70 Years of Marvel - 1948

Superheroes might have been on the way out, but super-strong boxers? Another matter entirely. Marvel-Timely's answer to Popeye the Sailor, Powerhouse Pepper was a good-natured strongman (who it appears the Sandman would later base his look on), created by Basil Wolverton, a cartoonist who would spend much of the 40s and 50s working for Timely on various scary books, but who is best remembered for his work on this character.

Elsewhere in 1948, Olivier was back with another Shakespeare adaptation, Hamlet, which would win him an Oscar or two. John Wayne and John Ford were teaming up for Fort Apache. Bogie was starring in Key Largo and the Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Good times. And Milton Berle was becoming a tv star.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Gandhi was being assassinated and Israel was declaring statehood and fighting with its neighbours, forever at this rate.