The Angel (Thomas Halloway, often shortened to Tom Halloway) is a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. Created by artist

Paul Gustavson Paul Gustavson (né Karl Paul Gustafson; August 16, 1916 – April 29, 1977) was a Finnish-American comic-book writer and artist. His most notable creations during the Golden Age of Comic Books were Human Bomb, The Human Bomb for Quality Comics, ...

and an unconfirmed writer during the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...

, the Angel

first appeared In comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interest in fir ...

in ''

'' #1 (Oct. 1939), the first publication of Marvel Comics' predecessor,

Timely Comics Timely Comics was the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely P ...

. The Angel is a non-superpowered detective who nonetheless wore a superhero costume.

Publication history

Created by artist

and written either by him, Ray Gill, or another writer, the Angel debuted in

' ''

'' #1 (Oct. 1939).The Angel
(Marvel Comics, 1939) at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on April 4, 2012. "The character was created by cartoonist Paul Gustavson, who wrote and drew his first adventure as well as many later ones."''Marvel Comics'' #1
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...

. The Angel was among the more popular Timely characters after the "big three" of the

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm) is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and ar ...

, the Sub-Mariner and

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

. The Angel had over 100 Golden Age appearances — starting in that initial Marvel title (which changed its name to ''Marvel Mystery Comics'' with issue #2), up through #79 (Dec. 1946); as the sole backup feature in ''Sub-Mariner Comics'' #1-21 (Spring 1941-Fall 1946); and in occasional appearances in '' All Winners Comics'' #1 (Summer 1941), ''The Human Torch'' #5 (Summer 1941), ''

Mystic Comics ''Mystic Comics'' is the name of three comic book series published by the company that eventually became Marvel Comics. The first two series were superhero anthologies published by Marvel's 1930-1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, during what fans a ...

'' vol. 2 #1-3, (Oct.-Winter 1944), '' Daring Comics'' #10 (Winter 1944-45). In ''Superhero Comics of the Golden Age'', Mike Benton writes: "The Angel, like some of the other features that Gustavson drew and wrote, owed a heavy debt to the pulp magazine heroes and detectives. Like

the Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

and the Spider, the Angel had few compunctions about operating outside the law and using severe measures -- especially if it meant scaring the hell out of criminals." In the Kree–Skrull War story arc (1972), Rick Jones summons Angel, the Blazing Skull, the

Fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

, the Patriot, and the

Vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

via the Destiny Force to battle the Skrulls. The Angel is one of the central characters of the eight-issue

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

'' The Marvels Project'' (Aug. 2009-May 2010), by writer

Ed Brubaker Ed Brubaker (; born November 17, 1966) is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and screenwriter who works primarily in the crime fiction genre. He began his career with the semi-autobiographical series '' Lowlife'' and a number of serials i ...

and penciler

Steve Epting Stephen "Steve" Epting is an Americans, American comics artist. He is best known for his work on ''The Avengers (comic book), The Avengers'' and ''Captain America (comic book), Captain America'' for Marvel Comics. Early life Epting's influences ...

Fictional character biography

A costumed detective with no superpowers, the Angel is among the few such heroes to wear no mask, and in his Golden Age appearances makes no effort to conceal his identity as independently wealthy Thomas Halloway, a former surgeon. Thomas' mother died in childbirth - consequently he was brought up in the prison where his father was a warden. There he was instructed by a number of experts, as well as a number of the inmates, which gave him a unique insight into the underworld. He earned his moniker when he saved one of these inmates from the chair. Though he wore a costume like a superhero, he wore no mask to conceal his identity. He later acquires the Cape of Mercury, which allows him to fly, but he has used this ability only occasionally, as on his campaign against the foreign spy Cat's Paw. The Angel was already active by the time of the first Human Torch and Sub-Mariner adventures, and active as far back as 1936. He fights alongside Namor against

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

"Nazombies", and was later

retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

as a member of both the All-Winners Squad and the V-Battalion after the war. The Angel was also possibly a Secret Service agent for a brief period of time. According to ''Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', the Angel "fights everything from gangsters to Brains in a Jar to crazed pygmies, including Armless Tiger Man, Count Lust, the Epicure of Crime, the Gargoyle, the Wolfman, and Dr. Hyde, who steals the eyes from victims and ransoms them back for $100,000." Halloway remained active as an older character in 1990s comics, and was revealed as the primary force behind the murderous vigilante group Scourges of the Underworld,'' U.S. Agent'' #3 (August 1993) which assassinated a large number of lesser supervillains and archcriminals. Confronted by U.S. Agent, Angel was wounded during the battle and arrested, but subsequently released due to a lack of evidence.''U.S. Agent'' #4 (September 1993)''

'' #442 (August 1995) Halloway's grandson, Jason Halloway, is given his grandfather's mask and weapons at the end of ''The Marvels Project'' #8 (July 2010).

Angel (Simon Halloway)

An elderly homeless man said to have once been the Angel appeared in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' vol. 3 #7 (Oct. 1991) and in '' The Incredible Hulk'' #432-433 (Aug.-Sept. 1995). This was originally intended to have been Thomas Halloway, but due to it conflicting with established continuity these appearances were

to have been Simon Halloway, Thomas' brother, who had assumed the identity of the Angel and substituted for his brother on numerous occasions. In the 1990s, Simon was living as a homeless man in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, where he was killed by the

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

Zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' (; ; capitalized in German) is an invisible agent, force, or daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. The term is usually associated with Georg W. F ...

Powers and abilities

Thomas Halloway had no superpowers but he was an acrobat and hand-to-hand combatant, an accomplished disguise artist, occult scholar and pilot and a skilled detective. He also wore the Cape of Mercury, which granted him the ability to fly, and used knives and other weapons.

Other versions

An alternate version of Thomas Halloway / Angel from Earth-90214 appears in ''

X-Men Noir Marvel Noir is a 2009–2010 Marvel Comics alternative continuity combining elements of film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical a ...

''. This version is a private investigator and the child of the warden of a prison called the Welfare Pen. Thomas' mother died in childbirth - consequently he was brought up in the prison where his father was a warden. There, he was instructed by a number of experts, as well as a number of the inmates, which gave him a unique insight into the underworld. He earned his moniker when he saved an inmate from execution. In the final issue of the series, Thomas' twin brother Robert is revealed to have also used the Angel identity and sacrifices himself to stop

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men'' #1 ...

.''

'' #4 (March 2009)

References

External links

The Angel
at International Hero {{Avengers characters Comics characters introduced in 1939 Fictional World War II veterans Fictional surgeons Golden Age superheroes Marvel Comics male superheroes Superhero detectives Timely Comics characters Twin characters in comics Vigilante characters in comics