Do I dare say it was Miller time in Marvel Age #36? Well, cliché or not, that was the truth, as this issue had a gorgeous cover by artist David Mazzucchelli promoting his run on Daredevil with Miller on board as writer, the Elektra: Assassin miniseries, written by Miller and illustrated by Bill Sienkiewicz, and the Elektra Lives Again graphic novel, a solo Miller endeavor which would not come out till 1990. Fortunately the printing on these pages actually did justice to the artwork, some of which was painted -- a marked improvement over the reproduction in the previous issue! 

Ms. Marvel made a quick, trademark-protecting appearance on the cover of this issue and in Hembeck's Page in Marvel Age. The reason behind that appearance was blatantly stated in the story...as Ms. Marvel herself says, "The name and guise of Ms. Marvel have been in disuse of late, and the legal staff at Marvel Comics is getting frantic. They've afraid they'll lose custodianship of the name and trademark if she isn't utilized somewhere within their pages -- and quick!" Well, if you want a job done, give it to Fred Hembeck, right? 

And for some reason I got to write two Christmas-themed articles, one on holiday stories past and present in Marvel comics, and the other on the comics adaptation of Santa Claus: The Movie in Marvel Super Special #39. The Christmas coverage continued in the article "Gifts for a Marvelous Christmas," a roundup of current merchandise you could buy for yourself or your loved ones at the time. 

The Mutant Report in this issue includes a spotlight on artist Mary Wilshire, plus items on the return of the Toad in The Vision and Scarlet Witch #7, Nightcrawler's role in X-Men #204, and various mutant cameos in Alpha Flight #33 and 34. 

And the continuing redesigns of Marvel Age continued with this new look for the introductory page, courtesy of designer Janet "Jayjay" Jackson.... 

Marvel Age #36

Price: $0.35 US 

Pages: 36 (32 interior plus four covers)

On sale: December 10, 1985

Cover date: March, 1986

Copyright © 1985 Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation. 

• Jim Shooter: Editor in Chief

• Jim Salicrup: Editor and Design Director

• Adam Philips: Assistant Editor

• Janet Jackson and Aggie Kelley: Design

• Kurt Busiek: Coming Attractions

• Bill Slaviscek: Mutant Reporter

• Fred Hembeck: Sage of Marvel Age

• John Romita: Art Director

• Tom Morgan: Assistant Art Director

• James W. Fry, Jose Marzan, and Mark McKenna: Romita's Raiders

• Craig Anderson, Adam Blaustein, Eliot Brown, Nancy Brown, Bob Budiansky, Mike Carlin, Bobbie Chase, Margaret Clark, Don Daley, Tom DeFalco, Jo Duffy, Archie Goodwin, Mark Gruenwald, Bob Harras, Larry Hama, Mike Higgins, Sid Jacobson, Terry Kavanagh, Ralph Macchio, Howard Mackie, Rosemary McCormick-Lowy, Al Milgrom, Margie Neville, Ann Nocenti, Denny O'Neil, Jim Owsley, Carl Potts, Pat Redding, and Louise Simonson: Consulting Editors

• Anita Duncan: Art/Production Coordinator

• Brenda Mings: Typesetters

• Adam Philips and George Roussos: Colorists

• David Mazzucchelli: Cover

• Harry Candelario, Rob Carosella, Phil Felix, Dawn Geiger, Barbara Johnston, Aggie Kelley, Twinkie Lopez, Bill Oakley, Barry Shapiro, Bruce N. Solotoff, and Bill Vallely: Production

• Virginia Romita: Traffic Manager

• Christine Aurilia, Lynn Cohen, and Shoshana Mallet: Friendly Assistance 

• Sally Pomeroy: Rights and Permissions Editor

• Carol Kalish: Director of Specialty Sales

• Peter David: Direct Sales Manager Administrative

• Steve Saffel: Assistant Promotions Manager for Direct Sales

• Irving Forbush: Having a conversation with his Spider-Man^TM Talking Viewmaster

