The 1975 Mighty Marvel Calendar: 2025 Reissue

I know that this might sound odd but I spent the better part of an hour last night reading a calendar. The 1975 Mighty Marvel Calendar to be exact. Well, it was also the 2025 calendar, facsimile mind you, in which the dates for last year just happened to coincide with the dates for 1975. Now that I think about it, the calendar was maybe 99 and ⅜ facsimile as there was no such thing as Martin Luther King Birthday yet and I highly doubt that the original edition of this calendar listed things like Diwali or Juneteenth. 

I had seen images of this fabled calendar for years, no decades. Along with an annual posting on various comic book groups on social media (typically with each coming new year), I remember seeing ads for this in the pages of Marvel back issues from 1974 and wishing I could have had one. December of 2024, I finally got my wish.

Apparently, holding onto calendars to reuse later on down the road is a thing. A local radio morning show I listen to has talked for years about this as they have a colleague who will use an old calendar for a current year. This guy notes 'that the dates lineup.' He's got about a dozen calendars that he recycles and seems to haven't bought a new one since the mid-90s. One of the DJs thinks its rather brilliant. The other says that this guy is 'sticking it to big calendar.' I'm hoping the trend continues for at least one more year.

I received the 2026 calendar, which reprints the 1976 edition in all it's patriotic glory. Plus a day, actually. 2026 is a leap year while our nation's bicentennial was not. (The '76 calendar has an overall patriotic theme.) Anyways, I really hope this trend of reprinting all of the  Mighty Marvel Calendars continues because the next one would be a reprint of 1977 and that's the year I was born! Selfishly, I kinda hope DC jumps on the bandwagon, because I really want a copy of their 1977 edition, which was Super-Heroes' vs Villains themed.

So why did I spend a night that I could have been reading comic books reading a calendar that is essentially 50 years old? 51, now as of yesterday. It's because of all the snarky little things that are peppered throughout the whole thing. Along with important moments in Marvel Comics history like when the first issue of Amazing Spider-Man debuted, there's a celebration of writers and artists from the Marvel bullpen and their birthdays as well as 'humorous' reminders of what you might see written on a superhero or villain's day planner. All done in the Mighty Marvel Manner; which means they're self-deprecating and full of dad jokes. And I loved all of it.

There's also some fantastic artwork. John Buscema, Barry Windsor Smith, and John Romita, Sr contribute some masterpieces. Too bad that not all of the months give attribute to the artist. Man, does Barry Smith have a killer signature! 

I'm torn as to whether dismantle this in order to decorate my office or if I should hold onto this until 2031, the next year that this calendar can be reused accordingly.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Thor #38 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The Destroyer roams the Earth once again!

Loki, along with Karnilla, have decided to have a little bit of fun. They've removed the soul of the Asgardian ally Tarene and placed her essence into the armor of the Destroyer. Try as she might, Tarene is unable to control the destructive rage of the Destroyer. 

Sensing something is wrong, Thor approaches the Manhattan mayhem with caution. This results in the thunder god losing control of his trusty hammer Mjolnir to the Destroyer, making the creation of Odin even more indestructible! As 60 seconds count down, Thor reverts back into his moral form of EMT Jake Olson?!

When Thor first appeared in the pages of 1962's Journey Into Mystery #86, Thor's mortal secret identity was that of crippled doctor Donald Blake. Odin had placed Thor into the broken shell of a healer in order to teach his arrogant son a little humility. Years later, Thor Odinson becomes fused with the mortal body of architect Eric Masterson. After a brief time in exile, Thor seeks to take a leave of absence from his heroic responsibilities and entrusts Masterson to wield his hammer in the thunder god's stead.

When it comes to EMT Jake Olson, things mirror the complex relationship of Batman and gangster Matches Malone. With Matches Malone, only Batman knows that the criminal is really dead. So the Dark Knight masquerades as Malone when he needs to infiltrate the criminal element for information and clues. In the pages of Thor, Jake Olson is killed in an explosion in which only a couple of close friends know. Needing a new identity to hide from the Dark Gods, Thor takes on the fallen man's identity with help of Marnot, one of Odin's trusty ravens. 

