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Jordan Clark joins Read the Freaking Comics for an in-depth interview about his groundbreaking sci-fi graphic novel Ancestral Recall from Ahoy Comics.

We dive deep into the origins of the series, the influence of Black history and culture on the story, the role of AI and hyper-consumerism in science fiction, and how Jordan approached creating Melvin Waring — a flawed but unforgettable hero dealing with anxiety and mental health struggles.

Micronauts #38 from 1982 isn’t just another issue—it’s a quiet reset and a unique artifact of Marvel’s shift into the direct market era. This week, we’re diving into a comic that blends Bill Mantlo’s deep sci-fi vision with the talents of Gil Kane, Michael Golden, and more. We’ll look at why this issue feels like a reintroduction, how it fits into Marvel’s business strategy of the early '80s, and what makes its creative team one of the most underrated lineups of the decade. This is Micronauts as you’ve never seen it—so let’s get microscopic.

In this issue the Micronauts tell tales from long ago, Commander Arcturus Rann recalls one of his most important lessons learned as a Wing Cadet & Bug recounts how he and Acroyear first met and became close allies.

Both stories in this issue were written by Bill Mantlo, Mantlo who was the co-creator of Rocket Raccoon and Cloak and Dagger, is best known for his work on Micronauts and Rom, both licensed toy properties with stories included in the Marvel Universe. For Micronauts specifically Mantlo recalled how one Christmas, he examined some action figures from Mego Corporation's Micronauts line, given to his son Adam. He said he began to envision the characters "as small, microscopic even, inhabiting an other-verse apart from, but conjunctive with ours,". He then convinced editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to obtain the comics license for these toys; Shooter then hired Mantlo to script the series.

John Garcia penciled the first story, Garcia began his career as a storyboard and magazine advertisement artist, he began collaborating with different publishers and writers and briefly worked for both Marvel and DC in the early 80's.

Gil Kane penciled & Inked the second story, Kane is noted for co-creating the modern-day versions of the superheroes Green Lantern and the Atom for DC Comics, and co-created Iron Fist and Adam Warlock with Roy Thomas for Marvel. This was only part of a brief run on this title for Kane, at the same time he shared regular art duties on the Superman feature in Action Comics with Curt Swan.

Cover artist Michael Golden initially started with the interior of the first 12 issues, then moved on to other titles, occasionally returning. His other works include The 'Nam, as well as the co-creation of the characters Rogue and Bucky O'Hare.

Inker Danny Bulanadi started his career at Marvel inking artists like Pat Broderick, Gil Kane, and Butch Guice on the Micronauts series. He then moved on to The Fantastic Four, and Captain America. He also designed the costumes for the various Atlantic Universe characters including the famous Captain Canada.

Bob Sharen was a prolific comic book colorist best known for his work with Marvel from the 1970s through the 1990s. He colored hundreds of issues, including iconic runs on The Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man. His vibrant palette and consistent quality made him a key figure in shaping Marvel’s visual identity.

Colorist Christie "Max" Scheele is known for her work as a comic book colorist and fine art painter. She began her career in comics with Marvel and made a significant impact as a colorist, particularly on over 100 issues of "Daredevil,", she also contributed to "Moon Knight" with Bill Sienkiewicz. Her nickname, "Max," originated in 1982 as a playful moniker from letterer Danny Crespi and stuck throughout her career.

Letterer Jim Novak worked on the first story, Novak is known for his contribution to the development of the iconic Star Wars logo. Novak primarily worked at Marvel but occasionally worked for other publishers like Dark Horse, Boom! Studios, Image, Dynamite, and IDW. When this comic was released Novak was the regular letterer for such titles as Avengers, Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four & The Incredible Hulk where he often lettered as many as five or six books per month. Fellow letterer Bill Oakley stated that Novak created the best shapes for speech balloons of any letterer he knew.

Diana Albers lettered the second story, Albers is best known for lettering hundreds of books for Marvel from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s. Comics she lettered include Iron Man, Ghost Rider & Captain America.

Al Milgrom & Jack Abel were the editors on this issue, Milgrom has worked as a writer, penciller, inker and editor, primarily for Marvel. Milgrom started his comics career in 1972 as an assistant for inker Murphy Anderson. Milgrom came to prominence as a penciller on Captain Marvel from 1975 to 1977. He served an eight-year stint as the inker of X-Factor in 1989–1997 & is the co-creator of DC superhero Firestorm.

Jack Abel was DC's primary inker on the Superman titles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and inked penciler Herb Trimpe's introduction of the popular superhero Wolverine in The Incredible Hulk #181. He sometimes used the pseudonym Gary Michaels. After suffering a serious stroke in 1981, Abel rehabilitated his paralyzed right hand to the extent that he was able to ink and draw again — which he did through the rest of the 1980s, primarily for Marvel.

So who are the Micronauts? They started out as a line for toys by Mego Corporation, when Bill Mantlo convinced Jim Shooter to acquire the comic book rights for Marvel, a larger backstory for the characters were created. 

