70 Years Of Marvel - 1943

In 1943, Germany was losing the Battle of Stalingrad, Italy was giving up the fight altogether, and Josef Mengele was arriving at Auschwitz, where some extremely unpleasant activities were being perpetrated.

Meantime, Timely Comics was publishing All Winners Comics. The All-Winners Squad was, as you may know, Marvel / Timely's first super-hero team. Perhaps confusingly, however, the All-Winners Squad wouldn't actually get together until 1946, 5 years after the launch of All Winners Comics, which, for the moment, would be just another anthology book, albeit one featuring the cream of Marvel / Timely's talent.

In the world of movies, the war was on everyone's minds, with Casablanca taking home the Best Picture Oscar. A very young Roddy McDowell was starring with a dog in Lassie Come Home. Basil Rathbone was churning out a new Sherlock Holmes movie every ten minutes or so. And Frankenstein was meeting the Wolf Man.

70 Years Of Marvel - 1942

By 1942, America was firmly involved in WW2, and so were its superheroes. In addition to Cap, Namor and the Torch, there was a second wave of heroes turning out to help fight the Axis hordes. Let's see, who have we got here..?

First, on the left, we have Captain Daring, who, according to the link, fought the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler in the 31st century. I promise I didn't just make that up, although I suspect International Hero did...
Next up, we have the Fin, an American sailor who discovered that sinking to the bottom of the ocean gives you super-strength. Not one of Bill Everett's finest creations, the Fin vanished without trace at the end of the war. Shame, that.
In the centre, we see the Thunderer, so named because his costume contained a built-in microphone, which he used to amplify his voice, "thundering" at his enemies. So, sort of like Black Bolt, but far lamer than Black Bolt could ever dream of being.
Alongside the Thunderer is Citizen V, who longtime readers of my other blog may recall I have something of an affection for. A British soldier who adopted a secret identity, and who went on a one-man rampage across occupied Europe, striking terror into the enemy, Citizen V vanished without a trace at the end of the war, and was unheard of until 1997, when Kurt Busiek chose to use him, or a version of him, as the centrepiece of the Thunderbolts, a different sort of superhero team. In one form or another, he's been around ever since.
Next to Citizen V is Blue Diamond, a terribly obscure hero powered by a super-magical diamond, who made his one and only contemporary appearance in this very issue, spent the next 30 years in limbo, before being revived (albeit in flashback) by Golden Age aficionado, Roy Thomas.
And lastly, in that box down there, we have the Silver Scorpion, another hero who was plucked out of obscurity to be a member of the V-Battalion, courtesy of a 21st century retcon.

And there you have it, a genuine bona fide Golden Age legion of substitute heroes. Of course, most people were choosing to read about Cap, Namor or the Torch, which is why Ed Brubaker isn't currently writing about the exploits of the Thunderer, or, God help us, the Fin.

70 Years of Marvel - 1941

Years before Quentin Tarantino played fast and loose with the history of the Second World War, American comics were presenting youthful readers with the imaginstive sight of Captain America punching out Der Fuhrer. Take that, Fritz!

Captain America, almost the longest-standing Marvel hero, and almost the most successful, was the creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, a couple of youngsters with a promising career in front of them. Both Simon and Kirby would soon fall out with Timely publisher, Martin Goodman, quit the company, which in turn would give another promising youngster his big break. Yes, true believers, 1941 was the year that Stanley "The Manley" Lieber broke into comics. The rest, as they say, is history, with a smidgeon of hype.

Meanwhile, in the real world, America wasn't quite ready to enter the war. That would change, in November, when Japanese forces attacked a US naval base in Hawaii. Pearl Harbour would finally provoke America into taking sides, which would make things a lot harder for the Axis powers.

Meantime, in showbiz news, Citizen Kane and Dumbo were out at the pictures, as was The Maltese Falcon. And Woody Woodpecker was making his first appearance.

70 Years Of Marvel - 1940

Marvel Comics lasted precisely one issue, before adding the word "Mystery" into the title. From the looks of it, the logo's designer wasn't really throwing his heart and soul into the job.

1940 saw something of an expansion in the Marvel Comics line, with the arrival of Daring Mystery Comics, Human Torch Comics, Mystic Comics, and Red Raven Comics, all published under the Timely Comics brand.

As you can see, by 1940, the Sub-Mariner had joined the war against the Nazis, whilst in the real world, Hitler's forces were bombing the crap out of Britain, and Churchill was declining to surrender. Ever.

In other news, Pinocchio was out at the cinema, as was The Mark Of Zorro (which would, in other comics news, inspire young Bruce Wayne to dress up as a flying mouse and terrorise criminals) Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry were making their debut.

70 Years Of Marvel - 1939

So, apparently, Marvel Comics is 70. Which is odd, because in 1986, it was 25. Mind you, Marvel's idea of the passage of time has always been fluid, whether it be the sliding 10-15 year timescale of the Marvel Universe, or confusion over what came first, 1954 or 1961 (just ask Alan Moore). Anyway, in tribute to this alleged anniversary, and in order to fill up some space on the internet, here's the first in a hopefully daily look at Marvel through the years, beginning with...


Where it all began - Marvel Comics #1 - which saw the first appearances of, among others, Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch, as well as the creative talents of such luminaries as Paul Gustavson, Carl Burgos, and of course, Bill Everett. It may not look like much now, but it blazed a trail which successive generations of writers and artists have been following ever since.