Dan Jurgens pens this 2001 issue. Underneath the battle of Thor and the Destroyer, Odin is faced with a difficult choice. If the ruler of Asgard allows the Destroyer to kill Thor, a prophesied golden age of peace for the entire universe will be ushered in by the Designate Tarene. If Odin interferes and gives Thor the victory, a future in which the Odinson becomes a despotic ruler will become Thor's destiny. 

Stuart Immonen was the penciler and inks were done by Scott Koblish. 

The cover was by Barry Windsor Smith. It's a stunning image of Thor's hammer creating a diamond-patterned rainbow. It looks like the colors are wrong. But if you start with the center image of power, radiating an intense yellow hue and then work your way out, the viewer will notice that the colors follow ROY G. BIV correctly recycling back when the palette goes from indigo to red again. An absolutely keen eye to detail here!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #30 (A Thor Story) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Marvel Comics Presents #84

The Weapon X origin story comes to an end with this issue. I just don't understand why this story is so beloved. It's got to be just the association with Wolverine. He remains to this day a popular character.

Don't get me wrong. The story is one of those guilty pleasure type things because of the level of death and destruction. But all that gore takes place in a VR simulation. I can't quite put on how this story got approved by the Comics Code Authority. It had to be the use of a simulation to get this thing by the censors.

There's only 1 other segment in this issue. Part 3 of the Firestar story has the mutant risking her personal freedom to safe her father. On one side is the White Queen, Emma Frost. On the other, Freedom Force. One looks to enslave Firestar as part of their evil cadre. The other is under orders from the American government to bring the teen hero in by any means necessary.

3 chapters of the Weapon X story. 1 chapter about Firestar. I'm glad that MCP doesn't deviate too often from the 4 8-page segment formula. It just doesn't work when Marvel strays from this and this issue is proof of that.

Sorry, Barry Windsor-Smith. I'm just not a fan.

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #81

Weapon X's slaughter of his captors continues. But this time, I know that it's all an experiment done by a virtual reality simulator attached to his noggin! You can fool me twice, Marvel and Barry Windsor Smith! But not thrice!

The Wargod story starring Captain America was great. Too bad the twist was spoiled in the last issue. Also, too bad that they didn't mark that last issue with a 'To Be Continued.' I really thought this was a one-and-done story. (Okay- maybe I did get fooled thrice!)

The one-shot stories are amazing. The Scott Lang Ant-Man story proves just how good a character Scott Lang is! It got Lang pulled in 3 directions- struggling ex-con, single dad and super hero. Classic Marvel-type story. I loved it.

Then Daredevil takes on slum lords. When an elderly woman refuses to leave her tenement, the landlord hires some thugs to evict. The finale is thrilling and falls into that supernatural mystique of how Matt Murdock's costume plays on the fears of villains and even the elect!

I love it when superheroes take on your standard thug. It helps make them seem more real to me than battling your Red Skull, Doctor Doom or mere Batroc the Leaper. Probably my favorite segment of the book. But even with the Weapon X ruse, I really enjoyed this issue!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #72

Because of the cover subject matter, this is the most valuable and in-demand issue of the entire series. Price guides list a cover price of anywhere from $25-35 for a near mint cover. How I got this for just 32 cents is beyond me. 

Issue #72 presents the much requested Weapon X origin story of Wolverine. Not his origin story as it had been earlier revealed that Wolverine was way older than he looked and that he was not born with adamantium bones; this issue reveals how Logan got his metal infusion.

As for the first chapter, it starts off great. Then things go from your normal storytelling to the notes of an unknown professor who is tasked with putting Logan through a hellish amount of tests. Instead of straight-to-the-point record keeping, we get a bunch of supposition, cliches and flowing imagery. It's like this researcher is a doctor of literature not biology and genetics. 

The whole thing is the single work of Barry Windsor Smith (Machine Man). The art. The writing. The inking. Even most of the lettering. I like Smith's work. His art is great. But I don't like how he writes for the narrator. I just don't buy it that a ruthless medical researcher would be using his lab notes to write the next great American novel. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.