The Micronauts originate in the Microverse, a microscopic universe full of strange planets like the human-inhabited Homeworld which is made up of diverse spherical habitats that are linked together in the fashion of a molecular chain. Prince of Homeworld, Commander Arcturus Rann, undertakes a dangerous mission by travelling into the farthest reaches of the microverse in suspended animation for a thousand-years. Unfortunately while away his former mentor and teacher Baron Karza has the royal family killed and he ascends the throne as dictator of Homeworld. When Rann returns from his deep space voyage and discovers Karza's treachery he vows revenge, the comic series tells the story of that epic war across the Microverse pitting Rann and his allies against Karza.

Joining him on his mission are Marionette, the daughter of the slain rulers of Homeworld and sister of Prince Argon. Beast, A highly intelligent, animalistic alien from the jungles of Tropica on Homeworld. Acroyear, the former ruler of the armor-clad Acroyears of the harsh and rocky planet Spartak. Bug - An insect-like thief from the planet Kaliklak.

And two droids, whom Marvel calls ‘Roboids’ because why not, Microtron & Nanotron.

The team lineup often changes, throughout the years there have been other members including;  Biotron, Cilicia, Fireflyte, Huntarr, Pharoid, Scion and Solitaire.

The Micronauts toyline was the product of The Mego Corporation and consisted of action figures less than 4 inches in size which were known for their high number of articulation points, the bendy bits that allow you to position your figure. The toyline also included vehicles, robots, playsets and accessories. Many of the Micronauts toys used interchangeable connectors and ports that allowed parts to be transferred and connected between different toys.

Mego discontinued the Micronauts in 1980 prior to the company's bankruptcy and dissolution in 1982. Years after Mego’s demise, other toy companies, such as Palisades Toys and SOTA Toys, have attempted to revive the toyline. Just this year Super7 added Micronauts to their ReAction toyline and have released the first wave of action figures, including Biotron and Baron Karza.

Meanwhile, the first comic title was published by Marvel in 1979, with characters based on the toys plus some original creations. Marvel published two Micronauts series, mostly written by Bill Mantlo, until 1986, well after the toy line was cancelled in 1980. In the 2000s, Image Comics and Devil's Due Publishing each briefly published their own Micronauts series.

In 2016, IDW Publishing published a new comic book series. A live-action film version of the Micronauts was in development by Hasbro Studios and Paramount in 2015. In May 2023, Marvel re-acquired the licensing rights to publish The Micronauts. Did you know that in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Microverse of The Micronauts is adapted as the Quantum Realm.

The beginning of both stories feature our heroes on Earth 616, even fighting for their lives from a bird protecting her eggs. So how did the Micronauts end up on Earth? Their first visit to Earth occurred in issue #1 from January 1979, in an effort to escape Karza's forces they warp jumped from their ship, but because of the strange physics between dimensions, they exit the Microverse and arrive in our universe, crashing on Earth. They were Earth bound for about 12-13 issues, returning to the Microverse once again but they often returned to Earth as it allowed Marvel writers to ground the cosmic storytelling in relatable human elements, it also provided ample opportunity for crossovers with other Marvel characters like The Fantastic Four, Captain Universe, and Doctor Strange. 

Comics based on toy lines don’t always translate well, for every Transformers, G.I. Joe’s and Micronauts you get Madballs, AirRaiders and Kooshkins. The Micronauts never really appealed to me as a child, despite the calibre of artists working on the title over the years. This issue specifically feels like a re-introduction of the characters, partly because both stories provide enough backstory to get the job done, but mainly because we know this issue was the first to go out to comic stores only, so the opportunity presented itself to Marvel. As a whole Micronauts tells a compelling story of deception, palace intrigue and a good deal of action. However I never really understood the need to make these characters ‘Micro’, why not just place them on another planet? To be fair I haven’t read many issues where our heroes have action-figure sized adventures on Earth, maybe that is enough of a hook to keep me interested. Mind you I have seen “Honey I Shrunk The Kids” and “Ant-Man” more than a few times.

I see issues on Amazon selling for $25, Price Charting.com has mint issues going for $84, these are off their highs from December 2024 of $90. I see various issues on Ebay going from $4 to $8 

Comic distribution numbers are hard to find for 1982, I did manage to find figures for both 1981 and ‘82 combined which totalled 7.83 million issues sold between a select few publishers, mainly Marvel and DC. The top 5 selling comics in those years were:

Mad (EC Publications): 1,001,724
X-Men (Marvel): 313,225
Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel): 240,683
Fantastic Four (Marvel): 234,043
Avengers (Marvel): 223,335 

Micronauts sold over 117 thousand units, good enough for 29th place out of the 56 listed.

1982 saw the beginning of Marvel making changes to their distribution deals by offering publications exclusively to the non-returnable "direct sales" comics-store market as opposed to newsstands.

