In the 1940s and 50s, young comics readers could join publisher-run fan clubs that provided membership cards and secret codes from their favorite superhero characters. Last week, Nothing But Comics! cracked the secret code of superhero the Green Lama. This week, we crack the secret code of British superhero Marvelman and decode the secret messages printed in early comics issues that featured the character.
The Marvelman character was created to replace the American superhero Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel’s publisher Fawcett Publications stopped printing the character’s adventures in 1953 due to declining sales and expensive legal fees from an ongoing legal battle with DC Comics, which alleged that Captain Marvel infringed upon DC’s copyright on the Superman character. British publisher Len Miller had the license to reprint Captain Marvel comics in the United Kingdom, and – facing a discontinuation of the profitable superhero character – hired artist Mick Anglo to re-design Captain Marvel as “Marvelman”; the character debuted in Marvelman #25 (cover dated February 3, 1954). Like Captain Marvel, Marvelman invited young readers to join his fan club in order to receive exclusive membership cards and secret codes.
Noticing the coded messages in facsimile copies of early Marvelman issues, Nothing But Comics! was curious about what secrets these messages might reveal when decoded. Since joining the defunct Marvelman Club was impossible, and an Internet search produced no information about the cipher used by the Marvelman Club, we set out to crack the code.
Last week, using trial and error, we discovered that superhero the Green Lama used a “Caesar cipher” (a substitution cipher in which the letters of a message are replaced by other letters of the alphabet that are a fixed position down the alphabet). We had a hunch that Marvelman’s secret code might also use a Caesar cipher, and began the decryption process by testing this theory.
A code that uses a Caesar cipher is easy to crack. Because the cipher shifts letters of the alphabet, in English there are only 25 possible variations of the cipher that can be used. If our assumption that the Marvelman code used a Caesar cipher was correct, we could crack the code by testing the different variations of the cipher to see if one of the variations produced a discernible message.
Using a Caesar cipher decoder on the puzzle site Braingle, Nothing But Comics! inputted the secret messages printed in early Marvelman comics and adjusted the cipher key (that is, the number of letters to shift in the cipher) to see if a message could be discerned. We discovered that Marvelman’s secret code did use a Caesar cipher – the cipher shifted the message letters by 17 letters, so that the cipher text letter “R” coded the plain text letter “A“, cipher text letter “S” coded the plain text letter “B“, and so on.
Using this cipher, the complete Marvelman secret code key is listed below:
What coded messages did the Marvelman Club send to its members? In both Marvelman #27 (February 17, 1954) and Marvelman #28 (February 24, 1954), the same coded message is printed:
This message decodes as: “IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, SEND FOC YOUR MARVELMAN CLUB CARD AND BADGE – IT IS IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE YOUR FULL NAME AND ADDRESS AS WELL AS YOUR MEMBERSHIP NUMBER, AND DATE FOR BIRTH.”
[Editor’s Note: The typographical errors contained in the Marvelman secret messages, like “FOC” rather than “FOR” (see above), were decoded as originally printed.]
The message is intended to recruit new members to the club. However, the effect of this coded message is unclear, as young readers who were not already members of the club might have had a difficult time decoding the secret message.
In Marvelman #29 (March 3, 1954), the coded message teases the upcoming appearance of Marvelman foe the Abominable Snowman: “NEXT WEEK YOU WILL MEET ONE OF MARVELMANS STRANGEST OPPONENTS, WHO ORIGINATES FROM THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. DO NOT MISS THIS THRILLING STORY.”
The coded message in Marvelman #30 (March 10, 1954) also teases an upcoming adventure: “WHAT POSSIBLE HARM COULD THERE BE IN A SIMPLE GAME OF TABLE TENNIS. NONE YOU WOULD IMAGINE, BUT YOU WILL FIND OUR HERO HAS TO USE ALL HIS POWERS TO STOP A TOURNAMENT IN NEXT WEEKS COMIC.”
The coded messages in the next three issues are educational.
In Marvelman #31 (March 17, 1954), club members learn about an “ugly” and “dangerous” African baboon: “THE DRILL IS AN UGLY WEST AFRICAN BABOON WITH STRONG LIMBS. HE IS AS LARGE AS A MASTIFF AND HAS A SAVAGE NATURE WHICH MAKES HIM EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.”
In Marvelman #32 (March 24, 1954), the coded message reveals details about an animal in Madagascar: “IN MADAGASCAR THERE IS AN ANIMAL CALLED THE FOUSSA. HE RESEMBLES A SLIMLY-BUILT CAT WITH A LONG TAIL AND REDDISH-FAWN FUR. ”
In Marvelman #33 (March 31, 1954), readers are warned about the dangers of the wild cats of the European continent: “DID YOU KNOW THAT NOT ALL CATS ARE DOMESTICATED. IN THE WOODLANDS OF EUROPE A WILD CAT LIVES IT IS VERY FIERCE AND PREYS ON SMALL MAMMALS. ”
The coded message in Marvelman #34 (April 7, 1954) breaks from this pattern of educational messages and instead teases an alien invasion: “WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE EARTH IS ATTACKED FROM MARS. READ ALL ABOUT IT IN NEXT WEEKS THRILLING MARVELMAN STORY ENTITLED, MARVELMAN AND THE EARTH EXILE.”
Marvelman is perhaps better known to modern audiences as “Miracleman,” and for writer Alan Moore’s use of the character in a sophisticated, groundbreaking deconstruction of the superhero genre that he wrote the 1980s. But in the 1950s, Marvelman entertained young readers with coded messages that teased upcoming adventures and offered educational tidbits.
If you would like to practice your cryptography skills, below is a coded message; feel free to leave a coded response in the comments:
YRGGP EVN PVRI!
Note: The secret codes and covers for the Marvelman series were found in the Marvel Comics collection Marvelman Classic Volume 1.
The images above are the property of their respective owner(s), and are presented for educational purposes only under the fair use doctrine of the copyright laws of the United States of America.
Nothing But Comics 
Thanks Reed, because of your article I learned what a Fossa is!!!!
Well, I, too, learned about the fossa, as well as the drill, from Marvelman! It seems that joining the Marvelman Club in the 1950s was a good investment in your education. 🙂
Seriously, I find it funny as if they knew what they were putting in those secret codes at first and then just started making it up as they went along afterwards.
So do I assume that Marvelman’s skeleton in the closet is that he’s secretly a ginger that dyes his hair blonde?
Ha! Yes. there seems to be some inconsistency in the hair color on those covers. huh?
R BQXDCNM ‘TRVXCJ’ – WXCQRWP QJYYNWNM
BXAAH – CAH BQJIJV