Congratulations on placing this page in your collection.  You appear to be more of a dedicated Perez DC collector which is great for me.  I hope that you stay focused in that lane for the most part because it is a crowded collector field with his early Marvel output (wink, wink!).

It is hard to believe that you have only sample of McFarlane's ASM art amidst all of your ASM pages from the many titles and artists that you have represented within your gallery.  I have the previous page posted on my gallery, and it is nice to see these two pages posted in a sequential order.

It was such a nice transition from the Colletta inks to the Grainger inks on this issue.  Thanks much for posting this gem from the non-IM corners of your collection.

This is very interesting to see this page depart your collection.  I thought that this page had entered the Verlier Event Horizon, never to be seen again outside of your collection.

Congratulations on your perseverance.  Your wait has paid dividends, my friend.  You made an excellent acquisition here with a full figure in that first panel.  While I do not have any additional pithy maxims to throw your way, keep up with adding to that great Cockrum collection that you have.

As a fellow owner of several pages from this issue, many Byrne collectors that I communicate with lament John's dislike of Bob Layton's inking.  For the few issues where Marvel paired them together, they truly created some great magic.  For me, I think that Layton and Dave Hunt do not truly receive the recognition for their excellent inking work on Byrne's 1970s pencils.  I love this page as the IH just beats Samson silly into the ground, waist high.  This is great storytelling before the appearance of the main villain.

While Davich had the first post, I get to write the 'Silver' post (25th comment).  I may start a trend here with silver, gold, and century postings.  Regardless, this was a neat Colan issue that took a fantasy villain in his own title and combined it with a cosmic superhero - a true combo of cosmic fantasy goodness.  Congrats on adding another stellar page to your collection.

As a fellow owner of a page from this issue, it is great to see another page represented from this issue.  The Owl was an interesting villain, and, as you wrote, this was his first appearance.  However, one has to wonder what this page might have looked like with Everett's inks, but alas that was not to be.  Thanks much for posting this page as it should have more comments.

Now, now, now....do not buy all of these pages that will continue to come to auction.  Leave some for the rest of us mere mortals.  Welcome to the X-Men 94 collector club as the sale of Brad Johnson's X-Men 94 collection continues to build an even larger club of new owners.  His quest was a noble one to plut this book back together, but it was a Monty Python grail quest, never to be successful.  It is just so difficult putting complete books back together from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s after they have split up and dispersed to the hinterlands.  Having this two page sequence is quite memorable.  I wish that I could have seen these two pages in person at the LA art show.

Seeing this in person this past weekend at the LA art show was one of the many highlights I had.  Having the half hour plus to talk art with you was an even better highlight.  You have an incredible and growing collection, and please consider upgrading to a premium status.  I look forward to staying in touch!

It is hard believe that you are pondering a sale after just adding it to your collection.  It was a good win at auction as I was the second underbidder.

It was such a pleasure meeting you at the LA art show this past weekend.  Seeing this in person and receiving the oral history behind it made such a great story.  It just goes to show that the artists in the 1970s and 1980s did not see the full value of the material that they produced.  Cutting up these pages was not a big deal.  D'Oh! 

It was a pleasure doing business with you on this transaction.  You presented a great write-up on what this issue meant to you, and I hope that you will enjoy this page as much as I did over the past 17 years when it was in my collection.  These pages just do not come up for sale as many are squirreled away in quiet and unknown collections.

I normally do not post two comments to a singular listing.  However, Romain's remark from 10 years ago (off of my post 14 years ago) requires an explanation from the 1970s for our non-USA friends .  If you go to YouTube and search for Saturday Night Live Land Shark, then you will see the silly joke and reference that I made.  Regardless, I should have commented on the original comic art page, and I did not.  While the Star Thief was an interesting villain and placed Warlock into some challening situations like his being chased by a cosmic great white shark, Leialoha's inks were impressive.  He had to lay a lot of ink onto this page for this space scene.  The last panel makes the page even more special.  You provided a great background story and keep those coming.

