Comics Buyer's Guide Jan. 8, 1988

Comics Buyer's Guide #738,  Jan. 8, 1988

Dated today, in 1988, is a pretty standard issue of CBG except for things that didn't happen.  The first is this cover item for a new weekly or bi-weekly comic book series by Marvel Comics, titled Marvel Universe.   Now the comic book promoted in this article did come out, just not under that name.  It became Marvel Comics Presents.  The vote came down on the side of bi-weekly and the series lasted for 175 issues until March 1995.  Pretty good for an anthology title in the 1990s.

As you would expect, most of the stories were pretty forgettable, Except for the classic Wolverine origin Weapon X storyline that started with #72.

Marvel Comics Presents #72 (March 1991) [Marvel Comics]

There were other good series, like Coldblood from Paul Gulacy, and a lot of good artists contributed to stories.

The other item in CBG #738 that didn't happen was on page 1, the Marvel history book.

Well, it kind of did happen.  The 400 page book by Brad Elliott and Stan Lee titled The Story of Marvel Comics never came out, but a Marvel history book did come out.  There were some messy disagreements and even legal action (more here).  But eventually, the Les Daniels' book Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics came out in Sept. 1991.  Its too bad.  I think the original concept would have been better.

The highlighted comic book of the issue was Dinosaurs For Hire which came out in March 1988.

This was a fun concept and lasted through 1994 with 2 series and a few specials from Eternity/Malibu.  The second series had some really nice Mitch Byrd art.  An underrated artist in my mind.

This issue also had a great full page ad by underground comix publisher Rip Off Press.  An advertisement in the advertisement was a nice touch.

Rounding out the issue was an ad for the Watchmen role playing game from Mayfair Games.  The Watchmen series hadn't ended that long before, so its full impact had not yet been felt.