Not a lot going on here. We're at a low ebb for Marvel, after they stop being cheesy fun but before they start getting serious. To be fair, i don't have a lot of extended runs at this time with the exception of Spider-Man, so i'm mainly looking at scattered issues, which are usually just parts of continued stories. Spider-Man under Conway is hit or miss. Under Stan Lee this was Marvel's consistently best title. Under Conway, it's sometimes good, sometimes pretty bad. Steve Englehart's writing is a notch above everything else here, especially when he's tackling political issues. Steve Gerber is writing Daredevil and a few scattered other things but he's not fully developed into the zany writer that people love so much. His stories are fairly generic at this point. I don't have a lot of nice things to say about the art this year either. Ross Andru takes over Spider-Man and manages to keep the house style but doesn't really add anything.

John Buscema is still out there, keeping the Fantastic Four looking consistent. Everything else is by lesser known artists and the quality isn't very high. There's a tendency to attempt experimentation along the lines of Colan or Steranko but the talent doesn't match the ambition in a lot of cases, leading to muddled looking pages.

The highlight here is Jim Starlin's Thanos War, which he drew and mostly wrote. Starlin's epic feels about 10 years ahead of its time. He brings back a crazy Dikto cosmic weirdness while handling a fairly complex plot and introducing a number of compelling characters. There's not a lot in the way of character development, and the ending is a bit of a let down, but it's still a great adventure story and a highlight among the rest of Marvel's output at the time.

Marv Wolfman is added as an Assistant Editor.

Jim Steranko is being wasted drawing stuff for FOOM (Friends of 'ol Marvel) Magazine, an in-house fanzine.

Bill Everett and Syd Shores both died this year.

First appearances: Brother Voodoo, Hellstorm, Mandrill, Nekra, Chemistro, Thanos, Eros (Starfox), Mentor, ISAAC, Drax the Destroyer, Moondragon

Amazing Adventures #16  
Amazing Spider-Man #116-118  
Cat #2  
Sub-Mariner #57  
Shanna the She-Devil #2  
Avengers #108  
Sub-Mariner #58 1st Tamara Rahn 
Marvel Feature #8  
Tomb of Dracula #7-9  
Captain America #159 Captain America gains super-strength 
Avengers #109  
Fantastic Four #133  
Marvel Team-Up #8  
Hero For Hire #8-9  
Amazing Spider-Man #119-120  
Shanna the She-Devil #3  
Cat #3  
Sub-Mariner #60  
Daredevil #99  
Avengers #111  
Fantastic Four #134-135  
Sub-Mariner #61-62 1st Amphibians, 1st Hydro-base 
Amazing Spider-Man #121-122 Death of Gwen Stacy 
Daredevil #100-101  
Shanna the She-Devil #4 1st Mandrill 
Avengers #112  
Hero For Hire #11  
Fantastic Four #136-137  
Tomb of Dracula #10
Vampire Tales #2 (Satana) 1st Blade, 1st Satana 
Avengers #113  
Captain America #164 1st Nightshade 
Marvel Spotlight #11  
Warlock #7  
Hulk #166  
Avengers #114 1st Mantis (full) 
Amazing Spider-Man #123  
Hero For Hire #12 1st Chemistro 
Shanna the She-Devil #5 1st Nekra 
Avengers #115-118 / Defenders #8-11 Avengers/Defenders War 
Marvel Fanfare #52-53  
Marvel Comics Presents #72-84 Weapon X 
Tomb of Dracula #11-15  
Marvels #4  
Daredevil #103  
Fear #16  
Avengers #119  
Amazing Spider-Man #124-125  
Marvel Feature #11  
Iron Man #55
Captain Marvel #25-30
Marvel Feature #12 Thanos War. Thanos, Starfox, Drax, Eon, Titans. Captain Marvel becomes cosmic protector. 
Daredevil #105-107  
Captain Marvel #31-34 Conclusion of Thanos War. 1st Nitro. Captain Marvel exposed to cancer causing gas. 
Marvel Two-In-One #1  
Hulk #167-168  
Hulk #170  
Sub-Mariner #66-68  
Fantastic Four #140-141  
The 'Nam #52-53  
The 'Nam #68  
Fear #17 1st Wundarr 
Tales of the Zombie #2  
Marvel Team-Up #15  
Amazing Spider-Man #126  
Strange Tales #171  
Amazing Spider-Man #127-128  
Ghost Rider #3  
Captain America #168