Marvel Preview
Marvel Preview is a black-and-white comics magazine published by Magazine Management for 14 issues and the affiliated Marvel Comics Group for 10 issues.[1] The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group.
| Marvel Preview | |
|---|---|
 Cover of Marvel Preview #1 (February 1975). Art by Neal Adams | |
| 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) | |
| Colorist(s) | List
|
Publication history
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 had 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 unseen until #10. As well, two different issues, #20 and 24, are dated "Winter 1980." Issue #20 was to have included photographs from a 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 published an additional 10 issues before ending 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, cover-blurbed "Special Hate the Holidays Issue", with anthological Christmas-related stories, including one starring Howard the Duck.
Issues
| Issue (cover date) | Feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| #1 (1975) | "Man-Gods From Beyond the Stars" | |
| #2 (1975) | "The Punisher" | back-up: Dominic Fortune (debut) |
| #3 (September 1975) | "Blade the Vampire-Slayer" | originally was going to be in the never-released Vampire Tales #12 |
| #4 (January 1976) | "Star-Lord" (debut) | back-up: The Sword in the Star with Prince Wayfinder |
| #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 |
| #7 (Summer 1976) | "Satana" | back-up: The Sword in the Star with Prince Wayfinder, featuring the debut of Rocket Raccoon |
| #8 (Fall 1976) | "The Legion of Monsters" | Morbius the Living Vampire, Blade, and Anubis |
| #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 |
| #11 (Summer 1977) | "Star-Lord" | |
| #12 (Fall 1977) | "The Haunt of Horror" | Lilith and Dracula |
| #13 (Winter 1978) | "The UFO Connection" | |
| #14 (Spring 1978) | "Star-Lord" | |
| #15 (Summer 1978) | "Star-Lord" | |
| #16 (Fall 1978) | "Masters of Terror" | Lilith |
| #17 (Winter 1979) | "Blackmark" | |
| #18 (Spring 1979) | "Star-Lord" | |
| #19 (Summer 1979) | "Kull the Destroyer" | back-up: Solomon Kane |
| #20 (Winter 1980) | "Bizarre Adventures" | reprints, including Dominic Fortune |
| #21 (Spring 1980) | "Moon Knight" | back-up: the Shroud |
| #22 (Summer 1980) | "Merlin" | |
| #23 (Fall 1980) | "Bizarre Adventures 2" | |
| #24 (Winter 1980) | "Paradox" | |
Bizarre Adventures
| Issue (cover date) | Feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| #25 (March 1981) | "Lethal Ladies" | The Black Widow; Lady Daemon (debut); the Daughters of the Dragon |
| #26 (May 1981) | "Kull the Barbarian" | King Kull; "Demon in a Silvered Glass"—story by Doug Moench, art by John Bolton |
| #27 (July 1981) | "Secret Lives of the X-Men" | Phoenix; the Iceman; Nightcrawler |
| #28 (October 1981) | "...These Are the Unlikely Heroes" | Elektra; the Shadow Hunter (debut); the Huntsman;[8] Triton; and Bucky Bizarre (debut) |
| #29 (December 1981) | "Stephen King's 'The Lawnmower Man'" | Adaptation of the Stephen King short story "The Lawnmower Man"; 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 |
| #32 (August 1982) | "Thor and Other Gods" | backups: the Aquarian; Bucky Bizarre |
| #33 (December 1982) | "The Tomb of Dracula"; "Haunt of Horror"; "Tales of the Zombie"; "Vault of Evil" | Dracula; Varnae (debut); the Zombie |
| #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) |
Collected editions
- Essential Punisher Vol. 1 includes the Punisher story from Marvel Preview #2, 568 pages, March 2004, ISBN 978-0785123750
- Dominic Fortune: It Can Happen Here and Now includes Dominic Fortune story from Marvel Preview #2, 184 pages, February 2010, ISBN 978-0785140429
- Blade: Black & White includes Blade the Vampire Slayer stories from Marvel Preview #3 and 6, 144 pages, December 2004, ISBN 978-0785114697
- Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy includes Star-Lord stories from Marvel Preview #4, 11, 14-15, and 18, 424 pages, July 2014, ISBN 978-0785154495
- Essential Marvel Horror Vol. 1 includes Satana story from Marvel Preview #7, 648 pages, October 2006, ISBN 978-0785121961
- Rocket Raccoon: Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant includes Rocket Raccoon story from Marvel Preview #7, 120 pages, August 2011, ISBN 978-0785155270
- Essential Moon Knight Vol. 1 includes the Moon Knight story from Marvel Preview #21, 560 pages, February 2006, ISBN 978-0785120926
- Black Widow: Web of Intrigue includes the Black Widow story from Bizarre Adventures #25, 176 pages, April 2010, ISBN 978-0785144748
- Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Omnibus Vol. 2 includes the Daughters of the Dragon story from Bizarre Adventures #25, 1,000 pages, June 2017, ISBN 978-1302901349
- The Savage Sword of Kull Vol. 1 includes King Kull story from Bizarre Adventures #26, 448 pages, November 2010, ISBN 978-1595825933
- X-Men: Iceman includes the Iceman story from Bizarre Adventures #27, 120 pages, August 2012, ISBN 978-0785162759
- X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga includes Phoenix story from Bizarre Adventures #27, 200 pages, April 2012, ISBN 978-0785164210
- Elektra by Frank Miller Omnibus includes Elektra story from Bizarre Adventures #28, 384 pages, November 2008, ISBN 978-0785127772
References
- Marvel Preview at the Grand Comics Database
- Englehart, Steve (n.d.). "Star-Lord". SteveEnglehart.com. Archived from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- Collins, Sean (July 29, 2014). "The Rise of Guardians of the Galaxy's Rocket Raccoon". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014.
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.
- Saffel, Steve (2007). "Amazing Friends and Secret Wars The 1980s". Spider-Man the Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon. London, United Kingdom: Titan Books. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-84576-324-4.
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.
- Cronin, Brian (February 12, 2009). "Comic Book Legends Revealed #194". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2013.
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.
- Bizarre Adventures at the Grand Comics Database
- Schwirian, John (June 2009). "The Unique Voice and Vision of Steve Skeates, part 3". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (#34): 81–87.
- Cronin, Brian (January 31, 2014). "Comic Book Legends Revealed #456". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on October 7, 2018.
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!
- DeFalco, Tom; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2008). "1980s". Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 202. ISBN 978-0756641238.
Writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Steve Leialoha explored a new take on the vampire myth with Greenberg.
CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
External links
- Marvel Preview at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Bizarre Adventures at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Marvel Preview at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators