Plastic Man Key Comics Part 2

Stretchin' into Part 2 of this Plastic Man key comics series, and we have finally got to the DC side of things with this character. You are going to have to bear with me now since this isn't such an easy transition.

If you haven't read up on other characters like Captain Marvel (Shazam) who originally came from a different publisher and how he integrated into DC Comics, this might be even more confusing for ya. If you've been following this site for a while, it might make more sense.

Click this Part 1 link if you missed that and want to see his Golden Age keys, or continue reading if you're ready for more Plastic Man.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY #160

1st Plastic Man in DC Comics

Okay, the OPG notes this, and this is a strange one here. Well, at least for me and probably a few others.

The Plastic Man presented in this issue isn't technically Plastic Man really. It's actually the featured character of House of Mystery, Robbie Reed, who turns into Plastic Man.

As most comic fans know, Robbie Reed can turn into any superhero just by dialing H-E-R-O. Most of the time these heroes are completely new, but this issue has Reed turn into Plastic Man who is an already known super-hero.

So, not really Plastic Man or a character all that associated with the stretchy one. It gets a bit complicated concerning Plastic Man when we get into the DC stuff. 

So what's correct? Is a character just a costume with certain abilities or is there more like personality, motivation, etc?

Plas definitely has a unmistakable look and personality like most comic characters. This issue will probably be debated for years to come on it's validity.

Going by what DC wiki has with Plastic Man's 1st comic series and how that Plastic Man is suppose to be the son of the original Plastic Man of Earth-12, it does all get extremely whacky. Then you have all the multi-verse stuff, right?

I may just skip trying to understand and explain all that together. We'll see what I am able to uncover, but until then here's the CGC Census for this bad boy.

Ah, I might as well since this is a pretty important moment for Plastic Man during the Silver Age. Here's how the "character" of Plastic Man kinda enters the world of DC Comics. 

Clearly states that Robby Reed turns into Plastic Man and he knows of the character. I don't know if there's a point I'm trying to make or what.

Then he fights some baddies in this Dial H for Hero story using Plastic Man's abilities and powers. Should we do some Overstreet values? Alright, but just for the 46th Edition.

9.2 - $160

9.0 - $108

8.0 - $56

6.0 - $24

4.0 - $16

2.0 - $8

Real Plastic Man or not, the comic character enters the world of DC Comics even if it's really Robby Reed. Apparently, the next time Plastic Man is in DC Comics, it's a different version of the character as well.

First artist under the DC Comics banner to draw Plastic Man is apparently Jim Mooney. Next would be Gil Kane. July, 1966 is the cover date to House of Mystery #160.

PLASTIC MAN #1 VOLUME 2

1st Real Appearance of S.A. Plastic Man
1st appearance of Doctor Dome
1st DC Plastic Man comic series
1st Gordon K. Trueblood

Oh, man, the hairiness of when these other characters from other publishers cross into DC Comics after they acquired the rights. So Overstreet says this is the "Real" 1st appearance of Silver Age Plastic Man in DC Comics.

I suppose that's technically true. This is not the original Plastic Man though, but it's Eel O'Brien Jr. as Plastic Man. Yep, this is the son of the original Plastic Man, but these stories in the volume 2 series happened on Earth-12.

The series was written and drawn by legends Gil Kane and Arnold Drake and this, of course, is all explained in a later issue. This Plastic Man makes his Earth-12 connection by associating with the Inferior Five comic team and apparently existing in their realm.

Plastic Man is mostly unnamed throughout the comic series except for issue #2 in which he is referred to as "Eel" in the story "The 3 faces of Plastic Man". This issue deals with 3 different origins and one of them is suppose to be the true origin as the beginning splash states.

From Plastic Man #2 volume 2

Like the original, Plastic Man is seen as a crook but immediately is identified as an undercover agent of sorts. Note that the origin is changed in issue #7 of this comic series.

Doctor Dome is the closest thing that Plastic Man has to an arch nemesis. He makes his debut here in this issue. Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped out the existence of Earth-12 and it's inhabitants, but then Convergence retroactively saved all these other realities.

Oi! One hot mess when it comes to some DC stuff, at least to me. 

