Mike Eakins
What if I told you that this started in 1939, and 80 years later, we are still buying the comics, the t-shirts, and filling the movie theaters as only dedicated True Believers know how to do. Marvel turns 80 this year and what better way to celebrate than to release issue 1000, which follows its heroes from Day 1 in 1939, as Timely Comics, then Magazine Management, and then Marvel. Each page in the issue will tell the story starting from day one, seeing familiar characters as Captain America, Thor, & Iron Man and some not readily known to the mainstream like Blue Marvel and Night Thrasher.
“This is by far the most complex and complicated and difficult book I’ve ever had to assemble,” Tom Brevoort, Marvel’s executive editor and senior vice president of publishing, said in a conference call with C.B. Cebulski, Marvel’s editor in chief. While most comic books are created by one writer and one art team, Issue No. 1000 will have 80 — one team for each of its 80 pages.
This past Wednesday we began to see cryptic hints dropped in new issues. Two to three names along with “August 2019”, created a buzz among fans, and sent speculations to through the roof. Marvel’s story began on Aug. 31, 1939, with the arrival on newsstands of Marvel Comics No. 1. It was published by Timely Comics, a forerunner of Marvel. Namor, the Sub-Mariner, the android Human Torch (not to be confused with the 1961 Fantastic Four character with the same name) appeared for the first time — along with other characters, including a costumed detective named the Angel. The first panel of the story in No. 1000, which has a painted cover by Alex Ross, comes from that 1939 issue. It’s fitting because the story reveals the mystery that propelled the Marvel universe from its inception and involves an artifact known as the Eternity Mask.
This issue needed this creative team. A “who’s who” of past and present Marvel talent. So whether the first coming of Galactus scared you in the 60s. Maybe you shared in Peter’s tears when Gwen died in the 70s. The 80s gave us the Secret Wars. We saw the Age of Apocalypse dawn in the 90s. Maybe you clutched your partner’s hand a little tighter when you heard “I love you 3000”. What better way to celebrate 80 years of memories that have been with us for so long and mean so much. Happy Birthday True Believers.