Our final issue of MCP on the blog, I think. And, as I have come to expect, its Spider-Man short is by people I’ve never heard of. What an odd thing. Also odd, the Wolverine feature is part 2 of a 6-parter with a plot by Erik Larsen and script & pencils by Chris Marrinan. Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld will famously return to Marvel in the mid-to-late 90s to try to make some of the core titles bigger sellers again (A crazy move that upset current Marvel staff and led to some really terrible comics from Liefeld’s office and only middling ones from Lee’s), but Larsen being slightly back so soon is a surprise. He would fully dabble in the Marvel U again in the early 2000s, drawing some Spider-Man and, as I recall, Thor. But that’s not what we’re here for. We’re here for Spider-Man in “Deathurge.” Sounds fun! Writer Matt Idleson, penciler/inker Malcolm Jones and Colorist Mike Thomas are all new names to me. I guess trying out new people on shorts with big name characters in MCP was a relatively low risk proposition, but they never go anywhere. And you’d also think it would be cool to bring in BIG name people who wouldn’t normally work on, say, a Spider-Man or Wolverine monthly, to do shorts about them. But, what do I know?
Weird thought balloon placement.
“Deathurge” here looks like D’Spayre forgot to bring his face to work today. Turns out, he’s been around since the 70s, but I don’t think I’ve encountered him before now. Marvel having a sort of supervillain grim reaper seems an odd choice. It’s not Kirby’s Black Racer, but still odd. Spider-Man’s not having it, and keeps fighting him even as Deathurge says Spider-Man is the villain here, prolonging the people’s suffering. Spidey kicks him out a window.
Ok! Spidey dives into him, making a whole side of his body numb in the process, and begins falling to his death, a very familiar position, chased closely by Deathurge, and spots a flagpole. Of course he does!
Well. That sure was… something. Is Spider-Man gonna sit in that hospital room for the rest of his life? Shouldn’t he web up that open window? Looks like Matt Idleson was a Marvel editor for several 90s years, but only wrote 4 things. And one of them is in my future. I don’t remember the comic, but I sure remember the cover. Marvel Comics Presents would make to 175 issues before finally being retired in 1995. By then, the book started Ghost Rider’s own Venom, Vengeance, and I sure wasn’t paying any attention. But earlier MCP fascinated me. The quick chapters and exposure to more obscure characters right as I was getting into comics was super interesting. It’s too bad anthologies just don’t sell anymore.