bill everett – Page 2 – Coke ⊕ Comics

Daredevil #1

The Origin of Daredevil

Featuring: Daredevil
Release: February 4, 1964
Cover: April 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Bill Everett
Lettered by: Sam Rosen
23 pages

Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four do not actually appear in this issue. They mention Spider-Man on the cover and the first page in an attempt to market Daredevil as their next Spider-Man.

Daredevil has a pretty distinctive logo, an expanding font with a swoosh running through it. Preceded by a “Here comes…”. And then the tagline which will endure to this day: “The Man Without Fear”.

Bill Everett is a name we should be plenty familiar with by now even though this is his first time showing up in the Marvel Age. We know him from our “Prelude” reading as the creator of Namor the Sub-Mariner 25 years earlier. Reportedly, he was very slow working on this issue of Daredevil, leading to this issue being released a full 7 months after it was originally scheduled. So he won’t be invited back to illustrate more Daredevil stories. He’ll be put on covers and finishes, jobs where he’s less likely to blow deadlines. A shame, because he does great work here.

PRELUDE: Young Men #28, Story C

The Land Below the Sun!

Featuring: Sub-Mariner
Release: February 25, 1954
Cover: June 1954
10 cents
By: Bill Everett
8 pages

If the Nazis were the favorite enemy in the ’40s, by the ’50s it will be the Soviets. They are portrayed as rather silly here, believing their leader without question, constantly insulting capitalism, and generally being blind lemmings praising their fascist state.

That’s exactly how Soviets talked, I imagine.

Now, we read in Sub-Mariner Comics #1 how the Emperor died. Well, now he’s not dead. In truth, I haven’t read very many comics in the intervening 13 years, but I’ve done some internet research, and it doesn’t seem like the comics had explained this discrepancy. As far as I can tell, this is the first time we’ve seen the Emperor since his death. And nobody remarks on how alive he is. Eventually, we will come to a 1980s series called Saga of the Sub-Mariner that attempts to explain the wonky continuity on display.

PRELUDE: Young Men #25, Story C

Featuring: Sub-Mariner
Release: October 26, 1953
Cover: February 1954
10 cents
By: Bill Everett
8 pages

We’re continuing to sample some of Sub-Mariner’s older adventures to catch us up on his history. We’ve read the start of his self-titled series, the conclusion of his self-titled series, and his return to comics in Young Men #24.

Why this next issue as well? Well, because I have it. I mentioned before that JC Penney put out an odd set of new printings of assorted classic Marvel comics, which I acquired as a young child. Young Men #25 was among the set. So I may as well include it.

PRELUDE: Young Men #24, Story C

Featuring: Sub-Mariner
Release: August 19, 1953
Cover: December 1953
10 cents
By: Bill Everett
8 pages

Young Men, there’s no need to feel down…

I can’t find any credit in the story, but it seems to be pretty clearly by Bill Everett.

The story is a mystery of sunken ships, but the teaser kind of spoils the revelation.

We last saw Sub-Mariner, or any of the superheroes from the company that tends to be called “Timely”, in 1949. In 1953, the company tends to be called “Atlas”, and they’re ready to give superheroes another try. At least briefly. Sub-Mariner will get new stories for about a year or so. This issue also sees the return of two of Timely’s other most popular superheroes.

PRELUDE: Sub-Mariner Comics #32

The Birth of the Sub-Mariner

Featuring: Sub-Mariner
Release: March 20, 1949
Cover: June 1949
10 cents
By: Bill Everett
12 pages

I can’t find any credits in the comic, but it seems to pretty clearly be by Bill Everett, and the internet seems to agree.

This is the end of the Sub-Mariner’s story. After a decade, he’s getting cancelled along with all the other superheroes. Romance, humor, crime, western, horror… that’s all the company that will become Marvel is publishing come April 1949.

For his final issue, they look backward. This story tells of the origin of Namor. The next story in the issue covers the same events as Namor’s first story in Marvel Comics #1.

The story begins with a ship which has lost its Captain. Commander Leonard McKenzie is injured and lost. His ship has to abandon him. He is saved by his new wife, a woman they rescued who turns out to be more than she appears. She is Fen, Princess of the Sub-Mariners.

The Sub-Mariners wish him put to death for the crimes of humanity, but she is in charge in the absence of the Emperor and insists he live.

PRELUDE: Sub-Mariner Comics #1

The World’s First Deep-Sea Blitzkrieg!

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: March 1, 1941
Cover: Spring 1941
10 cents
By: Bill Everett
20 pages

My goal with this blog is to read through all the superhero comics that make up the Marvel Universe starting with Fantastic Four #1 in 1961. But there’s an oddity to that goal: the company had been making superhero comics since 1939. Of course, they stopped making superhero comics in 1949, to very briefly revive the idea in 1953. So 1961 isn’t exactly the beginning, but it sort of is. Most of the superheroes we know will follow in the wake of the Fantastic Four. We’ve already met Hulk, Ant-Man & Wasp, Thor Spider-Man, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Sgt. Fury… and more will come.

But some of our heroes predate 1961. Johnny Storm is not the first Human Torch. There was another and we’ve peeked at his stories. But the FF comics have yet to mention the existence of a previous Torch, so those stories are not crucial to the task at hand. We’ll very soon be meeting one more important character from 1941, but I’ll not jump ahead. The big thing we’re missing so far is the story of Sub-Mariner, who appeared in about 300 comics prior to 1961. Reading all of them would consume a huge amount of effort when I really want to push forward. But the gap is also nagging me.

