Category: Independent

Marvel Tales – Atlas (1949)

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The first Marvel Tales was the direct continuation of the superhero anthology Marvel Mystery Comics, published by Marvel Comics‘ initial iteration, Timely Comics. This series ran through issue #92 (cover-dated June 1949). Beginning with issue #93 (Aug. 1949), it became Marvel Tales, an anthology of horror, fantasy, and science fiction stories. The bulk of this series was published under the company name Atlas Comics.

Marvel Tales included among its contributors writer and editor-in-chief Stan Lee and such comics artists as Golden Age veterans Harry Anderson, Carl Burgos, Bill Everett, Fred Kida, Mike Sekowsky, Syd Shores, and Ogden Whitney, and, early in their careers, Dick Ayers, Gene Colan, Tony DiPreta, Mort Drucker, Russ Heath, Bernard Krigstein, Joe Maneely, Joe Sinnott, and Basil Wolverton, among others. Issue #147 featured one of Steve Ditko‘s first stories for Marvel, “The Vanishing Martians”. The series ran 67 issues under the new title, through #159 (Aug. 1957). It ended because of the collapse of Atlas’s distributor, American News Company, and the subsequent restructuring that limited the number of comics the company could publish in a month.

An issue of Marvel Tales was included in a display of covers representative of the “Crime, Horror & Weird Variety” at the April 1954 hearings of the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency.

Unity (1992)

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Unity is a company-wide crossover published by Valiant Comics in 1992, featuring all of their ongoing superhero titles at the time. This includes the Renegades, Magnus, Robot Fighter, Rai, Shadowman, Solar, Man of the Atom, Turok, and X-O Manowar. The crossover also introduced new books for Archer & Armstrong and Eternal Warrior. The central antagonist is Mothergod, who attempts to rewrite reality and restore her original universe. This conflict leads to Valiant heroes of both the 21st Century and the 41st Century coming together for the first time.

Coda (2018)

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In the aftermath of an apocalypse which wiped out nearly all magic from a once-wondrous fantasy world, a former bard named Hum (a man of few words, so nicknamed because his standard reply is “hm”) seeks a way to save the soul of his wife with nothing but a foul-tempered mutant unicorn and his wits to protect him…but is unwillingly drawn into a brutal power struggle which will decide forever who rules the Weird Wasteland.

Married… with Children (1990)

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Married… with Children was adapted into a comic book series by NOW Comics starting in 1990. Featuring all the characters you know and love — Al Bundy, Peggy Bundy, Bud Bundy, Kelly Bundy, Snake Face, Greg Miller, Dean Keller and Suzy!

Zot! (1984)

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Zot! is a comic book created by Scott McCloud in 1984 and published by Eclipse Comics until 1990 as a lighthearted alternative to the darker and more violent comics that dominated the industry during that period. There were a total of 36 issues, with the first ten in color and the remainder in black and white. McCloud credited Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka as a major influence on the book, making it one of the first manga-inspired American comic books.

Archie’s Mad House (1959)

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The first 18 issues featured the “Archie gang” in stories that were a bit more “off the wall” than the normal Archie series. The idea was to produce stories that made no sense. The title Mad House was written as two words instead of one to suggest a false connection to MAD Magazine and recapture its success. Beginning with issue 19, the Archie gang was dropped (though it was still called Archie’s Mad House), and the title began featuring monsters, space stories and other wacky short stories. The gags in the comics often parodied the latest fads and popular culture. For a time, it would focus on stories with what were intended to be one-off characters. There were, however, exceptions to this rule. Characters becoming popular enough would appear again.

Many Deaths of Laila Starr (2021)

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With humanity on the verge of discovering immortality, the avatar of Death is fired and relegated to the world below to live out her now-finite days in the body of twenty-something Laila Starr in Mumbai. Struggling with her newfound mortality, Laila hatches a plan and soon discovers a way to be placed at the time and location where the creator of immortality will be born . . . But will Laila take her chance to permanently reverse the course of (future) history, or does a more shocking fate await her within the coils of mortal existence?

Wizard Special Edition Comics (1993)

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Wizard often featured mail-away offers for exclusive merchandise. Wizard began a practice of producing specially offered Wizard #½ issues. These were special issues of ongoing major comic book series which featured in-continuity stories that supplemented the regular series’ published issues. The issues were numbered #½ so as not to disrupt the series’ ongoing numbering system. Often Wizard would also include free pack-in issues with their magazines, usually numbered as Wizard #0.

Weird Science (1950)

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As with other EC Comics, Gaines and Feldstein used some Weird Science stories to teach moral lessons. “The Probers” (#8) features a space shuttle doctor who pays no mind to dissecting various animals, only to end up on an alien planet where aliens plan to dissect him. In “The Worm Turns” (#11) astronauts have fun with Mexican jumping beans but face a similar situation when they hide in a piece of fruit on an alien world and are found by a giant alien. “He Walked Among Us” (#13) was a take on organized religion in which a Christ-like astronaut helps the impoverished populace of an alien world but is killed by those in power, prompting the birth of a religion.

Gaines and Feldstein made cameo appearances in “Chewed Out” (#12), and other EC staffers were drawn into “EC Confidential” (#21).

Terminator – The Burning Earth (1990)

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The story is set as part of the background history of John Connor‘s future war with the machines. It is also set after the events of the 17 part The Terminator (1988–1989) series also penned by Fortier. The story starts with members of the resistance fighting against the machines with John (nicknamed Bear) giving a commentary on how the war has been. Later he is seen having what could only be described as a loss of faith as he is shown putting a pistol to his mouth. However, after watching two lone fighters (one injured) firing on an oncoming Hunter Killer tank only to be run over, John regains his resolve to never stop and never give up.