Posted By Dan Greenfield on Apr 19, 2023 | 4 comments

The original Human Torch’s creator was born 107 years ago…

By PETER BOSCH

Most comics fans know Carl Burgos was the creator of the original Human Torch, way back in Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), but many people are unaware of anything else he drew. I think his most polished period was during the 1950s when he was drawing a lot of genres for Atlas Comics (later Marvel).

For this birthday salute — Burgos was born 107 years ago this week on April 18, 1916, as Max Finkelstein — here are 13 superb covers from the end of the Golden Age to the early Silver Age:

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April 1954

Nov. 1954

July 1955

Jan. 1953

Aug. 1953

Dec. 1956. This was a different Two-Gun Kid, pre-Matt Hawk.

June 1954

Apr. 1957. Interesting cover similarity to the Human Torch creation.

May 1955

March 1955

July 1956

July 1956

March 1954

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MORE

— DOCTOR STRANGE TURNS 60: How 13 Great Artists See the Master of the Mystic Arts. Click here.

— 13 COVERS: A DOCTOR OCTOPUS 60th Anniversary Tribute. Click here.

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13th Dimension contributor-at-large PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, has just been published by TwoMorrows. He has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. Peter lives in Hollywood.