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

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 ...

. "Timely Publications became the name under which Goodman first published a comic book line. He eventually created a number of companies to publish comics ... but Timely was the name by which Goodman's Golden Age comics were known." "Marvel wasn't always Marvel; in the early 1940s the company was known as Timely Comics, and some covers bore this shield." Founded in 1939, during the era called 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 ...

, "Timely" was the umbrella name for the comics division of

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their ...

publisher Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

entities all producing the same product. The company's first publication in 1939 used Timely Publications,Postal indicia in issue, pe
''Marvel Comics'' #1 [1st printing] (October 1939)
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 ...

: "Vol.1, No.1, MARVEL COMICS, Oct., 1939 Published monthly by Timely Publications, ... Art and editorial by Funnies Incorporated..."Per statement of ownership, dated October 2, 1939, published in '' Marvel Mystery Comics'' #4 (Feb. 1940), p. 40; reprinted in '' Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics'' Volume 1 (Marvel Comics, 2004, , ), p. 239 based at his existing company in the McGraw-Hill Building at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City. In 1942, it moved to the 14th floor of the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

, where it remained until 1951. In 2016, Marvel announced that Timely Comics would be the name of a new imprint of low-priced reprint comics.

Creation

In 1939, with the emerging medium of comic books proving hugely popular, and the first

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 ...

es setting the trend, pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman founded Timely Publications, basing it at his existing company in the McGraw-Hill Building at 330 West 42nd Street in New York City. Goodman – whose official titles were editor, managing editor, and business manager, with Abraham Goodman officially listed as publisher – contracted with the newly formed

comic book packager Comics packaging is a publishing activity in which a publishing company outsources the myriad tasks involved in putting together a comic book — writing, illustrating, editing, and even printing — to an outside service called a packager. Once th ...

Funnies, Inc. to supply material. His first effort, ''

'' #1 (Oct. 1939), featured the first appearances of writer-artist

Carl Burgos Carl Burgos ( ; born Max Finkelstein ; April 18, 1916 – March 1984 Note: Gives only month and year of death.) was an American comic book and advertising artist best known for creating the Human Torch (android), original Human Torch in ''Marvel ...

' android

, 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 ...

, and

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, ...

's costumed detective the

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

. It also contained the first published appearance of

Bill Everett William Blake Everett (; May 18, 1917 – February 27, 1973) was an American comic book writer-artist best known for creating Namor the Sub-Mariner as well as co-creating Zombie (comics), Zombie and Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil ...

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

Namor the Sub-Mariner, created for the unpublished movie-theater giveaway comic '' Motion Picture Funnies Weekly'' earlier that year, with the eight-page original story now expanded by four pages. Also included were Al Anders'

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

hero the Masked Raider; the jungle lord Ka-Zar the Great, with Ben Thompson beginning a five-issue adaptation of the story "King of Fang and Claw" by Bob Byrd in Goodman's pulp magazine ''Ka-Zar'' #1 (Oct. 1936); the non-continuing-character story "Jungle Terror", featuring adventurer Ken Masters, drawn and possibly written by Art Pinajian under the quirky pseudonym "Tohm Dixon" or "Tomm Dixon" (with the published signature smudged); "Now I'll Tell One", five single-panel, black-and-white gag cartoons by Fred Schwab, on the inside front cover; and a two-page prose story by Ray Gill, "Burning Rubber", about

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. A painted cover by veteran science-fiction pulp artist Frank R. Paul featured the Human Torch, looking much different from the interior story.''Marvel Comics'' #1
at the

That initial comic, cover-dated October 1939, quickly sold out 80,000 copies, prompting Goodman to produce a second printing, cover-dated November 1939. The latter is identical except for a black bar over the October date in the inside-front-cover indicia, and the November date added at the end. That sold approximately 800,000 copies.Per researcher Keif Fromm, ''Alter Ego'' #49, p. 4 (caption) With a hit on his hands, Goodman began assembling an in-house staff, hiring Funnies, Inc. writer-artist Joe Simon as editor. Simon brought along his collaborator, artist

