Timely Comics is a 1940s comic book publishing company that later evolves into Marvel Comics. During this era, known as the Golden Age, "Timely" serves as the umbrella name for the comics division of pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman. His publishing strategy involves using multiple corporate entities—including Red Circle Comics—to release similar content under different imprints. Timely operates out of the McGraw-Hill Building on West 42nd Street in New York City before relocating to the 14th floor of the Empire State Building.
Creating the Company[]
In 1939, as comic books gained massive popularity and the first superheroes began defining the genre, Martin Goodman contracted the newly established comics packager Funnies, Inc. to create original content.
His debut title, Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), introduced writer-artist Carl Burgos’s flaming android, the Human Torch, alongside Paul Gustavson’s masked detective, The Angel. It also marked the first broadly circulated appearance of Bill Everett’s aquatic mutant Namor the Sub-Mariner, whose debut had originally appeared in the unreleased promotional comic Motion Picture Funnies Weekly. The original eight-page story was expanded to twelve for the printed version.
The issue also included Al Anders’ Western vigilante, the Masked Raider; Ka-Zar the Great, a jungle hero adapted by Ben Thompson from Bob Byrd’s pulp story “King of Fang and Claw”; Thom Dixon’s stand-alone jungle tale “Jungle Terror,” featuring Ken Masters; a series of single-panel gag cartoons titled “Now I’ll Tell One” by Fred Schwab; and a two-page prose racing story by Ray Gill called “Burning Rubber.” The cover, painted by seasoned pulp illustrator Frank R. Paul, depicted the Human Torch in a version distinct from the one shown inside. (This version of Ka-Zar was unrelated to Ka-Zar who debuted in Uncanny X-Men in 1965.)
The initial run, cover-dated October 1939, sold out 80,000 copies, leading Goodman to issue a second printing dated November 1939, which differed only slightly with a revised indicia. This reprint sold around 800,000 copies.[1] Encouraged by the success, Goodman began building an in-house team, hiring Funnies, Inc. writer-artist Joe Simon as editor. Simon brought in his collaborator Jack Kirby, followed by artist Syd Shores.
The Boom Years[]
Marvel Comics was renamed Marvel Mystery Comics starting with issue #2, and continued its run through issue #92 (June 1949). Building on this success, Timely expanded its publishing line, launching titles such as Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Jan. 1940), Mystic Comics #1 (March 1940), Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940), Human Torch #2 (debuting in Fall 1940, taking over the numbering from the short-lived Red Raven), and most notably Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). Released in December 1940—months before the attack on Pearl Harbor—the premiere of Captain America, which depicted the hero striking Hitler on the jaw, sold nearly a million copies.[2]
With Captain America joining the ranks of the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner, Timely solidified its core trio of iconic heroes. At the same time, National Comics and All-American Comics (the companies that would merge into DC Comics) introduced their own leading figures—Superman, Batman, and the soon-to-arrive Wonder Woman—alongside characters like the Flash and Green Lantern. Timely's other significant rivals included Fawcett Publications (Captain Marvel, launched Feb. 1940), Quality Comics (Plastic Man and Blackhawk, both Aug. 1941), and Lev Gleason Publications (Daredevil, Sept. 1940—not related to Marvel's later character).
Timely also introduced many other heroes who remain familiar through retcons and flashbacks: the speedster Whizzer, patriotic figure Miss America, wartime hero Destroyer, the mysterious Black Marvel, and the original Vision—the latter of whom inspired the Silver Age revival Vision by writer Roy Thomas. Others like the Blazing Skull and the Thin Man would later appear as part of the New Invaders.
In keeping with the era’s trend of sidekick characters, Captain America fought alongside Bucky, while the Human Torch partnered with young mutant Toro starting in his solo title. Timely also introduced a "kid gang" team called the Young Allies, who made their debut as the Sentinels of Liberty in a prose feature in Captain America Comics #4 (June 1941), followed by a comic appearance in the next issue and eventually their own series.
Timely was also a pioneer in creating the first major superhero crossover event, staging a two-part storyline featuring a battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner in Marvel Mystery Comics #8–9. This early crossover told the same events from each character’s point of view, anticipating the narrative structure of Rashomon years before the film's release.
