Marvel Super-Heroes #20
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Super-Heroes #20 (May 1969) holds a firm place in Marvel history as the first solo Doctor Doom story ever published — and the first time Doom was written by anyone other than Stan Lee — introducing his childhood love Valeria, a character whose emotional weight on Doom would echo across decades of storytelling. The issue's Golden Age backbone reprints the entirety of Young Men #24 (December 1953), giving late-1960s readers their first accessible look at the 1950s Atlas-era revivals of Captain America, the original Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner — material that later writers would retroactively weave into Marvel's official continuity in complex and meaningful ways. Capping everything is a back-page house ad announcing an all-new character called Starhawk — a teaser that was never fulfilled in these pages, as the title pivoted to an all-reprint format with its very next issue, making this the final Marvel Super-Heroes to carry an original lead feature and a poignant footnote in the history of a character who wouldn't actually debut in-continuity until The Defenders #27 in 1975.
In this gripping 1969 tale from *Marvel Super-Heroes* #20, Namor ventures into the frozen ruins of Admiral Byrd’s abandoned Antarctic outpost, Little America, alongside Namora and Byrrah. When a spilled can of kerosene ignites, the sudden fire—alien to the undersea prince—threatens to consume the hut, forcing Namor to confront a danger he’s never faced: flame.
In "The Return of... the Human Torch," the flame-wielding hero Jim Hammond reemerges after four years to confront Crime Boss and his henchmen, claiming he escaped from a grave dug by his enemy. With help from his former partner Toro—now freed from brainwashing in Korea—Hammond races to rescue Chief Wilson’s daughter Mary, who’s taken by the ruthless Butcher, leading to a daring rescue that hinges on sacrifice and redemption.
In a quiet classroom at Lee School in New York, Professor Steve Rogers recounts Captain America’s wartime legacy—only to be challenged by his student Bucky Barnes, who insists the hero’s story isn’t just history. When a radio report reveals the Red Skull has seized hostages at the United Nations, Steve and Bucky trade their civilian clothes for their iconic uniforms and burst through a window to stop the villain they thought was long gone.
In "The Sub-Mariner Returns," Namor answers Admiral Saybrook’s call after mysterious ship sinkings plague the South Seas. Taking along his past flame, Betty Dean, he investigates the island only to uncover a Venusian robot force preparing an Earth invasion. Though Namor defeats the threat and returns the captured leader to the U.S., the authorities remain unconvinced by his tale.
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The Doom lead, 'This Man… This Demon!', had an unusual production history: Larry Lieber plotted, dialogued, and penciled roughly the first half (pages 1–11) before bowing out of the assignment, after which Roy Thomas scripted the remainder and Frank Giacoia stepped in to pencil pages 12–24, with Vince Colletta inking throughout. Publisher Martin Goodman's well-documented skepticism toward science-fiction concepts — specifically what Roy Thomas described as a dislike of 'rockets, robots and ray-guns' — led him to cancel the planned Starhawk debut strip that was advertised in this issue; the unused Dan Adkins cover art was later repurposed for Marvelmania #3, and the first portion of the Roy Thomas/Dan Adkins Starhawk script was eventually printed in Marvelmania #6. Stan Lee served as editor-in-chief with Roy Thomas as associate editor, and the cover was penciled by Larry Lieber with inks by Vince Colletta.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First solo Doctor Doom story ever published ('This Man… This Demon!'), and the first Doom story not written by Stan Lee — scripted in two halves by Larry Lieber (pages 1–11) and Roy Thomas (pages 12–24), with pencils split between Lieber and Frank Giacoia.
- First appearance of Valeria, Doom's childhood friend and love interest from Latveria, whose introduction here retrofitted a crucial emotional dimension into Doom's established origin.
- The Doom lead retells Victor von Doom's origin, drawing on the framework established in Fantastic Four Annual #2, and features Diablo taking Valeria hostage to coerce Doom into an alliance — which Doom ultimately turns against him.
- The back half of the issue reprints the entirety of Young Men #24 (December 1953, Atlas/Marvel), which contained the mid-1950s revivals of the original Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Captain America and Bucky, and the Sub-Mariner — three stories later acknowledged by Marvel continuity to feature William Burnside (not Steve Rogers) as Captain America and Albert Malik as the Red Skull, as established in Captain America #155.
- Also includes a Golden Age Sub-Mariner reprint from Sub-Mariner #40 (1955), featuring a teenage Namor, Namora, and Byrrah — an early Namor origin-adjacent story illustrated by Namor's creator Bill Everett.
- The final page is a full-page house advertisement for a planned new character called Starhawk, who was to headline the next issue; publisher Martin Goodman canceled the feature before it appeared, and the title converted to an all-reprint format with #21 — making this the last issue of the series' original try-out era.
- The unused Starhawk story art by Roy Thomas and Dan Adkins was later partially published in Marvel's in-house fanzine Marvelmania (#3 and #6), and the in-continuity Starhawk character (created by Steve Gerber and Sal Buscema) did not appear until The Defenders #27 (September 1975) — with no confirmed connection to the earlier concept.
- The Doctor Doom story has been reprinted multiple times: in Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #1 (1975), Essential Super-Villain Team-Up #1 (2004), Marvel Firsts: The 1960s (2011), and Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Rarities #1 (2014), among others.
Cast · 31 characters
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Young Men #24 (1953), Sub-Mariner #40 (1955)
Reprinted in I Fantastici Quattro #39 (1972), Planet of the Apes #8 (1974), Planet of the Apes #9 (1974), The Mighty World of Marvel #116 (1974), Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #1 (1975), Essential Super-Villain Team-Up #1 (2004), Marvel Firsts: The 1960s #[nn] (2011), Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Rarities #1 (2014), Doctor Doom: The Book of Doom Omnibus #[nn] (2022), Doctor Doom Epic Collection #1 (2025)
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