During the summer of 1973, Englehart and artists Bob Brown and Sal Buscema produced “The Avengers-Defenders Clash” storyline which crossed over between the two team titles. “The Celestial Madonna” arc linked Mantis’ origins to the very beginnings of the Kree-Skrull conflict in a time-spanning adventure involving Kang the Conqueror,and Immortus, who were past and future versions of each other.Mantis was revealed to be the Celestial Madonna,who was destined to give birth to a being that would save the universe.It was revealed that the Vision’s body had only been appropriated, and not created by Ultron, and that it originally belonged to the 1940s Human Torch. With his origins clear to him, the Vision proposed to the Scarlet Witch. The “Celestial Madonna” saga ended with their wedding, presided over by Immortus. The Beast and Moondragon joined the team soon after. George Pérez became the title’s artist with issue #141 (Nov. 1975) which saw the start of a seven-part story featuring the Squadron Supreme and the Serpent Crown. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart’s run on The Avengers eighth on its list of the “Top 10 1970s Marvels”.
During his two years on the title, Roger Stern augmented the backgrounds of long-established Spider-Man villains, and with Romita Jr. created the mysterious supervillain the Hobgoblin in #238-239 (March–April 1983) Fans engaged with the mystery of the Hobgoblin’s secret identity, which continued throughout #244-245 and 249-251 (Sept.-Oct. 1983 and Feb.-April 1984). One lasting change was the reintroduction of Mary Jane Watson as a more serious, mature woman who becomes Peter’s confidante after she reveals that she knows his secret identity. Stern wrote “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man” in The Amazing Spider-Man #248 (January 1984), a story which ranks among his most popular.
David Michelinie took over as writer in #290 (July 1987) that led to the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. The “Kraven’s Last Hunt” storyline by writer J.M. DeMatteis and artists Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod crossed over into The Amazing Spider-Man #293 and 294. Issue #298 (March 1988) was the first Spider-Man comic to be drawn by future industry star Todd McFarlane, the first regular artist on The Amazing Spider-Man since Frenz’s departure. McFarlane revolutionized Spider-Man’s look. His depiction – large-eyed, with wiry, contorted limbs, and messy, knotted, convoluted webbing – influenced the way virtually all subsequent artists would draw the character. McFarlane’s other significant contribution to the Spider-Man canon was the design for what would become one of Spider-Man’s most wildly popular antagonists, the supervillainVenom. Issue #299 (April 1988) featured Venom’s first appearance (a last-page cameo) before his first full appearance in #300 (May 1988). The latter issue featured Spider-Man reverting to his original red-and-blue costume.
Other notable issues of the Michelinie-McFarlane era include #312 (Feb. 1989), featuring the Green Goblin vs. the Hobgoblin; and #315-317 (May–July 1989), with the return of Venom. In July 2012, Todd McFarlane’s original cover art for The Amazing Spider-Man #328 sold for a bid of $657,250, making it the most expensive American comic book art ever sold at auction.
Captain America continued from Tales of Suspensewith artwork by Kirby, as well as a short run by Jim Steranko, and work by many of the industry’s top artists and writers. It was called Captain America and the Falcon from #134 (Feb. 1971) to #222 (June 1978) although the Falcon’s name was not on the cover for issues #193, 200, and 216. The 1972–1975 run on the title by writer Steve Englehart and artist Sal Buscema saw the series become one of Marvel’s top-sellers. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart and Buscema’s run on Captain America fourth on its list of the “Top 10 1970s Marvels”. Kirby returned to the series as writer and penciler with issue #193 (Jan. 1975) ]and remained through #214 (Oct. 1977).
