Comics Corner: Spider-Man Versus Wolverine

     

Title: Spider-Man Versus Wolverine
Issue Number: 1
Release Date: February 1987

Highlights

• Death of Ned Leeds
• First appearance and death of Burt and Sophie
• First appearance of the Germany locations Tiergarten, Kurfürstendamm, Friedrich Strasse, The Ganymed, and Treptow
• Wolverine is in Germany, attempting to save his friend Charlie, but being attacked from all sides by waves of KGB and other Soviet agents
• Wolverine goes into a berserker rage, and slaughters all the enemies, but while doing so, Charlie slips away
• Wolverine is left Charlie's trademark heart shaped charm as a thank you
• As Spider-Man prowls the city, he hears a woman scream, she directs him towards Sophie and Burt's, a local mom and pop shop
• When Spider-Man arrives, he finds the couple dead
• J. Jonah Jameson tells Peter he needs good photographers fro Now Magazine assignments, but since they're expensive, he's offering Parker a great opportunity
• Ned Leeds finds Jonah, and tells him they need to talk in private, and that it can't wait
• Peter and Mary Jane head to Time Square for a date night, and as they walk from the movie theater, his spider sense kicks in
• Peter realizes that his warning systems are in high alert because there's a sniper, and said gunman opens fire
• Despite trying to help, Spider-Man can't locate the gunman, and when S.W.A.T. arrives, he leaves the scene
• Peter returns to Mary Jane's apartment, and the two end up kissing
• Realizing he's crossing a line he doesn't want to, Peter quickly leaves
• Back at Now Magazine, Ned Leeds tells Jameson that all the people being murdered as of late are all on his list as confirmed KGB agents
• Ned tells him that at the scene of each murder is a heart shaped charm
• Back at his apartment, Peter packs up his Spider-Man costume and web shooters, stating he's had enough, and he is really quitting this time
• He then packs a bag, stating he's leaving New York
• As Peter walks out the door, his phone rings
• He wants it to be Mary Jane, it's instead J. Jonah Jameson with a job
• Despite being told by Storm that he can't leave because the team needs him, Wolverine informs her that he has to help his friend Charlie
• Wolverine heads to Berlin to find Charlie, and while there, he picks up a familiar scent
• He see's Peter Parker, and despite never seeing him out of his costume, knows by his smell that he's the web slinger
• Wolverine tracks Peter to his hotel room, and tells him that they need to talk
• Peter tries to play dumb, but Wolverine hands him his web shooters, and tells him to get moving
• Wolverine tells Peter that he needs to convince his friend Ned to pack up, and the two of them need to leave for their own good
• Peter returns to the hotel, and decides to tell Ned he's going home, except he finds him dead, his throat slit in his hotel room

• Peter finds himself surrounded by KGB agents in Ned's room, but Wolverine bursts in, saving his life
• Peter buys a bus ticket to take him to the airport so that he can leave, but "with great power comes great responsibility," he reminds himself, and instead heads to a costume shop to find something to wear
• The only skintight outfit the man has is a classic red and blue Spider-Man costume
• Except for how it says Die Spinne on the back
• Spider-Man follows the spider tracer he put on Wolverine over the Berlin wall, and into East Germany
• He continues tracing it to a hotel room with a couple inside, and after scaring them, finds his tracer and a note from Wolverine telling him he's in over his head, and should go home
• Wolverine finally tracks down Charlie, who turns out to be a woman
• At Charlie's request the two head out to dinner, and quickly learn the whole place is full of KGB agents with guns, and that the food has been poisoned
• Spider-Man bursts in, and the gunfire starts
• As Wolverine and Spider-Man fight the enemies, Charlie slips out
• Wolverine takes Spider-Man to the headquarters of the men who want Charlie dead
• Spider-Man asks what the plan is, and Wolverine tells him he already knows
• Another massive battle breaks out
• As the two continue to track Charlie, they remain steps behind her, and find nothing but bodies in her wake
• Wolverine tells Spider-Man this is all his fault, that if he would have gone home when he told him to, that Wolverine could have stopped Charlie from doing any of this
• In anger, the two go their own separate ways
• Wolverine meets Charlie in the cemetary
• She explains that the KGB will never stop looking for her, eventually her luck will run out, and that now that she's killed everyone on her list, the only thing left is her last request for Wolverine to kill her, so that she can die in his arms, instead of some awful torturous way the KGB would come up with
• Wolverine tries to oblige, but his claws don't deliver a final blow
• Spider-Man arrives on scene, and not knowing all the context tells Wolverine he's crazy
• As Wolverine tries to deliver the killing blow again, Spider-Man tackles him, and the two begin to fight
• Wolverine tries to convince Spider-Man to get out of his way, that rather than her dying quick and painlessly, she's now lying there dying slowly, and suffering
• Spider-Man grabs Wolverine by the neck, knowing that he has to break his neck and kill him to stop his berserker attack
• Wolverine responds by clenching a fist under Spider-Man's chin, telling him that all he has to do is pop his claws, and it's over for the web spinner
• A helicopter appears above, and in the confusion, Spider-Man is approached from behind, and responds with a quick fist
• The face he makes impact with is Charlie's
• Spider-Man and Wolverine are surrounded by agents from multiple factions, but when they see Charlie is dead, they depart
• As Peter returns to New York, he can't stop unseeing his fist impacting with Charlie's face
• Peter returns to his apartment, and pulling out his black Spider-Man suit finally realizes that there's no way he can turn his back on being Spider-Man because he and the hero are the same person
• J. Jonah Jameson calls Peter, and tells him the photos he sent over are great, and asks where Ned is
• Peter just hangs up the phone
• Mary Jane arrives at his apartment, and asks if the two are still friends, to which Peter tells him he really needs one right now

