Comic Reader Résumé: July, 1984

It's July of 1984, and I can't remember if I read Amazing Spider-Man #257. I had to have read a Puma story at some point, because when he appeared in an annual during Peter and Mary Jane's honeymoon, I was all "Hey, the Puma!" Then I didn't buy the annual, possibly because this issue was so memorable.

I did buy Micronauts:The New Voyages #1. It had a spiffy Michael Golden cover, and interiors by Kelley Jones from back when he had a Golden influence, plus Bruce Patterson inking. It was a sci-fi series spun off from a toy tie-in, yet writer Peter B. Gillis took it seriously. There was some leftover continuity I could have done without as a new reader, and I was freaked out by Jones' graphic rendering of a team member losing a body part in a totally random accident (not at all what one expected from a mainstream comic in 1984.) The book was more mature than I was, but it was interesting, and I would sample it from time to time. Still, it was largely Star Wars married to a pastiche of every other space flick shown over the previous decade.

I didn't buy a single issue of ManTech Robot Warriors, but I think I had a figure and saw an ad in that issue of Mighty Crusaders I don't recall reading anymore. Boy, Archie Adventure Series were full of lose.



After skipping a team-up with Iron Man because a) a friend already bought it and b) Iron Man, I bought Marvel Team-Up #146. It was by the same creative team as the Moon Knight issue, and I have the same vague feeling of finding it pleasantly acceptable at the time without committing much to memory. It paired Spider-Man with Nomad, who I sorta kinda liked from Captain America, and pitted them against a villain who could disintegrate with a touch. He had issues connecting, of course, and I think he ended up turning himself to dust or something. Speaking of which, I had a knack for reading team-up books right before their cancellation, and didn't buy another one of these through to its final 150th issue.

All right, Blue Devil #5 featured Zatanna and a rematch with the demon Nebiros! Great art, fun story, and holds up to this day. ¡Viva Nebiros!



Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #7 had a fake-out Wasp death that I thought mattered in some way at the time. Honestly though, this was the first series I collected new on a monthly basis, but I only read any given issue once or twice and it's all a jumble in my mind.

Jarvis the Wizard made an offer on a box of Cookie Crisp cereal to send me a free Marvel comic with proof of purchase. I didn't understand how that worked, so when I saw a bunch of books pictured on the box, I thought those were the issues I had to choose from. I wished I'd order X-Men, but I went for the debut of the black Spider-Man costume, and got Amazing Spider-Man #258 instead. "The Sinister Secret of Spider-Man's New Costume" wasn't too far removed from what I wanted, but it ended with a barefoot Peter Parker wearing an old Fantastic Four costume and a paper bag over his head. I didn't really see it as humorous so much as embarrassing, even after that jerk Johnny Storm taped a "Kick Me" sign to Parker's back. "Spidey-Sense... gots nothin'." The creative team of Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz never wowed me, either.

The Fly #9 means another wretched, forgettable Archie Adventure Series. I probably did receive this until 1986 or so. If I recall correctly, this was given to me by my stepsister as a Christmas gift, along with a Matt Wagner Demon issue and a bunch of regular Archie comics clearly not bought with me in mind. Nothing undersells affection quite like latter-day Dick Ayers.