) Captain Wonder is a fictional comic book character, first published by Timely Comics, the forerunner of Marvel Comics during the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books. He is superhero who possesses the power of super strength... |
Kid Komics #1 (Feb. 1943) | The Twelve #1 (March 2008) | |
| Challenger Challenger (comics) The Challenger is a fictional superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the company's 1940s iteration as Timely Comics during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.-Publication history:... |
Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941) | She-Hulk She-Hulk She-Hulk is a Marvel Comics superheroine. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in Savage She-Hulk #1 .... #11 (March 2005) |
|
| Citizen V Citizen V Citizen V, is the codename of several fictional superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original Citizen V was an obscure hero from the Golden Age of Comic Books, but the character's identity was revived in the modern day in the pages of Thunderbolts. The various incarnations of the... |
Daring Mystery Comics #8 (Jan. 1942) | Ben Thompson (penciler-inker) | |
| Comet Pierce | Red Raven Comics Red Raven Red Raven is a fictional comic-book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Joe Simon and Louis Cazeneuve in Red Raven Comics #1 Red Raven is a fictional comic-book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Joe Simon and Louis Cazeneuve in Red Raven Comics #1 Red Raven is a... #1 (Aug. 1940) |
Jack Kirby (penciler) | |
| Destroyer | Mystic Comics #6 (Oct. 1941) | Stan Lee (writer), Jack Binder Jack Binder (comics) Jack Binder was a Golden Age comics creator and art packager. A fine artist by education, Binder had a prolific comics career that lasted from 1937–1946, then continued from "semi-retirement" until 1953. He was the creator of the original comic book Daredevil, for Lev Gleason Publications... (penciler-inker) |
|
| Dynamic Man Dynamic Man (Timely Comics) Dynamic Man is a fictional comic book character, first published by Timely Comics, the forerunner of Marvel Comics during the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books.... |
Mystic Comics #1 (1940) | The Twelve #1 (March 2008) | Daniel Peters |
| Electro | Marvel Mystery #4 (Feb. 1940) | The Twelve #1 (March 2008) | Steve Dahlman (writer-artist) |
| Ferret | Marvel Mystery Comics #4 (Feb. 1940) | ||
| Fiery Mask Fiery Mask Fiery Mask is a fictional character from the Timely/Marvel Comics universe. He was a Golden Age superhero created by Joe Simon and first appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #1.-Publication history:... |
Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Jan. 1940) | The Twelve #1 (March 2008) | Joe Simon (writer-penciller-inker) |
| Fin Fin (comics) The Fin is the name of two characters from Marvel Comics. The Golden Age Fin has elements of both the swashbuckling pirate and superhero genres.-The Fin :-Publication history:... |
Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941) | The Avengers #97 (March 1972); The New Invaders #2 (Nov. 2004) | 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... (writer-penciller-inker) |
| Flexo the Rubber Man (Rubber robot, not stretching hero) |
Mystic Comics #1 (April 1940) | Jack Binder (penciller-inker) | |
| Human Torch | Marvel Comics #1 (Nov. 1939) | Fantastic Four Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium... Annual #4 (Nov. 1966) |
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... (writer-penciller-inker) |
| Hurricane | Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) | Jack Kirby (penciller), Joe Simon (inker) | |
| Jack Frost | U.S.A. Comics #1 (Aug. 1941) | Marvel Premiere Marvel Premiere Marvel Premiere is an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. It ran for 61 issues from April 1972 to August 1981.... #29 (April 1976) |
Stan Lee (writer), Charles Nicholas (artist) |
| John Steele John Steele (comics) John Steele is a fictional character, a superhuman World War II soldier in the .-Publication history:The character first appeared Daring Mystery Comics #1 and was created by Larry Antonette... |
Daring Mystery Comics #1 | The Marvels Project #1 (Oct. 2009) | Dean Carr |
| Laughing Mask Laughing Mask The Laughing Mask is a Timely Comics Golden Age superhero who appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #2, 1941, and reappeared in The Twelve.His one Golden Age story was reprinted in The Twelve #0.-Fictional character biography:... |
Daring Mystery Comics #2 | The Twelve #1 (March 2008) | |
| Major Liberty | U.S.A. Comics #1 (Aug. 1941) | ||
| Marvel Boy (first) | Daring Mystery Comics #6 (Sept. 1940) | Jack Kirby (penciller), Joe Simon and Al Avison (inkers) | |
| Marvel Boy (second) | U.S.A. Comics #7 (Feb. 1943) | Bob Oksner Bob Oksner Bob Oksner was an American comics artist known for both adventure comic strips and for superhero and humor comic books, primarily at DC Comics.-Biography:... (writer-penciller-inker) |
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| Marvex the Super-Robot | Daring Mystery Comics #3 (April 1940) | ||
| Master Mind Excello Master Mind Excello Master Mind Excello is an American comic book character owned by Marvel Comics who exists in that company's Marvel Universe... |
Mystic Comics #2 | The Twelve #1 (March 2008) | |
| Mercury | Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940) | ||
| Miss America Miss America (Marvel Comics) Miss America is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #49 Miss America (Madeline Joyce Frank) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in Marvel Mystery... |
Marvel Mystery Comics Marvel Mystery Comics Marvel Mystery Comics is an American comic book series published during the 1930s-1940s period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books... #49 (Nov. 1943) |
Giant-Size Avengers #1 (Aug. 1974) | Otto Binder Otto Binder Otto Oscar Binder was an American author of science fiction and non-fiction books and stories, and comic books... (writer), Al Gabriele (penciller) |
