Black Panther vs. Sabretooth sounds like a helluva fight. MAYBE THEY SHOULD'VE PUT IT IN THE COMIC.

This was a bi-weekly series, and still had over a year's worth of issues in it at this point. Somehow. From 1994, Marvel Comics Presents #148. 

 

The lead story was the only continuing serial this issue, and this was the conclusion of only a two-parter. On top of the Statue of Liberty, Vengeance faces off with...ugh...Psiphon. He had some tubes sticking out of him, that allowed him to feed on "strong, negative emotion," and Vengeance was a friggin' smorgasbord for him, until he changed back into his human form, leaving Psiphon a shriveled wreck. For some reason, Badilino seemed to return in the buff; but he still kicks Psiphon off the Statue. Still, the story ends with a new player set on Vengeance: it looks like Johnny Blaze in his 90's gruff phase, but the narration says he's Sam Buchanan, from the short-lived Darkhold book! (I remember wanting to like that one, but it was inconsistent and mired in crossovers from day one.) ("Tower of Blood, part 2 of 2: Vengeance Forsaken!" Written by Chris Cooper (Buchanan's creator!), breakdowns by Reggie Jones, finishes by Fred Harper.

Next, a Captain Universe story: "Hearts and Minds" Written by Dan Slott, pencils by Bill Wiley, inks by Bud LaRosa. Former baseball great Elijah Jackson has been brought low by advanced age and senility, with his daughter forced to sell his cherished mementos to pay the bills. Still, when some thugs try to rob her, he manifests as Captain Universe briefly to save her, and try and tell her he was still in there somewhere. That's kind of a downer, but it's probably the high point of this issue! 

On the flipside, there's a Black Panther and Sabretooth cover. Only one problem: no Sabretooth in this story! "Triumph of the Hunter," plot and art by Don Hillsman, script by David DeVries. In a (somewhat generic) jungle, Black Panther, briefly accompanied by a black panther, tracks what he thinks could be poachers, but it's some kind of kidnapping/arms deal gone wrong, with a Sabretooth Life Model Decoy! Which doesn't appear until the seventh page and gets its head kicked off the very next panel on page eight! I didn't think the art was too bad, but there's a pacing problem there. 

Lastly, "500 Guns" features American Eagle, who I have a soft spot for from Marvel Two-in-One Annual #6. Which was also drawn by this story's artist, Ron Wilson, but this one...is not good. I had to look up if this was the same Ron Wilson, but per his wiki, this might've been the last MCP story he did: He had been contributing to the book for five years, here and there. This reminded me a bit of later Herb Trimpe work, where an old pro was getting pushed to deliver work more in the "hot" style of the time.

Not great, but not a total loss: I have a sudden urge to have that evil midget from Darkhold make an appearance. Where's my Dr. Psycho figure...