Kickers, Inc. #5

Mar 1987 · Marvel · 0.75 USD; 0.40 GBP; 0.95 CAD

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“Freaks Are for Fighting!”

★ 1st appearance — Thrust

About this Issue

Kickers, Inc. #5 — titled 'Freaks Are for Fighting' — marks the first crossover between two New Universe titles, bringing the football-hero squad of Kickers, Inc. into direct physical conflict with the paranormal fugitives of D.P.7. The collision is engineered by the series' recurring antagonist Philip Nolan Voigt (Overshadow), whose psychic manipulation turns two groups of accidental heroes against each other rather than against a common threat — an early example of the New Universe using shared-world mechanics for morally complex storytelling rather than simple team-ups. The issue also serves as a nexus point for the complete roster of D.P.7's Therapy Group C, placing Randy O'Brien, Dave Landers, Stephanie Harrington, Charly Beck, Lenore Fenzl, Jeff Walters, Dennis Cuzinski, and Scuzz in an issue co-plotted by D.P.7's own writer, Mark Gruenwald, giving the crossover unusual creative coherence for a New Universe title. For collectors of either series, it is the single issue where both teams' full casts share page space for the first time.

writer Tom DeFalco · writer Mark Gruenwald · artist Paul Ryan · inker Sam de la Rosa · colorist John Wellington · colorist Janet Jackson · letterer Diana Albers · cover Alex Saviuk, José Marzán Jr.

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VF) $0

Flagged key issue — estimate limited by sparse sales.

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

Raw — NM ▾ $9.37–$15.9 2 listings

NM $9.37 NM $15.9

Raw — NM- $4.99 1 listing

Raw — VF+ ▾ $2.5–$10.95 2 listings

VF+ $2.5 VF+ $10.95

Raw — VERY FINE $0.99 1 listing

Raw — VF ▾ $1.49–$24 4 listings

VF $1.49 VF $8 VF $9.4 VF $24

Raw — FN/VF ▾ $1–$7.37 2 listings

FN/VF $1 FN/VF $7.37

Raw — FN ▾ $3.96–$9.98 4 listings

FN $3.96 FN · Newsstand $3.97 FN $5 FN $9.98

Raw — VG $2.9 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $0.99–$9.99 23 listings

Verified matches for Kickers, Inc. #5 · eBay asking prices, seen 9 days ago

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

The series was originally conceived by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz under the working title 'Mr. Magnificent and His Team Supreme' before the New Universe editorial framework — championed by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter for the imprint's 1986 launch — had even been finalized. By the time issue #5 reached readers, DeFalco had already disengaged from direct scripting; Wikipedia's series entry confirms that issues #4 and #5 were written by guest scripters over DeFalco's plots, with issue #5's script credited to Mark Gruenwald — the writer simultaneously running D.P.7 — while pencils were handled by Paul Ryan (DeLarosa on inks), who was also the regular artist on D.P.7. The cover was produced by Alex Saviuk and José Marzan Jr. This degree of crossover in both story and creative personnel was unusual for the New Universe line, whose titles generally operated in narrative isolation despite sharing a world.

Trivia · 8 facts

Issue title: 'Freaks Are for Fighting'; cover date March 1987; released December 2, 1986.
Script credited to Tom DeFalco (plot) and Mark Gruenwald (script); pencils by Paul Ryan; inks by Sam DeLarosa; cover by Alex Saviuk and José Marzan Jr.
First in-continuity crossover between Kickers, Inc. and D.P.7 — the Kickers' first encounter with any group of paranormals beyond Jack Magniconte himself.
The D.P.7 team appearing here — Randy O'Brien (Antibody), Dave Landers (Mastodon), Stephanie Harrington (Viva), Charly Beck (Friction), Lenore Fenzl (Twilight), Jeff Walters (Blur), and Dennis Cuzinski (Scuzz) — had all debuted in D.P.7 #1 (November 1986); this issue is their first appearance outside that series.
The conflict is triggered by Philip Nolan Voigt (Overshadow), the Clinic's telepathic director, who manipulates the Kickers into hunting the D.P.7 members as 'dangerous patients' — mirroring the Clinic's role as antagonist in the D.P.7 ongoing series.
Merriam Sorenson (Sponge), listed in the Marvel Database as an 'Other Character' in this issue, also has her first crossover appearance here.
Paul Ryan, the penciler of this issue, was simultaneously the regular penciler on D.P.7, lending visual continuity to the guest characters' depiction.
A 2006 Untold Tales of the New Universe: Kickers, Inc. story, published as a backup in New Avengers, revisited the franchise as part of Marvel's 20th-anniversary celebration of the New Universe imprint.