MARVEL AGE #2

 

Legendary artist John Byrne makes his Marvel Age debut with this cover featuring Alpha Flight, a team I used to call "Awful Flight," ha ha ha. (They were fine...I was young.) Byrne would go on to become M.A.'s most prolific cover artist, contributing a total of nine covers to the series' 140 issue run. This issue's cover is oddly similar to the cover to Alpha Flight #1 -- yellow sky, red logo, naturalistic setting. 

In this issue assistant editor Peter David hands the design chores over to Lea Sapp, who gives the layouts a cleaner, more open look. Also new in the credits: colorist Stan Goldberg (who I thought by this time was full-time cartooning for Archie Comics) and frequent future M.A. contributor Rick Parker. Rick is credited as a letterer here -- his cartooning days still lay ahead, as they say. 

Marvel Age #2

Price: $0.25 US 

Pages: 20 (16 interior plus four covers)

On sale: May 1983 

Copyright © 1983 Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation. 

• Editor: Carol Kalish 

• Assistant Editor: Peter David 

• Designer: Lea Sapp

• Production: Danny Crespi and Ron Zalme 

• Colorists: Stan Goldberg, Paul Becton and George Roussos 

• Letterer: Rick Parker 

• Logo designer: John Morelli 

• Photographer: Eliot R. Brown 

• Guiding light: Jim Shooter

Front cover 

• Pencils/inks: John Byrne

• Characters: Alpha Flight

 Inside front cover 

• Triptych ad for The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (drawing by Ron Zalme), Spider-Woman and Iron Man

Page 1 

• Contents

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

Pages 2 – 4

• Marvel Comics Coming Attactions (no writing credits) 

Comics on sale April 26, 1983 - May 17 1983

    Summaries of: 

        The Thing #2

        Daredevil #197

        The New Mutants #6

        Incredible Hulk Annual #12

        The Amazing Spider-Man #243

        Captain America #284

        Thor #334

        Indiana Jones #8

        U.S. 1 #4

        Dr. Strange #60 (sic)

        Incredible Hulk #286

        Avengers #234

        Conan #149

        Marvel Tales #154

        Rom #45

        G.I. Joe #14

        The Uncanny X-Men #172

        Power Man/Iron Fist #96 

        Marvel Team-Up #132

        Iron Man #173

        Star Wars #74

        Fantastic Four #257

        Defenders #122

        Peter Parker #81 (sic)

        The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #8

        Alpha Flight #1

        What If #40

        Coyote #2

        Savage Sword of Conan #90

        Return of the Jedi -- Marvel Super Special #26

        Blip #5 (for those who don't recall this one, it was a comic-sized magazine about video games that ran seven issues)

        Marvel Age #5

 Page 4 

• Marvel Comic Retractions

        Corrections on previous listings on:

        Indiana Jones #7

        Star Wars #73

        Moon Knight #32

        New Mutants #5

• One-third page ad for retailers to be listed in the Marvel Comics Super Mart 

Page 5

• Art feature: "The Space Slammers"  

    Couple of paragraphs on the graphic novel Star Slammers by Walter Simonson with art from a 1974 convention souvenir book appearance of the team under their earlier name, the Space Slammers. 

Page 6

• News Watch

    Items on:

    • A one-scene crossover between Daredevil #96 and Iron Man #171 (both stories have scenes set at parties, so writer Denny O'Neil made it the same party)

    • Don't worry, everyone -- Bill Sienkiewicz hasn't left Marvel. He's drawing covers for The Dazzler. 

    • The logo to Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #78 is not chopped up in any way --  apparently several recent issues had messed around with the logo in various ways

    • Marvel will be adapting the upcoming James Bond movie Octopussy, it is reported with absolutely no snickering. 

    • The difficulties of super-heroes changing their names while being listed under their old names in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe are examined.

    • The Mysterions, listed in Marvel Age #1 as a new series coming soon, will not be coming soon. The toy company that owns the property has gone out of business. (Dish that dirt, Marvel Age!) 

   • Lea Sapp moves into a new role as Carol Kalish's assistant. She was formerly an administrative assistant to Jim Shooter

   • Bob Budiansky joins staff as an editor

Pages 7 – 10

• Article: “Alpha Flight” by Patrick O'Neill

        Interview with John Byrne about the new series with art from the first issue. 

Page 11-13

• Behind the Lines

    Items on:

       • Ralph Macchio on New York City as depicted in comics by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz. 

        • Larry Hama on the end of Crazy Magazine 

        • Dennis O'Neil on Bizarre Adventures

        • Jim Shooter on new talent submissions

        • Louise Jones and Danny Fingeroth on new artists including Paul Smith, Ron Frenz (both former animators in Canada), and Armando Gil

        • Archie Goodwin and Jo Duffy on Bernie Wrightson's illustrated Frankenstein. 

        • Mark Gruenwald on the end of Spider-Woman

        • Tom DeFalco on Amazing Spider-Man 

Pages 13 – 16 

• Article: “Life Among the Barbarians" by Neil Patterson

    Covers Conan tie-in titles Red Sonja and Kull the Conqueror, which are confusingly described as "bi-monthly titles published four times a year." 

Inside back cover 

• Ad for U.S. 1

Back cover 

• Ad for Kull the Conqueror II