Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #159, Marvel Comics Presents #160, Marvel Comics Presents #161, Marvel Comics Presents #162, Marvel Comics Presents #163 (New Warriors story only)
Cover Date: Jul-Sep 94
Title: Smells Like Teen Spirit: "History is what you make of it" / "Memories aren't what they used to be" / "Yesterday will be more fun than tomorrow was" / "If you can run out of time, can you walk out of the check?" / "Time wounds all heals"
Credits:
Fabian Nicieza - Writer
Robert Walker - Penciler
Scott Koblish / John Stanisci - Inker
Michael Kraiger - Assistant Editor
Richard Ashford - Editor

Review/plot:
Speedball, Rage, both Turbos (as is the case more often than not, Michiko Mushashi has the costume), and, er, Slapstick all happen to go to the Natural History Museum when a Dr. Yesterday attacks.

In addition to a T. Rex, Dr. Yesterday causes various people to be brought to the present, including a number of super-heroes.

Click to see the time zones.

So, yeah, all my favorite things at once: time-travel and two "zany" characters, Slapstick and Impossible Man. I actually enjoyed Slapstick's own series, but none of that creative team is involved here. Fabian Nicieza is writing at his usual perfectly fine New Warriors level, but that's not enough to make Slapstick anything more than annoying.

And the Impossible Man is never not annoying. Groucho Marx impersonations? Still? Really?

Meanwhile, the other Turbo (Mike Jeffries) and Slapstick's friend Mike Peterson meet Abraham Lincoln.

And then Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy.

And then even more stuff.

It turns out that Dr. Yesterday is dying of a terminal disease, and all his time travel powers won't help him reverse it.

Impossible Man sees what an asshole Slapstick is, and almost seems to have a moment of self-awareness that would have caused him to stop annoying everyone in the future. No such luck, though.

Speedball convinces Dr. Yesterday to go into the future to see if a cure for his disease has been discovered.

There are some cute moments in this, but it's definitely not my sort of thing.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP place this between New Warriors #46-47, which has the benefit of making this the real Speedball instead of the one who replaced him in New Warriors #49-50.

References:

• Marvel's super-heroes are brought here from specific points in their histories. A "Fabian-Prize" was offered to people who could identify them. They are:
  • Spider-Man's hunt for Firelord in Amazing Spider-Man #269-270.
    
  • The Avengers' fight with Absorbing Man from Avengers #183-184.
    
  • An appearance of the Liberty Legion which seems pretty generic to me but which the MCP puts during Invaders #38.
    
  • The first appearance of the Impossible Man, from Fantastic Four #11.
• When Turbo sees the Avengers plucked from time, she says that none of them look like the ones that were fighting each other on the news a couple of weeks ago. There's no footnote, and i'm not sure what that is a reference to. Some fight between the Avengers and their lookalikes in the Gatherers?

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A