Micronauts #1
Published and © by Marvel and © Mego, January 1979
Title: “Homeworld!”
Synopsis: Arcturus Rann returns from a millennium of exploration to find the Microverse under siege by the evil Baron Karza.
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Penciler: Michael Golden
Inker: Joe Rubinstein
Review: As with his other toy-spawned epic, Rom (see reviews), writer Bill Mantlo borrows heavily from popular sci-fi tropes for this debut issue of Micronauts. But instead of Rom’s ’50’s B-movie paranoia, Micronauts mines a more contemporary brand of sci-fi. Royalty and rebellions and black-masked tyrants with genetically engineered foot soldiers? Yes, the (Enigma) Force is strong with this one. The derivative elements aren’t the only problem: The premise requires a huge amount of setup – more than can be wedged into this single issue. But there’s certainly potential here, and a saving grace: gorgeous art from Michael Golden!
Grade: A-
Second opinion: “I’ve seen comics that were 95% rip-off from other sources, but this one’s 125% rip-off. … Let me hastily add, to everyone’s undoubted confusion, that I quite like the Micronauts. … It’s fun.” – K. Williams, BEM #26, , December 1979 … “The Micronauts is not an original concept. … The graphic storytelling technique is still about average for today’s comics.” – Mike Tiefenbacher, The Comic Reader, June 1979 … “Mantlo took a bunch of metal and plastic toys and created a world and a system and a conflict for them, but somewhere along the line he forgot to breathe some life into these figurines.” – Alexandre Koehn, The Comics Journal #49, September 1979 … “Who would have expected a comic book based on a line of toys to be any good? … The stories are interesting.” – James Van Hise, Rocket’s Blast Comicollector #147, February 1979 … “One of Bill Mantlo’s best creations. … the strong plot and characterization are greatly enhanced by the art of Mike Golden.” – David W. Cutler and Frank Plowright, FantaCo’s Chronicle’s Series Annual #1, 1983 … Recommended by The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide (second edition), 2003.
Cool factor: Michael Golden interior art. Wish he had done more, because it was always so dang pretty.
Not-so-cool factor: Commander Rann returns home after 1,000 years in suspended animation and experiences very little culture shock? Really?
Notable: First comic-book appearance of the Micronauts. … Based on a 1970’s toy line from Mego. … This issue also includes a “Meet: The Micronauts” page with brief character bios. … According to an self-penned article in The Comics Journal #40 (June 1978), writer Bill Mantlo pitched Marvel with a proposal for a Micronauts series after his son, Adam, received the action figures for Christmas in 1977.
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a Whitman variant of this issue, as well as a 2023 facsimile edition.
Character quotable: “An eternity spent in subservience to Karza and his perverted science? That is not what I call living, Argon!” – Princess Mari, soon to be on the run as Marionette
A word from the writer: “Jim (Shooter) and Stan (Lee) were appalled! What did you do? We can’t understand this!” – Bill Mantlo, talking about his early efforts on Micronauts, in “Mantlo: A Life in Comics”
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Sequential Reaction (v1) on March 21, 2016.
