Cover: Bob Layton

Micronauts #33

Sep 1981 · Marvel · 0.50 USD

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“Tropica!”

★ 1st appearance — Fireflyte★ 1st appearance — Devil

About this Issue

Micronauts #33, titled 'Tropica!', is the issue where Bill Mantlo's long-running Enigma Keys quest arc reaches its pivotal third act: Acroyear recovers his sight and secures the final key needed to restore balance to the Microverse, completing a multi-issue odyssey across Homeworld's regions. More concretely, the issue marks the first appearances of Devil and Fireflyte — two characters with a biologically intertwined life cycle who would become lasting members of the Micronauts roster through the remainder of the series and into the 1984 X-Men crossover miniseries. Fireflyte in particular is conceived as a melodious manifestation of the Enigma Force itself, deepening Mantlo's original world-building mythology in a way that resonated with readers who followed the book's expansive science-fantasy cosmology. The issue thus occupies a double significance: it closes the three-keys story arc that had been building since issue #29 and simultaneously opens a new chapter in the team's lineup.

writer Bill Mantlo · artist Pat Broderick · inker Danny Bulanadi · colorist Bob Sharen · letterer Jean Simek · cover Bob Layton

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $2

CGC 9.8 · 13 in census $198*

CGC 9.6 · 7 in census $59*

CGC 9.4 none in existence

CGC 9.2 none in existence

CGC 9.0 none in existence

CGC 8.5 none in existence

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CGC 8.0 none in existence

CGC 7.5 none in existence

CGC 7.0 none in existence

CGC 6.5 none in existence

CGC 6.0 · 1 in census $20

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

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

More listings for this title

VG $1.6 FINE $1.89 VF+ $2.49 VF+ · Newsstand $2.49 FN/VF · Newsstand $2.59 Newsstand $2.95 VG $2.99 FN $3.19

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History

By issue #33, the Micronauts creative team had settled into a long, productive stretch under writer Bill Mantlo — who had conceived the series after watching his son open Mego Micronauts toys on Christmas 1977 — with penciler Pat Broderick, inker Danny Bulanadi, colorist Bob Sharen, and letterer Jean Simek handling the interiors, while Bob Layton provided the cover. The series was edited by Louise Simonson (then credited as Louise Jones), with Danny Fingeroth as assistant editor and Jim Shooter as editor-in-chief. Mantlo's creative approach in this period was to map Homeworld's distinct geographic zones — Oceania, Polaria, Tropica, and others — as separate self-contained adventure environments, each yielding a new key and, in this case, a pair of new team members, gradually expanding the cast without sacrificing the tightly serialized plotting that characterized the title.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Devil (Earth-616), a bestial Microverse creature native to Tropica's city of Mirthria, who becomes a recurring Micronaut through issue #50.
First appearance of Fireflyte (Earth-616), a glowing, butterfly-winged sprite described as a melodious manifestation of the Enigma Force and the complementary life-stage of Devil's species; she appears in 21 issues total.
The story title is 'Tropica!' — Acroyear, crash-landed and temporarily blinded at the end of issue #32, regains his sight during the Mirthrian games and claims the third and final Enigma Key from the Devils.
Written by Bill Mantlo; penciled by Pat Broderick; inked by Danny Bulanadi; cover by Bob Layton; edited by Louise Simonson (assistant editor Danny Fingeroth; editor-in-chief Jim Shooter).
On-sale date: June 2, 1981; cover date: September 1981. Released in direct-edition and newsstand-edition variants (plus a British edition).
Doctor Strange appears as a supporting character, with the Eye of Agamotto and Cloak of Levitation both referenced — part of the book's ongoing integration with the wider Marvel Universe.
The issue was reprinted in Micronauts: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 2 (Marvel, 2024), the first comprehensive hardcover collection of the series made possible after Marvel re-acquired the Micronauts licensing rights in May 2023.
This issue is the narrative gateway to the arc's payoff in issue #35 ('The Origin of the Microverse!'), in which the three keys are used to revive the Enigma Force and repair the Spacewall — making #33 a structural linchpin of the series' second major story phase.