Marvel Comics Presents 74

Marvel Comics Presents 74

Late Mar 1991

Weapon X: Chapter Two

by Barry Windsor-Smith, Jim Novak

Logan wakes up on the floor of the lab. The Professor is aware of what’s going on as he watches from another room via a video feed. A scientist is sent in to check on Logan. Three more men head that way to check on Logan and find that Logan has killed the scientist. 

Thoughts

This story is confusing. I find the placement of word balloons makes it frequently hard to follow the direction in which they are to be read. I also find it hard to tell at times who is talking.

Kane (1993) 22

Kane (1993) 22

Nov 1998

Fwankies Big Night Out

by Paul Grist

Frankie goes to the Kitty Kat Klub. Tony Angelo, the singer, is back in town. It’s been decades since he left New Eden. He’s there to sing but he’s also there, on behalf of an unnamed party, to see Oscar Darke.

Frankie sees Tabby, one of the waitresses, getting harassed by a customer. He steps in to do something about it. Todd, the customer, also turns out to be an employee of Mister Grainger, the owner of the Kitty Kat. Grainger sees what’s going on and breaks it up before things go very far. Frankie is satisfied that Tabby is okay but Todd is not satisfied and wants to repay Frankie for stepping into his business.

Todd and Frankie have more words. Mayor Dyson gets involved, as do Tabby and Tony Angelo. 

New Teen Titans (1984) 7

New Teen Titans (1984) 7

Apr 1985

The Origin of Lilith!

by Marv Wolfman, José Luis García Lopez, Romeo Tanghal, Phil Felix, Adrienne Roy

Azrael returns, looking for Lilith. He finds her, sweeps her up in his arms, and flies off with her. She seems to like it but Starfire and Jericho don’t let that stop them from trying to get Lilith away from the winged man.

Starfire and Jericho catch up to Lilith and Azrael at her apartment. They are talking when Thia, goddess of the sun, shows up claiming to be Lilith’s mother. Starfire attacks Thia when she tries to take Lilith. The two fight but Thia escapes with Lilith.

Marvel Comics Presents 73

Marvel Comics Presents 73

Mid Mar 1991

Weapon X: Chapter One

by Barry Windsor-Smith, Jim Novak

Logan is knocked out, sedated, and taken to a laboratory where a team of scientists starts to experiment on him. They notice that he seems to be recovering at an accelerated rate. 

Thoughts

Why did these scientists want Logan to be their lab rat? Did they not choose him specifically for this? They seem to be surprised by the speed and strength of his healing factor. He must have really been drunk to be overwhelmed as easily as he was. I don't fully understand everything I'm seeing on these pages. What are all those spiky things doming out of his body? Is it adamantium?

Kane (1993) 21

Kane (1993) 21

Apr 1998

Requiem for Rico

by Paul Grist

NEPD Officers Lucy Page and Liz Malone search for Queen Jane, a homeless woman who complained to the New Eden PD (see Kane 15) that someone was following her. Their search leads them to a monkey dressed in shorts and a vest. They have to chase the monkey in order to catch him. It leads them to a homeless man who is pushing around a shopping cart that looks the one Queen Jane had.

NEPD Detectives Lovett and Marsh visit Ed Streetz, a reporter who claims to know something about the murder of Rico Costas and the suicide of Officer Lou Stern. They strong arm him but don’t get anything out of him. He claims he doesn’t really know anything and made the story up.

The Blind Man visits Streetz after Lovett and Marsh have left. He also wants to know what Streetz knows. 

New Teen Titans (1984) 6

New Teen Titans (1984) 6

Mar 1985

Titansmania

by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Dan Jurgens, Romeo Tanghal, John Costanza, Adrienne Roy

New York City has a parade for the Teen Titans but their interest in getting all the attention, for saving the city and the world from Trigon, fades fairly quickly. They return to the desert southwest where they camped during the Tales of the New Teen Titans. They talk about Raven, the nightmares they had while they were prisoners of Trigon, and how those dreams still haunt them.

Marvel Comics Presents 72

Marvel Comics Presents 72

Early Mar 1991

Weapon X: Prologue

by Barry Windsor-Smith, Jim Novak

Logan stays in a run down hotel called The Prophecy and mulls over some things. He talks about going up to the Yukon. He is haunted by nightmares. 

