(March 1940)

Marvel, 1939 Series
< Previous Issue |
| Next Issue >
Volume
1
Price
0.10 USD
Pages
68
Indicia Frequency
monthly
On-sale Date
1940-01-17
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 periodic. Copyright number B 440900.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents)

Human Torch / cover / 1 page (report information)

Pencils
Alex Schomburg
Inks
Alex Schomburg
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
First Line of Dialogue or Text
Like a flaming comet, the Human Torch streaked to the rescue!
Genre
superhero
Characters
The Human Torch [Jim Hammond]
Reprints
Cover Thumbnail for Marvel Mystery Comics (Marvel, 1939 series) #5
Edit cover
Cover gallery

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

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

[The Orton Medical Mission] (Table of Contents: 2)

Human Torch / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script
Carl Burgos (signed)
Pencils
Carl Burgos (signed) (sourced)
Inks
Carl Burgos (signed)
Colors
?
Letters
Carl Burgos ?
Genre
superhero
Characters
The Human Torch [Jim Hammond]; Johnson; Tom; Blake (villain introduction, death); Hank (villain, introduction, death)
Synopsis
A medical emergency and crisis in the city of Orton during a blizzard forces the Torch to make a trip to that town with a plane full of medical supplies. Unfortunately, the plane crash lands and the supplies are stolen by a couple of escaped convicts.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Torch is finally in a red uniform.

[Adventure of the Overturned Cars] (Table of Contents: 3)

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

Script
Paul Gustavson ?; Ray Gill ?
Pencils
Paul Gustavson
Inks
Paul Gustavson
Colors
?
Letters
Paul Gustavson
Genre
superhero
Characters
The Angel [Tom Halloway]; Miss Mary; Mulligan (Policeman); Slugger (villain, introduction); Nick (villain, introduction); their gang (villains, introduction for all)
Synopsis
The Angel rescues a girl and prevents a gang of bank robbers from successfully making a getaway with their loot.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Oddity: the Angel appears bare-legged in this story.

Gustavson credits from Terry Gustafson, son of Paul Gustavson.

[On the Side of the Surface Men] (Table of Contents: 4)

Namor the Sub-Mariner / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script
Bill Everett (signed)
Pencils
Bill Everett (signed)
Inks
Bill Everett (signed)
Colors
?
Letters
Bill Everett (signed)
Genre
superhero
Characters
The Sub-Mariner [Prince Namor]; Betty Dean; Tha-Korr; Lt. Mogar; Mills Gilligan (villain, introduction)
Synopsis
Namor, after successfully ending the mine and sub menace in the Atlantic, briefly visits home, then heads back to America to help out with ending non-war related crime. But on his arrival, he is immediately taken prisoner until Betty Dean convinces the authorities to release him to deal with criminals that have flooded the city's subway system.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Story continued next issue.

[Mystery of the Poisoned Arrows] (Table of Contents: 5)

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

Script
Al Anders ?
Pencils
Al Anders (signed as Anders)
Inks
Al Anders (signed as Anders)
Colors
?
Letters
?
Genre
western-frontier
Characters
The Masked Raider [Jim Gardley]; Ben Wallis; Sam (deputy, death); Grimsey (villain, introduction); Manuel (villain, introduction)
Synopsis
The Raider must deduce the reason behind a series of murders by poisoned arrow that occur close to election day.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Story title taken from last panel in strip found in Marvel Mystery #4.

It's in the Cards (Table of Contents: 6)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script
Ray Gill (signed)
Pencils
Harry Ramsey (signed as H. Ramsey)
Inks
Harry Ramsey (signed as H. Ramsey)
Colors
?
Letters
typeset
Genre
adventure
Characters
Ace Carver; Alice Carver; Billy Creele; "Slit" Kincaid (villain)
Synopsis
Ace Carver, a member of the "Clever Carvers," a performing troupe involved in card tricks and memory stunts, trys to woo a young kid away from the clutches of the evil "Slit" Kincaid by agreeing to teach him their tricks of the trade.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Illustration at top of text piece.

