X-amining "Inferno" Tie-Ins Part 3

Amazing Spider-Man #313, Fantastic Four #324, Power Pack #44, Spectacular Spider-Man #148, Web of Spider-Man #48
March 1989

Amazing Spider-Man #313 by David Michelinie & Todd MacFarlane
Fantastic Four #324 by Steve Englehart & Keith Pollard
Power Pack #44 by Julianna Jones & June Brigman
Spectacular Spider-Man #148 by Gerry Conway & Sal Buscema
Web of Spider-Man #48 by Gerry Conway & Alex Saviuk
(for full credits on each issue, please visit the GCD)

Plot
Fantastic Four #324: The Fantastic Four team-up with Kang to rescue Mantis from the sorcerer Necrodamus. Web of Spider-Man #48: Spider-Man battles the demonically-possessed Hobgoblin. Amazing Spider-Man #313: Spider-Man battles the Lizard. Spectacular Spider-Man #148: Flash Thompson and Betty Brant are targeted by demons who pose as Spider-Man and Betty's deceased husband, Ned Leeds. Power Pack #44: In the midst of the Inferno, Power Pack does their best to fight against the demon hordes until they see a massive portal open which draws in all the demons.

X-aminations in August

August looks to be a fairly straightforward month: as the summer heat dies down, so too does "Inferno", which will come to an end as the month closes out.

On Sale November 1988
August 6th: Uncanny X-Men #242
August 7th: New Mutants #73
August 8th: X-Factor #38

August 13th: "Inferno" Tie-ins Part 3: Web of Spider-Man #48, Fantastic Four #324, Power Pack #44, Amazing Spider-Man #313, Spectacular Spider-Man #148
August 14th: Excalibur #6
August 15th: Wolverine #5

On Sale December 1988
August 20th: Uncanny X-Men #243
August 21st: New Mutants #74
August 22nd: X-Factor #39

August 27th: "Inferno" Tie-ins Part 4: Daredevil #265 & The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak & Dagger #4
August 28th: Excalibur #7
August 29th: Wolverine #6

X-amining "Inferno" Tie-Ins Part 1

Amazing Spider-Man #311, Avengers #298-299, Daredevil #262, Fantastic Four #322, Power Pack #42-43, Spectacular Spider-Man #146
Dec. 1988 - Jan. 1989

Amazing Spider-Man #311 by David Michelinie & Todd MacFarlane
Avengers #298-299 by Walt Simonson & John Buscema (layouts) and Tom Palmer (finishes)
Daredevil #262 by Ann Nocenti & John Romita, Jr. 
Fantastic Four #322 by Steve Englehart & Keith Pollard
Power Pack #42 by Jon Bogdanove, #43 by Bogdanove & Sal Velluto
Spectacular Spider-Man #146 by Gerry Conway & Sal Buscema
(for full credits on each issue, please visit the GCD)

Plot
Amazing Spider-Man #311: Spider-Man battles Mysterio, believing the odd happenings caused by Limbo's invasion of Earth to be nothing more than illusions created by his foe. Avengers #298: Avengers butler Jarvis is attacked by demons and possessed objects in New York, and he alerts the Captain to the state of the city. Avengers #299: The Captain teams up with the New Mutants against the demonic invasion of Limbo. Hoping to find help in determining the cause of the invasion, he seeks out Reed Richards, who has retired from the Fantastic Four. The Captain arrives at the Richards' Connecticut home just after Nanny and the Orphan Maker capture Franklin Richards. Together, the Captain, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman battle the villains, but are overcome when a brainwashed Franklin, wearing a suit of armor, attacks them. Just then, they are joined by the Eternal Gilgamesh, come to Earth to battle the demon hoard, and vow to free the Richards' son.

X-amining Power Pack #35 & Fantastic Four #312

Power Pack #35
"Life or Death!"
February 1988

In a Nutshell
Power Pack helps X-Factor battle Apocalypse and his Horsemen. 