So, 1st "Real" appearance of S.A. Plastic Man (whatever that means, but at least he's related to Plastic Pops), 1st appearance of Doctor Dome, and 1st DC Plastic Man comic series. I am just sticking to that, and this is supposedly the Earth-12 Plastic Man.

Plastic Man did appear in Inferior Five #2, and the comic that reveals all the Inferior Five adventures to have taken place on Earth-12 is in Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew: The Oz–Wonderland War #3 in 1986. 

Guess I'll throw in some Overstreet values for this one. This is the 46th Edition:

9.2 - $210

9.0 - $138

8.0 - $66

6.0 - $30

4.0 - $20

2.0 - $10

Recently a CGC 9.2 sold and it was a Best Offer. Original price was $225. 

GoCollect hasn't logged that CGC 9.2 in yet, but it obviously sold for less than $225. The sale happened June 4th.

Gordon K. Trueblood is this Plastic Man's sidekick for some of the series and debuts in this issue. November, 1966 is the cover date for Plastic Man #1 volume 2.

PLASTIC MAN #7 VOLUME 2

True origin of Earth-12 Plastic Man II
1st appearance of Earth-12 Plastic Man I

Did I mention that issue #2 of the series basically rehashed the original Plastic Man origin? Well, it did and here's where it gets all changed around.

So it's revealed in this issue of #7 that Plastic Man has played around with Gordon K. Trueblood when it came to revealing his real or true origin. Here's how this strangeness unfolds:

The mother of this Earth-12 Plastic Man is so far unnamed. In actual DC mainstream continuity, Plastic Man does have a son and the mother's name is "Angel" McDunnagh.

Then we finally see poppa Plastic Man and he calls the Plastic Man starring in this comic series "Junior".

And there it is! Plastic Man II is junior and issue #10 would actually be the last appearance of this Earth-12 Plastic Man. Yes, the series does continue after issue #10, but there was an 8 year gap between issue #10 and issue #11.

Anyway, here's the CGC Census for this DC Comics key issue.

 
Should we see how Overstreet looks? Hell, might as well! 46th Edition values below:

9.2 - $60

9.0 - $44

8.0 - $27

6.0 - $12

4.0 - $8

2.0 - $4

Overstreet notes this as the 1st Silver Age appearance of Golden Age Plastic Man and Woozy Winks. I am not sure if that notation is all that correct but CGC notes this as the first S.A. appearance of G.A. Plastic Man also.

It would be established later that most of the original Quality Comics' characters were from Earth-X but then retconned to have been originally from Earth-2. That's in DC Comics lore.

November, 1967 is the cover date for Plastic Man #7 of his 2nd self-titled comic.

BRAVE & THE BOLD #76

1st Earth-One Plastic Man
1st meeting of Plastic Man & Batman

Just to be clear that the number #10 issue of the 2nd but first DC Comics Plastic Man series has the cover date of June, 1968 and this comic has the cover month of February of the same year. That means that this comic came out before Plastic Man #10 volume 2, and that Plastic Man from the Plastic Man volume 2 comic series is from Earth-12 from issues #1 through #10.

When it picked up again after #11, that issue starred the Earth-1 or this Plastic Man? How do we know? Robbie Reed is in issue #13.

So let's try to break this down again. Logic says that since the Inferior Five was from a different Earth (Earth-12) and that Plastic Man is from the same world as that goofy and zany team, this Plastic Man that appears in this 76th issue and first meets and teams up with Earth-1 Batman has to be the Earth-1 Plastic Man, right?

I suppose, so. This may very well be the first Plastic Man in actual DC mainstream continuity, and it's very much like Shazam or Captain Marvel or even Harley Quinn's first debut outside continuity in comics and then in DC's mainstream continuity. 

If you're new here, that might confuse you if you don't know DC Comics all that well or how that works. May want to read the Shazam key issues series on here as it details how the Marvel characters were designated to be on Earth-S before they entered DC mainstream continuity.

So, let's see how Batman and Plastic Man meet in this here issue:

It's looking like Bats might just be the first DC super-hero that Plas meets and teams up with in mainstream continuity also. Could be a big deal for Plas fans or something they might want to consider a bit more.

