Marvel Super-Heroes 1967 #20 - 6.0 - $150.00

• First app: Valeria, love interest of teen Doom

Diablo holds Valeria hostage and tries to force Dr. Doom into becoming his partner. Origin of Dr. Doom retold.

Namor encounters fire for the first time while exploring Admiral Byrd?s abandoned Antarctic settlement ?Little America? with Namora and Byrrah. While investigating one of the huts, Namora inadvertently knocks over a can of kerosene, sparking an explosion that engulfs the hut in flame. Byrrah flees, but Namor rushes into the blaze to rescue his cousin.

Jim Hammond, the Human Torch, returns to action after four years by capturing Crime Boss and his henchmen, turning them over to Chief Wilson at the police department. He told Wilson he was buried by Crime Boss and four years later was able to escape to bring him to justice. Hammond flies to Korea and extracts his partner Toro, who'd been brain-washed by the Communists. Wilson's daughter Mary is captured by The Butcher, an associate of Crime Boss, and Hammond flies off to exchange himself for Mary. Hammond is saved by a now cured Toro, Mary is saved and The Butcher apparently killed.

At Lee School in New York, Professor Steve Rogers is explaining the role of Captain America during World War II. After class some students scoff at the idea of Captain America and fellow student Bucky Barnes tries to set them straight. Steve takes a drive with Bucky to get supplies but hears on the radio that the Red Skull and his crime syndicate henchmen have taken hostages at the United Nations. They quickly change into their Captain America and Bucky outfits and crash through a window at the U.N., quickly subduing an astonished Red Skull, who believed him dead.

Near an island in the South Seas, cargo ships are being sunk and their contents emptied. Upon a request from Admiral Saybrook, the Sub-Mariner agrees to look into it. Heading to the island with his previous romantic interest, Betty Dean, they discover a force of intelligent robots from Venus have been raiding the ships, preparatory to an invasion of Earth. Namor makes short work of the robots and they return to Venus, minus their leader, who is brought back to the U.S. by Namor. The captured robot notwithstanding, the U.S. officials don't believe Namor's story.

On-sale date from the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Periodicals, 1969, Copyright Office, Library of Congress.

• - Original indexer credited Frank Giacoia as cover co-penciler.
• This Man... This Demon! - According to Roy Thomas, Larry Lieber plotted, (likely) dialogued and penciled approximately the first half of the story when he had to bow out. Roy plotted and wrote the second half, with Frank Giacoia penciling. It appears that Lieber wrote and drew pages 1-11; with Thomas scripting and Giacoia penciling pages 12-24. Info per Nick Caputo, March 2013.
• The Sub-Mariner Meets a New Enemy.... Fire! - Little America was a real-life exploration base. It consisted of Little America I (1929-30) and Little America II (1934-35) and was indeed abandoned at the time of this story.
• The Return of... the Human Torch - Previous appearance of the Human Torch was in Marvel Mystery Comics #92 (June 1949).
• Back from the Dead! - Previous appearance of Captain America was in Captain America's Weird Tales (Marvel, 1949 series) #74 (October 1949). In retroactive continuity, this is the first appearance of the 1950s Captain America (William Burnside), Bucky (Jack Monroe), and Red Skull (Albert Malik). Reference: Captain America (Marvel, 1968 series) #155 (November 1972).
• The Sub-Mariner Returns - Previous appearance of Sub-Mariner was in Marvel Mystery Comics #92 (June 1949).
• Who Is... Starhawk? - House ad for next issue showcases the introduction of the original Starhawk (Mark Wilde). However, beginning with issue #21, Marvel Super-Heroes reverts back to an all-reprint format and the Starhawk story does not appear.