The franchise debuted with Marvel/Epic Comics’ The Alien Legion #1-20 (cover-dated April 1984 – June 1987). The 18-issue Alien Legion (Oct. 1987 – Aug. 1990), minus the “The”, followed, generally scripted by Chuck Dixon and penciled by Larry Stroman. Afterward came the three-issue Dixon-Stroman miniseries Alien Legion: On The Edge (Nov. 1990 – Jan. 1991); the two-issue Dixon-Stroman Alien Legion: Tenants of Hell (1991); the one-shot cover-titled Alien Legion: Grimrod and copyrighted Alien Legion: Jugger Grimrod (Aug. 1992), by Dixon and artist Mike McMahon; the single-issue Alien Legion: Binary Deep (Sept. 1993), by Dixon and Argentine artist Enrique Alcatena; and the three-issue miniseries Alien Legion: One Planet at a Time (April–July 1993), by Dixon and penciler Hoang Nguyen.
Additionally, Marvel/Epic published two spinoffs: Marvel Graphic Novel #25 (cover-titled Marvel Graphic Novel: The Alien Legion), released in 1986 and containing the story “A Grey Day To Die” by writers Potts and Zelenetz, penciler Cirocco, and the first series’ regular inker, Terry Austin; and the one-shot crossover with another series Law Dog and Grimrod: Terror at the Crossroads (1993)
Every thousand years, Dracula enters a chrysalis state for four days, leaving him in a vulnerable state. During this time the most powerful vampires from around the world gather in Transylvania to protect him. Now they are about to be joined by an eclectic team of vampire slayers that have gathered to take down the legendary Vampire King – including the best and most dangerous slayer of them all – Blade!
Tomb of Dracula V4 #1 NM $8Tomb of Dracula V4 #3 NM $5
Following Mark Gruenwald’s departure from the series, Mark Waid took over and resurrected Sharon Carter as Cap’s love interest. The title was then relaunched under Rob Liefeld as Cap became part of the Heroes Reborn universe for 13 issues before another relaunch restored Waid to the title in an arc that saw Cap lose his shield for a time using an energy based shield as a temporary replacement.
Captain America #402 NM- $4Captain America #403 NM $5Captain America #404 NM $5Captain America #405 VF-NM $7Captain America #406 NM $5Captain America #407 NM $5Captain America #410 NM $5Captain America V1 #444 VF Signed by Mark Waid $4Captain America V1 #445 NM Signed by Mark Waid $8Captain America V1 #446 VF- Signed by Mark Waid $4Captain America V1 #447 NM $4Captain America V1 #448 VF- $3Captain America V1 #449 NM $4Captain America V1 #450 NM $9Captain America V1 #452 NM $4Captain America #453 VF+ $3
Strange Academy is a fictional school appearing in comics published by Marvel Comics. It was founded by Doctor Strange to train young people from many worlds with magical abilities in the use of sorcery and magical artifacts. The school first appears in Strange Academy #1 (March 2020) and was created by writer Skottie Young and artist Humberto Ramos.
Strange Academy #10 NM $5Strange Academy #13 NM $8Strange Academy #15 NM $5Strange Academy #17 NM $4
Following his one-shot anthological story in #27 (Jan. 1962), scientist Henry Pym returned donning a cybernetic helmet and red costume, and using size-changing technology to debut as the insect-sized hero Ant-Man in #35 (Sept. 1962). The series was plotted by Lee and scripted by Lieber, with penciling first by Kirby and later by Heck and others. The Wasp was introduced as Ant-Man’s costar in issue #44 (June 1963). Ant-Man and Pym’s subsequent iteration, Giant-Man, introduced in #49 (Nov. 1963), starred in 10- to 13-page and later 18-page adventures,
The Hulk, whose original series The Incredible Hulk had been canceled after a six-issue run in 1962-63, returned to star in his own feature when Tales to Astonish became a split book at issue #60 (Oct. 1964),]after having guest-starred as Giant-Man’s antagonist in a full-length story the previous issue. The Hulk had proven a popular guest-star in three issues of Fantastic Four and an issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. His new stories here were initially scripted by Lee and illustrated by the seldom-seen team of penciler Steve Ditko and inkerGeorge Roussos. This early part of the Hulk’s run introduced the Leader, who would become the Hulk’s nemesis, and this run additionally made the Hulk’s identity known, initially only to the military and then later publicly.
