Marvel Preview | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Schedule | Quarterly |
Format | Magazine |
Genre |
Adventure Science fiction Sword and sorcery Superhero |
Publication date | 1975–Winter 1980 (as Marvel Preview) March 1981–February 1983 (as Bizarre Adventures) |
No. of issues | 34 (#1–24 as Marvel Preview #25–34 as Bizarre Adventures) |
Creative team | |
Written by | |
Penciller(s) | |
Inker(s) | List |
Colorist(s) | List |
Marvel Preview is a black-and-white comics magazine published by Magazine Management for fourteen issues and the affiliated Marvel Comics Group for ten issues. [1] The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group.
An umbrella title that showcased a different heroic-adventure, science-fiction, or sword-and-sorcery character in virtually every issue. The title introduced the Marvel Comics characters Dominic Fortune in issue #2, Star-Lord in #4, [2] and Rocket Raccoon in #7. [3] The vigilante character the Punisher, introduced as an antagonist in the comic book The Amazing Spider-Man, had his first solo story in issue #2.
The magazine experienced scheduling difficulties, with various "Next Issue" announcements proving unreliable. Issue #2 promised an adventure of the Marvel superhero Thor in #3, but a Blade story appeared, with the Thor story remaining unseen until #10. As well, two different issues, #20 and 24, are dated "Winter 1980, at the start and end of the year." Issue #20 was to have included photographs from the Japanese Spider-Man television program, but instead featured Howard Chaykin's Dominic Fortune. [4] In addition, Robert A. Heinlein's lawyers threatened legal action over the cover of Marvel Preview #11, which featured a blurb that described the Star-Lord content as "a novel-length science fiction spectacular in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein," leading to the issue being pulled and reprinted. [5]
With #25 (March 1981), the title was changed to Bizarre Adventures, which ran for an additional ten issues before ceasing publication. [6] To offset the dark tone of most of the stories, editor Denny O'Neil had writer Steve Skeates produce a humor feature called Bucky Bizarre to close out each issue. [7] A story originally prepared for Marvel's Logan's Run comic book series was published in Bizarre Adventures #28 (Oct. 1981). [8] The final issue, #34, was a standard-sized color comic book, featuring the cover-blurb, "Special Hate the Holidays Issue", with anthological Christmas-related stories, including one starring Howard the Duck.
Issue (cover date) | Feature | Notes | Collected Editions |
---|---|---|---|
#1 (1975) | "Man-Gods From Beyond the Stars" | ||
#2 (1975) | "The Punisher" | back-up: Dominic Fortune (debut) |
Essential Punisher Vol. 1; Punisher: Back to the War Omnibus;
Dominic Fortune: It Can Happen Here and Now |
#3 (September 1975) | " Blade the Vampire-Slayer" | originally was going to be in the never-released Vampire Tales #12 | Blade: Black & White; Blade: The Early Years Omnibus; Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus |
#4 (January 1976) | " Star-Lord" (debut) | back-up: The Sword in the Star with Prince Wayfinder | Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy |
#5 (April 1976) | " Sherlock Holmes" | adaptation of the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles part 1 | |
#6 (Spring 1976) | "Sherlock Holmes" | The Hound of the Baskervilles part 2 | Blade: Black & White (back-up) |
#7 (Summer 1976) | " Satana" | back-up: The Sword in the Star with Prince Wayfinder, featuring the debut of Rocket Raccoon | Essential Marvel Horror Vol. 1; Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus;Rocket Raccoon: Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant; Rocket Raccoon and Groot(back-up) |
#8 (Fall 1976) | "The Legion of Monsters" | Morbius the Living Vampire, Blade, and Anubis | Morbius Epic Collection Vol 2; Morbius the Living Vampire Omnibus Vol 1; Blade: The Early Years Omnibus; Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus |
#9 (Winter 1976) | "Man-God" ( Hugo Danner) | Part 1 of an unfinished adaptation of the novel Gladiator by Philip Wylie | |
#10 (Winter 1977) | " Thor" | back-up: Hercules | Thor Epic Collection Vol 9 |
#11 (Summer 1977) | "Star-Lord" | Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Solo Classic Omnibus; Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus | |
