Episode #26: Marvel Comics #1

Episode #26: Marvel Comics #1

From The History of Comics in 500 Issues by Jess Nevins

September 28, 2025 · 1h 9m · Season 1 · Episode 36

About this episode

This episode discusses the significance and context of Marvel Comics #1 and its creators.

One of my longer efforts to date, this one is about Marvel Comics #1, the first issue by what would eventually become the juggernaut of American comic book publishing. In this podcast I discuss: just how many Jewish folk were an integral part of Golden Age comics Martin Goodman and his background, the pulps he worked on, and what got him into comics comics packagers and Funnies, Inc. all the moving parts that came together to produce Marvel Comics #1 the historical context in which Marvel Comics #1 appeared the six stories appearing in Marvel Comics #1, and what each one was about what the supposed influences were on Bill Everett when he created the Namor the Sub-Mariner story for Marvel Comics #1, and what were more likely the actual influences on him a bunch of stuff about the various comic book and pulp Ka-Zars a deep dive into the Namor the Sub-Mariner story in Marvel Comics #1--its plot, what it did that was new, and what set Namor apart from virtually every other character in the popular culture of the time and, unfortunately, an element of the Namor stories of the Golden Age that requires a Content Warning to listen to I think this is a pretty good podcast, but I'm not…

People in this episode

Host: Jess Nevins

Topics covered

  • Marvel Comics
  • Golden Age comics
  • comic book history
  • Namor the Sub-Mariner
  • Martin Goodman
  • Bill Everett
  • content warning

Keywords

  • Marvel Comics #1
  • Golden Age
  • Martin Goodman
  • Bill Everett
  • Namor the Sub-Mariner
  • comic book history
  • content warning

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Marvel Comics

Books & works: Namor the Sub-Mariner, Marvel Comics #1, Ka-Zar

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