Date: January 1984 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “Page O’Thor Stuff” Story & Art: Walter Simonson Other Artists: John Workman, Jr., George Roussos Notable Notes: Odin forges a new hammer!
When I was little I would carry around my dad’s hammer and pretend that I was Thor. I loved the whole idea of Mjolnir, especially how no one else could lift it – even the Hulk! Anyway, I consider Thor’s hammer to be one of his most defining characteristics, and so I find this issue to be very intriguing – seeing as how Odin crafts a new hammer which is very similar to Mjolnir!
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Date: 1986 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 75¢ 2013 NM Price: $4.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads Writer & Penciller: John Byrne Other Artists: Dick Giordano, Tom Zuiko, John Costanza Notable Notes: The start of the bad blood between Superman and Lex Luthor!
I wonder how many enemies in this world actually started off on relatively good terms with each other? It seems like a common thread that people who get along reasonably well can end up hating each other with a burning passion when they perceive that the other one has intentionally hurt them. The world of comics and super-heroes is no different it seems, and in this issue we learn how Superman’s biggest enemy came to dislike him so much.
Date: December 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “The Hammer Strikes” letters page Story & Art: Walter Simonson Other Artists: John Workman, Jr., George Roussos Notable Notes: Two worthy warriors duel for Mjolnir!
Don’t you love a really good game? A great fight? An evenly matched competition? I do! This issue gives us one of the best fights to take place in the Marvel Universe – and probably one of the few times that Thor gets really worried!
Date: February 1940 Publisher: Fawcett Publications Cover Price: 10¢ 2013 Price Range: $8,000 – $176,000 Stats: 64 color pages plus ads Writers: Bill Parker and ? Artists: C.C. Beck and ? Notable Notes: 1st appearances of Captain Marvel, Ibis the Invincible, Golden Arrow, Spy Smasher, Scoop Smith, Lance O’Casey and Dan Dare!
Captain Marvel, aka Shazam, has a long and complicated history. The complications begin with this issue and the question of “Is it issue #1 or issue #2?” The inside front cover lists this as issue #2 of Whiz Comics, and a little bit of searching reveals that the first issue was actually an ashcan copy created for trademark purposes and it wasn’t even called Whiz Comics! Anyway, this issue (the true #1 but actually marked as #2) is where all the magic happens. Oh yeah, there are other complications too – such as the name “Captain Marvel”, his close resemblance to Superman and his integration into the DC Universe after DC Comics obtained the rights to the character… but we won’t go there right now.
Date: 1986 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 75¢ 2013 NM Price: $4.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads Writer & Penciller: John Byrne Other Artists: Dick Giordano, Tom Zuiko, John Costanza Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Magpie the jewel thief!
I would love to read the actual comic book where Superman and Batman meet up and work together for the first time. I did a little bit of web searching and it seems like that might have been in issue #7 of All Star Comics back in 1941. I just hope that they took on a better criminal than they did in this issue!
Date: November 1983 Publisher: Marvel Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $2.00 – $18.00 Stats: 24 color pages plus ads and Bullpen Bulletins Story & Art: Walter Simonson Other Artists: John Workman Jr., George Roussos Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Beta Ray Bill!
There is something compelling about a story featuring an unbeatable (or nearly unbeatable anyway) enemy. Whether a movie, a novel or a comic book a story that has an enemy do something amazing and nearly unimaginable keeps us on the edge of our seats! Here is a great story – and a great beginning to an even longer story arc – about an alien who gives Thor a true run for his money!
Date: October 2007 Publisher: Red 5 Comics Cover Price: $2.95 Stats: 22 color pages Writer: Brian Clevinger Artists: Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, Jeff Powell Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Atomic Robo!
I’ve been wanting to try out Comixology for a while, so I finally decided to make an account and check out some of their free issues. This one was free and looked really cool so it became my first read on Comixology! I still prefer physical issues of comics, but this wasn’t a bad experience. Here’s what I thought of the comic:
Date: February 1986 Cover Price: 75¢ Current Price Range: $3.00 Stats: color; 22 pages plus ads and letters column Publisher: Marvel Comics Group (Epic imprint) Creators: Wendy and Richard Pini
A Bit of History with this issue: As a kid I read a lot of comics, but I only knew a few other people who read them. One such person was my good friend Peter, and his favorite series was ElfQuest. He liked it so much that he got me to try a few issues, and I enjoyed them too. I only ended up buying one issue (because I read all of his instead!) which was this one. I thought it was high time to give it a try again – and I’m glad I did!
