Comics Scene #25 / 36

History

Comics Scene was a Starlog Group publication that ran for 56 issues in its second volume between 1987 and early 1996, functioning as a sister title to Starlog and Fangoria and distributed through the same newsstand and grocery/drug-store channels. Like those titles, it carried a dual numbering system that tracked both internal series numbering (#25) and a broader Starlog publication number (#36). The 1992 publication year placed the magazine squarely at the height of the early-'90s speculator market, when titles like X-Force and Ghost Rider were among Marvel's best-selling properties, and Valiant Comics was building an entirely new superhero universe with characters like Shadowman.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published in 1992 by Starlog Communications (also credited as Starlog Group), carrying the dual designation Comics Scene #25 / #36, reflecting the publisher's standard parallel numbering practice across its magazine line.
• The magazine's primary editorial mandate was comics-to-media coverage; its character index for this issue bridges Marvel, DC, Valiant, and independent properties — an unusually broad cross-publisher scope for a single issue.
• The Sinister Six villain roster indexed — Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius), Electro (Max Dillon), Vulture (Adrian Toomes), Hobgoblin (Jason Macendale Jr.), Sandman (Flint Marko) — maps directly to Erik Larsen's 'Revenge of the Sinister Six' arc running in Spider-Man #18–23 (1992), suggesting substantial coverage of that storyline.
• The X-Force characters indexed (Cable/Nathan Summers, Cannonball/Sam Guthrie, Boom-Boom/Tabitha Smith, Domino/Neena Thurman, Gideon, Warpath/James Proudstar, Feral, Shatterstar) reflect coverage timed to Rob Liefeld's departure from Marvel and Fabian Nicieza's takeover of the title in 1992.
• Shadowman (Jack Boniface) appears in the index, representing Valiant Comics — the character had debuted only months earlier in X-O Manowar #4 (May 1992), making any 1992 coverage of the character among the earliest in the mainstream press.
• The Rocketeer (Cliff Secord) appears in the index, almost certainly tied to the 1991 Disney theatrical film, which Comics Scene — as a comics-to-screen publication — would have been in an ideal position to follow up with retrospective coverage.
• Animal Man (Buddy Baker) appears in the index, likely reflecting the critical success of Grant Morrison's run on that DC/Vertigo character, which had concluded in 1990 and was still being widely discussed in the fan press.
• Comics Scene was distributed via the newsstand system alongside Starlog and Fangoria, giving it wider reach than the direct-market comic shop network — making it a significant conduit for non-specialist readers to discover characters and storylines from multiple publishers simultaneously.

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