Angel (Timely Comics)

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caption=Story splash from "Sub-Mariner Comics" #1
Art by Paul Gustavson
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name= The Angel
real_name= Thomas Halloway
publisher= Timely Comics (Marvel Comics)
debut= "Marvel Comics #1" (Oct. 1939)
creators= Paul Gustavson
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
alliances=V-Battalion
aliases=
powers= Flight|

The Angel (Thomas Halloway) is a fictional superhero in the Marvel Comics universe, created by writer-artist Paul Gustavson during what comics fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. He first appeared in "Marvel Comics #1" (Oct. 1939), the first publication of Marvel predecessor Timely Comics.

The Angel, like Batman, is a non-superpowered detective who nonetheless wore a superhero costume. Gustavson cited Leslie Charteris' pulp-novel detective, Simon Templar, the "Saint," as a model for the Angel.Fact|date=February 2007

Publication history

The Angel was the next-most-popular Timely character after the "big three" of the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner and Captain America, with more than 100 Golden Age appearances — starting in that initial Marvel title (which changed its name to "Marvel Mystery Comics" with issue #2), up through #79 (Dec. 1946); as the sole backup feature in "Sub-Mariner Comics" #1-21 (Spring 1941 - Fall 1946); and in occasional appearances in "Mystic Comics" and "Daring Comics".

A simulacrum of the Angel was temporarily created from the mind of Rick Jones, along with those of the Blazing Skull, the Fin, the Patriot, and the Golden Age Vision, to aid the superhero team the Avengers during the Kree-Skrull War, in "The Avengers" vol. 1, #97 (March 1972).

Fictional character biography

A costumed detective with no superpowers, the Angel is among the few such heroes to wear no mask, and in his Golden Age appearances makes no effort to conceal his identity as independently wealthy Thomas Halloway, a former surgeon. He later acquires the "mystic cape of Mercury" [Marvel Mystery Comics vol. 1 #11] , which allows him to fly, but he has used this ability only occasionally, as on his campaign against the foreign spy Cat's Paw. ["Marvel Mystery Comics" #20 (June 1941)]

The Angel was already active by the time of the first Human Torch and Sub-Mariner adventures, ["Marvel Comics" #1] and active as far back as 1936. ["Daredevil" Vol. 2, #66] He fights alongside Namor against World War II "Nazombies", ["The Human Torch" #5 [a] (Summer 1941)] and was later retconned as a member of both the All-Winners Squad and the V-Battalion during the war. ["Citizen V & the V-Battalion: The Everlasting" #1 (March 2002)]

Holloway remains active as an older character who was revealed as the primary force behind the murderous vigilante group Scourges of the Underworld,"USAgent" vol. 1, #3 (Aug. 1993)] which has assassinated a large number of lesser supervillains and archcriminals. To escape USAgent, he fakes his own death."USAgent" vol. 1, #4 (Sept. 1993)]

Angel (Simon Halloway)

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caption=
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Angel
real_name=Simon Halloway
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Captain America" #442
(modern age)
creators=
alliance_color=background:#cccccc
alliances=
previous_alliances=
aliases=
powers=|

Due to continuity differences between Tom's appearance and a previous set of appearances, his brother has been retconned as one of two men who had assumed the identity of the Angel and substituted for his brother on numerous occasions including fighting Stinger. In modern times, he was living as a homeless man in and beneath Manhattan, where he was ambushed and murdered by the supervillain ZeitgeistComic book reference | Writer = Mark Gruenwald | Penciller = Dave Hoover & Sandu Florea | Inker = Dan Bulanadi | Story = Broad Stripes And White Stars | Title = Captain America, volume 1 | Issue = 442 | Date = August 1995 | Publisher = Marvel Comics | ] . He has also appeared in "The Incredible Hulk" vol. 2, #432-433 (Aug.-Sept. 1995) and in "Marvel Super-Heroes" vol. 3, #7 (Oct. 1991). It is unknown what occurred between the brothers and why Tom's brother ended up homeless.

Bibliography

Golden Age

*"All-Winners Comics" #1 (Summer 1941)
*"The Human Torch" #5 [a] (Summer 1941)
*"Marvel Comics" #1 (Oct. 1939)
*"Marvel Mystery Comics" #2-79 (Dec. 1939 - Dec. 1946)
*"Sub-Mariner" vol. 1, #1-21 (Spring 1941 - Fall 1946)
*"Mystic Comics" vol. 2, #1-3 (Oct.-Winter 1944)
*"Daring Comics" #10 (Winter 1944-45)

Modern Age

*"Captain America" vol. 1, #442
*"Citizen V & the V Battalion: The Everlasting" #1-2 (March-May 2002)
*"Marvel Knights Spider-Man" #9
*"Marvels" #1
*"Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Golden Age"
*"USAgent" #1-4 (June-Sept. 1993)

Reprints

*"Marvel Masterworks: The Golden Age Human Torch (Marvel, 2005)::"Blitzkrieg of the Living Dead", generally but unconfirmably credited to Bill Everett: "The Human Torch" #5 [a] (Summer 1941)
* "Marvel Mystery Comics" #1 (Dec. 1999)::"And the Case of the Armless Tiger Man", by Paul Gustavson and Allen Bellman: "Marvel Mystery Comics" #26 (Dec. 1941)
* "The Golden Age of Marvel Comics" (Marvel, 1997) ISBN 0-7851-0564-6::"Quarantine for Murder", by Ron Garn and Gustav "Gus" Schrotter: "Marvel Mystery Comics" #42 (April 1943)

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/g/gaangel.htm The Angel]
* [http://www.comicboards.com/marvelguide Marvel Guide: An Unofficial Handbook of the Marvel Universe]
* [http://www.chivian.com/chivian/SubMariner.shtml JC's Comic Collection Page: Sub-Mariner]

External links

*http://www.marvel.com/universe/Angel_%28Thomas_Halloway%29