It was on this day back in 1939 that the world first heard of a little company called Marvel.
A man by the name of Martin Goodman, a publisher of pulp magazines, wanted to jump on the comic book bandwagon. Comics, particularly comics featuring superheroes like Superman, were selling very well in those early days of what comics historians call the Golden Age. So Martin created a publishing company called Timely Comics Inc., contracted with some writers and artists that worked for a content farm called Funnies, Inc. and published his very first comic book: Marvel Comics number 1. That first issue sold 80,000 copies. It quickly went back to press and sold 800,000 more. Comics were huge in those early days of the Golden Age so Timely began to publish more titles. In December of that year Martin hired his wife's cousin, 17 year old Stanley Lieber, as a proofreader, gofer and editorial assistant. In 1942 Stan was promoted to Editor In Chief and he held that title for decades. Shortly after his promotion, Stanley shortened his professional name to Stan Lee.
It was in 1961, during the Silver Age of Comics, that Marvel really became the Marvel we know today. It was the publication of Fantastic Four number one that changed everything for the company. Stan, along with fantastic artists like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Gene Colan, revolutionized the industry with stories that appealed to a slightly older audience than the other comic book publishers. Marvel Comics became a huge hit on High School and College Campuses all over country. In 1972 Martin retired and later that year Stan succeeded him as publisher and president. Shortly after that, Marvel surpassed their rival DC in sales and they've been the largest seller of comic books in the world pretty much ever since.
But I'm sure you guys knew all that already. I just wanted to mark the occasion. Happy Birthday, Marvel. Thank you for 85 years of the World's Greatest Comics!
(And hey, Hasbro: Where's my Invaders set?)
I like DC well enough, but I grew up as a Marvel kid with the 5” ToyBiz line and Spider-man The Animated Series. So Marvel’s always going to have the top place in my heart for comics. Seeing Legends where it is now is pretty amazing. Here’s hoping to more years to come.
And yeah, I’m shocked that we’ve not gotten an Invaders set or at least a Jim Hammond Torch during one of these anniversary celebrations. Seems like an easy way to put out some heavy hitters and some guys who might not sell great things on their own.
-A classic Capt with a new head and a shield without holes in it
-Namor built using Ka-zar body parts
-Bucky and Toro could probably get by using some parts from the Ultimate Spider-man teen body
-Jim Hammond using Vulcan parts with flame add ons
Subbie the teen sidekick to Namor should get made. 😉 😀
That's a wonderful idea.
And all the Young Allies.
I hope they aren’t saving Jim Hammond, Toro, and the others for the 100th anniversary. Nobody has time for that, literally ha ha
But happy birthday Marvel! I jumped aboard shortly before the 45th anniversary. What a wild, amazing trip it’s been. Getting the Invaders (including 70s retcons like Spitfire) is the highest priority but I’d love to eventually see other Golden Age characters like the Fin, the Destroyer, the Angel, Fiery Mask, and others. Of course they’re all a product of their time but without them we don’t get everything that came after. And many of them are pretty great characters in their own right. Some Legends love would be appreciated.
They don't look a day over 70.
Hammond Torch, Sub-mariner, The original Angel and the Masked Raider would be a pretty cool box set.
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