Hey, yo, let me get a large pie with onions.
Coming right up. Psst.
Hey, smarty pants. That was me, working in a pizzeria in New York City in the early 2000s.
In between making pies, I spent my time memorizing reference books like encyclopedias, almanacs, atlases, and thesauruses.
I even read the dictionary.
Twice. I read anything I could get my hands on.
As long as there was a whiff of science or history.
And whenever someone came in for pizza, I'd tell them a fun fact.
Here you go! Enjoy!
Also, did you know that human teeth are the only body part that can't heal itself?
I did not know that.
Thanks. One day, a strange man dressed all in black with an eyepatch came in.
He enjoyed his pizza and his fun fact.
But his real reason for coming wasn't to grab a slice.
It was to recruit me to be part of a top -secret organization.
The Tactical Research Unit Serving the Youth, otherwise known as T -R -U -S -T -Y, which spells trustee.
I was put in charge of the narration department.
From then on, I became known as the trustee narrator, helping explain amazing science and history topics to the youth of the world.
And that's what's known as an origin story.
You know who else is known for their awesome origin stories?
None other than the superheroes and supervillains of the Marvel Universe.
But how was Marvel created?
Who was Marvel Comics' first superhero?
And what exactly is the Marvel Universe?
It's time for a super whiff of science and history on...
Who's smarted? Who's smarting?
Who's smart? Is it you?
Is it me? Is it science?
Or history? Listen up, everyone!
We make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smarted!
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Before the huge blockbuster movies starring your favorite superheroes, the only place you could find them were in the pages of comic books.
Can you name the two major publishers of comic books?
Why, there's Marvel, of course, home of Spider -Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and many more.
And the other is DC, home to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, and others.
And just like the Greeks and Romans each had their own gods, the original superheroes, these two titans, Marvel and DC, became known as the Big Two in the comic publishing world.
So, smarty pants, which is older, Marvel or DC Comics?
Did you say Marvel?
Sorry, the answer is DC.
DC Comics began in 1934, five years before Marvel.
But guess what? Neither DC or Marvel started out with those names.
Just like Carol Danvers started out as Ms.
Marvel before becoming Captain Marvel, both DC and Marvel Comics were originally published under different names.
DC was originally called Nationally Allied Publications.
They didn't become DC until 1977.
Taking the name DC from the popular Detective Comics series featuring a superhero you may have heard of named Batman.
As for Marvel Comics, see if you can guess what name it originally published as.
Was it A. Super Comics B.
Timely Comics C. Captain Comics Or D, Marvelous Comics The answer, somewhat surprisingly, is B, Timely Comics Whoa That's right I started Timely Comics in 1939 Oh, hey, who are you?
The name's Goodman Martin Goodman I started Timely Comics because I saw how popular superhero comics were becoming The year before, nationally allied publications put out their first costumed superhero comic, and it was a huge hit.
Smarty Pins, any idea who this first costumed hero for the company that later became DC was?
Did you say, Superman, you're right.
Before superheroes, I used to publish something called pulp magazines.
They were filled with pictures and fictional stories.
And they were called pulp magazines because they were printed on this cheap wood pulp paper.
But after Superman took off, I wanted in on the superhero action.
In October of 1939, Timely Comics released its first comic book, Marvel Comics No.
1. And it featured the debut, or introduction, of several superhero characters.
See if you can guess who they were.
I'll say a superhero, and you call out yes or no If you think they were in the first comic book made by what became Marvel, or not Ready?
Here we go Spider -Man Iron Man Hulk Thor The Human Torch Black Widow Hawkeye Submariner So how'd you do?
There's a good chance you're saying Huh?
The Submariner, an ocean -based superhero was once fairly popular, but he was eclipsed by his DC underwater rival Aquaman.
In fact, of all the Marvel and DC characters, Submariner and Aquaman are most similar in powers and backstories.
But while Aquaman now stars in his own movies, Submariner is fairly forgotten.
As for the Human Torch, you may have heard of him as a member of Marvel's The Fantastic Four.
There's just one problem.
It's a totally different Human Torch.
Yeah, the original Human Torch is not Johnny Storm of The Fantastic Four.
He's actually an android named Jim Hammond.
But while he might not be part of The Fantastic Four, he's actually number one, as in the very first Marvel Comics superhero.
And the Sub -Mariner?
is officially the first Marvel mutant character.
Wow, so before Captain America or the X -Men, there was the Human Torch and Submariner.
Yep, but when Captain America was created during the golden age of comics in the 1940s, he teamed up with both of them to form a superhero team called the Invaders.
Which was way before the Avengers.
Oh yeah, and most of the Marvel superheroes fought against not just supervillains, but also real -life villains of the day, like Hitler and the Nazis.
And from there, superheroes have just gotten more and more popular, right?
Uh, not quite. Believe it or not, by the end of the 1940s, people were getting sick of superheroes.
In 1951, Timely Comics changed its name to Atlas Magazine and put out mostly Westerns.
Horror. War. Science fiction and humor magazines.
I'm not hearing superheroes.
Nope. By the mid -1950s, that was it for Marvel Comics.
Oh, wow. So, what happened?