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

, followed by artist Syd Shores. Goodman then formed Timely Comics, Inc., beginning with comics cover-dated April 1941 or Spring 1941. There is evidence that "Red Circle Comics", a name that would be used for an unrelated imprint of Archie Comics in the 1970s and 1980s – may have been a term in use as Goodman prepared to publish his first comic book. Historian Les Daniels, referring to Goodman's pulp-magazine line, describes the name Red Circle as "a halfhearted attempt to establish an identity for what was usually described loosely as 'the Goodman group' adewhen a new logo was adopted: a red disk surrounded by a black ring that bore the phrase 'A Red Circle Magazine.' But it appeared only intermittently, when someone remembered to put it on pulp magazine'scover. Historian Jess Nevins, conversely, writes that, "Timely Publications as howGoodman's group f companieshad become known; before this, it was known as 'Red Circle' because of the logo that Goodman had put on his pulp magazines...." The

identifies 23 issues of Goodman comic books from 1944 to 1959 with Red Circle, Inc. branding, and a single 1948 issue under Red Circle Magazines Corp.

Golden Age of Comic Books

''Marvel Comics'' was rechristened ''Marvel Mystery Comics'' with issue #2 (Dec. 1939); the magazine would continue under that title through #92 (June 1949) before becoming '' Marvel Tales'' through #159 (Aug. 1957). Timely began publishing additional series, beginning with '' Daring Mystery Comics'' #1 (Jan. 1940), ''

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 ...

'' #1 (March 1940), '' Red Raven Comics'' #1 (Aug. 1940), ''The Human Torch'' #2 (premiering Fall 1940 with no

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

and having taken over the numbering from the unsuccessful ''Red Raven''), and ''

Captain America Comics ''Captain America Comics'' is a comic book series featuring the superhero character Captain America. The series was originally published by Timely Comics from 1941 to 1950, with a brief revival by Atlas Comics (1950s), Atlas Comics in 1954. Pub ...

'' #1 (March 1941). Going on sale in December 1940, a year before the bombing of

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

and already showing the hero punching

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, that first issue sold nearly one million copies. With the hit characters Human Torch and Sub-Mariner now joined by Simon and Kirby's seminal patriotic hero

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 ...

, Timely had its "big three" stars of the era fans and historians call the

. Rival publishers

National Comics Publications National Comics Publications (NCP; later known as National Periodical Publications Inc. or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company. It was the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics. History The corporation was origin ...

/ All-American Comics, the sister companies that would evolve into

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, likewise had their own "big three": Superman and

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

plus the soon-to-debut

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

. Timely's other major competitors were Fawcett Publications (with Captain Marvel, introduced in 1940);

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, ...

(with

Plastic Man Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brian) is a superhero featured in American comic books first appearing in ''Police Comics'' #1, originally published by Quality Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. Created by cartoonist Jack Cole (artist), Jack Co ...

and Blackhawk, both in 1941); and Lev Gleason Publications (with Daredevil, introduced in 1940 and unrelated to the 1960s Marvel hero). Other Timely characters, many seen both in modern-day retroactive-continuity appearances and in flashbacks, include the

, the next-most-popular character in terms of number of appearances; the

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

, an early creation of future Marvel chief

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

; super-speedster the Whizzer; the flying and super-strong

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

; the original

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 ...

, who inspired Marvel writer

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

in the 1960s to create a

Silver Age The Ages of Man are the historical stages of human existence according to Greek mythology and its subsequent interpretatio romana, Roman interpretation. Both Hesiod and Ovid offered accounts of the successive ages of humanity, which tend to pr ...

version of the character; and the Blazing Skull and the Thin Man, two members of the present-day New Invaders. Just as Captain America had his teenage sidekick Bucky and DC Comics' Batman had Robin, the Human Torch acquired a young partner,

Toro Toro may refer to: Places *Toro, Molise, a ''comune'' in the Province of Campobasso, Italy *Toro, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria *Toro, Shizuoka, an archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Toro, Zamora, a ''m ...

