Shadow and Flame with Magik

 

Cover Dated 1986

I really adore the back cover (the left one) which is the cast of Marvel Characters circa 1963 and the front cover (right side) which is all of the characters circa 1986.  I really like how all the characters are in the same positions – except for that lousy Iceman forcing Angel to switch places with him.

Like the first Annual, Marvel goes out with the list of books, with various ones getting a full page showing off who the cast is and what is going on with that title.

The 1963 has a five page sequence where we all pretend what would it be like if Marvel Age existed in 1963.  Which is pretty cool to see how Marvel would have promoted both Avengers 1 and X-Men 1.  Imagine people buying those issues on newstands and having their minds blown?

The proper section starts with some high hyperbole, though they don’t know it at the time, that New Universe is going to change comics for all time.  As far as I know, it is a slight footnote in the failures of Marvel.

There is a five page Jack Kirby written and drawn section about the Marvel Bullpen.

There is an awesome 100 Highlights from the First 25 Years section.

1. Fantastic Four 1
2. Incredible Hulk 1
3. Fantastic Four 4, with Namor
4. Fantastic Four 5, with Doctor Doom
5.  Amazing Fantasy 15
6. Journey into Mystery 83, with Thor
7. Journey into Mystery 85, with Loki
8. Tales to Astonish 35, with Hank Pym
9. Fantastic Four 10, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby first Marvel Appearance
10. Fantastic Four 11, with Impossible Man
11. Tales of Suspense 39, with Iron Man
12. Fantastic Four 12, Thing v Hulk
13. Fantastic Four 13, with Utau the Watcher
14. Sgt. Fury and His Holwing Commandos 1
15. Tales to Astonish 44, with Wasp
16. Spider-Man 3, with Doctor Octopus
17. Strange Tales 110, with Doctor Strange
18. Avengers 1
19. X-Men 1
20. Fantastic Four Annual 1, the first annual
21. Tales to Astonish, with Giant Man
22. Tales of Suspense 50, with Mandarin
23. Tales of Suspense 52, with Black Widow
24. Avengers 4, with Captain America
25. Daredevil 1
26. Tales of Suspense 57, with Hawkeye
27. Strange Tales 126, with Dormammu
28. Tales to Astonish 63, with the Leader
29. Avengers 16, first new lineup, with Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch
30. Strange Tales 135, with Nick Fury leads SHIELD
31. Strange Tales 135, with Hydra
32. Strange Tales 138, with Eternity
33. Fantastic Four Annual 3, with the Richards Wedding
34. Fantastic Four 44, with the Inhumans
35. Fantastic Four 48, with the Silver Surfer
36. Fantastic Four 48, with the coming of Galactus
37. Avengers 28, with Goliath
38. Fantastic Four 52, with Black Panther
39. Daredevil 41, death of Matt Murdock’s fake brother Mike, to protect his secret identity
40. Not Brand Ecch 1, with Forbush-Man
41. Marvel Super Heroes 12, with Captain Mar-vell
42. Avengers 48, with Black Knight
43. Marvel Super Heroes 18, with the Guardians of the Galaxy
44. Avengers 57, with Vision
45. Fantastic Four Annual 6, with Franklin Richards
46. Avengers 59, with Yellowjacket
47. Avengers 60, the Pym Wedding
48. Captain America 117, with the Falcon
49. Conan 1
50. Amazing Spider-Man 96, the drug issue that changes the Comic Code
51. Avengers 85, with the Squadron Supreme
52. Avengers 89, the start of the Kree-Skrull War
53. Hulk 141, with Doc Samson
54. Marvel Feature 1, with the Defenders
55. Marvel Premiere, with Adam Warlock
56. Tomb of Dracula 1
57. Hero for Hire 1
58. Captain America 154, Cap fights 50s Cap
59. Iron Man 55, with Thanos
60. Amazing Adventures 18, with Killraven
61. Amazing Spider-Man 121, death of Gwen Stacey
62. Avengers 116 & Defenders 8, Avengers / Defenders War
63. Amazing Spider-Man 129, with the Punisher
64. Marvel Premiere 15, with Iron Fist
65. Astonishing Tales 25, with Deathlok
66. Fantastic Four 150, Quicksilver / Crystal Wedding
67. Hulk 180, with Wolverine
68. Giant Size Avengers 4, Vision / Scarlet Witch Wedding and Mantis marries a tree
69. Fear 19, with Howard the Duck
70. Giant Size X-Men 1
71. Werewolf by Night 32, with Moon Knight
72. Champions 1
73. Eternals 1
74. Marvel Spotlight 32, with Spider-Woman
75. Spectacular Spider-Man 17, Champions break up – the first hero team to do so
76. Devil Dinosaur 1
77. X-Men 120, with Alpha Flight
78. She-Hulk 1
79. Epic Illustrated 1
80. X-Men 137, Death of Phoenix
81. Dazzler 1
82. Daredevil 168, death of Elektra
83. Death of Captain Marvel
84. Marvel Graphic Novel 4, with the New Mutants
85. Spider-Man Annual 16, a new Captain Marvel
86. Dreadstar 1
87. Avengers 230, Hank Pym, no hero name
88. Marvel Age 1
89. Iron Man 170, Rhodey becomes iron Man
90. GI Joe 1
91. Secret Wars 1
92. Power Pack 1
93. West Coast Avengers 1, the Limited Series
94. Secret Wars 7, with the new Spider-Woman
95. Secret Wars 8, Spider-Man’s Black Costume
96. Thor 353, Odin is lost
97. Star Comics begins
98. Thor 364, Frog Thor
99. X-Factor 1
100. New Universe