I have to post this contrarian rebuttal as research shows that Cockrum did not ink himself here.  It was Sam Grainger according to the comic book and to the GCD.  I believe that the only issue where Cockrum inked himself during his run from 94 to 107 was issue 100.  In just those 14 issues, Cockrum had six different inkers (McLeod, Grainger, Chiaramonte, Layton, Green, and himself).  Compare that to Byrne on his run of 36 issues - he had just two by my count (Austin and Villamonte).  While some may dispute what I write here, Grainger was probably the best inker on those early Cockrum X-Men issues.  Regardless, this page features what you wrote - Cockrum's staple personal close up (regardless of the character - this one just happens to be Storm with an emotion fraught situation.

It is strange when you see more likes than comments.  I should even that up here and now.  These pages, while they do not have the action sequences that many crave in an X-Men page, do a lot to push the story.  You have a great team shot there as the X-Men receive a briefing and prepare to do battle with Moses Magnum.

What makes this page even more special is the Esposito inks.  Colletta had inked George on the three issues prior, and he left a lot of detail lacking.  George's pencils truly require a detailed inker, and he finally received that first opportunity with this issue.  This page is even better in that it is a recap page from Avengers 141 when the Squadron Supreme matched the Avengers hero to hero (villain more like it, but the Squadron Supreme were heroes on Counter Earth).  Great page, and I apologize that it took me so long to make a comment.

It was truly a WIN, WIN, Carlo.  It is not often that two people can say and can write that to each other.  As you wrote to me, the Marcos inks make this page truly stand out.  One has to look only at the backgrounds to see how he worked his magic on top of Perez's pencils.  It is so enhanced by the strike from the Grim Reaper onto the Beast in that middle panel.  To paraphrase Shooter, 'you are not even worth the flat of my blade for killing, dolt'.  Shooter, Perez, and Marcos were truly a great creative team, and I hope that you enjoy this page for a long time.

So, you are the one who outbid me for this page on that CL auction.  I owned this page for years, and I traded it to Rick Loshiavo when he presented me a very unique trade deal.  Unfortunately, he did not give me a shot at buying it back before he decided with listing it to CL.  I wanted this page back in my collection as it is rare to have an opportunity for a departed page, and I should have prioritized it higher.  Regardless, congrats on adding this page to your Surfer collection.

I really debated on how hard I was going after this page on that Sunday HA weekly auction.  It is definitely a very unique page among the collaborators, but, alas, you outbid me again.  Curses, but Congrats! 

I am five plus years late to the party for a comment here on this three page sequence.  While that other prominent Elektra collector in southern California can claim he has several of the Elektra fight pages against the Hand from DD 175, I am not sure if there is any other three page sequence that can compare to this all out fight scene between DD and Elektra.  Just pure Miller/Janson action goodness in every respect. 

This is what made this teaming between Starlin and Lim so great - Starlin's storytelling and Lim's layout and pencils.  I am not forgetting the inker because he had to lay a lot of it on the page in order to make the space scenes (just ask Joe Rubinstein when he inked Starlin on those 1970s annuals).  Congratulations on winning this page at the CL auction.

While this post is not meant to disparage your acquisiton, this is one of those DC covers that screams 'Make Mine Marvel'.  When I came across this issue back in the late 1970s for a comic book trade opportunity, I screamed no way.  These types of villains were not in my wheel house, and I laughed off the trade.  What is funny is that I remembered this cover.  However, fast forward to the 2020s, and I have a better appreciation for both Nick Cardy and for the art that he created back in the 1960s and 1970s.  Congrats on breaking this out of the Bechara museum.

As a fellow owner of a page from this issue, I wish you all the best in re-assembling the word balloons/word captions.  This page had a lot of them.  I am missing the three on my page, but they were minimal in telling the story.  Thanks much for uploading this page to your gallery.

I have to agree with Mark.  Starlin did such a great job here with the composition and the "Cosmic Crackle" (for which he was well known), and DC was right to promo this cover among the couple of DC titles that I collected at that time (New Teen Titans and Batman) off the newstand.  I just could not find it in order to purchase it until much later.  This Starlin cover stood out among much of his output for DC, and it needs to be part of the BMOCAIM when it goes on its traveling display of the United States.

Outside of Dave Mandel's GS X-Men 1 cover post from 10 years ago, you rarely see comments take off like the ones that you have received on your posting for this cover, Byrne's first X-Men cover.  In just three plus months, you have secured over 90 comments.  Incredible!  This is just another cover that you should go into a museum one day - the Bill Museum of Comic Art in Minnesota (BMOCAIM).  How does that sound?

