Marvel Comics Presents #165

A lot of stuff is happening in this issue. 

Things get metaphysical with the Man-Thing story when the character arrives at a desolate chateau called The Writer's Mansion. By some sort of magic, Ted Sallis has been separated from his mindless form. Now Sallis lives the life he was meant to enjoy while the Man-Thing entity wanders the corridors of the decrepit home running into characters that might have been created by the mysterious 'Writer'.

Vengeance has got his work cut out for him as both demon hunter Sam Buchanan and the energy-sucking mutant Psiphon work together to bring the latest Ghost Rider down!

In the one-and-done story, Mr. Fantastic is dickering around in the Negative Zone again when the crazed despot Blastaar seeks out revenge on Reed Richards for all the trouble he and the rest of the Fantastic Four has caused over the years. 

The Tigra story comes to an end and it takes a very dark turn. See, the reason all those people were kidnapped is that they were to become the harem of a really, really large sultan from some made up Middle Eastern nation. At least Tigra gets some sweet revenge on the scum bag. 

Another quality issue full of action and excitement.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #80

I'm a little annoyed. Not because of this issue. Instead, I'm peeved because last night I had written up this wonderful review for a good 30 minutes, only to have the entire thing lost because Blogger or my WiFi or both were temporarily disabled. I also discovered that other minor changes I had made to some other previous posts didn't save either. So, forgive me if I am just too mentally tired to do as great a job on this revision as I had on the first draft.

Barry Windsor Smith continues to fake out the readers by showing us another Weapon X escape and assault on his captors. Only this time, instead of this being all part of Logan's imagination, this is a simulation done by a virtual reality headset attached to Weapon X's head like a visored helmet. Needless to say, the professor in charge of the project is literally crapping bricks because with every kill Weapon X makes in this program, feedback seems to indicate that Logan really enjoys it.

The next story stars Captain America. But the title character, at least according to the editors is a brand new armored character named Wargod. This story has a great twist ending that I did not see coming a mile away.

Mister Fantastic challenges a troubled youth to better himself instead of wasting his time playing video games. Now if this story was done today, the kid could have made a very compelling case that there is money to be made in becoming a professional video game player. But in 1991-92, the award money for winning a video game competition was small potatoes. This was a good story. But it really was dated.

Lastly, Jo Duffy (Power Man and Iron Fist) returns with an 8-pager starring Misty Knight and Colleen Wing: The Daughters of the Dragon. I thoroughly enjoyed their appearance in issue #42. This detective style story was just as great as the first. Yet, it is beyond me why Marvel never had the insight to produce a Jo Duffy penned Daughters of the Dragon book as either a regular series or a mini. This was a major missed opportunity I think for the House of Ideas.

Even though I keep getting mixed-up and confused from the Weapon X story, this was a great issue. 3 fantastic one-and-done tales. A couple of which post some what if scenarios based on publishing choices and not the work of Oatu the Watcher.

Hmmmm... This wasn't a bad rewrite. Okay, I'm a little less ticked off now...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Fantastic Four Anniversary Tribute #1

Late 2021 marked the 60th anniversary of the debut of the Fantastic Four. The previews of this book listed dozens of amazing artists and inkers along with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Naturally, I thought that this tribute was going to be of dozens upon dozens of stories, one-pagers and pin-ups. And since Stan and Jack were listed, there might be some reprints or maybe some never-before-seen scripts and sketches. I was really excited. 

So on the New Comics Wednesday this book dropped, I sprinted over to my favorite LCS after work and bought me a copy. Then for some reason, I didn't read it until last night. And boy was I disappointed.

Instead of all new takes on the First Family of Marvel Comics, the abundance of art talent were each given a page from Fantastic Four #1 and Annual #3- the marriage issue between Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl. In other words we get the amazing stories written by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. But no Jack Kirby art! I don't know whether this is yet another kick in the nuts to the legacy of Jack the King from the House of Ideas or I got taken for $7! Maybe both!

I think if Marvel had went the extra mile to assign a team of writers to the rest of the art crew and have greats like Neil Gaiman, John Byrne and Alan Moore rewrite each page to reflect their style, I would have been okay with a retelling of those two classic comics. But to just remix the artwork is not at all what I expected or wanted in a tribute comic. 

Don't get me wrong. Seeing Adam Hughes, The Allreds and many, many more superstars put their thumbprint on the Fantastic Four's earliest, greatest hits was fun. I enjoyed attempting to guess who illustrated what and checking to see if I was right. But again, I felt like I was promised something I didn't get. 

A nice tribute that doesn't pay full homage to half of the creators of the FF. Thankfully, I didn't pay more than I did.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #13

This issue signifies the beginning of a 25-part epic starring Black Panther. 25 issues! That means that this story won't end until issue #38! 

Holy Cow! Most stories have been 6 or 7 parts in length. Yeah, that Man-Thing story was 12 parts long. But if you were composing a plot point graph, this story would surely be your outlier!

In the aptly titled 'Panther's Quest', T'Challa violates about a dozen UN treaties as he illegally enters South Africa. Only the King of Wakanda isn't in the nation to end apartheid. He's in town to investigate claims that his mother might still be alive and held captive in one of the countries' capital cities of Cape Town. If T'Challa can stay under the radar, this should be an easy mission. However, there's 24 more parts to this story. So of course, nothing is going to go easy on the Avenger.

Along side the Black Panther story, there's a fun one-shot starring Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. This adventure takes place during a time when the Richards have decided to go on sabbatical from the Fantastic Four. Living under aliases, the two heroes hope to raise their children in suburbia away from the likes of the Big Apple and the threats of Doctor Doom and The Mad Thinker. 

Feeling a little bored, Reed decides to work on the gutters of his new house. Things are going great. That is until the ladder falls, stranding him! With neighbors all around, Reed can't risk  using his powers; lest the Richards peaceful time in the outskirts will be over quick. 

You won't believe how Mr. Fantastic gets out of this pickle. And he sure as heck won't be living it down any time soon!

A great pair of stories. The latest chapter of Colossus' 'God's Country' was good. But the mom in the story seems to be having some sort of breakdown or something due to her past and it's just not being properly explored. The Shanna The She Devil one-and-done was forgettable. I keep getting her confused with Sheena... and Nyoka the Jungle Girl and countless other deepest darkest African queens of the jungle.

3 out of 4 ain't bad.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.