Marvel Tales (1st Series)

(Marvel, 1949-1957)
™ and ©1956 Marvel Comics, Inc.

Marvel Comics’ premiere title, Marvel Mystery Comics had fallen on tough times in the post-war years. As strange as it may seem today, super-heroes like the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner simply weren’t selling.

In 1949, the title changed its name to Marvel Tales and began presenting a collection of science-fiction and monster stories. Sadly, Marvel Tales lacked the storytelling flair that made EC titles like Weird Science so memorable. 1955 brought with it the Comics Code, an industry response to the growing pressure to tone down the content of comic books. Although never especially daring to begin with, the Code forced Marvel Tales to become further watered-down. With anti-comic sentiment running strong, and the Code doing its part to make comics less interesting, sales of all comics dropped dramatically. In 1957, Marvel Tales was canceled along with the rest of the Atlas line of comics.

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