When Marvel Comics was in its financial doldrums at the dawn of the 21st century, then newly installed Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada and publisher Bill James took many risks by inviting non-mainstream creators, allowed these same creators carte blanche to make changes to the characters, and took out many of the typical comic book storytelling tropes. One of the greater successes of these experiments is the Ultimate line, created and gestated by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar, both of whom at the time were pretty much unknowns in mainstream super hero comics.

Ultimate Marvel Team-Up was an experiment within an experiment, employing artists that had either never worked with Marvel or had distanced themselves from the company for some reason or another. The series only lasted 16 issues (and one oversized special), but over the course of its run acclaimed artists such as Matt Wagner, Mike Allred, Chynna Clugston, Terry Moore, Ted McKeever, Rick Mays, and John Totleben made their mark on established Marvel Comics characters.

And thus came this issue - the only issue (as far as I know) that is officially non-canon amongst the literally hundreds of Ultimate comics released over the past decade. Illustrated by Jim Mahfood, this is basically a madcap romp through the Marvel Comics offices as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four attempt to escape from a Skrull attack. It's hilarious and a welcome throwback to many 1970s Marvel issues that saw some of their sillier characters make a mess of the Mighty Marvel Bullpen.

Of course it doesn't make sense, and it sure as heck doesn't jive with continuity. If it does, it would've totally invalidated the then yet to be published Ultimate Fantastic Four. Having H.E.R.B.I.E. around certainly doesn't help either.

This issue was reprinted in the Ultimate Marvel Team-Up vol.2 trade paperback, as well as in the out-of-print Ultimate Marvel Team-Up: Ultimate Collection trade, and the oversized Ultimate Marvel Team-Up Hardcover.

When Marvel Comics celebrated their 25th anniversary in 1986 (no, I shan't go into a long diatribe on how they are celebrating their 70th anniversary in 2009), then Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter decided to launch the New Universe line to commemorate the event. Introducing eight new ongoing titles from veteran creators such as Archie Goodwin, Tom DeFalco, and Mark Gruenwald as well as at the time new artists such as Kyle Baker, Mark Texeira, Ron Frenz, and Paul Ryan, each of these titles took place in a more realistic setting where everything up to late 1986 happened exactly as in real life until something known as the White Event happened.

Suddenly, people with unnatural abilities (known as paranormals) appeared, with no explanation as to how they gained these abilities other than knowing the mysterious White Event being the focal point from whence all these began.

The apparent flagship title of this line as Star Brand, written by Jim Shooter himself with art by John Romita Jr. The protagonist is Kenneth Connell, an unambitious mechanic living in Pittsburgh who's more interested in chasing skirts than anything else. The White Event happened while he is dirtbiking in the nearby forest, and he chances upon the charred corpse of an alien being and he is given a tattoo known as the Star Brand by an enigmatic older man. From this tattoo, Connell gains abilities such as flight, invulnerability, surviving in extreme environments, and generating non-radioactive nuclear blasts.

The first seven issues of this series made up the introductory arc, which had Connell coming to terms with his abilities, his first encounters with other paranormals, and the impact the Star Brand has on his life and relationships. However, my favorite issue happens to be issue nine, where Ken Connell visits Dr Lucian Ballard's clinic after having multiple sleepless nights.

Lucian Ballard is a recurring character in Nightmask, another New Universe title which has introspective teenager Keith Remsen gaining the ability to enter the dreams of others. Using Remsen's abilities, his Nightmask alter ego enters Connell's dream where he encounters a 1960s comic book environment (with artist Keith Giffen emulating Jack Kirby's style!) and everyone speaks in the same bombastic language Stan Lee used in early Marvel Comics titles.

It's a blast to see this retro sci-fi take on the Star Brand, and Cary Bates and Keith Giffen managed to make it work within the context of the story as well as not undermining the realism espoused by the New Universe line. It's not all fun and games as the true nature of Connell's sleepless dreams is revealed as well as his reconciling with himself the thing that has been nagging his subconscious. It's pop psychology 101 wrapped in a faux Lee/Kirby tale.

The Kingpin is more prominently known as a regular recurring villain in the Daredevil mythos. However, it should be noted that Wilson Fisk made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man # 50.

Anyone familiar with the character of the Kingpin knows how often and indiscriminately he gets rid of nonperforming henchmen. This issue focuses on Tom Cochrane, one such member of his organization and what happens to him and his family when he fails the Kingpin. Despite the seeming simplicity of the plot, writer Greg Rucka weaves an interesting tale as we see the psychological effects this has on Tom Cochrane as he witness his last hours on Earth and a final noble act by Wilson Fisk as gratitude for Cochran's years of service.

