March 1963: A New Universe of Marvels

By the time Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck and Jack Kirby debuted Iron Man in Tales of Suspense 39 (March 1963), the outlines of what would become the Marvel Comics universe had emerged.

That same month, Ant-Man was battling the extra-dimensional tyrant Kulla and Thor was trapped by the Carbon-Copy Man (like DC superheroes, Marvel’s champions tended to run into a lot of mirror images of themselves).

The Incredible Hulk, battling the Metal Master in his last issue, also crossed over to the Fantastic Four’s title to fight them. 

Meanwhile, in his first issue, Spider-Man also dropped in on the FF to put in a job application (after fighting them, of course). In his solo feature, the Human Torch got conned by criminal Carl Zante, the Acrobat, into leaving the FF.

This interconnected Marvel universe, now established, was expanding into both future and past. Zante would return with another con in Strange Tales 114 (Nov. 1963), disguising himself as a long-vanished hero named Captain America.

Each Marvel superhero was distinctive — a monster, a myth, a miniature man, an alienated teenager and a knight in technological armor. Even the character’s initial bulky, robot-like armor was intriguing. Though hardly stylish, it was the opposite of the customary cape and tights.