Marvel continued its expansion policy of the 1980s with the introduction of The New Universe and its eight new series, with the star of the lead title, Star Brand, hitting the cover of this month's Marvel Age. This was the month that all core Marvel titles featured a celebratory 25th anniversary frame, drawn by John Romita; Marvel Age took it a little further with the reverse shot on the back cover, which added a few diminutive characters like Obnoxio the Clown, Forbush Man, and Howard the Duck.
The New Universe was Marvel's third large expansion in three years, following the introduction of the Epic Comics line and Star Comics, but the creation of a shared universe outside of Marvel's more familiar universe did not go over well with fans, and the "World Outside Your Window" effectively ended within a couple of years of its launch.
Meanwhile, the Mutant Report focused on the "Mutant Massacre," an early crossover event that was advertised in this issue with this image featuring new by Walter Simonson.
Marvel Age #44
Price: $0.50 US
Pages: 36 (32 interior plus four covers)
On sale: August 5, 1986
Cover date: November, 1986
Copyright © 1986 Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation.
• Jim Shooter: Editor in Chief
• Jim Salicrup: Editor and Design Director
• Adam Philips: Assistant Editor
• Barbara Johnston: Designer
• Dwight Jon Zimmerman: Coming Attractions
• Bill Slaviscek: Mutant Reporter
• Fred Hembeck: Sage of Marvel Age
• Craig Anderson, Adam Blaustein, Eliot Brown, Nancy Brown, Bob Budiansky, Bobbie Chase, Daniel Chichester, Margaret Clark, Don Daley, Tom DeFalco, Jo Duffy, Danny Fingeroth, 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, Jim Owsley, Carl Potts, Pat Redding, and Joanne Spaldo: Consulting Editors
• John Romita: Art Director
• Tom Morgan: Assistant Art Director
• Mark Alexander, Jose Marzan and Mark McKenna: Romita's Raiders
• Anita Duncan: Art/Production Coordinator
• Doreen Frederick: Assistant Production Coordinator
• Brenda Mings: Typesetter
• Jack Abel: Proofreader
• George Roussos and Adam Philips: Colorists
• Alan Kupperberg and Joe Sinnott: Cover art
• Paul Becton, Harry Candelario, Rob Carosella, Dawn Geiger, Veronica Lawlor, Ken Lopez, Michael Maier, Bill Oakley, and Bill Vallely: Production
• Virginia Romita: Traffic Manager
• Christine Aurilia and Lynn Cohen: Friendly Assistance
• Steve Sheffler: 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: Between Universes
Front cover
• Characters: Star Brand
Inside front cover
• Salicrup's Section
• Marvel Agenda (contents)
• Masthead
• Indicia
Pages 1 - 5
Marvel Coming Attractions
Titles on sale August 26
- Dakota North #4
- Daredevil #237
- G.I. Joe Special Missions #2
- Hugga Bunch #2
- Psi-Force #2
- Nightmask #2
- West Coast Avengers #15
- Moonshadow #10
- Strikeforce: Morituri #1
- The New Mutant #46
- Thundercats #7
- Web of Spider-Man #7
Titles on sale September 2
- Merc #2
- Kickers, Inc. #2
- Alpha Flight #41
- Animax #1
- Doctor Strange #80
- Captain America #324
- Groo the Wanderer #22
- Heathcliff #13
- Labyrinth #1
- The Amazing Spider-Man #283
- The Transformers Movie #1
- Power Pack #27
- Star Comics Digest #1
- Amazing High Adventure #5
- Savage Sword of Conan #130
Titles on sale September 9
- Marvel Age Magazine #45
- The Avengers #274
- Conan the Barbarian #189
- D.P. 7 #2
- Justice #2
- Marvel Saga #13
- G.I. Joe #54
- Howard the Duck #1
- The Official Marvel Comics Handbook to the Transformers Universe #1
- The Incredible Hulk #326
- Marvel Tales #194
- The Nam #1
- Elektra #3
- Solarman #1
- X-Men #272
Titles on sale September 16
- Droids #5
- Elfquest #17
- Fantastic Four #297
- Classic X-Men #4
- The Official Marvel Handbook to the G.I. Joe Universe #2
- Alien Legion #16
- Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #121
- Popples #1
- Thor #374
- Top Dog #11
- The Transformers #23
- X-Factor #11
- Spitfire #3
- Star Brand #3
- G.I. Joe Digest #1
- Iron Man #213
- The Official Marvel Comics Handbook to the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #13
- Steelgrip Starkey #4
Pages 6 - 7
More Coming Attractions
Titles shipping September
- Cloak and Dagger #10
- Daredevil #238
- Defenders of the Earth #1
- Masters of the Universe #5
- Strike Force Morituri #2
- The New Mutants #47
- Night Mask #3
- Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #13
- Psi-Force #3
- Web of Spider-Man #16
