Who were the OTHER Golden Age heroes?

[Gav]

Marvel has a number of immortals and long-lived types. I also tend to think about origins of power, whether that be an external cosmic force like the Uni-Power, supernatural beings like Zarathos, or even items of power like the Orb and Eye of Agamotto, or the Ebony Blade. You'd like to think that there was a host for Uni-Power back then, even if he/she wasn't called Captain Universe; or a Ghost Rider (I'm certain there was, considering we've seen versions of GF that pre-date WW2); or perhaps even an active Sorcerer Supreme or Black Knight running around. I think there are more undiscovered heroes out there with stories just waiting to be told.

And that's without even considering long-lived heroes from other worlds, like Gladiator. We're told that he didn't come to Earth until relatively recently, but mind wipes happen all of the time. Maybe there's a forgotten tale or two there.

That's the beauty of Marvel's "history." It's always fluid. And considering the possibilities is always fun.

Technically we have seen a Ghost Rider that's fought in World War II... 'Cause Cosmic Ghost Rider was retconned into being a Golden Age hero in Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History #4!

[MajorHoy]

Technically we have seen a Ghost Rider that's fought in World War II... 'Cause Cosmic Ghost Rider was retconned into being a Golden Age hero in Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History #4!

Is that series technically canon / in continuity?

[Electricmastro]

Marvel has a number of immortals and long-lived types. I also tend to think about origins of power, whether that be an external cosmic force like the Uni-Power, supernatural beings like Zarathos, or even items of power like the Orb and Eye of Agamotto, or the Ebony Blade. You'd like to think that there was a host for Uni-Power back then, even if he/she wasn't called Captain Universe; or a Ghost Rider (I'm certain there was, considering we've seen versions of GF that pre-date WW2); or perhaps even an active Sorcerer Supreme or Black Knight running around. I think there are more undiscovered heroes out there with stories just waiting to be told.

And that's without even considering long-lived heroes from other worlds, like Gladiator. We're told that he didn't come to Earth until relatively recently, but mind wipes happen all of the time. Maybe there's a forgotten tale or two there.

That's the beauty of Marvel's "history." It's always fluid. And considering the possibilities is always fun.

Interestingly, there's a Golden Age hero called "Blazing Skull" that was shown to have fought with the Invaders.



Makes me wonder if there's some sort of a connection, because he was even called "Ghost Rider 1945" at one point.

[Gav]

Is that series technically canon / in continuity?

Technically? Yeah, it is.

But will it ever be referenced outside of a Cosmic Ghost Rider book? Probably not.

[shooshoomanjoe]

One of the most racist characters in the Golden Age also appeared in the modern age, Whitewash Jones:

[MajorHoy]

One of the most racist characters in the Golden Age also appeared in the modern age, Whitewash Jones:

Yeah, but in that miniseries Captain America: Forever Allies, it was retconned so that the Golden Age stories about the Young Allies were exactly that: comic book stories, and the "real" characters those "stories" were based on were not like the stereotypes used in the Golden Age comic books. Which was a decent way to dismiss how things use to be (and unfortunately Marvel wasn't the only company guilty of stuff like that back then).

[Electricmastro]

One of the most racist characters in the Golden Age also appeared in the modern age, Whitewash Jones:

Yep, the old “entertainment business doesn’t always care about ethics” situation, which also included an obese boy named “Tubby” as well. Actually, wasn’t Whitewash Jones creates by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon?

[MajorHoy]

Yep, the old “entertainment business doesn’t always care about ethics” situation, which also included an obese boy named “Tubby” as well. Actually, wasn’t Whitewash Jones creates by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Joe Simon?

In all fairness, it's a bit ridiculous to judge a company's 1940's standards using 21st century standards.

It wasn't just Timely/Marvel that did stuff like this. It was a situation that was society-wide back in those days, and regrettably it took a hell of a long time for more and more people to realize how wrong it was. (And there are some who still may not realize all the problems that still exist even today in terms of inequality and insensitivity.)
We can only try and remember what times were like back when comic books, movies, etc. were produced and see if those same creators later changed the way they did things or not.

[Tycon]

In all fairness, it's a bit ridiculous to judge a company's 1940's standards using 21st century standards.

It wasn't just Timely/Marvel that did stuff like this. It was a situation that was society-wide back in those days, and regrettably it took a hell of a long time for more and more people to realize how wrong it was. (And there are some who still may not realize all the problems that still exist even today in terms of inequality and insensitivity.)
We can only try and remember what times were like back when comic books, movies, etc. were produced and see if those same creators later changed the way they did things or not.

Not this “it was just a different time” excuse.....

[Electricmastro]

In all fairness, it's a bit ridiculous to judge a company's 1940's standards using 21st century standards.

It wasn't just Timely/Marvel that did stuff like this. It was a situation that was society-wide back in those days, and regrettably it took a hell of a long time for more and more people to realize how wrong it was. (And there are some who still may not realize all the problems that still exist even today in terms of inequality and insensitivity.)
We can only try and remember what times were like back when comic books, movies, etc. were produced and see if those same creators later changed the way they did things or not.

I heard that the attempt with the Young Allies was to make an attempt at a multi-racial cast, but I get the feeling that whoever was creating them decided to put jokes in there as well, like "Tubby," and the jokes went wrong. They ended up taking a wrong direction into demeaning territory and the end result looks like a hatefully racist attack on all black people, regardless of what the original intention was. If we're to assume it was a genuine attempt at making a multi-racial cast, but went wrong, then I suppose what can be said is that one doesn't achieve great diversity by climbing an extremely tall ladder in one big step, rather, they climb the ladder in many little steps. In this case, it seems that after taking a few steps, someone stumbled, fell back, and hit the ground really hard, and the failed attempt of that seems pretty evident in the final product.

[pageturner]

There are a few retconned hero besides the ones we know of as well. Dominic Fortune I think was supposed to be a gold age character at one point but with the sliding scale he might in the 70's now. Not that he is ever used.

[MajorHoy]

Not this “it was just a different time” excuse.....

Well, it was a different time.

Society and what was considered "acceptable" back then were vastly different, and laws also allowed discrimination back then (even here in the U.S.). That doesn't mean it should have been acceptable, but it was still before the Civil Rights movement, and it unfortunately took longer before many people / before corporations actually thought hard and long about what was and what wasn't the right thing to do.

[Sandy Hausler]

There are a few retconned hero besides the ones we know of as well. Dominic Fortune I think was supposed to be a gold age character at one point but with the sliding scale he might in the 70's now. Not that he is ever used.

Domenic Fortune (who was a retcon character by Howard Chaikin) was a pre-WW II character. According to Wilipedia he was de-aged at some point, and re-aged (but not to his actual 100+ age).

[MajorHoy]

Domenic Fortune (who was a retcon character by Howard Chaikin) was a pre-WW II character. According to Wilipedia he was de-aged at some point, and re-aged (but not to his actual 100+ age).

And Dominic Fortune actually began life as a Chaykin creation for Atlas/Seaboard Comics.

[MajorHoy]

In addition to the ones listed in post #1:

American Avenger
made one appearance in USA Comics #5 (Summer 1942)


* Black Marvel = see post #40
* The Black Widow = see post #32
* Blue Blade = see post #97
* Blue Blaze = see post #64
* The Blue Diamond = see post #41

more to follow soon . . .