, in the first issue of the Torch's own magazine. The Young Allies—one of several "kid gangs" popular in comics at the time—debuted under the rubric the Sentinels of Liberty in a text story in ''Captain America Comics'' #4 (June 1941) before making it to the comics pages themselves the following issue, and then eventually into their own title. Seeing a natural "fire and water" theme, Timely was responsible for comic books' first major crossover, with a two-issue battle between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner that spanned ''Marvel Mystery Comics'' #8–9 (telling the story from the two characters' different perspectives). After the Simon and Kirby team moved to DC late 1941, having produced ''Captain America Comics'' through issue #10 (Jan. 1942), Al Avison and Syd Shores became regular pencilers on the title, with one generally inking over the other.

(né Stanley Lieber), a cousin of Goodman's by marriage who had been serving as an assistant since 1939, at age 16, was promoted to interim editor just shy of his 19th birthday. Showing a knack for the business, Lee stayed on for decades, eventually becoming Marvel Comics' publisher in 1972. Fellow Timely staffer Vincent Fago would substitute during Lee's

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 ...

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

. The staff at that time, Fago recalled, was, "

Mike Sekowsky Michael Sekowsky (; November 19, 1923 – March 30, 1989) was an American comics artist known as the penciler for DC Comics' '' Justice League of America'' during most of the 1960s, and as the regular writer and artist on ''Wonder Woman'' durin ...

. Ed Winiarski. Gary Keller was a production assistant and letterer. Ernest Hart and Kin Platt were writers, but they worked freelance; Hart also drew. George Klein, Syd Shores, Vince Alascia, Dave Gantz, and

Chris Rule Christopher Rule (November 23, 1894 – April 1983) was an American comic book artist active from the 1940s through at least 1960, and best known as the first regular Marvel Comics inker for comics artist Jack Kirby during the period fans and hist ...

were there, too". In 1942, Goodman moved his publisher operations to the 14th floor of the

, where it remained until 1951.

Funny animals, and people

The superheroes were the products of what Timely referred to as the "adventure" bullpen. The company also developed an "animator" bullpen creating such movie tie-in and original talking animal comics as '' Terrytoons Comics'', '' Mighty Mouse'', '' All Surprise Comics'', '' Super Rabbit Comics'', ''Funny Frolics'', and ''Funny Tunes,'' renamed ''Animated Funny Comic-Tunes''. Former Fleischer Studios animator Fago, who joined Timely in 1942, headed this group, which consisted through the years of such writer/artists as Hart, Gantz, Klein, Platt, Rule, Sekowsky, Frank Carin (né Carino), Bob Deschamps, Chad Grothkopf, Pauline Loth, Jim Mooney, Moss Worthman a.k.a. Moe Worth, and future '' Mad'' magazine cartoonists Dave Berg and Al Jaffee. Features from this department include "Dinky" and "Frenchy Rabbit" in ''Terrytoons Comics''; "Floop and Skilly Boo" in ''Comedy Comics''; "Posty the Pelican Postman" in ''Krazy Komics'' and other titles; "Krazy Krow" in that character's eponymous comic; "Tubby an' Tack", in various comics; and the most popular of these features, Jaffee's " Ziggy Pig and Silly Seal" and Hart's " Super Rabbit", the cover stars of many different titles. Timely also published one of humor

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

Basil Wolverton's best-known features, '' Powerhouse Pepper''. The first issue, cover-dated January 1943, bore no number, and

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

Pepper looked different from his more familiar visualization (when the series returned for four issues, May–Nov. 1948) as the bullet-headed naif in the striped turtleneck sweater. Additionally, Timely in 1944 and 1945 initiated a sitcom selection of titles aimed at female readers: '' Millie the Model'', ''Tessie the Typist'' and ''Nellie the Nurse''. The company continued to pursue female readers later in the decade with such superheroines as Sun Girl; the Sub-Mariner spin-off Namora; and

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, the Roman goddess of love, posing as a human reporter. '' Patsy Walker'', ''Millie the Model'', ''Tessie the Typist'' and other Timely humor titles also included

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ...