The two would have another strange story in Brave and the Bold #95 in 1971. Don't think that Earth-1 Plas would have that many appearances in the Bronze Age or during the 70s, but the Earth-1 version had his own comic feature in the pages of Adventure Comics beginning with issue #467.

As mentioned prior, his 2nd self-titled series would restart again with issue #11 in 1976, and apparently that is the Earth-1 Plas. We shall get to that.

An Earth-2 version of Plastic Man was a member and supporting character of the All-Star Squadron team and comics during the Bronze Age also. Confused yet? Welcome to the club.

Still, it's fun to know about. Brave and the Bold #76 has the cover date of February, 1968.

PLASTIC MAN #13 VOLUME 2

Plastic Man vs Plastic Man
2nd Robbie Reed as Plastic Man

We already covered Robbie Reed turning into Plastic Man in House of Mystery #160. In that issue, the real Plas wasn't in it.

In this issue, Steve Skeates thought it might be fun to revisit that concept of Robbie Reed turning into Plastic Man but having the real Plastic Man in the story also. Well, this time Reed turns into an evil version of Plas, and the real one just has to lay a smack down on the pretender.

And a fight ensues between the "real" Plastic Man and the fake one that Robbie Reed turned into.

Robbie Reed in this issue is the only indicator that this Plastic Man is the Earth-1 version. In his stories in Adventure Comics, there is an indicator of which universe those Plastic Man stories are set in.  

Sources say Earth-1, and apparently the Earth-1 Plas was an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation instead of the FBI. Earth-2 Plas is still an agent of the FBI.

Working for the NBI instead of the FBI is an indicator of Earth-1 Plas during this time. This Plastic Man series would ultimately last until issue #20 before it was cancelled.

Fun issue and fun read. Only 22 total submissions in the CGC Census currently and not gonna bother with the screen shot. There are six 9.8s and thirteen 9.6s if you're curious. Only one 9.4 so far.

Artist Ramona Fradon penciled the remaining issues of this Plastic Man volume 2 series and issue #13 has the cover date of July, 1976 with a really cool Ernie Chan cover as well.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #107

1st appearance of Earth X
1st appearance of Freedom Fighters
Cameo of Earth-2 Plastic Man

Okay, bear with me here and let's see if I can explain this or fail miserably. So some other Quality Characters were bought by DC Comics and the task was introducing them into DC Comics that somehow made sense.

How is this done? Alternate Earth, of course. This alternate Earth is Earth-X and supposedly Nazi Germany won World War II on this parallel Earth.

The Freedom Fighters are a group that started out battling Nazi Germany on this Earth-X. I mean, "started out" in terms of DC Comics.

As usual shiz gets messed around with when the multi-verse collapses. I'm not going to get into that because things change from Earth-X to New-Earth and whatever. No expert on how many different Earths these cats crossed over into.

So these Freedom Fighters were all Quality characters such as Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, Doll Man, Human Bomb and the Ray. Plastic Man is seen in Uncle Sam's telling of events that happened on Earth-X, and here's how that goes down.

Supposedly, all this is retconned and Quality's characters such as this version of Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters were later written to have originally come from Earth-2 and migrated over to Earth-X. Jeez, man!

Hell, I think I'll just have Roy Thomas explain it,  

"The Rod Reilly (Firebrand) introduced in ALL-STAR SQUADRON is, of course, not the one from Earth-X who appeared in FREEDOM FIGHTERS, nor is our Plastic Man the same as any other who has appeared in comics since his original title folded in the mid-50's. In our view, all 1940's DC and Quality Comics Group stories occurred on Earth-Two, even though some of these events were duplicated on Earth-One." 

On that note, this Plastic Man was a member of the All-Star Squadron. I suppose this counts as a debut cameo of Earth-2 Plastic Man and in flashback.

Why important? Well, Freedom Fighters set up the All-Star Squadron stuff in DC Comics. Plastic Man was a member of All-Star Squadron, and thus had an Earth-2 counterpart.

Going by what Roy Thomas said (other writers have also confirmed the notion of Golden Age heroes existing on Earth-2), this means that the Earth-2 Plastic Man is actually the Golden Age Plas from Quality Comics.

Earth-2 Plas does have another cameo in a Justice League of America issue before making a full appearance. As usual, we shall discuss that a tiny bit later.

Justice League #107 has the cover date of October, 1973.

