Prior to 1961 the name Marvel Comics had been used on and off since the 1930s as a publisher of pulp fantasy. The first Marvel Comic, shown here on the right, was published in October 1939. It featured two brand new heroes the Human Torch, the inspiration for a later incarnation of the same name in the form of Fantastic Four member Johnny Storm, and the Submariner still active in the oceans of the world today. The 1940s saw the beginnings of many Heroes that are still with us today in the Marvel Universe. Heroes such as the Submariner, Captain America and the original human torch fought side by side against the nazis during the Second World War. Captain America first appeared in March 1941 The star spangled Avenger and his teenage sidekick Bucky Barnes were an instant hit and proved a popular read by young men at the battle front as well as the soon to be young soldiers back home. The first issues cover, pictured on the right, showed the brave Captain confronting Adolph Hitler himself and administering a well deserved punch in the face to quell his 'cowardly' foe. Issue five was a milestone in comics history as it was the first published comic to be scripted by Stan Lee, who soon went on to become editor. The Marvel titled comics of this time were published by under the Timely Comics banner and went to the news stand alongside Timely's range of Funny Comics including titles such as Silly Tunes, Crazy Capers and Mighty Mouse. The comics market boomed during the war years and in the late forties Timely hit on a new audience and started to produce a range of comics for girls with such titles as Millie the Model, Nellie the Nurse and in 1948 published three female superhero comics Namora, Sun Girl and Venus. 1948 also saw Timely diversifying into the Crime and Western genre with cowboy heroes like Kid Colt and the Two Gun Kid and sporadically using a Marvel Comic logo on many of their issues. At the end of the 1940s the publics appetite for heroes was in decline and many titles including Submariner and Captain America were axed in favour of the more popular themes.