(January 1940)

Marvel, 1939 Series
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Volume
1
Price
0.10 USD
Pages
68
Indicia Frequency
monthly
On-sale Date
1939-11-17
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
Timely Publications
Editing
Martin Goodman (editor)

Issue Notes

On sale date from the publication date found at the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 2, Periodicals, New Series, Volume 35, January-December 1940, Numbers 1-4. Class B Periodical. Copyright number B 437425.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents)

The Angel / cover / 1 page (report information)

Pencils
Alex Schomburg ? (see notes)
Inks
Alex Schomburg ? (see notes)
Colors
?
Letters
?
First Line of Dialogue or Text
Unaware of death behind him, the Angel went into action
Genre
superhero
Characters
The Angel [Tom Halloway]
Reprints
Keywords
automatic pistols; hatchets; skeletons

Indexer Notes

If, as claimed, this IS Schomberg it's a very different style to anything that followed.

Cover Thumbnail for Marvel Mystery Comics (Marvel, 1939 series) #3
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Cover gallery

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 1) (Expand) /

Brownscope Co. / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

[The Menace from Mars] (Table of Contents: 2)

Human Torch / comic story / 16 pages (report information)

Script
Carl Burgos (credited) (signed as Burgos)
Pencils
Carl Burgos (credited) (signed as Burgos)
Inks
Carl Burgos (credited) (signed as Burgos)
Colors
?
Letters
Carl Burgos (credited) (signed as Burgos)
First Line of Dialogue or Text
The streamline train, Comet, cracks out a steady rhythm as her nose heads for Texas.
Feature Logo
The Human Torch
Genre
superhero
Characters
The Human Torch; Mr. Carson (introduction, owner of the Carson Explosive Company, death); Diane Carson (daughter of Mr. Carson); the Martians (villains, introduction); Captain Ott (villain, introduction, a Martian); Mr. Ritton (villain, introduction, agent of the planet Mars on Earth, death)
Synopsis
After an attack on New York by Martians, the Torch decides that a new explosive called Trinitrotoluol is probably better off in the hands of the Martians rather than allowing it to remain on Earth.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Torch wears a blue costume. He doesn't adopt the Jim Hammond identity until issue #4.

[The Voodoo Sacrifice] (Table of Contents: 3)

The Angel / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script
Ray Gill ?; Paul Gustavson ?
Pencils
Paul Gustavson (signed) (sourced)
Inks
Paul Gustavson (signed) (sourced)
Colors
?
Letters
Paul Gustavson (sourced)
First Line of Dialogue or Text
Voodoo drums of sacrifice beat louder and more vigorously every second but a few miles from the great city of New York...
Genre
superhero
Characters
The Angel [Tom Halloway]; The Sacred One (villain, introduction, death); a voodoo cult (villains, introduction)
Synopsis
The Angel must battle a voodoo cult that has kidnapped young women to sacrifice to their fire god.
Reprints

[Enter: Betty Dean] (Table of Contents: 4)

Namor the Sub-Mariner / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script
Bill Everett (signed) (see notes)
Pencils
Bill Everett (signed) (see notes)
Inks
Bill Everett (signed) (see notes)
Colors
?
Letters
Bill Everett (signed) (see notes)
First Line of Dialogue or Text
The Sub-Mariner, amphibious demon of the earth, bent on an inspired campaign against the white man -- mainly American -- who has all but obliterated his south Antarctic race
Genre
superhero
Characters
The Sub-Mariner [Prince Namor]; Inspector Peterson; Betty Dean (introduction); Esther; a Nazi U-boat crew (villains, introduction for all, all die)
Synopsis
The police concoct a plan to use police officer Betty Dean as bait in a trap to capture the Sub-Mariner, but instead she convinces Namor to fight for the Allies in the war.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Story continued next issue.

Everett signs again on the final page.

