POSTLUDE: Marvels #1

Featuring: Marvels
Release: November 9, 1993
Cover: January 1994
$5.95
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Alex Ross
Letters: Starkings w\ John Gauhsell
Editor: Marcus McLaurin
Assistant editor: Spencer Lamm
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
Cover design & logo: Joe Kaufman
Interior Design: Comicraft
45 pages

Previous		Next
Human Torch #5	PRELUDE
Fantastic Four #27	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #8
Marvels #0	Marvels	Marvels #2

When this is over, I’d said. When would that be? It would blow over. The world wouldn’t stay like this. It couldn’t. Could it?

The 4 (or so) issues comprising this series are pretty close to being the best comics I have ever read. They inspire the journey we are taking here, where we read through the entire Marvel Universe starting in 1961, and I want them to frame the journey we are taking.

Through a man named Phil Sheldon, an “ordinary” photojournalist, we see a holistic view of all these many interconnected stories of Marvels, cohesing into a single narrative, leading us to understand that this world is not our own, and helping us imagine what it might be like to live in that world.

The tagline reads: “Experience the Marvel Universe from a whole new perspective– yours.”

We read Marvels #0 pretty early in the project, right after meeting the original Human Torch, who we introduced after meeting the new Human Torch.

Marvels #1 deals with Marvel’s Golden Age, stories from the 1930s and 1940s. We are reading it now in our reading order because we have met enough Golden Age heroes to justify it. Really, it comes down to the big three: Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America. But our reading about characters like Angel, Electro and Black Widow will also help us appreciate the details.

And if there’s one word that can describe this comic, it’s “detailed”. Sitting in a hotel room in Dresden with the intent of doing a deep dive into this issue, I have the original comic in my hand, but also the recent annotated edition which can serve as a guide. Plus some Golden Age and other reference material.

With all that in front of me, I would like to look very closely at this comic; consider those details, and try to do so without losing sight of the powerful emotional journey in front of us, one that will seem very familiar in the year 2020.

I think I’ve already gushed at sufficient length over the creators Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross in our recent Astro City discussion, so we’ll jump right into the story.

A Time of Marvels

The bystanders had seen the stories in the paper– seen them, chuckled and dismissed them. But it’s one thing to read about the impossible– and another to look it in the face.

The story opens in 1939 with reporters talking about the tensions in Europe. Phil Sheldon is an ambitious photojournalist looking for an assignment overseas. His fellow reporter–resembling a young J. Jonah Jameson down to a well-placed shadow beneath the nose where Jameson’s mustache will eventually be–muses that one day he will be the one running the Bugle. Phil is off to cover a press conference with a scientist who he expects to be a crackpot, one Phineas T. Horton.

The next scene is a direct reference to Marvel Comics #1 (1939), though somewhat altered. In the original, we see only two reporters meeting Professor Horton. Marvels depicts an auditorium with several reporters in attendance.

The crowd seems to include Lois Lane and Clark Kent of the Daily Star. Yet it can’t be them; they’re from a different company.

We see a perhaps different newsie proclaiming the headline. In Marvels, it appears to be a young Billy Batson. Yet it can’t be him; Captain Marvel is from a different company.

We meet Phil’s special lady, Doris. The important takeaway from these early scenes is Phil’s confidence, his references to being “immortal”. He’s got everything planned out. He’s got a bright career ahead of him. And soon enough, he’s gonna marry this girl.

That feeling of confidence will start to waver in just moments. Sometimes the world changes our plans.

“But I’d seen it twice”.

One is a freak occurrence; two is a phenomenon. Human Torch’s coming was significant. But for Sub-Mariner to show up soon after? The world was irrevocably altered.

Apparently, the writer had Doris refer to Namor as a naked man because that’s how he thought a 1930s woman would describe a man in speedos. The artist may have taken that line of dialogue more literally than intended.

We get a reference to Orson Welles, citing the confusion resulting from his “War of the Worlds” broadcast. It’s left people skeptical about reports of a “Human Torch” and a “Sub-Mariner”. This was long before Welles became famous for voicing Unicron in the Transformers film.

The term “mansplaining” wasn’t in popular usage back in 1993 (let alone 1939), but this scene is a perfect example of the concept. A woman was an eyewitness to events, and a group of men who were not present and have no knowledge of the events, condescendingly explain them to her anyway.

