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Aarkus
Aarkus

Aarkus

37 appearances Β· Golden Age Β· 1940–2025 Β· 5 key issues
Who is Aarkus?

Aarkus is an alien lawman from the dimension of Smoke who first came to Earth in the 1940s, summoned through a chemical process. Possessing strange otherworldly powers and skilled in combat, he became an early Marvel hero known as the Vision.

Few characters carry the weight of comics history quite like Aarkus β€” a Golden Age original conjured by the legendary team of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, debuting in Marvel Mystery Comics #13 all the way back in 1940. Emerging from the earliest, most mythic era of the medium, Aarkus carved out a place in the Marvel universe long before that universe even had a name, sharing pages with titans like the Human Torch, Captain America, and the original Vision across landmark series including Marvel Mystery Comics and Captain America Comics. With five key-issue appearances to his name and a publishing history that stretches an astonishing 85 years from the Golden Age to the present day, he's a figure of genuine collector significance β€” rare proof that some characters from comics' first flowering refuse to fade. If you love deep-cut Marvel history and the thrill of a character who has genuinely endured, Aarkus is absolutely worth your time.

Identity

Real name. Aarkus

Powers. Martial Arts: Aarkus is a good hand-to-hand fighter trained in "super ju jitsu".

Affiliations. Formerly: ; Invaders ; Battle-Axis (forced)

β˜… First appearance
Marvel Mystery Comics #13
Nov 1940

Top series

Covers through the years β€” 1940–2019

Marvel Mystery Comics #13 β˜… 1940
Marvel Mystery Comics #13
Marvel Super-Heroes #13 β˜… 1968
Marvel Super-Heroes #13
Marvels #1 1994
Marvels #1
Avengers Forever #1 β˜… 1998
Avengers Forever #1
Essential Avengers #4 2004
Essential Avengers #4
Essential Silver Surfer #2 2007
Essential Silver Surfer #2
X-Men Legacy #9 2013
X-Men Legacy #9
Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby #[nn] 2019
Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby #[nn]

Appearances

Marvel Mystery Comics (1939)
The Human Torch (1940)
#3
Captain America Comics (1941)
Marvel Super-Heroes (1967)
#13
The Invaders (1993)
#3
Marvels (1994)
#1
Avengers Forever (1998)
#1
Essential Avengers (1999)
#4
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Golden Age Marvel 2004 (2004)
Marvel Visionaries: Jack Kirby (2004)
Essential Silver Surfer (1998)
#2
Avengers / Invaders (2009)
Invaders Now (2011)
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics (2004)
#7
The Twelve (2012)
#2
Marvel Firsts: WWII Super Heroes (2013)
X-Men Legacy (2013)
X-Men: Legacy (2013)
#2
Marvels: The Remastered Edition (2018)
The Marvels (2021)
#2
Free Comic Book Day 2024: Ultimate Universe / Spider-Man (2024)
Marvel Zero (2024)
#1
Ultimate Universe: One Year In (2025)
#1