[The Land Grabbers] (Table of Contents: 5)

The Masked Raider / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script
Al Anders ?
Pencils
Al Anders (credited as Anders)
Inks
Al Anders (credited as Anders)
Colors
?
Letters
?
First Line of Dialogue or Text
Thet's our answer!
Genre
western-frontier
Characters
Masked Raider [Jim Gardley]; Barney (the sheriff); Jeb Barnes; Dan Barnes; Jed Sirrah (villain, introduction, death?); Brace (villain); Dan (villain)
Synopsis
The Raider has to deal with a group of outlaws, who are trying to run a man off his run-down ranch in order to get to gold buried in the hills and oil deposits as well. The outlaws decide to frame the owner and have the sheriff run him off.
Reprints

[Origin of the American Ace, Part 2] (Table of Contents: 6)

American Ace / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script
Paul Lauretta ? (see notes)
Pencils
Paul Lauretta (credited) (signed as Paul J. Lauretta)
Inks
Paul Lauretta (credited) (signed as Paul J. Lauretta)
Colors
?
Letters
Paul Lauretta (see notes)
First Line of Dialogue or Text
As roaring flames lick up the ruins of a once beautiful city -- Perry Wade, American, wanders the streets...
Genre
adventure; aviation
Characters
American Ace [Perry Wade] (Origin, Part 2); Jeanie; Queen Ursula (villain)
Synopsis
Perry takes the girl he saved last month back to her father and sister then heads back to his fight against Queen Ursula. However, he is seriously wounded but returns and is tended to by Jeanie.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Last golden age American Ace story. A similar or reworked feature titled Lieutenant Lank appears at Centaur in Amazing Mystery Funnies #24 http://www.comics.org/issue/1026/#1153116 and The Arrow #2 http://www.comics.org/issue/1083/#16332.

Next appearance in All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes (Marvel, 2011 series) #4.

Lauretta was famously let go by Timely because his stories were too complex for children, so he is likely to be the scripter here. In addition, he is known to have lettered Superman stories for National.

Siegfried Suicide (Table of Contents: 7)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script
David Cooke (credited as David C. Cooke)
Pencils
Bill Everett (signed as Everett) (illustrations)
Inks
Bill Everett (signed as Everett) (illustrations)
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Genre
war
Characters
Sgt. Bill Stern; the Germans (villains)
Synopsis
Sgt. Stern and his company of men attempt to smash a hole through the German fortifications along the Siegfried Line.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Story set in World War I.

Text story with illustrations.

Third Episode (Table of Contents: 8)

Ka-Zar the Great / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script
Ben Thompson ?
Pencils
Ben Thompson (signed)
Inks
Ben Thompson (signed)
Colors
?
Letters
?
First Line of Dialogue or Text
One day a caravan, led by a white man, crosses the mountains and rocky gorges to the east of Ka-Zar's jungle home.
Genre
adventure; jungle
Characters
Ka-Zar [David Rand]; Steve Hardy (introduction); Tuta (an elephant); Trajah (an elephant); Quog (a wild hog); N'Jaga (a leopard); Paul DeKraft (villain)
Synopsis
A hunter, who has enlisted the aid of local natives in his search for, has a hard time convincing those natives that it was a man [Ka-Zar] who was interfering with their hunt and not a jungle god as they thought.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Story continued in next issue.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 9) (Expand) /

Remington Rand, Inc. / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 10) (Expand) /

Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Editing
Issue at my.comics.org
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. ["Unaware of death behind him, the Angel went into action"]
    The Angel
  2. 1. ["Hi Fellers!"]
    Brownscope Co.
  3. 2. [The Menace from Mars]
    Human Torch
  4. 3. [The Voodoo Sacrifice]
    The Angel
  5. 4. [Enter: Betty Dean]
    Namor the Sub-Mariner
  6. 5. [The Land Grabbers]
    The Masked Raider
  7. 6. [Origin of the American Ace, Part 2]
    American Ace
  8. 7. Siegfried Suicide
  9. 8. Third Episode
    Ka-Zar the Great
  10. 9. ["This Beautiful Desk"]
    Remington Rand, Inc.
  11. 10. ["30 Shot Automatic Repeater"]
    Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Hrayr Abazyan
  • Henry Andrews
  • Ray Bottorff Jr
  • David Bruce
  • Keith Chandler
  • Peter Croome
  • Craig Delich
  • Kauldi Gilibert
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Mark Q
  • Tony R. Rose
  • Jim Van Dore
  • Tom Zsolt
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