The idea is that the Marvel stories that have been published are happening all around and we are seeing the reactions to them. We see a melted car in the wake of crimes by flame-suited men from Marvel Mystery Comics #4 (henceforth abbreviated to MMC) or people rescued from a flooded subway in MMC#5, and also hear people talking about recent news concerning these two strange beings in their city; there are references to a racing scam from MMC#2.

The next scene resembles Ed Hopper’s famous “Nighthawks” painting. Jameson’s beliefs are starting to set in. Notice why. Its roots lie in a forming inferiority complex. “Making joes like you and me look like pikers…” He talks about locking them all up. He should be careful who is in earshot…

The reference to Human Torch bringing medicine to a trapped town refers to MMC#5, 1940.

Notice now how Phil’s self-confidence is gone. It’s only been a couple months since the beginning of the comic, but the entire world has changed and his sense of self with it; he’s gone from feeling invincible to helpless.

Phil’s publisher is Mr. Goodman, likely a reference to the publisher of Timely Comics (as Marvel was then known), Martin Goodman.

Let’s look to the headlines we see above. “Nazis driven from Bergen, Trondheim”. That’s taken from a New York Times headline, April 10, 1940. Sub-Mariner was sent to the electric chair in MMC#6 (cover date April 1940). We already met Electro in Marvel Mystery Comics #4.

Phil contrasts the new inhuman characters with masked adventurers– Angel, Phantom Eagle and Rawhide Kid. We met Angel in Marvel Comics #1. We have not read Rawhide Kid’s exploits, as he is part of Marvel’s Western line we are generally not including in our reading. It’s a whole ‘nother project. Rawhide Kid was introduced in 1955. Phantom Eagle is a character whose stories we have not yet reached. He’ll be introduced in 1968, and we will read his stories when we get there (we’re still in 1964). But his stories are set during WWI, which is why it makes sense for Phil to reference him.

Phil calls the new breed of characters “Marvels”. It’s a good name. A person leaps behind Phil who looks like Superman, but it’s actually the just-referenced Angel. And he makes the observation which will haunt him for decades and which will soon prove prescient: humanity are now spectators on the world stage.

We’ve read the epic first battle between Human Torch and Sub-Mariner, which started in Marvel Mystery Comics #7. These scenes are both from Marvel Mystery Comics #8.

Phil is focused not on the operatic clash of titans, but the devastation in their wake. Marvels doesn’t show this, but Human Torch also shows concern for the damage, and does help to fix the tracks in the original comic.

Phil was even more right than he realized when he observed humans were now spectators.

Betty Dean wants to argue for the Sub-Mariner. Phil and Jonah dismiss her. They run off when they learn Namor flooded the Holland Tunnel. She’ll soon meet up with Human Torch.

Recall the structure of MMC#8. The first story featured Namor going around Manhattan, causing destruction. The second story was a parallel story featuring Human Torch chasing Namor, always a step behind, and always having to clean up the havoc Namor left behind.

What we learn now is that Phil is going to all those same scenes as well, a step behind the Torch, following to the Holland Tunnel, the Zoo, and the George Washington Bridge. The combatants and reporters finally converge at the Statue of Liberty.

Namor takes over Radio City Music Hall to deliver his ultimatum, as seen in Marvel Mystery Comics #9.

The battle continues. The fate of the city and even the world depends on the outcome. The reporters sit in a bar, unable to do more than listen to the radio describing the battle. Namor was trapped by the Human Torch and the Army bombed him.

“…this is our city! Our world!” shouts Phil. “Who gave them the right to just take it away from us?”

They get a tip the final battle is at the Torpey Chemical Works. This is right out of the original.

I think I see Lois and Clark again. Yet…

Namor went on a genuine rampage. Flooding tunnels, destroying bridges, releasing wild animals. It’s almost certain that there were casualties. Yet, he gets forgiven. It’s not because an elected president pardoned him, or a jury found him not-guilty, or because a judge was lenient. Human Torch made the decision to let him go unilaterally. Human Torch, who, despite his moniker, is an android. Making a momentous decision for humanity.

As Phil put it: “…no reprisals. No punishments. Nobody got hurt but us normal people.”

Whatever has been swirling in Phil’s head since first seeing the Torch has truly taken hold. His sense of agency has declined ever since and is now at its nadir. This new world confuses him. The feelings he’s faced with are not ones he is used to. He had been so confident before, so certain. He’s been shaken to his very soul. As he lost confidence in himself, so did he start to doubt everything.

