Marvel Comics Presents #40
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Comics Presents #40 is a textbook example of what made the bi-weekly anthology format exciting at the turn of the decade: four sharply distinct eight-page stories running simultaneously, each catering to a different corner of the Marvel Universe. The issue is most noteworthy for continuing Bob Layton's 'All in the Family' Hercules serial, a direct extension of Layton's earlier Hercules limited series that brought his far-future cosmic mythology — complete with Emperor Arimathes, Recorder 417, and Layana Sweetwater — back into monthly storytelling. Simultaneously, the Overmind solo feature, scripted by a young Scott Lobdell with art by Don Heck, stands out as an unusually bleak, socially-conscious eight pages in which a former Defenders villain uses his mass-illusion power to 'save' a toxic-waste-poisoned town — only for the mercy to prove fatal when reality reasserts itself. The issue also exemplifies the anthology's willingness to anchor celebrity cameos and topical political satire inside a superhero framework, as the Wonder Man/Beast/Enchantress story integrates Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan as supporting presences.
In "Black Shadow! White Shadow! Part III: Hong Kong Inferno!", Scott Lobdell and Don Heck deliver a tense, atmospheric tale as Overmind manipulates a poisoned town, twisting reality to make its citizens believe they’re whole while danger simmers beneath the surface. With Marshall Rogers’ striking cover capturing the chaos, this 1990 issue stands out for its eerie psychological edge and sharp art.
In "Stardust Miseries Part 3: Some Enchanted Evening," the Beast finds himself locked in a surreal clash with Wonder Man on the stage of the Tonight Show, where the line between performance and peril blurs. As tension erupts, Simon makes a devastating choice—turning on his former ally—while the mystery of his new companion deepens: she’s the Enchantress, and her presence changes everything.
In "… Anything" from Marvel Comics Presents #40, Overmind stumbles upon a town ravaged by a toxic waste leak, its people gravely ill. Using his psychic abilities, he convinces them all they’re perfectly healthy—tricking even themselves into believing the lie.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Marvel Comics Presents launched in 1988 as a bi-weekly, ad-free anthology structured around four eight-page features per issue, typically mixing ongoing serials with standalone stories, under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco. Issue #40, released on October 31, 1989 (January 1990 cover date), carries a wrap-around cover painted by Jackson Guice. Bob Layton — who had already established Hercules's space-opera supporting cast across two earlier limited series — wrote and drew the Hercules chapter himself, ensuring creative continuity for that corner of the issue; the Overmind feature meanwhile gave Scott Lobdell and veteran artist Don Heck an eight-page canvas for an environmentally-themed character study.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Released October 31, 1989; cover-dated January 1990 — one of four bi-weekly issues shipping that month as part of the ongoing MCP anthology format.
- Cover art by Jackson Guice, depicting Hercules on the wrap-around cover.
- Four stories in the issue: (1) Wolverine/Patch — 'Black Shadow! White Shadow! Part 3: Hong Kong Inferno,' set in Hong Kong and China with supporting characters Mai, Hsiao, and Ch'un; (2) Wonder Man — featuring Beast and the Enchantress (posing as 'Amora Lorelei') with in-story appearances by Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan; (3) Overmind standalone — script by Scott Lobdell, art by Don Heck and Jeff Albrecht; (4) Hercules — 'All in the Family, Part 2: The Hit,' written and drawn by Bob Layton.
- The Hercules serial continued Layton's established far-future cosmic cast: Recorder 417, Skyppi, Grom, and the behind-the-scenes machinations of Layana Sweetwater, whose son Emperor Arimathes rules her home planet.
- The Overmind story is a standalone piece in which the former Defenders villain uses mass-illusion powers to make toxic-waste victims believe they are healthy — a darkly ironic use of a psychic antagonist in a socially conscious plot.
- First appearances of Mai, Hsiao, Ch'un, Black Shadow, and White Shadow occurred in the immediately preceding issue, MCP #39, not in this issue; #40 continues their story in chapter three of the serial.
- The 'All in the Family' Hercules chapters from MCP #39–#41 (and related material) were later collected in the Bob Layton hardcover Hercules: Full Circle.
- Freedom Force members Mystique, Blob, Pyro, Avalanche, and Destiny are indexed in the database for this issue but per Marvel Fandom's issue entry do not appear in the main story listings for #40 — their MCP serial begins in earnest in #41.
Cast · 28 characters
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Reprinted in X-Marvel #14 (1991), X-Men #2 (1993), Marvel Comics Presents: Wolverine #2 (2005), Hercules: Full Circle #[nn] (2009), Wolverine Omnibus #2 (2021), Wonder Man: The Early Years Omnibus #[nn] (2023)
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