The Epic Comics line added yet another new title with Starstruck, a miniseries by writer Elaine Lee and artist Michael Kaluta that made the cover of Marvel Age #26. The title spun out of Marvel Graphic Novel #13, and was inspire by a 1980 stage play of the same name. 

The success of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe led to the one-shot Official Handbook of the Conan Universe, featured in this issue of Marvel Age in both an article and the Fred Hembeck comic. 

This is also the issue of Marvel Age in which I made my first contribution, writing the article "The World of the Sectaurs," about a miniseries based on the Sectaurs toy line from Coleco. I have to wonder if anyone remembers this particular project. 

Even more exciting than the Sectaurs, this issue of Marvel Age features the debut of a beloved feature -- the Marvel Age calendar, written by Jim Salicrup and illustrated by Ron Zalme. To play catch up, this issue features both the January and February 1985 calendar pages. 

Marvel Age #26

Price: $0.35 US 

Pages: 36 (32 interior plus four covers)

On sale: February 5, 1985

Cover date: May, 1985

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

• Jim Shooter: Editor in Chief

• Jim Salicrup: Editor and Design Director

• Kurt Busiek: Assistant Editor

• Janet Jackson: Designer

• Dwight Jon Zimmerman: Coming Attractions

• Dan Crespi: Art/Production Coordinator

• Ron Zalme: Assistant Art/Production Coordinator

• Harry Candelario, Rob Carosella, Phil Felix, Morrie Kuramoto, John Morelli, Miriam Larsson, and Barry Shapiro: Production

• Brenda Mings: Typesetter

• Paul Becton, Ken Feduniewicz, and George Roussos: Colorists

• Lynn Cohen and Chantee Foster: Friendly Assistance 

• Michael Wm. Kaluta: Cover 

• Carol Kalish: Direct Sales Manager

• Peter David: Assistant Direct Sales Manager

• Steve Saffel: Assistant Promotions Manager for Direct Sales

• Irving Forbush: Awestruck, Stagestruck, and Dumbstruck 

Front cover 

• Characters: Starstruck

 Inside front cover

• Marvel Agenda (contents) 

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

Editorial by Jim Salicrup (continues on page 8)

 

