Marvel Ghost Stories

A celebration of nearly 40 years of Marvel inspired ghostly tales. This slightly larger than digest sized trade paper back features stories with the Silver Surfer, the West Coast Avengers, Damon Hellstrom, and many more.

My favorite tale was taken from an issue of Marvel's 1970s combat series War is Hell. The series' first non-reprint tale was from issue #9. It introduces us to John Kowalski, a former Marine ex-pat forced to live in 1930s Poland after being dishonorably discharged. Cursed by a member of the Polish resistance for not warning the American government of the Nazi invasion of Poland, Kowlaski is forced to wander the world as a specter to save others from the spoils of war. His first mission is to wrestle the life of a young girl from the literal grasp of the grim reaper. 

Fans of Ghost Rider get to encounter another character from the ill-fated War is Hell. The ghost of the World War I ace, the Phantom Eagle seeks revenge on the German general who killed him in combat.

There's a Halloween set story with Captain America summoned to the estate of the Red Skull. Set during one of several time periods when the Skull is dead, Cap encounters a variety of ghosts, both bad and evil in a holiday tale that morphs into All Saint's Day when the clock strikes midnight. 

My least favorite stories were the most modern tales. Both stars Damon Hellstrom, the son of Satan, who is just too demonic for my comfort. The West Coast Avengers story wouldn't have been so bad except for the prominent use of a pentagram and the revelation that the character of Mockingbird was drugged and raped by one of the incarnations of the Old West superhero, the Phantom Rider. That's really strong stuff for 1990s era Marvel.

The final story, which was taken from Hellstrom's short-lived series from the early 90s, was a great Exorcist kinda tale, if you like that kind of thing. I personally do not. 

I found this book for sale at a local coffee shop. You might be wondering why after hating the Hellstrom stuff did I buy this book. I think I was more enticed by the $5 price tag that I avoided noticing the big evil image of Hellstrom in his devilish garb. I should have paid more attention and I really do regret being impulsive and allowing myself to be open to such creepy material. The Silver Surfer two-parter starring Mephisto was also a read I did not favor.

This isn't a book I will keep. Nor is it a book I can resell. That's because of the really poor adhesive Marvel used for the cover. My copy's soft cover is barely hanging on to a thin strip of glue. If you happen to be at the Hillsborough Walmart recycling center on Monday, check out the free book shelf. My copy might still be there waiting for you...

Lastly, I want to implore Marvel to seriously consider producing a collection of the John Kolwalski stories. I really enjoyed that story and I much would have rather owned a copy of that book that doesn't exist than this collection. As for the Captain America Halloween story, I'll place it on my holiday wish list since I am not holding on to this book.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #175

This is it! The final issue of Marvel Comics Presents!

There are 4 segments and they are all 8-pagers. Obviously. 

2 segments continue stories that I thought were over. You know how at the end of a scary movie, the monster does a jump scare before actually dying off? Well, that's what happens here with Vengeance as Diabolique returns! Man, I hate that scary ass white kid...

I also had thought that Lunatik's story with Silver Surfer was completed last issue. But the two titans have decided once again to go toe-to-toe. 

The other half of this issue involves characters from the epic 150th issue. There's a group of kids known as NewGenX. They've all been turned into living weapons thanks to the geneticists of The Fortress. That's the research compound that kidnapped Typhoid Mary during that massive issue. Well, these kids appeared in like 1 panel then and this issue is the chance to tell their story. As this is their only full appearance in over 80 years of Marvel Comics, apparently 16-pages was enough paper in which to tell it. Did I say 16-pages? That's because the mercenary Steel Raven saves the kids from The Fortress in her 8-page segment.

I never thought I'd finish this series. It had a few highs but a whole heck of a lot of lows. There was a bunch of Ghost Rider. Too much Wolverine. And not enough quality. This finale didn't do anything to end this on a high note.

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #174

With the penultimate issue, a few loose ends are wrapped up before the epic finale.

For instance, Michael Badilino gets vengeance against Diabolique for the death of one of the members of his meta-human task force. 

