In a supplemental document Sean Howe shared from his book Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, we have a look at an internal piece from Marvel that shares their thoughts on their own characters in 1973. Everyone is ranked on a 1 to 3 star scale, with check marks and notes around them if there are special notes to be made. It’s a hilariously strange list with a lot of great little insights into what Marvel was like back then. Especially of note?
– Dracula gets three stars, but the X-Men get 2 stars (this was 2 years before the X-Men were relaunched in Giant Size X-Men)
– Conan, Doc Savage and Ka-Zar got three stars
– Everyone in the Fantastic Four got three stars, besides Sue Storm, who received two stars
– Gulliver Jones, Warrior of Mars and The Cat were once “important” characters for Marvel. In other news, who the hell are Gulliver Jones, Warrior of Mars and The Cat?
– Quicksilver was perceived as the least important Avenger
It’s a funny look back at what Marvel used to think, and I’m sure the driver of the story will be, as one commenter from Howe’s Tumblr shared “no female characters have three asterisks by their names.” But that was a different time and a dramatically different place. That should come as no surprise to anyone.
