Writer: Charles Soule, Tim Seeley, Ed Brisson
Artist: Paulo Siqueira and more
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: June 26, 2019

Anthology books: You either like them or you don’t. Count me among the ones who do- it’s nice to occasionally read a book with characters you don’t know very well, haven’t read in a while, or just want to get a feel for them and not have to dig through months, sometimes years of continuity to make sense of what’s happening. Marvel Comics Presents continues the series of three stories in a 35 page format- we flash back this month to the suitable extreme 90’s with a story of 90’s X-Men fighting a seemingly immortal demon, Deadpool going meta with a satire of 90’s collectors comics, and Ghost Rider continuing to fight his literal demons. Are they any good? Let’s have a look and see.

Wolverine: The Vigil (PT. 6): a quick recap fill us in – back in WWII, an immortal demon was weaponised to be used against the allies. Wolverine and the Canadian troops succeeded in banishing the Demon, but it reappears every 10 years to cause a ruckus. Guess what time it is?

1995: A Surly Wolverine and the X-Men face off against the Demon named “The Truth”. They get their asses handed to them, but are saved at the last minute by a kick ass magician with… bone claws? She slices off the demons arms and kicks it through a portal. The end? Maybe… but who is this claw slicing, portal kicking feral girl in vaguely Asgardian armour? Wolverine thinks it’s his… Daughter?

First Appearance: Red-Hot Raze! (Ft Deadpool): 1991: Deadpool is hired to stop a mutant thug named “Raze”. He crashed through a comic store window, and soon realises comics pay more then merc work! Chromium covers, holographic covers, on fire variants, every issue a new number 1… anything to sell a million copies! Just like the speculator bubble of the 90’s, his plan bottoms out and he’s left with a pile of chromium.

Fadeaway: Ft. Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch just wants to run his bar… but he just can’t get any peace from the old flaming head of vengeance. He doesn’t even get to finish his Sunday Morning Whiskey Sour when his old nemesis Wallow is at the cemetery sucking the misery out of people. Using the old “I’ll overload you to defeat you” trick, Danny sends Wallow back to hell, where he meets Johnny Blaze… The new ruler of Hell?

Anthologies can be a real hit or miss. Depends on the characters, the creative team, if it’s a one and done story… that kind of thing. Here we get a decent continuation of the super nostalgic 90’s X-Men team (complete with period accurate costumes and Logan mutton chops), a meta Deadpool story that’s frankly too meta to be clever, and a Ghost Rider story (featuring MY Ghost Rider Danny Ketch) that has the elements of a good story… but just misses the mark.

Final Thoughts:

Taken as a whole, this book is good for a fun trip down memory lane with paper thin stories and 90’s art, including 90’s accurate hyper anatomical muscles and gravity defying boobs. If only this book came with glow in the dark variants!

6/10