Pretty cool that they even made a list!

Next is the backbone of the issue, Marvel A to Z by Dwight Jon Zimmerman, where he breaks down all of the Marvel titles.  A few titles get a full page of art!

Alpha Flight

Amazing Spider-Man

AniMax

Since we are celebrating Daredevil Month, I’ve included that page.  Daredevil page brought to us by :
Writer – Steve Englehart
Penciler Louis Williams
Inker Al Williamson

Avengers

Avengers versus X-Men

Bozz Chronicles

Captain America

Care Bears

X-Factor

Uncanny X-Men by
Writer Louis Simonson
Penciler Alan Kupperberg
Inker Art Nichols

New Mutants by
Writer Louis Simonson
Artist Art Adams

Chuck Norris, Karate Kommandos

Classic X-Men

Cloak and Dagger

Comet Man

Conan the Barbarian

Conan the King

Dakota North Investigations

Daredevil

Doctor Strange

Star Wars Droids

Elektra

ElfQuest

Ewoks

Fallen Angels

Fantastic Four

Fantastic Four meet the X-Men

GI Joe

GI Joe Special Missions

Sergie Aragone’s Groo the Wanderer

Groo Graphic Novel

Grown-Up Thermonuclear Samurai Elephants

Heathcliff

Hugga Bunch

Incredible Hulk

Inhumanoids

Iron Man

Madballs

Marvel Fanfare

Marvel Saga

Marvel Tales

Masters of the Universe

Moonshadow

Moonshadow the Graphic Novel

Muppet Babies

The ‘Nam

New Mutants

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe

Official Marvel Index to – Uncanny X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Marvel Team-Up and Spectacular Spider-Man

Power Pack by
Writer Louis Simonson
Penciler Jon Bogdanove
Inker Art Nichols
Kitty made it to a panel!

Spectacular Spider-Man

Peter Porker, Spectacular Spider-Ham

Phoenix

Popples

Power Pack

Savage Sword of Conan

Savage Tales

Silver Surfer

Amazing Spider-Man versus Wolverine

Steelgrip Starkey and the All Purpose Power Tool

Strikeforce Morituri

Swords of the Swashbucklers

Mighty Thor

Thundercats

Secret Life of Top Dog

Transformers

Web of Spider-Man

West Coast Avengers

Wolfpack

X-Factor

Uncanny X-Men

I really like seeing all of the logos of these titles.