The Atlas Comics Library No. 8

This is a beautifully constructed and produced book that showcases some of the greatest talents of the time.– “Cinema Sentries”The expansive introduction by Michael J. Vassallo may itself be worth the price of the book to scholars. Both meticulous and incisive, at least when the fannish generosity of appreciation does not get in the way, it tells us what we need to know.– “Comics Grinder”While the subject matter of the parodies might long be forgotten, a book like this tends to be a masterclass in classic cartooning, and the armchair historians among us might just be amazed at the laundry list of incredible creators.– “AIPT”

Stan Lee (1922-2018) was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher and producer for Timely/Marvel Comics and was the co-creator of many of the Marvel Comics iconic heroes, including Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Daredevil, Thor, Doctor Strange, Nick Fury, and the X-Men.

John Powers Severin (1921-2012), who had a “realistic” comics style, specialized in war, western, and humor comics. One of Mad’s founding artists, he worked for with Cracked magazine for forty-five years.

Bill Everett (1917-1973) was the foundational artist of Marvel Comics. He originated Namor, the Sub-Mariner as a freelance creation, before placing it in Marvel Comics #1, the first publication from Timely Comics, later Atlas, then Marvel. Everett wrote and drew the early appearances of the character from 1940-42, and would periodically return to him during the post-war ‘40s, right up until the early 1970s. During Atlas’ heyday, Everett worked extensively on horror anthology shorts, including taking over the romance/fantasy series Venus and converting it to straight horror. After Marvel’s wholesale move to a superhero universe, Everett co-created the blind hero Daredevil with editor/scripter Stan Lee.

Joe Maneely (1926-1958) blazed a trail through Marvel’s 1950s comic books that is unsurpassed in both quantity and quality. Maneely was revered as a lightning-fast talent, and he launched most of Marvel’s character features during that time, excelling at every genre – westerns, horror, humor, and war. He is best remembered today for his signature character, The Black Knight. Maneely’s career was tragically cut short in June 1958 when, at the age of 32, he accidentally fell between the cars of a moving commuter train.

Dr. Michael J. Vassallo is a noted historian on Marvel’s early pulp, Timely and Atlas periods. A Manhattan dentist, he spends his free time attempting to bring recognition to artistic creators of the 1940’s and 1950’s. He has also written introductions to 20 Timely and Atlas Masterworks volumes, dissecting the credits for posterity and providing historical context, as well as writing the detailed captions to the first 210 pages of Taschen’s 75 Years of Marvel coffee table book. He lives in Westchester County, New York.