#timely comics

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Sub-Mariner - art by Syd Shores (1946)

[lokiinmediasideblog]

I do find it wild that despite not being the protagonist, Marvel!Loki was technically created earlier than Marvel!Thor in 1949. This was for Timely Comics (which became Marvel Comics) in a comic aimed towards girls where Venus was the protagonist.

He was designed as a ginger with lots of Satan-like/Hades-like aesthetics at the time (both Marvel!Thor and Marvel!Loki were gingers at first).

Loki as we know him now with the green-gold color scheme and black hair, did appear after Thor in JiM #85 (1962).

There was also a brief time very early where Mjolnir didn't turn Donald Blake into Thor, but Donald Blake just gained Thor's powers while wielding Mjolnir.

[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).

[comicavalcade]

Excuse you, that's his emotional support shark (it emotionally supports him by eating surfacers) Marvel (Mystery) Comics 84, October 1947

[vertigoartgore]

2009's Human Torch Comics 70th Anniversary Special Vol.1 #1 cover by cover artist Adi Granov.

[smashedpages]

Captain America Comics #1 by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon introduced Captain America and Bucky to the world on this day in 1940.

[ghostriderslade]

Iconic Artists and Incredible Heroes #134.

A celebration of the amazing comic book artists who brought us indelible images that best capture the spirit and essence of the superhero or superheroine.

Issue #134 - "A bunch of hotheads".

Carl Burgos, et al / Golden Age Human Torch.

Special Inferno Issue.

[silveragelovechild]

Anthony Castrillo

[evilhorse]

The Angel spots the so-called vampire…

[rei-ismyname]

Beast & Wonder Man judging Dazzler

Fuck off, Wonder Man. Also, Hugo Longride? Come on. How do you run a suspicious underground theatre?

In Beauty and the Beast, Dazzler and Beast bond over their mutant experiences and do romance comic stuff. Before Marvel was Marvel it was Timely comics, and Romance comics were their bread and butter. I think those roots have remained part of Marvel's DNA - most obviously in minis like this and anything with Patsy 'Hellcat' Walker in it.

The formula was deeply focused on feminine virtue and normativity, often having sexualised young women 'straying' to some form of queered romance (only sometimes by choice) like Dazzler does in the panel above - getting browbeaten by a sleazebag for the good of her career.

The 'lost' woman would often be helpless and in some form of mild peril, saved only through the intervention or attention of a 'good' man. Beauty and the Beast subverts the Timely formula by having Dazzler react negatively to Hank's violent entitlement to her attention, and then flips it around by clumsily introducing the shared mutant metaphor and how they each experience it.

It's entertaining enough, though reading without cringing is a challenge. If you're a fan of either Dazzler or Beast it's a must-read IMO. It takes place in the limbo after the initial run of X-Men had been cancelled, with Beast known more as an Avenger/Defender and Dazzler being recently created to unsuccessfully cash in on disco.

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Tessie the Typist - art by Basil Wolverton (1945)

[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.

[browsethestacks]

The Blonde Phantom

Art by Stephanie Buscema

[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!

[comicavalcade]

How many can you name?

Marvel's WWII era heroes at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday, 25 April, 1945.

From The Twelve #1