Marvel Mystery Comics
Marvel Comics Marvel Mystery Comics Marvel Tales | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Format | Ongoing series |
Genre | Superhero (#1–92) Horror (#93–159) |
Publication date | October 1939 – August 1957 |
No. of issues | 159 |
Marvel Mystery Comics (first issue titled simply Marvel 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. It was the first publication of Marvel Comics' predecessor, Timely Comics, a division of Timely Publications.
In 1949, with the popularity of superheroes having waned, the book was converted into the horror anthology Marvel Tales from issue #93–159 (Aug. 1949 – Aug. 1957), when it ceased publication.[1] Marvel published a different series of the same name in the 1960s, primarily reprinting Spider-Man stories.
Publication history
Premiere issue: Marvel Comics #1
In 1939,
On August 31, 1939, his first effort, Marvel Comics #1 (
That initial magazine 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.[6] 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.
As Marvel Mystery Comics
The Human 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).[7]
Other characters introduced in the title include the aviator the
Serials included in Marvel Mystery Comics
(in order of appearance)
The Human Torch (October 1939 – June 1949)
The Angel (October 1939 – December 1946)
The Sub-Mariner (October 1939 – April 1949)
The Masked Raider (October 1939 – October 1940)
Ken Masters/Professor John Roberts (October 1939)
The Adventures of Ka-Zar the Great (October 1939 – January 1942)
American Ace (December 1939 – January 1940)
Electro, the Marvel of the Age (February 1940 – May 1941)
Ferret, Mystery Detective (February 1940 – July 1940)
Terry Vance, The School Boy Sleuth (August 1940 – July 1944)
The Vision (November 1940 – October 1943)
Marvel Tales (1949–1957)
The first Marvel Tales was the direct continuation of the superhero anthology Marvel Mystery Comics, published by Marvel Comics' initial iteration, Timely Comics. This series ran through issue #92 (cover-dated June 1949). Beginning with issue #93 (Aug. 1949), it became Marvel Tales, an anthology of horror, fantasy, and science fiction stories.[8][9][10] The bulk of this series was published under the company name Atlas Comics.
Marvel Tales included among its contributors writer and editor-in-chief Stan Lee and such comics artists as Golden Age veterans Harry Anderson, Carl Burgos, Bill Everett, Fred Kida, Mike Sekowsky, Syd Shores, and Ogden Whitney, and, early in their careers, Dick Ayers, Gene Colan, Tony DiPreta, Mort Drucker, Russ Heath, Bernard Krigstein, Joe Maneely, Joe Sinnott, and Basil Wolverton, among others.[11] Issue #147 featured one of Steve Ditko's first stories for Marvel, "The Vanishing Martians".[12] The series ran 67 issues under the new title, through #159 (Aug. 1957).[13] It ended because of the collapse of Atlas's distributor, American News Company, and the subsequent restructuring that limited the number of comics the company could publish in a month.[14][15]
An issue of Marvel Tales was included in a display of covers representative of the "Crime, Horror & Weird Variety" at the April 1954 hearings of the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency.[16]
Marvel published a different series of the same name in the 1960s, primarily reprinting Spider-Man stories.
Reprints
- Marvel Comics #1 (50th anniversary edition; reprints #1, 1990; ISBN 0-87135-729-1)
- 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)
- Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus Vol. 2 (Marvel Mystery Comics #13-24)
- 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)
- Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 7 (Marvel Mystery Comics #25-28)
See also
References
- ^ Marvel Tales (Marvel, 1949 series) at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ "Marvel Comics (1939) #1". Marvel.com. Marvel Comics. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Marvel Comics #1". Grand Comics Database.
- ^ Ka-Zar at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 21, 2011. The Ka-Zar here, who would appear in every issue through Marvel Mystery Comics #27 (Jan. 1942), is unrelated to the Marvel Comics jungle lord Ka-Zar introduced in The X-Men #10 (March 1965).
- ISBN 0-7851-1609-5, as given in the contents page and as signed on the first page of the story, reprinted on pp. 46–51
- ^ Per researcher Keif Fromm, Alter Ego #49, p. 4 (caption)
- ^ a b Marvel Mystery Comics at the Grand Comics Database
- ISBN 978-0756641238.
- ^ Benton, Mike (1991). Horror Comics: The Illustrated History. Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing Company. p. 11.
- ^ Schelly, Bill (2020). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1950s. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 41.
- ^ Marvel Tales, Marvel, 1949 series at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Schelly, Bill (2020). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1950s. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 159.
- ISBN 9780810938212.
- ^ "Stan the Man & Roy the Boy: A Conversation Between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas", Comic Book Artist (2). Summer 1998. Archived from the original on November 14, 2009.
- ^ Bradley, Drew (November 5, 2018). "Ghosts of Comics' Past: November in Comic History – Outcault Debuts, Atlas Closes". Multiversity Comics. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
- ^ Hajdu, David (2008). The Ten Cent Plague. New York City: Picador. p. 256.