This issue is an absolutely engrossing read that made me have confidence in the Tangled Web series, especially after the misfire from Garth Ennis and John McCrea's first three issues. It's a shame this series only lasted 22 issues, but they were exceedingly good for the most part, featuring work from the likes of Zeb Wells, Kaare Andrews, Jim Mahfood, Peter Milligan, and many others.

This issue is reprinted in the Spider-Man's Tangled Web vol.1 trade paperback.

The almost unthinkable happened in 1996 when Marvel Comics and DC Comics decided to do a major crossover event, aptly named DC vs Marvel (or Marvel vs DC, depending on who published the issue) where the Marvel Universe literally crosses into the DC Universe. All hell ensued, thanks to Peter David, Dan Jurgens, and Claudio Castellini and it was even partially interactive with fans being able to vote for the outcome of five critical matches.

Well, by the end of the third issue both universes merged and a new Amalgam Universe emerged. During this time, both DC and Marvel suspended publication of that week's output and pumped out a bunch of one-shots under the Amalgam Comics imprint featuring titles such as Super Soldier (Superman + Captain America), X-Patrol (Doom Patrol + X-Force), and Spider-Boy (Superboy + Spider-Man). The first batch of 12 one-shots published was successful enough for them to release a second wave in 1997, featuring second appearances of the more popular characters as well as introducing additional ones (i.e. Generation Hex (oddly enough Generation X + Jonah Hex), Iron Lantern (Green Lantern + Iron Man), and Challengers of the Fantastic (Challengers of the Unknown + Fantastic Four).

This issue was from the second wave and it introduced the talents of José Ladrönn, who would go on to collaborate with Joe Casey and James Robinson on Cable before creating Hip Flask with the assistance of Joe Casey and Richard Starkings. With a unique art style that is very much influenced by the late, great Jack Kirby with the muggy faces and energy crackles and whatnot, mixed with the intricate techno-details one would usually associate with Geof Darrow. Well, what I am trying to say is this is a darn good looking book.

This issue is basically Spider-Boy absconded to the 21st century by a teenage super-team known as the Legion of Galactic Guardians 2099 (Legion of Super-Heroes + Guardians of the Galaxy, but set in the year 2099), which as a concept is so totally awesome and fanboy-ish! In the space of 22 pages, Roger Stern, Karl Kesel, and Ladrönn introduce dozens of mixes of classic Legion of Super-Heroes characters with members of the Guardians of the Galaxy (among others) and it will utterly delight any old-school fan of the 30th century Marvel and DC Universe.

This issue is reprinted in the Return to the Amalgam Age of Comics: The Marvel Comics Collection trade paperback.

Marvel Comics published a series of minor crossovers in their superhero annuals from 1990 to 1992, after the commercial success of 1988's Evolutionary War and 1989's Atlantis Attacks! events, both of which ran across all the superhero annuals published in their respective years.

Instead of proceeding with a bigger event, Marvel oddly enough went the route of multiple smaller events, perhaps for the ease of editorial and talent coordination as well as telling better stories. Some of them made decent reads (Kings of Pain, The Korvac Quest) while others were simply painful to read (The Terminus Factor, Hero Killers). My favorite of all these is the Lifeform four-parter that ran across Punisher vol.2 annual # 3, Daredevil annual # 6, Incredible Hulk annual # 16, and concluding in this issue.

The "lifeform" in this story was industrial spy George Prufrock, who was contracted to steal an experimental virus from terrorist group Advanced Idea Mechanics, only to be intercepted by the Punisher and apparently killed. With each succeeding chapter, Prufrock's mutation becomes increasingly horrible, even as each hero apparently puts a stop to him. This culminated in his becoming a literal bag of flesh that absorbs any organic life it comes in contact with, and it wasn't long before New York faced devastation.

The Silver Surfer (fortunately on Earth to brief the Avengers on Thanos' resurrection at the time) teamed up with Mr Fantastic to try and stop the creature, and thanks to the Surfer's power cosmic, the lifeform was put to a halt and it was deposited on an asteroid far away from Earth. It is here that the Surfer learns of the creature's origins and the horrific fate that has befallen the man trapped within the creature.