SUPER FRIENDS #36

Super Friends meet Plastic Man

So far we have Earth-12, Earth-1, and Earth-2 Plastic Man, why not room for one more, right? Obviously, the Super Friends cartoon and accompanying comics are not set in the mainstream continuity of DC Comics.

In the comics, they are set in the Super Friends universe. Well, in this universe, this is the first appearance of Plastic Man and his first meeting with the Super Friends.

Huge key? Not really, but a fun one to know about if you grew up on this cartoon or love the character. So many Plastic Men!

Eh, I suppose you could say this is the first Super Friends Universe Plastic Man. Why not, the first appearance of Supergirl of this universe shows up in the next issue. 

Not gonna bother with the CGC Census on this one. It's very low and only has 2 over-all submissions at the time of this writing. 

1 is a 9.8 and the other a 9.4 copy in the census. Super Friends #36 has the cover date of September, 1980.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #193

1st appearance of All-Star Squadron
Cameo Earth-2 Plastic Man
Real origin of Red Tornado

This is considered the 1st appearance of All-Star Squadron, although they really don't form anything just yet in this preview, but the story is entitled All-Star Squadron. Oh, yes, this story was a preview story in this comic and it leads up to issue #1 of All-Star Squadron.

It's not part of the Justice League of America story contained in this issue. It's a Special Preview as shown in the beginning splash page below.

As for Plastic Man in the 2nd story to this comic? It's another one panel deal but homeboy is clearly in shadow as shown below and is still connected to the FBI.

While Plas is only seen in one panel in this issue, it's an important set up as Plas gets instructions from the President and then is later seen in All-Star Squadron #1 tracking down Hawkman. The 1st issue of that comic series is where things really heat up and come together concerning the All-Star Squadron team.

Not hugely or remotely in-demand at the time of this writing and would say it's pretty under the radar currently. How's it look on the Overstreet values? Well, they only list 9.2s as having any value and that is $6 whole whopping dollars. 

This issue has direct market copies for those interested in that kind of stuff. No idea if there's a hint of rarity between either or of the editions concerning high grade copies. Slabbed copy amount is too low and not enough sales on GoCollect to somewhat gauge it.

Overstreet notes this as debut of All-Star Squadron and so does CGC. August, 1981 is the cover date for Justice League of America #193.

ALL-STAR SQUADRON #1

1st full Earth 2 Plastic Man in DC Comics
Origin of All-Star Squadron

Okay, some say this should be the first full appearance of All-Star Squadron. Don't know about that, but it's clear that the All-Star Squadron do form in this issue. CGC pegs this as the origin of the team which is true and they do form at the end of issue.

Dunno if Overstreet clearly states whether this is an origin issue or not. Oh, well, it is though.

With that in mind, Plastic Man is a liaison for the team, and I do think this could be considered the 1st full appearance of Earth 2 Plastic Man, as the All-Star Squad stories take place on Earth 2 and clearly stated by creator Roy Thomas.

So clearly continuing from the Special Preview seen in Justice League of America #193, Plas takes the Presidents instructions and goes to find Hawkman. Here's how it plays out.

What did F.D.R. want? Well, it's revealed at the end of this issue and the All-Star Squadron is officially formed.

 

Pretty neat. CGC Census is a bit more impressive but not hugely impressive. One thing to note though: For the amount of total submissions, this comic does already have a pretty high amount of 9.8s.

Late Bronze Age comic and may not be exactly rare. However, this comic doesn't really seem to be on the radar of most collectors at large, and there are direct market copies and newsstands for this issue. 

Not hypin' up or anything for sure and just makin' some simple observations is all and that's all. I guess, I'll throw in the direct market cover for reference purposes, and I'll list the 46th Overstreet values for those interested in some possible over-looked Plastic Man keys in the DC realm of the character.

9.2 - $9

9.0 - $7

8.0 - $5

6.0 - $3

4.0 - $2

2.0 - $1

Take from that data what you will, but this comic was a pretty fun read over-all. Is this the 1st full Golden Age Plastic Man in DC Comics, since it is considered that the events in Quality Comics happened on Earth-2 in DC Comics continuity?

