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.
Continue reading “PRELUDE: Marvel Mystery Comics #9”