The Day After (Jack Kirby left Marvel Comics)

If you've obtained one of the early copies of the book, you've seen that 1941 photo of Marvel Comics founder/owner Martin Goodman holding a color proof for the cover to Captain America Comics #11. (Click on the image to your left to enlarge.)

It's a fascinating photo for a number of reasons. First, it's one of the earliest photos of Martin Goodman that has ever been published. (It's only surpassed in age by the two 1940 New Year's Eve photos we also have in the book.) One of my favorite parts of our book is that we were able to track down seemingly every photo ever published containing Martin Goodman's visage. Each photo that popped up when Michael found another Martin Goodman magazine was a revelation.

There are actually more photos of Goodman in the 1950s, when he began his line of movie magazines, and started hobnobbing with Hollywood stars. My personal favorite in the book is the shot of him and Charlton Heston. Why? Because Heston played Moses in The Ten Commandments, and one of the facts that we uncovered for the book is that Goodman's birth name was also Moses. In fact, Goodman's parents seem to pillage the Bible when landing on names for their kids.

The second most interesting aspect of this photo is when it was taken. Joe Simon and Jack

7th Video in "The Making Of..." Series on YouTube

Over the next week, a new video will be posted every day on the book's new YouTube channel featuring the authors, Blake Bell and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, discussing the secrets behind "The Secret History Of Marvel Comics". It all leads up to the Official Book Release Event in New York City on the night of Saturday, October 12 at 7pm, hosted by the Society Of Illustrators (at 128 E 63rd St., between Park & Lexington Ave).

In Part 7, they discuss the surprises found when uncovering the artists who moonlighted for Martin Goodman's other publishing endeavours; strange and fascinating material by Marvel legends, Jack Kirby, Alex Schomburg, and Bill Everett.

Special Ltd Ed. Tipped-In Plate for NYC Event!

We've been giving you a number of great reasons to attend our Secret History of Marvel Comics book pre-release event at the Society of Illustrators in New York City on Wednesday, August 7 at 7pm, and now we're adding another!

The first hundred people in attendance will receive a special, limited edition, tipped-in plate, signed and numbered by the authors, Blake Bell and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo! It will be the first in a series of three that Fantagraphics is producing for the book and you can only get this first one in NYC!

So, reasons to come now include: 1) ltd ed., tipped-in plate; 2) discount tickets if you pre-order the book from Fantagraphics; 3) author Danny Fingeroth interviewing Blake and Michael about the making of the book; 4) a first-look preview slide show of the book's contents, including works by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Alex Schomburg, Bill Everett and many more!; 5) an audience Q&A; 6) a special book signing event after the show.