Back Issue # 160 July 2025 (magazine review)
As you can see from the cover below, a large section of this July edition of ‘Back Issue’ is devoted to Marvel’s 1980s swimsuit mags. Before you get there, there are a lot of other articles. New editor Roger Ash is also including a lot more graphics this time although that might be subjective to the type of material that is being covered.
I’m going to ignore the ‘Strange Sports’ covered by Akissa Marmot-Cernat. DC Comics only did this for 6 issues and there’s a fair bet that also contributed to it not selling in 1973.
If you’re curious about the rivalry between DC and Marvel with playing softball, Bob Rozakis gives the inside story. I had to look at the difference between softball and baseball and found it was the size of the ball. Even so, both are based off a child’s game we have in the UK called rounders where the smaller ball is used and none of the protection American players have.
Interestingly, publisher John Morrow writes an article and his obsession with collecting the 60 DC pictured 7-Eleven slurpee cups and how he spent a summer chasing them down. Considering he didn’t put on weight, it would have been unlikely for him to have become a type-two diabetic slurping so much sugar. I hope he does the follow-up article on the Marvel equivalent.
There doesn’t appear to be any credits for the look at Archie’s girl-friends, Betty and Veronica, and the various swimsuits they wore and no doubt got their teen fans hearts beating.
Writer Scott Shaw! has a look at the evolution of the San Diego Comic-Con, starting off with about 300 people back in 1974 and several thousand or so today. I was surprised by how many SF writers also attended the early cons.
Write Ed Lute looks at Marvel’s Impossible Man. Once a throwaway character of Stan Lee’s in Fantastic Four # 11, he had a resurgence in the 1980s. Would there have been some funny characters at DC Comics had Impy hadn’t been so popular?
At last, we get to the ‘Marvel Swimsuit’ annual issues as writer Matt Merante goes over their 4 magazine life imitating ‘Sports Illustrated’. It’s a shame Marvel didn’t continue such things. Merante does miss out that some of these illustrations were turned into posters, including the Jim Lee Psylocke picture shown.
Writer Bob Greenberger looks at Whitfield/Gold Key going distributor with three issue bagged copies of DC or Marvel comics for supermarket distribution, preferring single story than multi-part stories. Well, with the exception of the 6-part ‘Star Wars’, but that was in two bags. The Whitfield logo was added to the DC choices but Marvel’s had a diamond shape around the issue number. I have a vague memory of seeing some of these black diamonds in the UK but not sure if they were for bagged issues.
Lastly, although I rarely mention the letters page here, its worth doing this time for David Burd remembering a neighbour and friend of Keith Giffin and their love of comics and his drawing them with samples here which gives some interesting insight of their childhood.
This issue has also sold out. Am I spotting a trend here or are they adapting to the new distributors circulation demands? Whatever, there must be some in various comicbook shops around the world if you prefer paper copies and there’s always the secondary market.
GF Willmetts
January 2026
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82 page illustrated magazine. Price: $10.95 (US). ISSN: 1932-6904. Direct from them, you can get it digitally for $ 4.99 (US))
check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_54&products_id=1824&zenid=0nalnue8oc26knt9u2k23nd712
