Issue(s): Micronauts #38
Cover Date: Feb 82
Title: "First-flight!"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
John Garcia - Penciler
Dan Bulanadi - Inker
Jack Abel - Assistant Editor
Al Milgrom - Editor

Review/plot:
From a note in the lettercol for this issue:

[I]n the natural order of things, it turns out there are two types of readers of comic magazines: the casual kind... [FYI, no truncation here. Ellipsis in the original] and there is the other kind, the fans who come back every month, month after month, who know the characters and situations intimately, who analyze the slightest change of course in continuity, who love the characters and concepts and creative teams on a mag so much that it hurts.

The fans were buying MICRONAUTS... and buying, and buying, and buying.

The casual readers were too, but not so frequently or so faithfully.

So what?

So Marvel discovered that it was printing just enough copies for the fan market, but too many for the casual reader market. That meant comic book shops were selling out of MICRONAUTS, while newstands across the country were shipping too many unsold copies back. The usual answer in this predicament was to cancel the mag, despite its success with the fans, as too costly to print in such quantities.

But instead, Marvel made this, along with Ka-Zar and Moon Knight, a Direct Market only books. "If you're holding MICRONAUTS #38 in your hands at this moment, you are a fan."

Along with the more limited distribution, there is a price increase from 60 cents to 75, an editorial shift from Tom DeFalco to Al Milgrom, and an increased page count used this issue for a Tales of the Microverse story drawn by Gil Kane that shows the first meeting between Bug and Acroyear.

The main story this issue is also largely a flashback. Commander Rann discusses his training under Baron - then Chief Scientist - Karza. It's funny to think that this goofy looking guy eventually becomes the Darth Vader-eque arch villain we all know and fear.

The story is about how Rann earned the title of "Space Glider". The names "Force Commander", used by Prince Argon, and "Space Glider" were the names of the Micronauts toys that this series is based on. Argon has been going by "Force Commander" regularly since his decent into evil, but Rann never really uses the name "Space Glider", which he says is actually a rank that he had to earn before becoming a Commander.

While learning to glide under Karza's tutelage, Rann finds that Karza is actually trying to kill him.

Despite that knowledge, Rann still agreed to pilot the ship that put him in suspended animation for centuries while Karza deposed his parents and took over Microworld.

This issue also has an opening scene with the Micronauts, still on Earth, dealing with the sort of problems usually reserved for Hank Pym. It's worth noting, however, that the Micronauts say they have the ability to kill these birds at any time; they just don't want to resort to that.

A lot of the strength of the Micronauts series was due to the star artists it attracted, including Michael Golden, Howard Chaykin, and Pat Broderick. Lately there seems to be trouble on that front. Keith Giffen only managed an issue and a half, and then this issue and next are one-offs by John Garcia and Steve Ditko, with Gil Kane becoming the main artist with issue #40. I don't know anything about Garcia, who seems to have been a DC artist, but i think inker Dan Bulanadi is doing a lot to keep the look consistent with previous issues (and that's something we'll see even more clearly next issue).

Storywise, this is an unusual way to kick off a new beginning, and considering next issue's plot and title, i think this issue was plotted before the shift to the Direct Market was finalized.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A