Not too sure, but Roy Thomas did imply they were with his statement about 1940s DC and Quality stories happening on Earth-2. All-Star Squadron stories were on Earth-2, but whatever. 

I'm sure that could be a fun debate for some comic fans out there. That was written with sarcasm as well. September, 1981 is the cover date for All-Star Squadron #1.

Okay, so let's iron some things out in a more compact manner. So, Earth-1 Plastic Man worked for the N.B.I. instead of the F.B.I. He is the first version to actually meet Batman or step inside mainstream continuity.

Earth-1 Plas had his own self-titled comic, beginning with issue #11 of that series. The first 10 issues were Plastic Man in the Earth-12 realm and was the son of Plastic Man in that world.

Adventure Comics also had Earth-1 Plas in a comic feature that ran for a little bit. It started with issue #467 for the character and clearly shows him working for the National Bureau of Investigation like issues #11 through #20 of his self-titled DC Comics Plastic Man series.

Earth-2 Plas in DC Comics lore would be a member of the All-Star Squadron and the Freedom Fighters. Some sources say that the original Quality Comics Group Plas is not the Earth-2 Plastic Man in DC Comics and never met nor joined the All-Star Squadron or Freedom Fighters.

However, "In our view, all 1940's DC and Quality Comics Group stories occurred on Earth-Two," said by Roy Thomas, and that sounds like to me that the Golden Age Plas' adventures published by Quality Comics happened on Earth-2 in DC Comics' continuity. Not sure why some sources say the Earth-2 Plas is not suppose to be the original Golden Age Plastic Man.

I believe in DC's "view", he is suppose to be. I dunno, though? Perhaps there is something I don't know about concerning that.

Not a big deal to me really. There will be a Part 3, since there is New-Earth. Yes, that means there is a New-Earth Plastic Man as well.

<< PREVIOUS | PART 3 >>

Micronauts 1st Appearances & Key Comics Part 1

This was requested by Ace. I'm not specin' here. I was not a fan of these comics prior, and I think I have a few and zero of the IDW series.

Just "talking" about these comics. 2015 news has Hasbro and Paramount working on a movie-verse that contains the world of Micronauts, G.I. Joe, Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, M.A.S.K. and Rom. Transformers and G.I. Joe cross-over film is already highly anticipated.

With that out of the way, I'm attempting a key issues list of Micronaut comics starting with the Marvel verse because it was requested. Definitely no expert at all, so I have to do quite a bit of reading to familiarize myself with this world and then the more recent stuff.

Even after "reading", I do not claim to be an authority on Micronauts. Actually, I've never claimed to be an "authority" nor wanted to be. So, just writing about comics here.

Take it however you want it. You will anyway. Buy, don't buy, purely up to you as I've said quite a few times. Let's get this on!

MICRONAUTS #1

1st appearance of Micronauts &amp Microverse
1st appearance of Baron Karza
1st appearance of Prince Shaitan & Prince Argon
1st Time Traveler

The Micronauts Marvel Comics series was obviously based off the toys. However, the actual comics is a bit different.

Bill Mantlo wrote the series and word is that he got inspiration to do it when his son received a Micronaut as a gift one Christmas. Pretty cool. Originally, this series was not supposed to be part of Marvel's mainstream universe, but as we all know now, that changed.

So the Microns? They are the main cast of the series, doing good deeds and fighting dark forces in the Microverse that's much like our universe but drastically smaller.

I will get to the Microverse in the outro of this keys series, but I'll just concentrate on the characters for now or this listing will be super long.

Space Glider

First up is Commander Arcturus Rann and the character was based off the Mego Space Glider toy. He is the son of Lord Dallan Rann and Lady Sepsis, ancient rulers of Homeworld.

He was tasked with a 1000 year mission of exploration within the Microverse. When he returns back to Homeworld in his ship the Endeaor, he quickly learns that Baron Karza and his evil forces had taken over and rule Homeworld with a tyrannical and iron fist. Thus, the story and adventure of the Micronauts begins for Marvel Comics.

Biotron is Arcturus Rann's robot who serves as his personal assistant. Faithful and loyal, this character was based on the Mego toy of the same name. Artist Michael Golden kept the design pretty faithful to the toy, and Biotron did accompany Arcturus Rann on his 1000 year exploration.