Marvel was saved by a superhero.
Smarty Pants, any ideas?
Was it Iron Man? Hulk?
Thor? Falcon? Try Superman.
What? But he's with your rival.
I know, but in 1956, what became DC Comics ushered in what's known as the Silver Age of Comics.
By introducing The Flash, Green Arrow, The Justice League, And better quality stories and illustrations of their core heroes Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and of course, Superman When these DC titles found commercial success It was time for Marvel to be reborn Literally Atlas changed its name to Marvel
Comics in 1961 and began crafting what became known as the Marvel Comics Universe, which eventually became the Marvel Cinematic Universe everyone knows today.
Gotcha. But, Smarty Pants, do you know what is meant by the Marvel Universe?
Stick around. We'll have the answer in a flash.
Or Quicksilver. Hi, guys.
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Yet, money is also something most people have a hard time communicating about.
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Now back to Who Smarted.
Whether you're a fan of Marvel Comics.
I brought in two Marvel Comics legends.
Writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.
Lee and Kirby attempted to make their comic book characters more original by allowing them to interact with each other in a realistic way.
That meant arguing or even fighting with each other.
This trend continued as the newly renamed Marvel Comics introduced new characters throughout the early 1960s that included fan favorites like Spider -Man, the Incredible Hulk, Hulk smash!
Iron Man, Thor, and the X -Men.
Stan Lee wrote the majority of Marvel stories during this time, but besides the Marvel Universe, there was another distinction, or difference, between Marvel and DC Comics.
Smarty Pants, do you know what that was?
I'll give you a hint.
Location, location, location.
Did you get it, Smarty Pants?
Goodman? The answer is, Marvel's stories were set mostly in real -life locations.
Unlike Gotham or Metropolis, home to Batman and Superman, Spider -Man and the Avengers Tower are set in New York City.
Captain America, Deadpool, Tony Stark, and Bruce Banner live in Los Angeles.
Hawkeye lives in Iowa.
And the agents of S .H .I .E .L .D.'s base is in Washington, D .C.
trust me i'm familiar with it right your origin story speaking of that's something else that sets marvel apart huh our superheroes are very human imperfect characters with interesting and unexpected origin stories sure of course some critics have noted that both marvel and dc imitate each other a lot
and create very similar characters and powers for example the avengers and the Justice League, Hawkeye and Green Arrow.
Wasp? Imperfect characters with interesting and unexpected origin stories.
Sure. Of course, some critics have noted that both Marvel and DC imitate each other a lot and create very similar characters and powers.
For example, the Avengers and the Justice League, Hawkeye and Green Arrow.
Wasp and Bumblebee.
Deadpool and Deathstroke.
Wonder Woman and She -Hulk.
sub -mariner and aquaman fantastic four and doom patrol norman the green goblin osborn and the joker thanos and dark side quicksilver and flash superman and thor all right all right there's only so much you can do they've got a strong person we got a strong person but they don't have anyone like our
number one selling superhero hey smarty pants can you guess who that is is it iron man Hulk, Captain America, or Spider -Man?
Did you say Spider -Man?
Good job. There's nobody like Spidey.
Well, DC did have a spider -based superhero named Tarantula two decades before the first Spider -Man comic came out.
He didn't possess spider powers, but he did walk on walls and shoot webs thanks to a special suit he made.
Moving on. For several decades, Marvel and DC were the top companies in the superhero business.
But in the 1990s, sales slumped, and Marvel Comics even declared bankruptcy in 1996.
Once again, it looked like things were over for Marvel.
But just like any true superhero, when things look darkest, that's when they find the strength to battle back.
And battle back, Marvel did.
Slowly at first, with a few movies that did good, but not great.
Especially compared to the blockbusters they put out today.
There was the Fantastic Four, Daredevil and Elektra, and the Hulk.
The only superhero to consistently perform well was, of course, Spider -Man.
But Marvel needed to make more than just Spider -Man movies.
And that's when the Marvel Cinematic Universe began.
Instead of individual stories, Marvel began making movies featuring their most popular characters that differed from previous efforts by setting them all in a shared world.
Starting with Iron Man, then the Hulk, then Thor, and Captain America, and building towards the Avengers, which featured all of them together.
Marvel grossed more than $1 .5 billion worldwide.
And from there, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, grew into one of the biggest and most lucrative franchises in film history.
With an eye on diversity and inclusion, Marvel is packing theaters, setting streaming records and dominating television with both known and relatively unknown characters.
Black Panther became the first Marvel movie to win an Academy Award when it took home three Oscars in 2018.
Today, there have been 29 movies and 16 TV series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with many more on the way.
Wow, now that's what I call an origin story.
Speaking of, I just have one question for you.
What? Can I get a mushroom pepperoni pizza to go?
A super special shout -out to Who Smarted Superfans Sidney, Nicholas, and Matthew, part of a military family in Silverdale, Washington.
We appreciate your family service, and you're smarting with us.
This episode, Marvel Comics, was written by Adam Tex Davis and voiced by Adam Daredevil Davis and Jerry Colbert.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hawkeye Hahn.
Who Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Cobra Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Scarlet Witch Suarez.
