*Bronze age fan* Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Nobody thinks Strange Worlds #1 (12/58) counts? I know folks like to parse details but post-implosion sci-fi or monster stories count as pre-heros to me. A lot of the early ones were transitional and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the older-style post-code fantasy stories (like the ones by John Forte) were leftover inventory. Kirby did some work at Marvel in ’56 (Astonishing, Strange Tales of the Unusual, and notably the Yellow Claw) but didn’t return full time until '58. He worked on everything: monster books, romance books and Westerns. Here are some starting points: Strange Worlds #1 12/58 Tales to Astonish #1 1/59 Tales of Suspense #1 1/59 Strange Tales #67 2/59 Journey Into Mystery #51 3/59 Strange Tales #68 (1st cover) 4/59 Journey Into Mystery #52 (1st cover) 5/59 Tales of Suspense #4 (1st cover) 6/59 Two Gun Kid #48 6/59 Love Romances #83 9/59 My Own Romance #71 9/59 Rawhide Kid #17 8/60 Teen-Age Romance #84 11/61 Amazing Adventures #1 6/61 I said Strange Worlds 1, 10 posts back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Bronze age fan* Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 The big, Kirby, monster turtle on the cover of Tales To Astonish #1, very "King Kong", yes, but still my vote for 1st Pre-Hero Monster cover. I always liked you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Maybe it's just me, but not only does it need to have a monster on the cover, but the monster needs some nearly monosyllabic name plastered big on the cover as well for it to be a classic PHM. Of course, Kirby is a given. According to the info above, WOF18 with "XOM" is one of the earlier examples that meets all three criteria. Just my -bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 How did that gem end up in a 5.5 holder? +1 - is it missing the entire interior? -bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 My latest pickup from Heritage, which has long been an arch nemesis book for me. Very tough one to find in grade. I probably overpaid, but that is what happens when you're down to only a few that have eluded you for 20 years... (thumbs u That's a beauty! Great pickup! Wow! -bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirbyJack Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 The big, Kirby, monster turtle on the cover of Tales To Astonish #1, very "King Kong", yes, but still my vote for 1st Pre-Hero Monster cover. I always liked you. You've always shown exquisite taste. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heronext Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Maybe it's just me, but not only does it need to have a monster on the cover, but the monster needs some nearly monosyllabic name plastered big on the cover as well for it to be a classic PHM. Of course, Kirby is a given. According to the info above, WOF18 with "XOM" is one of the earlier examples that meets all three criteria. Just my -bc Agree. For me, Strange Worlds 1 is not quite there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valiantman Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Strange Planets #1 (1958) isn't a Marvel comic, but if it sold well (re-using an earlier 1951 cover), it could have provided a kick to get Marvel doing monster covers soon after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Strange Planets #1 (1958) isn't a Marvel comic, but if it sold well (re-using an earlier 1951 cover), it could have provided a kick to get Marvel doing monster covers soon after. Weren't those all reprints of older PCH comics like Incredible Science Fiction, Strange Worlds (Avon I think), Journey into Unknown Worlds, etc. ? Just hesitant to suggest that a reprint has ever really influenced a new direction. Monster + Name + Kirby cover timeline: WOF18 (cover date 6/59) JIM54 (9/59) ST72 (12/59) TTA8 (3/60) TOS8 (3/60) Coincidence that both TTA & TOS start this trend on the 8th issue??? -bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heronext Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Strange Planets #1 (1958) isn't a Marvel comic, but if it sold well (re-using an earlier 1951 cover), it could have provided a kick to get Marvel doing monster covers soon after. Journey Into Unknown Worlds 2nd series 36, 50 and especially 55 are nice precursors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valiantman Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Strange Planets #1 (1958) isn't a Marvel comic, but if it sold well (re-using an earlier 1951 cover), it could have provided a kick to get Marvel doing monster covers soon after. Weren't those all reprints of older PCH comics like Incredible Science Fiction, Strange Worlds (Avon I think), Journey into Unknown Worlds, etc. ? Just hesitant to suggest that a reprint has ever really influenced a new direction. Monster + Name + Kirby cover timeline: WOF18 (cover date 6/59) JIM54 (9/59) ST72 (12/59) TTA8 (3/60) TOS8 (3/60) Coincidence that both TTA & TOS start this trend on the 8th issue??? -bc I agree, but imitation is supposedly the sincerest form of flattery, and that 1958 reprint being sold on lots of newsstands (and even