Then the courses of Lunatik and the Silver Surfer finally converge on a no-holds barred battle. The stakes- the lives of a tribe of peaceful inhabitants of some random planet and the Surfer's surf board.

Nick Fury and his Agents of SHIELD are back in action for the third straight issue. This time around, A.I.M. has gotten its hands on a Shi'ar spacecraft. Should Advanced Idea Mechanics uncover the secrets of this ship, it could very well tilt the balance to A.I.M. against SHIELD in the battle for global freedom. So it's up to Fury to steal the ship or destroy the whole base. Or both! You know, a normal Sunday afternoon for the good Colonel. 

Lastly, it's a mixed up time caper with Excalibur, Moon Boy, Devil Dinosaur and those extra-dimensional bounty hunters from Technet! 

This issue was a lot of fun. The Lunatik story ended up being some sort of ersatz trilogy. It was good to finally see evil like Diabolique get what was coming to her. The Nick Fury story was 24 pages of action and adventure crammed into 8 little pages. And once again, the Excalibur crew play fast and loose with space-time!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #97

The Ghost Rider/Cable story comes to a close. It was about 4 chapters too many. Good ending. But like I said earlier, it was telegraphed early on.

The Pioneer Wolverine story keeps getting better. There's some sort of Medusa creature terrorizing the Blackfoot tribe. It kills with a glance. It's up to Logan to stop it.

There's a Silver Surfer one-shot story that was okay. I appreciated the cameo by Mr. Fantastic. But with all the doctorate-level jargon, I don't really know all that was happening. 

Finally, we head down to the Bar With No Name. There's a ton of cameos from a bunch of baddies. There's the standard mix-up fight amongst friends- or enemies in this case. And a fantastic twist ending!

A .500 batting average is great in baseball. This is my reading enjoyment. Not good enough! No siree, Bob! 

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #69

I might be sick and tired of the Wolverine/Ghost Rider team-up story. But I am in love with this cover! It's by Sandy Plunkett and Alan Weiss and it just may be in my top-10 favorite covers of all time.

The Shanna the She-Devil story is building. No gratuitous animal murders in this chapter. But we do get introduced to a diamond smuggler named Dubose Wilson in this issue. He's been stiffed by the guy who killed the zoo animals in the last issue and he's on route to Africa as well. I see this character as being played by Richard Pryor back in the 90s. Today, he'd probably be portrayed by Kevin Hart. Needless to say that Dubose is smarmy. But he's also likable.

A new multi-parter starring Daredevil begins in this issue as well. There's a heatwave going on and the Big Apple is on lock-down thanks to some rabid wild dogs. The story is quite good. But based on what I know having just experienced a lock-down, I find it hard to believe that the entire city would be shutdown thanks to a bunch of ravenous dogs. It was barely shut down because of COVID. Clearly, there aren't any packs of dogs in Jersey. Couldn't the National Guard come in a terminate these pooches? There's just a big chunk of plausibility that's missing from this story.

Lastly, in a single issue tale, the Silver Surfer encounters a sentient space ship that has been so terribly lonely for way too long. A heartbreaking story that will leave you in tears over a flying saucer. 

Not a bad offering this time around. The cover is just a thing of beauty. It alone is worth the asking price.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Silver Surfer: Black

The Silver Silver seeks redemption as he battles the King in Black in this tabloid sized collection.

Donny Cates (Cosmic Ghost Rider) pens this epic tale that seems to play fast and loose with the rules of physics. And I must say that I am really torn to be a fan of Silver Surfer: Black or to be it's biggest critic.

I've never really connected with much of Marvel's cosmic stuff. This book with it's flashbacks and flash forwards is a little hard to follow. There's even a time paradox! I think… Plus at one point the Surfer claims that he's billions of years old. This really seems to contradict the Galactus Saga that occurred in issues #48-50 of Fantastic Four. But I will admit, I’m not really caught up on my Norrin Radd comics.

One thing I cannot downplay is the artwork. Tradd Moore is freaking amazing. It's like year 3000 type advanced stuff. This psychedelic look at the cosmos has so much tiny detail to it, I wonder how long it took The Luther Strode artist to complete all 5 issues that comprise this volume.