Pages 1 - 5

Marvel Comics Coming Attractions

Titles on sale February 26

• The Thing #24

• Daredevil #219

• New Mutants #28

• Web of Spider-Man #3

• Planet Terry #3

• Fraggle Rock #2

• Strawberry Shortcake #2

• Gargoyle #1

• Iceman #4

• Sectaurs #1

• Beauty and the Beast #4

• Starstruck #2

Titles on sale March 

• The Amazing Spider-Man #265

• Captain America #306

• Power Pack #11

• Micronauts #9

• Alpha Flight #23

• Wally the Wizard #3

• Top Dog #2

• Heathcliff #2

• Doctor Strange #71

• Dune #3

• Groo the Wanderer #4

• Savage Sword of Conan #112

• Sisterhood of Steel #3

Titles on sale March 12

• Marvel Age Magazine #27

• The Incredible Hulk #308

• The Avengers #258

• Conan #171

• Marvel Tales #171

• X-Men #194

• Rom #67

• Moon Knight #1

• Kull the Conqueror #10

• G.I. Joe #36

• Alien Legion #7

• Dreadstar #18

Titles on sale March 19 

• Fantastic Four #279

• Iron Man #195

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #103

• The New Defenders #144

• Star Wars #96

• Thor #356

• The Transformers #6

• Rocket Raccoon #2

• Spider-Man Index #3

• Doctor Who #9

Pages 6 - 7

More Coming Attractions

Titles shipping in March

• The Thing #25

• The New Mutants #29

• Daredevil #220

• Web of Spider-Man #4

• Planet Terry #4

• Cloak and Dagger #2

• Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham #2

• Dreadstar and Company #1

• Gargoyle #2

• Conan the King #29

• Moonshadow #2

• The Amazing Spider-Man #260

• Captain America #307

• Power Pack #12

• Micronauts #10

• Wally the Wizard #4

• The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #30

• Dazzler #38

• Ewoks #2

• Groo the Wanderer #5

• Alpha Flight #24

• Savage Sword of Conan #113

• Black Dragon #1

• Marvel Age Magazine #28

• The Incredible Hulk #309

• The Avengers #257

• Conan #172

• Marvel Tales #177

• X-Men #195

• Rom #68

• Moon Knight #2

• Power Man and Iron Fist #118

• Royal Roy #2

• Muppet Babies #2

• Get Along Gang #2

• G.I. Joe #37

• Marvel Fanfare #21

• Fantastic Four #280

• Iron Man #196

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #104

• The New Defenders #145

• Star Wars #97

• Thor #357

• Transformers #6

• Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars II #1

• Rocket Raccoon #3

• Spider-Man Index #4

• Doctor Who #10

• Swords of the Swashbucklers #2

• Epic Illustrated #30

Titles shipping in April 

• The Thing #26

• Daredevil #221

• New Mutants #30

• Web of Spider-Man #5

• Planet Terry #5

• Fraggle Rock #3

• Strawberry Shortcake #3

• Red Sonja #10

• Dreadstar and Company #2

• Gargoyle #3

• Rawhide Kid #1

• Sectaurs #2

• Starstruck #3

• The Life of Captain Marvel #1

• The Amazing Spider-Man #267

• Captain America #308

• Power Pack #13

• Micronauts #11

• Alpha Flight #25

• Wally the Wizard #5

• Top Doc #3

• Heathcliff #3

• Doctor Strange #72

• Groo the Wanderer #6

• Savage Sword of Conan #114

• Black Dragon #2

• Alien Legion #8

• Sisterhood of Steel #4

• Marvel Age #29

• The Incredible Hulk #310

• The Avengers #258

• Conan #173

• Marvel Tales #178

• X-Men #196

• Rom #69

• Moon Knight #3

• G.I. Joe #38

• Dreadstar #19

• Fantastic Four #281

• Iron Man #197

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #105

• The New Defenders #146

• Star Wars #98

• Thor #358

• Transformers #7

• Elfquest #1

• Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars II #2

• Rocket Raccoon #4

• Spider-Man Index #5

• Doctor Who #11

• Time Spirits #5

Pages 9 

Newswatch 

Item: Hulk writer Bill Mantlo and artist Mike Mignola will take over as the creative team on Alpha Flight with issue #29; John Byrne will leave Alpha Flight to become writer/artist on the Hulk with issue #314.

Item: Rick Buckler has returned to Marvel to pencil Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man and Iron Man. Al Milgrom will move from Spectacular Spider-Man to West Coast Avengers; Iron Man artist Luke McDonnell is drawing a three-part story for Spectacular Spider-Man. 

Item: Marvel Tales is about to move from the Lee/Ditko era of Amazing Spider-Man to the Lee/ Romita era. 

Item: Archie Goodwin and Paul Chadwick will be the new creative team on The Dazzler. 

Item: Secret Wars II, the sequel to the smash-hit Marvel Super Secret Wars, is coming soon from writer Jim Shooter and artists Sal Buscema and Steve Leialoha. (The comic would actually be pencilled by Al Milgrom, not Sal Buscema.) 

Pages 10 - 11

Article: "Starstruck by Starstruck," by Sandy Hausler

Pages 14 - 15 

Article: "The Official Handbook of the Conan Universe," by Dwight Jon Zimmerman 

Pages 16 - 17 

Hembeck's page in Marvel Age

Pages 18 - 20

Article: "Unfurling the Raven Banner," by Steve Ringgenberg

Pages 21 - 24 

Article: "The World of the Sectaurs," by Adam Philips

Page 25

Article: "Star Spotlight on Wally," by Sandy Hausler

Pages 26 - 28

Article: "The Marvel Age -- 1967 (Part 1)," by Kurt Busiek

Pages 29

Bullpen Bulletins

Pages 30 - 32

Letters column: "Call Me Age-Mail" or "A Whale of a Letters Page," suggested by designer Janet Jackson and inker Andy Mushynsky

Inside back cover

The Marvel Age Calendar for January 1985, written by Jim Salicrup with art by Ron Zalme

Back cover

The Marvel Age Calendar for February 1985, written by Jim Salicrup with art by Ron Zalme

 

The two names fans most wanted to hear from in 1983 -- Stan Lee and Jim Shooter -- are featured in a lengthy interview in Marvel Age #8, under a cover illustrated by Ron Zalme. This is one of those covers that doesn't promote anything in particular other than Marvel itself, but that didn't make it any less appealing. (Love that magenta shirt and yellow/black pants combo!) 

This cover also features the first appearance of Irving Forbush, the Marvel Age mascot who would go on to symbolize the spirit of fun the magazine stood for. 

The 11-page interview covers what Stan was up to at the time -- developing movie projects, mostly -- and how Jim got started in comics and made his way to Marvel. Along the way, they discuss two stories I'd heard about for years but never saw in print: How Iron Man got his nose (Stan saw a very flat looking Iron Man mask and said "Doesn't he have a nose?"), and why Stan hates green on covers (he doesn't, but the one time he said something seems to have had a big impact). 