Marvel first tested this distribution change on the X-Men themed ‘Dazzler #1’ in 1981, the result was sales of over 400,00 copies from fans & collectible speculators, a 50% increase than the average sales of X-Men. Marvel saw green in their eyes and began to roll this out in 1982, and while this would eventually lead to the comic crash of 1996, there was no stopping the train now. Three specific titles, Ka-Zar, Micronauts and Moon Knight followed Dazzler’s route and were dropped from newsstands in favor of exclusive distribution to comic stores. Though they sold well generally, newsstands had the option to return or destroy the unfold comics for credit, comic distributors did not, guaranteeing increased revenue for Marvel. 

There were fewer ads in this issue than what is typical for a comic from this era, this is due to the fact that it was directly sold to comic shops. The advertisements included Cracker Jack, Lego Expert Builder Set, there was an editorial by Denny O'Neil encouraging discriminating readers to NOT pick up the latest issue of Moon Knight (also a direct seller to comic shops), an amusing ad for Ka-Zar touting the benefits of buying a 'specialty comic', such as more pages, creator insights, fewer ads, etc.

Then we have the MPC Star Wars Snap Model Kits featuring 'Battle on Ice Planet Hoth' and 'Encounter with Yoda on Dagobah'. Snap model kits were easy-to-assemble models and dioramas depicting various scenes from a film or television show. What's interesting here is that MPC's previous models for the Snowspeeder and AT-ATs were of a different scale, so kids weren't able to easily recreate scenes from the film. This second series aims to rectify that with a full diorama of the Hoth scenes.

This week I wanted to find an interesting comic shop in-line with our Micronauts theme, and while I couldn't find anything specific I did come across Comic Quest in Lake Forest, California. I felt the theme of 'quest' was an important one since our heroes are on a quest to free the Microverse from tyranny. So if you're ever in the area I recommend checking out Comic Quest located at 23811 Bridger Rd in Lake Forest, CA or visit them at comicquest.org.

This is the 2013 Free Comic Book Day edition of R.I.P.D. & The Killjoys. R.I.P.D., or the Rest in Peace Department, follows two agents who police the spirit world. This Free Comic Book Day offering is a fast-paced tale with some good art and and some neat twists and turns that does a fine job of introducing the rules of the R.I.P.D. universe while telling a fun and satisfying tale. An estimated 4.6 Million copies of free comics were given out that year, with roughly 50-53 different titles across the gold and silver tiered titles. RIPD and The Kiljoys were in the latter category. 2013 also saw the release of the RIPD movie starring Ryan Renolds and Jeff Bridges, it was universally panned by critics and fans alike.

So, who decided on Green Lantern Guy Gardner's whole...look? Interestingly enough, when he was originally created in 1968 by Gil Kane, Guy Gardner was meant to NOT stand out from the crowd, he was modelled after Martin Milner, a very “everyman” TV face. Guy was the backup lantern to Hal Jordan's starring role.

By the 1980's writer Steve Englehart decided to completely revamp Guy, and with the help of artist Joe Staton, they did just that, Staton based Guy’s redesign on a British TV character known for “entitlement and resentment", none other than Danny Wilde from TV show 'The Persuaders!'. The visual design, the hair, posture & expressions were meant to scream arrogance, insecurity & aggression. The bowl cut & the vest? Guy likes it, thats the point. Essentially Guy’s look is intentional anti-hero design — everything is meant to visually communicate: this guy is abrasive, insecure, and not traditionally heroic.

So who gave Guy his distinctive look? Thats Englehart & Staton, meanwhile in the comics, Guy's choices are all his own.

To celebrate 'The Punisher: One Last Kill' out on Disney+ today, let’s take a look at the comic series that may have influenced it. Based on trailers and the official plot, 'One Last Kill' is likely a loose adaptation of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s “Welcome Back, Frank”, centered on Frank Castle being pulled back into violence against the Gnucci crime family, possibly Ma Gnucci specifically. Actor John Bernthal himself reportedly called that run his “north star,” and multiple outlets say the special keeps its DNA even if it is not a panel-for-panel adaptation. Check out 'The Punisher: One Last Kill' on Disney+ today.

This is Marvel's Star Wars #2 released on this date in 1977, written by Roy Thomas with cover art and interiors by Howard Chaykin this second issue into the massively popular Star Wars comic series is a retelling of the first Star Wars film. Marvel’s Star Wars was reportedly the industry’s #1 title in 1977–78, with early issues exceeding 1 million copies per issue. Star Wars #2 is treated as a key issue, with first comic appearances tied to major film characters like Jabba the Hutt. PriceCharting lists it as a key issue and gives current values at over one thousand dollars for near mint issues.

Think you know your comic characters? What about Typeface? This Marvel character was created by Paul Jenkins & Mark Buckingham. Typeface is Gordon Thomas, a War vet who became mentally unstable after returning home. Traumatized and disillusioned, he developed an obsession with words and language, believing they had inherent power and meaning beyond normal comprehension. In a move more akin to a DC Silver Age villain, he created a costume covered in random letters and typography symbols and used weapons shaped like punctuation marks and letters. Typeface was known for committing crimes based on linguistic themes. He made his debut in Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol 1 23 from the year 2000 has made only a dozen other appearances since, last seen in Spider-Man/Deadpool Vol 1 12 from 2016.