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 Hulk's story in Marvel Comics Presents #26!

The cover is a Paul Gulacy piece. It's...alright. In the tradition of the series, the cover just shows the main characters of the stories contained within. Hulk is looming in the back cover. Coldblood looks cool, though. Not much to say about this cover, really. 

"Splashdown"
Writer: Peter David
Penciler: Jeff Purves
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Tom Fine
Letterer: Agustin Mas
Editors: Mike Rockwitz, Terry Kavanagh 
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

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

"This anchor sucks! You need to get a refund."

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.

"OM NOM NOM Hey, human doesn't taste like chicken! YOU LIED TO ME, BENNY!"

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. 

This was a nice short little story. It was nice seeing Joe Fixit save those kids from the rampaging Shandu. Yes, the Hulk has a rather...complicated relationship with humanity, and the Joe Fixit/Gray Hulk was more unscrupulous and arguably more heartless than the classic "Savage"/Green Hulk, this is a good way of showing that there are lines that even Fixit would not cross. The art is decent. It does its job. Although it didn't really show the clothing damage Joe suffered thanks to Shandu.

This was supposed to be Hulk's entire involvement in Atlantis Attacks. Yes. It was. At the time, the Hulk was believed to be dead. However, he would go on to appear in Avengers Annual #18 (1989), helping the Avengers. Whoops.

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2021 trade paperback Atlantis Attacks: The Original Epic. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

Marvel Comics Presents #11 (January 1989) (Slag's Story)

So, as a nice little bonus, I thought I'd include a little story focusing on one of the members of the Wolfpack: Slag. This story was originally published in an anthology title called Marvel Comics Presents.

Marvel Comics Presents often told short stories featuring various characters from around the Marvel Universe. Their covers were wraparounds showing the characters that were featured in an issue. These stories would also feature work by authors who were starting out in comics. The first volume lasted from 1988 to 1995, with 175 issues. This title is most known for broadening the mythos of Wolverine, as this title would not only debut the fictional country of Madripoor (which you may be familiar with if you watched Falcon and the Winter Soldier and/or X-Men '97), but this title also revealed exactly how he got his indestructible adamantium claws. 

But Wolverine wasn't the only one of Marvel's Merry Mutants who got featured here. Other X-Men members like Cyclops, Havok, and Colossus also got solo stories. Plenty of non-mutant characters also got stories, like the Scott-Lang Ant-Man, She-Hulk, the Man-Thing, Shang-Chi, Ghost Rider, and the Black Panther. In fact, this series introduced T'Challa's stepmother Ramonda, whom you may be familiar with if you watched the Black Panther films.

So yeah, this little-known book is more significant to Marvel history than you think. Let's look at Slag's story in Marvel Comics Presents #11! 

The cover is a Rick Leonardi and Terry Austin piece. It's a wraparound, depicting the characters who will get stories here. Colossus takes up half the cover, which makes sense, as the X-Men were hot at the time, and he presumably has the "main story" of the anthology. I have to admit, I find Leonardi and Austin's interpretation of Scott Lang rather amusing. They make him look rather bulky. I also find the cover itself interesting as it appears to be depicting the characters standing on an American flag...well, Man-Thing is...hovering? What is he doing up there? And is that why Colossus looks so sad?

"Over and Over!"
Writer: John Figueroa
Penciler: Ron Wilson
Inker: Christopher Ivy
Colorist: John A. Wilcox
Letterer: Michael Heisler
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with our man Slag making a slam-dunk. A board-breaking slam dunk. And when I say he broke the backboard, I mean it.

"BOOM-SHAKA-LAKA!"

It's not much of a problem, though. He's broken this board before, and he can easily fix it. He's then visited by his cousin Chris. Chris has a problem. 

"He also thinks I stole his lunch! I don't even like kelp sandwiches!"

You see, Chrissy-boy here has got himself a fondness for crack. He's in debt by a thousand bucks. However, Ty-Rock (Chris's dealer) is willing to cancel the debt if Chris will kill a cop for him. Thing is, Chris doesn't have it in him to kill a cop. Also, if he caught, the law would throw a very big book at him. Not to mention other cops would really want his head on a silver platter.

So yeah. Chris is in quite a pickle here. Mmm...pickle...

Ah, sorry. Since Slag is in the Wolfpack, and they've been busting up drug dealers, maybe he and the rest of the Pack can convince Ty-Rock to back off. Slag agrees, but he'll do this on his own, and Chris must agree to go to rehab. Chris does, and leads Slag to the crackhouse that Ty-Rock does his business in.

"This place needs a serious remodeling..."

Slag goes in, and deals with Ty-Rock's men. He sends them scattering. And then our man Slag meets the big man himself.

"Are you here to steal my kelp sandwiches?"

Slag tells Ty-Rock he'll get his money when he gets it. Until then, no more selling to Chris. Ty-Rock gives a counter-offer: Slag works for him, he'll cancel Chris's debt. Also, unlike the Wolfpack, Slag could make some money as one of Ty-Rock's enforcers. 

It's kind of funny that he would make that offer, as if this story is set after the last issue of the Wolfpack's miniseries we looked at here, money isn't exactly much of a problem for the Pack anymore. Slag is not impressed by Ty-Rock's offer. 

Slag is far worse than annoyed with Ty-Rock. In fact, he's angry. Our man thinks of Ty-Rock as an exploitive monster, who preys on the desperate and vulnerable, just so he can live the high life. Slag shows him exactly what he thinks of those kind of men.

"This outfit is not you! You are a SUMMER!"

He rips off Ty-Rock's gold chains and clothes, leaving him naked. He then takes his leave, warning Ty-Rock one last time to never bother Chris again. After he's done, he assures Chris he's safe now, and he can go to rehab. Chris agrees, but he'll do it tomorrow. Maybe. Maybe tomorrow as he walks away. The rest of the Wolfpack run up to Slag, wondering if everything's alright, and if it's over. A tearful Slag says that it's not over. It's never over. 

I have to admit, I did struggle a bit over what to say about this story. It's very basic. I do wish we had a bit more opportunity to explore Slag a bit more as a character.