Marvel Read-Through: The Timely Era
Here we go, the absolute beginning of the Marvel universe. 1939’s Marvel Comics #1 and beyond into the comic book golden age at Timely Comics (one of Marvel’s names before settling on Marvel). This was quite an illuminating experience for me. I hadn’t read any golden age Marvel, and I was also entirely unaware of the way stories were published during the golden age. I was very surprised when reading to discover that issues were much longer than they are now and contained multiple stories per issue. I enjoyed the simplicity of the one-off stories, especially at first, but being used to modern comics where it is almost always an ongoing story continued in each issue, it became difficult to engage in the long-running series. After reading Marvel Mystery Comics through the first comic book crossover with Namor and the Human Torch, I checked out the solo titles of Torch, Namor, and Captain America. I also checked out the first appearances of Namora, Miss America, and Whizzer as well as a few other crossovers through the 1940s. I ended up reading way more golden age Marvel than I expected. From a historical perspective, I was fascinated with early superhero comic books, and I found myself enamoured by the simplicity and naïve worldview of the 1940s superhero.
Superhero comics were very optimistic and uplifting in this era. The one exception to this that I found was Namor the Sub-Mariner’s early stories. His first few appearances consisted of him trying to destroy America since they have polluted the Earth’s waters, threatening him and his undersea people’s way of life. I even consider him the first antihero. It was an interesting contrast to the Human Torch’s early appearances which were much more along the lines of the archetypal superhero; he was saving the day from criminals and rescuing civilians in need. After just a few appearances, Namor teamed up with the Allied forces to fight the evil Nazis, and, while he was definitely more ruthless than his golden age counterparts, he became a much more standard superhero. The way World War II was incorporated also surprised me. I know about the Invaders super-team and their adventures fighting the Axis in WWII Europe, and I expected to see more of it in these comics. Most of the time, the heroes were defending America from homegrown Nazis, and there was very little overseas war, even after Pearl Harbour. I guess these stories come primarily from the 1960s and 70s Captain America and Invaders books.
Speaking of Captain America, I highly enjoyed reading the first few issues of his solo series. As the character from this era who has carried over into the modern Marvel universe the most, and as one of my top 5 favorite characters in general, reading his beginnings was very interesting. His solo series was probably the one that exemplified the 1940s optimistic superhero the most. He was immediately beloved by the public, trusted civilians to help him when needed, and always came out on top of evil, keeping America safe from fascism in every story. Far-removed from the modern Captain America stories I have read and from the movies, it was a compelling trip into the character’s past.
At first, I was very excited to read the original Human Torch’s comics. I knew very little about him, other than the fact that he inspired the creation of the modern and more famous Human Torch of the Fantastic Four, and that he fought alongside Captain America against the Nazis. I was curious to see the character’s origins and read some of his exploits through the Timely Comics era. This was by far my biggest let down. I found the Torch’s stories to be hit-or-miss and overall very standard. I chalk this up to age since these stories probably felt fresh and new at the time, but they don’t necessarily age well, and aren’t of much interest to someone well-versed in modern comics, other than their historical importance.
Of course, I have to mention the original comic book crossovers: Marvel Mystery Comics #8–10, Human Torch Comics #5b, and the original Marvel comics super-team appearing in All Winners Comics #19 and #21. While it’s commonplace to have crossovers, team-ups, and guest appearances all over the Marvel universe now, the rarity of these crossovers made them feel extra special. They are also important to see how this universe is interconnected across all the titles, a precursor to the 1960s shared Marvel universe across the company’s books. The thing I found the most notable from the All-Winners Squad (Human Torch & Toro, Namor, Captain America & Bucky, Miss America, and Whizzer) is that both team-ups were split into chapters that followed each hero (and sidekick when available) separately. There was very little actual crime-fighting as a team, and I am looking forward to eventually seeing how this idea of a super-team leads to the Avengers and more of a team setting without splitting up the characters into their own little side quests.
I would be wrong not to mention certain aspects of these golden age comics that have not aged well. Whether it was the ‘oriental giants’ who fought Captain America, the Human Torch spanking his young sidekick, or the many sexist and racist remarks, I found myself wincing at some sort of modern political incorrectness at least once an issue. Along these lines, I was surprised at the amount of violence and straight up murder, believing that to be too explicit for this era. I learned that these pre-code comics did not hold back on murder. The art itself was pretty benign, especially when compared to the gorier and more explicit comics that are around now, but I did not expect the amount of casual killing that there was in the stories I read.
I find it difficult to judge the writing quality of these comic books. It was a different time, style, and there were no preconceived techniques or constraints set by an 80-year history. These were new and the writers were free to do almost anything. Obviously it all comes across as cheesy now, but without the modern day lens of a 24-year-old whose comic-reading experiences are mostly from this century, I want to assume that at least most of what I read was considered good. The art is also difficult to judge. There were times where I was amazed with what one artist did with nothing but a pencil and some ink, and times where the old-school art was hard for me to follow, and I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on visually. However, my overall review and opinion on this era is favorable. Due to the aged and cheesy nature, these will never be my favorite comics, but I did end up a lot more intrigued and engaged by this era than I had expected.
Issues read:
Note: due to the nature of these comics containing multiple stories per issue, I did not read all of these issues in their entirety, but instead read select stories that focused on Human Torch and Namor, or through research were deemed important, or were the first appearance of a major character
Marvel Comics #1
Marvel Mystery Comics #2–10
Human Torch Comics #2–5a
Marvel Mystery Comics #17
Human Torch Comics #5b
Sub-Mariner Comics #1–2
Captain America Comics #1–3, #7
USA Comics #1
Marvel Mystery Comics #49
All Winners Comics #19, #21
Marvel Mystery Comics #82