Mari is a princess of Homeworld and known as Marionette. She is the sister of Argon and the two are the only survivors of the royal family who were slaughtered by Karza.

Mari was sent to the Pleasure Pits but escaped and joined the Micronauts in their goal to defeat Karza. She, too, has a faithful robot companion named Microtron. I think Mari is an original character not based on the toy line and was created by Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden.

Megos Biotron and Microtron

Acroyear is the former king of Spartak and is the brother of Shaitan, who became a traitor and mind controlled his people to serve under Karza. Prince Shaitan is based off the Acroyear II Mego toy and even thought the name was changed, I'm not sure if Marvel own the rights to character since he kind of resembles the toy.

In the comics, he debuts along side Baron Karza as shown below. Baron Karza is based of the toy of the same name and Hasbro does own the character rights. If a movie happens, Baron Karza most definitely will be in it.

Prince Acroyear was captured by his brother and sold into slavery. He was freed by the Micronauts and is based on the Mego toy Acroyear. 

Bug is a Micronaut that was speculated on a while back but things about rights or toy rights was thrown out there. Supposedly a few speculated that Bug would join Guardians of the Galaxy since he did so in the later comics.

Well, before that, Bug was a Micronaut and based off the Galactic Warrior toy. Supposedly his name was changed to Bug in the 4th issue so they could go around ownership rights since the character in the comics looked nothing like the toy.

So Bug is an Insectivorid and from the homeworld of Kaliklak. He is good friends with Acroyear and both he and Acroyear were sent to fight in the gladiatorial games in this first issue. The Pleasure Pits is where they first meet Commander Arcturus Rann as shown in the panels above.

When it comes to the actual toys, Bill Mantlo did not follow the toy's story line for Acroyear, who is a classic enemy of the good Micronauts. Instead, Mantlo made Acroyear a good guy in the comics and gave him a deeper back ground. 

Megos Acroyear & Galactic Warrior

I guess these short character bios might be good to throw in here for further knowledge. Just in case I didn't explain them too well. More information the better, right?

Marvel/Disney's version of the Microverse is apparently called the Quantum Realm as seen in the Ant-Man flick, so they have touched upon the subject. I will touch upon the Microverse more in the outro of Part 1 of this series.

I am not all that sure about direct market editions concerning this comic. 1978/79 was when direct market was just taking off.

There are the Whitman 3 packs that contained issues #1-3 and have a completely blank UPC. They are considered direct market and some of them are starting to be verified as 1st prints.

For reference, I will include an image of the Micronauts Whitman 3 pack. Micronauts #1 to the first comic series based on the toy line has the cover date of January, 1979.

MICRONAUTS #2

2nd appearance of Micronauts
2nd appearance of Baron Karza
1st Steve Coffin & visit to Earth

If I don't put this one in I'll be slammed. If I do put this one in I'll be slammed.

Oh, well. Just how it rolls.

So, 2nd appearance of the Micronauts and 2nd appearance of the series big bad, Baron Karza, in comics. Pretty much a bunch of 2nd appearances here and one first appearance of Steve Coffin.

Well, Steve does become Captain Universe and he's the son of the original Captain Universe, Ray Coffin. Other than that, Steve doesn't have that many appearances over-all in Marvel Comics, but he is a friend to the Micronauts and from Earth.

So this issue has the first time the Microns or Micronauts leave the Microverse and visit Earth. Suppose that's important since they do end up becoming part of Marvel's mainstream continuity.

This series is shaping up to be a pretty decent read so far. February, 1979 is the cover date for Micronauts #2.

MICRONAUTS #3

3rd appearance of Micronauts
3rd appearance of Baron Karza
1st Duchess Belladonna
2nd Steve Coffinn & 1st Ray Coffin

Aside from this issue holding the 3rd appearance of the Micronauts and their big bad, Baron Karza, this issue also holds two more 1st appearances. The first is Ray Coffin, and as mentioned before, he is Steve Coffin's father.

Ray Coffin is a somewhat an important character as he does become the first Captain Universe in another issue within this very comic series. We shall get to that soon enough.

The 2nd character to debut in this comic is Duchess Belladonna. She is pretty much an aristocrat - rich and ruthless. She prolonged her life in Karza's Body Banks and helps to keep the aristocrats loyal to Barza.

