Pop Culture Chronicles

Marvel's 70th Anniversary

Yes, 2009 is the 70th anniversary of Marvel Comics. It all began with Marvel Comics # 1 published by Timely Comics in 1939. The issue featured the first appearances of The original Human Torch and Sub-Mariner in Timely Comics. But prior to being purchased by Timely, the Sub-Mariner had first appeared in the extremely rare black-and-white Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, a promotional comic given away in movie theaters for eight issues. The first issue featured the Sub-Mariner (now worth about $30,000). 

The Sub-Mariner's first adventure was reprinted, expanded, and colored for the first issue of Marvel Comics which became Marvel Mystery Comics with the second issue. The story was later reprinted in 1977's The Invaders # 20. Marvel Mystery Comics was a super-hero anthology featuring the ongoing adventures of Sub-Mariner, Human Torch, and later the original Angel. (The first issue, Marvel Comics, is worth about $400,000). 

Of course we know that Timely Comics finally evolved into the company now known as Marvel Comics. So how are they celebrating their 70th year in business? Surely there will be hype and some "retro" products to remember the Golden Age. Yes, there will!

In May we have DeFalco and Burnham's Marvel Mystery Comics # 1 Anniversary Special with Sub-Mariner, Human Torch, and the Angel fighting Nazis during WW II. The back-up story will be a Golden Age reprint.  

And in June, Ed Brubaker is writing a series which finally tells the true definitive origin of the Marvel Universe. The epic will cover the Depression era through Pearl Harbor and include the aforementioned characters. It's an eight-issue series called The Marvels Project. While the ever-popular Marvels was more of a survey of Marvel's history from an onlooker's perspective,The Marvels Project will offer an insider's look on how the whole super-hero phenomena came about in the Marvel Universe. I'm sure it will be reprinted in trades, but I'm too excited to wait.  

I love revivals of Golden Age characters and especially when they are featured in a Golden Age setting. I loved The Invaders as a child and Marvels as an adult. The current Avengers / Invaders is also worth reading. I'm hopeful that these new projects will not disappoint.  

(Image from the The Comic Vine).            

Masquerade

Masquerade was known as Miss Masque during the Golden Age of comics. Originally published by Standard Publications, her first appearance was in Exciting Comics 51 (September 1946). She continued to appear in comics until 1949. She was a socialite crime-fighter whose two guns were her only powers.   

She was recently reintroduced to a new generation in the Project Superpowers limited series. Here the new powers she gained from Pandora's urn include the ability to take on the form of any other person. She can now "Masquerade" as someone else.  

But it's her own new four-part miniseries that has me intrigued. In the first issue, Phil Hester gives us a great story set in the post-World War II era.

We get some good back story and character development, guest-starring the Fighting Yank and the Black Terror.  Our heroes fight a Nazi robot in true Golden Age fashion.

The plot here is far superior to any Project Superpowers-related books thus far. It's a self-contained story which nevertheless leaves you longing for more. If subsequent issues are as good as this one, I'm really going to love this series. It is very retro!