Spider-Man introduces what is arguably the first comics publishing imprint, Star Comics, in this issue of Marvel Age, with an article on Fraggle Rock, an interview with editor Tom DeFalco, an article on the origins of the line, and even a Hembeck Page about Wally the Wizard and writer/artist Bob Bolling, better known to fans for his work on Little Archie. The Star Comics line would stick around for four years and include over 30 titles -- many of them miniseries, and most of them licensed rather than original properties. (I'm defining "imprint" as a cohesive  line of titles that bears its own brand that's not the publisher's main name, and is dedicated to publishing a particular kind of comics.) The articles include introductory art and preliminary story pages. 

While the Star Comics coverage is fun, the centerpiece of this issue is a dense, four-page article called "Behind the Lines: Special Report -- The Story Behind the Avengers/JLA Team-Up Controversy." Not surprisingly, the article (which bears no byline) lays the blame at the feet of the DC staff for delays in delivering a plot, not sharing information about how and who needs to approve the plot, and letting artist George Pérez start drawing when the story had not been approved. It's a terse read that provides insights into how tense the situation between Marvel and DC was at the time. 

Also in this issue, "The Marvel Books Checklist" provides a list of books from this arm of the Marvel publishing empire, and is mostly interesting for the books of new material -- activity, puzzle and coloring books, mostly -- with full credits for writers like Jim Salicrup and David Anthony Kraft, as well as artists who didn't do much comics work for modern-day Marvel, like Joe Edwards and Winslow Mortimer, as well as relative newcomer Owen McCarron. 

Last things I'll mention are a couple of ads. The inside front cover features an ad for Void Indigo, an Epic Comics series that started in a Marvel Graphic Novel and is mostly remembered for causing a public outcry due to what was seen as excessive violence. The series would run only two issues before Marvel decided to pull the plug rather than continue to court controversy. And the back cover for Epic Illustrated #26 featuring the start of "The Last Galactus Story" includes the tagline, "How will it end?" As many of us know...it won't. End, that is. 

Marvel Age #19

Price: $0.35 US 

Pages: 36 (32 interior plus four covers)

On sale: July 10, 1984

Cover date: October, 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

• Harry Candelario, Rob Carosella, Phil Felix, Morrie Kuramoto, Ken Lopez, John Morelli, 

  and Barry Shapiro: Production

• Brenda Mings: Typesetter

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

• Craig Anderson and Lynn Cohen: Friendly Assistance 

• Carol Kalish: Direct Sales Manager

• Peter David: Assistant Direct Sales Manager

• Steve Saffel: Assistant Promotions Manager for Direct Sales

• Irving Forbush: Star

Front cover 

• Characters: Spider-Man and the stars of the Star Comics line 

 Inside front cover

• Ad for the Void Indigo graphic novel

 

Page 1

• Marvel Agenda (contents) 

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

Editorial: "New Stars in the Marvel Universe," by Jim Salicrup

Pages 2 – 5

Marvel Comics Coming Attractions

Titles on sale July 24

• The Thing #17

• Daredevil #212

• New Mutants #21

• The Muppets Take Manhattan #1, 2 and 3

• Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #7

• West Coast Avengers #3

• Machine Man #3

• Conan the King #25

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #4

Titles on sale July 31

• Amazing Spider-Man #258

• Captain America #299

• Thor #349

• Indiana Jones #23

• Power Pack #4

• Micronauts #2

• Crystar #10

• Sub-Mariner #3

• Fantastic Four Annual #18

• Savage Sword of Conan #105

Titles on sale August 7

• 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

• Temple of Doom (sic) #3

• The Last Star Fighters (sic) #2

• Marvel Age Magazine #20

• Thor Annual #12

• Marvel Fanfare #17

• Graphic Novel #12 - Void Indigo (sic)

Titles on sale August 14

• Fantastic Four #272

• Marvel Team-Up #147

• Iron Man #188

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #96

• The New Defenders #137

• Star Wars #89

• Alpha Flight #16

• Kitty and Wolverine (sic) #1

• Hulk Annual #13

• Epic Illustrated #26

• Starriors #1

Pages 6 - 7

More Coming Attractions (no specific on sale dates listed)

