What The--?!
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What The--?! was a series of Marvel comics parodying the Marvel Universe, similar in vein to the 1960s series Not Brand Echh. It was billed as "The Marvel mag of mirth and mayhem" and ran for 26 issues, with issue #1 having an August 1988 cover date and issue #26 being a 1993 "Fall Special." It typically contained a series of short stories with comedic takes on Marvel heroes and villains, such as having Spider-Ham substitute for Spider-Man.
What The--?! spotlighted some of the top artists and writers at the time. Many, such as Stan Lee and John Byrne, contributed works that spoof some of their all-time greatest successes. For example, in issue #2 Byrne creates a tale pitting his work on the Fantastic Four franchise against his work with Superman. The issue goes so far as to have the Lex Luthor character to complain about the changes Byrne made to the Superman legend after Crisis.
Though it carried the Marvel Comics label on the front left corner, What The--?! touted itself published by "Marble Comics." What The--?! parodied Marvel Comics institutions such as the legendary Marvel Comics fan mail page with staged articles called "The Marble Mailbag" and the "What The.. Mail". The title also did not contain any "true" advertisements. Instead, What The--?! hosted a number of fake advertisements which made fun of classic comic book advertisements such as Charles Atlas and novelty by-mail companies.
What The--?! was originally published as a four-issue limited series. The last issue closed with an appeal from Fred Hembeck for readers to write to Marvel if they wanted to see more of the comic. Several months later, What The--?! returned, resuming its numbering at issue 5. This is noteworthy, as Marvel Comics usually started a series spawned from a limited series with a new issue numbered "1" and would regard it as a "Volume 2".
[edit] References
Mile High Comics Accessed May 20, 2006.
[edit] Table of What The--?! issues
| Issue # | Characters | Characters Parodied | Notable Writers/Artists | Year/Month Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Pulverizer, The Bower Brats and Clunk&Dagnabbit, The X-Persons and New Pubescents, The Watchman | Punisher, Power Pack, Cloak & Dagger, X-Men and related teams of the time, the Watcher, the Beyonder | Peter B. Gillis, Hilary Barta, June Brigman, John Severin, Terry Austin, Jon Bogdanove, Steve Ditko, Al Milgrom | Aug. 1988 |
| 2 | The Fantastical Four, Superbman, Knick Furey, Woof R' Ream, Doctor Deranged | Fantastic Four, Superman, Nick Fury, Wolverine, Doctor Strange | John Byrne, John Severin | Sept. 1988 |
| 3 | Spider-Ham, Vizzion and Scarlett Wench, Bat-Man, Scaredevil, Mutant Beach Party Chapter 1 | Spider-Man, Vision and Scarlet Witch, Batman, Daredevil, assorted mutants | Glenn Herdling, Alex Saviuk, Kurt Busiek, Joe Sinnott, Fred Hembeck | Oct. 1988 |
| 4 | Mutant Beach Party Chapter 2, Dr. Deranged, Shang-Chew, Starchy, Lone Wolvie and Chris | X-Men, New Mutants, Dr. Strange, Shang-Chi, Archie, Lone Wolf and Cub | John Byrne, Kurt Busiek, Peter David, Fred Hembeck | Nov. 1988 |
| 5 | The Pulverizer vs. Wolvoream, The Alien-ated Legion | Punisher, Wolverine, Alien Legion | Peter B. Gillis, Erik Larsen, Al Gordon, Terry Austin, Jim Lee, Chuck Dixon, Larry Stroman, Walt Jaschek, Whilce Portacio, Al Milgrom, Al Williamson, Hilary Barta, Doug Rice | July 1989 |
| 6 | Smacks of Vengeance, Man-Thang, Swamp Thang, Sore, Pulverizer | Acts of Vengeance, Man-Thing, Swamp Thing, Thor, The Punisher | Stan Lee, John Byrne, Terry Austin, Hilary Barta, Doug Rice, Howard Mackie, Peter B. Gillis | Jan. 1990 |
| 7 | The Revengers, Just-A-League, Awful Flight | The Avengers, Justice League of America, Alpha Flight | Scott Lobdell, Marc McLauren, Tom DeFalco | Apr. 1990 |
| 8 | The Goon Knight,Son of |
Moon Knight, Son of Satan, Kang, Forbush Man makes a return | Scott Lobdell, Kurt Busiek | July 1990 |
| 9 | Wolvie | Wolverine | John Byrne, Peter David, Scott Lobdell, Don McGregor | Oct. 1990 |
| 10 | The What The?! X-Mas Special, Milk and Cookies, Santa Doom, Chaplain America | Cloak and Dagger, Doctor Doom, Captain America | Scott Lobdell, John Byrne
AKIRA (Ayehearya) |
Jan. 1991 |
| 11 | Wolverina | Wolverine | Mar. 1991 | |
| 12 | Moanin' The Bavarian, Scarlet_Itch | Conan The Barbarian, Scarlet Witch | Rurik Tyler, Darren Auck | May 1991 |
| 13 | Silver Burper, Bratman, Goose Rider, My-Fist-Toe | Silver Surfer, Batman, Ghost Rider, Mephisto | Stan Lee, Joe Quesada, Darren Auck | July 1991 |
| 14 | Sep. 1991 | |||
| 15 | Strange Young Fighting Frogs, Tony Stork, Captain Ultra | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tony Stark | Scott Lobdell, Joe Quesada, Darren Auck | Nov. 1991 |
| 16 | Ock Around the Christmas Tree, Milk And Cookies, Ka-Mart, The Vault of What The?! | 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Cloak and Dagger, Ka-Zar, The Vault of Horror, EC Comics. | Scott Lobdell, Darren Auck | Jan. 1992 |
| 17 | Environmental Issue, Wolverweenie and Pulverizer save the Rainforest | Wolverine, Punisher | Mar. 1992 | |
| 18 | May 1992 | |||
| 19 | Ghost Writer, Pulverizer, Wolvie, Knick Furey, Doctor Deranged | Ghost Rider, The Punisher, Wolverine, Nick Fury, Doctor Strange. | Scott Lobdell, Rick Stasi, Mike DeCarlo, Sholly Fisch, Rurik Tyler, Doug Rice, Hilary Barta | July 1992 |
| 20 | Aug. 1992 | |||
| 21 | Sheeza-Hulk, Toast Rider | She-Hulk, Ghost Rider, Weapon X | Marie Severin, Darren Auck, Hilary Barta | Sept 1992 |
| 22 | Pulverizer, Wolverweenie, Spider-Ham, Hazards of Being a Supervillain, Salem's Pot | Punisher, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Supervillains, Forbush Man | Joe Quesada, Hilary Barta, Roger Brown | Oct. 1992 |
| 23 | Forbush Man | Hilary Barta | Nov. 1992 | |
| 24 | Roasting the Infinity Gauntlet | Dec. 1992 | ||
| 25 | Mutant Parody Issue | Summer 1993 | ||
| 26 | Spider-Ham 15.88 | Spider-Man 2099 | Winter 1993 |