As for those movies...here's the list:

    • An original super-hero project created by Shooter and George Romero

    • A Human Torch movie from Columbia pictures

    • A live action X-Men movie from Nelvana 

    • A Dazzler movie

    • A Spider-Man movie produced by Roger Corman

    • A Black Widow movie -- probably not this one

    • A Daredevil movie

    • A Captain America...Broadway show

Also in this issue, Marvel Age explains why The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe was expanding by two issues (answer: because you demanded it!), and an article explaining who the Golden Age characters that appear in the then-current reprint of the Avengers Kree/Skrull War epic were, with what appears to be a new piece of art by John Byrne and Jack Abel. 

Paul Smith and John Romita Jr., then rising star artists, are also profiled this issue. And the New Talent Department spotlights future G.I. Joe artist Rod Whigham, who Marvel editor Bob Budiansky had met at a comic book convention. 

More Conan comedy courtesy of Paul Smith

Marvel Age #8

Price: $0.25 US 

Pages: 36 (32 interior plus four covers)

On sale: August 9, 1983

Cover date: November 1983 

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

• Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

• Editor and Design Director: Jim Salicrup

• Editorial Assistant: Mark Lerer

• Art/Production Coordinator: Danny Crespi

• Assistant Art/Production Coordinator: Ron Zalme

• Production: Joe Albelo, Harry Candelario, Rob Carosella, Ken Lopez, Morrie Kuramoto, John 

  Morelli, and Barry Shapiro

• Typesetters: Nancy Dodaro and Carl Gafford

• Colorist: George Roussos

• Friendly Assistance: Lynn Cohen and Margaret Clark

• Cover: Ron Zalme 

• Direct Sales Manager: Carol Kalish

• Assistant Direct Sales Managers: Peter David and Lea Sapp

• Corner Symbol: Irving Forbush

Front cover 

• Characters: Stan Lee, Jim Shooter and friends 

 Inside front cover

• Ad for The New Defenders

 

Page 1

• Contents

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

Editorial: "Get Well, Stan" (Stan Lee had recently undergone minor surgery) 

Pages 2 – 5

• Marvel Comics Coming Attactions 

Red Sonja art by Howard Chaykin -- not sure what it's from

Comics on sale October 25, 1983 

    • The Thing #8

    • Daredevil #203

    • New Mutants #12

    • Ka-Zar #30

    • Red Sonja #4

    • The Falcon #4

    • Kull the Conqueror #4

    • Hercules #1

    • Conan Annual #8

    • The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #13

Comics on sale November 1, 1983

    • Amazing Spider-Man #249

    • Captain America #290

    • Thor #340

    • The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #134

    • Savage Sword of Conan #96

    • Doctor Strange #63

    • U.S. 1 #8

    • X-Men/Micronauts #2

    • Illyana and Storm #3

Comics on sale November 8, 1983

    • Incredible Hulk #292

    • Avengers #240

    • Conan #155

    • Marvel Tales #160

    • X-Men #178

    • Rom #51

    • Power Man and Iron Fist #102

    • G.I. Joe #20

    • Marvel Age Magazine #11

    • The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #14 

Comics on sale November 15, 1983

    • Fantastic Four #263

    • Marvel Team-Up #138

    • Iron Man #179

    • Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #87

    • Defenders #128

    • Star Wars #80

    • Alpha Flight #7

    • Coyote #5

    • What If #43

    • Jack of Hearts #2

Page 5

    Last Minute Additions...

        • Tales of Asgard #1, on sale October 25

        • Marvel Fanfare Special Edition #1, on sale November 1 (doesn't look like this published) 

        • The Super Boxers Graphic Novel #9 (sic), on sale November 8

        • Micronauts Special Edition #3, on sale November 15

        • Captain America Special Edition #1, on sale November 15

Page 6

    Newswatch

    Items on:

    • Jack of Hearts miniseries with art by George Freeman

    • Marvel Team-Up Thrillers trade paperback 

Pages 7 - 8

    Behind the Lines

    • "Short story" by Larry Hama about the Abomination 

    • Al Milgrom on the job of an editor

    • "In Your Future," by Carl Potts, about Alien Legin

Pages 9 - 19

    Article: "The Marvel Age Magazine Interview: Stan Lee and Jim Shooter"

Not sure why this was stuck in the middle of the Stan Lee and Jim Shooter interview, but it's probably the best cover of the month, hands down... 

Pages 20 - 21

    Article: "The Marvel Universe Expanded," by Mark Lerer 

    Covers three extra issues of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe

Pages 22 - 24

    Article: "Golden Age Greats, Revisited," by Warren Reece

    Covers Golden Age heroes

Pages 25 - 27

    Article: "A Tale of Two Artists," by Robert Sodaro and Mark Lerer 

    Article on artists Paul Smith and John Romita Jr. 

