Marvel Mystery Comics Primer
Marvel Mystery Comics first began publishing under the title Marvel Comics in October 1939 and was the first title published by Timely Comics. After the first issue, the title was renamed Marvel Mystery Comics for the duration of its run.
It was an anthology series that introduced the first heroes of the Marvel Universe, such as the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Angel, the western hero known as the Masked Raider, and a comic book adaptation by Ben Thompson of pulp magazine character, Ka-Zar. Each issue also featured a text story, and early on in its run featured various short-run adventure stories.
During the early 1940s, the major staples of the title were the Torch, Sub-Mariner, Ka-Zar and Angel. The Angel has the longest run until being bumped from the title, he appeared in every issue until Marvel Mystery Comics#79. Ka-Zar remained a regular character on the title until issue number 27, while the Masked Raider was phased out of the series by issue 12, the others ran until the series ended in 1949. Issue number 4 was the introduction to the robot Electro who was a regular feature in the series until issue 19 and the private detective known as the Ferret who appeared in the series until issue 9. By 1941, the escalation of World War II had an impact on comic books, with many of the characters in this title usually fighting Nazi spies throughout the titles run between 1941 to late 1946.
Issue number 9 also featured the first of many clashes between the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner. It was also the first time during the series run that a story was continued in the following issue, with the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner bout lasting until Marvel Mystery Comics #11. Stories that spanned multiple issues were rare during the series run, the longest-running story being the ongoing Ka-Zar stories. Most two or more part stories were phased out by Ka-Zar's last appearance in the series and were not seen again until 1946 in Marvel Mystery Comics #49. Issue 10 saw the introduction of boy detective Terry Vance who became a regular feature in the series until issue 57. Issue number 13 saw the first appearance of the original Vision, created by Jack Kirby before he left Timely to work for DC Comics. The Vision was a regular feature in the title until issue 48. Marvel Mystery Comics #18 added the Human Torch's partner Toro to the title, who had just then been introduced in Human Torch Comics #2. Issue 21 saw the addition of the Patriot to the title, another carryover from the Human Torch’s solo book. He too became a long-running character in the series until issue Marvel Mystery Comics #71. Recurring villains were a rarity in this title, with the exception of Axis foes from the war, and the frequent opposition of Namor's conquest plans early on by supporting characters Betty Dean, Luther Robinson, and Lynn Harris. What little there were didn’t live very long either, recurring villains included Human Torch foe the Parrot introduced in Marvel Mystery Comics #24 and killed two issues later; and Angel villain the Python a Nazi contortionist who appeared in Sub-Mariner Comics #2, later appeared to die in Marvel Mystery Comics #25 but returned to menace the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner in Human Torch Comics #8.
One of the more surreal additions to the series happened in issue #27, with the addition of Jimmy Jupiter, a boy who would daydream about the world of Nowhere. He was featured in the title until being phased out in issue 48.
The first mentions of the attacks on Pearl Harbour saw mention in the title in Marvel Mystery Comics #31, thus beginning a run of stories where many of the title's characters (most commonly the Torch and Sub-Mariner) were fighting the Empire of Japan. Many of these early stories featured racist depictions of Japanese characters, even having the Sub-Mariner mockingly imitate Japanese stereotypes. American shock, pain, and anger over the attacks were clearly communicated through these early tales, with the heroes often killing their Japanese opponents without mercy. The treatment of Japanese characters in these stories were particularly brutal when compared to clashes with Nazi villains.
Due to the military draft of the era, writer/artists Bill Everett and Carl Burgos went on military duty, leaving their characters the Sub-Mariner and Human Torch in the hands of other creators starting with Marvel Mystery Comics #31 and Marvel Mystery Comics #33. While the Human Torch's title was mostly the same under different writers his android origins were never mentioned. The Sub-Mariner however, underwent drastic changes in appearance, particularly being drawn with a triangular-shaped head. This stylistic choice would persist until the late 40s. In addition, they dropped the entire Atlantean cast of characters, Namor spent most of the 1940s assisting surface dwellers and giving up his grudge against the surface world. The two landmark title characters of this series were brought back to "basics" upon the return of Everett and Burgos to the title when they returned from the War and resumed their jobs at Timely. Everett returned to working on Sub-Mariner in Marvel Mystery Comics #84 and Burgos resumed working on the Torch in issue 88.