Shipping in August

• The Thing #18

• Daredevil #213

• New Mutants #22

• 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 (sic) #18

• Dreadstar #14

• Crash Ryan #1

• Amazing Spider-Man #259

• Indiana Jones #24

• Power Pack #5

• Micronauts #3

• Alpha Flight #17

• Doctor Strange #68

• Kull the Conqueror #7

• The Last Star Fighters (sic) #3

• Sub-Mariner #4

• Black Panther #2

• Captain America #300

• Rom Annual #3

• Savage Sword of Conan #106

• Alien Legion #4

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

• Incredible Hulk #302

• Conan (sic) #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

• Marvel Graphic Novel #13 - Starstruck

• Fantastic Four #273

• Marvel Team-Up #189

• Iron Man #189

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #97

• The New Defenders #138

• Star Wars #90

• Starriors #2

• Kitty and Wolverine (sic) #2

• What If #48

• Conan Annual (sic) #9

• X-Men Annual #8

• Doctor Who #3

• Six from Sirius #4

• Timespirits #1

Shipping in September

• The Thing #19

• Daredevil #214

• New Mutants #23

• Dazzler #35

• Muppets (sic) #3

• Red Sonja #5

• Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #9

• Machine Man #4

• Iceman #2

• Buckeroo Banzai (sic) #2

• Dazzler / Beast (sic) #2

• Conan the King #26

• Crash Ryan #2

• Amazing Spider-Man #260

• Captain America #301

• Thor #351

• Indiana Jones #25

• Power Pack #6

• Micronauts #4

• Black Panther #3

• Transformers #3

• Conan II (sic) 

• New Mutants Annual #1

• Savage Sword of Conan #107

• Sisterhood of Steel #1

• Incredible Hulk #303

• Avengers #251

• Conan (sic) #166

• Marvel Tales #171

• X-Men #189

• Rom #62

• Power Man (sic) #113

• G.I. Joe #31

• Sheena, Queen of the Jungle (sic) #2

• Marvel Age #22

• Marvel Fanfare #18

• Dreadstar #15

• Void Indigo #1

• Fantastic Four #274

• Marvel Team-Up #274

• Iron Man #190

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #98

• Defenders (sic) #139

• Star Wars #91

• Alpha Flight #18

• Starriors #3

• Kitty & Wolverine (sic) #3

• Dr. Who (sic) #4

• Coyote #9

• Epic Illustrated #27

Page 8

Newswatch

Item: Howard Mackie joins staff as an assistant editor

Item: Watch for a new video presentation coming to comics shops and conventions covering titles including Dreadstar and Frankenstein

Item: Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, is getting his own series

Item: Rod Whigham is drawing G.I. Joe #31 and the Lightrunner graphic novel; Michael Golden is doing covers for Indiana Jones #2, Kull #6, Peter Porker #1, and Savage Sword of Conan #105; Chris Warner will be the artist on Moon Knight, the Fist on Khonshu; Andy Mushynsky will be the inker on G.I. Joe; and Jerry Acerno will be the inker on Power Man and Iron Fist

Pages 9 - 12

Behind the Lines: Special Report -- The Story Behind the Avengers/JLA Team-Up Controversy

Page 13 

Subscription ad - art by John Byrne 

Pages 14 - 15

Article: "Star Comics Presents: Fraggle Rock," by Andrew Coe

Pages 16 - 17

Hembeck's Page in Marvel Age -- Discussing the new series Wally the Wizard

Pages 18 - 21

Article: "The Marvel Age Interview: Tom DeFalco," by Jim Massara

Pages 22 - 23 

Article: "The Origin of Star Comics," by Jim Massara

Page 23

Star Comics Coming Attractions

Titles shipping September 11

• Planet Terry #1

• Fraggle Rock #1

• Heathcliff #1

Titles shipping September 25

• Wally the Wizard #1

• Top Dog #1

• Strawberry Shortcake #1

Titles shipping October 9

• The Muppet Babies #1

• The Ewoks #1

Titles shipping October 23

• Royal Roy #1

• Get Along Gang #1

Pages 24 - 26

Article: "The Marvel Age -- 1966 (Part II)" by Warren Reece

Pages 27 - 29

The Marvel Books Checklist, by Dwight Jon Zimmerman 

Page 30 

Bullpen Bulletins

Pages 31 - 32

Letters Page: "MARVEL languAGE," suggested by Kenny Everhart 

Inside back cover

Ad for Power Pack

Back cover

Ad for Epic Illustrated #26 featuring "The Last Galactus Story" 