Front cover 

• Character: Daredevil 

 Inside front cover

• Salicrup's Section

• Marvel Agenda (contents) 

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

Pages 1 - 5

Marvel Coming Attractions

Titles on sale December 24

• The Thing #34
• Daredevil #229
• The New Mutants #38
• Web of Spider-Man #13
• Fraggle Rock #7 
• Thundercats #3
• Meet Misty #3
• The West Coast Avengers #7
• Squadron Supreme #8

Titles on sale December 31

• The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #5
• Captain America #316
• Power Pack #21
• Micronauts #19
• Alpha Flight #33
• Heathcliff #7
• Dr. Strange #76
• Groo the Wanderer #14
• The Vision and Scarlet Witch #7
• Firestar #2
• The Amazing Spider-Man #275
• The Fantastic Four Index #5
• Savage Sword of Conan #122
• Sisterhood of Steel #8
• The Bozz Chronicles #2

Titles on sale January 7

• Marvel Saga #5
• Dreadstar #23
• Marvel Age Magazine #37
• The Incredible Hulk #318
• The Avengers #266
• Conan the Barbarian #151
• Marvel Tales #186
• X-Men #204
• G.I. Joe #46
• The Eternals #7
• The Punisher #4

Titles on sale January 14

• Fantastic Four #289
• Iron Man #205
• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #113
• Transformers #15
• Thor #366
• X-Factor #3
• Top Dog #7
• Elfquest #9
• Doctor Who #19
• Six from Sirius 2 #3 

Pages 6 - 7 

More Coming Attractions 

Titles shipping in January 

• The Thing #35
• Daredevil #230
• New Mutants #39
• Web of Spider-Man #14
• West Coast Avengers #8
• Squadron Supreme #9
• The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #6
• Peter Porker (sic) #7
• Cloak and Dagger #6
• Conan the King #34
• Swords of the Swashbucklers #6
• Captain America #317
• Power Pack #22
• Micronauts #20
• Alpha Flight #34
• Groo the Wanderer #15
• The Vision and Scarlet Witch #8
• Firestar #3
• Amazing Spider-Man #276
• Fantastic Four Index #6
• Savage Sword of Conan #123
• Ewoks #7
• The One #5
• Marvel Age Magazine #38
• Muppet Babies #7
• Incredible Hulk #319
• Avengers #267
• Conan #182
• Marvel Tales #187
• X-Men #205
• Power Man and Iron Fist #123
• Solomon Kane #5
• G.I. Joe #47
• Eternals #8
• Punisher #5
• Balder the Brave #4
• Marvel Saga #6
• Marvel Fanfare #26
• Care Bears #4
• Fantastic Four #290 
• Iron Man #206
• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #114
• Star Wars #105
• Thor #367
• X-Factor #4
• Transformers #16
• Elfquest #10
• Sectaurs #6
• Doctor Who #20
• Six from Sirius 2 #4
• Savage Tales #4

Titles shipping in February 

• The Thing #36
• Daredevil #231
• New Mutants #40
• Fraggle Rock #7
• Droids #1
• Thundercats #4
• Meet Misty #4
• Web of Spider-Man #15
• West Coast Avengers #9
• Squadron Supreme #10
• The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #7
• Top Dog #8
• Heathcliff #8
• Captain America #318
• Power Pack #23
• Alpha Flight #35
• Doctor Strange #77
• Groo the Wanderer #16
• The Vision and Scarlet Witch #9
• Firestar #4
• Amazing Spider-Man #277
• Fantastic Four Index #7
• Savage Sword of Conan #124
• The Bozz Chronicles #3
• Marvel Age Magazine #39
• Incredible Hulk #320
• Avengers #268
• Conan #183
• Marvel Tales #188
• X-Men #206
• G.I. Joe #48
• Eternals #9
• Marvel Saga #7
• Dreadstar #24
• Fantastic Four #291
• Iron Man #207
• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #115
• Thor #368
• X-Factor #5
• Transformers #17
• Elfquest #11
• Doctor Who #21
• Alien Legion #13
• Moonshadow #7 

Page 8

Newswatch 

Item: Three new bimonthly Star Comics titles will make their debuts in December. They are Young Astronauts, Droids, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. 