It would have been interesting if subsequent writers picked up the Lifeform and the ramifications of the Silver Surfer's ultimate decision at the end of the story, but alas this was the last we've seen of poor George Prufrock. Since the cosmic side of Marvel Universe is experiencing a renaissance right now following the critical and commercial success of Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest, I hope writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning pick up on this little gem.

The backup story in this issue features the debut of Ron Marz, who would go on to replace Jim Starlin on the main series a few years later and planted the seed for a ghostly villain that would haunt the Silver Surfer for many years to come. We are introduced to the alien warlord Garnok Rebbahn, who had used his advanced technology and knowledge to prop himself up as the ruler of a peaceful world and then used his influence to convince these peace loving people to kill themselves.

When the Silver Surfer returns to this planet (he had apparently been to this planet years past and grown fond of the place) to find it little more than a dead rock, he has a confrontation with Rebbahn and seemingly kills him. And that was only the beginning of the story when Rebbahn returns to haunt the Surfer's dreams to recompense for the billions the Surfer had led to their deaths when he was a herald of Galactus.

It's a chilling story that at the time I felt was out of place in the Marvel Universe, but upon re-reading this with my experienced eyes, I found it to had planted the seeds for the Surfer's actions to come over the course of the next few years and the effects of this story changed the Surfer's character makeup and psyche permanently that would influence later writers George Pérez and J.M. DeMatteis' run on the series.

Another blast from the past from a young Bryan Hitch, this time on an issue of Sensational She-Hulk where the entire creative team fills in for the regular staff. This was the first issue after John Byrne abruptly left the book, but the fun and gags and breaking of the fourth wall did not stop.

Instead, writers Richard Starkings (yes, the head honcho of Comicraft) and Gregory Wright used the opportunity to have the loony Madcap guest star in this issue where he infects everyone with madness, including She-Hulk. And with She-Hulk being aware that she is in a comic and able to break the fourth wall at will, well, needless to say hilarity ensues.

Despite continuing the zaniness of the book, this is a markedly different issue from those written and drawn by John Byrne, as there is more slapstick here. Less intelligent? Sure, but I thought it only adds to the fun of this issue. And the final panel gag... priceless!

This issue features a done in one story, which has the Punisher going undercover as a cab driver in downtown New York to hunt down a serial killer that kills only cabbies. It's a simple enough plan, until everything goes to hell when he sights a crazed drug dealer who had recently been acquitted on a technicality resulting in a crazy chase similar to that seen in Die Hard With A Vengeance. Of course this issue was published almost five years before the movie was released.

This has all the hallmarks of a stereotypical early 1990s Marvel comic, with PG-13 level violence and lame substitute swear words. However, what made me a fan was the totally insane chase sequence that only someone like Chuck Dixon can write. Politics aside, I feel he is one of the best action writers in the comic book biz. And the surprise twist at the end - it came out of nowhere and provides a nice resolution to both plot elements in the story.

And before I forget, this issue marks the first appearance of Punisher's battle cab. Yep - once upon a time Frank Castle had a faux taxi with bullet proof windshields, twin V8 engines, stun lamps for headlights, and full armor plating. Plus a surprise in the backseat in the form of a hidden sawed off double gauge shotgun. The battle cab was in a sorry shape by the end of the issue, but it would make a return in the almost as enjoyable Punisher War Journal # 42.

This issue is reprinted in the Essential Punisher vol.3 trade paperback.

Despite my love for the comic book superhero genre, more often than not it is these rare slice of life stories that makes a tremendous impression on me.

This issue simply because it shows the challenges in the life of Lafronce Bennett, an African-American boy living in the slums with his drug-addled single mother. He has come to expect that he would rarely have food waiting for him in the evening after school, and more often than not his mother would forget to give him lunch money either. Worse is coming home to see one of her "boyfriends" present. Hardly the most suitable environment for anyone, much less a child to live. And yes, Lafronce manages to keep his head above water simply from his love for and imaginary friendship with Spider-Man.

This a touching story, and unlike others of its ilk it does not end with tragedy. In fact, the story concludes in a very uplifting manner that shows one can rise above his or her circumstances, dire as they may be, simply by keeping good spirits. And that final page - if it doesn't bring a smile to your face (or maybe even a tear to your eye), then I don't know what will.

This issue is reprinted in the Peter Parker: Spider-Man: Trials and Tribulations and trade paperback.

I could go on and on and on and on (ad infinitum) about the wonders and magics of Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.

