Marvel Preview

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Marvel Preview
Marv preview 01.jpg
Cover of Marvel Preview #1 (February 1975).
Art by Neal Adams
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
ScheduleQuarterly
Format Magazine
Genre Adventure
Science fiction
Sword and sorcery
Superhero
Publication date1975–Winter 1980 (as Marvel Preview)
March 1981–February 1983 (as Bizarre Adventures)
No. of issues34 (#1–24 as Marvel Preview #25–34 as Bizarre Adventures)
Creative team
Written by
List
Penciller
List
Inker
List
Colorist Marie Severin

Marvel Preview is a black-and-white comics magazine published by Magazine Management for fourteen issues and the affiliated Marvel Comics Group for ten issues. [1] The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group.

Contents

Publication history

An umbrella title that showcased a different heroic-adventure, science-fiction, or sword-and-sorcery character in virtually every issue. The title introduced the Marvel Comics characters Dominic Fortune in issue #2, Star-Lord in #4, [2] and Rocket Raccoon in #7. [3] The vigilante character the Punisher, introduced as an antagonist in the comic book The Amazing Spider-Man , had his first solo story in issue #2.

The magazine experienced scheduling difficulties, with various "Next Issue" announcements proving unreliable. Issue #2 promised an adventure of the Marvel superhero Thor in #3, but a Blade story appeared, with the Thor story remaining unseen until #10. As well, two different issues, #20 and 24, are dated "Winter 1980, at the start and end of the year." Issue #20 was to have included photographs from the Japanese Spider-Man television program, but instead featured Howard Chaykin's Dominic Fortune. [4] In addition, Robert A. Heinlein's lawyers threatened legal action over the cover of Marvel Preview #11, which featured a blurb that described the Star-Lord content as "a novel-length science fiction spectacular in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein," leading to the issue being pulled and reprinted. [5]

With #25 (March 1981), the title was changed to Bizarre Adventures, which ran for an additional ten issues before ceasing publication. [6] To offset the dark tone of most of the stories, editor Denny O'Neil had writer Steve Skeates produce a humor feature called Bucky Bizarre to close out each issue. [7] A story originally prepared for Marvel's Logan's Run comic book series was published in Bizarre Adventures #28 (Oct. 1981). [8] The final issue, #34, was a standard-sized color comic book, featuring the cover-blurb, "Special Hate the Holidays Issue", with anthological Christmas-related stories, including one starring Howard the Duck.

Issues

Issue (cover date)FeatureNotesCollected Editions
#1 (1975)"Man-Gods From Beyond the Stars"Based on the works of Erich Von Däniken
#2 (1975)"The Punisher"back-up: Dominic Fortune (debut) Essential Punisher Vol. 1; Punisher: Back to the War Omnibus;

Dominic Fortune: It Can Happen Here and Now

#3 (September 1975)"Blade the Vampire-Slayer"originally was going to be in the never-released Vampire Tales #12Blade: Black & White; Blade: The Early Years Omnibus; Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus
#4 (January 1976)"Star-Lord" (debut)back-up: The Sword in the Star with Prince Wayfinder Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy
#5 (April 1976)"Sherlock Holmes"adaptation of the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles part 1
#6 (Spring 1976)"Sherlock Holmes"The Hound of the Baskervilles part 2Blade: Black & White (back-up)
#7 (Summer 1976)"Satana"back-up: The Sword in the Star with Prince Wayfinder, featuring the debut of Rocket Raccoon Essential Marvel Horror Vol. 1; Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus;Rocket Raccoon: Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant; Rocket Raccoon and Groot (back-up)
#8 (Fall 1976)"The Legion of Monsters" Morbius the Living Vampire, Blade, and Anubis Morbius Epic Collection Vol 2; Morbius the Living Vampire Omnibus Vol 1; Blade: The Early Years Omnibus; Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus
#9 (Winter 1976)"Man-God" (Hugo Danner)Part 1 of an unfinished adaptation of the novel Gladiator by Philip Wylie
#10 (Winter 1977)"Thor"back-up: Hercules Thor Epic Collection Vol 9
#11 (Summer 1977)"Star-Lord"Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Solo Classic Omnibus; Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus
#12 (Fall 1977)"The Haunt of Horror" Lilith and Dracula Tomb of Dracula Complete Collection Vol 5; Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus
#13 (Winter 1978)"The UFO Connection"
#14 (Spring 1978)"Star-Lord"Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Solo Classic Omnibus
#15 (Summer 1978)"Star-Lord"
#16 (Fall 1978)"Masters of Terror"LilithMarvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus
#17 (Winter 1979)"Blackmark"
#18 (Spring 1979)"Star-Lord"Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Solo Classic Omnibus
#19 (Summer 1979)"Kull the Destroyer"back-up: Solomon Kane Kull: Savage Sword – The Original Marvel Years OmnibusSolomon Kane: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus (back-up)
#20 (Winter 1980)"Bizarre Adventures"reprints, including Dominic Fortune
#21 (Spring 1980)"Moon Knight"back-up: the Shroud Essential Moon Knight Vol. 1; Moon Knight Epic Collection Vol 1; Moon Knight Omnibus Vol 1
#22 (Summer 1980)"Merlin"
#23 (Fall 1980)"Bizarre Adventures 2"Marvel Universe by Frank Miller Omnibus (fourth story)
#24 (Winter 1980)"Paradox"

