Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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What magnificent and life-changing wonders await us in the following publications?
Meanwhile, on Earth, Beta Ray Bill and Sif tackle a gang of criminals whose mysterious leader is none other than Titanium Man!
Fortunately, when his gang discover he's a communist - and not a good old-fashioned all-American patriotic capitalist thief like they are - they turn on him!
Only to discover she's actually a cunningly disguised Sue Richards, out to get revenge for every slight the rest of the team have ever committed against her.
And, as you can imagine, that's quite a few slights.
Especially in Reed's case.
All those years of haughtily declaring, "Silence, Sue!" had to come back to punish him at some point.
Can Spider-Man be coming into conflict with the Wasp over a labour dispute?
It sort of can when he investigates a brownstone that's been firebombed and it seems a business she's a director of is to blame.
Not only that but our hero comes to blows with Paladin over it, not knowing he's the Wasp's boyfriend.
But are they right in assuming she's the innocent party?
However, Cap's there to stop him.
And it turns out hes not a villain at all. He's been strong-armed into doing it by Dr Malus who's treating his sick wife and will cease that treatment if the Armadillo doesn't do what he wants him to.
Needless to say, the star-spangled sentimentalist isn't going to put up with that sort of unethical behaviour from a member of the medical profession and he marks Dr Malus' cards for him.
But, then, the Beyonder decides Captain America is so great that he's going to become him!
Apart from that, Captain Marvel's still in a far-flung galaxy and attempting to escape Nebula's space pirates who want her to attack a planet occupied by the Skrulls.
Needless to say, despite various death traps, and Italian cliches, our hero is ultimately triumphant.
Only for them to discover the other half of that map has been carved on the chest of a man called Delmurio.
Who're the good guys in this story, who're the bad guys and who's on whose side, are all things I'd struggle to tell you.
That's a very generic cover by John Byrne. I'm going to assume it was drawn before anyone knew what was going to be in the issue.
Regardless, this book contains major trouble for both Shellheads.
Not only does Rhodey have to battle the Beyonder-created Thundersword, Tony Stark has a new crisis on his hands when Bethany Cabe reappears - only to be kidnapped while she's on the phone to him!
Maybe it's me but I'm convinced this is the 85th time she's been kidnapped while on the phone to him. Why they let her anywhere near phones is beyond me.
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14 comments:
Armadillos are now found in Indiana!
As per usual, only DD & Thor for me.
Though I would have bought New Mutants as well. A probably a couple of other things this month that I’m relying on Sean to list below.
Certainly Swamp Thing 39, with Alan Moore channeling Stephen King.
The DD is another ‘good art, dull story’ one. A fair few of those coming up, but hey - can’t complain really with Mazzucchelli building steam.
I quite like that X-Men cover. It’s got a bit of character.
*and probably, not ‘A probably’.
Only book amongst these that I had was Fantastic Four. And I was pretty impressed with it, as with most of Byrne's run. Particularly, it was nice to see Sue's powers given some attention and respect. Sort of the beginning of Sue moving into a more confident, participatory role; although she did display some attitude issues for a bit (largely due to Psycho Man's influence). Pretty scary how easily she was able to dispatch the other members of the team...
Personally, I'd been disenchanted with Byrne's FF run since around the time of those issues set in the Negative Zone. He had actually turned Sue into an interesting character, which for me - sorry Redartz - made the Malice two-parter particularly disappointing. At least the way I remember it.
No-one in the FF recognizes Sue, and when they finally do Reed sorts her out with a good slap...? *slow hand clap for John Byrne*
I like the AMS cover drawing, but 'When Cometh... The Commuter!' doesn't really seize the imagination. Not mine anyway.
-sean
Matthew, if I had to guess what other comic you might have been most interested in this month forty years ago... how about Miracleman #1? By Garry Leach and Ala.. er, the Original Writer.
Maybe American Flagg #23, with the Alan Moore back up?
Other than that... dunno. Some lovers of purple prose in comics might also have read Sabre #14 by Dauntless Don McGregor. Which had actually improved a bit with Jose Ortiz drawing it, but alas there obviously weren't enough takers as it was the final issue.
Jack Kirby and Alex Toth drew DC Presents #84. Not together - eh, what would that be like? - but different parts of it. Perhaps unsurprisingly at this point, neither did exactly their best ever work.
But for the sentimental, it's Kirby on the Challengers of the Unknown, and finally getting to do Superman without some editorial eejit having the head redrawn.
-sean
RIP Ray Brooks, known to UK readers as the narrator of Mr Benn.
Do you know, I was only vaguely aware that MM was being reprinted. I definitely didn't buy any of the issues until it picked up again halfway through Book 2.
And there was a weird lapse where for some reason [well, all the distractions of being 16 are probably the reason] I thought it had stopped, and it was only a passing mention in an NME article in 1989 that prompted me to rush out and grab what I could of Book 3.
American Flagg I didn't get into 'til the 90s, shamefully. Picked up that back issue in 2002, maybe?
I can see why someone wouldn't have bothered with Miracleman til it got to the new stuff, Matthew. At which point... yay Chuck Beckum, right?
At least things got better with book 3.
Any teenage reading lapses wouldn't have been helped by a somewhat erratic publication schedule.
Have the Moore back-ups from Flagg ever been reprinted? They must be the least known of his 80s work. I guess that's inevitable, as they're not super-hero stories, and the artwork isn't very appealing... but they're actually pretty good, and you'd think there'd be a market for them.
-sean
I guess with those Flagg back-ups, it's a matter of creators rights and the amount of time that's passed.
Also, Flagg still doesn't seem to get the credit it deserves nowadays. There was a reprint of 1-14 about a 15 years ago that didn't exactly fly off the shelves. I was able to get a signed hardcover edition a couple of years after the fact for peanuts. Image apparently never followed up to take the run to completion.
I still have the original issues I picked up 20 years ago - again, for peanuts - boxed up in the loft. I can't remember anything about them. Might dig them out.
Look out Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd!!! Python hunters in Florida are using robotic bunnies to lure out pythons!!! Don’t be seduced BUGS!!!
I kinda hated the “Evil Sue” storyline in FF. Not a big fan of Byrne’s FF run in general. But I do like the Iron Man cover that Steve posted up yonder :)
I don’t remember getting any of these other Marvels. Maybe the DD but I have no memory of him being in Venice, so probably not.
Other comics I bought that month: AMERICAN FLAGG, ALIEN ENCOUNTERS, EPIC ILLUSTRATED, MR. MONSTER, SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING, MIRACLEMAN (I collected the whole Eclipse run), and the DEADMAN and CAPTAIN MARVEL Baxter reprint books.
b.t.
Charlie - A Beatles post/discussion:
https://kidr77.blogspot.com/2025/08/in-town-where-i-was-born.html
DW - An Essex post/discussion:
https://hauntedgeneration.co.uk/
Phillip
It's been a long time since I read that comic, but I believe the criminal did not use that name. The plot involved Spider-Man following a bad sort into the suburbs, rather than around NYC. He then had to deal with the loss of NYC infrastructure when trailing the guy (e.g., no tall buildings from which to swing, etc.). I remember it as amusing, but I would have to delve deep into the longboxes to see if it holds up.
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