Marvel Comics Presents #26 (August 1989) (Hulk's story)

Since Thanksgiving was this week, I haven't really had an opportunity to write a comic review. Luckily, I was able to scrape together this little review of a short story. It's not one for the holidays, but I work with what I got. Before we begin, I have to talk a little bit about the crossover storyline Atlantis Attacks.

Atlantis Attacks was a crossover storyline that unfolded over various Marvel titles' Annuals in 1989. This was a format started last year with the Evolutionary War crossover. However, unlike the previous crossover, Atlantis Attacks was a more serialized crossover. You want to read what happens next? You have to get all the Annuals to read the whole thing. Well, in 1989, anyway. It was a format that Marvel would use over the next few years, but the format would undergo modification. Later, storylines would involve smaller numbers of Annuals. For example, The Punisher Annual #4 (1991) was part of a crossover called "The Von Strucker Gambit" that also involved Captain America and Daredevil's Annuals from that year. 

Atlantis Attacks was a crossover that focused on the return of the evil Elder God known as Set after the events of Marvel Team-Up Annual #5 (1982). The title itself is a bit misleading, but that's a tale for another time. At this point, the Hulk (who was back to his original gray appearance) was working in Las Vegas as a legbreaker named Joe Fixit. As a result, he was not really involved in the crossover. This short tale here was his entire involvement in it. This is Marvel Comics Presents #26!

"Splashdown"
Writer: Peter David
Penciler: Jeff Purves
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Tom Fine
Letterer: Agustin Mas
Editor: Unknown
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with a scared sailor. And he has reasons to be frightened.

Page 61, Panel 1

Yup, Joe Fixit is here, and as his job at the time, he's here to collect on some debts that the sailor incurred in Sin City. Good news, the man has some of the money. Bad news, he only has some of the money.

The sailor offers Joe's boss a stake in his theme park's profits, but the big angry gray guy isn't biting that bait. Captain Morgan shows Joe around the park. The two head to a show starring an orca named Shandu (likely a parody of Shamu). Shandu seemingly performs as normal but then decides to do a bit of improvising.

Page 64, Panel 6

Oooh, that's going to hurt.

Joe refuses to step in to stop it, until Shandu leaps at some kids. Joe then decides to step in. After all, even that big gray legbreaker has standards. The sailor begs Joe to get rid of the whale...and offers money. He just spoke the legbreaker's language. Joe goes to send the whale back to the sea, when he spots a strange submarine. The occupants are Atlantean, and they're testing out a device to make sea animals go berserk. So far, it seems to be working. Joe slams the whale into the sub, wrecking it and making it sink. The Atlanteans flee, the story ending with a very confused Joe Fixit wondering what that was all about. 

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2021 trade paperback Atlantis Attacks: The Original Epic.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate!

I hope that you had a wonderful day today. This day is about giving thanks and showing appreciation for 

National Cake Day

Fibonacci Day

Today is Fibonacci Day!

This day celebrates the Italian mathematician Leonardo Bonacci, aka Fibonacci. He was the man who popularized the Hindu-Arabic numerical system, the numeric system that is commonly in use throughout much of the world today. He also is arguably most known for the Fibonacci sequence. 

What is the Fibonacci sequence, you may be asking? Well, said sequence 

Supergirl #2 (December 1982)

Back in August 2017, I took a look at Supergirl #1 (November 1982), Kara Zor-El's last series before her death in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. I found it to be a rather okay issue. Not great, but it was not terrible, either. I think it did do a good job everything a first issue should do, set up the status quo, introduce some supporting cast and start some storylines, etc. A first issue's problems can be because a new creative team hasn't really been able to settle in yet. As such, I thought I'd take a look at the next issue. See if things settled in a bit. This is Supergirl #2!

The cover is a Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano piece. I do like it, it's more dynamic than the first issue's cover, showing Supergirl and Psi facing off in the skies over the Windy City. The cover promises a Crisis in Chicago. Oh, I think they'll be experiencing a real crisis soon... 😈The comic also promises a backup tale starring Lois Lane as she encounters Humphrey Bogart-I man, the Bogie-Man. He's different from the Boogieman. You see, instead of the Boogeyman scaring kids, the Bogie-Man starts quoting Humphrey Bogart films. I enjoyed when he quoted African Queen myself. 

"Crisis over Chicago"
Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Penciler: Carmine Infantino
Inker: Bob Oksner
Colorist: Tom Ziuko
Letterer: Ben Oda
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Executive Editor: Joe Orlando

The story begins with the reluctant villainess known as Psi attacking Chicago. Her mysterious mentor, Mr. Pendergast, encourages her to keep taking it to the Girl of Steel. Considering she seems to be tossing around Chicago's newest guardian like a ragdoll, I don't think she needs that much encouragement. Psi is also an empath, and it allows her to feel the pain that Supergirl is going through right now. Pendergast mocks this, saying her empathy is a weakness. Supergirl and Chicago must be destroyed, or else the "Decay" will continue to spread. Note that I capitalized the word "decay". 

