intro
The Big Three
The war didn’t just affect the characters in the comics – the men who created the stories were called away to war. So went Bill Everett and Carl Burgos, leaving a deep effect on their signature characters. Namor’s Atlantean roots were largely forgotten, he seemed to derive his powers from contact with water (and was left very weak if denied it for long periods of time), and his forehead got ridiculously wide and his chin very narrow, leaving him with a distinctly triangular look. Meanwhile the writer of the Human Torch forgot that the Torch was an android and often found himself in danger of suffocation. Yes, fire needs oxygen. Yes, Toro is human and could suffocate. But it’s not something the Torch should have to worry about.
As for Captain America, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left Timely/Marvel for National/DC when they felt they weren’t being fairly paid (before they, too, would join the Armed Forces). Cap didn’t change as dramatically as Namor and the Torch did – the biggest change is that entry into the war meant Rogers and Barnes were no longer bound to Camp Lehigh, showing up wherever America’s enemies were. They remained as inept as soldiers as ever, perpetually finding themselves on Sergeant Duffy’s bad side and KP.
Supporting Stars
A starring book for the Angel failed to materialize, but he kept plugging along in the final slot of Marvel Mystery Comics and and the back-up star of Sub-Mariner Comics. The Young Allies kept their starring book and quickly took over Kid Komics. A new element introduced in Young Allies stories that didn’t bleed into Human Torch stories was that Toro could only flame for ten minutes at a time, which kept him from overshadowing Bucky without needing to constantly put him in asbestos traps.
The backup cast of Marvel Mystery Comics would shuffle a few times over the two years. Ka-Zar would be retired after the first issue of 1942, to be replaced by Jimmy Jupiter. When the page count was cut with issue #45, Patriot was dropped, but would come back for issue #49 along with new character Miss America, replacing Jimmy Jupiter and the Vision. (Vision would also appear in Kid Komics final issue of 1943.) Terry Vance remained a regular feature through these years.
- Jimmy Jupiter (Jimmy Jupiter, Marvel Mystery Comics #28, Ed Robbins) – A young boy who often found himself transported to the fantasy land of Nowhere, although the circumstances when he returned suggested he had been dreaming.
- Miss America (Madeline Joyce, Marvel Mystery Comics #49, Otto Binder and Al Gabriele) – Madeline was inspired by a visit to her uncle’s friend’s science experimental setup which used lightning to give subjects the ability to fly. She visited the lab that night and applied the machine to herself, gaining powers and becoming Miss America.
The Whizzer briefly gained a sidekick, Slow Motion Jones, a black stereotype about as bad as Whitewash from Young Allies. Thankfully, unlike Whitewash, he only made a few appearances before the writers realized he didn’t add anything of value to the comic. The Destroyer continued to appear, joinng the Whizzer in USA Comics when Mystic Comics was cancelled.
Other characters established before 1941 who would make a few final appearances before dropping out: Black Marvel, Black Widow, Blazing Skull, Blue Diamond, Captain Daring, Captain Terror, Challenger, Citizen V, Davey Drew, Defender, Father Time, Fin, Flying Flame, Headline Hunter, Hurricane/Mercury, Human Top, Jack Frost, Major Liberty, Rockman, Silver Scorpion, Terror, Thunderer/Black Avenger, Vagabond, Witness1
Military Heroes
With the war on, military stories started to appear more often. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were officially soldiers, but their adventures were usually apart from the Army and against more fanciful foes than simple Axis soldiers. There were some real stories of the war. And between the two, there were fictional military heroes. The two most prominent were Army Sgt. Jeff Dix, stationed at an Army camp in the States and fighting saboteurs, and Air Force Lieutenant Doug “Jap Buster” Johnson2, who often found himself on daring missions on Japanese-held islands.
- Jap Buster Johnson (Doug Johnson, USA Comics #6, Syd Shores)
- Sergeant3 Dix (Jeff Dix, USA Comics #4, no known credit)
Kid Adventurers
Of the numerous new kid heroes introduced in these years, the two that caught on were the Secret Stamp and Tommy Tyme. The Secret Stamp was a character Stan Lee proposed to the US Treasury Department, featuring Roddy Colt, a paperboy who was part of a program to sell Defense Savings Stamps. He took up costumed crimefighting as the Secret Stamp, who in his earliest adventures would leave a Savings Stamp on the forehead of criminals he captured. Tommy Tyme, while skipping school, caught a genie bottle while fishing and was given the Clock of Ages, which would transport him back in time, allowing him to wow his history classes with his attention to detail.
- Secret Stamp (Roddy Colt, Captain America Comics #13, Stan Lee and Don Rico)
- Tommy Tyme (Tommy Tyme, Young Allies Comics #7, Charles Nicholas)
Next: Wrapping up the look at this era, starting with the short-running heroes.