Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, Comics, Marvel | Tags: 1984, 239, Captain america, comic book, david letterman, fabian stankowicz, iron man, late night, Marvel, team up, The Avengers, the black panther, TV
So guess who else was immortalized into a comic book back in 1984? None other than David Letterman! Yeah he made his first comic book appearance in The Avengers #239! It seems that Wonder Man used his connections as an actor to get the team on Late Night’s most popular television show! However this appearance is no cake walk for the team as the dastardly super villain Fabian Stankowicz aka The Mechano Marauder attacks the team on live television with his crazy ass gadgets! He then takes the guest seat and chats with Letterman about how his plan is foiling The Mighty Avengers in front of a live audience.
The Avengers who are unable to take down Fabian due to a force field he’s got surrounding him and Dave-so yes folks it’s up to Letterman to take matters into his own hands and steal the show! This issue sounds pretty ridiculous huh?
Well it was one of those “assistant editor” issues that came out in ’84 where you basically got a zany issue of the unpredictable! Damn those were the days back in the 80′s! Also Paul Shaffer is seen in the issue rockin’out-folks next time you’re back issue shopping grab up this little gem of an issue!
Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, Comics, Marvel | Tags: 140, alpha flight, Chris Claremont, Classic, cover, John Byrne, wendigo, Wolverine, X-Men
Let’s face it Wendigo is one of the coolest Marvel Comics characters ever and X-men # 140 from 1980 is probably the BEST portrayal of him as being drawn by John Byrne. Not only is the cover to this comic 100% classic but the whole story is just damn awesome. The real story starts in X-men # 139 as Wolverine and Nightcrawler head off to Canada to help none other than Alpha Flight take down the vicious beast. I miss simple storylines like this one which features them all shacking up in a cabin in the woods together. This is one of the classic Claremont/Byrne isssues and may be a bit pricy in it’s original form-but it can be found reprinted several different places-Long live WEN-DI-GO!
Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, childhood nostalgia, Comics, Marvel | Tags: #7, annual, back issue, Marvel, sasquatch, the incredible hulk, The Thing, Thor, two in one, X-Men
This particular cover from Marvel Two In One Annual #7 has to be one of my all-time favorites. Mainly because as a kid this particular issue was one of my all time favorite comic books ever. It’s a straight up boxing tournament where earth’s mightiest, Marvel’s heavyweights are all gathered to take on none other than the Champion. An unbeatable blue skinned red haired freako alien boxing fanatic put’s our favorite hero’s into a contest to simply see if any can actually provide a sufficient challenge to him. 
You name it Marvel’s strongest are all here Sasquatch, Colossus, The Hulk, The Thing. Yeah they all get their asses served (well technically The Hulk never gets to fight cuz he freaks out in the ring and The Champion refuses to battle a wild monster), all except The Thing who does put up a decent fight. The smackdown though Mr. Grimm takes however is quite brutal and bloody especially for an 80′s comic. It always bummed me out that The Thing lost at the end but he definately gives the Champion a run for his money!
Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, Marvel | Tags: #113, back issue, cover, Marvel, red hulk, Spider-Man, the incredible hulk, the sandman
Here’s another cover that I totally dig and yeah surprisingly enough it’s got the Sandman on it again-This time crushing the Hulk way back in The Incredible Hulk #113! Back in the day though the Sandman was not exclusively busting Peter Parkers chops but was also going toe to toe with The Hulk pretty regularly. There’s something so undeniably cool about the Sandman and this classic cover shows how rad he was even way back when in his alternate costume! Covers like these make me hope that some day we’re rid of the Red Hulk, A-bomb and the current confusing mess that now floods the pages of the jade giant…
Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, Marvel | Tags: 1980's, Beer, comic book, cover, drunk, Fantastic Four, Marvel, ron wilson, team up, the sandman, The Thing, two in one
So this weeks cover is one of my faves drawn by Thing artist extraordinaire Ron Wilson-I always love comic book story lines that really show superheroes on their time off. This particular issue has an amazing cover that simply shows the Thing gettin’ wasted at the local dive bar with none other than the Sandman! This was an unusual pairing at the time to have The Thing “teaming up” with a villain but it seems that after this issue in which the Sandman contemplates his life’s direction and tells his complete origin to Ben Grimm, that the two seem to have a friendship that forms that will lead them once again to drink beer together in yet another later issue (the next time will be in a hospital room). It’s simple comic book story lines that I feel are missed greatly in the comics of today-If you’re looking for a great simple and fun back issue to check out Marvel Two in One #88 from 1982-just make sure to crack open a cold one when reading!
Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, comedy, Comics, dc comics | Tags: batman, comedy, naked, robin, skinny dipping, summer, Superman, swimming, team up, world's finest comics
I just recently saw this cover and I just had to share this here! It seems like Superman, Batman & Robin may be overstepping their boundaries maybe just a little bit here on this one don’t you think?! Hopefully the police didn’t get involved because seriously folks Batman looks WAY too stoked on the idea of stripping down!!
Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, Comics, Marvel | Tags: alpha flight, back issue, classic comics, Fantastic Four, John Byrne, northstar, sasquatch
If you’re looking for a good epic back issue to pick up along with your new releases on Wednesday look no further! I am recommending one of my all time favorite back issues ever! Of course it’s no secret that I love Alpha Flight! I honestly can’t wait for someone to give it the reboot it needs in the Marvel Universe today. It seems it’s been tried several times and it just never seems to be even remotely close to as good as the original John Byrne Run. Which leads me to one of my favorite issues from 1984. Alpha Flight # 10!
Of course if you really want the whole story you should really pick up #9 as well but if you wanna cut straight to the action this issue delivers the goods with Byrne’s amazing artwork. (more…)
Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, Comics, Marvel | Tags: abomination, fall of the hulks, jeph loeb, john romita jr, Modok, ms. modok, sal buscema, the incredible hulk, the leader
I have been having a great time so far getting into The Fall of the Hulks series that Marvel has just launched. One reason in particular is their choice of villains they’ve got teaming up against the Hulk, or should I say Banner since technically he can’t change into the Hulk anymore (that’s not going to last for long though). But aside from awesome old school villains like the Leader and Egghead appearing the one that always gets me pumped is MODOK! Yeah that’s right the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. He’s just one of those weird ass villains I think everyone adores! His involvement in the Fall of the Hulks inspired me to re-read one of my favorite Hulk storylines which transpire in issues #287-290. If you haven’t already read these I suggest you run down to your local comic shop and pick up these back issues asap! It will give you a little more insight on his hatred for the Hulk.
Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, Comics, Epic Battles, Marvel | Tags: Chris Claremont, colossus, john romita jr, kitty pryde, Marvel, nightcrawler, Wolverine, X-Men
One of my all time favorite X-men stories has got to be in issue #183 entitled “He’ll never make me cry” from 1984! The X-men aren’t in outerspace or saving humankind from Magneto’s twisted plans. This is the type of story I wish I would see more of these days in comic books. A day in the life type of story where you really get to know the characters. What it would be like if you could call up Wolverine and have him meet you at your local watering hole and drink yourselves silly together. This issue’s plot is simple Colossus, whose returned with the X-men from outerspace, dumps Kitty Pryde pretty harshly as he explains to her how he fell in love with another woman when on the most recent adventure with the team.
Filed under: Back-Issue Gold, Comics, Marvel | Tags: Apocalypse, daken, Erista, Ghack, Mike Mignola, Savage Land, Walt Simonson, Wolverine, X-23
The other day I was re-reading the somewhat forgotten Wolverine graphic novel, ‘The Jungle Adventure’, a great solo Wolverine story by Walt Simonson and Mike Mignola.
In this tale, Wolverine escapes from his recent troubles with the X-Men by hanging out in the Savage Land. Eventually he becomes a pretty prominent member of a native tribe, even fighting Apocalypse in their defense.
But the real gold is that while there, he fucks a very large woman named Ghack who delivers his son, unbeknownst to him. This little guy’s name is Erista and nobody has given a shit about him since 1990!!
Here's his bangin' mom holding him
Instead we have this Daken dipshit running around the MU with his ‘tribal tats’ and mohawk, crying to everyone within earshot about his daddy issues. I think the time is now for the return of Erista, savage-land warrior with Wolverine’s blood, to surface in the MU, put Daken out of his misery and stake his claim as the original Wolverine offspring.
Oh and anyone else out there wondering about Lynx? She was like a daughter to Wolverine and last we saw her, it was 1993 and she was left to fend for herself in the Candian wilderness. Let’s get her back too so she can show X-23 (or Laura or whatever) who’s boss!
