Marvel Fanfare #48
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Fanfare #48 is the debut issue for three members of She-Hulk's extended family as antagonists: her aunt Cassandra Walters Pike (Brain) and cousin David Pike (Brawn) make their first appearances in the lead story, cementing a personal family-feud dimension to Jennifer Walters's rogues gallery that would carry forward into her ongoing continuity. The issue also marks one of the relatively few solo She-Hulk stories published outside her own titled series during the late-1980s boom of that character, situating it as a companion piece to the then-running Sensational She-Hulk. As part of the broader Marvel Fanfare anthology, it represents Marvel's late-period experiment in premium no-advertisement storytelling — a format that distinguished the series from standard newsstand fare and gave shorter character-driven tales room to breathe.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Marvel Fanfare ran for 60 issues (1982–1991) as an ad-free anthology printed on higher-grade slick paper at a cover price more than double that of standard Marvel comics, edited throughout by Al Milgrom, who also contributed his recurring illustrated 'Editori-Al' column to most issues. Issue #48 was overseen by Milgrom in his editorial capacity, with Tom DeFalco serving as Editor-in-Chief; it appeared on stands in October 1989 with a December 1989 cover date. The series operated under Milgrom's stated philosophy of paying creators a 50% bonus rate and publishing quality work — whether newly commissioned or from inventory — that would not have fit easily into the regular monthly line.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Brain (Cassandra Walters Pike), She-Hulk's jealous aunt, in the story 'World's Hero…Father's Shame!'
- First appearance of Brawn (David Pike), She-Hulk's cousin, whom Cassandra Pike mutates with enhanced strength to target She-Hulk and Sheriff Morris Walters.
- First appearance of minor antagonist Ogden, who appears in the second She-Hulk story, 'California Dreaming.'
- Lead story 'World's Hero…Father's Shame!' written by Dwight Jon Zimmerman, penciled by Kerry Gammill, and inked by Joe Rubinstein and José Marzan Jr.; Kerry Gammill and Marzan also provide the front cover.
- Second She-Hulk story, 'California Dreaming,' written by Sue Flaxman with art by Don Perlin.
- Third story, 'Run Through the Jungle,' features the Vision and is written by Michael Higgins, penciled by Ron Wilson, and inked by Jim Sanders III; Wilson and Sanders also supply the back cover.
- Al Milgrom served as both editor and contributor to this issue (writing and drawing the 'Editori-Al' column); Tom DeFalco was Editor-in-Chief.
- The issue is part of Marvel Fanfare Vol. 1, a prestige anthology that ran 60 issues (1982–1991), printed on slick magazine-grade paper with no advertisements — an intentional contrast to standard Marvel monthlies of the era.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Der unglaubliche Hulk #32 (1991), She-Hulk Epic Collection #3 (2022), Marvel Masterworks: Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1 (2024)
Key issues in Marvel Fanfare
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