Ameri

very nice! One of the scarcer issues for sure.

Great guy with a great book

Picked this one up last year

I think Marvel 9 is also mis-attributed which gives Everett co-credit for the cover. The twisted metal girders later proved to be a Schomburg specialty. Sub-Mariner on Marvel 9 has a more pulpy look than later books. Schomburg would replace the brown hair with a more cartoony rendition with black hair and a sharp hairline, but I think the facial structure and arm muscles on Marvel 9 are consistent with later Schomburg drawings. The Torch looks 100% Schomburg and the motorcycle cop bares a strong similarity to other books that Schomburg drew during the same period.

Superman 17 splash. Great cover!

Congrats to Woo Woo and Primetime. #1 and #2 appear the clearest. The wishbone on the cheek seems to move around a lot as Primetime pointed out.

Game time. There was Concentration but this is called Registration. Of the 16 below, which Torch face would you say is the clearest? The winner gets the No-Prize of course. Want a hint? Sorry, no can do! OK ok how about "white pinpoints." I'm losing it folks

Several years ago, I tried categorizing the different periods of Marvel Mystery. Since completing such a run would be uber expensive, I thought I could get a few from each period and be content with that. Here are the periods I felt were distinct: 1-10 - the pioneering classics - Not all 1-10s in comics are considered pioneers, but Marvel Mystery's 1-10 are right up there with Actions 1-10 and Detectives 27-37. The first anti-hero in comics and the lead-up to the battle between Namor and Torch and first crossover in comics that stretched beyond several issues was truly significant. 11-20 - consolidating the formula, putting Namor in costume, looking for new ideas to continue the stories from the previous battle issues but not as strong compared to 1-10. 21-30 - odd period with a mix of war issues and horror issues. Not sure what direction it wanted to take. Burgos, Kirby, Everett are still present but are about ready to leave for war duty and replaced by lesser artists and writers. 31-40 - totally war-oriented covers (except for the 34) but the cover formula is still not perfected yet. Mix of Schomburg, Avison, Gabrielle and Shores. 41-50 - classic war covers. Schomburg was at his peak and he found the formula and they gave him all the cover chores. 51-80 - long period - getting out of war and more into crime covers and the books started thinning out with less pages and the physical size of the issues were also reduced. 81-92 - Schomburg has exited and the series focuses on good girl art.

This might be a stretch, but the text piece by Ray Gill keeps mentioning Bill (Everett?) Williams (William Everett?) and Fred (Schwab?). Just musing

Perhaps this 1938 Centaur planted the seed that lead to MPFW. Lloyd Jacquet moved to Centaur around this time. Early Spider-Man too. LOL

Thanks. Yes, I only have the hardcover Masterworks. Just for completion sake, here's the 1st attempt to reprint the book (1990)

Here's a comparison. Real/Omnibus/Masterworks

If what Fago is saying is true, this might be the kind of pencil rough that could have been passed on to Schomburg as a guide. He might have looked at it but then totally re-envisioned the idea on a separate canvas to match his style.