Captain America #120 G-VG $5Captain America #121 VG $7Captain America #122 VF- $19Captain America #123 VG $7Captain America #125 VF+ $29Captain America #126 VF $79Captain America #127 NM- $49Captain America #128 VF- $24Captain America #129 VF $19Captain America #131 VF- $15Captain America #133 FN+ $24Captain America #137 VG $15Captain America #138 VF $49Captain America #142 FN $9Captain America #143 FN $6Captain America #144 VG $19Captain America #146 FN $6Captain America #147 FN $4Captain America #148 VF $9Captain America #149 FN $6Captain America #150 FN-VF $19Captain America #151 VF-NM $29Captain America #152 VF-NM $29Captain America #153 VF-NM $74Captain America #154 VF- $29Captain America #155 VG $6Captain America #156 VF $18Captain America #157 VF-NM $39Captain America #158 NM- $39Captain America #161 FN $8Captain America #163 FN+ $14Captain America #164 VF-NM 49Captain America #166 FN+ $14Captain America #167 FN $9Captain America #168 VF+ $129Captain America #170 VF+ $29Captain America #170 FN+ $12Captain America #172 FN $7Captain America #174 GD+ $5Captain America #175 FN+ $8Captain America #177 VF+ $19Captain America #178 VF $7Captain America #179 FN+ $4Captain America #180 VF+ $69Captain America #181 VF $11Captain America #182 F-VF $4Captain America #183 FN+ $14Captain America #184 VF+ $5Captain America #185 VF+ $14Captain America #185 VF $12Captain America #186 FN $6Captain America #187 FN+ $6Captain America #190 VF-NM $12Captain America #191 FN+ $6Captain America #192 FN-VF $14Captain America #192 FN+ $9Captain America #193 NM $89Captain America #194 FN+ $5Captain America #195 VF $12Captain America #196 VF+ $15Captain America #197 FN+ $9Captain America #198 FN+ $8Captain America #199 NM- $25Captain America #200 VG $3Captain America #201 VG-FN $4Captain America #202 FN $6Captain America #203 FN- $4Captain America #204 FN- $4Captain America #205 VF-NM $10Captain America #206 VF-NM $10Captain America #207 FN+ $6Captain America #208 VF+ $39Captain America #209 VF-NM $45Captain America #210 FN-$4Captain America #211 VG-FN $3Captain America #213 F-VF $6Captain America #214 FN- $4Captain America #215 FN $5Captain America #216 VF+ $11Captain America #218 VF-NM $12Captain America #219 VF- $6Captain America #220 FN-VFN $4Captain America #221 FN+ $3Captain America #222 F-VF $6Captain America #224 NM $14Captain America King-Size Special #1 VG $9Captain America Special #2 VF $12Captain America Annual #3 VF $12Captain America Annual #4 VF $12Captain America Giant Size #1 FN+ $12
The first major development of the 80’s was the breakdown of Henry Pym, with his frequent changes of costume and name being symptomatic of an identity problem and an inferiority complex. After he abused his wife, failed to win back the confidence of the Avengers with a ruse and was duped by the villain Egghead, Pym was jailed. Pym would later outwit Egghead and defeated the latest incarnation of the Masters of Evil single-handedly, and proved his innocence. Pym reconciled with the Wasp, but they decided to remain apart. Pym retired from super-heroics, but returned years later.
This was followed by several major storylines, such as “Ultimate Vision” in which the Vision took over the world’s computer systems in a misguided attempt to create world peace; the formation of the West Coast Avengers; and “Avengers Under Siege” which involved the second Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil taking over the mansion and severely injuring Jarvis and Hercules. “Assault on Olympus” featured Hercules’ father, Zeus, blaming the Avengers for his son’s injuries and brought them to Olympus for trial, and the “Heavy Metal” arc saw the Super Adaptoid organized several robotic villains for an assault on the team. New members during the 1980s included Tigra; the She-Hulk;Monica Rambeau (then going by the name Captain Marvel);Starfox (the brother of Thanos); Hawkeye’s wife, Mockingbird; and Namor, while Henry Pym emerged from retirement to join the West Coast Avengers. Spider-Man was again offered membership, but failed to gain admission due to security concerns by the Avengers’ government liaison.
The villain Nebula falsely claimed to be the granddaughter of Thanos. The team relocated for a period to a floating island off the coast of New York called Hydrobase after Avengers Mansion was severely damaged during the events in “Under Siege”. Hydrobase was later sunk during the Acts of Vengeance crossover.
Walt Simonson took over both writing and art as of #337 (Nov. 1983). His stories placed a greater emphasis on the character’s mythological origins. Simonson’s run as writer-artist lasted until #367 (May 1986), although he continued to write – and occasionally draw – the book until issue #382 (Aug. 1987). Simonson’s run, which introduced the character Beta Ray Bill, was regarded as a popular and critical success.Simonson’s later stories were drawn by Sal Buscema, who describes Simonson’s stories as “very stimulating. It was a pleasure working on his plots, because they were a lot of fun to illustrate. He had a lot of great ideas, and he took Thor in a totally new direction.” Asked why he was leaving Thor, Simonson said that he felt the series was due for a change in creative direction, and that he wanted to reduce his work load for a time. After Simonson’s departure, Marvel’s editor-in-chief at the time, Tom DeFalco, became the writer. Working primarily with artist Ron Frenz, DeFalco stayed on the book until #459 (Feb. 1993).
Doctor Strange: Master of the Mystic Arts, also known as Doctor Strange vol. 2, ran 81 issues (June 1974-February 1987). Doctor Strange #14 featured a crossover story with The Tomb of Dracula #44, another series which was being drawn by Gene Colan at the time.In Englehart’s final story, he sent Dr. Strange back in time to meet Benjamin Franklin. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart’s work on Doctor Strange with artists Brunner and Colan ninth on its list of the “Top 10 1970s Marvels.”
To build interest in the ROM toy, Parker Brothers licensed the character to Marvel Comics, which created a comic book featuring Rom. The comic expanded on the premise that Rom was a cyborg and gave him an origin, personality, set of supporting characters and villains, as well as interaction within the Marvel Universe. The comic was written by Bill Mantlo and initially illustrated by artist Sal Buscema. Buscema stated in a 2010 interview, “I liked the character. And I liked what they did with it. I thought the concept was quite good. It was unique. It made it attractive to do. I almost hate to say this, but it was pretty easy to draw, too.” Buscema was the main artist for the series from its creation through 1984. Steve Ditko took over for the final two years of the original run.
