Because publishers want you to buy their product every month, comics are typically serial in nature. However, occasionally (and more often nowadays than ever before) publishers launch a comic title that is only meant to last for one issue. While ongoing series often have multiple chances to hook in new readers, the comics highlighted in this ongoing investigations only had One-Shot At Greatness!
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: July 2000
Cover Price: $2.25
Writer: Karl Kesel
Artist: Paul Smith
In 2000, Marvel published a series of one-shots that revealed what Marvel Comics would be like in the Marvel Universe.
During a picnic in the park, the ground opens up underneath the Fantastic Four, revealing a machine that will continue to create earthquakes intended to drop Manhattan into the ocean. The machine belongs to the Mole Man, who’s always waging war against the surface world. But, this time he’s got help – it’s a regular, old-fashioned super-villain team-up! That’s right, Mole Man and Namor the Sub-Mariner have joined forces to strike a blow against the surface dwellers. Naturally, it’s up to our heroes to defeat them … cue up Ben Grimm’s “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” battlecry.
I suppose the concept of imagining what Marvel Comics would be like in the Marvel Universe is kind of unnecessary, when it comes to the FF. After all, they’re extremely public figures. I’ve found that the most fun comes from this concept when it’s about a character that the public doesn’t know too much about (Spider-Man or the X-Men, for example). So, how did Marvel make up for the fact that this story could easily be set within the mainstream Marvel Universe? Well, they took the pitchline of “World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” and put an accent on the magazine part. Interrupting the story are some neat, one-page “articles” focusing on things like a guide to Unstable Molecules, Ben Grimm’s exercise routine, Sue’s photo album, fan art, and more. These fun little shorts add much more appeal to this one-shot than the actual story but not enough to make me excited enough to give it a strong recommendation.
On Ebay: Marvels Comics | Fantastic Four | Tony Isabella | Karl Kesel