First Issues and First Appearances!

Who started, and when?  Here's a chronology of first issues and first appearances of our favorite heroes ... and villains!  If you can't work out why a particular cover is included here, hold your mouse cursor over the cover for an explanation!
The one that started it all - cover by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers
Fantastic Four
# 1
Nov 1961
The first appearance of Henry Pym, (later to become Ant-Man, then Giant-Man)
Tales to Astonish
# 27
Jan 1962
The FF's first appearance in costume
Fantastic Four
# 3
Mar 1962
The first appearance of The Hulk, and also Rick Jones
The Hulk
# 1
May 1962
The first Silver-Age appearance of the Sub-Mariner ...this was also the first time 'The World's Greatest Comic Magazine' was used above the main title
Fantastic Four
# 4
May 1962
The debut of ... Dr. Doom!
Fantastic Four
# 5
Jul 1962
The first appearance of a rather undernourished-looking God of Thunder
Journey / Mystery
# 83
Aug 1962
The first appearance of everyone's favorite wall-crawler
Amazing Fantasy
# 15
Aug 1962
The first appearance of Hank Pym in costume as Ant-Man (later to become Giant-Man)
Tales to Astonish
# 35
Sep 1962
The FF's Torch gets his own strip
Strange Tales
# 101
Oct 1962
Stan and Jack make their debut on an FF cover!
Fantastic Four
# 10
Jan 1963
The wall-crawler's first issue, and his first meeting with the FF
Spider-Man
# 1
Mar 1963
Shellhead's first appearance
Tales of Suspense
# 39
Mar 1963
The first appearance of that corner box we came to know so well!
Journey / Mystery
# 91
Apr 1963
The first appearance of Nick Fury and his Howlers
Sgt Fury
# 1
May 1963
The first appearance of The Wonderful Wasp!
Tales to Astonish
# 44
Jun 1963
You wouldn't know it by the cover, but this issue featured the first appearance of Dr. Strange
Strange Tales
# 110
Jul 1963
The first outing for the Avengers
Avengers
# 1
Sep 1963
The first appearance of Marvel's teenage mutants
X-Men
# 1
Sep 1963
If you look closely at the bottom left corner of this cover, you'll see this issue contains the first Tales of Asgard story
Journey / Mystery
# 97
Oct 1963
The first Silver-Age appearance of Captain America - pity he was an impostor (it's obvious - he's wearing the wrong colored shorts!)
Strange Tales
# 114
Nov 1963
No more Ant-Man, meet Giant-Man!
Tales to Astonish
# 49
Nov 1963
Iron Man's first appearance in his red-and-yellow armor
Tales of Suspense
# 48
Dec 1963
This issue marked the debut of 'Tales of the Watcher' and was also the first appearance of any of the X-Men outside their own title
Tales of Suspense
# 49
Jan 1964
After eight issues, Dr. Strange finally made it to the cover for the first time - well, part of the cover, anyway...
Strange Tales
# 118
Mar 1964
OK, this was Captain America's REAL Silver Age debut
Avengers
# 4
Mar 1964
Hornhead's first appearance
Daredevil
# 1
Apr 1964
The first appearance of the Green Goblin
Spider-Man
# 14
Jul 1964
The Hulk joins Giant-Man in Tales to Astonish
Tales to Astonish
# 59
Sep 1964
Captain America joins Iron Man in Tales of Suspense
Tales of Suspense
# 58
Oct 1964

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and this index is intended as a reference work only.