Ultimately, the toy failed and only sold 200,000 to 300,000 units in the US, with creator McCoy blaming the failure on poor packaging and marketing. Parker Brothers subsequently abandoned the line.
The comic book outlasted the toy which it was created to support. The series lasted for 75 issues (not including the four annual issues) from December 1979 to February 1986. Rom’s regular encounters with mainstream heroes and villains established him as part of Marvel continuity.
Beware was an 8 issues series that ran from March, 1973 to May, 1974. The series contained reprints of Atlas comics with new covers by Bill Everet, John Romita & Gil Kane The title continued as Tomb of Darkness with issue #9 in July of 1974.
In October 1984 – January 1985, the Machine Man title was resurrected, in a four-issue miniseries written by Tom DeFalco with art by Herb Trimpe (breakdowns only, issues #1-3) and Barry Windsor-Smith (finishes only, issues #1-3 & full art for issue #4), with Windsor-Smith also coloring the entire miniseries & co-plotting issue #4 with DeFalco. This series turned out to be one of the most popular of all the Machine Man titles, tying with previous continuity, but with the action set in the distant cyberpunk future of 2020, starting with Machine Man’s reassembly.
The miniseries was republished again in 1994 as two double-size books, with the name Machine Man 2020. Characters from this alternate future have made appearances in other Marvel books, namely Arno Stark, the mercenary Iron Man 2020.
In 1990, Machine Man guest-starred in Iron Man Annual #11 (part of the “Terminus Factor” storyline). That story created strong hints that the 2020 Machine Man may turn out not to be the true X-51, but instead a duplicate created by Sunset Bain.
Machine Man V2 #1 NM- $12Machine Man V2 #2 NM- $14Machine Man V2 #3 Newstand NM- $7Machine Man V2 #3 Direct NM- $5Machine Man V2 #4 NM- $5
Stan Lee said he created a synopsis for the first Fantastic Four story that he gave to penciller Jack Kirby, who then drew the entire story. Kirby turned in his penciled art pages to Lee, who added dialogue and captions. This approach to creating comics, which became known as the “Marvel Method“, worked so well for Lee and Kirby that they used it from then on; the Marvel Method became standard for the company within a year.
Kirby recalled events somewhat differently. Challenged with Lee’s version of events in a 1990 interview, Kirby responded: “I would say that’s an outright lie”, although the interviewer, Gary Groth notes that this statement needs to be viewed with caution.Kirby claims he came up with the idea for the Fantastic Four in Marvel’s offices, and that Lee had merely added the dialogue after the story had been pencilled. Kirby has also sought to establish, more credibly and on numerous occasions, that the visual elements of the strip were his conceptions. He regularly pointed to a team he had created for rival publisher DC Comics in the 1950s, Challengers of the Unknown. “[I]f you notice the uniforms, they’re the same… I always give them a skintight uniform with a belt… the Challengers and the FF have a minimum of decoration. And of course, the Thing’s skin is a kind of decoration, breaking up the monotony of the blue uniform.” The characters wear no uniforms in the first two issues.
Fantastic Four #101 VF- $23Fantastic Four #103 FN-VF $19Fantastic Four #104 FN-VF $22Fantastic Four #106 VF- $23Fantastic Four #118 F-VF $16Fantastic Four #146 FN $14Fantastic Four #150 FN- $14Fantastic Four #151 VF $18Fantastic Four #155 VF $24Fantastic Four #164 F-VF $19Fantastic Four #165 FN $8Fantastic Four #166 F-VF $15Fantastic Four #167 FN-VF $18Fantastic Four #176 FN- $4Fantastic Four #177 FN- $4Fantastic Four #180 VF $6Fantastic Four #181 FN $3Fantastic Four #182 VF+ $8Fantastic Four #184 FN- $4Fantastic Four #185 FN-VF $12Fantastic Four #186 FN-VF $15Fantastic Four #189 VF $5Fantastic Four #195 VF $5Fantastic Four #199 VF $5Fantastic Four #203 VF+ $6Fantastic Four #204 VF $19Fantastic Four #205 VF $24Fantastic Four #206 VF+ $14Fantastic Four#207 VF+ $16Fantastic Four #207 FN+ $4Fantastic Four #208 VF-NM $9Fantastic Four #209 VF- $19Fantastic Four #210 VF $19Fantastic Four #211 VG+ $19Fantastic Four #212 VF $8Fantastic Four #213 VF-NM $10Fantastic Four #213 FN+ $3Fantastic Four #214 VF-NM $16Fantastic Four #216 VF- $8Fantastic Four King-Size Special #9 FN+ $14Fantastic Four Annual #12 FN $5Fantastic Four Annual #13 FN+ $6
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