Marvel's 82nd birthday is here and they've got a surprise for you

(Image credit: Lovepop/Marvel Comics)

It may not be noted on your calendar, and Hallmark may not have a specialized card for it (yet), but today is Marvel Comics' birthday. Although the company name 'Marvel Comics' didn't become a thing until the '60s, its first actual comic, the anthology Marvel Comics #1, hit stands August 31, 1939.

Marvel Comics #1 cover — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

While Marvel is celebrating big, round-number anniversaries this year of some of its characters, it is also planning something today - August 31, 2021.

The publisher low-key teased its plans when it recently announced that the upcoming Daredevil #36 would be the last issue before a hiatus of some kind. Towards the end of the announcement, Marvel slipped in that news on the future of Daredevil "along with additional new projects" would be announced on August 31, 2021.

What could these "new projects" be? Well, if they're going all-in on 82nd birthdays, several notable Marvel characters debuted as part of that original 1939 Marvel Comics #1 anthology. Both Namor the Submariner and the recently revived-revamped Mask Raider got their start there, as did the original versions of the Human Torch (the android version, before the Fantastic Four version), Angel (before and unrelated to the X-Men version), and the original version of Ka-Zar from prose stories.

We suspect however that they won't be that literal - at least for all the new projects. Daredevil writer Chip Zdarsky has already teased some sort of special project during his Daredevil hiatus but hasn't given any idea if it's Daredevil-related or not.

Stay tuned to Newsarama for that Daredevil news and whatever else Marvel is planning.

And go tell Marvel happy birthday. They look good for being 82.

While you wait, make sure you've read the best Marvel Comics of all time.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)