"The End" Week: Marvel Fanfare #60!

Hmm, I don't know if I'd ever known that this had been a bimonthly title, for a ten year run! But I would've been buying mostly from newsstands--well, grocery or convenience stores--so I never saw any of them new! From 1991, Marvel Fanfare #60, featuring "Big Applesauce!" Written and inked by Walt Simonson, pencils by Denys Cowan; "the Mission" Written by Ann Nocenti, pencils by Dave Ross, inks by Josef Rubinstein; and "the Monkey Never Dies" Story and art by Paul Smith.

There was also the final "Editori-Al" strip from editor Al Milgrom: the final here, anyway; I can't recall if he used that gimmick elsewhere? Or, I might be confusing it with the strips Archie Goodwin did for Dreadstar...Anyway, Al explains why the title was wrapping up: low sales, mostly; but it wasn't really needed anymore and he didn't have time to maintain it with his freelance work. Not a bad way to go out, though: Cowan and Simonson on a Black Panther vs. aliens story, then an inventory Rogue story that had been meant for Classic X-Men before they did away with the back-ups. It's an interesting one: the very young Rogue has realized, if she touches someone for just a second, she can steal just moments of memories. But, she's flighty and wild, which doesn't stop Mystique from trying to break her in with a mission for the Brotherhood. This feels like it should've been a bigger deal in continuity; but with the back-ups ending probably wasn't touched back on.

Lastly, Paul Smith returns to the book he first started in, with a sequel to the Daredevil story from Marvel Fanfare #1. It was Smith's first writing credit as well. Not too bad of an issue; but then again, nothing to make you clamor for them to keep it going, either.