Marvel Comics #1: 80 Years Ago The Marvel Universe Began 1 1

[N e r V]

A decade ago I provided more than half of the material Cory used in the 70th anniversary Omnibus for Marvels flagship title. It was always a thrill handling (then) 70 year old books that were the building blocks of the future Marvel universe. I was even able to steer them in the direction of a October dated Marvel comics #1 which is the one book I never owned (although came very close) in my decades of collecting. If you don’t own one I highly recommend any Timely fans to hunt a copy down. Cory put so much love into doing the reproduction the best he could. The omnibus with its extras is a treat.

 

So I thought a thread might be in order since we are now up to the 80th anniversary of Marvel comics #1. For me nothing has changed for it being my favorite key comic book. Having pulp interests the Paul cover remains my most cherished cover in comics of a burning man even though it’s far from the torch’s actual comic book look. 

 

So let’s celebrate it. With Marvel Studios today making the entire Marvel universe more historically important post anything you want about the title that started it all...

Edited August 30, 2019 by N e r V

[OtherEric]

The omnibus is SO much better than the Masterworks.  I was livid when I saw how poorly reproduced the Masterworks was, and I was glad to finally get a readable copy of those early, classic, issues.

I'll just leave this here:  The earliest appearance I have of any of the characters in that classic first issue:

Edited August 30, 2019 by OtherEric

[sfcityduck]

45 minutes ago, OtherEric said:

 

I'll just leave this here:  The earliest appearance I have of any of the characters in that classic first issue:

 

 

If you have any of the Ka-Zar pulps, they predate MC 1 having come out in 1936-1937.

[Robot Man]

A Goodman pre-Timely publication from April 1939. Just slightly before Marvel Comics #1. Although no characters from the book are shown, I believe there is a small interior ad for the up coming Marvel #1 (not pictured just mentioned). I don't have it handy, so I can't confirm for sure. Just going from memory. The title from Marvel Mystery #2-on is taken from this pulp.

[Robot Man]

And probably favorite Marvel Mystery cover!

[aardvark88]

I only kept my thrashed copy of Marvel Mystery #2 for reading pleasure.

 

[Pat Calhoun]

Here's Feb 1939 v1#3 with a classic Williamson novel with classic Wesso cover.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

56 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

A Goodman pre-Timely publication from April 1939. Just slightly before Marvel Comics #1. Although no characters from the book are shown, I believe there is a small interior ad for the up coming Marvel #1 (not pictured just mentioned). I don't have it handy, so I can't confirm for sure. Just going from memory. The title from Marvel Mystery #2-on is taken from this pulp.

I’m sorry, I just ran to my copy and checked, but can’t find the ad . . . Must be in one of the others

[Pat Calhoun]

v1#6 Dec 1939

[Knightsofold]

I ramble on while thumbing through mine here.

 

[N e r V]

54 minutes ago, Pat Calhoun said:

v1#6 Dec 1939

 

2 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

If you have any of the Ka-Zar pulps, they predate MC 1 having come out in 1936-1937.

 

1 hour ago, Pat Calhoun said:

Here's Feb 1939 v1#3 with a classic Williamson novel with classic Wesso cover.

I know I gave Cory copies of the 3 Ka-Zar and Marvel Tales pulps for their covers in the omnibus. The Marvel Science Stories above is another favorite but I don’t remember if I had him  reproduce that cover. It’s a great cover if we missed it. 

You really can’t have a Timely comics collection without including some of Martins earlier pulps. Besides Ka-Zar being included in the Marvel universe you can clearly see the Marvel style logo on earlier pulps including the Red Circle stamp. He carried over a lot of things from his pulps line including Marvel Comics #1 cover artist. 

[N e r V]

1 hour ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

I’m sorry, I just ran to my copy and checked, but can’t find the ad . . . Must be in one of the others

 

2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

A Goodman pre-Timely publication from April 1939. Just slightly before Marvel Comics #1. Although no characters from the book are shown, I believe there is a small interior ad for the up coming Marvel #1 (not pictured just mentioned). I don't have it handy, so I can't confirm for sure. Just going from memory. The title from Marvel Mystery #2-on is taken from this pulp.

Just posted these in an earlier thread.

 

[adamstrange]

Modern printings do not do justice to the lovely Everett art.

From Marvel Mys 2

[N e r V]

Craft-tint duo-tone paper. 

Earlier reproductions looked like garbage but the Omnibus was probably as close as you could get without owning the originals. That was a challenge to get right. I liked the results but can understand why Everett abandoned it...

 

Edited August 31, 2019 by N e r V

[pemart1966]

2 hours ago, adamstrange said:

Modern printings do not do justice to the lovely Everett art.

From Marvel Mys 2

Are these pages scanned from a vintage 1939 MM #2?

[adamstrange]

3 minutes ago, pemart1966 said:

Are these pages scanned from a vintage 1939 MM #2?

Yes

[catman76]

The other day I was looking through the December 1979 issue of Battlestar Galactica and ran across this....

[N e r V]

Since adamstrange posted issue #2 scans I’ll add this to the historical mix...

 

[pemart1966]

22 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

Yes

Cool.  Can someone post the identical 3 pages from the touted Omnibus for comparison?

[N e r V]

5 hours ago, GreatCaesarsGhost said:

I’m sorry, I just ran to my copy and checked, but can’t find the ad . . . Must be in one of the others

Also I’ll add this...