This year is marked by creative team strife.

But then, following Inferno, all of the X-teams except for the X-Men wind up getting sent on long trips off Earth, as if being put in a holding pattern while the X-Men team dissolves. And directly afterwards, it moves the New Mutants away from Magneto, making them charges of X-Factor. It concludes the story of Magik and writes her out of the New Mutants cast. It also makes the other teams aware that the X-Men are actually alive. Among other things, this results in clearing the way for a Cyclops/Jean Grey romance without having to deal with the existence of Madelyne Pryor. Inferno wraps up a number of longstanding subplots. The situation with the X-books is more unique.

That and the increased use of characters like Punisher and Venom represent the other side of the Tom DeFalco era, a strange dichotomy between retro and the new trend. On the other hand, Rob Liefeld debuts this year, joining Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, and Erik Larsen as a group of pre-Image artists that are redefining Marvel's art style. The secondary Spider-Man books, written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Sal Buscema and Alex Saviuk, deliver a very traditional approach to the character.

Thor, already a direct homage to the 1960s at this point, is bonded with a human identity again. Steve Rogers goes back to being Captain America. Several teams go back to 'classic' line-ups, including the Fantastic Four, Avengers, and Alpha Flight. In many ways, 1989 feels like a year of regression.

Stained Glass by James Osiris Baldwin