Who was the first marvel comic character?

Marvel Comics took over a collection of properties as it came about in the late 1950s and 1960s. The first two MARVEL comics published as superhero books were the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man.... in that order in 1961 and 1962. However, the company that would become Marvel Comics created the Human Torch (Android) in 1940, along with Captain America (1940) and the Sub-Mariner (1940). Joe Simon and Jack Kirby co-created Captain America for Timely comics... but the Human Torch predates the other two by a matter of weeks. Most comic historians will cite these three characters as the "first" marvel characters. At various times (1950s) & (1960s) all three were revived, with minor changes in origin, powers, situation, etc.