The first incarnation of Red Hulk (also known as Rulk) first appeared in the Hulk series that debuted in 2008. The 2010 “World War Hulks” storyline reveals that this being is United States Army General Thunderbolt Ross, the father-in-law and longtime nemesis of the original Hulk, Bruce Banner. The storyline reveals that Ross was given the ability to transform into Red Hulk by the organizations A.I.M. and the Intelligencia, and that he did this in order to be able to better fight the original Hulk.
The series centered on the exploits of Vanth Dreadstar and his crew—powerful mystic Syzygy Darklock, the cybernetic telepath Willow, cat-like humanoid Oedi, and freebooter Skeevo. Vanth, newly arrived in the Empirical Galaxy after the events of Metamorphosis Odyssey, tries to live a pastoral existence on Oedi’s planet of peaceful cat-people, but his peace is disturbed by the arrival of Darklock, who wants him to get involved in the conflict between the two major forces in the galaxy, the Monarchy and the theocratical Instrumentality. Vanth refuses until the war comes to his planet, wiping out most of the population. Oedi survives and joins them; Willow and Skeevo join later, though the team is in place for the first issue.
Dreadstar takes the side of the Monarchy against the evil Lord High Papal of the Instrumentality, but his team end up becoming fugitives when the Monarchy falls, and go to great lengths to try to uncover a traitor in their midst. The transition to First Comics happened just when the traitor was about to be revealed, and the first issue published under First Comics, #27 contained this revelation.
Simon eventually took a break from being an Avenger to concentrate on his acting career. He desired to build a normal life for himself and to come to terms with who he was. In particular he wondered what kind of person he truly was and whether or not he was truly human, given his transformation into ionic energy.
The Once and Future King! Doctor Doom helped wipe out the heroes on the Day the Villains Won, but even as he rules his domain in the Wastelands, a greater destiny calls to him. When a mysterious power blocks his oversight of a particular region, what he discovers will have ripple effects across the Wastelanders stories!
Encouraged by the success of Ghost Rider and The Tomb of Dracula, both of which starred occult characters, Stan Lee proposed a series starring Satan, to be titled The Mark of Satan. Editor Roy Thomas had reservations about this idea and suggested a series focusing on the son of Satan instead. (Due to an oversight, “The Mark of Satan” is mentioned in a blurb in Ghost Rider #1).
The character Daimon Hellstrom first appeared in Ghost Rider vol. 1, #1 (Sept. 1973), then was spun off into a feature, “Son of Satan”, in Marvel Spotlight #12–24 (Oct. 1973 – Oct. 1975). During the “Son of Satan” run, Marvel Spotlight was a controversial series, with numerous readers writing to object to the depictions of satanism and wiccanism as being either inaccurate or furthering the cause of evil. Nonetheless, sales were strong, prompting Marvel to launch the character into his own series, Son of Satan, written by John Warner. The character’s success faded soon after the series launch, and Son of Satan was cancelled with issue #7, though an unused fill-in was published as Son of Satan #8 (Feb. 1977).
Ms. Marvel also plays a significant role in the 2008 storyline “Secret Invasion“, in which members of the shapeshifting alien race, the Skrulls, are revealed to have secretly infiltrated Earth by impersonating humans. She befriends Captain Marvel’s Skrull impostor and proves to him that she is not a Skrull by revealing intimate details about their life together. At the conclusion of the war with the Skrulls, Norman Osborn is placed in charge of the registered Avengers team. Refusing to serve under Osborn, Ms. Marvel flees Avengers Tower, and joins the New Avengers, becoming second-in-command. Osborn appoints former Thunderbolt member Moonstone (Karla Sofen) as the “new” Ms. Marvel to his Dark Avengers team; Moonstone wears a variation of Ms. Marvel’s original costume. Osborn engineers a battle that results in Danvers’s powers overloading, causing her apparent death. The character Moonstone takes over the title role in the ongoing Ms. Marvel series. Danvers returns with the aid of the New Avengers, a group of MODOKembryos (creations of the organization Advanced Idea Mechanics [AIM]), and a character known as the “Storyteller” and reclaims the title of Ms. Marvel from Karla Sofen.
The increased use of Carol Danvers as a prominent character in many story arcs throughout this decade eventually prompted one commentator to note that “she’s now the House of Ideas’ premier heroine”
Tales of Suspense, Issue #39 (March 1963) introduced the superhero Iron Man, created by editor and plotter Lee, scripter Lieber, and artists Heck and Jack Kirby. He starred in generally 13-page but occasionally 18-page adventures, with the rest of Tales of Suspense devoted to the anthological science fiction and fantasy stories the comic normally ran.
After debuting with bulky gray armor, Iron Man was redesigned with similar but golden armor in his second story (issue #40, April 1963). The first iteration of the modern, sleek red-and-golden armor appeared in #48 (Dec. 1963), drawn by Ditko (though whether he or Kirby, singly or in collaboration, designed it, is uncertain). From #53-58 (May-Oct. 1964), the cover logo was “Tales of Suspense featuring The Power of Iron Man”. Two months before the debut of the sorcerer-hero Doctor Strange, Lee, Kirby and scripter Robert Bernstein, under the pseudonym “R. Berns”, introduced a same-name criminal scientist and Ph.D., Carl Strange. Making his sole appearance in the Iron Man story “The Stronghold of Dr. Strange” in Tales of Suspense #41 (May 1963), the character gained mental powers in a freak lightning strike. The Mandarin debuted in issue #50 (Feb. 1964) and would become one of Iron Man’s major enemies. The Black Widow first appeared in #52 (April 1964) and Hawkeye followed five issues later.
Tales of Suspense #28 FN+ $125
Tales of Suspense #46 FN- $349
Tales of Suspense #58 CGC 8.0 Off-White Pages $695
Tales of Suspense #66 FN+ $65
Tales of Suspense #72 VF- $40
Tales of Suspense #74 CGC 8.5 Off-White Pages $149
Epic Illustrated was a comics anthology in magazine format published in the United States by Marvel Comics. Similar to the US-licensed comic book magazine Heavy Metal, it allowed explicit content to be featured, unlike the traditional American comic books of that time bound by the restrictive Comics Code Authority, as well as offering its writers and artists ownership rights and royalties in place of the industry-standard work for hire contracts. The series lasted 34 issues from Spring 1980–February 1986.
A color comic-book imprint, Epic Comics, was spun off in 1982.
EHT Comics 