U. S. A. Comics [USA Comics; U.S.A. Comics] #1

History

The series was announced as far back as Captain America Comics #1, with a planned lineup that differed substantially from what actually appeared on the stands — suggesting a fluid, fast-moving editorial process typical of Timely's boom period in early 1941. Joe Simon, Timely's first hired editor and the co-creator of Captain America, served as editor for this debut issue and contributed cover art alongside Jack Kirby, who penciled the cover; the resulting collaboration meant the issue carried one of the most prestigious creative stamps Timely could offer. The book was published under the corporate name U.S.A. Comic Magazine Corp. out of 330 West 42nd Street, New York, at the standard Golden Age price of ten cents, and was copyrighted the same year under registration number B 498480.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Cover date: August 1941; actual on-sale (release) date: April 20, 1941; published by Timely Comics (the Marvel predecessor), 68 pages, full color, priced at ten cents.
• First appearance and origin of the Whizzer (Robert Frank), a super-speedster who gained his powers via a mongoose-blood transfusion administered by his father Dr. Emil Frank; penciled by Al Avison, inked by Al Gabriele.
• First appearance of Jack Frost, a mythological ice-being with cold-based powers; the story is broadly accepted as Stan Lee's first published comic-book script (distinct from his earlier prose text fillers), drawn by Charles Nicholas (pen name for Charles Wojtkoski).
• First appearance and origin of Rockman: Underground Secret Agent, written and drawn by Basil Wolverton — one of the earliest and most distinctive examples of Wolverton's detailed, idiosyncratic art style in a Timely title.
• First appearance of the Defender (Don Stevens) with his sidekick Rusty — a deliberate Captain America-and-Bucky analog — introduced in a brief illustrated vignette with art credited to Joe Simon.
• First appearances of Mr. Liberty (John Liberty), who could summon spirits of historical American figures, and the Young Avenger (Bill Bryan), both also debuting in this issue.
• Cover penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Joe Simon — the only issue of the series to bear a Simon & Kirby cover before the duo departed Timely in late 1941.
• The issue's key characters were reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age U.S.A. Comics Vol. 1 (2007), The Twelve #0 (2008), Marvel Firsts: WWII Super Heroes (2013), Take That, Adolf! (Fantagraphics, 2017), and Timely's Greatest: The Golden Age Simon & Kirby Omnibus (2019).

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