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 #27: Early September 1989(3.25.20) Credits: grandcomicsdatabase Milgrom returns to the MCP cover after his dismal outing back in issue #4. Opting for Havok's signature concentric circles, the results are eye-catching but, especially when coupled with the horrid title design, headache inducing upon any close inspection. His Hulk on the rear cover is passable, but awkward upon noticing that he's being shot directly in the face by Coldblood. There's little to like here, but Gulacy's Coldblood box--apparently an original for the series--is a standout, bursting vividly and legibly into the frame. The letters page remarks that, while most of the stories have had limited impact on broader continuity, there's a promise of more substantial consequences flowing out from the book in the future. That someone is reading MCP for critical insights into continuity is, I think, a somewhat remarkable turn of events. A. Havok, "Pharaoh's Legacy" [4/8] Bruce Patterson steps in to offer "finishes" over Buckler's "breakdowns" (shifting credits from "pencils/inks" with Rubinstein). The results are a palpable improvement in dimensionality, texture, and consistency with a few genuinely strong panels--most notably, Patterson credibly renders an airport and firefight and preserves the lone strength of Buckler's contributions: Havok's blast effect. Mackie's story-telling commendably re-engages the thread while backfilling much of the silliness from previous installments, though the only interesting element of the feature is the demonstrable improvement from prior, dreary outings. B. Black Panther, "Panther's Quest" [15/25] McGregor's earlier "Panther's Rage" was punctuated by genuine moments of pathos as those around T'Challa collided with the mortal consequences of heroism and violence. After being set aflame in the previous installment, we find Zanti attacked and beaten, but, more gravely, a small boy, Theodore, seemingly burns to death while saving T'Challa. The narrative heft is considerable here, but the facile voiceover narration and wooden dialogue blunt some of the force of the event. More concerningly, Colan's earlier success rendering vivid, credible African faces has given way to increasingly rubbery and largely indiscriminable ones. C. Coldblood, "Rise and Shine" (2/10) There's an aimless paranoia to Moench and Buckler's early Deathlok stories that's on display here, but Gulacy's craftsmanship continues to elevate this feature to a genuinely noteworthy status. There's a compelling POV half-splash as well as heavy blacks casting well refined shadows throughout. Glynis Oliver's colors punctuate Gulacy's ability to move from place to place as we see Coldblood manipulated within a shadowy military experiment. Relying on spare, unsaturated palettes, there's a washed out fluorescent hum to the conspiratorial elements in the story that work rather better than the quickly dispatched goofy clown hitman. D. American Eagle, "Just Another Shade of Hate" Lobdell's continuing forays into political commentary result in incoherent dreck as American Eagle foils a plot by a black politician to fight racial oppression, which, according to Lobdell, is tantamount to racial hate, since acknowledging oppression is impossible without internalizing abject racial hatred. Wilson's art is slapdash, but befits the jejune idiocy on offer here. Stinks. Shameful. Tasteful. Should be more infamous than it seems to be. I'd delight in more blogs taking this trash to task. Power Ranking: Coldblood (A-), Black Panther (B), Havok (B-), American Eagle (F)