So I’m going to read a small smattering of them. Try to get a sense of who Namor is and what he’s about. We’ve already read his earliest appearance as well as his first epic battle with Human Torch.

When the Fantastic Four met Namor in Fantastic Four #6, I wrote: “All posts regarding Fantastic Four comics featuring Namor are henceforth dedicated to my mother.” I may as well broaden that dedication to all Namor comics and include the next few we cover.

PRELUDE: Marvel Mystery Comics #10

Well, that was anticlimactic.

The Result of the Most Famous Battle in Comic Magazines
Featuring: Human Torch and Sub-Mariner
Release: June 15, 1940
Cover: August 1940
10 cents
Credits: Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, and John Compton
1 page

No credits appear on the page. The art reminds me most of Burgos’ style. I borrowed the credits from the previous issue; the GCD agrees.

The finale of the epic is a single page. A single page.

Betty Dean finally gets her way and convinces Torch and Namor to call a truce. It makes sense for the fight to end in a draw, to disappoint neither set of fans. But letting Namor go is entirely unsatisfying. He crashed a train, flooded a tunnel. Who knows how many people died on his rampage?

PRELUDE: Marvel Mystery Comics #9

An epic battle between two Marvel superstars!

The Battle of the Comic Century!
Featuring: Human Torch vs. Sub-Mariner
Release: May 17, 1940
Cover: July 1940
10 cents
Credits: Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, and John Compton
22 pages

It’s not quite clear how Everett and Burgos split up the art duties. I’m sure they both pulled their weight, though most of the issue reminds me of Everett’s work.

John Compton is most likely on hand to assist with scripting. I don’t know my Golden Age creators well, so can’t tell you much about John Compton. And Google at a glance doesn’t know much more than me.

One thing to note about the very fancy title page is the phrase, “Marvel Comics Presents”. Almost seems anachronistic, as the company wasn’t yet called Marvel Comics (it still isn’t necessarily, even in 1963; every cover has that “MC” on it, but the word Marvel isn’t evident). Though it was the name of the first issue of this series, before the word “Mystery” was inserted. But it’s a very prescient phrase.

As I reflect, that title is a bit hard to parse. “The Battle of the Comic Century”. “Comic Century”. I might think they mean that this is the battle of the century told in comic form, or perhaps that this is the battle of the century, at least within comics. But it doesn’t really say either of these things. Perhaps they mean that the 20th century is the century of comics. Or perhaps that of the current century the comics are depicting, this is the great battle.

PRELUDE: Marvel Mystery Comics #8

The Marvel Universe starts to take shape as two of its greatest champions meet in battle.

The Human Torch and Sub-Mariner meet!!!
Featuring: Sub-Mariner
Release: April 24, 1940
Cover: June 1940
10 cents
Story and art: Bill Everett (uncredited)
10 pages

Hard to believe something as significant as Human Torch meeting Sub-Mariner didn’t even get top billing on the cover. I guess Angel battling some monster was more exciting.

Usually, Bill Everett’s signature appears on the first page of each Sub-Mariner story, but I’m not finding it here.

“…for having attempted to electrocute him after he had promised to lend his powers to his cause…” I guess you can see why he might be miffed.

It really all begins here. Eight months after the respective debuts of Human Torch and Sub-Mariner, the characters meet in conflict. The Marvel Comics series becomes more than independent stories in an anthology. The seeds of a universe sprout. So it is that 23 years later, Sub-Mariner can battle the Fantastic Four with a new Human Torch, while that same Fantastic Four battle Hulk and Spider-Man in other stories. So it is that 80 years later, a movie studio can throw dozens of superheroes up on the big screen in a epic big-budget battle.

I think this is one of the most significant pages in Marvel history.

The highlight of the story, the reason we’re here, is short. The final 2 pages of a 10-page story tell of the meeting between Human Torch and Namor. The Torch quickly gains the upper hand and Namor retreats.

PRELUDE: Marvel Mystery Comics #7, Story C

The surface world will feel Namor’s vengeful wrath.

Featuring: Sub-Mariner
Release: March 20, 1940
Cover: May 1940
10 cents
Credits: Bill Everett
10 pages

While The Human Torch stories have been very episodic, the Sub-Mariner stories have formed one continuing saga. Thus there’s no way to jump into them without feeling like we’re missing something. Nonetheless, I’m not looking to review every Golden Age Sub-Mariner story here. Just a couple to give us some context for the Marvel Age stories we are reading.

In this blog, we last saw Namor beginning a war against the surface world for crimes against his people. He’s cooled off and befriended Policewoman Betty Dean. He grew concerned about the war ravaging the surface world, and decided to take part. Sometimes, he seemed sympathetic to the Allied cause and sometimes merely to the cause of peace. He decided to try his hand at being a superhero, to convince the surface world of his good intentions.

He made a deal with the police commissioner to do some good works, but the commissioner still insisted he stand trial for his crimes. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Well, the electric chair did not kill him… it just made him angry. So his war against the surface will begin anew. That’s where this issue opens.

Namor informs his Emperor of his plans to destroy the entire continent after conquering New York. The Emperor offers the entire Sub-Mariner army, but Namor says he can handle it himself for now, as his vendetta is personal.