Even his upcoming marriage. He asks to delay it… “just until this is all over.”

“When this is over, I’d said. When would that be? It would blow over. The world wouldn’t stay like this. It couldn’t. Could it?”

I’ve read this comic countless times over the last couple decades. That above scene takes on a whole new meaning with this reading in the midst of a global pandemic. I have several friends who have delayed wedding plans, others afraid they’ll be unable to travel to be present for important occasions.

I write these words in a world that has spent months waiting for a return to normalcy, for the current surreality to “blow over”. The world has changed and impacted everybody in ways big and small. Financial struggles, uncertain plans, lost loved ones.

The world won’t stay like this. It can’t. Can it?

After 6 months of waiting for this to be over, that final look in Phil’s eyes hauntingly resembles the looks I’ve seen in the eyes of many a friend, as realization sinks in that things will never be the same as they were. This won’t just end one day.

It’s likely not coincidental that this page is the exact halfway point of the comic. I’ve included a picture of a parabola. The function represents Phil’s mental state over the course of the comic. Watching the Human Torch release Namor brought him to the vertex, right there in the middle. The vertex is the lowest point. There’s nowhere to go but up.

Though it would take something truly special to pull Phil out of the dark place he has come to. Something truly… inspirational.

All the photos have his original shield, so they must refer to Captain America Comics #1, if anything. I recognize the artist’s sketch and the Broadway show in the picture. Having a bit of trouble pinning down the other pictures and text. Lots of examples of Cap packing a wallop in this issue. At least three anti-military conspiracies get busted up.

The issue of Life Magazine is from March 31, 1941.

Time to see if we recognize the headlines.

Some are the headlines depicted in newspapers in Captain America Comics #1. Others are real headlines from the New York Times in 1941 (from March 21, March 24, or April 12). The rest can mostly be traced to events in the comics.

Human Torch thwarted the Army payroll heist in MMC#18 and the stock market hag in #19. Sub-Mariner battled the radium thieves in Sub-Mariner Comics #1, with the arc continuing in MMC#20. That Patriot headline is hard on my eyesight. Maybe it says, “Hard-charging Patriot decodes a mystery”, but I’m not quite certain. I’ll just throw in a Patriot image from his first appearance in Human Torch #4 (yes, the one that says #3 on the cover). Though it could also just be referring to Captain America as a “hard-charging patriot” and not to the character named Patriot at all. If so, oops.

Let’s look to the newspaper publishers: New York Times, Boston Globe. Of course, the Daily Bugle is Phil and Jonah’s paper. We’ve been reading about it lately because of a particular teenage photographer doing some freelance work for them.

Phil’s feelings of power start to return. Because somehow Captain America represents him, whereas Human Torch and Sub-Mariner represented something other, something scary. He takes personal pride in the accomplishments of Captain America and perhaps sees a reflection of himself and his aspirations in the star-spangled hero.

That old sailor looks like Popeye. Yet it can’t be him; he’s from a different company. There’s Nick Fury, ready for war. One eye presciently obscured in shadow. Can’t tell for certain if we recognize any of his friends. Gabe and Izzy are both from New York; they could have known Nick before the war, although Izzy lived in Brooklyn, not Manhattan. The redhead on Nick’s wartime squad is Dum-Dum, but he’s from Boston. We saw in Sgt. Fury #7 that Nick’s best friend as a youth was a redheaded kid named Hargrove who died at Pearl Harbor. I’m going to assume that’s Hargrove with him.

We see an assortment of titles. They appear to be film titles. One theatre is showing The Lady Eve (Released March 21, 1941) and My Sister Eileen. That’s a bit confusing as the film version of My Sister Eileen was not released until 1942. The stage version would have been out at the time. Perhaps this theatre had both cinema and live plays.

It looks to me like they are watching Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary, which had been released February 21, 1941. The film stars Mickey Rooney, who seems to be attending his own film. At least, that sure looks like him in the audience.

The newsreel is called the “The Timely March of News”. There were actual newsreels of the day called “The March of Time”. Back then, Marvel was known as Timely Comics. Put the two facts together and the inspiration becomes clear.

Doris is on a date with Bill Lumpkin. He seems to be a nice guy. Better known as Willie (or Lumpy), he is a mailman in a 1960 newspaper strip by Stan Lee and Dan Decarlo. We met him in our reading when he was a bit older and delivering mail to the Fantastic Four.

