Marvel Comics Biography

[Vpcomix72]

Hello all.

Does anyone know if there is a book that details the start of Marvel comics. Basically the history ranging back to the beginning of Timely and then into Atlas then Marvel. I am doing a school project and would appreciate any assistance on this.

Thanks in advance.....................

[Scrooge]

For something like that, I'd consider checking out:

 

Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels (thumbs u

[VintageComics]

There was a fantastic Web Site called Timely Comics The Beginning but my link no longer works.

 

There is a little bit of back ground info and some fun, behind the scenes editorial reading in the new Marvel Comics Omnibus. Beyond that I wouldn't know where to point you.

 

I talk back and forth with a historian. I can ask him.

 

 

[Silver Surfer]

There are a couple books produced by Marvel that have a good brief intro from the early days to present so I would suggest making a trip to your local comic shop to grab one. Not sure how indepth your looking to make the report but Alter Ego is a good resource as well [as is google].

[Silver Surfer]

For something like that, I'd consider checking out:

 

Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels (thumbs u

 

Yup that was the book I was thinking of its awesome.

[VintageComics]

 

I talk back and forth with a historian. I can ask him.

 

 

Just got an email back when I asked for a read on Marvel's history and this is what he said:

 

There's all sorts of them. Les Daniels 50 Years of Marvel book being the most widely known. There was a Marvel Chronicles book that came out last year that's all right. Both are fairly light in terms of really digging deep and getting some story and meat on the bones like Gerard Jones' book did for early DC history.

 

For a real, in-depth, thoroughly-research history of early Timely/Martin Goodman, I have to self-promote and say that Will Murray's essay in the Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus that came out last year is the one that stands on the most solid ground. He's a killer researcher, knows pulps inside and out, which is a huge boon to his early comics research, and even created Squirrel Girl with Steve Ditko!

[Vpcomix72]

Thank you guys

I will check out Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels. I will also check out Will Murrays essay.

Your info is much appreciated.

 

[Spider-Variant]

Here is something I put together for another thread. I got most of the info from the Les Daniels book.

 

I borrowed these excerpts from the book “Marvel” by Les Daniels.

 

I’m sure I could dig it of Wiki, but I enjoyed doing a little review.

 

Before Stan Lee, a young publisher named Martin Goodman started the company. In fact, Goodman began publishing before DC, but initially his field was the pulps. A salesman named Frank Torpey is credited with convincing Goodman that comic books were the coming thing. Early in 1939 a bizarre character called the Sub-Mariner had been featured in the black-and-white Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly, a failed promotional theater giveaway. The story from the theater giveaway was repackaged for the first issue of Goodman’s first comic book. The title, of course, was Marvel Comics. Timely Publications became the name under which Goodman first published a comic book line.

 

(Early 1950’s) With comic book production at an all-time high, Goodman decided to maximize profits by breaking with his distributor, Kable News, and setting up his own national distribution organization, the Atlas News Company. In one of Goodman’s typically complex business arrangements, Altas News became Atlas Publishing. By the end of 1951 the Atlas logo was appearing on all of Goodman’s comic books.

 

Amazingly enough, it was not until May 1963 that the company inspiring so much enthusiasm finally gave itself a name: Marvel Comics. The tiny letters “MC” had been appearing in the upper right corner of the comic book covers for some time but readers didn’t really know what they meant. Finally, Steve Ditko created a design element, a vertical box placed in the extreme upper left corner of each cover. A picture of the leading character was placed inside, along with the words “ Marvel Comics Group”. “Martin Goodman and I were looking for a good name, “ Stan Lee recalls, “and he said, ‘You know, the first thing we did was Marvel.’ And I knew Marvel was a word we could play with. There was a lot I could do with that.”

 

[batmiesta]

My kids bought me the MARVEL CHRONICLES book for Christmas, have to agree that it does not go in depth on marvels early days, but sure is a nice book to own.

[Forbush-Man]

Finally, Steve Ditko created a design element, a vertical box placed in the extreme upper left corner of each cover. A picture of the leading character was placed inside, along with the words “ Marvel Comics Group”. “Martin Goodman and I were looking for a good name, “ Stan Lee recalls, “and he said, ‘You know, the first thing we did was Marvel.’ And I knew Marvel was a word we could play with. There was a lot I could do with that.”

 

I didn't know Steve Ditko came up with this idea. It was what made finding Marvel Comics on the Spinner Racks so easy. Funny that the comic which first used the upper left corner promo box were JIM #91, April 1963 . Since it was Ditko's idea you'd think Spider-Man might have started using it first, but it must have just missed; having had issue #1 in March 1963 and issue #2 in May 1963 (yep, came out every other month originally.) Looks like it was beginning to run regularly in most titles starting May 1963, of which Strange Tales #108 has a smiling/waving Human Torch which was replaced the following month with a flying Human Torch.

 

Anyone know if there are any other April 1963 issues that had this besides JIM #91?

[VintageComics]

My kids bought me the MARVEL CHRONICLES book for Christmas, have to agree that it does not go in depth on marvels early days, but sure is a nice book to own.

 

Louise bought it for me this past Christmas as well.

 

(thumbs u

[ComicConnoisseur]

My kids bought me the MARVEL CHRONICLES book for Christmas, have to agree that it does not go in depth on marvels early days, but sure is a nice book to own.

A awesome book, it tells you every major first appearance/big event year by year.

It`s like a bible for Marvel.

[Stryfe1000]

My kids bought me the MARVEL CHRONICLES book for Christmas, have to agree that it does not go in depth on marvels early days, but sure is a nice book to own.

 

It's a great book, my wife got me a copy for Christmas.

