Marvel Comics: The Beginning
The Origins of the Industry’s Leading Comic Book Publisher
Aug 20, 2008 Douglas Allen Rhodes
Martin Goodman’s Pulp Publishing
The story of Marvel Comics begins in 1932 when Martin Goodman teamed with Louis Silberkleit to found Western Fiction Publishing. Goodman and Silberkleit began to produce pulp magazines with a western flair. Their first was Complete Western Book, but they didn’t stop there.
Goodman believed that the key to success in the pulp field was to find a hot property and produce as many pulps related to it as possible until the interest in the idea was pumped dry. This business idea extended to company holdings and Goodman maintained as many as 50 separate publishing houses to flood the market with pulps.
A disagreement, in 1934, over the way in which the Western Fiction Publishing company was run led to Silberkleit departing as co-owner, leaving Goodman in control of the company. Goodman then attempted to bring many of his pulps under one recognizable brand, putting a red disk with black ring logo on their covers. Within the black ring was the brands name “A Red Circle Magazine”. The attempt was half-hearted at best.
Goodman Moves to Comics
In the late 1930’s Goodman was approached by a salesman named Frank Torpey who represented the company Funnies, Inc. Torpey believed that comic books would soon replace the pulps and he wanted to be in on the ground floor. The company he represented had talented artists and writers but it lacked a strong distribution network. Martin Goodman was just what they needed.
The first publication of Goodman’s new venture was Marvel Comics. Published in 1939, with a cover price of 10¢, it featured the exploits of several new heroes, among them the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner.
The Birth of the Marvel Style
Superheroes were already established by the time Marvel Comics was released. Superman and Batman were smash hits, so much so that the term used to describe the new type of characters “Superhero” was derived from the prior’s name. But, as the company would come to be known for doing, Marvel Comics brought something very different to the table.
The Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner went at the concept of super heroism a very different way. The Torch (created by Carl Burgos) began life as a badly designed android whose creator’s mistakes had caused him to burst into flame whenever he came into contact with oxygen. He spends much of his first appearance accidently burning down parts of the city and screaming about his inability to stop burning.
This concept of setting up the hero as a sort of monster, flawed and far from perfect, who nevertheless perseveres to help others became one of the trademarks of the company that would be Marvel Comics, an idea that set it starkly apart from its distinguished competition. Another such concept could be found in the Sub-Mariner.
At a time when superheroes were altruistic and noble saviors who felt compelled to champion mankind, the Sub-Mariner was a different hero indeed. Created by Bill Everett for a small strip in Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly, back during the Funnies, Inc. days, The Sub-Mariner was an angry and rebellious young prince from an underwater kingdom.
The Sub-Mariner professed hatred for the majority of “surface dwellers” and actively opposed them to protect his people from their encroachment. He became the first comic book anti-hero, and an icon of the fight against exploitation of nature and racism.
The Beginning of an Era
With the publication of Marvel Comics #1, Martin Goodman’s company blazed the way into an exciting new style of comic books, the industry was in for a wild ride.
Read the next article in this series:
Marvel Comics: The Early Timely Years
Marvel Comics #1
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