The Duchess shows up from time to time in the series, but really isn't a major player. She is not based of a Micronauts toy as far as I know.

Aside from Micronauts #3 also having the 2nd appearance of Steve Coffin, this comic has the cover date of March, 1979.

MICRONAUTS #4

4th appearance of Microns & Baron Karza
1st cameos Philip Prometheus & Lady Slug
3rd Steve Coffin

Philip Prometheus is a strange character. I don't think he was based on a Micronaut toy and was created by Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden.

Prometheus is a former NASA scientist and astronaut. He was involved in an accident and rebuilt into a cyborg.

He eventfully built a gateway to the Microverse called the Prometheus Pit. Somehow he ended up in the Microverse and his mind merged with Baron Karza's mind.

Philip pretty much seeks to capture the Microns for experimental study. Yeah, he's one of those villains.

Lady Slug, as described by a Dog Soldier, "ex-Royalist these lower class trash call Slug", and she is a renegade leader on the side of the good guys. Dog Soldiers are Karza's army of evil minions who enforce and protect his tyrannical rule.

Definitely a supporting character of note, Lady Slug ended up becoming a romantic interest to Prince Argon, but also ended up dying. That to be explained in another listing obviously. 

I didn't note this but this is the first time we see Argon grafted onto his horse Oberon, punishment dealt by Baron Karza. Forget to mention this earlier, but Prince Argon is also known as Force Commander, and Force Commander is a Micronaut toy. So is Oberon his trusty steed.

Cover-dated April, 1979, Micronauts #4 is still under the radar at the time of this writing, and this is supposedly the issue where they changed the name to Bug from Galactic Warrior. I am assuming that happened with 1st prints.

MICRONAUTS #5

5th appearance of Micronauts
5th Baron Karza
1st full Philip Prometheus & Slug
4th Steve Coffin
Origin of Prometheus

Both Philip Prometheus and Slug definitely show up more. Slug shows up in 7 panels on 4 pages, but quite a few panels are of her at a distance. Even though you know she's suppose to be in the scene, one panel has her at an unrecognizable distance.

This issue does have the origin of Prometheus and his Prometheus Pit. Guess I'll show how goes down in these panels below.

Of course, this is the 5th appearance of the main Micronauts such as Arcturus Rann, Mari, Bug, and Acroyear. Blah, blah, blah. 

I suppose I should at least mention that issue #7 has Man-Thing, and that should officially bring the Micronauts into Marvel's Mainstream continuity. Just going to mention that issue though.

With May, 1979 as the cover date of Micronauts #5, this comic also has the 3rd appearance of Steve Coffin.

MICRONAUTS #8

1st appearance of Captain Universe
Origin of Homeworld

Well, when you got a Prometheus Pit that acts like a gateway between Earth and Microverse, you can assume it's only a matter of time before the bad guys find a way through it. That's exactly what happened and Baron Karza is now in our world and human-size.

Think he's gonna cause some mayhem? You bet he does.

This issue saw a little heat way back in 2014 due to a revival of the character of Captain Universe. I suppose that happened in some Avengers comics or something.

In this issue, Ray becomes the first Captain Universe or rather the Uni-Power that emanates from the Enigma Force possesses him. It does not dominate so the host still retains his or her own consciousness and will. 

Steve Coffin would become Captain Universe as well (not in the Micronauts comics) but would end up losing the Uni-Power. This entity has taken on several hosts since. Captain Universe has been a member of the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Captain Universe is not based on any Mego toy and was created by Bill Mantlo and Michael Golden. The character's creation was due to the desire of bridging the gap between Marvel's super-hero world and the Micronauts. 

Apparently, Mantlo was for it, but Golden objected and believed the character would harm the Micronaut stories more than add to them. Despite their disagreement, it ended up happening and this issue also tells the origin of Homeworld and how it came under the rule of Baron Karza.

Other than the debut of Captain Universe, this issue is important to Marvel's version of the Micronauts since it details the origin of Homeworld. Micronauts #8 has the cover date of August, 1979.

MICRONAUTS #9

1st appearance of Cilicia
1st appearance of Spartak

This issue ventures to Acroyear's homeworld of Spartak. Of course, we also see the first appearance of Acroyear's wife, Cilicia.

