#timely comics

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Sub-Mariner - art by Syd Shores (1946)

[browsethestacks]

Reading Marvel Comics

[chernobog13]

From the twisted mind and pen of the one and only Fletcher Hanks!

This is "Whirlwind" Carter's second and last appearance, from the pages of Daring Mystery Comics (vol. 1) #5 (June, 1940).

[silveragelovechild]

Anthony Castrillo

[evilhorse]

The Angel spots the so-called vampire…

[wanderingmind867]

Namor is way cooler than Aquaman, to me. Aquaman was usually always more of a traditional hero, back in the 50s and 60s. But Namor always had an extra anti-hero flair to him. Namor acts the way I'd expect a Prince of Atlantis to act: he's regal and noble, but his allegiance is to Atlantis above all else. The surface-dwellers have only ever oppressed his people, so why should he help them!? Namor will do what he must for his people. If that means he occasionally helps the land dwellers, so be it.

Really, Marvel/Bill Everett may have just had a cleverer premise with Namor than DC/Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris had with Aquaman. Also, marvel created Namor two years before Aquaman! It's almost like aquaman could've been seen as a worse rip-off... And hell, if DC could sue Fawcett over Captain Marvel being too similar to Superman, Marvel should've sued DC for any number of infractions. Starting here. But I can discuss that sometime later.

[funnypages]

And for moon ghosts!

[mediaomnivore]

Because I was reading CrossGen Comics' Mystic from 2000 on Marvel Unlimited, I also got a look at the original Mystic from Timely Comics in 1940, which was fun to look back at.

[yojimbot13]

[kekwcomics]

THE ANGEL DETECTIVE (Manvis, 1941)

"The Totem Pole Murders!"

Art: Frank Hamilton? Published by Martin Goodman - yes, that Martin Goodman, whose wife's cousin was Stan Lee.

[comicavalcade]

SUBMARINER SUMMER SPECIAL: 85 years of Namor, 85 years of Marvel

Hello #NamorNation! Today is the 85th anniversary of Marvel Comics #1, the very first Marvel comic! Of course, this also means it is the 85th anniversary of the very first official appearance of Namor, the Sub-Mariner! So today, because no one demanded it, I rant in a special Submariner Summer 85th Anniversary Special!

(Marvel Comics #1, 1939) Namor was first slated to appear in a special promo giveaway for movie theaters named Motion Picture Funnies Weekly. The giveaway apparently never happened and the comic was unreleased. Bill Everett, the creator/writer/artist, then sold the material to a new comics publisher named Timely for their first flagship title, Marvel Comics, using the material from Motion Picture Funnies Weekly plus some additional pages which introduced his childhood friend and later love interest and eventual first wife, Lady Dorma.

Marvel Comics #1 had several stories in addition to the Sub-Mariner, including of course the original Human Torch, who featured on the cover and was an artificial man, The Angel (no relation), The Masked Rider, and interestingly, Ka-Zar, one of the few Marvel characters to get a DC-style Silver Age reboot, and who is still around in the Marvel Universe today, usually in the Savage Land.

Namor, though, was unique in several ways. For one, his people had a grudge against the surface, and specifically the U.S., because they had suffered a mass catastrophe at the hands of its explorers. So Namor was not just willing to kill, he was urged to by his grandfather, Emperor Tha-Korr, and his mother, the Princess Fen. Still, Namor would continually stop to save people along the way, and in Marvel Comics #3 had his first taste of the upcoming war when he disabled his first Nazi submarine and handed it to the Allies. This complexity of story lends him the status of superhero comics' fist antihero.

But that's not his only first. Superman had already debuted by now, of course, and was a roaring success. But as the famous refrain says, he was super-fast (Faster Than a Speeding Bullet!), super-strong (More Powerful Than a Locomotive!), aaaaaaand...could super-jump (Able to Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound!). It would be years before his status as a flying hero was cemented. Namor, on the other hand, is described right away as "An Ultra-man of the Deep...lives on land and in the sea...FLIES IN THE AIR"! (emphasis mine) That's right, true believers, NAMOR IS THE FIRST FLYING SUPERHERO! As he demonstrates in Marvel Comics #1, flying to catch up to a seaplane with his trusty winged feet.

And last but not least...he was in fact the first underwater prince in comics. He may not always be the most well-known today, but he was in fact the first undersea royal to grace the funny books with his super feats. Nothing against any aquabros, of course.

Namor would go on to great popularity in the Golden Age of Comics, getting his own comic (Sub-Mariner Comics) as well as continuing to appear in Marvel (Mystery) Comics, and later in All Winners Comics. He is a character with eight and a half decades of history, in thousands of comics, hundreds if not thousands of stories. He's had his own solo titles not just in the Golden Age, but after being revived as a character in the Silver Age, would again have his own solo, which continued into the Bronze Age, get another in the Iron Age, and whatever Age we're in now if that's even a thing anymore, to say nothing of a veritable horde of mini-series. But that's not all! He's also a core character in team books the Invaders/All-Winners and the Defenders, and had notable runs with the Avengers and X-men. The first flying superhero, the first comic book antihero, the first sea king. There's just a huge amount of material with the character and immense historical significance.

[Covers of #1 issues from his series in 1941 (the character had already been around 2 years at that time), 1968, 1990, and 2012]

[Founding member of the Invaders/All-Winners and Defenders, member in notable runs of the Avengers and X-men] Now, you MAY ask...why the X-men? OH, well...funny story. He actually has one more notable first: First Mutant (as that last solo book up there clearly states on the cover). But how could that be? Easy! Fantastic Four Annual #1, in which Namor leads an invasion of Manhattan, was published in July of 1963. In it, Namor receives this description:

The first known MUTANT (emphasis theirs!) of our time! For reference, X-men #1 was released that same month; in tried and true Marvel fashion, an existing character in their most popular comic at the time (Fantastic Four) was used to pave the way for the new kids on the block, the X-men! And so, Namor was in fact the first mutant character published by Marvel. And just so there's no misunderstanding, he goes ahead and appears not long after in the pages of X-men itself, namely issue #6:

So his roots with the X-men actually go back farther than many might think. Frankly, I could go on and on with the many key stories and moments and actions Namor has performed and participated in over the decades. He has other firsts, other moments of historical significance. But I will wrap up by saying this: the Test of Time is a longstanding idiom for a reason. Not many things are able to maintain the necessary longevity to withstand it. There certainly aren't very many 85 year old comic book characters around. And while Namor is not as popular today as he once was, his presence is still undeniable; a version of him appeared in the MCU in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in 2022, and there's a Namor miniseries being published right now. His appearances are still significant, in destruction and salvation, an antihero, the antihero, who stood before the rest, and flew before any other.

Godspeed, Sub-Mariner. Here's to 85 more. 🎉🎊🥳

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Tessie the Typist - art by Basil Wolverton (1945)

[jrlunaart]

The original Black Widow has a really interesting backstory, and an intimidating presence. I really hope we get to see more of her in the future!

[browsethestacks]

The Blonde Phantom

Art by Stephanie Buscema

[comic-art-showcase]

Two-Gun Kid by Sanford Greene

[chernobog13]

SUB-MARINER COMICS (vol. 1) #7 (Fall. 1942). Art by Allen Simon and Frank Giacoia.

Don't even bother to ask me what's going on with the perspective, proportions, and the barrel of that poison gas gun.