Cover Date: 1990 | Cover Price: $1.25 | Cover Artist: John Byrne

Wolverine in “Black Shadow, White Shadow” conclusion written by Marv Wolfman art by John Buscema The morbidly obese, mutant native has had enough of his sad life and throws himself upon Wolverine’s claws. As the life begins to drain from his enormous body, his evil avatar, Black Shadow continues its course of destruction – making one, last desperate move to kill Mai before it disappears with the mutant’s death. Can Wolverine save her in time?

Devil-Slayer in “Lost Souls” part 2 written by Dwight Zimmerman art by Rodney Ramos   As Devil-Slayer (Eric Payne) continues to protect the poor village of Potega from the revolutionary goverment’s attacks, Colonel McCloskey wonders how the protector can be bought off. When he meets with the Slayer, they discover that they fought together in Vietnam. McCloskey is intrigued by Payne’s high-tech weaponry and asks Payne to step aside – to no avail. Later that night, the village throws a party in honor of Eric and the protection he offers them. Meanwhile, Colonel Ramirez of the People’s Liberation Army and the Flying Dutchman meet with McCloskey – they offer him weaponry on par with Payne’s. The price? His soul!

Captain America in “Old Glories“ written by Len Wein with Deni Loubert art by Steve Bucellato Captain America is visiting with with some vets at the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Arlington, Virginia when some armed revolutionaries break in to steal some radioactive isotopes. Cap manages to stop most of them but their leader has the isotope and a nurse held hostage. It’s up to the vets to step in and lend a hand.

Arabian Knight in “A Father’s Love“ written by Scott Lobdell art by Don Perlin Abdul Qamar (the Arabian Knight) returns from trading goods in the city to find his village has been attacked by a demon. But, before he arrives, he is warned by Saja – Messenger of the Desert Gods – that only deceit and death await him. With caution thrown to the winde, the Arabian Knight continues on to his house and discovers that the demon has possessed his new-born son. The demon convinces the villagers and the Knight that they only way they can be freed, is if he kills his son. Will the Knight sacrifice his son to end the evil of the Demon of the Dunes?

I’m so glad that the Wolverine/Shadows storyline is over. It was a very drawn-out, boring story that should have been over in about 24 pages instead of 80. The Devil-Slayer story is really keeping my interest and the other two features were neat stories of humanity’s courage and love. To top it all off, John Byrne provides a neat wraparound cover!

On Ebay: Marvel Comics Presents | Wolverine | Devil-Slayer | Captain America | Arabian Knight
On AtomicAvenue: Marvel Comics Presents | Wolverine | Devil-Slayer | Captain America

John Carbonaro was a comic fan who purchased the rights to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents from Tower Comics and then went on to form his own publishing company, JC Comics. Through JC Comics, John launched two short-lived T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series in the mid-1980s. He got a letter printed in Fantastic Four #136 (cover date – July 1973), where he talked a lot about the FF’s costumes.

On Ebay: Fantastic Four | John Carbonaro
On AtomicAvenue: Fantastic Four

Number of listings in eBay’s “comics” section: 1,750,186
(+9.58% from last month; -0.20% from last year)
Number of those that are Cyberspace Comics listings: 7,857 (+1.04%; +11.67%)
My “market share” of comic listings on eBay: 0.44892% (-6.96%; +3.21%)

Number of eBay comic listings that are auctions: 272,545
Percentage of eBay comic listings up for auction: 15.57%

My current eBay feedback (unique): 14,413
My current eBay feedback (total): 28,890
My postive eBay feedback score: 99.9%

eBay has continued to increase their auction population by offering free listing days, flooding the used comics market and eroding the market’s value.

 
Number of listings on Atomic Avenue: 1,491,347 (+0.08%; +17.83%)
Number of those that are in the Cyberspace Comics Store on Atomic Avenue: 45,985 (-0.44%; +127.28%)
My “market share” of comic listings on AtomicAvenue: 3.0835% (-.51%; +92.88%)
My estimated “market share” of AtomicAvenue orders: 5.17% (-10.71%; -1.71%)

As you can see from these huge annual gains, my inventory on AtomicAvenue has increased greatly!

 
Number of members on ComicCollectorLive: 83,790 (+0.55%)
Number of listings in the Cyberspace Comics Store on CCL: 2,605 (-0.99%)
Number of unique listings in the Cyberspace Comics Store on CCL: 1,281 (-0.85%)

Before he was given his own series, the Black Panther took over the lead feature in Jungle Action starting with issue #5. Decades later, the Marvel Knights line relaunched a Black Panther series by Christopher J. Priest that was filled with excellence.

Jungle Action #8 January 1974 Rich Buckler

Black Panther vol. IV #27 April 2000 Sal Velluto

On Ebay: Jungle Action | Black Panther
On AtomicAvenue: Jungle Action | Black Panther

Publisher: Amalgam Comics
Cover Date: June 1997
Cover Price: $1.95
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Dave Gibbons

When the DC and Marvel Universes merged in Marvel vs DC, a new one was created: the Amalgam Universe. This one-shot combined Superman with Captain America.

In 1942, Super-Soldier has been given the task of following stolen government equipment that’s being smuggled overseas. But, when the boat he’s on is attacked by Nazi U-Boats, he is distracted with protecting the ship while they make off with the equipment. Meanwhile, Super-Soldier’s pals, Sgt. Rock and his Howling Commandos have been captured by Baron Zemo and his Nazi forces. The very same forces that have stolen the equipment. Fortunately for them, Peggy has infiltrated the Nazi castle, set them free and informed Super-Soldier of their location. The heroes overtake the castle but not before Zemo escapes with the stolen goods. In the last page, Zemo meets with Lex Luthor and reveals that the stolen materials will be used to create a villain that Super-Soldier will not be able to defeat: Ultra-Metallo!

