Marvel Firsts: The 1980s

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #1

by Bill Mantlo, Mark Gruenwald, Mark Badger

Marvel continues exploring the awesome '80s with a cornucopia of collector's item classics! From the debuts of the West Coast Avengers and X-Factor, to solo spotlights for Spidey's amazing friends Iceman and Firestar, to the birth of a whole New Universe! As mutant mania takes hold, Kitty Pryde & Wolverine and the swashbuckling Nightcrawler grab a chance at glory! And Marvel's next big-screen icon, Rocket Raccoon, takes his bow alongside brave Balder, lucky Longshot, the insatiable Galactus...and the all-powerful Beyonder! COLLECTING: Questprobe 1, West Coast Avengers 1, Kitty Pryde & Wolverine 1, Iceman 1, Rocket Raccoon 1, Gargoyle 1, Secret Wars II 1, Squadron Supreme 1, Longshot 1, Nightcrawler 1, Balder the Brave 1, Punisher 1, X-Factor 1, Firestar 1, Dakota North 1, Star Brand 1, St rikeforce: Morituri 1; material from Epic Illustrated 26

Genres: Comics

487 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2014

About the author

William Timothy Mantlo is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics.
(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the other volumes in this series, this collection is a hodge-podge of material. Some selections of very good, others not so good at all and there are some real oddities included as well.
Balder the Brave #1 by Walter Simonson & Sal Buscema offers what might be the first solo adventure of Thor's frequent ally; Dakota North by Martha Thomases & Tony Salmons tried to focus on a different side of the Marvel Universe, this one with a noir-lite detective motif; Epic Illustrated #26 featured the first chapter of the "Last Galactus Story" by John Byrne; Firestar #1 by Tom DeFalco, Mary Wilshire & Steve Leialoha officially introduced the previous unseen co-star from TV's Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends to readers; Gargoyle #1 by J. M. De Matteis & Mark Badger gave center-stage to this demon-bodied member of the Defenders; the pages of Iceman #1 by De Matteis & Alan Kupperberg gave this former X-Men but current Defenders member a chance to shine; Kitty Pryde & Wolverine #1 by Chris Claremont & Al Milgrom followed up Wolverine's story by Claremont & Miller by giving Kitty a whole new set of abilities to use with her phasing powers; Longshot #1 unleashed the luckiest guy in the world by Ann Nocenti & Arthur Adams; Nightcrawler #1 allowed his creator, Dave Cockrum, to have some fun with the swashbuckling teleporter; Steven Grant & Mike Zeck allowed the murderous vigilante the Punisher to star in his own solo mini-series; Questprobe #1 was a computer game tie-in by Bill Mantlo, Mark Gruenwald & John Romita Sr. featured the Hulk; Rocket Raccoon #1 by Mantlo & Mike Mignola *creator of Hellboy) didn't the little guy's first appearance, but it revolutionized the character; Secret Wars II #1 brought the Beyonder from the original Secret Wars to earth in adventures by Jim Shooter, Milgrom & Leialoha; Squadron Supreme #1 shifted from Marvel Earth to a counter-earth where a whole different set of heroes decided to go proactive and rule the world brought to us by Gruenwald & Bob Hall; Star Brand #1 by Shooter & John Romita Jr. took readers into a whole New Universe; Strikeforce: Morituri #1 by Peter B. Gillis, Brent Anderson & Whilce Portacio offered up some sci-fi military action; West Coast Avengers #1 by Roger Stern & Hall splitered the Avengers into a second team headed up by Hawkeye & X-Factor #1 by Bob Layton & Jackson Guice reunited the original X-Men under an almost offensive premise of mutants pretending to be mutant hunters, fueling the anti-mutant hysteria, in order to capture mutants (a double-think gymnastic only a conservative fundamentalist could embrace) finishes off this collection.
As I said, this is another one of those collections filled with the good, the bad and the hopelessly bizarre that only Marvel Comics could (or should that be would) bring us.