"Marvel Premiere" and "Marvel Spotlight" were Marvel's 70s' version of "Showcase". Among the heroes featured were Hercules, the Warriors Three, Woodgod, the new Ant-Man, Paladin, the Falcon, the Scarecrow, Man-Wolf, Satana and Alice Cooper. I found it strange and baffling of the heroes who DIDN'T get a chance at a solo spotlight. Here are my picks:

 

1) Hawkeye- he had his history revealed in "The Avengers" but never had his moment in the sun. The closest was in "Marvel Team-Up"! He was in many pivotal stories yet was never considered to be star material, at least that has changed now!

 

2) The Vision- C'mon, how much of a no-brainer is this one? The anchor of the Avengers had one solo back-up in "Avengers Annual" #6. Writers loved him yet no one could pitch a story idea for him alone?

 

3) Yellowjacket- OK, I'm overloading this with Avengers but Hank Pym never got to shine solo as Yellowjacket , his most multi-fuctional identity. Flight, stingers, brief periods of shrinking, insect control and a real cool neural disrupter gun, plus he could fight and think!

 

4) the Valkryrie- Marvel's warrior woman never reached her true potential. She could have been the solo female star Marvel lacked with the right circunstances.

 

5) Union Jack- they could feature UJ's solo WWII adventures away from the Invaders but I really wanted to see the original in World War ONE, possibly with the Freedom Five!

 

Those are my picks! What would yours be?

 

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  • Not Yellowjacket but Ant-Man did get a seven issue run (and what I thought was a nifty new costume) in Marvel Feature #4-10.
  • I'm surprised they didn't give any of the X-men some sort of tryout at this time (unless I'm wrong and they did), just to see if someone could carry their own series.
  • It's not all that easy to think of another character who didn't get a shot somewhere. Thundra? Mr. Little?

    Hawkeye did get to star with Two-Gun Kid in a story that appeared in the back of Marvel Tales #100.
  • Travis Herrick said:
    I'm surprised they didn't give any of the X-men some sort of tryout at this time...

    The Beast was given six issues of Amazing Adventures (#11-16), seven if you include #17 which was a reprint. Other than that, Steve Englehart kept them busy guest-starring around the MU in a storyline which culminated in the overthrow of the (second) Secret Empire in captain America.
  • I knew about "Marvel Feature" but it would have been great to see Hank fight crime at his normal size as Yellowjacket.

    Nightcrawler guested in "Amazing Spider-Man" with the Web-Head and the Punisher in #160-161 and in "Marvel Team-Up" as well. Wolverine teamed with Hercules in a back-up from one of the Tresurary Editions.

    Others that could have been used: Nighthawk, Hannibal King-Vampire Detective (decades before Angel), Will O' the Wisp, Moondragon and even the Original Human Torch.
  • Jeff of Earth-J said:
    Travis Herrick said:
    I'm surprised they didn't give any of the X-men some sort of tryout at this time...

    The Beast was given six issues of Amazing Adventures (#11-16), seven if you include #17 which was a reprint. Other than that, Steve Englehart kept them busy guest-starring around the MU in a storyline which culminated in the overthrow of the (second) Secret Empire in captain America.

    I knew they did that, but I just didn't know when it happened. Thanks for the info.
  • But that was between when he left the X-Men and when he joined the Avengers in #137, a favorite of mine!

    Travis Herrick said:
    Jeff of Earth-J said:
    Travis Herrick said:
    I'm surprised they didn't give any of the X-men some sort of tryout at this time...

    The Beast was given six issues of Amazing Adventures (#11-16), seven if you include #17 which was a reprint. Other than that, Steve Englehart kept them busy guest-starring around the MU in a storyline which culminated in the overthrow of the (second) Secret Empire in captain America.

    I knew they did that, but I just didn't know when it happened. Thanks for the info.
  • Solo Angel stories appeared in Ka-Zar ##2-3 and Marvel Tales #30 in 1970-71.

    I can imagine a nice period-set adventure with the Golden Age Angel. The one story of his that I've seen was poor, but I like how he looks on some covers.
  • In another forum, I postulated, theorized and fantasied about why "Journey Into Mystery" wasn't a split book with two different heroes. Besides Thor, I wondered who else could have been included and the best answer I could come up with was The Angel!

    1) He was featured prominently among the X-Men, shown above their logo.
    2) He was the first to be used as a guest, battling Iron Man in "Tales Of Suspense" #49 and holding his own, even winning against the rest of the X-Men.
    3) the Golden Age Angel was supposedly a favorite of publisher Martin Goodman, so it would have been an easy sell!

    Again just a theory on my part! Plus the Angel kept getting new costumes, the afore-mentioned solo spots and another one in another Treasury Edition!

    Did he ever get his own mini?

    Luke Blanchard said:
    Solo Angel stories appeared in Ka-Zar ##2-3 and Marvel Tales #30 in 1970-71.

    I can imagine a nice period-set adventure with the Golden Age Angel. The one story of his that I've seen was poor, but I like how he looks on some covers.
  • I don't know for certain if he did or not, but they handed them out in the '80s and '90s like they were going out of style. So he very well could have.
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