Low Points

• Ned was only killed as a result of internal struggles with Marvel's Editor-in-Chief Jim shooter, and writer Tom DeFalco
• Essentially, he was only killed to derail DeFalco's story and frustrate the writer / editor, and additionally Shooter intended to fire him
• DeFalco was ultimately rehired after Shooter himself was let go, and eventually took the roll as Editor-in-Chief
• Spider-Man takes photos of Burt and Sophie's bodies, and sells them to the Bugle
• Wouldn't that make Peter Parker prime suspect?

Oddities

• None

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)

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Just Doodling: Wolverine

SNIKT!

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Modern Age (Toy Biz)

Modern Age
Toy Biz
1999

In our last post we described what the various "ages" of comics were, and where they fell in time wise. This is key as it sets the era of where these figures fall in. However, with that said, while the title of this series is Modern Age, it's important to note that these technically fall under the Bronze Age now.

Toy Biz released its Modern Age set in 1999, which is actually prior to the Silver Age series (2000) being released. Though there are only a handful of figures, this is a great line for finding some obscure figures you won't get anywhere else - Well, with the exception of Wolverine, which has been done to death.

Captain Britain

Black Bolt

Each figure came packaged with a really nice trading card as well as a handful of accessories. The package itself has an almost Robocop feel to it - At least to us it does.

Shang Chi

Wolverine

The series won't set you back too far these days. At just $5.00 a piece (on average), there doesn't appear to be a high demand for them. Definitely a good time to jump on these if they're on your radar.

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Marvel Superheroes (Toy Biz)

Toy Biz originated as a small company in Montreal, Qubec. However, by 1988 it had reincorporated itself into an American Company, where it became a major producer of toys based on Marvel Comic superheroes with its first line of toys of the same name.

Marvel Superheroes was a brief toy line introduced in 1990 by Toy Biz which would later spawn individual sub set lines based on Marvel characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men. While the series didn't take off as it was initially anticipated to, it opened up several doors of opportunity in the world of franchising toys based on comic book series. Doors which have allowed companies like McFarlane Toys and Top Cow to raise the bar in quality and standards, and continue to push the world of comic book based action figures forward.

Series 1

The series had a strong launch, consisting of eight of the most well known, and at the time considerably popular characters in the Marvel Universe. With multiple points of articulation, in both the arms and legs, and also neck, the figures allowed for posing the figures for collectors, while at the same time being very "playable" with by children. The attention to detail was superb, and the figures themselves left little to nothing to nitpick about in terms of quality and accuracy.

The package art left little to desire. The dull gray/silver backs with light blue banner certainly wasn't eye catching to the average toy isle lurker, and the artwork while representing the characters well was simply plain. About the only thing that would catch your attention was the accurate to the comic title logo for each character. Sadly, this dull design would stay for the entire series' lifeline.

Quiet laughable was Toy Biz's attempt to incorporate vehicles and playsets into the line. While the playsets had a certain amount of appeal to them, the vehicles were simply jokes. Introduced in the first series were Captain America's Turbo Coup, and Spider-Man's Dragster. Needless-to-say, these vehicles didn't fly off the shelf, and offered nothing more than a frown to fans of these classic heroes.

However, with that said, it was only 1990, and toy collecting had yet to explode into the hobby it is today. You have to understand that Toy Biz was marketing directly to children as it was yet unknown that the majority of collector's were, or rather would be adults.

Series 2

With sales of the first series picking up rapidly, Toy Biz launched a second series literally right on its heels. Before most people had even accumulated the first eight figures, another seven were made available. However, by now the line was shifting drastically towards being a Spider-Man series, and less about the Marvel Universe as a whole with four of the seven new figures being related to Marvel's Wall Crawler, two alone being variations of him (making a total of 3 Spider-Man figures since the series launch).

My personal favorite, The Punisher not only got his first figure by the second series, but Toy Biz also produced a pretty acurate rendition of his van, and the only vehicle in the series to really be relatable to the actual figures themselves.

Two more playsets were also released, the large "Attack Tower", and the much smaller Hulk Rage Cage, which included a variant figure of The Incredible Hulk from the first series - Essentially it was Hulk with a yellow shirt.