Tales to Astonish #54 VF- $120Tales to Astonish #56 G- $14Tales to Astonish #58 G-VG $26Tales to Astonish #58 VG- $29Tales to Astonish #60 G $22Tales to Astonish #61 VG $29Tales to Astonish #65 FN+ $69Tales to Astonish #67 VF- $75Tales to Astonish #68 VF- $75Tales to Astonish #71 FN $29Tales to Astonish #72 FN $30Tales to Astonish #75 FN+ $30Tales to Astonish #78 FN $20Tales to Astonish #80 FN+ $30Tales to Astonish #83 VF+ $55Tales to Astonish #86 VF- $40Tales to Astonish #87 VF- $40Tales to Astonish #88 FN+ $25Tales to Astonish #89 VF+ $55Tales to Astonish #90 VF- $120Tales to Astonish #92 FN+ $29Tales to Astonish #94 VF- $29Tales to Astonish #95 VF $30Tales to Astonish #96 FN+ $20
Jean Grey and Sabretooth return to Earth 616. Weapon X and his Black Legion attack the last human city where Weapon X slays both Magneto and Rogue, leaving Jean Grey and Sabretooth the last two X-Men alive. Jean telepathically nudges clones of the Scarlet Witch to recreate the Decimation and remove all mutants’ powers across the globe. However, this was only successful within a radius of 12 feet, so Jean Grey and Sabretooth are both left de-powered. The human coalition distracts Weapon X with a bomb long enough for the group to escape as the city explodes behind them. Harper Simons joins with the human team, the X-Terminated. Others who work with the X-Terminated are Doctor Moreau and Bolivar Trask.
Age of Apocalypse #3 NM $4Age of Apocalypse #4 NM $4Age of Apocalypse #5 NM $4Age of Apocalypse #6 NM $4Age of Ajpocalypse #7 NM $4Age of Apocalypse #8 NM $4Age of Apocalypse #10 NM $4
Thor debuted in the science fiction/fantasy anthology title Journey into Mystery #83 (cover-date Aug. 1962), and was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and penciller-plotter Jack Kirby. A different version of the mythological Thor had appeared previously in Venus #12-13 (Feb.-April 1951).
In a 1984 interview Kirby said “I did a version of Thor for D.C. in the Fifties before I did him for Marvel. I created Thor at Marvel because I was forever enamored of legends, which is why I knew about Balder, Heimdall, and Odin. I tried to update Thor and put him into a superhero costume, but he was still Thor.” And in a 1992 interview, Kirby said “[I] knew the Thor legends very well, but I wanted to modernize them. I felt that might be a new thing for comics, taking the old legends and modernizing them.”
Journey into Mystery was retitled Thor (per the indicia, or The Mighty Thor per most covers)with issue #126 (March 1966). “Tales of Asgard” was replaced by a five-page featurette starring the Inhumans from #146–152 (Nov. 1967 – May 1968), after which featurettes were dropped and the Thor stories expanded to Marvel’s then-standard 20-page length.
Marvel Comics introduced a fairly faithful version of Conan in 1970 with Conan the Barbarian, written by Roy Thomas with art initially by Barry Windsor-Smith, then John Buscema and Ernie Chan (aka Ernie Chua). The highly successful Conan the Barbarian series spawned the more adult, black-and-white Savage Sword of Conan in 1974, by Thomas, Buscema, and Alfredo Alcala. Savage Sword of Conan soon became one of the most popular comic series in the 1970s.
The Marvel Conan stories were also adapted as a newspaper comic strip which appeared daily and Sunday from September 4, 1978, to April 12, 1981. Originally written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by John Buscema, the strip was continued by several different Marvel artists and writers.
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.
Civil War II, which debuted in June 2016, is a sequel to the 2006 “Civil War” storyline.
A new Inhuman, with the ability to profile the future, emerges and the ramifications ripple into every corner of the Marvel Universe. Lines are drawn, bodies fall, and the Marvel Universe will be rocked to it’s very core.
Civil War 2 #1 NM $6Civil War II #3 NM $5Civil War II #7 NM $5