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Hilary Barta
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
With their father away at a conference, the grounded Power children are waiting for their mother to come home from work when the power goes out. After hearing on the radio that the blackout was caused by The Horsemen of Apocalypse, Katie, the only one not grounded, flies off to find their mother on the subway to make sure she's alright. In one of the subway tunnels she encounters Pestilence and is able to escape, but not before getting sick. When Katie doesn't return, the rest of Power Pack track her down and help her heal. They then see Apocalypse's ship crash into the Empire State Building and try stop it, only to encounter Cyclops and Marvel Girl. Pestilence attacks again, but she's hit by debris and Power Pack is unable to save her. After Cyclops and Marvel Girl leave to stop Apocalypse, Power Pack works together to prevent the ship from crashing into the Statute of Liberty, triggering an explosion that blows off enough to ship's tail pipe to save the statute and the tourists inside. After seeing X-Factor emerge triumphant from the ship, they race home, getting there just ahead of their mother. They admit they left the house, but she is too grateful they're okay to punish them further.  

X-aminations in March

March is "Fall of the Mutants" month! And the first appearance of Excalibur, though its regular series won't launch for a few more months.

But first, one quick change to February's schedule: I'm swapping Incredible Hulk #340 and New Mutants #59, so we'll be looking at the former this week and the latter next week instead of vice versa.

With both X-Men and X-Factor shipping two issues in September '87 to New Mutants' one, New Mutants #59 could go either this week or next, but it makes the most sense to cover the first parts of each series' respective "Fall of the Mutants" contributions in the same week (I'm not even sure why I didn't schedule it that way in the first place). 

On Sale September 1987
March 5th: Uncanny X-Men #225
March 6th: New Mutants #59
March 7th: X-Factor #24

On Sale October 1987
March 12th: Uncanny X-Men #226
March 13th: New Mutants #60
March 14th: X-Factor #25

On Sale November 1987
March 19th: Uncanny X-Men #227
March 20th: New Mutants #61
March 21st: X-Factor #26

On Sale October/November/December 1987
March 26th: Captain America #339 & Daredevil #252 ("Fall of the Mutants" tie-ins)
March 27th: Power Pack #35 & Fantastic Four #312 ("Fall of the Mutants" tie-ins)
March 28th: Excalibur Special Edition #1

X-amining Power Pack #27 & Daredevil #238

Power Pack #27
"Whose Power -- ?"
December 1986

In a Nutshell
Power Pack faces off against the Marauders

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Al Gordon
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Plot
Alerted to the massacre of the Morlocks thanks to Franklin Richards' power, and concerned about the welfare of their Morlock friends, Power Pack sneaks into the tunnels to investigate. They're quickly attacked by Sabretooth, but manage to escape by blasting the tunnel ceiling, collapsing it on top of him. They then run into Wolverine, who orders them out the tunnels before leaving to track down Sabretooth, but they decide to stay and keep searching for their friends. Meanwhile, X-Factor and a group of rescued Morlocks arrive at X-Factor headquarters, and though they are still dealing with a variety of injuries, the team decides to head back into the tunnels to find Angel and rescue more mutants, including the still-missing Artie. Back in the tunnels, Power Pack encounters Leech and the injured Caliban, just as they're attacked by a group of Marauders. Power Pack manages to hold them off until X-Factor arrives, prompting the Marauders to flee. Power Pack helps Leech deal with the loss of Annalee, and X-Factor promises to look after him. As Power Pack leave the tunnels, Beast and Iceman head back to their headquarters with Leech and Caliban as Cyclops and Marvel Girl continue to search for Angel and Artie.  

X-amining Power Pack #20

"Turning Point"
March 1986

In a Nutshell
The New Mutants help Power Pack stop a demonic invasion. 

Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Bob McLeod
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Carl Potts
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Plot
In New York City, a group of demons, released from Limbo after the Beyonder removed Illyana's powers, gather ingredients to cast a spell to bring Manhattan to Limbo. Power Pack, visiting their dying mother in the hospital, encounter the demons as they attempt to kidnap a group of babies. Fighting them off and rescuing the infants, Power Pack discovers Kitty Pryde's library card amongst the items the demons dropped. At the X-Mansion, Dani gets a call from Power Pack, checking that Kitty is okay. Believing the demons to be the New Mutants' responsibility, Dani, Sam and Rahne head into the city to help. Before they arrive, the demons return and capture Katie, the youngest Katie, to use in their ritual.