Bizarre Adventures

Issue (cover date)FeatureNotesCollected Editions
#25 (March 1981)"Lethal Ladies"The Black Widow; Lady Daemon (debut); the Daughters of the Dragon Black Widow: Web of Intrigue; Black Widow Epic Collection Vol 2; Black Widow Strikes Omnibus;Iron Fist: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu; Iron Fist: Danny Rand – The Early Years Omnibus;Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Omnibus Vol. 2
#26 (May 1981)"Kull the Barbarian"King Kull; "Demon in a Silvered Glass"—story by Doug Moench, art by John BoltonThe Savage Sword of Kull Vol. 1; Kull: Savage Sword – The Original Marvel Years Omnibus
#27 (July 1981)"Secret Lives of the X-Men" Phoenix; the Iceman; Nightcrawler Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol 2; X-Men Epic Collection Vol 8;Phoenix Story: Phoenix Omnibus

Iceman story: X-Men: Iceman; X-Men: Rareties (colorized)

#28 (October 1981)"...These Are the Unlikely Heroes" Elektra; the Shadow Hunter (debut); the Huntsman; [8] Triton; and Bucky Bizarre (debut) Huntsman story was originally an issue for the then recently cancelled Logan's Run comic series [9] Elektra by Frank Miller Omnibus
#29 (December 1981)"Stephen King's 'The Lawnmower Man'"Adaptation of the Stephen King short story "The Lawnmower Man" by Walt Simonson; and stories starring Greenberg the Vampire (debut) [10] and Bucky Bizarre
#30 (February 1982)"Paradox"back ups: Silhouette; Bucky Bizarre
#31 (April 1982)"A Hard Look at Violence"Dr. Deth with Kip and Muffy (debut); the Hangman I (Harlan Krueger; final appearance); Bucky BizarreMarvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus
#32 (August 1982)"Thor and Other Gods"backups: the Aquarian; Bucky BizarreThor Epic Collection Vol 12
#33 (December 1982)"The Tomb of Dracula"; "Haunt of Horror"; "Tales of the Zombie"; "Vault of Evil" Dracula; Varnae (debut); the Zombie Marvel Horror Omnibus
#34 (February 1983)"Special Hate the Holidays Issue"Christmas-themed anthology issue, including the Son of Santa (debut and final appearance), Howard the Duck, Dr. Deth with Kip and Muffy (final appearance) and Bucky Bizarre (final appearance)Howard the Duck Complete Collection Vol 4

Collected editions

References

  1. ↑ Marvel Preview at the Grand Comics Database
  2. ↑ Englehart, Steve (n.d.). "Star-Lord". SteveEnglehart.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  3. ↑ Collins, Sean (July 29, 2014). "The Rise of Guardians of the Galaxy's Rocket Raccoon". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. An alien transformed by cruel experiments into a warrior with a wicked sense of humor, his first appearance lasted a handful of pages in the black-and-white science-fantasy story 'The Sword in the Star' in Marvel Preview #7.
  4. ↑ Saffel, Steve (2007). "Amazing Friends and Secret Wars The 1980s". Spider-Man the Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon. London, United Kingdom: Titan Books. p. 124. ISBN   978-1-84576-324-4. Since Marvel Preview was printed on cheap newsprint, it's possible that [Marvel's editorial staff] decided the photos would look terrible when screened and printed.
  5. ↑ Cronin, Brian (February 12, 2009). "Comic Book Legends Revealed #194". Comic Book Resources . Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2013. Heinlein's lawyers contacted Marvel and a new printing was done and the text was removed. In fact, relatively few copies of Marvel Preview #11 exist with the original text.
  6. ↑ Bizarre Adventures at the Grand Comics Database
  7. ↑ Schwirian, John (June 2009). "The Unique Voice and Vision of Steve Skeates, part 3". Back Issue! (#34). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 81–87.
  8. 1 2 Cronin, Brian (January 31, 2014). "Comic Book Legends Revealed #456". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 8, 2018. Marvel has always been unwilling to just let unused stories go to waste...so a Logan's Run back-up that was likely going to run through Logan's Run #9 and #10 by Archie Goodwin and Michael Golden instead became a brand-new story in Bizarre Adventures #28!
  9. ↑ https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/michael-golden-and-steve-mitchell-bizarre-adventures-28-story-page-10-original-art-marvel-1981-/a/122050-13647.s
  10. ↑ DeFalco, Tom; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1980s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 202. ISBN   978-0756641238. Writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Steve Leialoha explored a new take on the vampire myth with Greenberg.{{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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