In this feature, I spotlight five scenes/moments from within comic book stories that fit under a specific theme (basically, stuff that happens frequently in comics). Here is an archive of all the patterns we've spotlighted so far.

This time around, based on a suggestion by Andy N., we take a look at instances of Marvel characters visiting the offices of Marvel Comics.

NOTE: Like always, I'm only posting five examples here. There are typically more than five instances that fit the theme. Feel free to share them in the comments! Just know that I didn't "forget" any, I just chose to go with these particular five.

NOTE #2: There are enough images in this piece that I'm going to split it over two pages.

We begin with 1962's Fantastic Four #10 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, where Doctor Doom visits Stan and Jack...







This story was significant for confirming that Doom's face is scarred bad enough that it looks awful.

Next up, 1967's Daredevil #29 (by Lee, Gene Colan and John Tartaglione) shows Matt Murdock being thrilled about proposing to Karen Page. On the way to getting back to Karen, he runs into Stan Lee at Marvel's offices...





In 1976's Fantastic Four #176 (by Roy Thomas, George Perez and Joe Sinnott), we get one of the most extensive interactions between Marvel's staffers and Marvel characters yet (there had been extensive appearances of the Marvel bullpen in Marvel Comics before this, but not directly interacting with Marvel characters), as the Impossible Man visits Marvel...













On the next page, see a sequel to Fantastic Four #176 involving the X-Men!

In the 1983 X-Men Annual #7, Chris Claremont and Michael Golden did a sequel, of sorts, to Fantastic Four #176, with Impossible Man stopping by the old Marvel offices and finding it abandoned. He then shows up in their new offices...









After a confrontation with the X-Men, the situation is resolved, with the Marvel offices now a mess...



Finally, we have 1993's Sensational She-Hulk #50, John Byrne's final issue, as She-Hulk visits Renee Witterstaetter at her office at Marvel to discover that her writer/artist, Byrne, is supposedly dead.

She then shows Byrne samples of possible creators to follow up Byrne, like Dave Gibbons...

In the end, though (after finally finding a creative team she thought was good, which was the team that took over the book with #52, Michael Eury, Todd Britton and Mike DeCarlo), She-Hulk discovers that Byrne is still alive...









One of the coolest ways a creator has ever left a title!

Thanks for the suggestion, Andy!

If any of YOU readers have a suggestion for a future edition of Drawing Crazy Patterns, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com