When I was a kid in the Sixties one of my favourite Marvel comics was Fantasy Masterpieces which reprinted the 1940s adventures of Captain America, Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch. Then with issue 12 FM changed its title to Marvel Super-Heroes and although it showcased a brand new strip up front, its reprint section continued with Marvel strips from the 1950s.Marvel Super-Heroes soon shifted its focus solely on Sixties reprints, leaving us with only a taster of their 1950s material. In recent years, Marvel have rectified this with quality hardback collections in their Atlas Heroes Masterworks line, as reported on this blog here.
Come September, Marvel will publish the third and final collection of their "big three" 1950s heroes compilations with Atlas Era Heroes volume 3 featuring all 10 issues of the Fifties revival of Sub-Mariner comics. The book features artwork by Sub-Mariner's original artist Bill Everett, arguably at the peak of his career. I've always been an admirer of Everett's sharp semi-cartoony style and, since the days of Marvel Super-Heroes always wished to see more of his distinctive work.
The book will also include the Human Torch back up strips that appeared in Sub-Mariner, drawn by Dick Ayers.
As was typical of most Marvel superhero strips of the period, the stories in Atlas Era Heroes are short, simple, and largely anti-Communist, - but that's all part of the historical attraction of these comics.
For more details visit the excellent marvelmasterworks.com website that has exclusive previews of some of the digitally remastered pages:
http://www.marvelmasterworks.com/marvel/mm/atlas/heroes/heroes_mm03.html
I've been enjoying STRANGE TALES 1-10, from 1951-2, all well before my time but featuring the early art of some of Marvel/Timely/Atlas's greats, such as John Romita, the legendary Joe Maneely, Bill Everett, Joe Sinnot, Dick Ayers. These reprints, like the new Submariner one, demonstrate how to tell a clear, concise story in both words and pictures in 5-9 pages. Ah, a lost art!
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