Volume: 1
Price: 0.10 USD
Pages: 68
On-sale Date: 1939-08-31
Editing: Martin Goodman (editor)
Cover Thumbnail for Marvel Comics (Marvel, 1939 series) #1 [First Printing] Edit Cover
Cover Gallery 
Cover Thumbnail for Marvel Comics (1939 series) #1 [Second Printing]

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents)

Human Torch / cover / 1 page

Pencils:
Frank Paul (signed as F. Paul)
Inks:
Frank Paul (signed as F. Paul)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
typeset
  • Genre:superhero
Characters:
The Human Torch
Reprints (21)
This issue has 1 variant

Issue Data

Indexer Notes

The on-sale date is the publication date reported in the U. S. Copyright Office filing found in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 2, Periodicals, New Series, Volume 34, 1939, Number 4. Second class periodical. Copyright number 429173.

Indicia (transcription courtesy of Frank Motler):

Vol.1, No.1, MARVEL COMICS, Oct., 1939 Published monthly by Timely Publications, publication office, 81 Spring St., Newark, N. J. Executive office, 330 W. 42nd St., New York, N. Y. Art and editorial by Funnies Incorporated, 45 W. 45th St., New York, N. Y. Application for entry as Second Class Matter pending at the Post Office at Newark, N. J. Yearly subscription in U. S. and Canada, $1.50; elsewhere $2.00. No actual person is named or delineated in this magazine. Copyright, 1939 by Timely Publications. Printed in U.S.A.

According to Rip at the collector-society.com boards, the print runs were 80,000 on the October edition and 800,000 on the November edition.

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

Now I'll Tell One / cartoon / 1 page

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Letters:
  • Genre:humor
Reprints (6)

Indexer Notes

Inside front cover. Also includes the indicia.

Five single-panel gag cartoons.

Sequence information from Joe Lovece (August 11, 2006).

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 2)

Human Torch / comic story / 16 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Carl Burgos (signed)
Colors:
?
Letters:
  • Genre:superhero
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:Gentlemen of the press, I call you to my laboratory because I, Professor Horton, have a difficult problem in my latest discovery...
Characters:
The Human Torch (introduction and origin, an android); Professor Horton (introduction); Scientists' Guild; Mr. Harris (businessman); Tony Sardo (villain, introduction, death); Red (villain, introduction, death)
Synopsis:
After the Scientists' Guild convinces inventor Horton to dispose of his new creation, a "human torch", a clever criminal figures out a way to use this creation for his own evil purposes.
Reprints (16)

Indexer Notes

First Human Torch story.

The Human Torch wears a blue uniform in this story. He doesn't adopt the Jim Hammond identity until issue #4.

Per Marvel Comics #1000, the Scientists' Guild appear next as the Three X's in Mystic Comics #1 and then as the Enclave in Fantastic Four #66.

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 3)

The Angel / comic story / 8 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
  • Genre:superhero
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:At the point of a gun, a group of racketeers, known as the "Six Big Men," have taken over an entire city...
Characters:
The Angel [Tom Halloway] (introduction); Lil (introduction); The Six Big Men [Gus Ronson; Mike Malone; John Dillon; Trigger Bolo; Steve Enkel; Dutch Hanson] (villains, introduction for all, all die); the Big Boss [Dr. Lang] (villain, introduction)
Synopsis:
The Angel is called in to handle a group known as the "Six Big Men" and their mysterious leader, who have taken over an entire city.
Reprints (10)

Indexer Notes

First Angel story, character created by Paul Gustavson. The debut story resembles The Saint in New York, adapted by RKO in 1938.

All Gustavson credits from Terry Gustafson, son of Paul Gustavson.

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 4)

Namor the Sub-Mariner / comic story / 12 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
  • Genre:superhero
Characters:
The Sub-Mariner [Prince Namor] (origin); Anderson; Nelson (death); Carley (death); Princess Fen (also in flashback to 1920); Emperor Tha-Korr (unnamed); Karal; Leonard McKenzie (in narration flashback to 1920 only, unseen); Dorma (introduction)
Synopsis:
Prince Namor, having learned what the race of surface men once did to his undersea kingdom, vows, and is encouraged, to make war on the surface dwellers.
Reprints (20)

Indexer Notes

First Namor story, reprinted from the eight pages of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 and expanded with four additional pages.

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 5)

The Masked Raider / comic story / 8 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Al Anders (signed as Anders)
Inks:
Al Anders (signed as Anders)
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:western-frontier
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:Cal Brunder, powerful ruler of Cactusville, is attempting to force all the smaller ranchers to sell out to him at his own price.
  • Keywords:Eternity Mask
Characters:
The Masked Raider [Jim Gardley] (introduction and origin); Lightning (Raider's horse); Steve (sheriff); Lordin (rancher); Mr. Bleck (rancher, death); Mrs. Bleck (death); Cal Brunder (villain, introduction); Slick (villain); Rowdy (villain)
Synopsis:
When Cal Brunder, who has been forcing small ranchers in Cactusville to sell out to him at his own price, sends his men to the ranch of Jim Gardley, and when he won't sell, he has a phony charge of rustling leveled against him.
Reprints (8)

Indexer Notes

First Masked Raider story, the character's name is inspired by the Masked Rider pulp magazine from 1934.

