November 1940: The Avenger from Beyond

Simon and Kirby’s Vision, who predated their Captain America by four months, was one of the eerier superheroes.

The Vision’s debut in Marvel Mystery Comics 13 (Nov. 1940) was, however, nine months after the first appearance of another spooky-looking, dimension-hopping avenger, the Spectre, in More Fun Comics 52 (Feb. 1940).

“The Spectre is the template upon which the ‘avenging spirit as superhero’ is based,” noted comics historian Don Markstein. “Others of that type include Mr. Justice and the Vision.”

Although the Vision may have been inspired by the striking figure of the Spectre, unlike Mr. Justice he was not obviously derivative. 

“The Vision was a ‘vision,’ all right,” Markstein observed. ‘He had green skin and wore a skin-tight green costume with a huge, flowing cape and a high, rounded, red collar. He was an extra-dimensional creature, an immortal inhabitant of a realm of smoke and mist, who gave his name as ‘Aarkus, Destroyer of Evil.’ He'd been drawn into our world by a device invented by Dr. Enoch Mason, a scientist who had devoted his life to discovering the scientific basis to occult phenomena. The device gave Aarkus the ability to enter the mortal realm by emerging from any smoke or mist that might happen to be around.”

So you could argue that the green-faced, caped alien crimefighter anticipated DC’s Martian Manhunter.

“As sometimes happened with minor characters, new writers and artists gave the Vision new origin stories,” Markstein noted. “Later on, he was a ‘Keeper of the Law’ in his home world, here to guard over humanity. Later yet, he was an immortal Tibetan monk who left Shangri-La to fight the Japanese.”

The feature’s lively art certainly caught the eye. Take Marvel Mystery Comics 23, Sept. 1941, for example — a story inspired by King Kong that anticipated Jaws.

“A great two-thirds splash has the Vision battling a 12-foot walking shark over a blonde sacrifice!” wrote R.J. Vitone. “Exciting, fun stuff, with lots of Kirby touches.”