For the ISB: 30 Second Recap!

I should hedge my bet and not say anything, because some of the competition is already looking tough, but Chris Sims at the Invincible Super Blog is coming up on his fourth Awesomeversary, and the 2008 30 Second Recap Contest is underway!

You can check over there for rules and to enter, which I heartily encourage; and Chris also gave an example, that "you can even go after a 22 year-old classic of comics literature if you want!" Well, taking that to mind, I took a stab at another classic, twenty-seven years old this month! Here's the 30 Second Recap, of Micronauts #37, "There's a Reason They Call It...the Danger Room!" As usual, click to enlarge, or shrink yourself until you can easily read it:

Original written by Bill Mantlo, with art by Keith Giffen, Greg Laroque, and Danny Bulanadi.

#37 was the Micronauts' last newsstand issue, at least until the ill-fated New Voyages a few years later. Micronauts, Moon Knight, and Ka-Zar were Marvel's first test books for direct sales only. I can't speak to how well they did as a yardstick, but the switch didn't seem to do them any favors. A couple years later, Micronauts was relaunched as New Voyages (which lasted 20 issues) and Moon Knight as Fist of Khonshu (which only made six), and I think Ka-Zar just drifted off.

Nightcrawler mentions it in passing in X-Men/Micronauts #1, but doesn't go off the handle. I do kind of figure he got like two solid years of KP or latrine duty or some horrible X-related chore.

EDIT: Of course, I forgot to mention that Huntarr would eventually switch sides, breaking Force Commander's hold on him and becoming I think the last addition to the Micronauts, at least until New Voyages. (I read New Voyages as a kid, but have since lost those issues, and the last half-year of the book gets dragged into Secret Wars II and has a terrible ending.) And I love Huntarr's very Micronaut-esque big boots. Now, he doesn't show up anymore, and I don't know why: Commander Rann, Marionette, and of course Bug were Marvel creations and still made appearances after the license for the others had expired. Maybe Mantlo based Huntarr on a Micronauts toy, at least in part.

I was hoping to get a chance to "draw" Force Commander, but he was in his new, non-toy armor here, and only briefly. The old, white FC would be about as easy to draw as, say, ROM's face.

And I didn't draw her for this, but Marionette=the hotness. Just saying. Read more!

I've had this flier from an issue of Wizard or Toyfare or something for years, and it's been sitting by the computer for a while now.

I was going to ask if anyone had ever actually seen this bust, but then I thought, duh, eBay. And after a few minutes of searching--"Bug" and "Thing" are tough ones to search for oddball comic-related items, and I don't want to guess how many worm listings I've seen looking for Nightcrawler stuff--an auction came right up.

I'm afraid I'm not interested enough to buy it: I don't have anywhere to put busts. Ever since my wife broke the tail of a Nightcrawler statue, what little high end stuff I have goes into the basement. Also, check out the link: the eyes don't look right on the auction one...like they've been turned about 90 degrees.

I've fallen behind on Annihilation and Guardians of the Galaxy: is Bug still in there? This Dynamic Forces promo was an odd item, since it was tied into Image's relaunch/reimagination of Micronauts that didn't use any of Marvel's characters. Didn't, um, didn't take. Everyone remembers Micronauts fondly, but with the licensing all tied up and the wave of nostalgic comics come and gone, it's never coming back. (I took a quick look for it, but I couldn't find Warren Ellis' explanation on why that was a bad idea in the first place.)

Still. The old issues are still out there, and fun enough to flip through. Now ROM, hell, ROM deserves a new figure, new book, and a dramatic reveal in Secret Invasion...hey, at this point, that's like the one thing that would get me to pay money for that. Read more!

I should be more jaded, but I'm excited for this.

--plus this--

--and this? OK, fine, whatever.

I don't know how Keith Giffen has time for Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord on top of his DC work, but I'm looking forward to it. Even the vaguest, most half-assed reason for all these characters to be in the same book is fine by me. How Bug got out of the Microverse and full-sized though, he'd better have a good explanation for that.

I'm not as big a fan of Mantis (although I liked her in the 80's Silver Surfer) or Deathcry, but I could think of one of Marvel's space characters I'd love to have back: Cerise, from Alan Davis' second run on Excalibur.

She was just this weird statuesque alien woman who showed up one day and pretty quickly became part of the team. She had bizarre, almost feather-like hair; solid-light powers or weapons, and hooked up with Nightcrawler in short order. After Davis left the book, Cerise was written out almost immediately, but I think she made a cameo in Annihilation somewhere...

Actually, now that I think about it, Cerise also made a return appearance in the Maximum Security crossover. That was around the time when Nightcrawler was going to become a priest (my least favorite storyline ever) and he shoots down her advances. Which is absolutely damn idiotic. Seriously, it almost makes the rest of Kurt's priest storyline pale in comparison, and there is a lot of stupid in there.

So, it'd be fun if Cerise got a spot on this team; and if I had a vote, I'd get a Recorder in there as well. I know DC's got more space characters, but I should be able to think of some others that deserve a shot at the comeback. Don't say Rom. It'd be swell, but we all know it's not gonna happen. Not unless you win the lottery, buy Parker Brothers (or the rights to Rom: Spaceknight from them) and give Marvel the rights free and clear. And even then, I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Think of someone else. Hell, if you can make Bug regular-sized, make Shuma-Gorath smaller and get him in there: players of the old Marvel Super Heroes arcade game know what I mean.

Cerise panels from Excalibur #62, "Of Birth, Death and the Confused, Painful Bit in Between" Written and pencilled by Alan Davis, inks/pencils by Mark Farmer. Read more!