You added this interior page to your collection?  This is not worthy.  Byrne only did this one issue of IM during his late 1970s/early 1980s Marvel output.  You should sell these lesser Byrne pages to me - ;-).  Seriously though, nice add to your collection. 

My delinquency and tardiness knows no bounds for a proper post.  How have I not commented on this page since you first posted it in 2014?  Truancy, just darn truancy.  This is such an iconic page, especially with the bottom panel.  From a fellow Byrne collector, please accept my most humble apologies for not congratulating you on such a tremendous page.

Welcome to the Byrne/Layton Champions club of avid collectors!  We now bestow upon you full membership with this tremendous purchase from the Romitaman compendium of comic art.  While not official, where would you like your no-certificate and no-prize sent for this exclusive club?  Seriously though, this page has eluded me for years, but I have enjoyed it from afar in several collections over the years.  May it stay in your collection the longest.

While I am late to the party, I can still post.  I like your write-up in the description.  It is short, sweet, and succint and very germane to today's 1990s collector/investor.  The Starlin and Lim combination was a true blessing.  While Ron had the pencilling chores since issue 15 with his very dynamic style, it was Starlin's story and writing skills that placed this Thanos resurgent storyline into pop culture history with Ron's pencilling.  

I find it hard to believe that I am the first to comment on this page since you posted this to your gallery.  Ernie (Chua) Chan did some great work on Sal Buscema's Incredible Hulk as the inker for many of these issues.  I liked how Marvel set this up as a 'one off' issue with the IH running into the Circus villians again.  

Wow, you received two comments from Steve Gumm over the years?  None from me?  I must change this as a fellow collector of the Byrne/Hunt magnificent run.  I love this two issue storyline.  My older first cousin introduced me to Captain Britian back in the 1970s, and I am fortunate enough to own the double page spread to this issue.  Please put me in line ahead of Mr. Gumm should you ever decide to sell/trade. 

Almost seven years has passed now since you first posted this incredible page.  Looking through all the posted comments, I see two missing collectors who have not posted.  I have corrected one of those glaring errors right now.  However, there is anothe prominent CAF collector who is trying to put this book back together if he can.  I do not see a post from him.  Maybe this post will spur him on to re-consider.  

This artistic combination was way too short.  Buscema and Cockrum only collaborated on two issues from the Avengers, but they left a great memory.  While I am partial to Avenges 125, it is indeed a gem in anyone's Avengers collection to have either cover art, splash art, or interior art from one or both of these issues.  

Mark, thanks much for the comment.  Hey - you beat/outbid me on several occasions as well.  While you and I were serious competitors back in those early days, I have enjoyed our friendship even more through the years.  It was always fun getting to meet the people behind their eBay IDs.  I remember confusing you with Mount Levy/Mountain Levy, and I think that I gave you a good chuckle on that one as I had my military blinders on when looking at your eBay ID.  Regardless, those were the days when everything was much more affordable......

Kirk, it is funny that you mention this.  I used to own the 500th X-Men page that Byrne and Austin drew from this issue.  I ended up trading it away to Alan Bahr at Heroes Comics for the Miller Wolverine 1 page that I now own.  At the time, I was unsure if this was a good cash/trade deal.  As time went on, I was happy that I made this transaction.  Miller Wolverine pages are almost impossible to come by.

Bill, I am honored and humbled that you provided me two CAF gallery comments on this page.  I agree that this was a great combo as Marvel rotated among Frank Chiaramonte, Sam Grainger, Dan Green, Bob Layton, and Bob McLeod for that first X-Men run on Cockrum's pencils. 

Thanks for the comment, Chuck.  While I cannot confirm as you have the memory here, you either sold/traded it to another collector who then in turn sold/traded it to Saul, or you may have sold or traded it outright to Saul.  What I find interesting now is that you both have ended up in the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area.  

I have an interesting story here.  When this double-page spread came up for sale on a Signature HA event a couple of years ago, I queried Michael Lovitz to determine his interest level on this offering.  Many years ago, he had indicated that this was one of his Perez grails, and I was not sure if it still held that same appeal for him.  When I learned that he was the winning bidder, I thought for sure that this would stay locked up in his collection.  Alas, it was not to be.  His decision to part is now your incredible gain.  Thanks much for posting this Perez masterpiece.