When the creative duo of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left for DC in late 1941 after completing ten issues of Captain America Comics, artists Al Avison and Syd Shores became the book’s regular illustrators, with one often inking over the other. Meanwhile, Stan Lee (born Stanley Lieber), Goodman’s cousin by marriage, had begun working for Timely in 1939 at the age of 16½ as an assistant. Lee's account of how he began working for Marvel's predecessor, Timely, has varied. He has said in lectures and elsewhere that he simply answered a newspaper ad seeking a publishing assistant, not knowing it involved comics, let alone his uncle, Goodman:
"I applied for a job in a publishing company ... I didn't even know they published comics. I was fresh out of high school, and I wanted to get into the publishing business, if I could. There was an ad in the paper that said, "Assistant Wanted in a Publishing House." When I found out that they wanted me to assist in comics, I figured, 'Well, I'll stay here for a little while and get some experience, and then I'll get out into the real world.' ... I just wanted to know, 'What do you do in a publishing company?' How do you write? ... How do you publish? I was an assistant. There were two people there named Joe Simon and Jack Kirby – Joe was sort-of the editor/artist/writer, and Jack was the artist/writer. Joe was the senior member. They were turning out most of the artwork. Then there was the publisher, Martin Goodman... And that was about the only staff that I was involved with. After a while, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left. I was about 17 years old [sic], and Martin Goodman said to me, 'Do you think you can hold down the job of editor until I can find a real person?' When you're 17, what do you know? I said, 'Sure! I can do it!' I think he forgot about me, because I stayed there ever since". IGN FilmForce (June 26, 2000): Stan Lee interview part 1 of 5
However, in his 2002 autobiography, Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (cited under References, below), he says:
"My uncle, Robbie Solomon, told me they might be able to use someone at a publishing company where he worked. The idea of being involved in publishing definitely appealed to me. ... So I contacted the man Robbie said did the hiring, Joe Simon, and applied for a job. He took me on and I began working as a gofer for eight dollars a week...."
Joe Simon, in his 1990 autobiography The Comic Book Makers (cited under References, below), gives the account slightly differently:
"One day [Goodman's relative known as] Uncle Robbie came to work with a lanky 17-year-old in tow. 'This is Stanley Lieber, Martin's wife's cousin,' Uncle Robbie said. 'Martin wants you to keep him busy.'"
In an appendix, however, Simon appears to reconcile the two accounts. He relates a 1989 conversation with Lee:
Lee: I've been saying this [classified-ad] story for years, but apparently it isn't so. And I can't remember because I['ve] said it so long now that I believe it."
...
Simon: "Your Uncle Robbie brought you into the office one day and he said, 'This is Martin Goodman's wife's nephew.' [sic] ... You were seventeen years old."
Lee: "Sixteen and a half!"
Simon: "Well, Stan, you told me seventeen. You were probably trying to be older.... I did hire you."
</ref> was promoted to interim editor just shy of his 19th birthday. Showing a knack for the business, Lee stayed on for decades, eventually becoming Marvel Comics' publisher in 1972. Fellow Timely staffer Vincent Fago would substitute during Lee's World War II military service.
The staff at that time, Fago recalled, was, "Mike Sekowsky. Ed Winiarski. Gary Keller was a production assistant and letterer. Ernest Hart and Kin Platt were writers, but they worked freelance; Hart also drew. George Klein, Syd Shores, Vince Alascia, Dave Gantz, and Christopher Rule were there, too".[3]
Funny Animals, and People[]
Timely’s "adventure" bullpen focused on creating Super Hero content, but the publisher also maintained a separate "animator" bullpen dedicated to funny animal comics, both original and licensed. This division produced titles such as Terrytoons Comics, Mighty Mouse, and Animated Funny Comic-Tunes. The group was led by former Fleischer Studios animator Vincent Fago, who joined the company in 1942. Over the years, the team included talents like Hart, Gantz, Klein, Platt, Rule, Sekowsky, Frank Carin (née Carino), Bob Deschamps, Chad Grothkopf, Pauline Loth, Jim Mooney, Moss Worthman (also known as Moe Worth), and future MAD Magazine regulars Dave Berg and Al Jaffee.
The department developed a variety of recurring features, including “Dinky” and “Frenchy Rabbit” in Terrytoons Comics; “Floop and Skilly Boo” in Comedy Comics; “Posty the Pelican Postman” in Krazy Komics and other issues; “Krazy Krow” in his own title; and recurring duos like “Tubby an’ Tack” and the slapstick pair Ziggy Pig & Silly Seal in various books.