 

In a strange case of time-travel corporate synergy, this issue of Marvel Age promotes Marvel's comics adaptation of The Muppets Take Manhattan -- and surely, no one could have guessed back in 1984 that one day both Marvel and the Muppets would both answer to the same corporate overlords at Disney. 

The issue begins with "An Important Message" from Jim Salicrup, in which Jim writes that starting with Marvel Age #18 the "Coming Attractions" section will hype comics on sale in one month rather than those on sale in three months, thus making them more accurate. Makes sense, right?

Editor Jim Salicrup himself is the subject of this issue's "Behind the Lines," written by Jim Shooter, who describes Salicrup rather strangely -- but compliments him as a visionary who led the way in deluxe format reprints and other new ideas. Here's Salicrup as described by Shooter, illustrated by Ron Zalme. 

John Romita Jr. talks about his upcoming run on the X-Men in the "Marvel Age Interview," saying that he has his own approach that won't look like anything that came before under artists Dave Cockrum, John Byrne, or Paul Smith. The interview opens with a drawing of John, the X-Men, Iron Man, and Spider-Man by Jack Abel, and includes pencil art and sneak peeks finished art from an upcoming issue. 

"Hembeck's Page in Marvel Age" looks at some of the more questionable costume choices from Marvel history. My favorite might be the miniskirt costume Hawkeye wore for 20 issues or so.

And this month's "New Talent Department" spotlights inker Jerry Acerno, whose work is critiqued by legendary inker Joe Rubinstein. 

The issue wraps up with an ad for Epic Illustrated #25, which touts a new story by Bernie Wrightson but does not show the issue's cover by Wrightson's former studio mate, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, followed by an ad...for Marvel Age! (I always love when a comic runs an ad for itself.) 

Marvel Age #17

Price: $0.35 US 

Pages: 36 (32 interior plus four covers)

On sale: May 8, 1984

Cover date: August, 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, Morrie Kuramoto, Ken Lopez, John Morelli, 

  and Barry Shapiro: Production

• Brenda Mings: Typesetter

• Paul Becton and George Roussos: Colorists

• Craig Anderson and Lynn Cohen: Friendly Assistance

• Warren Kremer: Cover 

• Carol Kalish: Direct Sales Manager

• Peter David: Assistant Direct Sales Manager

• Marsha Rosenberg: Sales Manager for Special Events

• Steve Saffel: Assistant Promotions Manager for Direct Sales

• Irving Forbush: Mutated Muppet

Front cover 

• Characters: The Muppets

 Inside front cover

• Ad for The Sub-Mariner

 

Page 1

• Marvel Agenda (contents) 

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

Editorial: "An Important Message from Jim Salicrup," by Jim Salicrup

Pages 2 – 5

Marvel Comics Coming Attractions 

Titles on sale July 24

• The Thing #17

• Daredevil #212

• New Mutants #21

• The Muppets Take Manhattan #1, 2, and 3

• Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #7

• West Coast Avengers #3

• Machine Man #3

• Conan the King #25

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #4

Titles on sale July 31

• Amazing Spider-Man #258

• Captain America #299

• Thor #349

• Indiana Jones #23

• Power Pack #4

• Micronauts #2

• Crystar #10

• Sub-Mariner #3

• Fantastic Four Annual #18

• Savage Sword of Conan #105

Titles on sale August 7

• 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

• Temple of Doom (sic) #3

• The Last Star Fighters (sic) #2

• Marvel Age Magazine #20

• Thor Annual #12

• Marvel Fanfare #17

Titles on sale August 14

• Fantastic Four #272

• Marvel Team-Up #147

• Iron Man #188

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #96

• The New Defenders #137

• Star Wars #89

• Alpha Flight #16

• Kitty and Wolverine #1

• Hulk Annual #13

• Epic Illustrated #26

Page 6

Newswatch

• Item: Mike Carlin has been promoted to editor, and will handle the Fantastic Four, Rom, Dazzler, The Thing, and more. Editor Bob Budiansky will shift toward special projects. 

