Marvel Comics Presents #24
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Comics Presents #24 is the debut issue for Leila O'Toole — the Irish archaeologist who becomes the plasma-powered cult queen known as Plasma — launching an eight-part Havok solo serial ('Pharaoh's Legacy') written by Howard Mackie that gave Cyclops's younger brother one of his most sustained character spotlights of the Copper Age. The issue simultaneously serves as the concluding chapter of Bob Harras and Ron Lim's eight-part 'Retribution Affair,' resolving a Cyclops-versus-Master-Mold thriller set on Muir Island in which the android Conscience sacrifices itself to prevent a global mutant-killing virus from being released — a morally loaded finale that sits squarely in the late-1980s X-books tradition of blending action with ethical weight. Running concurrently, Don McGregor and Gene Colan's 'Panther's Quest' — a 25-chapter serial addressing apartheid South Africa — was already one of the most politically ambitious ongoing strips Marvel published in the anthology format, and issue #24 carries a pivotal midpoint chapter of that saga. Taken together, the four stories packed into this single bi-weekly issue make it one of the denser narrative intersections in the entire first run of Marvel Comics Presents.
In "The Retribution Affair Part VIII: Retribution and Resurrection," Moira races to find a cure for the spreading virus while Conscience makes a final, desperate move—taking Master Mold’s ship into space to destroy it and the deadly spores it carries. Written by Bob Harras and brought to life by Ron Lim’s dynamic art, this pivotal issue delivers high-stakes tension and emotional weight, with Jeff Albrecht’s inks, Andy Yanchus’s colors, and Agustin Más’s lettering enhancing every page. The cover, by Erik Larsen and Al Gordon, captures the moment’s gravity with striking detail.
In "The Retribution Affair Part VIII: Retribution and Resurrection," Moira races against time to find a cure for the spreading virus, while Conscience makes a final, desperate stand—taking Master Mold’s ship into the void to destroy the source of the plague and himself. The fate of the world hangs in the balance as science and sacrifice collide in this gripping chapter of Marvel Comics Presents.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Marvel Comics Presents launched in 1988 as Marvel's revival of the anthology format, publishing four eight-page stories per bi-weekly issue under editor Terry Kavanagh and editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco. Issue #24, released on March 21, 1989 (with a July 1989 cover date), was produced by four separate creative teams working in parallel: Bob Harras and Ron Lim closed out 'The Retribution Affair' (which had run since #17), Don McGregor and Gene Colan continued 'Panther's Quest' (running #13–37), Scott Lobdell and Dennis Jensen delivered a standalone Shamrock story, and Howard Mackie and Rich Buckler — with inks by Joe Rubinstein — opened the 'Pharaoh's Legacy' arc that would run through #31. The cover was pencilled by Erik Larsen and inked by Al Gordon.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Leila O'Toole (later Plasma), created by writer Howard Mackie and penciller Rich Buckler, debuting in the fourth story 'Pharaoh's Legacy Part 1: Change of Heart'; she is depicted as an Irish archaeologist fleeing the Cult of the Living Pharaoh in the Australian outback, where Havok (Alex Summers) rescues her.
- Concluding chapter of 'The Retribution Affair' (parts 1–8, spanning #17–24), written by Bob Harras with art by Ron Lim — a Cyclops serial in which Master Mold forces the mind-controlled Moira MacTaggert to engineer a mutant-killing virus; in this finale, Moira finds the cure and the android Conscience destroys itself alongside Master Mold's ship to prevent the virus spores from being released.
- Part 12 of Don McGregor and Gene Colan's 'Panther's Quest' (25 chapters, #13–37), a politically charged serial set in apartheid South Africa in which T'Challa searches for his long-lost mother; the story features no superpowered villains, only the systemic brutality of an unjust society.
- The Shamrock (Molly Fitzgerald) solo story 'I Haven't Got Time for the Pain' was scripted by Scott Lobdell with art by Dennis Jensen and inks by Dan Adkins — one of the standalone slots the anthology used to spotlight rarely-seen Marvel characters.
- On-sale date was March 21, 1989; cover by Erik Larsen (pencils) and Al Gordon (inks).
- Edited by Terry Kavanagh (assistant editor Michael Rockwitz), under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco.
- The Cyclops 'Retribution Affair' chapters from this issue and its predecessors (#17–24) were later collected in the trade paperback Marvel Comics Presents Cyclops: Retribution; the 'Panther's Quest' chapters were collected in Black Panther: Panther's Quest (collecting #13–37), with the issue also reprinted in Black Panther Epic Collection Vol. 3 and Marvel Masterworks: The Black Panther Vol. 3.
- The 'Pharaoh's Legacy' Havok arc kicked off here goes on to introduce Plasma in her powered form (in #28), establish her as the niece of the Living Monolith/Pharaoh, and later involve Wolverine — making this issue the narrative ground zero for a significant chapter in Havok's solo history during the years when the X-Men had faked their deaths.
Cast · 17 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Silver Surfer #7 (1990), I Nuovi Mutanti #21 (1990), Un Récit Complet Marvel #29 (1991), Un Récit Complet Marvel #32 (1991), Cyclops: Retribution #[nn] (1994), Black Panther: Panther's Quest #[nn] (2017), Black Panther : L'intégrale #1989 (2021), Black Panther Epic Collection #3 (2021), Marvel Masterworks: The Black Panther #3 (2021), X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda Omnibus #[nn] (2024), Black Panther: Panther's Prey Omnibus #[nn] (2025), X-Factor: The Original X-Men Omnibus #2 (2025)
Key issues in Marvel Comics Presents
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