Pages 28 - 30

    The New Talent Department

    Spotlight on artist Rod Whigham

Pages 31 - 32

    Letters: "Mark Duncan's Page" (because a guy named Mark Duncan wrote in and said, "Why not call it 'Mark Duncan's Page'?" Why not indeed.) 

Inside back cover

    Ad for the Cloak and Dagger miniseries

Back cover

    Ad for King Conan #20

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 

MARVEL AGE #1

Marvel Age made its debut in the spring of 1983 with a cover featuring...Crystar, crystal warrior? Yes, it's true -- and despite being drawn by the always awesome Walter Simsonson, it's a little weird not to have this issue feature, say, Spider-Man or the Avengers. This image is described as preliminary art; the final version that ran on The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior #1 was painted by Bob Larkin. 

The other odd thing about this premiere issue? It only runs 16 pages (plus four covers), which makes for a flimsy publication. 

Still, this issue has the basics for what would become the Marvel Age template: the Newswatch and Coming Attractions sections, behind the scenes articles, and fun art and interviews you wouldn't see anywhere else. 

Marvel Age #1

Price: $0.25 US 

Pages: 20 (16 interior plus four covers)

On sale: April 1983 

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

• Editor: Carol Kalish 

• Assistant Editor/Designer: Peter David 

• Production: Danny Crespi and Ron Zalme 

• Colorists: Paul Becton and George Roussos 

• Logo designer: John Morelli 

• Photographer: Eliot R. Brown 

• Guiding light: Jim Shooter

Front cover 

• Pencils/inks: Walter Simonson 

• Characters: Crystar (concept art) 

 Inside front cover 

• Ad for Spider-Woman #50

Page 1 

• “What Is Marvel Age?” — introduction

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

Pages 2 – 3: 

• Newswatch (no writing credits) 

Items on:

• Jim Shooter’s promotion to Vice President

• Marvel Halloween party 

• Kull the Conqueror #1 

• Star Slammers 

•  The Mysterions 

•  Red Sonja #1 

•  Thor – Walter Simonson slated to take over writing and pencilling 

•  Star Wars: Return of the Jedi movie adaptation 

•  List of all editorial offices and what books each handles 

• Jokes about issues being printed sideways and backwards 

Pages 4 – 6: 

• Marvel Comics Coming Attactions (no writing credits) 

    Summaries of: 

        The Thing #1 

        Dazzler #27 

        Ka-Zar #27 

        Daredevil #196 

        New Mutants #5 

        King Conan #17 

        The Mysterions #2 

        Amazing Spider-Man #242 

        Captain America #283 

        Thor #333 

        Crystar #2 

        Moon Knight #32 

        Indiana Jones #7 

        Kull the Conqueror #2 

        U.S. 1 #3 

        Micronauts #53 

        Incredible Hulk #285 

        Avengers #233 

        Conan the Barbarian #148 

        Marvel Tales #153 

        X-Men #171 

        Power Man/Iron Fist #95     

        G.I. Joe #13 

        Red Sonja #1 

        Rom #44 

        Fantastic Four #256 

        Marvel Team-Up #131 

        Iron Man #172 

        Peter Parker (sic) #80 

        Defenders #121 

        Star Wars #73 

        The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #7 

        Epic Illustrated #18 

        Dreadstar #4 

        Fire and Ice: Marvel Super Special #25 B    

        Bizarre Adventures #35 

        Savage Sword of Conan #89 

        Marvel Age #4 

        Fanfare (sic) #9 

 Page 6 

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

Pages 7 – 9 

• Article: “The Saga of Crystar” by Peter Sanderson

Pages 10 – 12 

• Article: “Editorial Notes” 

Brief essays by editors on their work, upcoming comics, how to break into the field, etc. Notes by Jim Shooter,  Tom DeFalco, Denny O’Neil and Linda Grant, Ralph Macchio and Bob Harras, Louise Jones and Danny Fingeroth, Mark Gruenwald and Mike Carlin, Larry Hama and Jim Owsley, Archie Goodwin and Jo Duffy, Al Milgrom and Ann Nocenti 

Page 12: 

• Two-thirds page drawing of "Conan the Comedian" by Paul Smith 

Pages 13 – 16 

• Article: “Guidebook to the Cosmos: The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe” by Peter Sanderson  

Page 15: 

• Sidebar: “Guide Sheet for Marvel Universe” Guide to what makes the best figure drawing for character entries in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe 

Inside back cover 

• Ad for What If #89 

Back cover 

• Ad for Coyote