Item: The first Australian comic convention will take place January 17 - 19 at the Sidney Opera House. 

Item: Sub-Mariner will guest-star in Alpha Flight for six issues, leading into a 1986 graphic novel starring Sub-Mariner and Alpha Flight together. 

Item: Following Howard the Duck's return to comics, he will star in a live-action movie coming in the summer of 1986, with George Lucas producing 

The Top Ten 

September, 1985

• Secret Wars II #7
• X-Men #201
• X-Men/Alpha Flight #2
• X-Men Annual #9
• Fantastic Four #286
• Marvel Universe #2
• Nightcrawler #3
• Avengers #263
• Cloak and Dagger #4
• West Coast Avengers #4 

Pages 9 - 10

Newswatch Extra

"Adventures of the Thunder Frog," by Steve Freitag

Page 11

Article: "Santa Claus Is Coming Your Way," by Adam Philips

Pages 12 - 13

The Mutant Report

Pages 14 - 15

Article: "Christmas, Marvel Style," by Adam Philips

Pages 16 - 17

Hembeck's Page in Marvel Age 

Pages 18 - 23

Article: "The Return of Frank Miller," by Sholly Fisch

Pages 24 - 26

Article: "Gifts for a Marvelous Christmas," by Bill Slaviscek

Pages 27 - 28

Article: "The Marvel Age: 1970," by Richard Bensam

Page 29 

Ad for Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Sectaurs

Pages 30 - 32

Letters column: "M.A.I.L. — Marvel Age Incoming Mail," suggested by Duane Jashensay

Inside back cover

Ad for Marvel Graphic Novel #20: Greenberg the Vampire

Back cover

The Marvel Age 1985 Calendar: December

Jim Salicrup - writer

Ron Zalme - artist

Adam Philips - colorist 

 

Marvel Age took fans on an unprecedented, day-long tour of the Marvel bullpen and editorial offices in issue #35, promoted on the cover as "A Day in the Life of Marvel Comics." Hardcover "day in the life of" coffee table books were all the rage in the 1980s, and this was Marvel's chance to jump on the bandwagon of this popular publishing trend. 

A dozen reporters were assembled to follow the editors around and take notes for a day -- I stuck like glue to Mike Carlin and tried to keep up with his nonstop jokes. It was a typical day in a comic book editorial office: editors arrived early, on time, or late; freelancers called in to discuss stories; packages arrived; corrections were made; people discussed how to handle any number of questions, from spelling to coloring; artists visited the office to drop off pages (this was long before scanning boards at home); forms were filled out; excuses were made; assignments were confirmed; and finally, at the end of the day, exhausted editors went home...except for one or two who stayed late to get a few more things done.

The reporters are listed below, but the story, which takes up 20 pages of the issue, was compiled and organized by Kurt Busiek, who was among the reporters on hand for that fateful July 2 day. The cover depicted the editorial staff, John Romita and his Raiders, and a few of the Marvel Age staff. Here's a key to the cover: 

Inker Andy Mushynsky served as the day's photographer...unfortunately, flexographic printing struck once more, and most of the pictures looked washed out, grainy, or weirdly distorted. 

Fearless Fred Hembeck got in the act, too, with his own "day in the life" profile of the relatively quiet life Marvel Age's cartoonist in residence. 

Marvel Age #35

Price: $0.35 US 

Pages: 36 (32 interior plus four covers)

On sale: November 5, 1985

Cover date: February, 1986

Copyright © 1985 Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation. 