This tale of times past in the Amalgam Universe tells the story behind the creation of Ultra-Metallo (the villain from the first Super-Soldier one-shot). It also introduces the Amalgam version of Nick Fury/Sgt. Rock and features the double-villainy of Zemo and Luthor. Unfortunately, it didn’t really capture my interest as I hoped it would and, Gibbons’ art seems very unfinished – especially when it comes to backgrounds (which are missing or very basic, half of the time). No real surprise there since I wasn’t a big fan of the first one-shot, either.

On Ebay: Amalgam | Mark Waid | Dave Gibbons
On AtomicAvenue: Amalgam Comics

Cover Date: 1990 | Cover Price: $1.25 | Cover Artist: Rob Liefeld

Wolverine in “Black Shadow, White Shadow” part 9 written by Marv Wolfman art by John Buscema White Shadow realizes that the only way to stop Black Shadow is to kill the mutant native that spawned them both. When Black Shadow interferes, Wolverine decides that it’s up to him to take down the mutant. But, he spawns more Black Shadows to protect himself. Meanwhile, the main Black Shadow has defeated its counterpart. And, as Wolverine is about to deliver the killing blow to the mutant, the Black Shadow has Mai in the same position.

Devil-Slayer in “Lost Souls” part 1 written by Dwight Zimmerman art by Rodney Ramos The Flying Dutchman offers Devil-Slayer excellent food and women – and then offers him a deal from Mephisto: power, wealth and women for the price of his soul. Devil-Slayer quickly refuses the deal and the Dutchman departs but not before he reveals that the Slayer’s soul is already lost – all that remains undecided is which underworld ruler will lay possess it. Devil-Slayer is dispatched to a Central American town called Potega which he quickly saves from an attacking squad of mercenaries. The Slayer makes a deal with Father Perone, Potega’s priest, to protect the town in the hopes of redeeming his soul.

Aquarian in “A Gift of Death“ written by Fabian Nicieza art by Hugh Haynes Aquarian offers comfort to a young woman who’s husband was just killed by her brother. She reveals that her husband was an FBI agent who was going to put her brother away but, she warned her sibling to run before he could be caught. Her brother decided to solve the situation by killing the agent – but, when his escape went sour, he committed suicide, rather than face imprisonment. With the two most important men in her life now dead, Aquarian (the ever-calm, water-walker that bears a striking resemblance to Jesus Christ) must convince her that her life is stll worth living.

Sub-Mariner in “The Eye That Sees“ written by Hollis Bright art by Dell Barras Namor the Sub-Mariner discovers a humpback whale that has been trapped in a small cove by changing tides. He protects it from the Sabatine Brothers, by crashing their whaling boat. But, weeks later, when the Sub-Mariner has moved on, Manny Sabatine decides to exact his revenge on the whale and now it’s up to a young, animal-lover to save the whale.

Liefeld’s created a vicious-looking Wolverine cover here – just a short while before he launched Image Comics with several other big artists. The Sub-Mariner’s story got a bit eco-preachy and has a Free Willie vibe to it. The Aquarian features seems very random – especially since I can’t place any other important appearances in other books at the time. The same goes for Devil-Slayer but I’m interested to see where his soul-redeeming storyline is going.

On Ebay: Marvel Comics Presents | Wolverine | Devil-Slayer | Aquarian | Sub-Mariner
On AtomicAvenue: Marvel Comics Presents | Wolverine | Devil-Slayer | Sub-Mariner

Jim Rohn is an indy creator best known for the Holo Brothers. He got a letter printed in Fantastic Four #134 (cover date – May 1973), praising John Buscema’s art.

On Ebay: Fantastic Four | Jim Rohn
On AtomicAvenue: Fantastic Four

Tony Harris‘ covers to Marvel Knights’ Doctor Strange series connect to form one image.

On Ebay: Doctor Strange
On AtomicAvenue: Doctor Strange

For decades, Spider-Man was barely associated with the Avengers and crossovers between the two properties were special events. Now, of course, that line between them has become blurred ever since the New Avengers and Marvel’s Civil War. In 1990, Avengers #314 kicked off a five part space-adventure story that brought Spidey along for the ride. The cover to Dark Avengers #12 bears a noticeable similarity to that issue.

Avengers #314 February 1990 Paul Ryan

Dark Avengers #12 February 2010 Mike Deodato

On Ebay: Avengers
On AtomicAvenue: Avengers

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: February 2011
Cover Price: $3.99
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Mike Perkins

Hela has formed an alliance with Skald (one of the greater demon kings) in a bid to conquer Asgard. Their forces are marching across the Earth on their journey to the borders of Asgard, wreaking havok. Thor has just been dispatched to attack the army’s rear guard, and has landed in Redhangir – where the viking leader Thorvald has just been slain in battle by Skald, leaving his daughter Einar in charge. She provides Thor with a lock of her hair to serve as his anchor to Midgard.

When Hela discovers Thor’s presence, she sends some of her forces to kill Einar, which would sever his link to Earth. But, she surprises the Norse Queen of Hel by killing her captors, giving Thor plenty of time to defeat Skald and the rest of the invading troops.

Mike Carey has crafted a neat story that’s part of Thor’s long, storied ancient history. It pre-dates his return to Earth in Marvel’s Silver Age, which allows it to play to the strengths of being a barbarian/fantasy/ancient myth story. Plenty of savage battles to be had here with great artwork by Mike Perkins – and not one super hero, in sight. This is the type of story that fits the character well and I wouldn’t mind reading more!

On Ebay: Thor | Mike Carey
On AtomicAvenue: Thor