''Marvel Preview'' is a

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

comics

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

published by Magazine Management for fourteen issues and the affiliated

Marvel Comics Group 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 ...

for ten issues. The final issue additionally carried the imprint Marvel Magazines Group.

Publication history

An umbrella title that showcased a different heroic-adventure,

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

, or

sword-and-sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the ...

character in virtually every issue. The title introduced the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book 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 Comics'' in ...

characters Dominic Fortune in issue #2,

Star-Lord Star-Lord (Peter Jason Quill) is a fictional character and superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, first appeared in '' Marvel Preview'' #4 (January 197 ...

in #4, and Rocket Raccoon in #7. The vigilante character the

Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

, introduced as an antagonist in the comic book ''

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 mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly per ...

'', had his first solo story in issue #2. The magazine experienced scheduling difficulties, with various "Next Issue" announcements proving unreliable. Issue #2 promised an adventure of the Marvel superhero

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

in #3, but a Blade story appeared, with the Thor story remaining unseen until #10. As well, two different issues, #20 and 24, are dated "Winter 1980, at the start and end of the year." Issue #20 was to have included photographs from the Japanese ''Spider-Man'' television program, but instead featured Howard Chaykin's Dominic Fortune. In addition, Robert A. Heinlein's lawyers threatened legal action over the cover of ''Marvel Preview'' #11, which featured a blurb that described the Star-Lord content as "a novel-length science fiction spectacular in the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein," leading to the issue being pulled and reprinted. With #25 (March 1981), the title was changed to ''Bizarre Adventures'', which ran for an additional ten issues before ceasing publication. To offset the dark tone of most of the stories, editor

Denny O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

had writer

Steve Skeates Steve Skeates (; born 1943) is an American comic book creator known for his work on such titles as ''Aquaman'', '' Hawk and Dove'', ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', and ''Plop!'' He has also written under the pseudonyms Chester P. Hazel and Warren Savin ...

produce a humor feature called Bucky Bizarre to close out each issue. A story originally prepared for Marvel's '' Logan's Run'' comic book series was published in ''Bizarre Adventures'' #28 (Oct. 1981). The final issue, #34, was a standard-sized color comic book, featuring the cover-blurb, "Special Hate the Holidays Issue", with anthological Christmas-related stories, including one starring Howard the Duck.

Issues

''Bizarre Adventures''

Collected editions

* '' Essential Punisher Vol. 1'' includes the Punisher story from ''Marvel Preview'' #2, 568 pages, March 2004, * ''Dominic Fortune: It Can Happen Here and Now'' includes Dominic Fortune story from ''Marvel Preview'' #2, 184 pages, February 2010, * ''Blade: Black & White'' includes Blade the Vampire Slayer stories from ''Marvel Preview'' #3 and 6, 144 pages, December 2004, * ''Star-Lord: Guardian of the Galaxy'' includes Star-Lord stories from ''Marvel Preview'' #4, 11, 14-15, and 18, 424 pages, July 2014, * ''Essential Marvel Horror Vol. 1'' includes Satana story from ''Marvel Preview'' #7, 648 pages, October 2006, * ''Rocket Raccoon: Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant'' includes Rocket Raccoon story from ''Marvel Preview'' #7, 120 pages, August 2011, * ''Essential Moon Knight Vol. 1'' includes the Moon Knight story from ''Marvel Preview'' #21, 560 pages, February 2006, * ''Black Widow: Web of Intrigue'' includes the Black Widow story from ''Bizarre Adventures'' #25, 176 pages, April 2010, * '' Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Omnibus Vol. 2'' includes the Daughters of the Dragon story from ''Bizarre Adventures'' #25, 1,000 pages, June 2017, * ''The Savage Sword of Kull Vol. 1'' includes King Kull story from ''Bizarre Adventures'' #26, 448 pages, November 2010, * ''X-Men: Iceman'' includes the Iceman story from ''Bizarre Adventures'' #27, 120 pages, August 2012, * ''X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga'' includes Phoenix story from ''Bizarre Adventures'' #27, 200 pages, April 2012, * ''Elektra by Frank Miller Omnibus'' includes Elektra story from ''Bizarre Adventures'' #28, 384 pages, November 2008, * '' The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol. 2'' includes the Jean Grey, Iceman, and Nightcrawler stories from ''Bizarre Adventures'' #27, 912 pages, April 2014,

References

External links

* * {{comicbookdb, type=title, id=2506, title=''Bizarre Adventures''
''Marvel Preview''
at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators Marvel Comics titles 1975 comics debuts 1983 comics endings Comics by Chris Claremont Comics by Doug Moench Comics by Roy Thomas Comics by Steve Englehart Comics by Steve Gerber Defunct American comics