Expanding beyond animal humor, Timely also introduced comedic series with slice-of-life appeal aimed at young women. In 1944 and 1945, the company launched sitcom-style comics including Millie the Model, Tessie the Typist, and Nellie the Nurse.
Additionally, Timely published one of humorist Basil Wolverton's signature features: Powerhouse Pepper. The debut issue, cover-dated January 1943, appeared without an issue number and featured a different version of Pepper than the bullet-headed character in the striped turtleneck sweater who appeared when the title returned for a four-issue run between May and November 1948.
Time after Timely[]
Following the success of wartime publishing — when Super Heroes captivated readers and comics served as a popular, affordable form of entertainment for children and servicemen alike — the post-war years saw a shift in public taste. Interest in Super Heroes declined as television and mass-market paperbacks gained ground, and publishers like Timely adjusted their output accordingly. Martin Goodman began expanding into other popular genres, including horror, Westerns, teen comedy, crime, and war stories. To appeal to a broader audience, including young women, the company also introduced more female protagonists.
In 1946, for example, the Super Hero-focused All Select Comics was rebranded as Blonde Phantom Comics, spotlighting a crime-fighting secretary in an evening gown. That same year, Kid Comics Vol 1 dropped its original cast and returned as Kid Komics. All Winners Comics transitioned into All Teen Comics in early 1947. As the company pivoted genres, Timely also scaled back its internal operations, eliminating most of its in-house staff by 1948.
Though the official conclusion of the Golden Age is hard to pinpoint, for Timely, the period seemed to close with the end of Captain America Comics at issue #75 (Feb. 1950). By that point, the series had shifted into Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues and no longer featured any Super Heroes. Marvel Mystery Comics, once the publisher’s flagship title headlined by the Human Torch, had already concluded with issue #92 (June 1949), along with Sub-Mariner Comics, which ended at issue #32 that same month. By late 1951, Goodman began publishing under the banner of Atlas, the distribution imprint he already owned, signaling the end of the Timely era.
Selected Timely characters and creators[]
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Per researcher Keif Fromm, Alter Ego #49, p. 4 (caption)
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Vincent Fago interview, Alter Ego Vol. 3, #11 (Nov. 2001)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lambiek Comiclopedia: Stan Lee
- ↑ Grand Comics Database Mystic Comics #5
- ↑ Grand Comics Database: Mystic Comics #1
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 In the 1970s and 1980s, the Hurricane and Mercury were revealed in retcon to be the same character, the Eternal named Makkari.
- ↑ Greg Theakston at Grand Comics Database: Marvel Mystery Comics #13
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lambiek Comiclopedia: Stan Lee. No independent secondary source confirms, this, however, so credit is tentative.
References (online)[]
- The Grand Comics Database
- Marvel Masterworks Resource Homepage
- The Jack Kirby Museum
- Timely-Atlas-Marvel Chronology, by Scott Hollifield
- "A Tribute to Bill Everett, the Sub-Mariner's Father" by Monique Pryor
- The Marvel/Atlas Super-Hero Revival of the Mid-1950s
- Marvel Database Project
- Big Comic Book DataBase: Marvel Comics
- A Timely Talk with Allen Bellman by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo & Allen Bellman
References (offline)[]
- All in Color for a Dime by Dick Lupoff & Don Thompson ISBN 0-87341-498-5
- The Comic Book Makers by Joe Simon with Jim Simon ISBN 1-887591-35-4
- Excelsior! The Amazing Life of Stan Lee by Stan Lee and George Mair ISBN 0-684-87305-2
- Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels ISBN 0-8109-3821-9
- Masters of Imagination: The Comic Book Artists Hall of Fame by Mike Benton ISBN 0-87833-859-4
- The Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide by Robert Overstreet — Edition #35 ISBN 0-375-72107-X
- Origins of Marvel Comics by Stan Lee ISBN 0-7851-0579-4
- The Steranko History of Comics, Vol. 1 & 2, by James Steranko — Vol. 1 ISBN 0-517-50188-0
- Thomas, Roy, The Golden Age of Marvel Comics (Marvel, 1997; ISBN 0785105646) Introduction, p. 3