Marvel Premiere is an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics. It ran for 61 issues from April 1972 to August 1981.
Publication history
The series introduced new characters and reintroduced characters who no longer had their own titles. Writer Roy Thomas and penciler Gil Kane significantly revamped Him as the allegorical Messiah Adam Warlock in Marvel Premiere #1 (April 1972). Doctor Strange took over the series with issue #3 and writer Steve Englehart and artist Frank Brunner began a notable run on the character with issue #9. The two killed Dr. Strange's mentor, the Ancient One, and Strange became the new Sorcerer Supreme. Englehart and Brunner created a multi-issue storyline in which a sorcerer named Sise-Neg ("Genesis" spelled backward) goes back through history, collecting all magical energies, until he reaches the beginning of the universe, becomes all-powerful and creates it anew, leaving Strange to wonder whether this was, paradoxically, the original creation. Stan Lee, seeing the issue after publication, ordered Englehart and Brunner to print a retraction saying this was not God but a god, so as to avoid offending religious readers. The writer and artist concocted a fake letter from a fictitious minister praising the story, and mailed it to Marvel from Texas; Marvel unwittingly printed the letter, and dropped the retraction order. In 2010, Comics Bulletin ranked Englehart and Brunner's run on the "Doctor Strange" feature ninth on its list of the "Top 10 1970s Marvels".
Iron Fist first appeared in issue #15, written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Gil Kane. Other introductions include the Legion of Monsters, the Liberty Legion, Woodgod, the 3-D Man, and the second Ant-Man (Scott Lang). The series also featured the first comic book appearance of rock musician Alice Cooper. Later in the title's run, Marvel Premiere was used to finish stories of characters who had lost their own series including the Man-Wolf in issues #45-46 and the Black Panther in issues #51-53.
The issues
- #1â€"2 - Adam Warlock (moved to his own series)
- #3â€"14 - Doctor Strange (moved to his own (second) series)
- #15â€"25 - Iron Fist (moved to his own series)
- #26 - Hercules
- #27 - Satana
- #28 - Legion of Monsters
- #29â€"30 - Liberty Legion
- #31 - Woodgod
- #32 - Monark Starstalker
- #33â€"34 - Solomon Kane
- #35â€"37 - 3-D Man
- #38 - Weirdworld
- #39â€"40 - Torpedo
- #41 - Seeker 3000
- #42 - Tigra
- #43 - Paladin
- #44 - Jack of Hearts
- #45â€"46 - Man-Wolf
- #47â€"48 - Ant-Man (Scott Lang)
- #49 - The Falcon
- #50 - Alice Cooper
- #51â€"53 - Black Panther
- #54 - Caleb Hammer
- #55 - Wonder Man
- #56 - Dominic Fortune
- #57â€"60 - Doctor Who (reprints from Marvel UK's Doctor Who Weekly)
- #61 - Star-Lord
Collected Editions
- Marvel Masterworks Warlock Vol. 1 includes Marvel Premiere #1-2, 288 pages, February 2007, ISBN 978-0785124115
- Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 2 includes Marvel Premiere #3-14, 608 pages, December 2007, ISBN 978-0785116684
- Essential Iron Fist Vol. 1 includes Marvel Premiere #15-25, 584 pages, October 2004, ISBN 978-0785115465
- Essential Marvel Horror Vol 1 includes Marvel Premiere #27, 648 pages, October 2006, ISBN 978-0785121961
- Essential Werewolf by Night Vol. 2 includes Marvel Premiere #28, 576 pages, November 2007, ISBN 978-0785127253
- Invaders Classic Vol. 1 includes Marvel Premiere #29-30, 248 pages, July 2007, ISBN 978-0785127062
- The Chronicles Of Solomon Kane includes Marvel Premiere #33-34, 200 pages, December 2009, ISBN 978-1595824103
- Dominic Fortune: It Can Happen Here and Now includes Marvel Premiere #56, 184 pages, February 2010, ISBN 978-0785140429
