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 

 

There's a lot to unpack on the cover of Marvel Age #18! The image, drawn by Luke McDonnell and Steve Mitchell, shows great coherence considering it features James Rhodes as the new Iron Man (promoting an interview with writer Denny O'Neil) looking at a screen with the Hulk on it (for Questprobe) while another screen highlights Hembeck's Page in Marvel Age, with a drawing that has to be by our Fred. 

The editorial that opens the issue celebrates new additions to Marvel Age, as well as the one-year anniversary of Jim Salicrup's tenure as editor, as well as teasing Star Comics, and promising an update on the Justice League of America / Avengers crossover soon. We'll see about that... 

This is also the month of a double helping of Marvel Comic Attractions, as the section switches over from a three-month ahead schedule to just one-month. 

The lead article this month covers the Questprobe comics series, tying into the video game of the same name, created by Scott Adams -- no, not the guy who created Dilbert after all. The comics series would go on to run three issues -- #1, starring the Hulk; #2, starring Spider-Man; and #3, starring the Thing and the Human Torch. (The fourth issue, starring the X-Men, was published in Marvel Fanfare #33 when the game didn't come out.) 

That's not the only game on the table in this issue of Marvel Age, though. There's also an article on the TSR Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Game, with art by Sal Buscema.

The Marvel Age Interview with Denny O'Neil focuses on his acclaimed work as writer of both Iron Man and Daredevil. O'Neil discusses his love of collaboration with artists like David Mazzucchelli and Luke McDonnell, and lays out what it means to be an alcoholic with great sensitivity and understanding. He also talks about the titles he edits, and singles out Jim Owsley for praise as the new writer on Power Man and Iron Fist. 

And the New Talent Department this month focuses on a future comics and animation star, Kyle Baker, who here has submitted his sample pages for the X-Men. John Romita provides commentary, saying that the pages are pretty great, but would benefit from a few closeups to provide variation. 

Marvel Age #18

Price: $0.35 US 

Pages: 36 (32 interior plus four covers)

On sale: June 5, 1984

Cover date: September, 1984

Copyright © 1984 Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation. 

• Jim Shooter: Editor in Chief

• Jim Salicrup: Editor and Design Director

• Mark Lerer: Assistant Editor

• Bob Kessel: Designer

• Jim Massara: Coming Attractions

• Dan Crespi: Art/Production Coordinator

• Ron Zalme: Assistant Art/Production Coordinator

• Joe Albelo, Harry Candelario, Rob Carosella, Phil Felix, Morrie Kuramoto, John Morelli, 

  and Barry Shapiro: Production

• Brenda Mings: Typesetter

• Paul Becton and George Roussos: Colorists

• Craig Anderson and Lynn Cohen: Friendly Assistance

• Luke McDonnell and Steve Mitchell: Cover 

• Carol Kalish: Direct Sales Manager

• Steve Saffel: Assistant Promotions Manager for Direct Sales

• Peter David: Assistant Direct Sales Manager

• Marsha Rosenberg: Sales Manager for Special Events

• Irving Forbush: Video Ga-ga

Front cover 

• Characters: The Hulk and Iron Man (James Rhodes) 

 Inside front cover

• Ad for The Official Marvel Comics Try-Out Book 

 

Page 1

• Marvel Agenda (contents) 

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

Editorial: "Jumbled Jargon to to Cajole and Confuse You," or, "Salicrup's Soapbox," by Jim Salicrup

Pages 2 – 5

Marvel Comics Coming Attractions (two months ahead)

Titles on sale June 26

• The Thing #16

• Daredevil #211

• New Mutants #20

• Dazzler #34

• The Muppets Takes Manhattan #1, 2 and 3

• Ka-Zar #34

• Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #6

• West Coast Avengers #2

• Machine Man #1

• Marvel Team-Up Annual #7

Titles on sale July 3

• Amazing Spider-Man #257

• Captain America #248

• Thor #348

• Indiana Jones #22

• Power Pack #3

• Micronauts: the New Voyages #1

• Doctor Strange #67

• U.S. 1 #12

• The Last Star Fighters (sic) #1, 2 and 3

• Sub-Mariner #2

• Iron Man Annual #7

• Savage Sword of Conan #103

• Alien Legion #3

• Marvel Super Special #32: The Muppets Take Manhattan 

Titles on sale July 10

• Avenger #248

• Conan the Barbarian #163

• Marvel Tales #168

• Rom #59

• Power Man and Iron Fist #110

• G.I. Joe #28

• Kull the Conqueror #6

• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom #2

• Incredible Hulk #300

• X-Men #186

• Marvel Age Magazine #19

• Marvel Graphic Novel #11: Dazzler

Titles on sale July 17

• Fantastic Four #271

• Marvel Team-Up #146

• Iron Man #187

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #95

• The New Defenders #136

• Star Wars #88

• Alpha Flight #15

• What If #47

• Doctor Who #1

• Dreadstar #13

• Six from Sirius #2

Pages 5 - 8

More Coming Attractions (one month ahead - no specific on sale dates listed)

