Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Atomic Age, Carl Burgos

The Marvel/Atlas War Covers of Carl Burgos, up for Auction

Best remembered for his creation of the Human Torch and other Golden Age work, Carl Burgos did hundreds of Marvel covers in the 1950s.

Published Wed, 17 May 2023 10:27:09 -0500

by Mark Seifert

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One of the foundational artists of the Golden Age of comic books, Carl Burgos is best remembered for his creation of the Human Torch, which debuted in Marvel Comics #1, the very first Marvel comic book. Burgos is also relatively well known for his other Golden Age work, which includes the Iron Skull in Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics, the White Streak in Novelty Press' Target Comics, and the Thunderer in Marvel/Timely's Daring Mystery Comics. But Burgos's influence extends beyond the Golden Age, and it's underappreciated that he contributed nearly 400 covers to Marvel during the 1950s. There are several Marvel/Atlas war comic book covers by Carl Burgos up for auction in the 2023 May 18 The War Comics Showcase Auction #40223 at Heritage Auctions.

War Comics #43 (Atlas, 1956) cover by Carl Burgos

Burgos entered military service in 1942. As he told Jim Steranko in 1970, "I started in the Air Force, went overseas as a rifleman, was transferred to the Signal Corps and came back in the engineers. It sounds crazy but it could only happen to a comic book man."

After World War II, Burgos studied advertising at City College of New York, but kept a hand in comic books with a handful of credits at Marvel in 1948-1949. While names like Bill Everett and Russ Heath are among the first names to come to mind when it comes to the covers of 1950s-era Marvel/Atlas horror and adventure titles, Burgos made very significant cover contributions across much of the line as well, in the dark, gritty style that had became a Marvel trademark for much of that decade (and is arguably a style defined by Burgos). Overall, it's a very underappreciated body of work from one of the most important creators in American comic book history. Atlas war comic books are a noteworthy part of this output, and there are several Marvel/Atlas war comic book covers by Carl Burgos up for auction in the 2023 May 18 The War Comics Showcase Auction #40223 at Heritage Auctions.