Collected for the first time, the secret agents in Marvel’s spy comics from the 1950s keep Cold War America safe from Red agents and saboteurs. Shortly after launching his men’s adventure line of comic books in 1949 (and just before he published his first war title), Atlas publisher Martin Goodman found, in the middle ground between crime and men’s adventure, the sneakier, conspiratorial sub-genre of spy comics. The first title was? Spy Cases ?(soon followed by? Spy Fighters ?and? Kent Blake of the Secret Service ) and the contents were Cold War noir stories, as Doug Grant, Secret Agent, protected America’s interests, fighting commies from behind the Iron Curtain. Led by superlative action/adventure artwork by Al Hartley (later Bill Savage) and supported by Atlas titans including Gene Colan, Bill Everett, Russ Heath, Jerry Robinson and Joe Maneely, America ferrets out sinister threats?in thrillers like: “The Traitor!,” “Discs of Death,” “Frame-Up in Red,” and “The Case of the Missing B-29!”? All spy comics had healthy runs and by 1952, the Korean War made its?presence felt in every adventure title. Patriotic, but also subtler, darker and more sinister than the familiar costumed hero titles, the spy genre is a little-seen aspect of Marvel’s deep history. Full-color illustrations throughout Eugene Jules Colan (1926-2011) illustrated many war comics for both Timely/Atlas and DC Comics. He flourished after Atlas became Marvel, with notable stints plotting and drawing on Daredevil and Captain America in the 1960s, before co-authoring Howard The Duck with Steve Gerber and Tomb of Dracula with Marv Wolfman. Russell Heath Jr. (1926–2018) was an American artist best known for his comic book work, particularly his DC Comics war stories and his 1960s art for Playboy magazine's "Little Annie Fanny" feature. Heath was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2009. Bill Everett  (1917-1973) was the foundational artist of Marvel Comics. He originated Namor, the Sub-Mariner as a freelance creation, before placing it in Marvel Comics #1 , the first publication from Timely Comics, later Atlas, then Marvel. Everett wrote and drew the early appearances of the character from 1940-42, and would periodically return to him during the post-war ‘40s, right up until the early 1970s. During Atlas’ heyday, Everett worked extensively on horror anthology shorts, including taking over the romance/fantasy series Venus and converting it to straight horror. After Marvel’s wholesale move to a superhero universe, Everett co-created the blind hero Daredevil with editor/scripter Stan Lee.