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 #36: December 1989(5.20.20) Credits: grandcomicsdatabase Sienkiewicz is in full force here with a Phoenix piece that reminds of his Dazzler covers, but is sadly marred by the text and title design. Thankfully, his Hellcat on the reverse is sticky, blocky, and splendid--not to mention largely unspoiled by text. It's a treat to see his work here after a stretch of limp covers. This issue also marks a first for MCP: only three stories. In this and the next issue, the Black Panther installments are expanded to 16 pages in hopes of *finally* wrapping up "Panther's Quest." A. Excalibur, "Having a Wild Weekend" [6/8] Few Marvel costumes have a better claim to being covert bondage-fetish gear than Rachel Summers' get-up. In Larsen's hands, the result is a weird, body horror turn with a cheesecake-nightmare feel. It's distressing stuff. In light of the already grating feel, this feature has turned into a drag with a bunch of loud, tacky action. (I suppose it vainly gestures towards a vague psychological insight into Rachel by way of a Jean Grey appearance, though it's fleeting and insubstantial.) The layout experiment, which started out as fun and interesting, has overstayed its welcome, too. Not for nothing, but the strength of Excalibur was typically the interplay of characters in the face of ambient weirdness. Pulling them apart and then throwing hackneyed, goofy stuff at the wall is swift demonstration of Higgins' failure to grasp what was attractive about the series. Notice, too, that the feature is aimed at some kind of swirling, dream logic feel, but, perhaps on account of Larsen's hyper-rendered style, there's discontinuity rather than any dream-ish flow to the proceedings. Looking at the cover, it's natural to wish SIenkiewicz were handling this feature and plausible that it might feel like *something* if unfurled in his style instead. B. Black Panther, "Panther's Quest" [24/25] This is a weird penultimate installment. Ten or so pages are given over to T'Challa freeing himself from a beartrap and then killing a Doberman that's been set upon him. It's capably narrated and there's about as much tension as one might hope for, but (a) no one is here to see Black Panther kill a dog, (b) it's some of Palmer's weakest work in the feature, and (c) Colan (surprisingly) can't draw a dog to save his life. As a standalone, it would be a B- installment, but it's followed swiftly by T'Challa facing off against a Gore who, despite MacGregor's efforts, hasn't emerged as anything more than the lone henchman with a name. There's a scrap (and one that's less interesting than the Doberman business), but it's flat, low calorie pages. Let's wrap this damn thing up. C. Hellcat, "Encounter in the Alley of Death" An interesting creative team: old school vet Jack Harris (in a rare Marvel spot) and the criminally underrated June Brigman. Story-wise, it's hard to argue that there's much interesting afoot, but this tremendously fun stuff to look at. Hellcat busts up a drug ring in record time and with some high-kicking pizzazz. (Roy Richardson on inks makes for a lovely pairing. Cf. their Lightning Lass in DC's Who's Who.) Brigman moves the camera around in playful ways, chopping together some cinematic and pulpy vantage points. There's a lithe, scrappiness to her Hellcat and a generally open style that, in this issue, functions as ringing condemnation of Larsen's turgid rendering of female characters. Power Ranking: Hellcat (B+), Excalibur (C+), Black Panther (C+)