Series 3

The largest series in the line, series 3 saw a release of ten new figures. While Toy Biz continued to capitalize on the ever growing popularity of Spider-Man with children by releasing yet again two more Spider-Man figures (now a total of 5 in the series), the also surprised fans by releasing the entire Fantastic Four team, and a fan favorite, but still unknown to the mass population, Deathlok. The Silver Surfer figure was also unique, because this re-released figure now sported a shinier chrome look, as opposed to a dull silver plastic.

It was around this time that Toy Biz launched a spin off set, The X-Men (not pictured), and sales of the Marvel Superheroes series began to decline. Whether or not it was due to the popularity of the X-Men figures being larger than this series, or if the series had simply run its course is unknown to the general public.

Fortunately by this time Toy Biz also ceased production on vehicles and playsets - possibly due to failed sales of the prior releases, or simply to cut costs in production.

Series 4

Some argue that there were four series of figures, while others are adamant that there are five. Personal, I go with four, though it is interesting to note that the Venom figure in this particular set has a very different hole punch in the package from the other three figures. So, who knows, perhaps it is five.

The fourth series consisted of only four new figures, while several from the first and second were re-released. While the toy line in and of itself was dwindling in sales, it is arguable that the re-release of older figures as opposed to focusing on more new ones is what killed the franchise off once and for all. Though it is possible that Toy Biz was prepared for this and was simply re-releasing these figures to push out back stocks onto the market as opposed to having storage in a warehouse which would simply be destroyed (recycled, melted down, pick your choice word) if it remained unsold.

Unimpressive was that three of the figures in this series were nothing more than touched up/altered figures to make newer variations of prior released figures, and a repainted Captain America to make U.S. Agent.



By 1994, Marvel was in full control of the toy isle with no less than six different toy lines. Sadly though, with sales falling each month in the Marvel Superheroes line, Toy Biz called it quits, and focused their efforts on other Marvel related products.
Still, what a great series this was. With accurate sculpting, beautiful attention to detail, and characters that are simply loved by everyone, this series was a true treasure to toy collectors around the world. It paved the way for most super hero franchises today, while at the same time staying as memorable as yesteryears great super hero series like Super Powers and Secret Wars.

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Secret Wars (Mattel)

In 1984, Marvel Comics began its legendary Secret Wars limited series. Destined to stretch across the entire year in 12 monthly installments, this limited series was to set the stage for several future "crossovers" and special events. The series drew together heroes and villains from the far reaches of the Marvel Universe. Most fans either loved or hated this new experiment; few were ambivalent.

Secret Wars was not Marvel's first effort in the realm of the limited series crossover, but while the relative merits of the series, and its sequel, are certainly debatable, the release of Secret Wars in May of 1984 was extremely well-received by comic buyers. Each issue sold nearly three quarters of a million copies. Written by then Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, Secret Wars was an event that helped to define the direction of the Marvel Universe for years to come.

Action figures were certainly the most prominent promotional items that sprung from the Secret Wars franchise. When people think of Secret Wars merchandise, this is most often what they think of. Interestingly, it was the toys that inspired everything else. According to former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, Mattel came to Marvel with the title "Secret Wars." Thus, comic series was born. And with it came these memorable Marvel figures.

The figures were Marvel's answer to Kenner's DC Super Powers line also launched in 1984. The Secret Wars figures were articulated only at the shoulders, hips and neck and had no special "action feature" (Super Powers figures had both knee joints and built in action features).

All figures came with "Secret Shields." The Heroes came with round shields and the Villains came with square shields. These shields came with a series of two-sided inserts that changed the scene when tilted. With a few notable exceptions, the most figures came with few other accessories and the accessories that were present (e.g., guns) were reused frequently.

Not Shown - Marvel Super Heroes 3-Pack with Captain America, Spider-Man and Iron Man, and Marvel Super Villains 3-Pack with Doctor Doom, Magneto and Kang

Many action figure lines are accompanied by vehicles, playsets and other accessories for use with the figures themselves. The Secret Wars line was no exception. However, there is one aspect that set these accessories apart: Some of them actually came with figures included! Not all of them, mind you. But in these days of increasing marketing pressure, the absence of the "Figures Not Included" caveat on the package is truly unique.

Despite the series shortcomings, Secret Wars remains a fan favorite, and in 1984, they were the only game in town for Marvel Comic fanatics. While many of these figures were destined for better versions in later lines, the Secret Wars figures represent a nostalgic era for Marvel toys. It was the first real marriage of Marvel comics and toys. Not too shabby.

While the action figure series didn't last too long, Marvel would once again use the "Secret Wars" banner for a follow up story arc the following year. Though the series sold well, many fans pan the sequel. As for why, I really can't state this  reason any better than one Reddit user already did:

"Secret Wars II started the very bad trend of needing to read the tie-ins to get the complete story. In the first Secret Wars you could just read the 12-issue main series to get the whole story. The other titles just showed the heroes getting taken away from Central Park on the last page of one issue and then they arrive back the next issue with unexplained changes (Spidey's black costume, Fantastic Four - Thing + She-Hulk. It made you want to read Secret Wars to see what happened. Secret Wars used the long-standing titles to promote the series where as Secret Wars II (and most modern events nowadays) use the event title to boost sales of the long-standing titles." - Reddit user c_is_for_classified

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