Marvel Comics started making its superhero comics in the 1960s, but the publication started when it took over an older comic book company, first called Timely and later called Atlas. While Marvel kept publishing some of the previous titles, such as Journey into Mystery and Tales of Suspense, it started adding superheroes to those titles rather than just sci-fi, fantasy, and horror tales. In 1961, everything changed when Marvel started making individual superhero comics with Fantastic Four #1, and over the next few years, it created some of the most iconic heroes in comic book history. However, there were heroes in comics before this, and Marvel ended up bringing some of them into the new world.
Here is a look at ten Marvel characters who existed before Marvel began creating its own superhero comics.
10) Miracleman
Image Courtesy of L, Miller & Son
One of the lesser-known old-school heroes who pre-dated Marvel Comics was a man known as Marvelman. He was a British Golden Age superhero invented in 1953 for a weekly comic before being moved to a monthly title in 1960. The character was controversial because L. Miller & Son licensed Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. comics from Fawcett, but after Fawcett lost a trademark case, it stopped.
L. Miller & Son started publishing Marvelman and Young Marvelman, which were basically a rip-off of the previous comics’ characters. Alan Moore brought the character back in 1984, changing the name to Miracleman after Marvel objected to the hero’s name. Interestingly, Marvel gained the rights in 2014, and he has been part of Marvel Comics ever since.
9) Ka-Zar
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Ka-Zar debuted in pulp magazines in 1936, a jungle lord similar to Tarzan. Martin Goodman owned the magazine company that published these tales, and as comic book historians know, Goodman is the man who founded Timely Comics and later hired Stan Lee to create superheroes for the new Marvel Comics.
In 1939, Ka-Zar made his way to a new Timely Comics title called Marvel Comics, not to be confused with the later company. Ka-Zar disappeared from publication during World War II. In 1965, Marvel Comics brought back Ka-Zar in X-Men #10, but with a new identity and an introduction to the Savage Land.
8) Namora
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Namora is a Marvel character who is part of Namor the Sub-Mariner’s storylines. This was also how she debuted before Marvel Comics’ existence. She initially debuted in Marvel Mystery Comics #82 in 1947 for Timely Comics. In these older stories, she knew Namor, and they might have been romantically interested in each other, but not related. She also worked with Jim Hammond’s Human Torch and was a major hero during World War II.
She disappeared when the Sub-Mariner series ended in 1955. Namora made the jump to Marvel Comics in 1971, but it was flashbacks, and she turned out to be dead. However, she returned in 2006 in Agents of Atlas, alive and well, and is part of Marvel Comics, and even appeared in the MCU in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
7) Red Skull
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Red Skull was a villain created by Timely Comics during World War II when the company introduced Captain America to fight Adolf Hitler and the evil Nazi Party. This required a different villain to represent the Nazis, other than a real-life political leader, and it was the Red Skull. Captain America Comics was published from 1941 to 1950, and Atlas Comics briefly resurrected the title in 1954.
Red Skull debuted at the start, in Captain America Comics #1. After Captain America came back, after being frozen on ice for years, Red Skull returned in Tales of Suspense #65 in flashback stories, and then he returned for real in Tales of Suspense #79, revealing he was also in suspended animation over the years.
6) Hellcat
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Hellcat is a strange story when detailing Patsy Walker’s journey from pre-Marvel Comics to the current continuity. Originally, Patsy Walker debuted in Miss America Magazine #2 in 1944 by Timely Comics as a teenager. These comics were like other teen comics, with her interacting with her friends and having small adventures. It even continued into young adulthood, with her as a career woman.
However, shockingly, she debuted in Marvel Comics in Fantastic Four Annual #3, where she was at Reed Richards and Susan Storm’s wedding. Marvel changed her origin to show that the original Timely Comics series was fictional stories written by her mother, and Patsy ended up growing up to become the superhero Hellcat in the real world.
5) The Winter Soldier
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Bucky Barnes is another character who debuted in Captain America Comics #1 in 1940. While Red Skull was Cap’s first main villain, Bucky was Cap’s sidekick and loyal ally in the World War II battle against the Nazis. He died around the same time that Captain America disappeared, as they saved the world one last time during the war. There used to be a saying that no one stays dead in comics but Uncle Ben and Bucky Barnes.
That all changed in 2004, when Bucky returned to Marvel Comics, and the story revealed he ended up in suspended animation like Cap, but the Soviets brainwashed him to work as an assassin known as the Winter Soldier. He has since become a hero in both comics and the MCU.
4) The Human Torch
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
The very first Marvel Comics superhero series was Fantastic Four #1, and it introduced four new heroes named Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Thing, and the Human Torch. However, this wasn’t the first Human Torch in comics, and both had almost the same powers. The original Human Torch debuted in Marvel Comics #1 for Timely Comics, as an android created to serve the United States as a hero.
He was a member of the Invaders during World War II. His Marvel history remains complicated. Initially, Ultron used his body to create Vision, but it was later revealed that it wasn’t him, and Jim eventually returned as part of the West Coast Avengers.
3) Black Widow
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Black Widow is another character appearing long before Marvel Comics started publishing superhero stories. The first Black Widow, Claire Voyant, appeared in Mystic Comics #4 in 1940 by Timely Comics. She was an anti-hero who killed villains and delivered their souls to her master, Satan.
This Black Widow made her return in 2008 in The Twelve. Marvel Comics then brought Black Widow into the regular comic book line with a unique take on the character, as Natasha Romanoff was a Russian spy and villain who defected to the United States and became a beloved hero.
2) Namor
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
Namor McKenzie was the first Timely Comics hero to return as his original character with no actual changes. His first appearance was in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1 in 1939, one of the first-ever superheroes to appear in comic book form. He had his own comic book series, and this lasted into the 1950s.
In Fantastic Four #4, the Sub-Mariner comics existed in the Marvel Universe, and Johnny Storm read about the former World War II hero. When Johnny met an amnesiac man on the pier, he realized this was Namor and sent him into the water, where he regained his memories and became the antihero fans know today.
1) Captain America
Marvel Comics
Captain America headlined his own comic book in 1940 called Captain America Comics, where he battled Nazis and Adolf Hitler, standing for America during World War II. With his sidekick Bucky Barnes and the superhero team called the Invaders, he fought against America’s enemies through and after World War II. However, his last adventure came when he sacrificed himself to save the world.
In Avengers #4, they found Cap frozen in a block of ice near the incident where he saved the world, and when it thawed, he was still the same age and had all his powers. Captain America ended up as one of Marvel Comics’ greatest heroes, over two decades after making his debut.
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