Random Happenstance

Another MCP I don't think I've read before. Or have any other chapters for these serials! From 1990, Marvel Comics Presents #57, with a cover by Dale Keown. The traditional Wolverine chapter guest-stars the (grey) Hulk, who feels kind of bad that Wolverine is dead as hell, and pending an autopsy! He stops the morticians from cutting him open, claiming it was a close call. Yeah, for the morticians: that saw would've skidded right off of his adamantium bones and probably embedded itself in one of them. While Wolvie splits the hospital and steals some pants, the Hulk hears news of a Wolverine-lookalike taking hostages at a pharmaceutical factory, and opts to go defend Wolvie's good name. But the Wolverine-alike recognizes the Hulk--and has claws of his own! ("On the Road, part 4: Death Don't Have No Mercy" Written by Michael Higgins, pencils by Dave Ross, inks by Dan Day.)

The Werewolf serial seemed familiar, because I think we've seen the sequel: Jack Russell had been saved from the magic-hating Silver Dagger (an old Doctor Strange baddie, but seems a natural here) by the Braineaters, a biker gang of werewolves! Jack had torn through a biker gang "two years ago" (more like seventeen if the caption box is right and it was in Werewolf by Night #6, that was 1973!) and infected them with lyncanthropy. He tries to resist the gang's sexy alpha leader, Layla; realizing the Braineaters retain their human intellect as werewolves by giving into it, and worse: "Braineaters" was not a clever name, it's literal! Changing in the full moon, the Werewolf turns on the Braineaters, with no one realizing the Silver Dagger had been watching...("Children of the Beast, part 4: Leader of the Pack" Written by Len Kaminski, pencils by Jim (James) Fry, inks by Brad Joyce.)

This issue was August 1990, so this Namor three-parter was running concurrently with the John Byrne series, but not related. Deep in the Atlantic Ocean is a hole in the bottom of the sea the strange vortex, Neptune's Eye. Even Namor doesn't know what that's about, and with Marrina dead and himself currently dethroned, he considers swimming into it to explore...or die. Still, he's interrupted by some James Cameron-style surface dwellers, including a thrill-seeking Sandra Rains, who are attacked by plants and strange creatures. Despite losing a cameraman, Sandra still manages to convince Namor to explore the Eye, and take her with him. ("Neptune's Eye, part 1: Strange Visitors" Written by Robert Denatale, pencils by Mike Collins, inks by Mark Farmer.)

Lastly, the only 8-pager this issue, the Black Cat in "The Crown Jewel Caper." Felicia is working with a one-handed fence, on finding the lost crown jewels of France; but she's being conned: the fence is taking orders from the Kingpin. Despite no longer having her powers (which is seemingly mentioned 20 times in an eight-page story) she's able to ditch the cops, and plant stolen goods on the fence at the airport.