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Here is a look at ten Marvel characters who existed before Marvel began creating its own superhero comics.
10) Miracleman
One of the lesser-known old-school heroes who pre-dated Marvel Comics was a man known as Marvelman. He was a British Golden Age superhero invented in 1953 for a weekly comic before being moved to a monthly title in 1960. The character was controversial because L. Miller & Son licensed Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. comics from Fawcett, but after Fawcett lost a trademark case, it stopped.
L. Miller & Son started publishing Marvelman and Young Marvelman, which were basically a rip-off of the previous comics’ characters. Alan Moore brought the character back in 1984, changing the name to Miracleman after Marvel objected to the hero’s name. Interestingly, Marvel gained the rights in 2014, and he has been part of Marvel Comics ever since.
9) Ka-Zar
Ka-Zar debuted in pulp magazines in 1936, a jungle lord similar to Tarzan. Martin Goodman owned the magazine company that published these tales, and as comic book historians know, Goodman is the man who founded Timely Comics and later hired Stan Lee to create superheroes for the new Marvel Comics.
In 1939, Ka-Zar made his way to a new Timely Comics title called Marvel Comics, not to be confused with the later company. Ka-Zar disappeared from publication during World War II. In 1965, Marvel Comics brought back Ka-Zar in X-Men #10, but with a new identity and an introduction to the Savage Land.
8) Namora
Namora is a Marvel character who is part of Namor the Sub-Mariner’s storylines. This was also how she debuted before Marvel Comics’ existence. She initially debuted in Marvel Mystery Comics #82 in 1947 for Timely Comics. In these older stories, she knew Namor, and they might have been romantically interested in each other, but not related. She also worked with Jim Hammond’s Human Torch and was a major hero during World War II.
She disappeared when the Sub-Mariner series ended in 1955. Namora made the jump to Marvel Comics in 1971, but it was flashbacks, and she turned out to be dead. However, she returned in 2006 in Agents of Atlas, alive and well, and is part of Marvel Comics, and even appeared in the MCU in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
7) Red Skull
Red Skull was a villain created by Timely Comics during World War II when the company introduced Captain America to fight Adolf Hitler and the evil Nazi Party. This required a different villain to represent the Nazis, other than a real-life political leader, and it was the Red Skull. Captain America Comics was published from 1941 to 1950, and Atlas Comics briefly resurrected the title in 1954.
Red Skull debuted at the start, in Captain America Comics #1. After Captain America came back, after being frozen on ice for years, Red Skull returned in Tales of Suspense #65 in flashback stories, and then he returned for real in Tales of Suspense #79, revealing he was also in suspended animation over the years.
6) Hellcat
Hellcat is a strange story when detailing Patsy Walker’s journey from pre-Marvel Comics to the current continuity. Originally, Patsy Walker debuted in Miss America Magazine #2 in 1944 by Timely Comics as a teenager. These comics were like other teen comics, with her interacting with her friends and having small adventures. It even continued into young adulthood, with her as a career woman.
However, shockingly, she debuted in Marvel Comics in Fantastic Four Annual #3, where she was at Reed Richards and Susan Storm’s wedding. Marvel changed her origin to show that the original Timely Comics series was fictional stories written by her mother, and Patsy ended up growing up to become the superhero Hellcat in the real world.
