GOLDEN AGE MARVEL COMICS Omnibus Volume 2

In its second year, the Marvel Mystery all stars settled in with the fiery Human Torch by Carl Burgos and the unparalleled stories of The Sub-Mariner by Bill Everett. But they also added super heroes galore: Simon & Kirby's Vision begins in #13 along with The Patriot and the wild robot Electro, Terry Vance, jungle king Ka-Zar and the noir adventurer the Angel, beautifully drawn by Paul Gustavson. Each issue delivered 64 pages of nonstop 1940s action! Roy Thomas introduces these issues moving into the war years. Alex Schomburg was now turning out one glorious cover after another, starring the Human Torch and often Subby too. Every one in this collection is by him. In #17 we have a new team-up of the Torch and the Sub-Mariner, with both Burgos and Everett doing the artwork. #20 features the origin (at last) of the Angel. Toro gets a text-feature origin. The Patriot begins in #21. #18 has the first appearance of the villain "Cat's Paw." In #23 we get a text origin story of the Angel, #24 has an injury-to-eye panel...and the beat goes on. These are some of the finest and most desirable comics of the Golden Age...solid stories, great covers, heroes that are still with us today. Includes house ads (they are great) and text stories with spot illustrations. Roy contributes a second two-page essay, "Context," written in 2011. He describes the world events at this time that had such an impact on the stories here...particularly Hitler's aggression in Europe, but before the U.S. entered the war. Bonus pages include a house ad for MM #16 from Human Torch #3, for #19 from Capt. America #3, for #20 from Human torch #4, for #21 from Cap #5, and three more. I love these colorful, wild ads, with special art. Plus previous collection's painted covers, for a 2011 release by Frank R. Paul and Dean White, from 2013 by Alex Schomberg and Richard Isanove, and 2020 by Kaare Andrews. All three of these are very cool. In 1939, Marvel Comics (soon renamed Marvel Mystery Comics) launched a storytelling revolution that lasted eight decades and ultimately birthed the modern Marvel Universe! The title's first year was a mix of pulp adventure seeded with the first sparks of the colorful heroes to come -- but here in volume 2, they drop into a groove that will take them right in to the wartime, which kicks off in the next volume with #30's "Remember Pearl Harbor."