Donny Cates notes that Stan Lee's death was announced as he was writing the fifth and final issue. As Silver Surfer has long been considered Stan's best work - by fans and the Man himself, Cates was inspired to change this book's ending. In the afterword, Cates says that he erased the entire last issue script and started over. He wanted the ending to honor Stan Lee's positivity that he exuded to his reading public.

I really would have liked to have seen what Cates' original script was going to be. I know it's all erased now. But a recreated rough draft inclusion in the sketch book section would have been nice. I like knowing about deleted scenes. It would have been cool to compare what was with what could be. Especially since missed opportunities is a theme of this story.

Silver Surfer: Black was an interesting read. The art was a masterpiece. The story was as confusing as a lecture on advanced physics could imaginably be. I understood each scene. I just couldn't figure out the right order in which the plot was to have taken place. 

Expect a lot of tinkering with the Marvel timeline when reading this.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Infinity Gauntlet

I'm not sure why it took me this long to read The Infinity Gauntlet. 

Well, maybe I do. I know that I am going to rile up some feathers with this opinion but I am just not that big a fan of Jim Starlin. Starlin is known for his cosmic odysseys and let's face it when it comes to some of his favorite characters, in this case Adam Warlock and Thanos, I am just not that interested in either. 

When I was very young, Thanos was a second rate villain who flew a yellow helicopter and once was arrested by Spidey and the NYPD. As for Adam Warlock, his origin was so mired in confusion; all in thanks to writers not really caring much about the character in the first place. There was so many contradictions in how Warlock came to be and what his purpose was that I gave up caring. 

That all being said, I will commend what Jim Starlin attempted (and pretty much succeeded in) to make this pair of cosmic foes relevant for the Marvel Universe.

Many consider Secret Wars to be Marvel's answer to Crisis on Infinite Earths. After reading this, I would have to disagree. I think Secret Wars I and II were the mini-crises that the Justice League and Justice Society would have annually in the pages of Justice League of America. It's actually The Infinity Gauntlet that would be Marvel's CRISIS. 

Infinity Gauntlet starts out beautifully. George Perez, one of my favorite artists and an all-around hell of a nice guy, covered the artwork for the first 3 and a half issues. But the pressures of completing this mega crossover along with DC's War of the Amazons at the very same time kinda burned Perez out. So much, that he quit the big-two for lower level penciling duties for many years in order to recover. 

What Starlin and Perez do in those few issues is mind boggling. The level of destruction and chaos brought about by Thanos' snap are some of the most impressive pages of destruction and choas I have ever seen in comics. But Starlin does not do enough. 

In this book, he's got both the Kree and Skrull ready to go to war. But he never follows through. Instead, Jim Starlin's sweeping focus on the entire Marvel Universe gets narrowed down to maybe a dozen players by the last 2 issues. 

Another thing that Starlin doesn't do right is properly set-up Adam Warlock's rebirth on Earth. It took me several re-reads before I figured out that he doesn't kill a liquor store clerk. But instead, Adam Warlock uses the recently dead body of the murderer to return to life. That just seemed so out of character for the generally peace loving Warlock and it was. But Jim Starlin didn't do a good enough job making that notion clear. 

I did love the final 5 or so pages of Infinity Gauntlet. It was rather perfect and ties into 2018's Avengers: Inifinity War quite well. (Actually, I am amazed at a lot of similarities between this miniseries and that film. It's a same that Marvel Studios weren't able to get the rights to Adam Warlock or the Silver Surfer hashed out in order to be in the movie.)

Infinity Gauntlet is one of the best Marvel epic crossovers. But it could have been the greatest if not for the writer losing focus. The main artist leaving didn't help matters either. Ron Lim is a talented artist. But he's no George Perez. 

A good read. But it didn't do enough for me to feel like I've got to rush out and procure the second and third acts of The Infinity Trilogy. (Not like I can just rush out right now thanks to COVID. But I think you get what I mean.)

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Treasury Edition #13 (Giant SuperHero Holiday Grab-Bag)

Wrapping up my 2018 Christmas comics that I need to review is this tabloid sized comic. 

