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