• Jim Shooter: Editor in Chief

• Jim Salicrup: Editor and Design Director

• Adam Philips: Assistant Editor

• Dwight Jon Zimmerman: Coming Attractions

• Craig Anderson, Adam Blaustein, Nancy Brown, Bob Budiansky, Mike Carlin, Bobbie Chase, Margaret Clark, Don Daley, Tom DeFalco, Jo Duffy, Archie Goodwin, Mark Gruenwald, Bob Harras, Larry Hama, Mike Higgins, Sid Jacobson, Terry Kavanagh, Ralph Macchio, Howard Mackie, Rosemary McCormick-Lowy, Al Milgrom, Margie Neville, Ann Nocenti, Denny O'Neil, Jim Owsley, Carl Potts, Pat Redding, and Louise Simonson: Consulting Editors

• Janet Jackson and Aggie Kelley: Designers

• John Romita: Art Director

• James W. Fry, Mark McKenna, and Tom Morgan: Romita's Raiders

• Jim Novak: Art/Production Coordinator

• Brenda Mings : Typesetters

• Adam Philips and George Roussos: Colorists

• John Morelli: Assistant Art/Production Coordinator 

• Harry Candelario, Rob Carosella, Phil Felix, Dawn Geiger Barbara Johnston, Aggie Kelley, Miriam Larsson, Ken Lopez, Bill Oakley, Barry Shapiro, Bruce N. Solomon, and Bill Vallely: Production

• Virginia Romita: Traffic Manager

• Christine Aurilia, Lynn Cohen, and Shoshana Mallet: Friendly Assistance 

• James W. Fry and Tom Morgan: Cover 

• Sally Pomeroy: Rights and Permissions Editor

• Carol Kalish: Director of Specialty Sales

• Peter David: Direct Sales Manager Administrative

• Steve Saffel: Assistant Promotions Manager for Direct Sales

• Irving Forbush: Called in sick

Front cover 

• Characters: "All your Bullpen favorites!" 

 Inside front cover

• Salicrup's Section

• Marvel Agenda (contents) 

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

• The Top Ten

August 1985

• X-Men #200
• Secret Wars II #6
• Marvel Heroes for Hope #1
• X-Men/Alpha Flight #1
• Marvel Universe #1
• New Mutants Special #1
• Fantastic Four #285
• Nightcrawler #2
• West Coast Avengers #3
• Alpha Flight #29 

Pages 1 - 5

Marvel Coming Attractions

Titles on sale November 26

• The Thing #33
• Daredevil #228
• Planet Terry #12
• Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham #6
• Web of Spider-Man #12
• West Coast Avengers #6
• The New Mutants #37 -- A Secret Wars II tie-in
• Cloak and Dagger #5
• Squadron Supreme #7
• Conan the King #33
• The Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #4
• Swords of the Swashbucklers #5
• Moonshadow #6
• Starstruck #6

Titles on sale December 3

• Wally the Wizard #12
• Ewoks #6
• The Amazing Spider-Man #274 -- A Secret Wars II tie-in
• Captain America #315
• Power Pack #20
• Micronauts #18
• Alpha Flight #32
• The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #34
• Dazzler #42
• Groo #13
• The Vision and Scarlet Witch #6
• Firestar #1
• The Official Marvel Comics Index to the Fantastic Four #4
• Savage Sword of Conan #121
• The One #4

Titles on sale December 10

• Marvel Age Magazine #36
• Royal Roy #6
• Muppet Babies #6
• Getalong Gang #6
• The Incredible Hulk #317
• Conan #180
• The Avengers #265 -- A Secret Wars II tie-in
• Marvel Tales #185
• X-Men #203
• Power Man and Iron Fist #122
• The Sword of Solomon Kane #4
• G.I. Joe #45
• The Eternals #6
• The Punisher #3
• Balder the Brave #3
• Marvel Saga #4
• Marvel Fanfare #25

Titles on sale December 17

• Care Bears #3
• Fantastic Four #288
• Iron Man #204
• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #112
• Star Wars #104
• Thor #365
• X-Factor #2
• The Transformers #14
• Elfquest #8
• Secret Wars II #9
• Sectaurs #5
• The Official Marvel Comics Index to Marvel Team-Up #3
• Doctor Who #18
• Six from Sirius II #2
• Coyote #16
• Savage Tales #3
• Timespirits #8
• Epic Illustrated #34

