Since its founding in 1939 as Timely Comics, Marvel has published some of the most iconic series in American comic book history, including The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and X-Men that have shaped pop culture. While the comic book publisher is now mostly recognized for its superhero characters, Marvel also had a history of crafting horror and science fiction stories that were popular in the 1960s and '70s but have faded from mainstream audiences memory. Fantagraphics is hoping to bring some of these stories back to light by releasing this year three hardcover anthologies which will introduce today's readers to some Lost Marvels.
The first of these three anthologies which debuts today is a collection of the issues from the horror series Tower of Shadows which originally ran in 1969. Lost Marvels No. 1: Tower of Shadows, collects all nine issues of the series. In 1969, with its revolutionary superhero line well established, Marvel took a chance on the kind of supernatural, EC-style anthology series that had been banned since the formation of the Comics Code in the 1950s. Tower of Shadows featured a staggering array of artists and writers, including Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Gene Colan, Wally Wood, Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, John Romita, Johnny Craig, Marie Severin, Gerry Conway, and Bernie Wrightson, to name a few. Freed from the conventions of the superhero adventure, these creators brought their storytelling skills to a more quietly sinister genre, producing atmospheric gems of twisted suspense and sardonic horror. Lost Marvels No. 1: Tower of Shadows is available now from Amazon.com.
In July, Fantagraphics will publish Lost Marvels No. 2: Howard Chaykin Vol. 1: Dominic Fortune, Monark Starstalker, and Phantom Eagle. When Howard Chaykin broke into comics in the 1970s, there was nothing quite like him. His original characters Dominic Fortune and Monark Starstalker took classic pulp heroes and ran them through a postmodern blender. This new volume collects some of the most exciting, sought-after work by Chaykin from 1975 to 2008, including retro-science-fiction bounty hunter Monark Starstalker’s debut appearance and all the Dominic Fortune stories, including the character’s unexpurgated Max series, published a generation later.
Completing the package is the collision between pulp heroism and the devastating, bloody realities of World War I in Chaykin’s 111-page collaboration with The Boys writer Garth Ennis on War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle. As the artist behind Marvel’s comic adaptation of the first Star Wars movie and the creator of iconic, influential series like the sci-fi satire American Flagg! and the adults only vampire saga Black Kiss, Howard Chaykin has earned his reputation as a prolific and essential cartoonist. You can pre-order Lost Marvels No. 2: Howard Chaykin from Amazon so as not to forget it is coming out this summer.
In November, Fantagraphics will publish Lost Marvels No. 3: Savage Tales. Best known for Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith’s Conan the Barbarian and the first appearance of Gerry Conway and Gray Morrow’s Man-Thing, 1971’s Savage Tales was a stunning comics magazine in the spirit of Creepy and Heavy Metal. This volume will collect all 11 issues of the series featuring work from Stan Lee, John Romita, Dennis O’Neil, Al Williamson, Jim Steranko, John Buscema, and a host of other legendary creators delivering a high-octane combination of fantasy, horror, and action. Lost Marvels No. 3: Savage Tales will be published on November 18, 2025.
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