Marvel Comics Presents was an American comic book anthology series published by Marvel Comics originally from 1988 to 1995; it returned for a second volume in 2007-2008.
Volume 1
The first volume was released on a biweekly basis and lasted for 175 issues. Each issue had four eight-page stories, of which generally two were episodes in ongoing serials and two were one-episode stories. The one-episode stories generally featured obscure or little-seen characters from the Marvel universe, and often featured work by creators previously unpublished in the comics field, including Scott Lobdell (later X-Men Writer) who started work under the editorship of Tom DeFalco.
The original plan was for the lead story to feature different members of the X-Men in solo adventures lasting between eight and ten episodes. The first ten issues featured Wolverine; others featured were Colossus, Cyclops, Havok, and Excalibur. From issue 39 onwards, Wolverine was featured as the lead story in all issues. Particularly notable was "Weapon X" in issues #72-84, which revealed Wolverine's origin, with story and art by Barry Windsor-Smith.
Later Ghost Rider was added to the series as "co-lead" feature, and the book adopted a "flip-book" format, thereby allowing each of the two characters cover billing. Eventually other characters, such as Man-Thing and Lunatik, got cover billing.
Several of the Wolverine storylines have since been collected and reprinted in trade paperback format. The first volume features Wolverine's first adventures in Madripoor, a fictional island that became Wolverine's second home during the late 1980s, as well as the "introduction" of Tyger Tiger.
Other notable highlights include the first appearance of Cyber (Issue 85, by Peter David and Sam Kieth), the first appearance of Damage Control (Issue 19), a Looney Tunes Spoof featuring Excalibur (issues 31- 38), an Incredible Hulk versus Hulk Hogan wrestling match (issue 45), and the first appearance of Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja (Issue 25).
Other stories, feature an incredibly wide range of Marvel Comics characters. [Note: the following is not a complete list]
- American Eagle
- Ant-Man
- Arabian Knight
- Aquarian
- The Bar with No Name
- Beast
- Black Cat (vs. The Kingpin)
- The Black Knight
- Black Panther
- Black Widow and Darkstar
- Black Widow and Silver Sable
- Captain America
- Clea
- Cloak
- Coldblood
- Collective Man
- Colossus
- Comet Man
- The Constrictor
- Cyclops
- Damage Control
- Daredevil
- Daredevil and Black Widow
- Daughters of the Dragon
- Deathlock
- Death's Head
- Devil Slayer
- Doctor Doom
- Doctor Strange
- Dracula with Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos
- El-Aguila
- Excalibur (Captain Britain, Meggan, Lockheed, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadow Cat, Widget,
- Falcon
- The Fantastic Four
- Firestar
- Freedom Force
- Ghost Rider
- Ghost Rider and Cable
- Gladiator
- Havok
- Hellcat
- Her
- Hercules
- The Incredible Hulk
- Hawkeye
- The Human Torch
- The Human Torch and Iceman
- Impossible Man
- Iron Man
- Kazar the Savage
- Leir
- LockJaw
- Longshot
- Man-Thing
- Machine Man
- Marvel Girl vs. Phoenix
- Master of Kung Fu
- Meggan and Shadow Cat
- Mister Fantastic
- Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman
- Mojo
- Namorita
- Nightmare
- Nomad
- Northstar
- Nova
- Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja
- Overmind
- Paladin
- Le Peregrine
- Poison
- Power Man (Luke Cage)
- Puck
- Puma
- Quasar
- Red Wolf
- Rick Jones
- Rintrah
- The Scarlet Witch
- Selene
- Shamrock
- Shanna the She-Devil
- She-Hulk
- Shooting Star
- The Shroud
- The Silver Surfer
- Siryn
- Slag
- Solo
- Speedball
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- Spitfire (vs. Selene)
- Starfox
- Stingray
- Storm (vs. Doctor Doom)
- Sub-Mariner
- Sunfire
- Sunspot
- The Thing
- Thor
- Triton
- Union Jack
- Volcana
- Warlock
- The Wasp
- The Watcher
- Werewolf by Night
- Wheels
- Willie Lumpkin
- Wolfsbane and Mirage
- Wonderman
- Wolverine
- Wolverine and Ghost Rider
- Wolverine and the Incredible Hulk
- Woodgod
Volume 2
In 2007 the anthology series returned, also including work by creators previously unpublished in the comics field. The series' editors were Warren Simons, Nick Lowe, Andy Schmidt, and John Barber. The series hosted two 12-part stories (The Vanguard super-team and Weapon Omega) and a host of short single to five-part stories involving a variety of characters within the Marvel Universe. The series was cancelled with issue 12.
Bibliography
- Marvel Comics Presents Vol. 1 #1-175
- Marvel Comics Presents Vol. 2 #1-12
Collected editions
- Marvel Comics Presents: Wolverine Vol. 1 (Vol. 1 #1-10)
- Colossus: God's Country (Vol. 1 #10-17)
- Cyclops: Retribution (Vol.1 #17-24)
- Marvel Comics Presents: Wolverine Vol. 2 (Vol. 1 #39-50)
- Marvel Comics Presents: Wolverine Vol. 3 (Vol. 1 #51-61)
- Marvel Comics Presents: Wolverine Vol. 4 (Vol. 1 #62-71)
- Wolverine: Weapon X (Vol. 1 #72-84)
- Wolverine: Blood Hungry (Vol. 1 #85-92)
- Wolverine: Typhoid's Kiss (Vol. 1 #109-116)
- Patsy Walker: Hellcat (Vol. 2 #1-4)
- Marvel Comics Presents: Weapon Omega (Vol. 2 #1-12)
