Marvel Comics Presents ran for 175 issues from 1988 until 1995. Each issue included four eight-page stories with typically two or three on-going features (and no ads). It spotlighted some of the leading creators of mainstream comics over a period of precipitous economic growth and even more rapid decline. Reading through it is an opportunity to revisit any number of weird aspects of 90s superhero comics. This blog is a primitive, oddly regimented, manifestly scattershot crawl through an often disappointing but occasionally splendid comic. All image copyrights are Marvel's. Issue credits linked below. Updated on Wednesdays. Marvel Comics Presents #2: Mid Sept 1988(10.02.19) Credits: comicbookdb Alex Saviuk handles the cover with some Simonsonian angular flourishes on the back and a darker rendering of Wolverine on the cover. (It's noteworthy that each cover has Wolverine in full garb, despite Logan going entirely incognito thus far.) This is almost certainly the best treatment Shang-Chi will receive during the course of his feature, including the feature itself, and Saviuk captures the kind of physical intensity that's a prerequisite for a worthwhile martial arts story. Editorial has, thankfully, fixed the crediting errors from the last issue that criss-crossed the Man-Thing/Shang-Chi attributions.. A. Wolverine, "Save the Tiger" [2/10] The underworld machinations spin forward with a lively introduction to the Shang-Chi/body horror fixture, Razor Fist. Some capably handled action and the continued pairing of Buscema and Janson mark this as the clear anchor of the book in terms of art and the broader sales draw. The blending of noir-ish and kung fu tropes is far from seamless, however, and the bizarreness of Razor Fist as a character doesn't help matters. Perhaps most distractingly, we find him with his "Razor Arms" crossed, which seems wildly perilous. The low-key star of this issue is probably Orzechowski, who's lettering is in exceptionally fine form especially while punctuating the physical beats in the Razor Fight blood(less) bath. B. Man-Thing, "Elements of Terror" [2/12] Despite transitioning from the swamp to a senate hearing, the Man-Thing arc picks up steam as some political backdrop for the story gets established. Sutton's gooey and porous characters pair up with the southern senator's immaculately captured drawl ("...naow..") and overall scene-chewing to steal the show, though Gerber continues to engage the peculiar narrative constraints that come with Man-Thing in a fairly circumscribed fashion. Given how little he can do, he's about as effective as one can hope even while he receives only two pages of the story. C. Shang-Chi, "Crossing Lines" [2/8] Matters haven't much improved here from the initial outing. Grindberg's inconstant drawing of Shang-Chi is distracting and the muted colors and layouts remind--in all the wrong ways--of the Shang-Chi heyday while the flat storytelling makes for at best tepid interest in reconnecting with the supporting cast. There's a peculiar feel to the choppy plotting layouts and misstep after misstep in the close detail shots. This might be a testament to how surprising it was that Shang-Chi worked quite as well as it did, since without the fine linework and emotional heft of the old series' highpoints, we're left with a slow-rolling B plot. D. The Captain, "The Cold War" There's something a little disingenous about labeling last issue's Silver Surfer story as a one-off since we encounter its antagonist/plot device, the Fear Eater, yet again and run back the central narrative conceit--namely, muddling through a character's ostensible fears only to see them overcome in eight pages. Here, the focal character is 80s Captain America--in the US Agent costume--and the action plays out within a cryonics lab. Rogers' fears about once again being ensconced in ice are half-assedly gestured toward, but Milgrom's storytelling can't manage the action thread and the limp psychodrama in the low page count. Odder still: there might be a cast-off ice villain named Cold War or merely a delusion courtesy of the Fear Eater, but none of it matters much at all. A less live and fun affair than Milgrom's previous outing. Power Ranking: Man-Thing (B+), Wolverine (B), Shang-Chi (C), The Captain (C-)