For many collectors who grew up reading comics in the 70s and 80s, this book is a Holy Grail. I count myself as one of those collectors. I spent years trying to find a copy in decent shape, with a cover still intact AND not filled with colored-in pages. 

If this book was to get a grade by CGC or some other company, I highly doubt it would get anything higher than a 3.5. But that's okay! I paid a fair price and I was able to read it without fear that it was going to come apart in my hand. 

Compared to it's 1974 predecessor, The Marvel Giant Holiday Grab-Bag, this is not really a Christmas comic. That 1974 book had at least one story that was Christmas themed. Here, the framing story throughout the entire issue is holiday themed. It starts with a charity snowball fight between the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. 

During this frosty battle, The Thing reflects on a recent team-up with Spider-Man against The Puppet Master and the Thinker. Then The Vision reflects on his origin and how he became a member of the Avengers. 

A passing visit from the Silver Surfer leads The Hulk to recall the first time he ever met the former herald of Galactus. The scene then shifts to Hell's Kitchen where Matt Murdock remembers a time when he had to choose between two lovers: Karen Page or The Black Widow. Finally, we learn that Black Widow is thinking of the same occasion as the action winds up in L.A. during the Christmas festivities of The Champions!

Normally, I would get very upset of spending time and money to find a Christmas special and the book wind up being anything but. But I got to thinking: DC and Marvel both didn't really do very many Christmas comics during the 50s or 60s. Heck, I don't think Marvel did holiday themed stuff during the 40s or 50s while operating as Atlas or Timely; whereas that was a regular thing at the time for DC to do. 

1969's Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #10 and 1973's Hero For Hire #7 are the only examples of early Marvel books that were set at Christmas that I can come up with. And both of those tales were reprinted in the Christmas themed Marvel Treasury Edition #8. (That book was also a Giant SuperHero Holiday Grab-Bag, debuting before this issue but I have yet to add one to my collection or read. Thus why I don't mention it as a predecessor earlier in this review.)

With the success of these giant sized treasuries, Marvel AND DC started putting out more Christmas themed issues and they were big sellers. Since Marvel wanted to cash in on the success of other tabloids of Christmas reprints, they went ahead with another Christmas classic. Unfortunately,  the House of Ideas didn't have anymore holiday stories yet to reprint. So Marvel went ahead and used the framing plot device to add some element of holiday cheer to this issue. 

I guess based on all that evidence, I can find Marvel Not Guilty. At least they tried. One might wonder why Marvel didn't put out all-new material in these over-sized collections. The answer comes down to money. Since most artists and writers never received royalties for reprints, the less overhead spent on new material the better. 

When I was little, I would have plotzed to have found one of these books under my tree. But not on Christmas Day. This would have been my Christmas Eve present. Something to read on that magic night right before Santa was to visit. That was the perfect Christmas moment and the main reason I love Christmas comic books so much.

I can't wait until next December 1st to get reading on my holiday comic stash I've amounted over the next 12 months of hunting. Here's to a great 2019, folks!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Tick: Karma Tornado #4

  Having been tricked by the famed primate astronaut Ham, the Tick finds himself the caretaker of a gigantic celestial being. When he's not providing maintenance and cleaning for this force of nature, the Tick is touring the galaxy writing up travelogues. But when Tick discovers that his reports are being used less for vacationing and more as a buffet menu, his new master will take matters to explosive new heights.

   If this sounds an awful lot like Silver Surfer and Galactus, well you're not very far off. Just replace Norrin Radd's Christ-figure self-righteous pitying with Tick's self-loathing (would you want to scrub out the undercarriage of a giant elemental who can't reach when he has to wipe?) and you could swear that you've been reading Lee and Kirby's Galactus Trilogy.

    Sure, the plot was ripped-off from a classic Marvel story from the 1960s. And yeah- the ending of this story paints the writer into a gigantic corner. But this chapter was still pretty darn funny and the art was still far more superior than the original Edlund run.

