X-Men #100 (August, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Welcome to the fourth and last of our posts commemorating May, 1976 as “Marvel Milestone Month“.  Our subject this time out is X-Men #100 — and like a couple of the earlier comics we’ve discussed in this special series, its “numerical milestone” status calls for a qualifying comment, though for a different reason than those others.  In the case of both Captain America #200 and Thor #250, the books had reached their impressive issue counts only with the help of the earlier, originally superhero-free titles whose numbering they’d inherited (Tales of Suspense and Journey into Mystery, respectively).  X-Men #100, on the other hand, was without question the hundredth sequential issue of a periodical that had never gone by another name, and had always been about a team of mutant heroes led by one Professor X; it’s just that every issue from #67 through #93 had featured a reprint of an earlier story.  Technically, X-Men #100 presented only the 73rd actual X-Men story; but, hey, if Cap and Thor could get away with fudging their numbers, why shouldn’t Marvel’s merry mutants?  (Though we should probably give the Avengers a Special Achievement Award, seeing as how theirs was the only one of this month’s milestones whose issue number didn’t call for an asterisk.)  Read More

Avengers #150 (August, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Welcome to the third of our posts commemorating May, 1976 as “Marvel Milestone Month“.  Following our looks at Captain America #200 and Thor #250, this time around we’re taking on the “Spectacular 150th Anniversary Special” issue of Avengers… although we’ll actually be spending more time on the following month’s issue, #151, since the “official” milestone issue turned out to be a disappointing misfire… unless, of course, you really were jonesing back then for an incomplete reprint of Avengers #16 (May, 1965) fronted by a mere six pages of new material from writer Steve Englehart and artist George Pérez.  Read More

Thor #250 (August, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Welcome to the second installment in our series of four posts commemorating May, 1976 as “Marvel Milestone Month“.  Last time, we looked at Captain America’s “Special Bicentennial Issue”, aka Captain America #200; this go-round, it’s “The Spectacular 250th Issue!” of the four-color home of everyone’s favorite Norse God of Thunder.  (Technically, it’s only the 125th issue of this publication released under the title Thor; for its first 125 issues, the book was officially known as Journey into Mystery, and what’s more, the Son of Odin didn’t even show up until #83.  But I bet you already knew all that, didn’t you?)  Read More

Captain America #200 (August, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Welcome, all, to the first of four blog posts in which we’ll be commemorating May, 1976 as “Marvel Milestone Month” — a month in which, in a manner both unprecedented and (to the best of my knowledge), never repeated, four major Marvel Comics titles all celebrated a significant numerical milestone (“significant” being defined for our purposes as “a multiple of 50”) within a couple of weeks of each other.  Read More

Ghost Rider #19 (August, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

At the end of last Saturday’s Tomb of Dracula #47 post, I promised you that the next installment of this blog would feature “the strange, sad story of Ghost Rider #19.”  But, as anyone out there who already knows some version of this tale is well aware, its origins go back well before the May, 1976 publication of the comic whose Gil Kane-Frank Giacoia cover appears at the top of this post.  To begin with, this specific issue presents the conclusion of a multi-part storyline that had kicked off in Ghost Rider #17; but beyond that, the ongoing plot lines that find their (more or less) ultimate resolution in this arc extend back at least to Ghost Rider #8 (Oct., 1974)… and, arguably, all the way back to the feature’s debut in Marvel Spotlight #5 (Aug., 1972).  And seeing as how we haven’t discussed any issues of this series since July, 2023, when we hit the high points of Ghost Rider #1 and #2 in the context of covering the debut of spinoff character Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, in Marvel Spotlight #12 (Oct., 1973), we’re going to have to do some catching up to properly set the stage.  So let’s get to it, shall we?  Read More

Tomb of Dracula #47 (August, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Back in March we took a look at Tomb of Dracula #45, which in addition to chronicling the first face-to-face meeting between Blade, the Vampire Slayer, and Hannibal King, the Vampire Detective (and their subsequent decision to team up against their common enemy Deacon Frost) also served as the kickoff for a major new story arc, as our titular star became acquainted with a congregation of Satan worshipers and got the brilliant idea not just to pose as their infernal Dark Lord, but to take one of their number, the lovely and mysterious Domini, in unholy matrimony.  Read More

Howard the Duck #4 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Prior to the release of today’s featured comic fifty years ago this month, only three artists had lent their pencils to delineating the adventures of Marvel Comics’ newest superstar, at least officially:  Val Mayerik, who’d drawn the character’s debut appearances in Fear #19 and Man-Thing #1; Frank Brunner, who’d illustrated the two solo strips that subsequently appeared in Giant-Size Man-Thing #4 and #5, as well as issues #1 and #2 of Howard’s self-titled series; and John Buscema, who’d done the same for the third and most recent issue.  Read More

Avengers #149 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

The issue of Marvel Comics’ Avengers that we’re discussing today is the first ever of the title to have had not only its interiors, but also its cover, pencilled by artist George Pérez (though we should note for the record that John Romita is alleged to have done some touch-ups on the piece, and that the inks were provided by Frank Giacoia).  That seems quite appropriate, given that Avengers #149 also brings to a close the storyline that kicked off with Pérez’s first outing on the title, in issue #141; besides that, it’s a really attractive piece of work (especially if you’re as big a fan of the Mighty Thor as is your humble blogger)… and, of course, the first of many fine George Pérez Avengers cover to follow.  Read More

Omega the Unknown #3 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Back in December, we took a look at the first issue of Omega the Unknown — Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes’ 1975-77 Marvel Comics series that was just as much about a seemingly “normal” 12-year-old boy named James-Michael Starling as it was about the strange visitor from another planet that gave the book its title (if not more so).

This time out, we’ll be looking at the next two installments of the bimonthly title, beginning with issue #2 — which, as you can tell from the Rich Buckler-Al Milgrom cover shown at left, featured a special guest appearance by one of Marvel’s biggest stars, the Incredible Hulk — before proceeding to #3 — which, as you can tell from the Gil Kane-Frank Giacoia cover shown above, featured Omega’s run-in with one of Marvel’s longest-active supervillains, the Spider-Man adversary known as Electro.  Read More

Astonishing Tales #36 (July, 1976)

Posted on by Alan Stewart

Rich Buckler’s cover for this issue of Astonishing Tales is one of the most striking ones he ever did for his “Deathlock the Demolisher” series, featuring a design-forward approach that clearly displays the influence of Jim Steranko (though without being a direct “lift” from any of that artist’s individual works, to the best of my knowledge).  Interestingly, although the cover’s copy announces “a new beginning” for the feature, its imagery comes almost entirely from previous episodes (among other elements, it prominently features two characters — Deathlok’s arch-foe, Major Simon Ryker, and his one-time friend, Mike Travers — who don’t appear in this issue at all).  But perhaps Buckler’s choice to look back is appropriate, as, fifty years ago this month, the 36th issue of Astonishing Tales turned out to be the last one for the title — a fact which, intentionally or not, retrospectively allows its cover to serve as a sort of commemorative piece for the entire “Deathlok” series.  Read More