[The Tyrant of Torpis] (Table of Contents: 7)

Electro / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script
Steve Dahlman ?
Pencils
Steve Dahlman (signed as Dahl)
Inks
Steve Dahlman (signed as Dahl)
Colors
?
Letters
?
Genre
superhero
Characters
Electro; Professor Philo Zog; King Sangor; Bill (Operative #4); Kalph Belgri (villain, introduction, death)
Synopsis
Professor Zog informs Operatives #1 and #4 that he is going to dispatch them and Electro to the Republic of Molivia, which has been invaded by the armies of Kalph Belgri, who seeks to control that nation.
Reprints

[King of the Counterfeiters] (Table of Contents: 8)

Ferret, Mystery Detective / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script
Bob Davis (signed as Stockbridge Winslow)
Pencils
Irwin Hasen (signed as I. Hasen)
Inks
Irwin Hasen (signed as I. Hasen)
Colors
?
Letters
?
Genre
detective-mystery
Characters
Ferret; Nosey (a ferret); Little Frankie (death); Rickey (villain, introduction)
Synopsis
The death of an underground stoolie and a piece of blank paper lead Ferret to a major counterfeiting ring.
Reprints

Fifth Episode [Return of the Oman] (Table of Contents: 9)

Ka-Zar the Great / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script
Ben Thompson ?
Pencils
Ben Thompson (signed)
Inks
Ben Thompson (signed)
Colors
?
Letters
?
Genre
jungle
Characters
Ka-Zar [David Rand]; John Rand (cameo); Zar (a lion); N'Jaga (a leopard); Nono (a monkey); Paul De Kraft [aka Fat Face] (villain, death); Ed Kivlin (villain, death); Aorangi (villain); Bwala (villain)
Synopsis
When De Kraft learns that David Rand [aka Ka-Zar] still lives, he tracks down the "Jungle God" and takes him captive, arranging a rather protracted and cruel death for him.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

Character created by Bob Byrd.

The bracketed story title was given in the last panel of the Ka-Zar story in Marvel Mystery #3.

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

Lancaster County Seed Co. / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 11) (Expand) /

Peck Brothers / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Editing
Issue at my.comics.org
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. ["Like a flaming comet, the Human Torch streaked to the rescue!"]
    Human Torch
  2. 1. ["Conquer space, explore the universe with this magic eye 60 power telescope"]
    Brownscope Co.
  3. 2. [The Orton Medical Mission]
    Human Torch
  4. 3. [Adventure of the Overturned Cars]
    The Angel
  5. 4. [On the Side of the Surface Men]
    Namor the Sub-Mariner
  6. 5. [Mystery of the Poisoned Arrows]
    The Masked Raider
  7. 6. It's in the Cards
  8. 7. [The Tyrant of Torpis]
    Electro
  9. 8. [King of the Counterfeiters]
    Ferret, Mystery Detective
  10. 9. Fifth Episode [Return of the Oman]
    Ka-Zar the Great
  11. 10. ["C’mon — boys - girls - men - women Pick your prize"]
    Lancaster County Seed Co.
  12. 11. ["Boys print"]
    Peck Brothers
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Hrayr Abazyan
  • Henry Andrews
  • Ray Bottorff Jr
  • David Bruce
  • Craig Delich
  • Clint Maxwell
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Mark Q
  • Tony R. Rose
  • Richard Thomson
  • Jim Van Dore
  • Michael Vance
If you believe any of this data to be incorrect, please let us know.
Cover thumbnails are used for identification purposes only. All rights to cover images reserved by the respective copyright holders.
Creative Commons License All portions of the Grand Comics Database™, except where noted otherwise, are copyrighted by the GCD and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). This includes but is not necessarily limited to our database schema and data distribution format.
The GCD Privacy Policy. The GCD Web Site code is licensed under the GNU General Public License.