This is the latest in a feature where I just share some bit of comic book history that interests me. Here is a collection of all of the installments in the feature so far.

With David Letterman retiring a few days ago, there were a lot of features written about Avengers #239, the issue where the Avengers go on Late Night with David Letterman (I wrote about that issue a few years ago). That issue was part of a famous Marvel Comics "event" of late 1983, where the conceit is that all of the issues that month were edited by the assistant editors since all of the editors were away at the San Diego Comic Convention.



With their bosses away, the assistants then allowed either funny or out of the ordinary stories to be printed that month (I am not even sure if the assistants actually DID edit the comics, but I suspect that they did). Here we will detail what each Marvel Comic title did that month. Note that there were two types of Assistant Editor's Month comics that month (cover date of January 1984), comics with the logo for the event (those books tended to be goofier) and comics without the logo (where the assistant editor aspect of the comic was downplayed, often just having one silly page in the issue, or sometimes not even that!).

Enjoy!

NOTE: There are so many images in the post that I'm splitting it over four pages.

I'll do the books in alphabetical order.

We begin with the logo-less Alpha Flight #6, assistant edited by Linda Grant. This is the famous issue where Snowbird fights a bad guy in a total snow whiteout, which leads to white panels (I am using the Alpha Flight Classic trade paperback, because it actually achieves the desired effect - the old school paper always bleeds through, so it is not actually white)...







The next time the East Coast has a huge snowstorm, I'll post the whole fight. ;)

Next is the logo-less Amazing Spider-Man #248, assistant edited by Bob DeNatale, who went with the idea of having two stories written by regular writer Roger Stern, only with one drawn by John Romita Jr. and Brett Breeding and one by Ron Frenz and Terry Austin, and have the two stories be drastically different from each other, with JRjr drawing a fun fight story between Spider-Man and Thunderball (from the Wrecking Crew) and Frenz drawing a story about a young boy who is Spider-Man's biggest fan. Spider-Man goes to visit with the kid and they bond, leading Spider-Man to reveal his identity to the kid...







Classic stuff.

Next up is a book with the Assistant Editor's Month logo, Avengers #239, assistant edited by Mike Carlin. The issue (by Roger Stern, Al Milgrom and Joe Sinnott) features Wonder Man coming by the Avengers Mansion to say that he can be booked on Late Night With David Letterman if the Avengers come with him. The main team is away, so he has to make do with a team made up of reserves, such as Black Widow, Beast and Black Panther (along with newly married Hawkeye and his new wife, Mockingbird). While there, they are attacked by the mad inventor Fabian Stankiewicz, who has the Avengers on the ropes until Dave steps in...







Captain America #289 had a logo on it. It was also assistant edited by Mike Carlin. This issue is the first one so far to deal with the goofiness of the event through a back-up, as there is a main story by J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Zeck and John Beatty and then DeMatteis and Zeck do a back-up spotlighting Captain America's girlfriend, Bernie Rosenthal, dreaming about her relationship with Cap...







Funny stuff. Did you know that Bernie Rosenthal has the distinction for being the only superhero girlfriend to ever be written out of a title and then NOT killed? That's not actually true, of course, but it sure does feel that way sometimes.

Cloak and Dagger #4 was a mini-series and thus did not partake in the fun.

Conan the Barbarian #154 was a weird one. It even had a logo and yet all it has is a text bit in the beginning by assistant editor Jim Owsley (now known as Christopher Priest) and then the rest of the issue is just a normal issue of Conan WITH a credit to the regular editor, Larry Hama!



The logo-less Conan the King #20 is just a normal issue of the book, except unlike Conan the Barbbarian #154, it only credits assistant editor Jim Owsley. In the letters page of the book, Owsley talks about how proud he is of the issue and that he basically offers it up as a tribute to Larry Hama.

Coyote #4 was an Epic Comic and did not participate.

Go to the next page for the next batch of Assistant Editor's Month comics!

Daredevil #202 (with a logo) went the back-up story route, as well, as assistant editor Mike Higgins gives us the story of young Daredevil fan Dirk McGirk, who gives a speech to his class on Dardevil in a tale by writer Mike Carlin and artist Luke McDonnell...







In Dazzler #30 (with the logo on the cover), Ken McDonald, Frank Springer and Vince Colletta tell the story of Dazzler fighting a villain at San Diego Comic Con and nearly getting the editor of the book, Ralph Macchio, killed. Meanwhile, assistant editor Bob Harras is in the midst of staging a coup at Marvel when Macchio checks in and nips things in the bud...







Defenders #127 (which had a Assistant Editor's Month logo on the front) went with the short story approach, with assistant editor Ann Nocenti writing a short story for artist Marie Javins...





Dreadstar #8 was an Epic Comic and thus not part of this.

Falcon #3 was part of a mini-series and thus not part of this.

Fantastic Four #262 had no logo. Written and drawn by John Byrne, assistant editor Mike Higgins was in charge for the tale of Byrne being tansported into outer pace to chronicle the Trail of Galactus...







The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #13 gets into the action with a logo on the cover and a one-page tale of assistant editor Elliot Brown in the back of the book, written by Brown and drawn by Mike Carlin...



