From the very beginnings of the Marvel Universe, Stan and the gang wisely chose to resurrect some of the more successful characters from the halcyon days of Timely and Atlas. The most notorious revival was of the Sub-Mariner who had proven to be a quite successful character for the company in earlier times and was even considered for a television show in the 50's. The Namor we meet in the pages of Fantastic Four #4 is rowdy character who is quickly smitten by Sue Storm, a quasi-romance that will linger in the comic for several years, even after Namor rediscovers his lost kingdom of Atlantis.
But even before Namor there was the reimagining of the Human Torch who for the first time actually lived up to the name. Where as Namor was the same character as we'd seen in the Golden and Atomic ages of comics, albeit with an altered story line, this new Human Torch was Johnny Storm, a new character altogether, though Marvel immediately saw that he might be a headliner as he hand been in decades past. The Torch was quickly given a solo slot in Strange Tales to attempt to maximize his popularity such as it was.
The next revival at Marvel was a bit of a surprise, as it came in the pages of the short-lived original
Hulk series. It was of the villainous Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime. The Golden Age original had been Nazis and these are just clever thieves. Later it was suggested the Nazi Ringmaster had been the father of the Silver Age one, but who knows what the story is today, if the Circus of Crime can even be a thing in these modern days.
Next was the third of the "Big Three" from Timely. Captain America is unfrozen in
Avengers #4 and goes on to become a mainstay of the book and eventual titular leader. He of course will get his own series before long. I've always found it odd that Marvel was so tenuous about his revival, having done a false one in the pages of Strange Tales before the actual for real Cap joined the MU.
The next revival and retro-continuity character is actually two, one a villain and the other a hero. The Black Knight was a high profile character for Atlas and a bad version was dreamed up in the modern day for Giant-Man to battle. He went on to fight Iron Man before his untimely death. His equipment was inherited by Dane Whitman who chose to use it as a hero and not a villain and eventually the Atlas Knight was tied into all of this in the pages of various Avengers comics.
Ka-Zar is likely the revival and ret-conning of the oldest character in the Marvel mythos as his precursor was a Tarzan wannabe from the pages of vintage pulps published by Martin Goodman's outfit even before they dabbled in comic books. Never having read them myself I cannot say if Zabu is likewise a revival or a brand new character. Anyway we are introduced to the Lord of the Savage Land in X-Men #10.
Another villain returns from the Golden Age when Captain America's most memorable opponent (if you don't count Hitler) returns to scheme and plot anew. The Red Skull had returned in a manner of speaking in stories while being new were set in WWII, but then he comes into the 20th Century when he awakens and seeks the Cosmic Cube.
Tales of Suspense housed this revival.
Now things get a bit dicey, because as it turns out Carl Burgos was trying to get control of the character he'd created so long ago for Marvel. To stave off his attempts the actual Human Torch, the android, was revived and given a new back story of sorts in Fantastic Four Annual #4. This story was then used to show that Marvel had indeed made use of the character and ironically Jack Kirby, who later battled for recognition and some level of ownership of the myriad characters he'd created was the artist on this tale.
Reaching back into the 1950's Nick Fury battled the Yellow Claw in the pages of
Strange Tales. Coming with the classic "Yellow Peril" villain was his arch nemesis Jimmy Woo who eventually became a member of SHIELD.
Red Raven #1 is a weird comic book from Timely's Golden Age and it features the first work by Jack Kirby for the company that will become Marvel. But Kirby had no hand in the revival of the Red Raven in the pages of
X-Men #44 when the Angel encountered his Golden Age winged counterpart while on a mission to save his comrades. This story was by Roy Thomas and Don Heck.
The Human Torch had been revived twice, once as Johnny Storm in a new persona and then as the original (or at least a version of same). Now it was time for Toro to get his due in the pages of Sub-Mariner #14 by Roy Thomas and Marie Severin and we find out how he's lived since those days when he was partnered with the world's most heroic Golden Age android. This is a tragic tale as Toro also dies in this very same appearance.
Roy "The Boy" Thomas loved the Golden Age of comics and he loved bringing back versions of these characters. One such example and arguably the most successful was The Vision who debuted in
Avengers #57. As far as I know this Vision, remarkably rendered by John Buscema had no connections to his Golden Age inspiration save for sharing a name.
Thomas was at bat again when he and Sal Buscema decided to send a trio of Avengers back in time to WWII to confront a team who were soon to become The Invaders. The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner and Captain America had joined forces before as part of the All-Winners Squad, but here we see the Big Three as they take on Black Panther and the newly minted Vision and Yellowjacket. This happened in
Avengers #71.
