''Red Raven Comics'' was a title of

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

(the predecessor of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

). Only a single issue was published,

cover-dated The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

August 1940. It was replaced by the title ''

The Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a si ...

'', which began with issue #2 (Fall 1940), continuing the numbering inherited from ''Red Raven Comics''. According to the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

, ''Red Raven Comics'' issue #1 contained no advertisements for issue #2 (instead, other titles were advertised), suggesting that the decision to cancel the title may have been made before the first issue went to press. After this issue, the title character, avian superman Red Raven, did not appear in print again until 1968. The first Human Top was also introduced in this issue, as was a character named Mercury, presented as the

Roman god Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representat ...

but later

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

ned to be Makkari, one of the Eternals. Also introduced were Magar the Mystic, the all-seeing Eternal Brain, space adventurer Comet Pierce, and hapless policeman Officer O'Krime. None of these characters were continued in the ''Human Torch'' title. The Human Top had one other appearance, in 1942 in ''Tough Kid Squad''. ''Red Raven Comics'' #1 figured in the documentary '' Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope'', part of which follows comic-book vendor

Chuck Rozanski Charles Rozanski (born March 11, 1955) is a German-American retailer and columnist, known as the President and CEO of the Denver, Colorado-based Mile High Comics Inc., and a columnist for the ''Comics Buyer's Guide''. Early life Rozanski was born ...

's futile quest to sell a copy for $500,000.

References

Comics magazines published in the United States 1940 comics debuts 1940 comics endings Marvel Comics titles Magazines established in 1940 Golden Age comics titles {{Marvel-title-stub