Thoughts

There are lots of images of a laboratory. Some of the images are horrific. The implication is that Logan spent time there. There is no dialogue, only Logan’s narration. 

This is confusing. I expect that as I read my way through this story some of the images in the prologue will start to fall into place and make more sense.

Kane (1993) 20

Kane (1993) 20

Feb 1998

Lies, Damn Lies and Lieutenant Wratz

by Paul Grist

Rico Costas is found dead in his cell the next day. There is no sign of the Blind Man. Lieutenant Wratz investigates the death of Rico. There is evidence that Rico was roughed up while in police custody including being sprayed in the eyes with mace. Wratz questions all the police officers at the New Eden police station.

Kane apprehends Ed Streetz, a reporter who is sneaking around the police station disguised as a cleaning person. Kate Felix doesn’t recognize Streetz’ face but she knows him by name. She blames him for something that happened to her father, Tony Felix. 

Secret Origins (1986) 16 (2)

Secret Origins (1986) 16

Jul 1987

The Secret Origin of the Golden Age Hourman

by Roy & Dann Thomas, Michael Bair, Mike Gustovich, Carl Gafford, David Cody Weiss, Agustin Mas, Robert Greenberger

22 pages

Rex ‘Tick-Tock’ Tyler, in a letter dated September 14, 1985, tells his son Rick about how he  became the Hourman and his first couple adventures as a mystery man. The crucial element  to his success was Miraclo, the drug he invented. It gave him superhuman powers for one hour.

Fantastic Four 227

Fantastic Four 227

Feb 1981

The Brain Parasites

by Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bruce Patterson, Jim Novak, George Roussos, Jim Salicrup

The Fantastic Four head to Lost Lake in Pennsylvania for a vacation and to visit with Dr. Gideon Carruthers, a friend of Mr. Fantastic. Carruthers is there investigating a meteor which recently splashed down into the lake. Things take a turn for the adventurous when creatures emerge from the meteor, attach themselves to people and animals, causing them to evolve in reverse. 

Thoughts

Kane (1993) 19

Kane (1993) 19

Nov 1997

A Touchy Subject

by Paul Grist

Rico Costas is put on trial. Rose Thawn, Oscar Darke’s lawyer, defends Rico. He is acquitted and leaves the courtroom with a restraining order preventing the New Eden Police from approaching him. Everything seems peachy for Rico but then he starts to receive hints that he should get out of town.

Rico panics after he gets home and finds that someone has search his apartment. He is afraid that the Blind Man, a hitman, is after him. Rico goes to the police and gets himself locked up again, where he will be safe from the Blind Man, or so he believes.

Secret Origins (1986) 16 (1)

Secret Origins (1986) 16

Jul 1987

Exiles

by Michael Fleisher, Adam Kubert, Jerry Serpe, Robert Greenberger

This is ostensibly the origin story for Travis Morgan, aka the Warlord, but it is told from the perspective of another character, Dan Maddox, who has known Travis Morgan since at least junior high school. The story opens with Maddox in a gulag, a Russian prison camp, in Siberia. Maddox recounts how he was a bully in junior high but Travis Morgan put him in his place.

Maddox and Morgan were in school together until they graduated from high school. They both joined the Air Force but Maddox was kicked out of the USAF for striking an officer. He joined the US Army and wound up going to Vietnam where he became a real wheeler and dealer. He bought and sold goods and information and wasn’t very discriminating when it came to his clients, some of whom were Russians and Vietcong.

Fantastic Four 226

Fantastic Four 226

Jan 1981

The Samurai Destroyer

Ilongo Savage, Richard Carson, and Genji Odashu (the pilots of the Shogun Warriors) visit the Fantastic Four in the Baxter Building and ask them for help. Their giant robots have been destroyed but the Samurai Destroyer, a new giant robot, is threatening Japan and they need the help of the Fantastic Four to defeat it.

Thoughts

The Fantastic Four appeared in Shogun Warriors 19 (Aug 1980) and 20 (Sep 1980), the last two issues in that series. Doug Moench wrote both of those issues of Shogun Warriors and all but one issue of that series. This issue of Fantastic Four is the only comic book outside of Shogun Warriors 1-20 in which Savage, Carson, and Odashu appeared.