Number 1612: The Marvel Man

Martan, who came to Earth for a honeymoon with his bride, Vana, decided to stick around. They had encountered another bunch of aliens who had attacked our planet, so Martan, called the Marvel Man, helped to fight them off.

Martan was yet another spaceborn type who landed on our planet, and out of all the countries ended up in America. He and his spouse decided to defend that country over all others. My fellow Americans...we have been really lucky that way in the comics, eh?

This character was part of a wave of superheroes in Dell Comics’ Popular Comics, which lasted for a couple of years until Dell decided to dump the super people and go to licensing funny animals and such. They did that so well that they got away without the usual superheroic contents of most comics of the era (1939-42 or so). In Martan and Vana’s case, they appeared in issues #44-68. The writer of the story is credited as G. Ellerbrock, and the artist is unknown. E. C. Stoner, who did the cover, was also part of the art movement known as the Harlem Renaissance.

From Popular Comics #59 (1941).