Why You Should Be Reading… Throwback Review… Marvel’s WCW # 1… Its World Championship Wrestling Comics Series

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Hey everyone welcome back to another week of WHY YOU SHOULD BE READING… If you read the title we are doing another Throw comic, I am also adding a twist by posting a throwback review I never really published. As you will read I was able to find some WCW comics published by Marvel in the 90’s, and I had began to review them, however due to reviewing other items and doing this column I just haven’t gotten around to publish any! Now also to be completely honest this week I am feeling under the weather (darn cold), and what I had written up for this week didn’t really come out the way I wanted it to, so instead of forcing it out I decided to post this up for the wrestling fans, plus I think you will find that this comic was booked better than raw is currently, so I think some of you may be interested in tracking these down. Well I hope you enjoy and I plan on posting more of my un published reviews/articles in the future. Also I hope everyone is getting ready to have an awesome ThanksGiving because the next time we chat it will be after the Turkey festivities, enjoy everyone and thank you for reading…..

wcw2

Marvel’s’ WCW issue 1 Review

Hello comic fans and wrestling fans alike. I had the luxury of bidding on and winning all of the 1990’s Marvel WCW comics. This series is a 12 issue long endeavor spanning from 92, to 93 featuring most of the superstars of that era! I am planning on reviewing this entire series so let’s  get into number 1.

Issue 1 kicks off with Lex Luger as the champ. They do a brief promo about Lex’s character and how he will do anything to keep his belt. They then show the WCW locker room and hype a battle royal for this issue! The winner of the battle royal will be given the opportunity to face Lex for the WCW title.

wcw1Notably Ron Simmons, the Steiner brother, Arn Anderson and Dustin Rhodes caught most of my attention! Sting is hyped as the major baby face entering the battle Royal as expected, also having the United States Championship giving us something to be excited about. El Gigante, Terrence Taylor, and Barry Windham, along with others prepare for the battle at hand as they start the trash talking early. I was a little disappointed in the fact Ric Flair was not a part of this comic, but then I remembered late 91 he was in the then WWF laying the groundwork for his feud with Macho man in 92. I do have to accept he will not be in this comic series in any capacity and I will just have to deal with it, we all know how big the personality of the Nature boy is, and I wanted to see how he would be transferred in comic form. Now Jim Ross leads commentary and most of the narratives as Paul E Dangerously (Paul Heyman) who looks nothing like himself, was the heel direction when it came to calling the action. The running joke with him was a faulty headset, which I’m not quite sure where they were going with that but it did add a little comedy to Paul E not getting in full sentences. Missy Hyatt added color to the action and helped added additional dynamics and also reminded me of her time as announcer on the real show as well. As you may remember in real life there was a feud with Hyatt and Dangerously on commentary, but I saw none of the ground work for that here in this issue, a few jabs here and there but nothing definitive.

The Battle royal kicks off and I was impressed with the storytelling they were able to capture on paper. Of course El Giante being the biggest threat was ganged up on for his elimination, as they tossed him out of the ring right away. For being a tag team in the battle, the Steiner brothers were booked very well causing drama by having Scott eliminate himself for being worried about  his brother Rick who was eliminated and got hurt due to a hard landing.  They did make Rick look like a bit of a pansy, but hey they told a story and that was how they wanted the Steiner’s to be eliminated, to show the brotherly tag team bond, it makes sense but doesn’t really help them look “strong”. Johnny B badd was the big heel during this contest narrowly escaping multiple eliminations and beat downs from the fan favorites. Sting is really getting his push and is shown as being beloved by the fans, I was a bit impressed with how Ron Simmons is also another face that is hyped up to possibly win this thing, he is actually getting a big push as the pages continue. Shockingly enough this comic is extremely open about heels and faces, I didn’t know back then it was openly talked about like it is today, and the terms appeared opening through out the comic. It was mentioned Ron Simmons used to be a heel by commentary, which transitioned well into Johnny B Badd degrading him for switching and becoming a face, again I just couldn’t believe these terms were used and I have to say Kayfabe was broken. The best heat came when; the Diamond stud and Johnny B Badd were putting the boots to sting and Ron Simmons as the last 4 wrestlers in the royal and transitioning into the finish. The final sequences played out well with Ron Simmons building the comeback allowing sting to come from behind and eliminate stud. He then turns his attention to Badd who reverses sting and gets him eliminated. With Badd’s heat increased for eliminating the fan favorite it leaves him and Simmons alone in which Simmons comes out on top following a huge back breaker. Now I haven’t mentioned this before but during the comic there is a foreshadowed event, there is a group of men in trench coats and hats in the front row and they seemed very interested in the battle royal as a whole. As the match went on they have been heckling the crowd and the eliminated wrestlers and it is at this point they come into play.

wcw3The front man takes off his trench coat revealing he has been Lex Luger all along and he attacks Ron from behind during his celebration, breaking his newly won trophy over the back of his head. This was done well, and they hyped Luger by stating from the beginning he would cripple anyone who gets in the way of his Championship reign. Having a three man trench coat stable completely threw me off guard, and that Luger had planned an attack. I figured something would happen in the next issue with him but this group of trench coats would add another dynamic to this issue. Now with Luger standing tall getting major heat from the crowd, Missy Hyatt tries to get a word with the champ who disrespects her and blows her off, but then states he stayed true to his word he would cripple anyone who stands in his way. The comic ends with Luger walking out of the arena with the entire crowd booing and throwing things in up roar.

This was great, the story was told well and I thought Marvel did a very good job keeping it wrestling based with storylines. I am excited for the next issue and I am impressed with how they were able to keep it wrestling and not super heroish. It is clear who the monster heel is with champ Luger, but we also got a good villainous thing going with Johnny B Badd and I hope to see them get more heat as the comic continues. We will also see if Simmons can come out on top and how well sting can recover from his loss. I hope you all enjoyed I will be back soon with Issue 2 sometime in the future….
PS….
Defiantly pick up this series if you have a chance it is worth having for comic wrestling fans.

Well that’s it for the throwback review, Happy Thanksgiving and I’ll see you next week! 

Keep on Keepin on!!!! 

WHY YOU SHOULD BE READING…

-Grainbelt Jones

Mr. Jones has been a life long nerd, he started collecting vinyl, action figures, and comic books at a very young age. As he grew older his passions evolved into Djing, producing music, writing and traveling. He caught the wrestling bug in 95 after going to the first WCW episode on TNT, at the mall of America, and has been hooked ever since. A new collecting habit of wrestling tapes was born that night where he learned the history of wrestling as well as taping the present weeks during the Monday night wars. Through that process he became a lifer and the habit is not easily broken, and shows today in his mid 20's. His passion for art shows through his music and his obsession with comic books, which has also transformed into a hefty collection. You can expect good articles and reviews on, wrestling, comics, games and figures and anything else Mr. Jones may decide to tackle! Hope you enjoy! Thanks!!