Episode Details

Normally we will be moving a year at a time, starting with Daredevil’s introduction in 1964.  But this week we want to set the stage, with a quick look at the early years of the Marvel Universe, from 1961-1963.

Reintroducing Ourselves

The Year in Comics

Comic books in the early 1960s were selling at levels that today’s publishers can’t even hope to attain, but the industry still down in comparison to the heady days of the pre-code “Golden Age” of comics during the 1940s and 1950s.

SALES DATA 

Publisher  

Monthly Copies 

Market Share 

Dell  

 9,686,424  

 37% 

National (DC)  

 6,653,485  

 25% 

Harvey  

 2,514,879  

 10% 

Charlton  

 2,500,000  

 10% 

Marvel  

 2,253,112  

 9% 

Archie  

 1,608,489  

 6% 

ACG  

 975,000  

 4% 

The Year in Marvel

• Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman
• First title was Marvel Comics #1 with the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch 
• Joe Simon was first Editor-In-Chief
• Jack Kirby was hired in 1940, and co-created Captain America with Simon that year 
• Also in 1940, Stanley Lieber, the teenage cousin of Goodman’s wife, was hired as an office assistant. 
• In 1961 Timely became Marvel, just in time for FF #1.  The 1st Marvel branded comics were Journey into Mystery #69 and Patsy Walker #95 

Many important creators worked for Marvel during this time, but according to the data in the Grand Comics Database it was primarily the work of 2 writers, 3 artists, 3 inkers, two letterers and one colorist that set the groundwork for the Marvel universe. These 11 creators are: 

Stan Lee 

476 

Writer/Editor 

Larry Lieber 

260 

Writer 

Steve Ditko 

253 

Writer/Artist 

Jack Kirby 

222 

Writer/Artist 

Don Heck 

132 

Artist 

Dick Ayers 

173 

Inker for Kirby / Penciller 

Paul Reinman 

52 

Inker for Kirby / Penciller 

Sol Brodsky 

36 

Inker / Production Manager 

Artie Simek 

303 

Letterer 

Ray Holloway 

62 

Letterer.  Black creator 

Stan Goldberg 

424 

Colorist / Artist (humor stuff) 

The Year in Daredevil 

Way back in 1940 Jack Binder created the first Daredevil as a boomerang wielding vigilante who had a tragic backstory like Batman and was fighting Hitler in the comics before the US entered the war like Captain America.  The character was popular through the 1940s, but was mothballed when superheroes went out of favor in the 1950s.

Note: Jack Binder is the older brother of Otto Binder, co-creator of Mary Marvel, Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes!  Otto was one of the all-time greats in comics, with over 50,000 pages written over parts of five decades. For more about him check out: 

Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary by Bill Schelly (2016) 

• https://www.penguinrandomhouseretail.com/book/?isbn=9781623170370

This Week's Spotlight

No spotlight this week because there haven't been any Daredevil comics published yet! The fun starts next week. 

The Takeaway

The Marvel boom of the 1960s heralded a fundamental transformation of the comics industry.  Marvel books skewed towards older audiences, with more disposable income.  Marvel fans increasingly looked at comic writing or drawing as a preferred career choice, and both the comic industry and comic fandom began a transformation that would result in the creation of specialty shops and the direct market.  One way to see this