''Marvel Presents'' was an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

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 ...

. Twelve issues were published from October 1975 to August 1977.

Publication history

Bloodstone

''Marvel Presents'' began publication with an October 1975

cover date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

. The first two issues featured

Ulysses Bloodstone Ulysses Bloodstone is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is an immortal monster-hunter. Ulysses Bloodstone appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe / Disney+ television special ''Werewolf by Ni ...

, a character created by

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men ( ...

Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade, and DC Comics's '' The New Te ...

, and

John Warner John William Warner III (February 18, 1927 – May 25, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1979 to 200 ...

for the ''Where Monsters Dwell'' series."Of Helixes and Hexes," written by John Warner, published in the "Reader's Space" section of ''Marvel Presents'' #2 (December 1975).

Mike Vosburg Mike Vosburg (born July 23, 1947) is an American comic book artist primarily known for his work on the ''Tales from the Crypt (TV series), Tales from the Crypt'' TV series. Biography Mike Vosburg's comics career began in the 1960s, when as a 15- ...

was the artist assigned to the first installment, and then

Pat Boyette Aaron P. "Pat" Boyette (July 27, 1923 – January 14, 2000) was an American broadcasting personality and news producer, and later a comic book artist best known for two decades of work for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the character the Pe ...

was to draw the rest of the series. ''Where Monsters Dwell'' was cancelled and "Bloodstone" was moved to ''Marvel Presents''. The first two chapters were finished and were printed in issue #1. Due to the publishing delays, Boyette was unavailable for the second issue, which was drawn by

Sonny Trinidad Celso L. "Sonny" Trinidad (died November 23, 2009) was a Filipino comics artist who worked in the Filipino and American comic book industries. In the U.S., he is mostly known for his work for Marvel Comics in the mid–1970s. Career Trinidad bega ...

instead.

Guardians of the Galaxy

''Marvel Presents'' is notable for giving the original

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It may more specifically refer to: Comic book teams * Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...

their first regular series, from issues #3-12, by

Steve Gerber Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include ''Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight:' ...

and

Al Milgrom Allen L. Milgrom (born March 6, 1950) is an American comic book writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel Comics. He is known for his 10-year run as editor of ''Marvel Fanfare''; his long involvement as writer, penciler, and inker ...

Roger Stern Roger Stern (born September 17, 1950) is an American comic book author and novelist. Biography Early career In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine ''CPL'' (''Contemporary Pictorial Literature''), one of the first platfor ...

replaced Gerber as writer with issue #10. Issue #7 (Nov. 1976) depicted an obvious sex act in a

Comics Code The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA allowed the comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. T ...

-approved comic book, between

Vance Astro Vance Astro, born Vance Astrovik and going by the code name Major Victory, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as being from the Earth-691 timeline of the Marvel Universe ...

and

Nikki Nikki may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Nikki (Barbie), a fashion doll in the Barbie toy line * Nikki (comics), a Marvel Comics character * Nikki and Paulo, from the TV series ''Lost'' * Nikki, the mascot of Swapnote * N ...

. It presumably made it past the Code because Nikki was outside her physical body and Vance was in the mind of the Topographical Man, a humanoid heavenly body. The series was cancelled with issue #12 (August 1977) due to low sales.

The issues

Collected editions

* ''Marvel Firsts: The 1970s Vol. 3'' includes ''Marvel Presents'' #1 and #3, 380 pages, June 2012, * ''Guardians of the Galaxy: The Power of Starhawk'' includes ''Marvel Presents'' #3–12, 192 pages, July 2009, * ''Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers'' includes ''Marvel Presents'' #3–12, 368 pages, January 2013,

References

External links

*
''Marvel Presents''
at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators * 1975 comics debuts 1977 comics endings Comics anthologies Comics by Roger Stern Comics by Steve Gerber Defunct American comics Marvel Comics titles Post-apocalyptic comics Science fiction comics {{Marvel-title-stub