G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #19 was logo-less and the extent of assistant editor Linda Grant's hijinx was to post this "unapproved" Snake Eyes fact file by Larry Hama, Mike Vosburg and Jon D'Agostino...



The weird thing is that just two issues later was the famous all-silent issue. That sure would have worked for Assistant Editor's Month!

Go to the next page for the next batch of Assistant Editor's Month comics!

Assistant editor Ann Nocenti takes the spotlight again in Incredible Hulk #291, which featured a logo, (the insides were done by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema and Gerry Talaoc), as she tries to cheer up Bruce Banner...







In Iron Man #178 (with the logo on the cover) (by guest-writer Bob Harras, Luke McDonnell and Steve Mitchll), assistant editor MIke Carlin shows the effect Iron Man's alcoholism has on even the most unlikely of sources...







Jack of Hearts #1 and Magik #2 were both mini-series and thus not part of this.

Marvel Age #10 was not part of this.

Logo-less Marvel Fanfare #10 was a fairly typical issue of the title, only with assistant editor Ann Nocenti filling in for Al Milgrom on his Editori-AL intro comic page...



and a short story by Roger Stern, Nocenti and Milgrom starring Stern and Nocenti...





The reprint title, Marvel Tales Featuring Spider-Man #159 (with the Assistan Editor's Month logo on the cover), had assistant editor Bob DeNatale update some old Lee/Ditko stories...



Check out this old Comic Book Legends Revealed to see what recent (at the time) practice in Marvel Tales reprints that DeNatale was making fun of.

In Marvel Team-Up #137 (with the logo on the cover), assistant editor Bob DeNatale has a story by Mike Carlin, Greg LaRocque and Mike Esposito where Aunt May becomes the herald of Galactus.





I featured the story more in depth here.

The logo-less Micronauts #56 has two Assistant Editor's Month bits with assistant editor Bob Harras. One of them is a photo story (script by Bill Mantlo)...



and the other is a bit by Butch Guice, artist on Micronauts...



The logo-less Moon Knight #35 just has a text bit by assistant editor Linda Grant...



New Mutants #11 has the logo on the cover and yet it is a normal issue of the title, with regular editor Louise Jones credited and everything. But it does have a bit at the end with assistant editor Elliot Brown, done by Brown and Rick Parker...



Go to the next page for the final batch of Assistant Editor's Month comics!

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #86 had the logo on the cover and it features Bob DeNatale having Fred Hembeck draw Bill Mantlo's script for the issue (with a framing sequence by regular artist Al Milgrom complaining about him not being assigned the issue, including showing quick samples of what Milgrom's art for the issue would have looked like)...







The logo-less Power Man and Iron Fist #101, assistant edited by Linda Grant, had as its distinctive feature the fact that Power Man and Iron Fist are incapacitated early in the issue, leaving it to Iron Fist's girlfriend, Misty Knight, and her partner, Colleen Wing, to take down the bad guy (who also happened to be a woman). Steven Grant wrote it and Geof Isherwood and Andy Mushynsky drew it.



The logo-less Rom #50 was an anniversary issue, so it makes sense that assistant editor Bob Harras didn't do a big thing in the book, just a one-page story at the end by Harras and inker Terry Austin...



The logo-less Sage of Crystar, Crystal Warrior #5 opened with Crystar conferring with assistant editor Bob Harras the rest of the book's creative team, writer Jo Duffy, Ricardo Villamonte and Dave Simons...







Savage Sword of Conan #96 did not take part in this. Nor did Return of the Jedi #4 (the movie adaptation mini-series).

The logo-less Star Wars #79 seemingly just has a bit at the end with assistant editor Elliot Brown (again, editor Louise Jones is fully credited in the issue)...



but do you all think that perhaps Assistant Editor's Month is responsible for Lando dressing up as Captain Harlock from Space Battleship Yamato (as covered in this edition of Comic Book Easter Eggs)?



Thing #7 (with a logo) was a particularly clever one, with assistant editor Ann Nocenti. In the main story by John Byrne and Ron Wilson, the Thing fights a new (and bizarre) bad guy known as Goody Two Shoes. However, in the back-up story by Byrne solo, we learn that the first story exaggerated the battle between the Thing and the goofy new foe...







Very clever stuff.

The logo-less Thor #339 was in the middle of Walter Simonson's opening story arc on the title, so it is understandable that assistant editor Mike Carlin kept his participation in Assistant Editor's Month to just a one-page gag strip in the back of the comic...



The logo-less Uncanny X-Men #177 just featured another one of Elliot Brown's one-page gag strips in the back. Boy, the X-Office sure wasn't willing to play ball this month, were they?



X-Men Annual #7 was a wacky adventure involving the Impossible Man and a scavenger hunt and the X-Men go to the Marvel offices during the scavenger hunt. What's weird is that the editors are all there, including Jim Shooter, so it's weird to pitch it as part of Assistant Editor's Month, but that's exactly what they do on the final page, with Elliot Brown (as written by Chris Claremont, Michael Golden and Terry Austin)...



X-Men and the Micronauts #1 was a mini-series and did not take part in this.

Plus, there were four reprint collections this month (done on the nice paper), Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, Micronauts, Moon Knight and X-Men Classics. None of them were involved in this event.

Okay, that's it! Wow, what a neat little piece of Marvel Comics history, eh?