The title remained mostly unchanged from issue #33 until issue 49 with the exception of a brief departure of the Patriot between issues 44 and 48. Both the Vision and Jimmy Jupiter were later dropped and in issue #49 Miss America became the first recurring female superhero added to the title. She was a regular staple to the title until issue 85. Her first appearance was also the first time there had been a two part story featured in the title since issue #27. Issue #50 saw an attempt to make Patriot supporting character Mary Morgan into the hero's sidekick. She was dubbed "Miss Patriot" in the opening splash page and given radar hearing by a Nazi spy during the story. However, the plot line was dropped the following issue and the Miss Patriot character was not seen until many decades later. The title continued unchanged for until 1946, the only noteworthy work being the inclusion of artist Carmine Infantino who took up penciling for the Human Torch stories starting in Marvel Mystery Comics #65 and ending at issue 79. With the war ending in 1944, stories which featured Nazis and Imperial Japanese agents as foes were soon phased out, although occasional "flashback" to World War II stories appearing from time to time until the summer of 1946 while Timely cleared out remaining wartime stories. By this time, most characters would more often fight mobsters, and other normal criminals rather than super-powered or costumed menaces.
In issue 75 the Young Allies becoming a regular feature in the title replacing the Patriot until issue 83. With #76 there was a brief return of serialized stories, with the start of a Miss America spy epic that ran until issue 85. The Angel was bumped from the title in issue #79 to make way for Captain America stories starting in issue Marvel Mystery Comics #80.
In #82, readers saw the first appearance of Namor supporting character Namora as well as a return to Namor's Atlantean roots. The inclusion of the Blonde Phantom to the title was in issue 84, led to Miss America was phased out of the title in the following issue. Marvel Mystery Comics #86 saw the long running detective story "Let's Play Detective" (featured predominantly in Captain America Comics Vol 1) briefly making an appearing in the title, this issue also marked the final appearance of Bucky in Marvel Mystery Comics as his role as Captain America's partner was replaced by Golden Girl in Captain America Comics #66. Like Bucky, Toro makes his final appearance as the Human Torch's partner in Marvel Mystery Comics #87 as he was replaced by Sun Girl in Human Torch Comics #32. Issue 88 not only featured Sun Girl as the Torch's new sidekick, but she also got her own regular solo feature in the title. However, by issue number 91 the Sun Girl solo stories was replaced with a solo adventures featuring Venus.
As the 1940s came to an end, Marvel Mystery Comics underwent some massive changes. Carl Burgos returned to the Human Torch in issue #92 to retell the character's origin. The issue also featured the a brief story featuring the Witness and a Captain America story, the title chopping down its features to 3 stories. However, with superhero comics waning in popularity, the title underwent a complete overhaul. The series was then renamed Marvel Tales maintaining the Marvel Mystery Comics numbering. The series then went on to publish horror and science fiction stories that had become more popular at the time.
Title Retcons
Although Marvel Comics doesn’t tend to do “Big R” retcons, Modern Age additions to pre-war continuity has had a massive impact on these older stories.
The most biggest retcon done to the title pertains to the history of Captain America and his partner Bucky. The character appeared in many Timely and Atlas era publications until the 1950s. In the Captain America stories published in Marvel Mystery Comics, Captain America is identified as Steve Rogers and Bucky is James Barnes. However, when the characters was revived in Avengers #4 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby they made changes to the characters history in that the original Captain America and Bucky were seemingly killed near the end of the war. Both were placed into suspended animation and later revived in the modern age. With the reintroduction of 1940s characters and continuity into Marvel's line of books in the 1970s led to a retcon created to explain Captain America and Bucky's appearances post 1943. The solution was having other characters taking on the role as revealed in What If? #4 and Captain America #205. As such, all the appearances of Captain America and Bucky in the title can be attributed to Jeff Mace (formally the Patriot) and Fred Davis Jr.