It's absolutely farcical, and instead of describing why only Warren Ellis could have pulled off a comedic title featuring Machine Man, Boom Boom, Photon (formerly known as Captain Marvel), The Captain, and Elsa Bloodstone, I leave you with just two words that not only describes what makes this issue stand out over the other 11 issues, but also encapsulates the manic genius and wonder that is nextwave.

By 1993, the New Warriors was slowly setting up its own franchise with Night Thrasher and Nova getting their own ongoing series, as well as a mini-series for Justice (formerly known as Marvel Boy). This issue picks up after the Poison Memories arc, which shows what happens when the Poison Memories, a Vietnamese gang stumble upon a misplaced copy of Namorita's diary and use that information to target the New Warriors.

It started with issue 37 and was used as a launching pad for Night Thrasher's series. Within the span of three issues, we see Rage's grandmother killed, Firestar's father shot in the chest, Nova's kid brother abducted and tortured, and so on and so forth. When its revealed that Namorita's carelessness was the source of the team's problems, whatever teamwork and trust the New Warriors had with one another crumbles even as Rage goes off on his own to avenge his grandmother's death.

This issue is the epilogue, dealing with Namorita's relationship with Nova and the rest of the team (and setting up her departure from the team and metamorphosis to the blue-skinned Kymaera), Nova reconciling with his brother, Speedball's parents coming to terms with his superheroic career, and the legal repercussions of Rage's cold-blooded killing of Kimeiko Ashu, the leader of the Poison Memories.

This is heavy stuff for a 1990s Marvel title (and we know how bad mainstream comics got at the time), and no sequence is more powerful than the silent sequence when Night Thrasher brings Rage to visit his grandmother's grave.

While I miss original Mark Bagley following his departure in issue 26, Darick Robertson was more than a suitable replacement and he would go on to improve by leaps and bounds and by the time his final issue rolled around a year later, he was almost a completely different artist. And yes, this is the same Darick Robertson who'd go on to critically acclaimed collaborations with Warren Ellis on Transmetropolitan and Garth Ennis on The Boys.

The New Warriors was one of six ongoing titles Marvel Comics launched with tremendous hype and flash in 1990, and with the exception of license title RoboCop, all of them would go on to pretty decent runs. The New Warriors was basically Marvel Comics' version of the Teen Titans. Comprised of B-list characters such as Namorita, Nova, the 20th century teenage version of the Guardians of the Galaxy's Vance Astro, Speedball, and Firestar, led by new character Night Thrasher, this wasn't exactly the stuff of sure fire hits. Then again, the same could be said of the New Teen Titans a decade earlier.

Despite encounters with heavyweights such as Terrax, the Inhumans, the Punisher, and even a trip to an alternate timeline created by a new Sphinx, the series has remained pretty light-hearted with the characters easily taking things in stride without worrying too much about much about defeat and humility.

All that changed in this issue when Namorita was beaten to an inch of her life by high-tech pirate Sea Urchin. Scalped, humiliated, and left for dead, this was the ultimate ignonimity to the Atlantean warrior in her. Eschewing her traditional green bikini for the Atlantean Carapace armor, she goes against the wishes of her cousin Namor going on a revenge hit on Sea Urchin. And tradition demands a duel to the death when one dons the Carapace.

I have to admit that the first few issues of this series did not really impress me, and while the Sphinx three-parter that ran from issues 11-13 was highly entertaining and chock-full of traditional super-hero action, it was this issue that made me appreciate the characters as well as Fabian Nicieza's writing. This issue marked the beginning of the New Warriors' growth, that would continue to be a highlight for the remainder of Nicieza's lengthy run.</font>

Both Marvel and DC Comics debuted a bunch of new characters in their 1993 annuals, with trading cards polybagged for Marvel's annuals. There's no interconnecting storyline and most, if not all, of these characters are long since forgotten today. I would say that a good 80% of these annuals were turd (but that didn't stop me from picking 'em up from the discount bins anyway), but this Namor annual is a real gem simply because of the artists involved.

Look at the credits! Adam Hughes! Dave Johnson! Jason Pearson! Cully Hamner! Brian Stelfreeze! All of them are now highly respectable artists today, and have their pick of projects from the Big Two publishers. And they all started at the same place - Gaijin Studios.

The main story in this annual is nothing great, with Namor visiting a friend in Japan who turns out to be Apocalypse in disguise. The new character introduced in this annual is Assassin, a robot geisha created by Apocalypse to infiltrate human society's powerful and wealthy and replace them with his own automatons. It's a typical superhero comic, that is made memorable by stunningly gorgeous artwork by Gaijin Studios.

