''Kickers, Inc.'' is a twelve-issue

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

from

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

as part of the

New Universe The New Universe is an imprint (trade name), imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1986 to 1989. It was the first line produced by Marvel Comics utilizing a pre-conceived shared universe concept. It was cre ...

imprint. Created by

Tom DeFalco Tom DeFalco (born June 26, 1950) is an American comic book writer and editor well known for his association with Marvel Comics, with long runs on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Thor'', and ''Fantastic Four''. Career While in college, DeFalco "wrote fo ...

and

Ron Frenz Ronald Wade Frenz (born February 1, 1960) is an American comics artist known for his work for Marvel Comics. He is well known for his 1980s work on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and later for his work on '' Spider-Girl'' whom he co-created with writ ...

, the series featured a group of former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

players for the fictional New York Smashers team who became a group of heroes for hire, calling themselves "Kickers Inc." They were led by Jack Magniconte, a Smashers player who gained super-human strength and endurance from a combination of exposure to radiation from the "

White Event The New Universe is an imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1986 to 1989. It was the first line produced by Marvel Comics utilizing a pre-conceived shared universe concept. It was created by Jim Shooter, ...

" and an experimental muscle-enhancing device.

Publication history

and

created the series, then titled "Mr. Magnificent and his Team Supreme", for the New Universe line before the concept of the New Universe itself had been fleshed out. Frenz explained: DeFalco and Frenz modified the series according to the New Universe premise, but ''Kickers, Inc.'' still did not fit well within the New Universe's stated editorial goal of being more grounded in realism than the regular Marvel Comics Universe, its stories, characters and concepts being recognizably based on standard

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

tropes Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

. The series also suffered from creative instability to an even greater extent than the rest of the 1986-87 New Universe lineup, with nearly every issue being produced by a different creative team. DeFalco himself lost interest early on; half of issue #3 and all of issues #4 and 5 were scripted by guest writers over DeFalco's plots, and by issue #6 neither he nor Frenz were involved with ''Kickers, Inc.'' at all. It was canceled with issue #12, along with other New Universe comics such as ''

Nightmask Nightmask is a name and identity used by several fictional characters who appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first character to bear the name, Keith Remsen, was created by writer Archie Goodwin, and first appeared in ''Nightma ...

'' and ''Merc'', though Jack Magniconte continued to make occasional appearances in the remaining New Universe titles. Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz had previously teamed up on ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

'' and would later work together on ''

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

'' as well as DeFalco's

MC2 MC2 may refer to: *Maison de la Culture de Grenoble, a venue for performances in Grenoble, France *Marvel Comics 2 is an imprint from Marvel Comics whose comic books depict an alternative future timeline for the Marvel Universe *E = mc² is the equ ...

titles.

Writers

- ''Kickers, Inc.'' #1-5 (November 1986-March 1987) *

Mary Jo Duffy Mary Jo Duffy (born February 9, 1954) is an American comic book editor and writer, known for her work for Marvel Comics in the 1980s and DC Comics and Image Comics in the 1990s. Biography A native of the New York City area, Duffy attended Welles ...

- ''Kickers, Inc.'' #3 (January 1987) * Ron Altaville - ''Kickers, Inc.'' #4, 6-8, 12 (February 1987, April 1987-June 1987, October 1987) *

Terry Kavanagh Terrence "Terry" Kavanagh ( ; born July 9) is an American comic book editor and writer. Career Kavanagh was a Marvel Comics editor from 1985 to 1997. Titles he edited during that time included '' Marvel Comics Presents'' and ''Nick Fury, Agent ...

- ''Kickers, Inc.'' #4, 6-8, 12 (February 1987, April 1987-June 1987, October 1987) *

Mark Gruenwald Mark Eugene Gruenwald (; June 18, 1953 – August 12, 1996) was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler known for his long association with Marvel Comics. Biography Early career Gruenwald got his start in comics fa ...

- ''Kickers, Inc.'' #5 (March 1987) * Dwight Zimmerman - ''Kickers, Inc.'' #9, 11 (July 1987, September 1987) * Adam Blaustein - ''Kickers, Inc.'' #10 (August 1987) *

Howard Mackie Howard Mackie (born January 22, 1958) is an American comic book editor and writer. He has worked almost exclusively for Marvel Comics and is best known as the co-creator of the Danny Ketch version of the Ghost Rider character. Early life Macki ...

- "Choices" in ''D.P. 7'' #21 (May 1988) ack Magniconte back-up story

Art

- ''Kickers, Inc.'' #1-3 (November 1986-January 1987); "Choices" in ''D.P. 7'' #21 (May 1988) ack Magniconte back-up story*

Howard Bender Howard Nicholas Bender (born September 25, 1951) is an American comic book artist best known for his work for DC Comics and Archie Comics. Biography Howard Bender was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in the Highland Park neighborhood of Pit ...

- ''Kickers, Inc.'' #4 (February 1987) *

Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member o ...

- ''Kickers, Inc.'' #5 (March 1987) * Rod Whigham - ''Kickers, Inc.'' #6-7, 10, 12 (April 1987-May 1987, August 1987, October 1987) * Larry Alexander - ''Kickers, Inc.'' #8, 11 (June 1987, September 1987) *

Alan Kupperberg Alan Kupperberg (May 18, 1953 – July 16, 2015) was an American comics artist known for working in both comic books and newspaper strips. Early life Alan Kupperberg was born on May 18, 1953 in New York City. He graduated from the High School of ...

- ''Kickers, Inc.'' #9 (July 1987)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Comic Book BD page
1986 comics debuts 1987 comics endings American football comics Defunct American comics Fictional players of American football Marvel Comics titles New Universe

Publication history

Writers

Art

See also

References

External links