Comics-artist contemporary John Severin recalled in an interview conducted in the early 2000s that in the late 1950s, Kirby had approached him to be partners on a syndicated, newspapercomic strip “set in Europe during World War Two; the hero would be a tough, cigar-chomping sergeant with a squad of oddball GIs — sort of an adult Boy Commandos“, referring to a 1940s wartime “kid gang” comics series Kirby had co-created for DC Comics.
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos followed an elite special unit, the First Attack Squad, nicknamed the “Howling Commandos”, which was stationed in a military base in England to fight missions primarily, but not exclusively, in the European theatre of World War II. Under Captain “Happy Sam” Sawyer, Fury was the cigar-chomping noncom who led the racially and ethnically integrated unit, unusual for the time.
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Annual #1 G-VG $9Sgt. Fury and HIs Howling Commandos King-Size Special #3 VG $12Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos King-Size Special #5 VG-F $8Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos King-Size Special #6 F $12
DC Special was a comic book anthology series published by DC Comics originally from 1968 to 1971; it resumed publication from 1975 to 1977. For the most part, DC Special was a theme-based reprint title, mostly focusing on stories from DC’s Golden Age; at the end of its run it published a few original stories. Issue #4 featured many supernatural characters and writer Mark Hanerfeld and artist Bill Draut crafted the first appearance of Abel, who later became (along with his brother Cain) a major character in Neil Gaiman‘s The Sandman. Paul Levitz and Joe Staton finished the series with a Justice Society of America story which revealed the team’s origin.
Tales of Suspense became Captain America with #100 (April 1968) This series — considered Captain America volume one by comics researchers and historians, following the 1940s Captain America Comics and its 1950s numbering continuation of Tales of Suspense — ended with #454 (Aug. 1996).
Captain America #102 VF- $49Captain America #116 VG+ $19Captain America #119 VG $14
In the view of comics historian Les Daniels, artist Curt Swan became the definitive artist of Superman in the early 1960s with a “new look” to the character that replaced Wayne Boring’s version. Bizarro World first appeared in the story “The World of Bizarros!” in issue #262 (April 1960). Writer Jim Shooter created the villain the Parasite in Action Comics #340 (Aug. 1966).
Action Comics #280 CGC 7.0 Off-White to White Pages $149Action Comics #292 CGC 8.5 Off White – White Pages $195Action Comics #356 VG $6Action Comics #359 VF+ $50Action Comics #370 FN $16Action Comics #383 GD+ $6
In the view of comics historian Les Daniels, artist Curt Swan became the definitive artist of Superman in the early 1960s with a “new look” to the character that replaced Wayne Boring’s version. Writer Jim Shooter and Swan crafted the story “Superman’s Race With the Flash!” in Superman #199 (Aug. 1967) which featured the first race between the Flash and Superman, two characters known for their super-speed powers. Another Silver Age first is the “Death of Superman,” from 1961’s Superman #149, by Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan and Sheldon Moldoff. The Silver Age was a fantastic period for Superman fans, giving us characters such as Braniac, Bizzaro, Titano, Supergirl and The Legion of Superheroes.
Superman #190 CGC 9.4 Off-White to White Pages $379Superman #208 VF+ $50Superman #210 VF- $30
The Hulk first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 (cover dated May 1962), written by writer-editor Stan Lee, penciled and co-plotted by Jack Kirby, and inked by Paul Reinman. Lee cites influence from Frankensteinand Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the Hulk’s creation. The Hulk’s original series was canceled with issue #6 (March 1963).
In the debut, Lee chose gray for the Hulk because he wanted a color that did not suggest any particular ethnic group.Colorist Stan Goldberg, however, had problems with the gray coloring, resulting in different shades of grey, and even green, in the issue. After seeing the first published issue, Lee chose to change the skin color to green. Green was used in retellings of the origin, with even reprints of the original story being recolored for the next two decades, until The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #302 (December 1984) reintroduced the gray Hulk in flashbacks set close to the origin story. Since then, reprints of the first issue have displayed the original gray coloring, with the fictional canon specifying that the Hulk’s skin had initially been grey. An exception is the early trade paperback, Origins of Marvel Comics, from 1974, which explains the difficulties in keeping the gray color consistent in a Stan Lee written prologue, and reprints the origin story keeping the gray coloration.
Lee gave the Hulk’s alter ego the alliterative name Bruce Banner because he found he had less difficulty remembering alliterative names. Despite this, in later stories he misremembered the character’s name and referred to him as “Bob Banner”, an error which readers quickly picked up on. The discrepancy was resolved by giving the character the official full name of Robert Bruce Banner.
Incredible Hulk #107 VF- $49Incredible Hulk #112 CGC 8.5 Off-White Pages $89Incredible Hulk #115 VF-NM $89Incredible Hulk #116 VF+ $74
Following the successful revival of the Flash in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956), a new Green Lantern was introduced in Showcase #22 (September–October 1959).
This Green Lantern was Hal Jordan, a test pilot who was given a power ring by a dying alien, Abin Sur, and who became a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an interstellar organization of police overseen by the Guardians of the Universe. The Corps’ rings were powerless against anything colored yellow, due to a yellow-colored “impurity,” or “dopant,” in the master power generator located on Oa, where the Guardians maintained their headquarters; the yellow dopant was described as being a “necessary” one, for without it, the master generator could not function as such.
Showcase has been the title of several comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of these series has been to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring “untested” characters in their own ongoing titles. The original series ran from March-April 1956 to September 1970 suspending publication with issue #93, and then was revived for eleven issues from August 1977 to September 1978.
The Silver Surfer debuted as an unplanned addition to Fantastic Four#48 (March 1966). The comic’s writer-editor, Stan Lee, and its penciller and co-plotter, Jack Kirby, had by the mid-1960s developed a collaborative technique known as the “Marvel Method“: the two would discuss story ideas, Kirby would work from a brief synopsis to draw the individual scenes and plot details, and Lee would finally add the dialog and captions. When Kirby turned in his pencil art for the story, he included a new character he and Lee had not discussed. As Lee recalled in 1995, “There, in the middle of the story we had so carefully worked out, was a nut on some sort of flying surfboard”. He later expanded on this, recalling, “I thought, ‘Jack, this time you’ve gone too far'”. Kirby explained that the story’s agreed-upon antagonist, a god-like cosmic predator of planets named Galactus, should have some sort of herald, and that he created the surfboard “because I’m tired of drawing spaceships!” Taken by the noble features of the new character, who turned on his master to help defend Earth, Lee overcame his initial skepticism and began adding characterization. The Silver Surfer soon became a key part of the unfolding story.
Silver Surfer #2 CGC 7.5 Off-White to White Pages $169Silver Surfer #6 CGC 7.5 Off White to White Pages $129Silver Surfer V1 #9 VF- $59Silver Surfer #12 F+ $45
Following his debut in Showcase, the Creeper was given his own series Beware the Creeper, written by Dennis O’Neil; Steve Ditko plotted the first issue. It lasted six issues Most pitted him against a chameleonic villain called Proteus, whose true identity was revealed just before his violent death in the final issue.
