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 #44: February 1990(7.22.20) Credits: grandcomicsdatabase This cover is close to Bryan Hitch's first US Marvel appearance. (A Sensational She-Hulk issue appeared a few months prior.) It's undeniably raw, but there's a depth and feel to it that squares with his subsequent success. Unfortunately, the inks by (I think) Mike Machlan are dreadful and the stippled lines on Puma leave him looking like a leathery octogenarian. A. Wolverine, "Black Shadow, White Shadow" [7/10] Ups and downs abound here. Phil Felix does some lovely lettering work, but the buckshot of different typefaces mars an opening splash. There's an interesting turn from Marv Wolfman--namely, that Black Shadow emerges from an obese, monolithic figure in the temple. But, frustratingly, the reveal is presented with stale Wolverine monologue and, most conspicuously, Wolfman bungles the reveal by putting the figure on the facing right page rather than after the flip on the final left page of the installment. In a comic where the bad is usually irredeemably bad, it stings a bit to see such a near-miss. B. Wonder Man, "Stardust Miseries" [7/8] The penultimate installment of a feature that seems to rewrite itself each time around. The Enchantress lures Thor and Captain America into her scientific lair for some sort of god-transforming process. Wonder Man is more or less an afterthought and it's wholly unclear why the Enchantress is using a "very big science machine." The dire condition of this feature is probably clearest from the sputtering artwork. There's a stretch of three or four pages where Saltares and Marzan are rushing through, entirely omitting any actual background or detail work. The best diagnosis here is Marvel Method on steroids with thumbnails captioned in extreme haste. C. Dr. Strange, "Trashed" Tertiary characters remain an obvious sweetspot for MCP and, though we've already seen a Clea feature, Rintrah is a natural Dr. Strange supporting character to spotlight. (This is the worst-case of false advertising we've yet seen in MCP with Dr. Strange making only the scarcest of an appearance.) The results are solid if unspectacular. Rintrah magically animates some garbage which plods around Greenwich Village, running amok. Dave Simons doesn't get much room to breathe in the feature and his Rintrah is a shade too close to Bullwinkle, but the limiting factor here is Roy Thomas' inability to be land any of the comedic beats with the chatty but hapless Rintrah. Ultimately, the modest success here is a testament to the strength of the formula rather than its actual execution. D. Puma, "And Not a Drop to Drink" Another exemplary tertiary pull from the personnel file: Puma. For a fairly humdrum 80s character, this feature presages Puma's "extreme makeover" in Spectacular Spider-Man a few years later, which leads to him becoming a modestly visible rehabbed hero. Gavin Curtis--our third black artist to draw MCP--nicely handles Puma's 90s update here, but Dan Mishkin's story lands with a thud. Puma is assailed by some sort of reality-shifting spirit who promises him great power, but, after somehow besting him, Puma simply pays off the ghost by giving him his credit card. (It turns out Puma's alter ego is ultra-wealthy. Because, of course.) It's a head-scratching, muddled affair. And, for a desert-based story, Vancata's colors generally leach out what should be a robust sense of place. Power Ranking: Wolverine (B+), Dr. Strange (B), Puma (C+), Wonder Man (C-)