I am not sure if the planet of Spartak is actually taken from the toy's story line or not. I think it should be in order for IDW to use the character and planet.

So this issue might hold the first appearance of Spartak, the homeworld of the Acroyears and of Acroyear. Much like the Spartans, this race of people are a warrior dominated society and Spartak is a harsh planet fitting of such a race.

In this issue, the Micronauts help the planet of Spartak battle with Baron Karza, and they would eventually  win their freedom from him. Cilicia would join the Micronauts on quite a few adventures.

Cover date for Micronauts #9 is September, 1979.

MICRONAUTS ANNUAL #1

Prelude to issue #1
1st chronological appearance of Micronauts
1st appearance of Galactic Defender

What happened before the events of Micronauts #1? What were Bug and Acroyear doing prior to meeting Arcturus? What was their story?

The first Micronauts Annual was a prelude that contained three stories or chapters detailing the events prior to the comic series' first issue. I really enjoyed reading this issue.

Well, there is a first appearance in this issue and it's of Galactic Defender. I don't think this character shows up often in this comic series at all.

He is the defender of Paradise III as shown and told in his debut panels. Arcturus and Biotron meet him prior to ending their 1,000 year exploration and returning to Homeworld and meeting their fellow Micronauts.

Yep, Galactic Defender was based on the Mego toy of the same name. This is the character's first appearance in comics and I believe IDW uses a version of the character also.

In the 2nd story of "Coup", we see how Karza tried to bribe for the royal family's royalty in exchange for immortality. When the royal elitists refuse, Mari and Argon's parents are eventually slaughtered by Baron Karza.

The story also sees how Prince Argon and Mari escape and are hunted down prior to when we see them in Micronauts #1. Like Arcturus and Biotron, this issue also has the 1st chronological appearance of Mari and Prince Argon, but this story could be considered the first origin for both Mari and Argon.

Finally, we have the story, "Arena of Death" and this tells us how Bug and Acroyear meet. Being political prisoners, they are herded into the Yard of the Gladiators in order to practice for the gladiatorial games.

Prior to meeting Arcturus in Micronauts #1, Bug and Acroyear fight in the games. They survive and when they see Mari, she gives them a thumbs up, letting them know she is with the resistance. 

Micronauts Annual #1 was on sale around September 18th back in 1979.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT MARVEL'S MICROVERSE

Alright, let's talk a bit about the Microverse here, and it is a universe much like ours but on a smaller scale. Done! Just kidding.

The Microverse has been associated with Sub-Atomica in the comics, and the Micronauts comics series references Sub-Atomica plenty of times. Sub-Atomica is supposedly located within the Microverse and the movie Ant-Man did say that Pym's wife went Sub-Atomic.

Could just be a coincidence. However, and I'm not sure why this is, but the Quantum Realm is said to be the cinematic version of the Microverse. Not sure why that is because I'm not sure if the "Microverse" is owned by Marvel or Hasbro or whatever.

In the comics, the Microverse can supposedly be reached from Earth by using Pym particles as first shown in the comics in Fantastic Four #16 back in the Silver Age of comics. Ant-Man lends the Fantastic Four some Pym Particles, they shrink down, and find that Doctor Doom is in this micro-world as well.

So that may be the first published appearance of Sub-Atomica in Fantastic Four #16. Some sources say they are two different Sub-Atomicas, and I have no idea about that since I have not seen any comics that link the Sub-Atomica in Micronauts to the Sub-Atomica seen earlier in Fantastic Four #16.

Ant-Man did enter Sub-Atomica in that issue of FF #16 to help rescue the Fantastic Four, and the Fantastic Four shared an adventure in the Micronauts comic series within issues #14 through #17. Marvel's 1st family made no direct mention being in Sub-Atomica prior or the same one in FF #16 in any of those issues.

They do mention facing Psycho-Man prior in the Microverse (Fantastic Four Annual #5), but no connection of the Doom adventure in Micro-World.

Once again, not hyping up. Just talking about the comics in relation or maybe in relation to the Micronauts. There is more to the Microverse, but that will be explained in later parts to this series.

We will get into that more for sure. Happy Huntin' or dumpin' and see ya at PART 2.

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