Marvel in the 60's the silver age.

Superheroes were returning, DC comics had the first superhero publications that had real success at the 60’s, publications like green lantern, flash and the justice league. But Marvel Comics (name granted to the company at the late 50’s) did a lot of strategic moves and publications; they took the Fantastic Four, a comic where four powerless friends had adventures in the cold war years, and gave them super powers by sending them to a life-changing space trip. This move plus the publication of big hit comics like Spiderman, Hulk, Iron-man, the X-men, Ant-man and Thor made the publishing house right back in the top. The new publications had new ideas like the idea of giving the heroes secret identities and showing how tuff was the “real life” for them making the readers, mostly teenager really sympathize with the characters (specially Spiderman who was a not wealthy young boy having normal life troubles and superhero troubles), these new ideas, besides reconnecting the hero movement to the market, made these comics what are they now. Comparing the classic comic dispute between Marvel and DC comics with the movie business, comic writer Peter Sanderson wrote:

“DC was the equivalent of the big Hollywood studios: after the brilliance of DC's reinvention of the superhero ... in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it had run into a creative drought by the decade's end. There was a new audience for comics now, and it wasn't just the little kids that traditionally had read the books. The Marvel of the 1960s was in its own way the counterpart of the French new wave.... Marvel was pioneering new methods of comics storytelling and characterization, addressing more serious themes, and in the process keeping and attracting readers in their teens and beyond. Moreover, among this new generation of readers were people who wanted to write or draw comics themselves, within the new style that Marvel had pioneered, and push the creative envelope still further”

The 60’s where the silver age for the comic business. Marvel was in its best years since the 40’s and now the publishing company had the most talented artists and writers who gave to it their best superheroes. There were three special artists/writers who became legend in the business and help Marvel to have the real touch that DC comics found later and with many trouble. These legends were: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Steve Ditko the first one was know as the “natural superhero drawer”, the second one was know for his skills with the story sense and for it ability to choose very talented staff and for organizing very good creative teams, the third one was know because he gave the real touch to the stories. In 1968 marvel founder, Martin Goodman sold the publishing house, but he still was the main publisher and Marvel Comics still had its soul with publications as big as the avengers, the comic that reunited almost every Marvel superhero and showed their adventures.

Artists Profiles

Jack "The King" Kirby (RIP):

Originally named Jacob Kurtzberg Jack Kirby was born in New York City, 1917 and died at Thousand Oaks California, 1994. Kirby is considered the “natural superhero drawer” he was one from those who invented and developed the Super-Hero Comic art, also he is the creator and co-creator of several main and secondary characters of this universe. Together with Joe Simon created Captain America and with Stan Lee he created the most successful Marvel characters such as Spiderman, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and the X-Men. Even though great part of his work was developed at Marvel Comics Jack Kirby worked with very interesting projects at DC comics (Marvel’s competition and home of Super Man, Bat Man, Aquaman, and Green Lantern among many other titles) such as the New Gods and the Fourth World. Started his artistic life as a press and animation drawer in the early 30’s. Kirby helped the publishing team of Marvel Comics and quickly became crucial in its development. Probably the biggest project in his career was when in the year 1961 Marvel Comics asked him and Stan Lee to gather all their heroes and mix up their histories (some of witch were already mixed) to create a new comic named the Avengers. Considered as a role model to many generations of creative artists in comic’s history Jack Kirby proved super heroes are never old.

Timely And Atlas Comics (1939-1960)

Once named Timely Comics, this comic publishing company started at 1939 thanks to Martin Goodman now is named Marvel comics and is the largest one in the world. Its first publication was named Marvel Comics # 1 (October 1939) in with appeared their first hero, an android superhero created by Carl Burgos, the Human Torch and its eternal nemesis Namor the Sub-Mariner created by Bill Everett, in its second publication the name was changed for Marvel Mystery Comics. The 40’s decade is known as the golden period (or age) for the comic business. Was in these years when the chief editor, writer and artist Joe Simon of the comic house teamed with the young business legend Jack Kirby to create their first U.S.A themed super hero: Captain America in his own publication named Captain America Comics # 1 selling almost one million copies, this hero fought many well-known national enemies such as Nazis or corrupted politicians Even though Timely Comics had no more characters as big as the last three it had a lot of heroes such as Miss America, Angel, and Destroyer among others it was a time of success to the company who, beside superhero publications, had several humour and children’s comics.

War had ended and the Comic Business’ Golden Age had ended with it. The super Hero fashion wasn’t interesting as ten years ago. The timely Comics changed its name to Atlas Comics (in 1951); the Martin Goodman publishing team decided to wide their variety of genres and to give less importance to super heroes, the Comic house used genres as horror, western, humour, animal humour, men and women adventure-drama, war, romance, espionage among many more. It was not a good decade for Atlas Comics even they already had their best artists and writers as the legends Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. The publishing company was not creative they took ideas form the successful television networks and applied them to their publications. One of the most successful publications from Atlas Comics was a young teens’ comic named Homer the Happy Ghost, very similar to the popular Casper the Friendly Ghost. But the super heroes were not dead, although many heroes “died”, the “strongest” ones survived to the 50’s and now are well known as the Human Torch and Captain America (the Sub-Marine accomplished to survive but as secondary character). This gave Atlas Comics heroes the taste of what would be the 60’s reborn and success.