• Item: Statement regarding a lawsuit between a comic book printer, First Comics, and Marvel. 

• Item: Jim Owsley is the new writer on Power Man and Iron Fist.

• Item: The Machine Man limited series is coming soon.

• Item: Kevin Nowlan has designed the logos for Solomon Kane, Gargoyle, and The Punisher, while Walter Simonson designed the logo for Alien Legion.

• Item: The Magneto limited series is scheduled for November. Red Sonja will have four monthly issues in 1984, then continue bimonthly in 1985. The following annuals will ship from June through October: Iron Man Annual #7, Spider-Man Annual #18, Fantastic Four Annual #18, Thor Annual #12, Hulk Annual # 13, Peter Parker Annual (sic) #1, Rom Annual #3, Marvel Team-Up Annual #7, Conan Annual #9, X-Men Annual #8, New Mutants Annual #1, and Star Wars Annual #4. Shipping changes for these Super Specials: Temple of Doom (sic) #30, The Last Star Fighters (sic) #31, and The Muppets Take Manhattan #32. Coyote will continue past its initial six-issues on a bimonthly schedule. Questprobe #1 will ship in April. Six from Sirius #1 will ship in May with a $1.50 cover price. Dr. Who #1 will ship in June. 

Page 7 

Behind the Lines: "Editorial Directions," by Jim Shooter

Pages 8 - 10

Article: "The Transformers," by Dwight Jon Zimmerman

Pages 11 - 15

Article: "The Marvel Age Interview: John Romita Jr.," by Mark Lerer

Pages 16 - 17

Hembeck's Pages, focusing on questionable costume designs. 

Pages 18 - 20

Article: "The Muppets Come to Marvel," by Andrew Coe

Pages 21 - 22

Article: "Secret Wars Update," by Andrew Coe

Pages 23 - 25

Article: "The Marvel Age: 1965," by Warren Reece

Page 26

Bullpen Bulletins

Pages 27 - 29

The New Talent Department

Pages 30 - 32

Letters column: "The Marvel Age Sage Page," art by Rick Parker 

Inside back cover

Ad for Epic Illustrated #25, featuring a new story written and illustrated by Bernie Wrightson entitled "The Potty's Over." 

Back cover

Ad for Marvel Age 

Just two issues after featuring Dreadstar on the cover of Marvel Age, this issue spotlights a host of characters from the Epic Comics line, with legendary writer/editor Archie Goodwin front and center. The cover accompanies an interview with Goodwin that highlights the Epic line. This cover was also the first major contribution to Marvel Age by cartoonist/letterer Rick Parker, who would soon become famous as the artist of the Beavis and Butt-Head comic. 

The "Behind the Lines" column features an open letter from Marvel EIC Jim Shooter to DC VP - Executive Editor Dick Giordano, in which Shooter chides Giordano (in the nicest popular terms) for publishing claims in The Flash #332 that Marvel was about to raise its prices. Shooter finishes by writing that DC owes Marvel a retraction. 

Fred Hembeck refers to himself this month as "The Sage of Marvel Age," a title I thought I had made up myself. Well, since Fred isn't currently using it I believe I'll hold on to it.  

"The New Talent Department" takes on the difficult topic of would-be writers trying to break into comics. Marvel Age assistant editor Mark Lerer submits his proposal for a character called Decathlon to Jim Shooter, who points out ways in which the story could be improved. 