#12 (Fall 1977) | "The Haunt of Horror" | Lilith and Dracula | Tomb of Dracula Complete Collection Vol 5; Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus |
#13 (Winter 1978) | "The UFO Connection" | ||
#14 (Spring 1978) | "Star-Lord" | Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Solo Classic Omnibus | |
#15 (Summer 1978) | "Star-Lord" | ||
#16 (Fall 1978) | "Masters of Terror" | Lilith | Marvel Horror Lives Again! Omnibus |
#17 (Winter 1979) | " Blackmark" | ||
#18 (Spring 1979) | "Star-Lord" | Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy; Guardians of the Galaxy Solo Classic Omnibus | |
#19 (Summer 1979) | " Kull the Destroyer" | back-up: Solomon Kane | Kull: Savage Sword – The Original Marvel Years OmnibusSolomon Kane: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus (back-up) |
#20 (Winter 1980) | "Bizarre Adventures" | reprints, including Dominic Fortune | |
#21 (Spring 1980) | " Moon Knight" | back-up: the Shroud | Essential Moon Knight Vol. 1; Moon Knight Epic Collection Vol 1; Moon Knight Omnibus Vol 1 |
#22 (Summer 1980) | " Merlin" | ||
#23 (Fall 1980) | "Bizarre Adventures 2" | Marvel Universe by Frank Miller Omnibus (fourth story) | |
#24 (Winter 1980) | "Paradox" |
Issue (cover date) | Feature | Notes | Collected Editions |
---|---|---|---|
#25 (March 1981) | "Lethal Ladies" | The Black Widow; Lady Daemon (debut); the Daughters of the Dragon | Black Widow: Web of Intrigue; Black Widow Epic Collection Vol 2; Black Widow Strikes Omnibus; Iron Fist: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu; Iron Fist: Danny Rand – The Early Years Omnibus; Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Omnibus Vol. 2 |
#26 (May 1981) | " Kull the Barbarian" | King Kull; "Demon in a Silvered Glass"—story by Doug Moench, art by John Bolton | The Savage Sword of Kull Vol. 1; Kull: Savage Sword – The Original Marvel Years Omnibus |
#27 (July 1981) | "Secret Lives of the X-Men" | Phoenix; the Iceman; Nightcrawler | Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol 2; X-Men Epic Collection Vol 8;Phoenix Story: Phoenix Omnibus
Iceman story: X-Men: Iceman; X-Men: Rareties (colorized) |
#28 (October 1981) | "...These Are the Unlikely Heroes" | Elektra; the Shadow Hunter (debut); the Huntsman; [8] Triton; and Bucky Bizarre (debut) | Elektra by Frank Miller Omnibus |
#29 (December 1981) | " Stephen King's ' The Lawnmower Man'" | Adaptation of the Stephen King short story "The Lawnmower Man" by Walt Simonson; and stories starring Greenberg the Vampire (debut) [9] and Bucky Bizarre | |
#30 (February 1982) | "Paradox" | back ups: Silhouette; Bucky Bizarre | |
#31 (April 1982) | "A Hard Look at Violence" | Dr. Deth with Kip and Muffy (debut); the Hangman I (Harlan Krueger; final appearance); Bucky Bizarre | Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus |
#32 (August 1982) | " Thor and Other Gods" | backups: the Aquarian; Bucky Bizarre | Thor Epic Collection Vol 12 |
#33 (December 1982) | " The Tomb of Dracula"; "Haunt of Horror"; " Tales of the Zombie"; "Vault of Evil" | Dracula; Varnae (debut); the Zombie | Marvel Horror Omnibus |
#34 (February 1983) | "Special Hate the Holidays Issue" | Christmas-themed anthology issue, including the Son of Santa (debut and final appearance), Howard the Duck, Dr. Deth with Kip and Muffy (final appearance) and Bucky Bizarre (final appearance) | Howard the Duck Complete Collection Vol 4 |
An alien transformed by cruel experiments into a warrior with a wicked sense of humor, his first appearance lasted a handful of pages in the black-and-white science-fantasy story 'The Sword in the Star' in Marvel Preview #7.
Since Marvel Preview was printed on cheap newsprint, it's possible that [Marvel's editorial staff] decided the photos would look terrible when screened and printed.
Heinlein's lawyers contacted Marvel and a new printing was done and the text was removed. In fact, relatively few copies of Marvel Preview #11 exist with the original text.
Marvel has always been unwilling to just let unused stories go to waste...so a Logan's Run back-up that was likely going to run through Logan's Run #9 and #10 by Archie Goodwin and Michael Golden instead became a brand-new story in Bizarre Adventures #28!
Writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Steve Leialoha explored a new take on the vampire myth with Greenberg.
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