    But really, how is the Tick going to come out of this cliffhanger? I'm at the edge of my seat waiting to find out.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

ANNIHILATION: HERALDS OF GALACTUS #1-2 (Annihilation Week)

Cover to Issue #2

This two-part series focuses on the aftermath of Annihilation in terms of some of the surviving heralds of Galactus that survived: Firelord, Stardust, Terrax, and the Silver Surfer. Okay- I had thought that Terrax died during the Annihilation Wave at the hands of Gamora. But it appears that you can survive a beheading.

    The best story involved Firelord, who enacts his cosmic brand of justice on the allies of Annihilus who survived it's atrocities and managed to sue for peace. Peace treaties be damned. In the eyes of Firelord, once a force of evil, always a force of evil and justice will be served flaming hot.

   I actually thought that this could have been a great ongoing series. From my research this never really happened but if it had, I would've been adding it to my wish list. Missed opportunities once again from Marvel.

   This Silver Surfer tale ends with a 'To Be Continued..." and I was about to be really angry. I mean doesn't omnibus mean that it contains everything involved with the subject at hand? In this case, that would be Annihilation. However, there is a sequel called Annihilation: Conquest that picks up with the galaxy trying to rebuild after the onslaught from the Negative Zone. So, the next thing I need to read would be the Conquest Omnibus right? Wrong!

Up Next: Annihilation: Nova Corps Files

Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Annihilation #1-6 (Annihilation Week)

Variant Cover to Issue #1

 The battle is taken to Annihilus by a combined force of Kree, Skrull, heralds of Galactus, and assorted intergalactic rogues, lead by Richard Rider, the last Nova. The opening scene pits Nova's coalition against the bug warriors of the Negative Zone. That opening chapter was insane. It so very much seemed like a scene from 'Starship Troopers.' I'm starting to think that writer Keith Giffen always wanted to script a version of Robert A Heinlein's classic work.

  Well, Giffen got his wish.

   The plot thickens when Nova's army is stretched to its limits of survival when Annihilus and Thanos capture Galactus and the Silver Surfer and turn them into an ultimate weapon of destruction. When it's clear that the armies of the Negative Zone have their sights set on Earth as their next target, Nova and Drax the Destroyer will have to eliminate Annihilus and the Mad Titan separately or all of humanity (and a large majority of the Marvel Universe's superhero community) will become annihilated.

   Annihilation was worth the build up of several miniseries if only for that opening chapter I mentioned. The war scenes were stunning and action-packed, but I was enthralled by the scenes that lead up to the warfare. Those scenes were perfectly crafted and made me feel like there was a real war occurring. Giffen thought of everything.

    I was quite happy with the finale of this series but it's left open for a sequel (Note: there is a sequel to Annihilation called Annihilation: Conquest and I hope to come across it's omnibus library sometime soon.) The art for this series was very good and at times ultra-graphic.

If you love sci-fi then you'll love this book. However, it might surprise you to know that fans of traditional war epics will enjoy this series as well and you could enjoy this series without needing to read the prequels and not be too very lost about what's happened up till now.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Up Next: Annhilation: Heralds of Galactus

Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1-4 (Annihilation Week)

Cover to Issue #3

 I'm going to commit a little act of Marvel Comic fandom heresy: I'm not really a fan of the Silver Surfer.  He's a cool looking character and some stories starring him are good. Case in point: issues #48-50 of Fantastic Four (AKA: The Galactus Trilogy.) But with his doomed to exile on earth and the microcosmos (it's like outer space but occurs in the space between atoms) that often results in melodrama and Christ references galore, I find the being formerly known as Norin Radd to be whiny. It gets irritating. In fact, his opus with Alicia in the final chapter of the Galactus Trilogy is perhaps my least favorite moment in that classic story (okay- two acts of heresy in one paragraph!)

  But that all changes (albeit probably only temporary) when agents of Annihilus seek out all of the former heralds of the World Devourer as an addition b[power source for his Annihilation Wave. If you've ever wanted to see every one of Galactus' former envoys in one comic fighting it out in epic space glory- these are the four issues for you! They might not all be together at once, but it's like a Royal Rumble of characters who wield the Power Cosmic. Plus, there's several players who will later impact the Marvel Universe in recent Marvel Now! issues of Avengers.