Supergirl notices the pandemonium that the battle has been kicking up.

Page 3, Panel 2

The sight of the carnage re-energizes the Maid of Might and she renews her struggles against the mental power of Psi and Pendergast. The latter taunts her, saying the typical supervillain spiel about how she cannot match him in power. But Supergirl's like, "Watch me", and breaks out of Psi's mental hold. She confronts Psi about the carnage she's causing. Psi admits she knows she's hurting people, but Pendergast uses her to blast Supergirl. Through Psi, Pendergast rants about humanity's moral rot, its "decay". Supergirl isn't in the mood for it, and blasts at Psi with her heat vision...only for it to do no good. 

Through Psi, Pendergast rants about how "Decay" has to be destroyed, and a new race of "mutants" that will cleanse the world will rise in the aftermath of the destruction of Chicago. Again, Supergirl is not interested in hearing this stuff, and decides that Psi needs a few Mighty Punches. Psi screams, and she seemingly vanishes.

However, Kara is bushed after all of this. She just wants to head back to her apartment and enjoy a nice long nap.

She doesn't have her furniture yet, but it still will be nice to be home. She notices her door is ajar, but it's thankfully nothing nefarious. Turns out that while she was brawling with Psi, her furniture had arrived. It gave her neighbor Joan Raymond an idea.

She recruited her roommate Cheryl DeLarye, Cheryl's boyfriend Daryll Simmons, and Johnny Ostrander to help her move Kara's stuff in so her new apartment will be ready for her. Well, that's nice. 

Page 9, Panel 1

Kara is grateful for this, as she was not looking forward to getting her stuff in alone. After all, it's more fun using super strength to fight supervillains than move furniture. Joan assures Kara that the gang got it handled, so she can just relax. It's here we learn a bit about Ms. DeLarye. She's 33 years old, and like Kara and Joan, a student at Lake Shore University. I think it's really neat that we see this in a comic book. When I was in college, I saw people of a variety of ages studying there. 

Kara is grateful for the help. Since her apartment is now fully furnished, including her bed, it means she can now catch up on some much-desired sleep. After all, a sleep-deprived cranky Kryptonian is not the best thing to be around. 

In another apartment building, Pendergast is berating Psi over her failure to destroy Supergirl. He thinks she has shown herself to be too "weak" to fight the "Decay". Thing is, Psi still thinks Pendergast is right about the "Decay" needing to be stopped. But she also thinks Supergirl is right about there being a better way to stop it than death and destruction. This enrages Pendergast, and he continues to berate the superhuman. He then pulls out a gun, clearly intending to give the young lady some hot lead. Psi blasts him with psychokinetic force, and it...somehow causes Pendergast to transform into some sort of monster, screaming "DECAY LIVES". 

I admit, I am somewhat confused about the relationship between Pendergast and Decay. Did Psi turn him into the monster? Was the monster always part of Pendergast? Pendergast's dialogue seemed to imply that the monster was inside of him all along. Maybe that could have been why he was so aggressive? I don't know, a little clarification would have been nice. 

My favorite part of the issue was the scene where the gang help Kara move furniture into her new apartment. It was nice seeing their interplay. 

Funny enough, Psi would go on to appear in the 2015 Supergirl live-action series. Well, there were two Psis. One was this version, who was a regular person who just "snapped" one day and started robbing banks, and the other appeared in the Adventures of Supergirl tie-in comic, this second version being a Kryptonian psychic mental health worker. Not bad for an obscure villainess. 

If you want to read this yourself, I recommend you track down the 2016 trade paperback Daring New Adventures of Supergirl Vol. 1. 

World Television Day

Mickey Mouse Day

 Today is Mickey Mouse Day!

This day is considered the birthday of the iconic Disney character, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks's second creation (the first being Oswald the Lucky Rabbit). Why? Because on this day in 1928, Mickey made his debut in the iconic cartoon "Steamboat Willie"...well, it is considered the debut of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They actually debuted in a test screening of the short "Plane Crazy". However, "Steamboat Willie" was the first short to be distributed, as Disney wanted to produce a cartoon with fully synchronized sound. "Willie" was one of the first cartoons with such a feature. Not a big deal now, but in 1928, it was mindblowing.

Indeed. "Steamboat Willie" was a massive hit. From there, Mickey would become one of the most iconic characters in all of American fiction, appearing in all kinds of media from cartoons, comics, video games, and books. Also, I want to give a shout out to Minnie, as "Steamboat Willie" was her debut as well. In 2024, the cartoon entered the public domain, so you can see it pretty much everywhere nowadays.

Generations of kids have grown up with Mickey. I was one of them. So, happy birthday Mickey! Thanks for reading this blog entry! See you next time!