Marvel Mystery Comics #2 - First Appearance of American Ace, Printings and Contents

Identification plate

Series: Marvel Mystery Comics (Marvel, 1939 series)
Issue: #2
Publication date: December 1939
Key date: December 1939
On-sale date: October 13, 1939
Indicia publisher: Timely Publications
Price: $0.10
Pages: 68

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of American Ace - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Perry Wade - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	pencils: Chuck Mazoujian; inks: Chuck Mazoujian	The Angel, Thomas Halloway
2	Murder at the Racetrack	comic story	16	script: Carl Burgos; pencils: Carl Burgos; inks: Carl Burgos; letters: Carl Burgos	Jim Hammond, Phineas T. Horton, Human Torch
3	The Treasure of Alano	comic story	8	script: Paul Gustavson, Ray Gill; pencils: Paul Gustavson; inks: Paul Gustavson; letters: Paul Gustavson	The Angel, Thomas Halloway
4	Attack on New York City	comic story	12	script: Bill Everett; pencils: Bill Everett; inks: Bill Everett; letters: Bill Everett	Namor, Sub-Mariner
5	The Town of Wanted Men	comic story	8	script: Al Anders; pencils: Al Anders; inks: Al Anders	Jim Gardley, The Masked Raider
6	Origin of the American Ace	comic story	6	script: Paul Lauretta; pencils: Paul J. Lauretta; inks: Paul J. Lauretta; letters: Paul Lauretta	American Ace First, Perry Wade First
7	Death-Bird Squadron	text story	2	script: David C. Cooke; pencils: Chuck Mazoujian; inks: Chuck Mazoujian	The Angel, Thomas Halloway
8	The Battle with Bardak	comic story	12	script: Ben Thompson; pencils: Ben Thompson; inks: Ben Thompson	Ka-Zar, David Rand, Chaka, Sha, Trajah, Zar
9	All in Fun	cartoon	1	script: Fred Schwab; pencils: Fred Schwab; inks: Fred Schwab; letters: Fred Schwab
10	Loony Laffs!	cartoon	1	script: Ben Thompson; pencils: Ben Thompson; inks: Ben Thompson; letters: Ben Thompson

Plus 1 page of advertisements and other matter across 1 sequence, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics #1 ISBN 0-7851-1609-5	2004	On eBay ›
Marvel Comics 70th Anniversary Celebration Magazine #[nn]	2009	On eBay ›
Action! Mystery! Thrills! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age: 1933-45 #[nn] ISBN 9781606994948	2011	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics #1 ISBN 978-0-7851-5052-7	2011	On eBay ›
Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus #1 ISBN 978-0-7851-4159-4	2009	On eBay ›
Marvel Firsts: WWII Super Heroes #[nn] ISBN 978-0-7851-6791-4	2013	On eBay ›
Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War #[nn] ISBN 978-1-60699-987-5	2017	On eBay ›
Timely's Greatest: The Golden Age Human Torch by Carl Burgos Omnibus #[nn] ISBN 978-1-302-91933-7	2019	On eBay ›
Timely's Greatest: The Golden Age Sub-Mariner by Bill Everett - The Pre-War Years Omnibus #[nn] ISBN 978-1-302-91935-1	2019	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Golden-age paper is brittle. Ask about page suppleness and check edges for chips in the photos.
Check for trimmed edges, married covers, and clipped coupons - all common on books this old.
Confirm the indicia matches this plate; many golden-age titles changed names mid-run.

Series context

1 of 91#3 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com