One of the conundrums of comics is that heroes are owned by companies who make wide use of them. Captain America had been revived before in the 1950's and that revival was at direct odds with the tale told so skillfully in the Avengers. So how to account for it? Steve Englehart decided that the Cap and Bucky of the 50's were do-gooders who were inspired by the originals, but in the stunning four-part series beginning in
Captain America #153 we find that they also ingested the racist and xenophobic attitudes of their era.
It's Roy Thomas again, this time assisted by Rick Buckler who bring back the rest of the All-Winners Squad -- The Whizzer and Miss America. In the pages of
Giant-Size Avengers #1 we meet their son "Nuklo" who sadly was affected by the things that gave them powers and becomes a monstrous threat. It's a heartbreaking tale.
The Invaders finally get sanctioned in 1975 when Roy and artist Frank Robbins tell brand new stories of the adventures of the Golden Age Big Three as they battled Hitler and his allies. I adored this series and while it's a masterwork of retro-continuity it does bother folks who are fans of the original Golden Age stories for the liberties it takes with time frames and whatnot. But for me it was pure fun from the moment they debuted in
Giant-Size Invaders #1.
We'll wrap this up with another return and ret-con from the 1950's. Marvel Boy was a moderate hit in the Atlas years and got some exposure as a reprint Marvel Tales. We find out what really happened in the pages of Fantastic Four #164 by George Perez. The "Crusader" is Marvel Boy by another name, and sadly he's not a hero any longer. Marvel has never stopped ret-conning its characters and we see that endlessly as the amount of time Captain America was in the ice increases as the years roll by. Things must always change alas. Even Bucky came back to life. If I've forgotten anyone please let me know.
Tomorrow something completely different as October arrives.
I've always wondered how much of a hand Martin Goodman had (if any) in The Human Torch being a member of The Fantastic Four. Was the Torch's inclusion an edict from Goodman, with Stan or/and Jack putting their own slant on him? 'Together for the first time' said the blurb on FF #1's cover; was the Torch's name used to give the impression that all four members of the group were well-established heroes? I wonder.
ReplyDeleteI would say it's almost a certainty that he suggested or perhaps require the inclusion of one of the classic Timely and Atlas heroes. If the myth of the FF being prompted by Goodman hearing of the success of the JLA, then it's almost certain he imagined yet another relaunch of the Torch, Subby and Cap as they had done during the Atlas years. For the Torch to become a teenager is most likely contribution to the FF by Stan I think, it seems most in keeping with his desire to make the team fit into the modern scheme of things.
DeleteI notice on the debut of the Torch in Strange Tales that it says "By permission of the Fantastic Four magazine" as if Stan needed such permission. This is a gimmick Marvel used quite a bit in the early days before the concept of a united Marvel Universe truly flourished.
That's a good roundup of retcons. I can't think of any other revivals from the same period. The re-tweakings of Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid don't seem quite the same.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read that "by permission of the FF magazine" gimmick, it makes me recall how Hollywood studios used to loan out their contracted stars to other studios-- though I don't know if that's what Stan and company had in mind. Was he imitating some legal notice that ever appeared in the real world?
I vaguely remember someone paraphrasing a comment, allegedly from Jack Kirby, that he had lobbied for the use of the Torch in the Fantastic Four. I tend to put that down to Kirby's highly imaginative memory, because whenever I read through the old FFs I don't think Kirby was all that engaged with the character of the flaming teenager. Sure, Kirby seemed to enjoy coming up with all sorts of flame-tricks for the Torch to do, but all his dramatic interest was focused on Reed, Sue and Ben, at least until Kirby linked the Torch to his creations, the Inhumans. I favor the idea that either Goodman or Lee wanted the Torch in there, if only because his power was easier to be employed in assorted SF-scenarios. (That is, he didn't need to be connected to the ocean like Namor often did, and he didn't have to be tied in to patriotic concerns like Cap.)
"Together for the first time" wouldn't mean much to the majority of young comics-buyers back then, since the Torch hadn't appeared in funnybooks since 1954. But-- it might have been directed at the new species of comics-fans. I'm pretty sure I've heard that adult fans of comics were lobbying with DC to revive various Golden Age heroes as early as 1959, in response to DC's revival of the Flash.
Oh there's no doubt that Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas among some others were pushing for specific revivals of heroes like Atom, Hawkman, and other favorites. I take your point on Rawhide Kid and he does meet my criteria I think, as does Two-Gun.
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