- Conan the King #38
- X-Men Annual #10
- Mephisto #1
- Swords of the Swashbucklers #10
- Alpha Flight #42
- Captain America #325
- Chuck Norris and His Karate Kommandos #1
- Ewoks #11
- G.I. Joe and the Transformers #1
- Groo the Wanderer #23
- Kickers, Inc. #3
- Labyrinth #3
- Merc (sic) #3
- The Amazing Spider-Man #284
- The Transformers Movie (sic) #2
- The Official Marvel Comics Index to the X-Men #1
- Bozz Chronicles #6
- The Amazing Spider-Man Digest #1
- Savage Sword of Conan #131
- Dracula graphic novel (sic)
- Marvel Age Magazine #46
- The Avengers #275
- Conan the Barbarian #190
- D.P. 7 #3
- G.I. Joe #44
- Howard the Duck #2
- The Incredible Hulk #327
- Justice #3
- Marvel Tales #195
- Muppet Babies #11
- The Nam #2
- X-Men #213
- The Marvel Saga #14
- The Official Marvel Comics Handbook to the Transformers Universe #2
- Elektra #4
- Marvel Fanfare #30
- Care Bears #8
- Elfquest #18
- Fantastic Four #298
- The Inhumanoids #1
- Iron Man #214
- Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #122
- Spitfire and the Troubleshooters #4
- Star Brand #4
- Thor #375
- The Transformers #24
- X-Factor #12
- Classic X-Men #5
- The Official Marvel Comics Handbook to the G.I. Joe Universe #3
- Savage Tales #8
- Steelgrip Starkey #5
- The Transformers Digest #1
- The Marvel Universe Handbook Trade Paperback #1
Titles shipping October
- Comet Man #1
- Dakota North #5
- Daredevil #239
- G.I. Joe Special Missions #3
- Hugga Bunch #3
- Strikeforce: Morituri #3
- The New Mutants #48
- Night Mask #4
- Psi-Force #4
- Thundercats #8
- Web of Spider-Man #17
- West Coast Avengers #17
- Conan Annual #10
- Mephisto #2
- Moonshadow #11
- Alpha Flight #43
- Animax #2
- Captain America #326
- Doctor Strange #81
- G.I. Joe and the Transformers #2
- Groo the Wanderer #24
- Heathcliff #14
- Kickers, Inc. #4
- Merc #4
- The Amazing Spider-Man #285
- The Transformers Movie #3
- Power Pack #28
- The Official Marvel Comics Index to Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #1
- The Fantastic Four Vs. the X-Men #1
- Savage Sword of Conan #132
- Star Comics Digest #2
- Marvel Age Magazine #47
- The Avengers #276
- Conan the Barbarian #191
- D.P. 7 #4
- G.I. Joe #56
- Howard the Duck #3
- The Incredible Hulk #328
- Justice #4
- Marvel Tales #196
- The Nam #3
- X-Men #214
- The Marvel Saga #15
- The Official Marvel Comics Handbook to the Transformers Universe #3
- Elektra #5
- Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1
- Alien Legion graphic novel
- Droids #6
- Elfquest #19
- Fantastic Four #299
- Iron Man #215
- Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #123
- Popples #2
- Spitfire and the Troubleshooters #5
- Star Brand #5
- Top Dog #12
- Thor #376
- The Transformers #25
- X-Factor #13
- Classic X-Men #6
- The Official Marvel Handbook to the G.I. Joe Universe #4
- Alien Legion #17
- G.I. Joe Digest #2
- The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #15
- Steelgrip Starkey #6
Page 8
Newswatch
Item: The team-up between Frank Miller and Walter Simonson on Daredevil will now be a stand-alone special issue. (Sadly it never was published.)
Item: Tell your local comics shop to get in touch with Marvel for the Official Marvel Birthday Party Kit.
Item: Marvel teams up with the America Booksellers Association, with the slogan "Giving the Gift of Literacy" on Marvel covers.
Item: Assistant editor Rosemary McCormick-Lowy has joined Bob Budiansky's office; replacing her in Carl Potts' editorial office is newcomer Joanne Spaldo.
The Top Ten
May 1986
- Classic X-Men #1
- X-Men #209
- X-Factor #8
- Marvel Universe #10
- Web of Spider-Man Annual #2
- Alpha Flight Annual #1
- Alpha Flight #38
- New Mutant #43
- G.I. Joe #51
- Fantastic Four #294
Bullpen Birthdays
Pages 9 - 11
The Mutant Report
Article: "Spider-Man vs. Wolverine"
Article: "Mutant Massacre Mayhem"
Article: "More Mutant News"
Pages 12 - 14
Article: "The Expanding Transformers Universe," by Bill Slavicsek
Page 15
Stan's Soapbox
Pages 16 - 17
Hembeck's Page in Marvel Age
Pages 18 - 26
Article: "Behold...the New Universe," by Dwight Jon Zimmerman
Pages 27 - 29
Article: "The Marvel Age - 1972 (part IV)," by Sholly Fisch
Pages 30 - 32
Letters page: "Letters Column of the Month Club," suggested by Nathan Strum
Inside back cover
Ad: "The Marvel Mutant Massacre Map"
Back cover
Reverse shot of the front cover, including Obnoxio the Clown, Forbush Man, and Howard the Duck