   One little spoiler for you- Silver Surfer is forgiven by Galactus for his betrayal during the Galactus Trilogy and is bestowed with more power than ever before. This is the Silver Surfer I wish I could have read in years past.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

 Up Next: Annihilation: Super Skrull #1-4

Annihilation Prologue #1 (Annihilation Week)

  

   This jumbo sized special shows what all of the major players in the Annihilation storyline were doing the day Annihilus' annihilation wave hit ground zero and began its tear through the galaxy. Drax and Cami, Silver Surfer, Ronan the Accuser, and the Super-Skrull will all play a part in the road to the Annihilation in 4-issue mini-series of their own (technically, Drax's occurred prior, but hopefully, you get my drift.) The main star of this issue is Richard Rider, the Nova Corpsman of Earth and his fellow peacekeepers. They will be the first line of defense in protecting the universe from Annihilus.

    Nova is a superhero that I'm not very familiar with. I know he's a member of Spider-Man's SHIELD team on Ultimate Spider-Man on Marvel XD, but that's a cartoon. In the comics, I've had very little to do with Nova. It's not that I hate the character or anything. It's just that in all of my readings, I've probably come across the character twice, maybe three times. I just don't seem to either read stuff that he's a major character in or I've never really come across any Nova trades or back issues.

    In this issue, I learned quite a lot about the hero and his compatriots. First of all, the Nova Corps is a lot like the Green Lantern Corps. Novas do not seem to have any weaknesses as a Green Lantern's ring is powerless against the color yellow. Secondly, Novas have special powers imbued to them by the Worldmind, a sentient computer similar to Oa's great lantern. However, while a Green Lantern uses a ring to create anything that they can imagine, Novas have power blasts and literally turn into human rockets.
   Still, Nova Corps/ Green Lantern Corps. I'm very surprised that DC hasn't ever sued of the similarities between the two creations and that Marvel never came up with the idea to team the two groups up in a giant cosmic epic against Sinestro and Thanos. (BTW, if Marvel and DC decide to ever team-up these two teams, I claim a creative contributor credit!)

    A very good issue with great action, really smart plotting, funny dialogue, and amazing characters. However, the inking was quite poor. The first 5 pages were really well done but once we get to Nova and his fellow Corpsmen, something goes awry. It was almost as if the inker stop using India ink and went to magic markers. Even when the action really picks up, the art doesn't seem to improve. It's the only downside to an otherwise flawless book.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

UP Next: Annihilation: Nova #1-4

Marvel Fanfare #51

Though it doesn’t go right out and say it, this Fanfare is devoted to a never before used “What If…” With the Watcher as host, we see what might’ve happened if the Silver Surfer stopped a Kree invasion during his exile on Earth.

Silver Surfer’s not exactly one of my favorite superheroes, so I don’t understand much of what’s going on or what should have happened. The art was very good. There’s some great cameos and fantastic action sequences. I am also very happy with the ending.

A must for Surfer fans or like myself, a true devotee to the What If… franchise.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

"Marvel Holiday Special: Christmas 1994"

This is a very interesting mix of holiday stories. The Iceman/ Beast story is based on an obscure original X-Men tale from the 60s. The art was inconsistent, but it was a great story. The Capt. story was very good, so is the Thing’s. I didn’t understand the Silver Surfer story and what it had to do with any earth or alien holiday. Like the Surfer, it was just weird.

And the X-Men poem at the end was very funny.

 Big disappointment though. Spiderman is taking over a 1/3 of the cover, yet he’s relegated to a 2 page story without any words.

 Still, with that oversight, it’s very much worth consuming.

"Stan Lee Meets the Silver Surfer"

WORTH CONSUMING!

How sweet it is to here from the Surfer’s creator that the Surfer sure is dull. Good grief. I have never been a fan of Silver Surfer. I know being a FF fan that is almost blasphemy, but I really could do without all the new age mumbo-jumbo of Jack Kirby in the late 60’s.

There’s a really good reprint of a Spidey-Surfer Marvel Team-Up included, plus some fun tributes to Stan Lee’s 50 years in comics.