 

I've another great non fiction book covering comic book history as a whole. I think its called "The Super Heroes", although although I might be mistaken. When I get home from work this evening, I'll get you the full details.

[Stryfe1000]

The book I mentioned earlier is called "The Comic Book Heroes" by Gerard Jones and Will Jacobs.

 

ISBN 0-7615-0393-5

 

A great read with some rather in depth sociological views about superheroes and their impact / influence through the 50's to the 90's

 

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/used/results.aspx?r=1&usedpagetype=usedisbn&pean=9780761503934&z=y

[rodan57]

Finally, Steve Ditko created a design element, a vertical box placed in the extreme upper left corner of each cover. A picture of the leading character was placed inside, along with the words “ Marvel Comics Group”. “Martin Goodman and I were looking for a good name, “ Stan Lee recalls, “and he said, ‘You know, the first thing we did was Marvel.’ And I knew Marvel was a word we could play with. There was a lot I could do with that.”

 

I didn't know Steve Ditko came up with this idea. It was what made finding Marvel Comics on the Spinner Racks so easy. Funny that the comic which first used the upper left corner promo box were JIM #91, April 1963 . Since it was Ditko's idea you'd think Spider-Man might have started using it first, but it must have just missed; having had issue #1 in March 1963 and issue #2 in May 1963 (yep, came out every other month originally.) Looks like it was beginning to run regularly in most titles starting May 1963, of which Strange Tales #108 has a smiling/waving Human Torch which was replaced the following month with a flying Human Torch.

 

Anyone know if there are any other April 1963 issues that had this besides JIM #91?

 

JIM 91 hit the newsstands on February 5th 1963. All the February releases (5th or 12th) had the corner logo. These issues were cover dated April/May.

 

The February releases were:

 

JIM 91 (Apr.) Feb.5

TTA 43 (May) Feb.5

Two-Gun Kid 63 (May) Feb.5

Modeling with Millie 22 (Apr.) Feb.5

Patsy Walker 106 (Apr.) Feb.5

Kathy 22 (Apr.) Feb.5

ASM 2 (May) Feb.12

FF 14 (May) Feb.12

TOS 41 (May) Feb.12

ST 108 (May) Feb.12

Kid Colt Outlaw 110 (May) Feb.12

Millie the Model 114 (May) Feb.12

[Forbush-Man]

Finally, Steve Ditko created a design element, a vertical box placed in the extreme upper left corner of each cover. A picture of the leading character was placed inside, along with the words “ Marvel Comics Group”. “Martin Goodman and I were looking for a good name, “ Stan Lee recalls, “and he said, ‘You know, the first thing we did was Marvel.’ And I knew Marvel was a word we could play with. There was a lot I could do with that.”

 

I didn't know Steve Ditko came up with this idea. It was what made finding Marvel Comics on the Spinner Racks so easy. Funny that the comic which first used the upper left corner promo box were JIM #91, April 1963 . Since it was Ditko's idea you'd think Spider-Man might have started using it first, but it must have just missed; having had issue #1 in March 1963 and issue #2 in May 1963 (yep, came out every other month originally.) Looks like it was beginning to run regularly in most titles starting May 1963, of which Strange Tales #108 has a smiling/waving Human Torch which was replaced the following month with a flying Human Torch.

 

Anyone know if there are any other April 1963 issues that had this besides JIM #91?

 

JIM 91 hit the newsstands on February 5th 1963. All the February releases (5th or 12th) had the corner logo. These issues were cover dated April/May.

 

The February releases were:

 

JIM 91 (Apr.) Feb.5

TTA 43 (May) Feb.5

Two-Gun Kid 63 (May) Feb.5

Modeling with Millie 22 (Apr.) Feb.5

Patsy Walker 106 (Apr.) Feb.5

Kathy 22 (Apr.) Feb.5

ASM 2 (May) Feb.12

FF 14 (May) Feb.12

TOS 41 (May) Feb.12

ST 108 (May) Feb.12

Kid Colt Outlaw 110 (May) Feb.12

Millie the Model 114 (May) Feb.12

 

Good info, thanks.

 

 

[rodan57]

You're welcome. (thumbs u

 

My collecting "endpoint" is actually when this original logo is changed. There are four Feb. '66 issues (released in Nov. '65) that are the final mags with this logo (ASM 33; FF 47; Rawhide Kid 50; ST 141).

 

It was these early 'Marvel Trademark' (as the logo was referred to in a House Ad in ASM A2) issues that were the most sought after by myself and friends when I first started collecting Marvel in 1970.

 

I still find these issues to be the most nostalgic of "reads".

 

p.s.

Two other entertaining reads (but not academic, unlike Men of Tomorrow -- a great book) are Tales to Astonish by Ronin Ro and Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book by Raphael & Spurgeon.

[Forbush-Man]

You're welcome. (thumbs u

 

My collecting "endpoint" is actually when this original logo is changed. There are four Feb. '66 issues (released in Nov. '65) that are the final mags with this logo (ASM 33; FF 47; Rawhide Kid 50; ST 141).

 

It was these early 'Marvel Trademark' (as the logo was referred to in a House Ad in ASM A2) issues that were the most sought after by myself and friends when I first started collecting Marvel in 1970.

 

I still find these issues to be the most nostalgic of "reads".

 

p.s.

Two other entertaining reads (but not academic, unlike Men of Tomorrow -- a great book) are Tales to Astonish by Ronin Ro and Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book by Raphael & Spurgeon.

 

That's a good ending point. If you collect the books prior to the Feb. 66 you've got the best of Marvel. Actually I think Kirby's art hit it's high-point in '67, so that's also another cut off point for Thor & FF, if you are so inclined. (thumbs u