Shipping in July

• The Thing #17

• Daredevil #212

• New Mutants #21

• Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #7

• West Coast Avengers #3

• Machine Man #2

• Conan the King #25

• Peter Parker Annual (sic) #4

• Amazing Spider-Man #258

• Captain America #299

• Thor #349

• Indiana Jones #23

• Power Pack #4

• Micronauts #2

• Crystar #10

• Sub-Mariner #3

• Black Panther #1

• Transformers #2

• Fantastic Four Annual #18

• Savage Sword of Conan #105

• Marvel Super Special #33: Buckeroo Banzai (sic) 

• Incredible Hulk #301

• Avengers #249

• Conan the Barbarian #164

• Marvel Tales #169

• X-Men #187

• Rom #60

• Power Man and Iron Fist #111

• G.I. Joe #29

• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom #3

• The Last Star Fighters (sic) #2

• Marvel Age Magazine #20

• Thor Annual #12

• Avengers Annual #13

• Marvel Fanfare #17

• Fantastic Four #272

• Iron Man #188

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #96

• Marvel Team-Up #147

• The New Defenders #137

• Star Wars #89

• Alpha Flight #16

• Starriors #1

• Kitty & Wolverine (sic) #1

• Hulk Annual #13

• Doctor Who #2

• Coyote #8

• Marvel Super Special #34: Sheena of the Jungle (sic) 

• Six from Sirius #3

• Epic Illustrated #26

• Marvel Graphic Novel: Void Indigo

Shipping in August 

• The Thing #18

• Daredevil #23

• New Mutants #22

• Dazzler #35

• The Muppets (sic) #2

• Marvel Super Heroes: The Secret Wars (sic) #8

• West Coast Avengers #4

• Machine Man #3

• Iceman #1 

• Buckeroo Bonzai (sic) #1

• Spider-Man Annual #18

• Dreadstar #14

• Amazing Spider-Man #259

• Indiana Jones #24

• Power Pack #5

• Micronauts #3

• Doctor Strange #68

• Kull the Conqueror #7

• The Last Star Fighters (sic) #3

• Sub-Mariner #4

• Black Panther #2

• Captain America #300

• Thor #350

• Rom Annual #3

• Savage Sword of Conan #106

• Alien Legion #4

• Marvel Super Special #35: Conan II (sic)

• Incredible Hulk #302

• Conan #165

• Marvel Tales #170

• X-Men #188

• Rom #61

• Power Man and Iron Fist #112

• G.I. Joe #30

• Sheena of the Jungle (sic) #1

• Avengers #250

• Marvel Age #21

• Fantastic Four #273

• Marvel Team-Up #148

• Iron Man #189

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #97

• The New Defenders #138

• Star Wars #90

• Alpha Flight #17

• Starriors #2

• Kitty and Wolverine (sic) #2

• What If #48

• Conan Annual #9

• X-Men Annual #8

• Doctor Who #3

• Six from Sirius #4

Page 9 

Newswatch

• Item: Stan Lee will script Spider-Man Annual #18, and What If #50 will be based on the story from Fantastic Four #60.

• Item: Spider-Man and Power Pack will appear in an educational comic about child abuse.

• Item: Coyote will add a backup feature starring the Djinn starting with issue #7. Alien Legion will feature the art of newcomer Chris Warner. Changes are coming for Dreadstar this summer, along with the debuts of Six from Sirius, Void Indigo, Crash Ryan, and Starstruck. 

• Item: Jim Salicrup takes over as the writer on The Transformers with issue #2. Crystar has been cancelled. Linda Grant will be the new writer and Ricardo Villamonte the new artist on The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones. John Byrne takes over as writer of The Thing with #19. Steve Ditko is the new artist on Rom. Bill Mantlo has written and Pat Broderick has pencilled Red Sonja #5-7. 

Pages 10 - 12

Article: "Computers and Comics: Introducing Questprobe," by Robert J. Sodaro

Pages 13 - 15

Article: "The Marvel Age -- 1966 (Part I)

Pages 16 - 17 

Hembeck's Page in Marvel Age

Pages 18 - 20

Article: "Introducing the Marvel Super Heroes Role Playing Game," by Steve Saffel

Page 19

Sidebar: "The TSR Story..." 

Pages 21 - 25

Article: "The Marvel Age Interview: Denny O'Neil," by Mark Lerer

Pages 26 - 28

The New Talent Department 

Page 29

Behind the Lines

Pages 29

Marvel Personal Appearances Calendar, compiled by Lynn Cohen

Pages 30 - 32

Letters page: "The Marvel Age Agglomeration Page," suggested by Lance Wright, header art by Rick Parker 

Inside back cover

Bullpen Bulletins

Back cover

Ad for Marvel Age