Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: captain marvel, Fawcett Publications, golden age, mary marvel, shazam

Mary Marvel Gets a Series With Wow Comics #9, up for Auction

Mary Marvel debuted in the Wow Comics title about three weeks after her first appearance in Captain Marvel Adventures #18.

Published Sat, 18 Mar 2023 12:28:10 -0500

by Mark Seifert

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Fawcett's Wow Comics is a great Golden Age series that deserves more attention. It debuted in winter 1940 and ran for 69 issues until August 1948, featuring work by CC Beck, Otto Binder, Dave Berg, and even Jack Kirby, among many others. But the series really started to shine when Mary Marvel arrived, with beautiful covers and interior art by artist Marc Swayze. There's a copy of Mary Marvel's series debut in Wow Comics #9 (Fawcett Publications, 1943) Condition: Apparent GD up for auction at the 2023 March 19-21 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122312 from Heritage Auctions.

Wow Comics #9 (Fawcett Publications, 1943) featuring Mary Marvel.

Mary Marvel debuted in the Wow Comics title about three weeks after her first appearance in Captain Marvel Adventures #18, with cover and artwork by Mary Marvel co-creator Marc Swayze. As Swayze would later recall, "I laid aside the Captain Marvel story I was working on in the Captain Marvel production line and whipped up some sketches as requested. There was only one character to create, inasmuch as she was to remain the same with only a costume change. I didn't work up a variety of poses and expressions, as I was certain that my first drawings were going to come back, time and time again for revisions before final approval upstairs. 'Holy Moley,' as Billy would have said, the drawings were accepted without a single change or even any suggestions! I was given the script for the first Mary Marvel story and went to work on it."

That script would have been by the character's co-creator Otto Binder, who would later co-create Supergirl for DC Comics (among many other things) for the Silver Age. Like much of the rest of the Wow Comics series, Mary Marvel's Wow Comics debut is a gem of creative execution on the cover, story, and artwork and there's a copy of her series debut in Wow Comics #9 (Fawcett Publications, 1943) Condition: Apparent GD up for auction at the 2023 March 19-21 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122312 from Heritage Auctions.