Featuring: Tommy Tyme
Release: May 16, 1945
Cover: Summer 1945
10 cents
5 pages
| Previous | Next | |
|---|---|---|
| Daring Mystery Comics #5, Story H | PRELUDE | Venus #5 |
| Daredevil #9 | Reading order | Journey Into Mystery Annual 1 |
Geez! Am I dumb! Here am I wishin’ for sumpin’ right in me mits! Let’s go Clock! I’m gittin’ me a ringside seat!
No credits are visible. The GCD credits the art to Charles Nicholas and Al Bellman.
We’ve read two appearances of Marvel’s first characters named Hercules. We then sort of met the “real” Hercules in his reincarnated form as Marvel Boy. But now we meet the actual Hercules of myth.
I admit to trepidation when learning that his introduction was in Young Allies, and I was so relieved to learn I didn’t actually have to read the Young Allies story. Give me Tommy Tyme any day. Tempted to give extra points to this story for not being Young Allies.
This story adapts a famous Hercules legend, the defeat of Antaeus the Giant. In the classic story, Hercules’ labours were in the service of Eurytheus in penance for killing his own wife and children. On his quest to find golden apples, Hercules battled Antaeus. The comic leaves out these details and just shows the battle.
We sort of met Tommy Tyme once before. I’d wanted to see the original Marvel versions of Merlin and the Black Knight, though had been reluctant to bother to read the issue. So we talked about it here.
I’ve apparently since grown less picky about what Marvel stories to read. Little Hercules. Tommy Tyme. It’s all one big soup.
Tommy Tyme stories tend to have a similar structure. His “wonderful Clock of Ages” takes him back to some famous time and place to meet some famous people, like Robin Hood or Benjamin Franklin. Think of the series as a precursor to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
A class lesson on Hercules’ wrestling match against Antaeus makes Tommy want to witness the battle.
Seeing how Antaeus has enslaved people and demanded women as sacrifice makes Tommy want to take him on himself.
The story then seems to draw from a different mythological inspiration, as the young boy attacks the giant with a slingshot. A single blow from a slingshot isn’t enough to slay this giant. It’s fortunate for Tommy that Hercules came along.
And fortunate for Hercules that Tommy guessed the giant’s secret: he is the son of Terra the Earth goddess, and so empowered by connection to Earth.
To win this wrestling match, Hercules must use the move known as the “fireman’s carry”. I’ll let Brock Lesnar demonstrate.
This story is almost identical to a story we’ve read before concerning Thor and Sigurd. I couldn’t find a Norse myth that was drawing from, so it seems like Kirby took a famous Hercules story and gave it to Thor.
As many know, Hercules will become a prominent Marvel superhero. But like many classic characters adopted into the Marvel Universe, there are a handful of older Marvel stories where they appear. As far as I can tell, this is the first Marvel story to properly feature the Olympian Hercules.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 51/100
Characters:
- Tommy Tyme
- Hercules
- Antaeus
Story notes:
- Possible full title: “Tommy Tyme and His Wonderful Clock of Ages in the Battle of the Giants!”
- At art museum, Tommy’s class learns about wrestling match between Hercules and Antaeus the Giant.
- Tommy’s friend thinks Hercules couldn’t beat Dempsey or Louis.
- Tommy uses Clock of Ages to witness Hercules battle.
- Tommy travels to Pyrhuss.
- Hercules seems to be winning, but Antaeus arises stronger each time.
- Hercules swears by Jupiter.
- Antaeus son of Terra, mother Earth.
| Previous | Next | |
|---|---|---|
| Daring Mystery Comics #5, Story H | PRELUDE | Venus #5 |
| Daredevil #9 | Reading order | Journey Into Mystery Annual 1 |