I find this one hard to believe in that you have had this page posted since 2009 in your gallery with over 1,000 views and that no one has commented on it?  Whoa!  I have to stop this travesty and start the comments flowing.  This was definitely one of the more offbeat issues here early in McFarlane's IH run.  Hulk is just about in every panel, and this issue shows that Todd is really starting to shake off the DC cobwebs from his Infinity run in the mid-1980s.

It took me a while to post.  Yes, I purchased this page from Michael Lovitz a long, long time ago in a state very far away.  I decided to part with this page, and I sold it to its new, rightful owner here through the first Comic Art Live event in May 2020.  I hope that this page brings you the same joy that it did to me for the 15 years that I kept it hidden from public view.  To address another comment: I agree that the scan is not great, but this is what you get from 2005 technology.  I never updated the .jpg file since that time of creation, and I am proud that this scan can live on in infamy.

Oh, no, no, no!  I had hoped that you would not dip your hands into Starlin's vintage cosmic work, but, alas, this is not to be as you have added an extremely awesome interior page to your museum-like collection.  For me, I would like for this to be one and done.  One can always hope!

You posted this page 7.5 years ago, and I am just now getting around to posting a comment - the 25th in fact.  Your perserverance paid off quite well.  As Tom Coker wrote, Byrne finally cut loose here in the 111-116 story arc in order to show Wolverine's ferocity against the carnival workers in 111, against Magneto in 112/113, against Sauron in 115, and against the Sun God's minions in 116.  Your page spotlights how Wolverine's failure in issue 112 (where Magneto used Wolverine's claws to knock himself out) is now resolved and vindicated within this scene.

It is challenging to write something astute and germane here when so many have already made excellent observations and posts.  Needless to say - Holy Ham Sandwiches!  I did not know that Joseph Melchior had this great cover in his collection.  It is even more special now with the passing of both great artists - one before his time and one who disliked and disparaged his work much of the time.  Steward this cover nicely, my friend, within an already incredible collection.

In the past three years, your original art collection has rapidly become one of the GO TO galleries on this website.  This cover brings back a lot of memories from my youth as it exposed me to Romita and his portrayal of the ASM when I first acquired this comic book.  Prior to that, I had been an Andru aficionado and believed that he was the best penciller on the ASM.  Your focus on collecting some of the best and most memorable covers of my youth make me come back to view your collection.  Thank you for continuing to post the gems of your collection.  

I actually was the first non-Romeo Tanghal owner of this page.  I purchased it from Romeo at the SDCC in either 1997 or 1998 for $100.  He had come to this SDCC not as a featured guest, and he was in Artist's Alley.  Not many people recognized who he was.  He had a huge stack of his inker's allotment share from the New Teen Titans.  I dropped my jaw when I saw what he had.  Unfortunately for me, Michael Lovitz was also in the building, and he scooped up much of Romeo's inventory after I purchased six pages.  I had Romeo sign it in the lower left-hand corner.  I ended up trading it to Michael Lovitz in a large deal later for some Perez Avengers pages.  Looking back now, I should have held off on letting this page go, but I did keep the last page to this issue.

With the huge interest and demand for Larsen's ASM interior art over the last five years, pages like this one become a huge envy for other ASM collectors.  It was interesting to remember what was happening in the 1990-1991 era as Todd McFarlane was achieving tremendous popularity.  The next issue (328) was his last on ASM as the wheels already were well in motion for the launch of the adjectiveless ASM series.  Larsen received these pencilling tryouts in issues 324 and 327 to see how the market would respond to his style, and the rest is history.  Congrats on acquiring a page from early in Larsen's run.

John,

Ok, Ok, I will not e-mail you inquiring if you will ever sell, but that is one seriously awesome splash page.  If you could update your image to show the entire page in better resolution, then I would be quite grateful.  Pages like this one need to revel in their true glory as the Byrne/Hunt team was truly exraordinary.

Sal Buscema had a great story-telling technique with his line work from the 1970s that was simple and easy to follow for the child that I was.  Even his non-ASM pages were excellent.  It is always great to see pages from this particular story arc, and thanks for posting.

I know that you are making Mark Levy froth at the mouth with this page.  Perez and Hunt were a great combination, and it is neat to see that you have been able to put a sequence together here.  I wish you the best of luck with acquiring other pages from this issue.