Marvel Age #15

Price: $0.35 US 

Pages: 36 (32 interior plus four covers)

On sale: March 13, 1984

Cover date: June, 1984

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

• Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

• Editor and Design Director: Jim Salicrup

• Assistant Editor: Mark Lerer

• Coming Attractions: Jim Massara

• Designer: Bob Kessel

• Art/Production Coordinator: Dan Crespi

• Assistant Art/Production Coordinator: Ron Zalme

• Production: Joe Albelo, Harry Candelario, Rob Carosella, Donald Hudson, Morrie Kuramoto, 

    Ken Lopez, John Morelli, and Barry Shapiro

• Typesetters: Brenda Mings

• Colorists: Paul Becton and George Roussos

• Friendly Assistance: Craig Anderson and Lynn Cohen

• Cover Artist: Rick Parker

• Direct Sales Manager: Carol Kalish

• Assistant Direct Sales Managers: Peter David, Marsha Rosenberg, and Steve Saffel

• Back in the Saddle Again: Irving Forbush 

Front cover 

• Characters: Archie Goodwin and the stars of the Epic Comics line

 Inside front cover

• Subscription ad for Epic Illustrated

 

Page 1

• Contents

• Masthead 

• Indicia 

Editorial: "Money Talks!" by Jim Salicrup

Takes on the rarely covered topic of tipping your comics writers and artists. A note pasted over the editorial explains that the pressure of editing a monthly magazine has clearly gotten to Jim, and he should be ignored.

Pages 2 – 5

Marvel Comics Coming Attractions 

Comics on sale May 22

• The Thing #15

• Daredevil #210

• New Mutants #19

• Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #5

• Conan the King #24

Comics on sale May 29

• Amazing Spider-Man #256

• Captain America #297

• Thor #347

• Indiana Jones #21

• Power Pack #2

• Crystar #9

• Savage Sword of Conan #103

Comics on sale June 5

• Incredible Hulk #299

• Avengers #247

• Conan the Barbarian #162

• Marvel Tales #167

• X-Men #185

• Rom #58

• Power Man and Iron Fist #109

• G.I. Joe #27

• Marvel Fanfare #16

• Dreadstar #12

• Epic Illustrated #25

Comics on sale June 12

• Fantastic Four #270

• Marvel Team-Up #145

• Iron Man #186

• Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #94

• The New Defenders #135

• Star Wars #87

• Alpha Flight #14

Page 6

Newswatch

Item: Mike Carlin to take over as writer on The Thing

Item: Marvel to publish index magazines

Item: Daredevil #208 and 209 will be written by science fiction authors Harlen Ellison and Arthur Byron Cover

Item: Shipping changes for Elektra Saga #4, Coyote #5, and Micronauts #59

Item: Ka-Zar ends with issue #34, Moon Knight ends with issue #38, and Micronauts ends with issue #59

Item: Micronauts and Moon Knight will relaunch with new #1 issues

Item: Hulk Annual #13 will ship on July 17, and Power Pack #1 will be a 48-page issue with a cover price of $1.00. 

Note on the passing of comics writer Lennie Herman

Marvel's Top Ten, by Jim Salicrup

Top ten titles for June, 1983

1 - X-Men #170

2 - New Mutants #4

3 - Fantastic Four #255

4 - Amazing Spider-Man #241

5 - Avengers #231

6 - X-Men Classics #2

7 - Daredevil #195

8 - Dark Crystal #2

9 - Incredible Hulk #284

10 - Super-Villain Classics #1

Page 7 

Behind the Lines

Pages 8 - 11

Article: "The G.I. Joe File," by Dwight Jon Zimmerman

Page 12 - 15

Article: "Marvel Age: 1963," by Warren Reece

Pages 16 - 17

"The Sage of Marvel Age, Fred Hembeck"

Pages 18 - 22

Article: "Marvel Age Talks to Archie Goodwin," by Mark Lerer

Pages 23 - 26

Article: "Spotlight on Marvel Fanfare," by Sandy Hausler and Mark Lerer

Pages 27 - 28

New Talent Department

Page 29

Bullpen Bulletins

Pages 30 - 32

Letters column: "The Marvel Age Rage Page" 

Inside back cover

Ad for The Official Marvel Comics Try-Out Book 

Back cover 

Subscription ad for Epic Illustrated