's "Hey Look!" one-pagers in several issues. Future Comic Book Hall of Fame artist

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the Social Security Death Index via ...

, a Marvel mainstay from 1946 on, recalled that, "The atmosphere at Timely was very good, very funny. ... worked ina big art room and there were about 20 artists in there, all stacked up. Syd horeswas in the last row on my side, and there was another row on the other side.

Dan DeCarlo Daniel S. DeCarlo (December 12, 1919 – December 18, 2001) was an American cartoonist best known for having developed the look of Archie Comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernizing the characters to their contemporary appearance and es ...

was there, several other people – Vince Alascia was an inker; Rudy LaPick sat right behind me," with

"in another room". Yet after the wartime boom years – when superheroes had been new and inspirational, and comics provided cheap entertainment for millions of children, soldiers and others – the post-war era found superheroes falling out of fashion. Television and mass market paperback books now also competed for readers and

leisure time Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Le ...

. Goodman began turning to a wider variety of genres than ever, emphasizing horror, Westerns, teen humor,

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

and war comics, and introducing female heroes to try to attract girls and young women to read comics. In 1946, for instance, the superhero title ''All Select Comics'' was changed to ''Blonde Phantom Comics'', and now starred a masked secretary who fought crime in an

evening gown An evening gown, evening dress or gown is a long dress usually worn at formal occasions. The drop ranges from Ballerina skirt, ballerina (mid-calf to just above the ankles), Tea length, tea (above the ankles), to Skirt length, full-length. S ...

. That same year, ''Kid Komics'' eliminated its stars and became ''Kid Movie Comics''. ''All Winners Comics'' became ''All Teen Comics'' in January 1947. Timely eliminated virtually all its staff positions in 1948.

Time after Timely

The precise end-point of the Golden Age of comics is vague, but for Timely, at least, it appears to have ended with the cancellation of ''Captain America Comics'' at issue #75 (Feb. 1950) – by which time the series had already been ''Captain America's Weird Tales'' for two issues, with the finale featuring merely anthological horror/suspense tales and no superheroes. ''Sub-Mariner Comics'' and ''Human Torch Comics'' had already ended with #32 (June 1949) and #35 (March 1949) respectively, and the company's flagship title, '' Marvel Mystery Comics'', starring the Angel, ended that same month with #92, becoming the horror anthology '' Marvel Tales'' beginning with issue #93 (Aug. 1949). Goodman began using the globe logo of the Atlas News Company, the newsstand-distribution company he owned, on comics cover-dated Nov. 1951.Marvel : Atlas [wireframe globe
/nowiki> (Brand)">ireframe globe">Marvel : Atlas [wireframe globe
/nowiki> (Brand)at the Grand Comics Database In 2015, Marvel registered the trademark "Timely Comics". The following year, Marvel announced that Timely Comics would be the name of a new imprint of low-priced reprint comics.

Marvel branding

Publisher Martin Goodman's business strategy involved having his various magazines and comic books published by a number of companies all operating out of the same office and with the same staff. One of these shell companies under which Timely Comics was published was named Marvel Comics by at least '' Marvel Mystery Comics'' #55 (May 1944). As well, some comics' covers, such as ''All Surprise Comics'' #12 (Winter 1946–47), were labeled "A Marvel Magazine" many years before Goodman would formally adopt the name in 1961. This brand extended to the company's short-lived editorial advisory board in 1948 in an effort to compete with other publishers like

and Fawcett Comics, and used the moniker Marvel Comic Group in its editorials.

Timely characters and creators

''List of characters making multiple appearances, either in Timely Comics solely or in Timely and subsequent companies Atlas Comics and Marvel Comics''.

Notes

References

External links

Timely
at

* Nevins, Jess
A Guide to Golden Age Marvel Characters
* {{Comic book publishers in North America navbox American companies established in 1939 American companies disestablished in 1950 Publishing companies established in 1939 Publishing companies disestablished in 1950 Marvel Comics imprints Publishing companies based in New York City Defunct comics and manga publishing companies 1939 establishments in New York City 1939 comics debuts 1950 comics endings 1950 disestablishments in New York (state)