being fairly common today) could have represented a clear demand that Marvel might want to satisfy. It could also be coincidence that a (popular?) common issue (from a competitor) just precedes the start of the trend from Marvel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heronext Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Marvel monster variant covers coming in October http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/07/21/marvel-covers-their-comics-with-kirby-monsters-throughout-october/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Strange Planets #1 (1958) isn't a Marvel comic, but if it sold well (re-using an earlier 1951 cover), it could have provided a kick to get Marvel doing monster covers soon after. Weren't those all reprints of older PCH comics like Incredible Science Fiction, Strange Worlds (Avon I think), Journey into Unknown Worlds, etc. ? Just hesitant to suggest that a reprint has ever really influenced a new direction. Monster + Name + Kirby cover timeline: WOF18 (cover date 6/59) JIM54 (9/59) ST72 (12/59) TTA8 (3/60) TOS8 (3/60) Coincidence that both TTA & TOS start this trend on the 8th issue??? -bc I agree, but imitation is supposedly the sincerest form of flattery, and that 1958 reprint being sold on lots of newsstands (and even being fairly common today) could have represented a clear demand that Marvel might want to satisfy. It could also be coincidence that a (popular?) common issue (from a competitor) just precedes the start of the trend from Marvel. (thumbs u I'm not implying that what Marvel did was unique or without inspiration/imitation. I agree with you 100%. If it's one thing I've learned about all the publishers, if they smell a buck to be made they'll crank a lot of it out as fast as possible. This is almost like the thread asking when the Atomic Age officially started-it's almost a personal interpretation of what constitutes the beginning of classic PHMs. Just trying to define the criteria and provide some examples -bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heronext Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Comic Vine says Strange Worlds 1 is first Marvel Monster: http://www.comicvine.com/marvel-monsters/4060-51962/characters/ I don't know that the "sentient flying saucer" on the cover had a name Would you say Fin Fang Foom and Groot are the most popular? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Marvel monster variant covers coming in October http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/07/21/marvel-covers-their-comics-with-kirby-monsters-throughout-october/ Is this Marvel jumping the Lo-Karr? I mean shark... If it exposes a wider audience to this era of Marvel history, that's truly great. If it makes the price of the back issues go up do to rampant speculation, that is significantly less than great. Might need to pick one or two of those up-thanks for the heads up! -bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Comic Vine says Strange Worlds 1 is first Marvel Monster: http://www.comicvine.com/marvel-monsters/4060-51962/characters/ I don't know that the "sentient flying saucer" on the cover had a name Would you say Fin Fang Foom and Groot are the most popular? Strange Worlds 1 has the "team" : Lee, Kirby & Ditko. Plus it's a first issue that preceded TOS1 & TTA1 - makes it the "easiest" to label as the first. Yes, Fin Fang Foom was the most popular monster by a landslide before Groot hit the big screen. Before Groot was in GoTG, the other prototype hero/monsters (Xemnu the Hulk in JIM63) were the next tier of favorites. On top of that, everyone seems to have their own favorite monster from this era. -bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysterio Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Goom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirbyJack Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Plus it's a first issue that preceded TOS1 & TTA1 - makes it the "easiest" to label as the first. While its cover date does precede TTA and TOS #1s, all three books were released at the same time. Hard to say any one is first. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) Goom. I see your Goom and raise you a Googam -bc Edited July 31, 2016 by bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Plus it's a first issue that preceded TOS1 & TTA1 - makes it the "easiest" to label as the first. While its cover date does precede TTA and TOS #1s, all three books were released at the same time. Hard to say any one is first. I agree, but to the unwashed masses the cover date and/or issue number are the easiest ways to create start and end points in anything comics related. Since Strange Worlds 1 has them both, I can easily see why it could be considered the "first" by many (it was one of my grails). Going back to the original question of which had the first monster - I guess it all depends on your definition of monster. I bet in the late 50's, it was conceivable that many people thought that a flying saucer could be full of "monsters" from another planet (alien life forms) as well as the King Kong/Godzilla type. -bc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
