Issue(s): Marvels #1
Cover Date: Jan 94
Title: "A Time of Marvels"
Credits:
Kurt Busiek - Writer
Alex Ross - Artist
Spencer Lamm - Assistant Editor
Marcus McLauren - Editor
Tom DeFalco - EIC

Review/plot: Well, this is really refreshing in the middle of all these Golden Age stories. I was afraid that when i re-read this it would seem too precious and nostalgic, since that's my impression of Busiek lately, but this is actually very, very good. It's not just a trip down Golden Age Memory lane - it's an ordinary person's reaction to the appearance of actual super-powered individuals (as opposed to men-in-tights pulp heroes)...

...and for the most part it's not a pretty reaction.

It really took WWII propaganda to get the public to not hate and fear the new super-powers...

...so it's pretty easy to see the public slip back into hating Spider-Man, persecuting mutants, etc., when the next wave appears in the Silver Age. New character Phil Sheldon is the focus, and he's a little more reasonable, but the early J. Jonah Jameson is the real anti-"marvels" representative.

(I've seen some crazy talk on the internets that this isn't actually JJ, but his father or grandfather or something, since Jameson being alive at this time breaks the 7 year rule, but i'm not buying it.)

This is the first time i've read this after reading all the cheesey Golden Age stories it references and knowledge of the originals just makes this better.

Oh, and the art is fantastic.

This was the first time that painted art was used well in Marvel (it had definitely been used previously, especially in Marvel Fanfare, but it never looked quite right) but by now that novelty has worn off. Nonetheless the pictures are fantastic.

A lot of Alex Ross's stuff makes everyone look fat, dumpy, and old, but aside from Namor's really exaggerated widow's peak, that isn't the case here, and the super hero scenes are really great.

    

Click to embiggen

Quality Rating: A

Historical Significance Rating: 8 - giving it a higher rating than it may deserve. It gets some meta-points for bringing painted art into the mainstream and being one of the first Marvel stories that focuses on a civilian perspective, and it's also high in my book because it represents the mythos of the Golden Age better than the majority of the actual comics from that era do. 1st Phil Sheldon, who even has a few appearances outside the Marvels series.

Chronological Placement Considerations: While the majority of this story takes place during Marvel Mystery Comics 8-10, it really spans a lot of the Golden Age up to US involvement in WWII, and ends with a GA super-hero team attacking a Nazi camp in Europe, so I am placing it before the Invaders stories.

References:

• Unveiling of the Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1.
  
• Appearance of the Sub-Mariner in New York in Marvel Mystery Comics #4.
  
• The Namor/Torch battle in Marvel Mystery Comics #8-10.
  
• The Namor/Torch team-up in Marvel Mystery Comics #17.
  
  Click to embiggen

• The 2nd Namor/Torch battle in Human Torch #5A.

Continuity Insert? Y

My Reprint: N/A

imagine tom defalco having his name on something that isn't complete crap. now that's historical significance.

Sub-Mariner is actually completely naked throughout the book. Why? I don't know.

Other superhero appearances(you'll need a magnifying glass for some of these):GA Black Widow, Blazing Skull, Thunderer, GA Electro.

Sources page info from the trade paperback edition:

pp. 2-6
Horton's press conference - Marvel Comics #1

pp. 8-9
Torch in streets - Marvel Comics #1

pp. 10-11
Namor in NYC - Marvel Mystery Comics #2

p. 12
Melted car/"Hoodlums in Flaming Suits" - Marvel Mystery Comics #4
"That racing scam" - Marvel Mystery Comics #2
Subway rescue - Marvel Mystery Comics #5

p. 13
"Human Torch Flies Medicine to Trapped Town" - Marvel Mystery Comics #5

p. 14
Namor and Electro headlines - Marvel Mystery Comics #6
[War news headline from New York Times]

p. 15
That's the Golden Age Angel. It's not Superman.

p. 16-22
Torch/Namor clash - Marvel Mystery Comics #7-10

p. 24
LIFE Magazine events - Captain America Comics #1

p. 25
Captain America Headlines - Captain America Comics #1
"Human Torch Thwarts Army Payroll Heist" - Marvel Mystery Comics #18
"Sub-Mariner Battles Radium Thieves" - Sub-Mariner #1/Marvel Mystery #20
"Stock Market 'Hag' Burned by Torch" - Marvel Mystery Comics #19
[Other news headlines from New York Times]
Captain America Homefront Action - Captain America Comics #1
Captain America in Nazi Camp - Captain America Comics #2

pp. 28-29
Torch & Namor in Bering tunnel - Marvel Mystery Comics #17

p. 30
"Saved my business from a gasoline syndicate" - Marvel Mystery Comics #10
"broke up a prisoner-of-war escape up in Canada" - Sub-Mariner #2
"Nabbed that arsonist" - Marvel Mystery Comics #20

pp. 32-39
Torch/Namor battle - Human Torch #5 (Fall 1941)

pp. 44-45
For the record, clockwise from top left, they're: Bucky, Captain America, Namor, Aarkus the Vision (from Marvel Mystery Comics), The Mighty Destroyer (Mystic Comics), the Golden Age Black Widow (Mystic), The Thunderer (Daring Mystery Comics), The Blazing Skull (Mystic), The Black Marvel (Mystic), The Human Torch and Toro.

"Sub-Mariner is actually completely naked throughout the book. Why? I don't know."

PANTS ARE A SURFACE-DWELLER INDULGENCE! HOW MANY FISH HAVE YOU SEEN WEARING PANTS? IMPERIOUS REX!

Perhaps the Shark stole them again.

"Pants are surface-dweller indulgence!"

LMAO! ;))

... can't add sth more profound to the entries of this fabulous series before I get that comment out of my system. ;))