Pages 6 - 7

More Coming Attractions

Titles shipping in December

• Fraggle Rock #7
• Strawberry Shortcake #7
• Thundercats #3
• Misty #3
• The Thing #34
• Daredevil #229
• The New Mutants #38
• Web of Spider-Man #13
• West Coast Avengers #7
• Squadron Supreme #8
• Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #5
• Top Dog #7
• Heathcliff #7
• The Amazing Spider-Man #275
• Captain America #316
• Power Pack #21
• Micronauts #19
• Alpha Flight #33
• Doctor Strange #76
• Groo the Wanderer #14
• The Vision and Scarlet Witch #7
• Firestar #2
• The Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four #5
• Savage Sword of Conan #122
• The Sisterhood of Steel #8
• Bozz Chronicles #2
• Marvel Age Magazine #37
• The Avengers #266
• Conan #181
• Marvel Tales #186
• X-Men #204
• G.I. Joe #46
• The Eternals #7
• The Punisher #4
• Marvel Saga #5
• Dreadstar #23
• Fantastic Four #289
• X-Factor #3
• The Transformers #15
• Elfquest #9
• The Official Marvel Index to Marvel Team-Up #4
• Doctor Who #19
• Alien Legion #12
• Six from Sirius II #3

Titles shipping in January 

• The Thing #35
• Daredevil #230
• The New Mutants #39
• Web of Spider-Man #14
• West Coast Avengers #8
• Planet Terry #13
• Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #7
• Cloak and Dagger #6
• Red Sonja #13
• Squadron Supreme #9
• Conan the King #34
• Moonshadow #7
• Swords of the Swashbucklers #6
• The Amazing Spider-Man #276
• Captain America #317
• Power Pack #22
• Micronauts #20
• Alpha Flight #34
• Wally the Wizard #13
• The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #35
• Ewoks #7
• Groo the Wanderer #15
• Firestar #3
• The Vision and Scarlet Witch #8
• The Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four #6
• Savage Sword of Conan #123
• The One #5
• Marvel Age Magazine #38
• The Incredible Hulk #319
• The Avengers #267
• Conan #182
• Marvel Tales #187
• X-Men #205
• Power Man and Iron Fist #123
• Royal Roy #7
• Muppet Babies #7
• Getalong Gang #7
• The Sword of Solomon Kane #5
• G.I. Joe #47
• The Punisher #5
• Balder the Brave #4
• Marvel Fanfare #6
• Fantastic Four #290
• Iron Man #206
• Peter Parker (sic) #114
• Thor #367
• X-Factor #4
• Star Wars #105
• Care Bears #4
• Transformers #10
• Sectaurs #6
• Doctor Who #20
• Savage Tales #4
• Six from Sirius II #4

Pages 8 - 15

Behind the Lines: A Day in the Life of Marvel Comics 

Compiled by Kurt Busiek, with reports by Christine Aurilia, Richard Bensam, Wendy Berger, Charlie Boatner, Kurt Busiek, Sholly Fisch, Steven Freitag, Len Kaminsky, Adam Philips, Mike Raub, Peter Sanderson, and Dwight Jon Zimmerman 

Pages 16 - 17

Hembeck's Page in Marvel Age

Pages 18 - 20

The Mutant Report: "Firestar: New Mutant on the Horizon," by Bill Slavicsek

Page 20

The Mutant Report sidebar

Mutant Extras: X-Factor #3 spotlights the Beast in "Regression Obsession"; The New Mutants guest star in Power Pack #20; New Mutants #37 is a Secret Wars II tie-in

Mutant Notes: Could Dark Phoenix make a return? Find out in X-Men #203 and Secret Wars II #9

Pages 21 - 32

Behind the Lines: A Day in the Life of Marvel Comics (continued) 

Inside back cover

Ad for Thundercats, Meet Misty, and Care Bears

Back cover

The Marvel Age 1985 Calendar -- November

Jim Salicrup -- writer

Ron Zalme -- artist

Adam Philips -- colorist