An interesting idea: What’s been happening with Molecule Man’s girlfriend, Volcana, ever since he was merged with The Beyonder at the end of Secret Wars II. I don’t cover annuals, but the same guy, James Brock (who didn’t write a whole lot for Marvel, but notably did pen two issues of “Barbie Fashion”) wrote (and in this story, also drew) about Volcana across Fantastic Four annuals #23 and 24. I like how Marvel doesn’t forget even really minor characters like Volcana.
The upshot is that Volana’s friend takes her “shopping” (which is the title of the story) as retail therapy to get over losing Molecule Man, and they are attacked by Wizard.
And Volcana beats him on the head. I like that she’s drawn as a fuller-figured woman. This is a nice 8-page story, and a good use of an anthology book. Grade: B-.
And finally, issue #88 also has a solo Solo story where he blows up a bunch of crap while fighting Tarantula.
What’s weird is that Tarantula is branded as a terrorist, but Solo isn’t much different. He’s just going after Tarantula because he hates terrorists–but he wears grenades and uses them in a residential building.
I liked it. It was a fun bit of combat chaos written by Eric Fein and drawn by Mark Runyan. C+