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 #43: February 1990(7.15.20) Credits: grandcomicsdatabase We're faced with a cross-hatch heavy Wolverine cover that anticipates "standard Erik Larsen," but the real mark of significance on this cover is the new 'Marvel' wordmark that replaces the leaner, spartan logo that ran from 1987-1990. It's a peculiar design, using the blocked space as a backdrop for the now-very-90s bouncy print and, in contrast to the present multimedia empire, it's the 'Comics' part the pops. It'll be the Marvel logo through the remainder of MCP, though its poppy feel is probably an explanation of why it'll occasionally be omitted. And, far less importantly, someone on the letters page rightly assesses Higgins' Excalibur feature (in contrast to the many letters singing its praises): "The Excalibur story has been stupid form the beginning and is only getting worse." A. Wolverine, "Black Shadow, White Shadow" [6/10] Wolverine's abandoned by Mai and left to track them to some sort of temple where Black and White Shadows seem to be bickering with one another. It's limp and charmless writing here, with Wolverine internally narrating all the sorts of things you'd expect. But there's also a lovely page here that marks the best art yet seen in this feature--in particular, Nel Yomtov's color work is great here--ditching typical jungle temple palates for a primarily black, white, and red look. It's an inventive and singular setting, which will hopefully shape the looking of the remaining installments. B. Wonder Man, "Stardust Miseries" [6/8] The plot contortions continue unabated. Iron Man projects an image of himself to spy on Wonder Man only to have the image magically rendered into some kind of reality. Some narratively incomprehensible stuff happens and then there's yet more fighting. There remain a few scattered, strong panels here, but the inconstancy of the work is an on-going concern. It's also a case study in how not to over-dress metallic textures. Contrast for instance, Saltares' strategy of scattering sheen spots to Bagley's tighter, more focused technique in the next feature. It sure looks like Rockwitz has had enough of this by the end of the story and simply ignores them when coloring. C. Iron Man, "Donovan's Brain" An early Mark Bagley outing, written by Ed Simmons (who only has a handful of comics credits), typifies "replacement-level feature." There's a vaguely badass robot vs. robot basketball panel and some perfunctory plotting about learning robots, but the clear focus here is on Bagley's nicely choreographed action. A subtle by effective bit of work here revolves around split panels, featuring a countdown to Iron Man rebooting. The design is attractive enough, but, at the level of pacing, it's a nice bit of work for an inexperienced scripter. D. Siryn, "Hello, Little Girl... Is Your Father Home?" Larry Stroman's first appearance in MCP marks the first feature drawn by a black artist, since Tony Salmons in #9. The downside here is that Lobdell writes this feature, which features The Kinsmen--a kind of aspirational Irish Avengers--replete with dreadful Irish caricatures including a flat-out leprechaun character. Stroman's work prefigures his X-Factor run with its slight, vibrant, but oddly unfinished feel that imparts a kind of Feiffer-esque texture. For all the fun of his distinctive stye, Lobdell's unintentional hackery yields the real highpoint here: the one and only appearance of Rapscallion. Power Ranking: Iron Man (B+), Siryn (B+), Wolverine (B), Wonder Man (C-)