Let’s see what the newsreel has to show us.

The audience watches footage of Human Torch and Namor teaming up to foil a plot to build an invasion tunnel under the Berin Strait from MMC#17.

The audience seems to include two members of the older breed of heroes, predating Marvel and even comic books: Lamont Cranston, the Shadow; and Clark Savage Jr., Doc Savage. Yet it can’t be them; they’re from a different company.

Really, every crowd scene is an excuse for Ross to sneak more people in. Check out those two people in army uniform. Perhaps Private Steve Rogers and Camp Mascot Bucky Barnes?

The gas station manager is Mr. Atwell, who Human Torch helped in MMC#10. Human Torch “nabbed that arsonist” in MMC#20, and Namor stopped the prisoner escape in Sub-Mariner Comics #2.

It’s no longer just Cap that Phil sees as his own hero. His self-assurance and confidence is reemerging. The Marvels haven’t gone away, but now they’re our boys. A whole audience found themselves cheering on the man who had just cut a swath of destruction across Manhattan.

Just when Phil was starting to get too optimistic, Sub-Mariner declared war on humanity. Again.

It brings Phil to his moment of decision, of true catharsis. “I’m through hiding from it!”

At first, the world had turned into a scary place. Then things seemed to get better, only to relapse. Phil thought they’d found a new, better, normal, but they hadn’t.

Phil’s realization now is that his personal satisfaction can’t be dominated by the external world. Things will always change, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. Usually, the world will change in ways we can’t control. So focus on what you can control.

Finally, a renewed sense of purpose. A role for himself in this brave new world. “I was the witness.”

Things happen fast. For Phil and for the world. He lost an eye in the battle between Human Torch and Namor. Namor was forgiven. Pearl Harbor was attacked. The world was at war. Phil and Doris were finally married. Phil went off to cover the war in Europe.

Recognize Casey? Patriot’s war correspondent friend. Also close with Human Torch, Angel, and Namor. Well, at least he and Namor had been close. Namor nearly drowned him in Ukraine. That could sour things between them.

Citizen V. Whizzer. Blue Diamond.

First it was Human Torch. Then Sub-Mariner. Now it’s a phenomenon.

We see a lot of heroes here, teamed up to storm (or invade?) the Nazi compound. Some we know well. Captain America. Bucky. Human Torch. Sub-Mariner. We’ve met Human Torch’s sidekick Toro, but haven’t been properly introduced.

We’ve also met Black Widow, likely off to collect some Nazi souls for Satan. In fact, it was partly reading her adventure that convinced me we’d read enough to tackle this comic now.

Who haven’t we met in our Marvel reading?

The Vision I was planning to introduce when we meet the new Vision. We’ve talked a little about the Destroyer. Perhaps we’ll read a Destroyer story when Thor’s foe of the same name is introduced.

Blazing Skull. Thunderer. Black Marvel. Maybe I’ll find an excuse to read about these heroes one day. Or you can go seek them out on your own. Blazing Skull may have inspired the 1970s Ghost Rider. We could read about Blazing Skull then, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get that far with this blog. At the rate I’m going now, it will take about a decade of blogging before we meet Ghost Rider.

“The world is different now. The rules have changed. Forever.”

What a great comic. As relevant today as ever. Perhaps more so today than ever.

Rating: ★★★★★, 94/100

Go ahead and read Marvels for yourself.

Characters:

• Phil Sheldon
• J. Jonah Jameson
• Phineas T. Horton
• Human Torch
• Lois Lane
• Clark Kent
• Billy Batson/Captain Marvel
• Doris Jacquet
• Sub-Mariner
• Mr. Goodman
• Betty Dean
• Iggy
• Captain America
• Bucky
• Popeye
• Nick Fury
• Bill Lumpkin
• Mickey Rooney
• Lamont Cranston
• Clark Savage, Jr.
• Beautia
• Mr. Atwell
• Hargrove
• Casey
• Vision
• Destroyer
• Black Widow
• Thunderer
• Blazing Skull
• Black Marvel
• Toro

Minor characters:

• Doris’ mother
• Lanigan
• Mr. Compton

Previous		Next
Human Torch #5	PRELUDE
Fantastic Four #27	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #8
Marvels #0	Marvels	Marvels #2