Cover painter Brian Stelfreeze also threw in an Easter Egg on the cover, with the kanji text on Assassin's kimono reading 'I am not wearing underwear'. What a hoot!

Throw in a couple of pin-ups by John Byrne and Jae Lee, as well as decent Iron Fist backup story and this annual is one heckuva good deal.

As a side note, Gaijin Studios would also be spotlighted in the WildStorm Summer Special, featuring newer members such as Tony Harris and Georges Jeanty. I prefer this annual though, as it early artwork by these great artists.

This is definitely the best and most kick-ass of the various times Thor had fought Crusher Creel a.k.a. the Absorbing Man. Both are powerhouses and can take a punch, but this was Thor at his weakest.

To recap, any wounds Thor receives is no longer healing thanks to Hela's curse. Forced to don an armor brace created by Tony Stark to support his left hand, Thor can barely lift his hammer anymore when Loki brings Crusher Creel right in Thor's path. This entire issue is basically one long slugfest, but this is one of those rare opportunities to see Thor literally running from his foe and he barely survives the battle by the skin of his teeth.

Walt Simonson may no longer be drawing the book by the time this issue rolled around, but Sal Buscema is more than a welcome replacement and its his style was heavily inspired by Simonson's heavy lines and angles. Plus, John Workman's lettering really brings out the impact of the battle. It's no wonder he became the letterer of choice for Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon and his sound effects inspired the wonderfully original effects seen in Greg Pak's World War Hulk and Incredible Hercules.

This issue is collected in the Thor Visionaries: Walt Simonson vol.5 trade paperback.

Despite being part of Marvel's kiddie Star Comics imprint, the Masters of the Universe (MOTU) series was actually pretty good in its day with consistent characterization that is sometimes darker than their animated counterparts. Plus, the judicious use of lesser known characters from the Masters of the Universe pantheon as well as a propensity for bringing in characters from She-Ra made this a MOTU fanboy's dream to read!

This is my favorite issue in this short-lived series, which starts off with the Horde making another attempt at invading Eternia. He-Man alongside Man-At Arms, Rio-Blast, Teela, Snout Spout, and Clamp Champ managed to defeat the Horde by damaging their portal but not before He-Man and Hordak got caught at the apex of the blast destroying the portal.

Hurled into parts unknown and their memories wiped, He-Man and Hordak developed a friendship and respect for one another as they struggled to survive in an alien environment.

Of course by the end of the 22 pages, both The Horde and He-Man's allies manage to locate their missing comrades. But it was interesting to see how enemies may interact with one another when bereft of the context history provides, and in my opinion this is the finest bit of characterization Hordak ever had.

You may be wondering why I'm spotlighting this issue, since it is a reprint of Marvel Team-Up # 4. Two reasons. First of all, Marvel Team-Up # 4 is a vintage late Silver Age issue and the odds of finding it for cheap in a discount bin is next to nil. Second of all, this issue features an interesting article by Gerry Conway on the genesis of this story and its inspiration from Kolchak The Night Stalker, plus a cool Todd McFarlane cover.

Featuring gorgeous artwork by Gil Kane, this issue has a gravely ill Spider-Man requesting the assistance of the X-Men after the former's last encounter with Morbius, The Living Vampire. It's a simple enough story - and even has a prerequisite misunderstanding between Spider-Man and the X-Men early on in the story.

The main point of interest is this is one of the rare X-Men appearances in the early 1970s. This was during the limbo years in between X-Men # 66 and Giant Size X-Men # 1 when the X-Men's own title had been downgraded to a bi-monthly reprint book and appearances from the merry mutants were few and far between. Plus, with the exception of two pages, the X-Men spend the entire story dressed in civilian clothing.

Definitely worth checking out, if only for the sake of satisfying one's curiosity.

This story is also available in the Essential Marvel Team-Up vol.1 trade paperback.

It is no secret that I have a soft spot for Marvel Comics' failed New Universe line. They were markedly different from most of the other mainstream superhero titles, with a greater emphasis on realism and less on the fantastic. As such, Justice is an odd duck as the early issues actually relied quite a bit on fantasy and sci-fi elements. But it works - with a gripping introductory issue by Archie Goodwin (Steve Englehart would take over from the second issue onwards), setting up the world in which the Justice Warrior Tensen inhabits.

