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The MISFIT CHARACTERS of Marvel .........................

When I refer to any one of the following Marvel Comics characters as a "misfit"... I'm not declaring them to be "inferior" in any way, shape or form to their more well-known spandexed brethren (i.e., Captain America, Spider-Man, the Hulk, etc.).

The term "misfit" -- as I'm using it, in this regard -- signifies merely that said character is (for reasons irrespective of "quality" or conceptualization) not one of the "Big Guns" of the Marvel Universe... at least, as determined by mass public recognition and suchlike.

In this regard, then: the following characters -- while most assuredly tres nifty in my eyes, and undoubtedly of canonical importance to the ongoing organics of the Marvel Universe as a whole -- take on the aspect of "supporting actors" (if you will) to the bigger, more "movie marquee" Leading Man (or Lady) types therein.
... and as to why I love them so unabashedly in the first place, you ask...?

Wellllllll... I suppose part of it goes back to how the Marvel Universe itself was set up, in its earliest days.

You see... back in the 60's, whenever rival comics company DC Comics created a superhero-type character, it was always with the understanding (whether explicit or otherwise) that said character would -- or at least should, sales and readership willing -- graduate to his/her own ongoing monthly title. (Even DC characters who've never held their own title, per se -- i.e., the Martian Manhunter -- were accorded regular berths in the pages of such titles as DETECTIVE, or HOUSE OF MYSTERY, or what-have-you... primarily as a means of further "grooming" them for the day when they proved sufficiently popular with the readership to command their own monthly venue(s).) Therefore, nearly every DC creation of that pivotal was designed -- to one extent or another -- as a potential "lead" character.

The Marvel Comics of the same period, on the other hand -- primarily due to (deservedly) legendary artist/creator Jack Kirby's inability to restrain his prodigious energies and efforts to the "primary" characters within whichever comic he was working on at the time -- were crammed to bursting with costumed characters who (again: at least initially) were never intended to headline a monthly title on their own respective merits: they were, in a sense -- to utilize the cinematic metaphor once again -- the comics equivalent of character actors.

Therefore: many of these characters (the Banshee; the Black Panther; Red Wolf; and so forth) were allowed to "grow" more... well, organically, I guess, is the best word for it. Passed along from writer to writer as their respective storytelling needs (or, often as not, simply their own personal whims -- a writer may be any given character's "fan," after all) dictated... they accumulated characterizations and histories as oddly compelling, in their way, as any bonsai.

And -- as was often the case, given the "bucket brigade" approach of the Marvel writers of the day ("... here... you can have this guy, now, if you want. I'm done with him.") -- if said pasts and personality quirks never quite "meshed" comfortably with one another... well... that, too, was part of the unmistakable charm these characters could claim as their very own.

Case in point: Henry "Hank" Pym -- a.k.a. "Ant-Man," "Giant-Man," "Goliath," "Yellowjacket," and probably one or two other codenames I've long since forgotten.

Why he never quite caught on with the Marvel readers of the day, I've never fully understood. Certainly, he wasn't any more inherently implausible than, say, a man bitten by a radioactive spider, or an Asgardian deity spouting flowery, faux Shakespearean dialogue.

And yet: even granting his near-continual starring status (in one guise or another) within the pages of Marvel's uberteam book, THE AVENGERS... he remains (at least, in the eyes of most of comics fandom) something of a career "second-stringer." (And this, mind you, in spite of benefiting from some of Jack Kirby's most innovative and energetic artwork of that period, as the cover above clearly illustrates.)

To be fair about it, the creative brain trust at Marvel -- doubtless scratching their heads throughout much of this and wondering: "... well, why not this guy, darn it...?" -- certainly tried everything they could think of to drum up substantial reader interest in their skyscraper- sized superguy. Increasingly outlandish costumed foemen (believe me, you simply have not lived until you've seen The Living Eraser...!); startling personal revelations ("Giant-Man has an ex-wife... and now she's working for the Russians -- !"); even shoehorning guest- appearances by their "Big Gun" characters into the title, whenever even remotely plausible (see accompanying cover, below).

All of it, alas, to no particular avail. After a few more unhappy years near or at the bottom rung of the Marvel sales "ladder"... the much-maligned and put-upon Henry Pym was booted out of the title he shared with the Incredible Hulk (TALES TO ASTONISH), and replaced by some guy named "the Sub-Mariner." Who later graduated to his own ongoing monthly title. The fink.
Another Marvel character who (until fairly recently) suffered from seemingly congenital hard luck when it came to holding his own, sales-wise, was fan "cult" favorite Nicholas Fury.

Now, stay with me on this one; the going gets a little "tricky," where this guy is concerned.

Nicholas ("Nick") Fury first appeared in the World War II comic luridly entitled SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS. (Honest to God; that's what they called it. You can see for yourself, on the accompanying cover, if you don't believe me.)

The stories in this oddball offering were frenzied, barely-comprehensible bouts of leaping, running and Firing Eighty Gazillion Rounds of Ammo In All Directions At Once, with the occasional Mad Nazi Scientist and/or Hitler android look-alike thrown in for that little extra touch of "zing." Not unreadable, certainly; often -- so long as you dutifully remembered to check your cerebral cortex at the door -- they were quite enjoyable, in a "Mad Max meets THE GREAT ESCAPE" sort of way.

In any event: when the two or three WWII plots that the writers actually knew finally wore out under the stress of continued repetition, and the allure of yet another "Fortress Europa" saga began to pall somewhat for the readership... Marvel cunningly "updated" the lead character into a modern-day setting; placed him (rather improbably, I always thought) in titular command of a super-secret, globe-spanning spy organization (the "James Bond" movies and MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. television series were very popular at the time. Quite the little coincidence, that.) -- and: voila! [See accompanying cover, below]

Actally, the end result wasn't nearly as goofy as it sounds (surprisingly enough). Lovely, groundbreaking artwork by then-comics newcomer Jim Steranko was a big, big part of the "why" behind that [examples above and below].

Another was the rather more "adult" (well... for its time, at any rate) sexual tension on display between Fury and his fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, the alluring Countess Valentina Allegro de Fontaine (try mumbling that mouthful with a long-stemmed rose clenched between your teeth...!)

However -- as the two covers represented alsso make manifest -- the notion of a "super-secret" spy organization allowing its top field operatives to ponce around the globe whilst tarted up in skin-tight dominatrix gear is one which -- thankfully -- never really "caught on" in our own world.

"MISFIT" MARVEL CHARACTERS of the Silver Age
PAGE TWO (Black Widow, Black Panther, Prowler, Captain

Mar-Vell, Luke Cage and Iron Fist)
PAGE THREE (The Champions, "team-up" titles, Son of Satan,

Werewolf By Night and WoodGod)

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