Jungle Terror: A Complete Adventure Story
(Table of Contents: 6)

comic story / 6 pages

Script:
?
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:jungle
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:At the Florida plantation home of Professor Roberts, Ken Masters and Tim Roberts, the professor's nephew, are talking...
Characters:
Ken Masters; Professor John Roberts; Tim Roberts; Crafton (villain, death); Mike (villain, death); Slug (villain, death)
Synopsis:
Ken and Tim are worried about Professor Roberts, who went into the Amazon jungle three months earlier, trying to locate an Indian tribe that had in its possession a diamond with hypnotic powers.
Reprints (9)

Indexer Notes

Art identification by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo of the Timely-Atlas list.

Burning Rubber
(Table of Contents: 7)

text story / 2 pages

Script:
Raymond Gill (credited)
Pencils:
Sam Gilman (signed as Gilman) (illustration)
Inks:
Sam Gilman (signed as Gilman) (illustration)
Colors:
?
Letters:
typeset
  • Genre:sports
Characters:
Bill Williams; Fred Turner; C. G. Clark; Ruth Clerk; Ann
Synopsis:
Bill has invented a new gas feeder for his race car and is testing it out at the risk of his own life.
Reprints (8)

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents: 8)

Ka-Zar the Great / comic story / 12 pages

Script:
Ben Thompson ? (adaptation)
Robert Byrd (credited as Bob Byrd) (original story)
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:jungle
  • First Line of Dialogue or Text:John Rand, young owner of a rich diamond field in the Transvaal, is flying from Johannesburg to Cairo with his wife and their three-year-old son David.
Characters:
Ka-Zar [David Rand] (origin); John Rand (Ka-Zar's father, death); Constance Rand (death, Ka-Zar's mother); Zar (a lion); Sha (lion mate of Zar); Chaka (a gorilla); Trajah (an elephant); N'Jaga (a leopard); Paul De Kraft (villain)
Synopsis:
A plane crashes in the jungle of the Belgian Congo, and a young boy named David watches his mother die, and later his father, at the hands of Paul De Kraft. The youngster, trained in survival tactics by his father, is later renamed Ka-Zar, brother of the mighty Zar, a lion whose life he once saved.
Reprints (10)

Indexer Notes

First Ka-Zar comics story, adapted from Bob Byrd's "King of Fang and Claw" (KA-ZAR pulp magazine #1, October 1936).

[no title indexed]
(Expand) / (Table of Contents: 9)

Brownscope Co. / advertisement / 1 page

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

Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog / advertisement / 1 page

my.comics.org
Tracked in 40 collections.
Issue at www.comics.org
View Change History
Table of Contents ToC
    Table of Contents
  1. [no title indexed]
    Human Torch
  2. [no title indexed]
    Now I'll Tell One
  3. ["Gentlemen of the press, I call you to my laboratory because I, Professor Horton, have a difficult problem in my latest discovery..."]
    Human Torch
  4. ["At the point of a gun, a group of racketeers, known as the "Six Big Men," have taken over an entire city..."]
    The Angel
  5. ["Here is the Sub-Mariner!"]
    Namor the Sub-Mariner
  6. ["Cal Brunder, powerful ruler of Cactusville, is attempting to force all the smaller ranchers to sell out to him at his own price."]
    The Masked Raider
  7. Jungle Terror: A Complete Adventure Story
  8. Burning Rubber
  9. ["John Rand, young owner of a rich diamond field in the Transvaal, is flying from Johannesburg to Cairo with his wife and their three-year-old son David."]
    Ka-Zar the Great
  10. ["Hi Fellers!"]
    Brownscope Co.
  11. ["Talk — sing — play thru your own radio"]
    Johnson Smith & Co. Catalog
Related Links
Issue was modified by, among others
  • Hrayr Abazyan
  • Henry Andrews
  • Ray Bottorff Jr
  • David Bruce
  • Peter Croome
  • Craig Delich
  • Gregory Fischer
  • Jochen G.
  • Kauldi Gilibert
  • Merlin Haas
  • Katy Hayhurst
  • Kelly Langston-Smith
  • R. S. Martin
  • Lou Mazzella
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Stephane Poitras
  • Mark Q
  • Tony R. Rose
  • Ramon Schenk
  • Andrew Shor
  • Richard Thomson
  • Jim Van Dore
contact us
donate
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.