The issue opens with a trio of drug addicts robbing an old lady of her belongings and return to their hideout, only to have the mysterious Tensen waiting for them. With the paranormal ability of generating an incendiary blast (he calls it his sword) from his right hand and creating energy shields from his right, he makes his way across L.A. in search of evildoers. And Tensen can literally see evil by peering into the colors of one's soul (much like what Mark Waid did with Superman's so-called soul vision in Superman: Birthright).

Tensen eventually makes his way to a club called The Factory, in search of drug lord Chango Villalobos, who has also garnered the attention of rookie FBI agent Rebbecca Chambers. Their paths converge, culminating in machinegun shootout at the club that is straight out of a John Woo movie.

It would not be until the second issue that Tensen's past if fleshed out further, but I don't think they are hard to come by at discount bins everywhere. These are pretty common back issues, and aren't exactly burning the back issue charts. Sure, the New Universe titles are much maligned these days but it certainly doesn't hope to give this issue a try. After all, Tensen would have some literary merit if he is good enough for Peter David to include in Spider-Man 2099.

What's I Heart Marvel? It is a series of five one-shots released back in March 2006 (yeah, they missed Valentine's Day, which would've been the perfect release date for such a project) centering around the love lifes of various Marvel characters. This issue contains two stories - the first focusing on Speedball and Squirrel Girl, and the second on Justice and Firestar.

I'm a fan of the original New Warriors, and had followed them from the first issue by Fabian Nicieza and Mark Bagley all the way to the end of Nicieza's lengthy run. And even though the series had gone through multiple reboots and the characters through many alterations, I still have a soft spot for them in my heart. Of course, this one-shot took place before Civil War so there is none of that mess to be found here.

It's great to see Fabian Nicieza return to these characters that he wrote over a decade ago. The Squirrel Girl/Speedball story is nothing more than a highlight of the former's crush on the latter, who has gained celebrity status following the success of the New Warriors reality TV series.

It is the second story featuring young lovers Justice and Firestar a few days before their impending marriage that got to me. They've been the perfect, whitebread couple of the Marvel Universe superhero scene from their first date in New Warriors # 14, and despite being nearly sidetracked by Justice's incarceration in jail for accidentally killing his physically abusive father in self-defense and his subsequent undercover role in Shinobi Shaw's organization, both of them would eventually join the Avengers together and presumably live happily ever after. I'm not going to spoil the ending here, but needless to say it set a new status quo for these two characters.

This was my very first exposure to the Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel Comics' 30th century super-heroes. They were created back in the 1970s, and were blessed with a regular series in 1990 (as part of the Heroes for the '90s initiative that saw the launch of six new regular series with 'attitude for the '90s') and spearheaded by then unknown creator Jim Valentino. Within the space of 28 issues, Jim Valentino created a deep mythology for these star spanning heroes from the future that ties in with modern day Marvel Universe continuity while paying homage to old Jim Starlin and Steve Gerber comics. What's not to like?

This issue is a storytelling experiment by Jim Valentino, with the top half of the page featuring Starhawk healing Martinex with his light powers while recounting his convoluted origins, while the second half of the story features the rest of the team defending themselves against the demonic Malevolence, the daughter of Mephisto. Both stories would collide near the end of the issue, and would set the direction for the series which would ultimately culminate to the events in the 25th anniversary issue.

Valentino set up plot lines and elements here that would pay off over the rest of the entire series' lifespan, even after he left and Michael Gallagher and Kevin West took over creative reins on the book. Plus, the cover is inked by George Pérez.

This one-shot is so unlike anything Marvel Comics had ever published (or published since) that I can't help but spotlight it here. Written, drawn, and lettered completely by Jim Mahfood whose style is influenced more by graffiti and hip-hop than traditional comic book illustration, this is a hilarious take on Marvel Comics' then teenage mutants as well as a great exposure for mainstream comic book buyers to Mahfood's immense talent.

The first story is nothing more than Skin obsessing over beating M in a game of Space Invaders on his old Atari 2600 console, while the second story is a hip-hop sci-fi Charlie's Angels riff featuring Skin, Jubilee, and M with X-Man Bishop as their 'charlie'. The third story takes a sudden turn from the comedy and fun of the previous two tales, and is instead a soul-searching look into the horribly scarred Jonothon Chamber.

The cover is printed on an unusual card stock that is usually found only on independent or underground comics, and I have never seen it used on mainstream commercial comics before. Compounded by the flat single colors, one would be hard pressed to think this was released by Marvel Comics were it not for the name of the publisher on the top left corner of the cover.