| Kickers, Inc. | |
|---|---|
Cover to issue #1 |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date | 1986-1987 |
| Number of issues | 12 |
| Main character(s) | Kickers, Inc. |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Tom DeFalco Mary Jo Duffy Ron Altaville Terry Kavanagh Mark Gruenwald Dwight Zimmerman Adam Blaustein Howard Mackie |
| Artist(s) | Ron Frenz Howard Bender Paul Ryan Rod Whigham Larry Alexander Alan Kupperberg |
| Creator(s) | Tom DeFalco Ron Frenz |
Kickers, Inc. was a twelve-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics from 1986 to 1987 as part of the New Universe imprint. Created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, the series featured a group of former professional American football 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" and an experimental muscle-enhancing device.
Kickers Inc. 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 tropes. Perhaps as a result, Kickers Inc. was one of weakest titles of the imprint. It was canceled with issue 12, along with other New Universe comics such as Nightmask and Merc, though Jack Magniconte and other characters from the series continued to appear in the remaining New Universe titles.
During their tenure on Kickers Inc., Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz decided they made a good team, and would later work together during Tom DeFalco's run on Thor as well as DeFalco's MC2 titles.
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