| Mister E Mister E (Timely Comics) Mister E was a Timely Comics Golden Age superhero. He appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #2, and reappears in 2008 in The Twelve. His only story has been reprinted in The Twelve #1/2.... |
Daring Mystery Comics #2 | ||
| Monako the Magician | Daring Mystery Comics #1 | The Marvels Project #1 (Oct. 2009) | |
| Namora Namora Namora is a fictional character, a superhero in the . She is from Atlantis and is the daughter of an Atlantean father and a human mother. She is the cousin of Namor the Sub-Mariner.-Publication history:... |
Marvel Mystery Comics #82 (May 1947) | Sub-Mariner #33 (January 1971) | |
| Patriot Jeffrey Mace Jeffrey Solomon "Jeff" Mace, also known as the Patriot and Captain America, is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, created during the 1940s period which fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books... |
Marvel Mystery Comics #21 (July 1941) | The Avengers #97 (March 1972); The Invaders The Invaders The Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968... #5 (March 1976) |
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| Phantom Reporter Phantom Reporter The Phantom Reporter is a fictional comic book character who first appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #3, published by Timely Comics, the forerunner to Marvel Comics, during the period known to fans and historians as the Golden Age of Comic Books.He appears in The Twelve. He had no known superpowers... |
Daring Mystery Comics #3 | ||
| Red Raven Red Raven Red Raven is a fictional comic-book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Joe Simon and Louis Cazeneuve in Red Raven Comics #1 Red Raven is a fictional comic-book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Joe Simon and Louis Cazeneuve in Red Raven Comics #1 Red Raven is a... |
Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940) | X-Men Uncanny X-Men Uncanny X-Men, first published as The X-Men, is the flagship Marvel Comics comic book series for the X-Men franchise. It is the mainstream continuity featuring the adventures of the eponymous group of mutant superheroes... #44 (May 1968) |
Joe Simon (writer), Louis Cazeneuve Louis Cazeneuve Luis "Louis" Cazeneuve was an Argentine-born American comic-book artist best-known for co-creating the Marvel Comics character Red Raven and for his prolific work on the DC Comics characters Aquaman, Shining Knight, the Boy Commandos and others during the 1940s period fans and historians call the... (penciller) |
| Rockman Rockman (comics) Rockman is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared in U.S.A. Comics #1 , published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the 1930s to 1940s period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comics... |
U.S.A. Comics #1 (Aug. 1941) | The Twelve #1 (March 2008) | |
| Sub-Mariner | Marvel Comics #1 (Nov. 1939) | Fantastic Four Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium... #4 (May 1962) |
Bill Everett (writer-penciller-inker) |
| Sun Girl Sun Girl (Marvel Comics) Sun Girl is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by artist Ken Bald and an unidentified writer, she first appeared in Sun Girl #1 , published by Marvel's 1940s precursor, Timely Comics.-Publication history:Sun Girl starred in a namesake three-issue... |
Sun Girl #1 (Aug. 1948) | ||
| Thin Man Thin Man (comics) The Thin Man is a fictional, American comic book character in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. Created by artist Klaus Nordling and an unknown writer in Mystic Comics #4 , published by Marvel predecessor Timely Comics during the time fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books, the... |
Mystic Comics #4 (July 1940) | Marvel Premiere #29 (April 1976) | Klaus Nordling Klaus Nordling Klaus Nordling was a Finnish American writer-artist for American comic books. He is best-known for his work on the 1940s masked-crimefighter feature "Lady Luck", and as co-creator of the Marvel Comics superhero the Thin Man. Some of Nordling's earliest comic books are signed F... (penciller-inker) |
| Thunderer | Daring Mystery Comics #7 (April 1941) | ||
| Toro Toro (comics) Toro is the name of two characters from Marvel Comics. The first Toro was originally featured in Timely Comics and later as a Marvel Comics superhero who appeared as the partner of the original Human Torch.-Publication history:... |
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| Vision | Marvel Mystery Comics #13 (Nov. 1940) | The Avengers #97 (March 1972) | Jack Kirby & Joe Simon (writers); Jack Kirby (penciller-inker) |
| Whizzer Whizzer (Robert Frank) The Whizzer is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared during the 1930s-1940s period that fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.-Publication history:... |
U.S.A. Comics #1 (Aug. 1941) | Giant-Size Avengers #1 (Aug. 1974) | Stan Lee? (writer) Al Avison (penciller), Al Gabriele (inker) |
| The Witness Witness (comics) The Witness is the name of at least three fictional, American comic-book characters, the first published by Timely Comics in the 1940s and the final two by its successor company, Marvel Comics.-Timely Comics:-Publication history:... |
Mystic Comics #6 (Dec. 1941) | The Twelve #1 (March 2008) | Stan Lee (writer) |
| Young Allies | Young Allies Comics #1 (July 1941) | Jack Kirby (penciller), 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.... (inker) |
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External links
- Timely Atlas Cover Gallery
- Nevins, JessJess NevinsJohn J. Nevins, MA/MS, is an American author and librarian, born 30 July 1966 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author of the World Fantasy Award-nominated Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana , and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction...
. A Guide to Golden Age Marvel Characters. WebCitation archive. - Nevins, Jess. A Guide to Marvel's Pre-FF #1 Heroes (with the exception of the Golden Age). Web.Archive.org archive.