Hercules does his Hercules thing by showing off on this cover, lifting a giant cement block and the Amazing Spider-Man in art by Bob Layton. In an interview, Layton discusses a Spider-Man graphic novel he was working on at the time, which as far as I can see never came out. The plot would have included Peter Parker having an affair with a married wife of a mobster, who then shoots Peter nine times! Here's a taste of the art:
And speaking of projects that never saw the light of day, this issue's Coming Attractions includes a note about the legendary Avengers/Justice League of America crossover...
Issue #1 was not mentioned in Marvel Age #3, although the miniseries may have been planned to toggle back and forth between Marvel and DC each month.
There's also an article that juxtaposes Rock & Rule and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, two movies that have achieved similar levels of success and immortality...I kid, I kid!
Marvel Age #4
Price: $0.25 US
Pages: 20 (16 interior plus four covers)
On sale: July 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
• Typesetters: Nancy Dodaro and Wendy Cooper Fitzgerald
• Photostats: Rob Carosella and Harry Candelario
• Colorists: Stan Goldberg, Paul Becton and George Roussos
• Letterer: Rick Parker
• Logo: John Morelli
• Guiding light: Jim Shooter
Front cover
• Pencils/inks: Bob Layton
• Characters: Hercules, Spider-Man, the Recorder, and Skyppi the Skrull
Inside front cover
• Ad for Moon Knight #33 with art by Bill Sienkiewicz (Any Moon Knight experts out there know if this image is an unused cover?)
Page 1
• Contents
• Masthead
• Indicia
Pages 2 – 5
• Marvel Comics Coming Attactions (no writing credits)
Comics on sale June 7, 1983 - June 28, 1983
Summaries of:
• The Thing #4
• Ka-Zar #28
• Red Sonja #2
• New Mutants #8
• Daredevil #199
• Rom Annual #2
• Amazing Spider-Man #245
• Captain America #286
• Thor #336
• Indiana Jones #10
• U.S. 1 #6
• Hawkeye #2
• Dr. Strange #61
• Return to the Jedi #1
• Illyana & Storm #1
• Marvel/DC Presents #2: The Justice League & The Avengers (Well, that never made it to the stores!)
• Marvel Team-Up Annual #6
• Incredible Hulk #288
• Avengers #236
• Rom #47
• Conan the Barbarian #151
• Marvel Tales #156
• Power Man/Iron Fist #98
• G.I. Joe #16
• X-Men #174
• Cloak & Dagger #1
• Fantastic Four #259
• Marvel Team-Up #134
• Iron Man #175
• Peter Parker #83 (sic)
• Defenders #124
• Star Wars #76
• Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #10
• Alpha Flight #3
• What If #41
• Captain America Annual #7
• Marvel Super Special #28: Krull
• Savage Sword of Conan #92
• Blip #7
• Bizarre Adventures #36
• Marvel Age #7
• Coyote #3
Page 5
• Marvel Coming Retractions
Corrections on previous listings on:
• The cover of Marvel Age #6 now will feature Cloak and Dagger
• The story for New Mutants #7 now will appear in issue #8
• Less than one-third page ad for retailers to be listed in the Marvel Comics Super Mart
• Disclaimer in tiny type: "While we never knowingly print inaccurate information in these pages, Marvel Comics reserves the right to make any changes that become necessary. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. -- The Bullpen"
Page 6
• Newswatch
Items on:
• Stan Lee and several Marvel editors visit the Marvel West Coast offices for top-secret meetings
• Ka-Zar, Micronauts and Moon Knight all getting upgraded to Mando paper
• Newcomer William Johnson replaces Klaus Janson as penciller on Daredevil
• Laurie Sutton joins the Epic Comics group as assistant editor
• Carl Potts will still replace Al Milgrom on the editorial staff (didn't they announce this before?)
• Writer Bruce Jones is leaving Ka-Zar, to be replaced by Michael Carlin. Mike comes on board with issue #28, and the series would end with #34.
• Surprise! U.S. 1 is a maxiseries, not an ongoing series. Fandom breathes a collective sigh of relief.
• The adaptations of Fire and Ice, Return of the Jedi and Octopussy are swapping positions in Marvel Super Special due when the respective movies are coming out.
• Walter Simonson redesigns the Dire Wraiths, arch-foes of Rom, Spaceknight, to be creepier than ever.
Pages 7-11
• Article: "Babyfaced Bob Layton," by Steve Ringgenberg. Interview with Bob Layton on a Spider-Man graphic novel (was this ever published?), Hercules, and more, with drawings of Red Woof, Hercules and the Recorder, and more
Pages 12-13
Behind the Lines
Items:
• Carl Potts on joining the Marvel staff
• Mark Gruenwald and Mike Carlin on the photo cover to Spider-Woman #50.
• Eliot Brown on taking photos for the Marvel staff
• Tom DeFalco on how he discovered Marvel comics
Pages 14-15
• Article: "Rock & Rule / Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" by Peter David
Article on the adaptations of these movies.
Pages 16 - inside back cover
• Untitled letters page (that would change!) with header art featuring the Defenders by John Romita Jr.
Inside back cover:
• Half-page about what's coming in Marvel Age #5
Back cover
House ad for Alpha Flight