Marvel has also developed an “in-universe” explanation to wave off inconsistencies between comics published in the 1940s and material they were writing about the era that were published in modern times. In a lot of cases this was to work around some of the more offensive attitudes towards race during the period, as well as deal with new understandings of history, science, and technology that were absent or incorrect in stories published in this era. Young Allies Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1 and All-Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #1 states that the comics published by Timely Comics are actually propaganda stories commissioned by the United States military. By this understanding, all the TImely Era stories are “based on true events”, allowing for creative changes in more modern times don’t have to work around 80 year old continuity. As such, these stories are considered “in continuity” in a general sense.
Character Legacies
The most lasting characters that were introduced to the title were the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch, who were phased out in the late 1940s when super-hero comics were no longer popular. They enjoyed a brief revival in the mid-1950s as well under Timely's successor Atlas Comics before losing popularity once more. When Atlas became Marvel Comics and superheroes were becoming popular again, many Golden Age characters were revived. The Human Torch concept was reinvisioned and a new Human Torch was created for the 1961's Fantastic Four #1, however, the original Human Torch was revived in Fantastic Four Annual #4. The Sub-Mariner was brought back in Fantastic Four #4. Both characters have made regular appearances in the modern era, the Sub-Mariner being the one with the lasting publication history. The Torch was often killed off and resurrected many times over the years. Toro was revived during this time and killed battling the Sub-Mariner in Sub-Mariner#14, he was later resurrected at the conclusion of 2009's Avengers / Invaders cross-over.
With a resurgence in popularity of wartime super-heroes, Marvel published the Invaders #1 and other similar series bringing back characters such as Miss America, and the Patriot. The Blonde Phantom, having retired from superheroes also had a brief revival in the pages of the Sensational She-Hulk Vol 1 from issue 2 through 53. Most recently the character was featured in 2011's Avengers 1959.
The Angel's character was revived in the late 1980s as an old man and has made sparse appearances in the modern era of publication, reappearing first in U.S. Agent #4. There also featured a retcon that his brother Simon also took on the mantle of the Angel.
The majority of other characters saw modest mentions and revivals during the modern age of publication. However, when Marvel celebrating its 70th Anniversary, a number of the long forgotten characters had new life breathed into them (likely to keep the copyrights on the characters active as well). The series such as the Marvels Project and the The Twelve was the revival of characters such as the Angel, Electro, the Ferret, and many other characters who appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics, allowing modern writers to tie in the characters’ histories and activities together. Marvel also published a series of 70th Anniversary specials showcasing Timely Comics original titles broadening character interactions. Also celebrating Captain America's long history was a series title Captain America: Patriot that fleshed out the Patriot becoming Captain America's second replacement from 1946-1950. It also saw the revival of Mary Morgan becoming the costumed hero Miss Patriot and retconned a history of the character during the Patriots career as Captain America. Jimmy Jupiter was briefly revived and retconned into the history of Captain America starting in Captain America Vol 6 #1 where he was used as a weapon in the War, but fell into a coma until the modern age. The character was killed off in Captain America Vol 6 #5. Lastly, a number of Marvel Mystery Comics characters were given profiles in the Marvel Mystery Handbook 70th Anniversary Special #1 as well as the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #14.
Most recently, the Masked Raider made a return during Marvel’s 80th anniversary in Marvel Comics #1000 revealing that he wasn’t just an ordinary man and that he is tied to the origins of other characters across Marvel history. That same story also expanded upon the past history of the Ferret, who is revealed to be more than a crime-solving detective, but also a former criminal himself.
Scope of this Index
This index only chronicles stories that have been identified as part of Marvel Continuity. For the most part, I have omitted the majority of the text stories. These are all generic adventure and war stories that could be considered part of continuity as they don’t really conflict with anything else, but they are also so one-off stories written 80 years ago. I’m all for being detailed but let’s be honest here: Some shit is just not interesting at all. These text stories are a perfect example. So they’re not indexed here.
