Inside Marvel’s STRANGEST Era: Hawkeye’s Circus Past & Wonder Man’s Hollywood Mayhem!
1988 was peak Marvel weirdness — and Solo Avengers #13 proves it. This issue gave us two off-the-wall stories that capture everything wild, creative, and experimental about late-‘80s Marvel. Hawkeye hunts a motorcycle-riding art thief from his circus past — while Wonder Man’s Hollywood stunt gig turns into full-on alien chaos, complete with a giant energy bunny explosion. Behind the madness? Tom DeFalco, Ralph Macchio, Butch Guice, Ron Lim, and a young Janet “JayJay” Jackson shaping Marvel’s late-‘80s aesthetic. We’ll dig into their work, the bullpen energy of the era, and how Solo Avengers bridged Marvel’s old-school anthology roots with the rise of the West Coast Avengers. Plus: we’ll talk vintage ads, rare appearances (like The Bullet Biker!), and what this comic’s $5 bin status says about collector nostalgia today. If you love deep dives into forgotten Marvel gems — hit that like, subscribe, and ring the bell so you don’t miss the next issue breakdown. From bold experiments to behind-the-scenes stories, we’re covering it all here on Read the Freaking Comics! 👇 Comment below: Which story hit harder for you — Hawkeye’s chase or Wonder Man’s cosmic chaos? #ReadTheFreakingComics #SoloAvengers #MarvelComics #Hawkeye #WonderMan #ButchGuice #TomDeFalco #RalphMacchioMarvel #RonLim #JayJayJackson #BobLayton #MarkGruenwald #1980sComics #MarvelHistory #WestCoastAvengers #ComicBookHistory #RetroComics #MarvelBullpen #ComicCollecting #AvengersComics #ClassicMarvel #ComicDeepDive #EnergyBunnyExplosion #ForgottenMarvel #ComicBookYouTube Photos & Thanks A Very Special Thanks to Bob Layton https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Solo_Avengers_Vol_1_13 By Pat Loika - https://www.flickr.com/photos/patloika/8603187982/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31578308 [[File:Cropped Photo of Jackson Guice.jpg|thumb|Cropped Photo of Jackson Guice]] [[File:Jack Morelli (KidsComicCon, 2011).jpg|thumb|Jack Morelli (KidsComicCon, 2011)]] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solo_Avengers https://www.comics.org/issue/43741/ https://marvelheroeslibrary.com/comics/comic-info.aspx?book=Solo+Avengers&comic=SOLOAV-1 https://www.marvel.com/comics/series/19223/solo_avengers_1987_1989 https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Solo_Avengers_Vol_1_1 https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=229291 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Gruenwald
