Amazing Heroes Issue #117 Cover

Amazing Heroes Issue #117 Cover

Periodical
Comic Strips

The 117th issue of Amazing Heroes was released on May 15th, 1987 for $2.50 in the United States and $3.75 in Canada. The cover has a purple background and contains an image of Michael Jackson. Jackson’s outfit is from the movie Captain EO which was released in 1986. This American 3D science fiction film was shown at Disney theme parks from 1986 through 1996. The attraction also returned to Disney Parks after Michael Jackson’s death as a tribute and continued to play at Epcot until December 2015. George Lucas produced this seventeen-minute space opera. The plot is as follows: Captain EO (Michael Jackson) and his space crew are on a mission to deliver a gift to their supreme leader. As they arrive, the crew is captured by the henchmen of the Supreme Leader and sentences the crew to be turned into trash cans and Captain EO must be tortured in the deepest dungeon for 100 years. The crew then begins to fight against the Supreme Leader and her henchmen as they sing various Michael Jackson hits. The spacesuit he wears on the cover of the 117th issue of Amazing Heroes demonstrates Michael Jackson’s style and the fact that the movie is set in outer space. In addition, the fuzzy animal that appears on his shoulder is named Fuzzball and is Captain EO’s small flying sidekick.
Michael Jackson was a legendary artist who was known all over the world. He went from being Gary, Indiana’s most talented kid to one of the most recognized human beings on that planet. Jackson was not only a great music artist, but he inspired dance moves, had his own fashion trend and raised awareness for social causes all around the world. From the Jackson 5 to his solo career, Jackson was extremely influential during this time. That being said, Jackson was often seen in many sources in the media including comics. Michael Jackson appeared in a number of comics from 1973 onward. This Amazing Heroes issue was released just after Jackson’s 1987 Album, Bad, produced the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”, “Bad”, “The Way You Make Me Feel”, “Man in the Mirror”, and “Dirty Diana.” This was influential because it was the first album to have five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 in the nation. Based on Jackson’s immense popularity during this time, his appearance in a comic would be very attractive to viewers, causing them to buy this issue. In addition, the discussion on Captain EO in this comic was important in order to advertise the Michael Jackson as Captain EO (Official 3-D Comic Book Adaptation of the George Lucas 3-D Musical Motion Picture) which was released in 1987. Overall, Michael Jackson’s role in pop culture in the late 1900s up to his death in 2009 has been huge and this comic is one of the many forms of media that perpetrates that he truly is “The artist of the millennium” as Britney Spears referred to him at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.

Editor: Kim Thompson
Art Directors: Dale Crain, Peppy White, and Doug Erb
News Correspondent: J. Collier
Production Assistant: Teresa Moore
Typesetting: L.M. Gorell & Arlene Easter
Circulation: Rachel Enger

MSU Special Collection Comic Art, PN6725.A47

Fantagraphics Books, Inc.

May 15th, 1987

Madeline Alpert

Rights Restriction Apply

Table of Contents
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Representative Page
http://chambl91.msu.domains/CriticalFanscape/items/show/75

Comic, 6 and 5/8 x 10 and 1/4 inches, black & white

English

Periodical

1981-1992