Marvel Mystery Comics #10
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Mystery Comics #10 delivers the resolution of Timely Comics' first-ever multi-issue superhero crossover — the three-part clash between Carl Burgos's Human Torch and Bill Everett's Sub-Mariner that began in issues #8 and #9. The stalemate ending, brokered by supporting character Betty Dean, set a storytelling template that Timely would revisit repeatedly and that rippled outward to influence how other Golden Age publishers used their own character rosters. The issue also marks the debut of Terry Vance, The School Boy Sleuth — a gadget-using teenage detective who ran in the title for nearly four years — giving the anthology its first recurring non-superhero mystery strip. Decades later, Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross paid direct homage to this foundational Torch-Namor confrontation in Marvels #1 (1994), cementing the issue's place in the long continuity of Marvel storytelling.
In this pivotal 1940 issue, Namor faces suspension after struggling to contain the volatile Torch, leaving the Sub-Mariner vulnerable. With tensions rising, a ruthless crew of ice field seamen led by Luther Robinson tracks him down, intent on ending his reign beneath the waves. Written and drawn entirely by Bill Everett, with a striking cover by Alex Schomburg, this issue marks a turning point in the clash between man and monster.
In "The Result of the Most Famous Battle in Comic Magazines," the Torch, still stung by the Police Commissioner’s criticism, teams up with Betty to confront Namor—leading to a fierce clash that ends with the Fiery Fury trapped in an airless glass tube by the Sub-Mariner.
When the Torch proves too much for Namor to manage, the Sub-Mariner is suspended from duty—just as a crew of hardened ice field seamen, led by Luther Robinson, arrives with a deadly mission to destroy him.
In "The Ghouls of the Blue Ridge Mountains," the Angel faces a terrifying mystery as shadowy "devils of the mist" emerge from beneath the earth, driven by volcanic forces and abducting young women from the surface. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, the story blends supernatural dread with the hero’s urgent mission to stop the ancient, unearthly threat before it claims more lives.
In "Master of the Living Dead," Electro is summoned to confront a once-great brain surgeon turned mad, now holed up in a remote Cuban castle, wielding a terrifying secret: artificial blood that fuels his twisted experiments. With no time to spare, the hero must face a menace born of science gone wrong, where the line between life and death is dangerously blurred.
In "Treachery in Two Forks," a cunning criminal uses the chaos of a tax collector’s death to frame the mysterious Raider, setting a dangerous trap for the town’s lawman—while secretly plotting to steal the very money meant to fund the frontier’s future.
In "The Murder of a Man without a Will," Terry Vance, the Boy of a Hundred Hobbies, stumbles upon a baffling crime while tinkering with an experiment—when police report a murder in a locked penthouse, the victim seemingly killed by remote control. With his sharp mind and restless curiosity, Terry dives into the mystery, uncovering a case that defies logic and sets him on a trail of secrets and silent killers.
In "A Visit from Scotland Yard," a fugitive in the jungle outsmarts two Scotland Yard detectives, trapping them in a deadly game of survival as he prepares to escape—leaving their fate uncertain. The story unfolds with tense suspense, grounded in the perilous setting and the desperate stakes of a man on the run.
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The issue went on sale June 15, 1940, with a cover date of August 1940, placing it squarely in the earliest months of the Golden Age. The creative lineup was a full Timely bullpen affair: Bill Everett wrote and drew the Sub-Mariner conclusion, Carl Burgos handled the Human Torch solo follow-up, Paul Gustavson contributed the Angel strip, Steve Dahlman provided Electro, Ben Thompson wrote and drew Ka-Zar, and Ray Gill scripted the debut Terry Vance story with art by Bob Oksner. The cover — depicting Sub-Mariner battling a Nazi raider at sea, with the entire cast of the book shown in inset panels — was penciled and inked by Alex Schomburg, who was simultaneously beginning his long run as Timely's dominant cover artist. The editorship of the issue is uncertain: Joe Simon had just started freelance editing duties for Timely that same month with Red Raven Comics #1, but the Grand Comics Database notes he is only confirmed as editor of Marvel Mystery Comics beginning with issue #12.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Terry Vance, The School Boy Sleuth, created by writer Ray Gill and artist Bob Oksner — the character ran continuously in the title through issue #57 (July 1944) and briefly into the revived Mystic Comics.
- Terry Vance's debut story is titled 'The Murder of a Man Without a Will'; he is accompanied from his very first appearance by his pet monkey Dr. Watson, a recurring series fixture.
- The issue concludes the three-part Human Torch vs. Sub-Mariner crossover begun in issues #8 and #9 — at the time one of the most ambitious multi-chapter storylines in American comic books.
- The resolution turns on a physical deadlock: Namor has trapped the Torch in an airless 'translite tube,' but cannot remove it without freeing him; it is human mediator Betty Dean who brokers Namor's peaceful withdrawal to Atlantis.
- Cover art is by Alex Schomburg — pencils and inks — whose cover for this issue features Sub-Mariner in naval combat with Nazi forces, with all of the book's featured characters shown in insets.
- The issue's interior contributors include Bill Everett (Sub-Mariner), Carl Burgos (Human Torch), Paul Gustavson (Angel), Steve Dahlman (Electro), Ben Thompson (Ka-Zar), Ray Gill and Bob Oksner (Terry Vance) — a rare gathering of nearly the entire Timely creative roster in one 65-page anthology.
- The Torch-Namor conclusion from this issue has been reprinted multiple times, including in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 3 (2008), the Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus Vol. 1 (2009), Timely's Greatest: The Golden Age Human Torch by Carl Burgos Omnibus (2019), Timely's Greatest: The Golden Age Sub-Mariner by Bill Everett – The Pre-War Years Omnibus (2019), and the Decades: Marvel in the '40s – The Human Torch vs. The Sub-Mariner TPB (2018).
- The crossover saga this issue concludes proved immediately influential: Timely followed it with multiple subsequent Torch-Namor battles (including in Human Torch Comics #3, #5, #8, and #10), and the rivalry of two contrasting powerhouses became a recurring structural device throughout the publisher's Golden Age output.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Gibi Mensal #1 (1941), Fantasy Masterpieces #8 (1967), The Invaders #21 (1977), Marvel 65th Anniversary Special #1 (2004), Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics #3 (2008), Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus #1 (2009), Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War #[nn] (2017), Decades: Marvel in the '40s - The Human Torch vs. the Sub-Mariner #[nn] (2019), Timely's Greatest: The Golden Age Sub-Mariner by Bill Everett - The Pre-War Years Omnibus #[nn] (2019), Timely's Greatest: The Golden Age Human Torch by Carl Burgos Omnibus #[nn] (2019)
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