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By Kiel Phegley
Decades of reading Marvel Comics may make readers feel like they could tackle any character in the Marvel Universe one-on-one, but as fans of Mark Millar and Tommy Lee Edwards' MARVEL 1985 have found, seeing and doing can be two very different things.
As the series hurtles to its finale in October 22's issue #6, pre-teen fanboy Toby Goodman rushes through the Marvel Universe in a desperate attempt to recruit the heroes of the 80's to save his home world. Meanwhile, Toby's fanman father leads his estranged ex-wife through a mine field of Marvel villains, including
Galactus and an all-new baddie who will play a significant role across the Marvel U from here on out.
"1985 is basically the origin story of Doctor Doom's master," explains Millar. "You don't realize it until the end of the story, but it is the origin of Doctor Doom's trainer. We find out in FANTASTIC FOUR that this guy is the ultimate Marvel super villain, but only Doom knows about him. He's been gone since Doom trained up, and he's been off working his way through all these parallel realities just killing everyone. And now he's come back here."
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Connections between Millar's current Marvel output have just started to be seen in across the writer's titles, but the Scot promises that more revelations to come, particularly in December's FANTASTIC FOUR #563. Of course, despite all the cataclysmic changes that matter to longtime readers, Millar also contends his intent with 1985 to open up the Marvel library to those who are regular Wednesday shoppers:
"I absolutely made it tie in with FANTASTIC FOUR and [the] 'Old Man
Logan' [story running in WOLVERINE] and it even ties in with KICK ASS as well. We pull these things together, but at the same time what was more important to me was to have a classic hardcover or trade paperback that I can give out to people who maybe like Marvel but don't know where to start. Because it's like every story about Captain America or the
Lizard or
Spider-Man or
Sandman, but you don't need to have read 40 years of comics to understand it. It's almost like a fairy story when you think of it. I think you could give it to anyone.
"That was a huge thing for me. At its simplest, what [1985] is about is the real world interfacing with the Marvel Universe in the same way that someone who's only
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ever seen the Marvel movies is interfacing with the Marvel Universe when they pick up the comic. To me, it seemed a first step for someone who's maybe interested in picking up Spider-Man and the
Avengers."
And while Millar never plays the part of modest salesman when it comes to his comics, he will go out on a ledge in describing how he feels 1985 will hold up as compared to his other work.
"I'm really pleased with it," he boasts proudly. "I think over my eight years at Marvel, it's actually the thing that is my favorite."
Before fans can make that call for themselves, they'll have to see whether or not our world can survive the Devourer or Worlds in MARVEL 1985 #6, on sale October 22. And for more by Mark Millar, check out Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited!
