Tag: john byrne

Sixth Day of Classic Comics Christmas

Spider-Man and Red Sonja

See my initial post for the context. Suffice to say that I will be sharing my entries to the Classic Comics Forum tradition, “Twelve Days of Classic Comics Christmas“. This is a cross-post of my sixth entry, representing #7 on my list of favorite comic book Crossovers.

7. Spider-Man and Red Sonja
“Sword of the She-Devil”
from Marvel Team-Up #79 (Marvel, 1979)

by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin

The team is most famous for their work on Uncanny X-Men, but they delivered a perhaps even more impressive run on Marvel Team-Up. I could have picked a lot of stories from this era, but we only get 12 entries. So let’s focus on the best one. Prior to Claremont and Byrne taking over, Marvel Team-Up was a generally good book, but not necessarily of the highest quality storytelling. Claremont and Byrne brought a better sensibility to the series and told some great little tales.

Somehow, Spider-Man teams up with Conan’s sometimes ally to battle Conan’s arch-nemesis. Various mystic stuff brought Kulan Gath to the present, but had Red Sonja take over Mary Jane’s body to do battle with him. A whirlwind of a story that moves too fast for you to stop to wonder whether any of this makes sense. You just have to hang on.

Why read the Marvel Universe?

In 1989, I was in Walgreens and my mother suggested I pick out a comic book from the newsstand. Thirty years and some 40,000 comics later, she has had time to regret that moment. On that day, I began a hobby which has consumed a large amount of my life’s attention and energy.

The comic was Avengers #309. I think I picked it out because I recognized some of the characters from cartoons I had seen. Thor, Captain America, Sub-Mariner. Perhaps I recognized She-Hulk. The other two characters on the cover were new to me.

The issue begins in the middle of events. Our characters stand atop a giant crater. The top reads, “Stan Lee PRESENTS: The MIGHTY AVENGERS!” Then in bolder letters, “TO FIND OLYMPIA!” Olympia is written is this cool gold font.

The story doesn’t end with this comic any more than it begins. By the final page, Thor is the only Avenger left standing and facing off against Blastaar. We get a little blurb which reads, “Next: The end of the Eternals? The end of the Avengers? You must not miss… Death in Olympia! In 30 days!!” The word ‘Death’ is written in this cool blood-dripping font.

Continue reading “Why read the Marvel Universe?”