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Earth's Mightiest Floating Heads!
"I like to goof off now and then, too, you know." - (Mrs.) Young-Ja KimAlways one to take the sentiments of the redoubtable Mrs. Kim to heart (if I know what's good for me), I've finally gotten around...
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In The Night Comes... Nighthawk!
The story of Nighthawk--erstwhile member of the Squadron Sinister and, later, would join the dynamic Defenders--really begins at the point when he's conscripted to take part in a deadly game of life...
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"The Day The Earth New York Turned Green!"
The 1982 Incredible Hulk Annual is essentially an exercise in pure adventure, one that sees the mighty Avengers struggle to uncover a scheme which threatens to destroy or enslave the population of the...
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The Deadly Hunger of... The Blood Brothers!
Two Hulk-sized, super-strong alien bruisers whose name is partially derived from the fact that they feast on blood--wouldn't you have liked to have been a fly on the wall when Jim Starlin pieced...
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The Search for the Silver Surfer!
OR: "The Incredible Shrinking Sky-Rider!" In mid-1968, Galactus would make his return to Earth, intent on re-enlisting the services of his former herald, the Silver Surfer, whom he confined to our...
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Feast Your Eyes Again on... The Blood Brothers!
It's a disturbing trend that we've seen developing in regard to the bruising, bloody threat of the Blood Brothers, who first appeared in 1973 as enforcers of the will of Thanos of Titan--but even more...
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...Only A God May Prevail!
It takes roughly nine years since they were incarcerated following a battle with Iron Man and Daredevil, but we now come full circle with the alien duo known as the Blood Brothers--introduced in 1973...
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Woe To The Unpunished!
Of all the scenes the Punisher has to his credit over the years, one that often comes to mind for me comes courtesy of the character's creators, Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, during his second...
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The Price Is... Death!
A little over a year following his debut in Amazing Spider-Man, the Punisher makes his way over to a high-profile appearance in the fourth issue of Giant-Size Spider-Man, fighting beside the...
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The Purloined Power of... Xandu!
While the story content of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 consists mostly of reprints of prior ASM tales by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko (along with additional rogues gallery profiles), the issue's lead...
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"The Spider And The Sorcerer(s)!"
Given the circumstances in which we left the former sorcerer known as Xandu the Unspeakable, it appeared that he was never going to trouble the world again in his mad quest to achieve the ultimate...
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Symbolic Splash Pages: The Early Years, Part Two
A few stragglers to the PPC's previous segment on symbolic splash pages of Marvel's early years now come to light, again focusing on those "double/triple feature" books published from the early 1960s...
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Honeymoon Of Vengeance!
Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.-- Dylan Thomas Having seen two attempts by the powerful sorcerer known as Xandu the Unspeakable to use the even more powerful...
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The Sorcerer, the Spider, and the Sacrifice!
Despite his limited exposure to date, one evil character who seemed to be headed for a bright, or, in his case, dark future as a comics villain was the deformed Necrodamus, who schemed to be free of...
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Beware, The Pit Of Doom!
OR: "How To Bag A Spider-Man" Comics superhero stories played strictly for laughs have for the most part proven to be hit-and-miss with me. On the one hand, I prefer to sit down with a comic that...
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...Where The Hero Doesn't Get The Girl
In the fifty+ years since the shock-value 100th issue of Amazing Spider-Man hit the stands, Marvel appears to have been content to avoid bringing back Peter Parker's extra four arms which resulted...
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Spider-Man: Marked For Death!
Twenty years to the month from the first appearance of the vigilante criminal nemesis named the Punisher comes a tale which at first glance has history repeating itself. Except with one important...
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The Second Coming of... Kukulcán!
In the fall of 1966, while Jean Grey is away at Metro College, Professor X and the rest of the X-Men are tracking what they believe might be a new mutant. Readings from Cerebro, the Professor's mutant...
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"Nightmare on Bald Mountain!"
OR: "Invasion Of The Body Snatcher!" Three months after the successful premiere of the Defenders in the pages of Marvel Feature, writer Roy Thomas and artist Ross Andru seek to reunite the...
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Todd McFarlane's Marvel Comics Work, 1988-91
From the sources I've seen on the subject, there appear to be mixed opinions among readers, and among those in the comics industry, on the work which Canadian artist/writer Todd McFarlane produced in...
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