The marauding maestros at modern Marvel may want us all to believe that now (as in NOW) is the niftiest time to be a tireless turner of the publisher’s pulchritudinous pages. But the truest of the true believers know that … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Sub-Mariner #36
By now, it should be wonderfully well-established that the merry mavens at Marvel Comics summoned superlative skills in self-promotion throughout the sixties and seventies. The practice persisted past that ecstatic era, even if the promos proved less vivid and verbose. … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Spider-Woman #25
Through what’s known as the Silver Age of Comics, there were plenty of punctilious publishers proficient at producing furiously fantastic feats of four-color fables, but one rocketed above the rest when it came to breathless boasts of the bountiful bustle … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Tales of Suspense #93
Back when everyone simply had to know that we were in the midst of the Marvel Age of Comics, the publisher had a nifty knack for promoting their pulchritudinous periodicals with defiantly dazzling descriptors. Every adventure promised picturesque peril and … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist Hyperbole Check: Fantastic Four #75
When the magnificent maestros of Marvel Comics were at the top of their game and still trying harder, the only thing they did better than spin scintillating stories was crow about their cornucopia of comics with crazy, colossal claims of … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: The Amazing Spider-Man #100
When the marvelous mavens at Marvel meant to magnify the merits of their magnificent mags, there were no better place than the Mighty Marvel Checklist, typically taking up one crazy column in the monthly Bullpen Bulletins page. Starting with sterling Stan Lee, the scattered scribes had a special skill for pumping every periodical as the pure pinnacle. The awesome Avengers #97 was no exception. The blurb boasted: “At last! The cataclysmic conclusion of the Kree-Skrull War! Plus a zillion Marvel-ous guest stars!” Now there’s not a lot of hyperbole in that summary, but there’s one odd assertion. A “zillion” guest … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Avengers #97
By now we’ve established that the mighty mavens of Marvel Comics were only bettered in their talent for titanic tales by their positively prodigious promotional prowess. This was trues as ever in the swingin’ sixties when almost every single soaring saga was touted as the living end. For example, 1967’s Daredevil #31 was described as follows: “Possibly the most sensational of all DD’s adventures! Imagine the Man Without Fear minus his super-senses–forced to battle his most deadly foes while he’s actually sightless! It’s Daredevil’s most fateful moment–and when you see the ending–HOOO BOY!” Does the supposed stunner by Stan (The … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Daredevil #31
Back in the pop art era when mighty Marvel mags manifested as the proudly powerful pinnacle of the scintillation sequential literature settled onto spinner racks across the nation, the sterling storytellers passionate proclivity for yahoo-inducing yarns was only matched by their ability to bash out a bounty of Barnumesque boasts. Every elegant entry on the monthly Mighty Marvel Checklist promised pound upon pound of shimmering shocks. For example, prospective periodical-purchasers were told about Thor ##192 in the following fulsome manner: “This is the day of the Demolisher! The hour of Thor’s mightiest ordeal! All this — and the most surprising … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Thor #192
Can anyone doubt that the early nineteen-seventies was truly the Mighty Age of Marvel Comics? The publisher surely didn’t, taking every opening as an opportunity to feed the faithful with profound praise for the titanic tales and colorful clashes wonderfully winging their way to national newsstands. Why, Stan Lee may have moved on from the flagship Fantastic Four, leaving it in the capable hands of rascally Roy Thomas (whose powerful prose blatantly benefited from the awesome art of John Buscema) but that didn’t mean the stories couldn’t soar. Issue #132 promised, “The uncanny Inhumans! The ominous behemoth called Omega! Plus–the … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Fantastic Four #132
When last we left the Mighty Marvel Checklist Hyperbole Check, the scintillating surprises of Captain America #131 had been illuminated and explicated. Still, there remained a clamorous cliffhanger as the star-spangled Avenger was trying to determine if the impish impostor standing in for his dearly departed partner Bucky could in fact be the real deal. The worrisome wait for the next issue was only exacerbated by the charged covenant found in the checklist: “The horrible secret of Bucky Barnes! The hideous threat of the super-human Modok! And the most dramatic climax of the month!” (A nifty note to the fervent … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Captain America #132
