Welcome to the Marvel Handbook at the Nexus.
We’ve got a ton of questions this week. I love that. I think we have pretty good issue in fact. The more questions the better. I think you agree to that right, Daron?
Well seeing as this is a question and answer column”¦yeah I think the more we have the better”¦
I guess you just want to start then.
Either that or we could banter back and forth inanely.
Paul emails
Jim,
Just thought I’d join in with your Avengers storyline game. Way too much detail for what you require, but I think it’s a pretty acceptable storyline, so here we go.
The Team: Changes as a result of the storyline, but starts off as a fairly “classic”
Avengers line-up.
– Captain America
– Iron Man
– Thor
– Wonder Man
– Scarlet Witch
– Vision
– Wasp
– Namor
Like the way the team starts out here. Some really cool classic Avengers
The Storyline:
Thor has gone AWOL. He’s been missing for several days without contacting the Avengers at all. This isn’t particularly unusual, but it is noticed. However, each of the remaining Avengers finds a “Mjolnir” in various places. These “Mjolnirs” are actually fakes, but with all the power of the original. They are, however, cursed. Upon contact with the hammers, the Avengers are all transformed into Thor-like versions of their own characters (good opportunity for the artist to play with costume design). This obviously makes them incredibly powerful, and at first they begin by taking down some major league villains eg. Vision takes out an army of Ultron robots single-handedly, Namor stops an invasion by a Serpent Crown-powered Ghaur and his Deviant followers. Pretty quickly though, the power begins to corrupt. Wonder Man (now calling himself Thunder Man – just thought that was the worst possible pun, so I had to use it) declares himself Ruler of California. Cap and Iron Man take control of the White House, with Cap declaring himself President, and Iron Man re-taking his role as Defence Secretary, and begin declaring war on other nations, eg Latveria. Namor appoints himself Sea God, harnesses Jormungand and begins an assault on the surface world (again, yawn).
The other pantheons become concerned about the influence of Asgardian magic on Earth. Poseidon is sent to reason with Namor, but basically gets battered pretty quickly. So they try another route. Khonshu contacts Moon Knight to once again claim his powers as his “fist”. He gathers together a small team of other Avengers to try to put things right. These are: Warbird, Hawkeye and the Black Knight. Hawkeye is with the T-Bolts when contacted, and Songbird tags along. First, they take out Namor. Moon Knight, using Khonshu’s control of the moon, controls the tide. He generates an enormously powerful, but controlled tidal wave that picks Namor up and repeatedly smashes him against the harbour wall until he falls unconscious. Songbird carries Black Knight up to Jormungand’s head where he can then take the Midgard Serpent out with a carefully placed sword-blow through its skull. They all then clear up the remainder of Namo’s forces. Namor is placed in stasis in the arriving S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. The team then head west.
Meanwhile, “Thunder” Man (still makes me laugh) is becoming increasingly powerful. He believes he was always stronger than Thor anyway (ref. West Coast Avengers Annual # 2), but with his new powers he’s immense. He’s also a smart guy, and has realised that as he now he controls the weather, he controls lightning. Lightning ionises the air, and since his powers are ionic in nature, he can increase his powers exponentially. He walks calmly into a fight between Hulk and Abomination, and leaves them both badly beaten. Rick Jones witnesses this, and realising that this is not a good situation, contacts Captain Marvel (from whom he is now separated). He is attacking Thunder Man when Hawkeye’s team arrives and join the fray. The artist formerly known as Wonder Man, is now virtually omnipotent, certainly in terms of strength. One ionic attack from him is absorbed by Captain Marvel, but there’s so much energy that he has to release it, and quickly. The burst of energy goes through the atmosphere and up into deep space, forming a channel by which the Binary powers can finally return to Warbird. She’s now seriously souped-up, and while Captain Marvel continues to leech energy from Thunder Man, Carol starts attacking him, hitting unrelentingly until eventually, against the odds, he falls.
The team now need to find out what has caused this, and get to the root. They arrive at Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum, where he explains that this is ancient Asgardian elvish magic, and that the only being that would have the knowledge to wield this power would be Malekith. He agrees to send the team to Asgard, however when they arrive, they find the Aesir under siege by the forces of Svartalfheim, controlled from afar by Malekith himself. Balder, Sif, Heimdall, and the Warriors Three are all deep in battle, and the Avengers quickly join the fray. They manage to fend off this wave of attack, but know that the lull will not last for long. The Avengers quickly explain the events on Midgard, and who is behind the attacks. They need to stop Malekit’s forces at the source and take out the man (or elf) himself. Balder states that his warriors must stay to defend the city, but there is one who will be able to aid them, and who will happily wreak vengeance upon Malekith. He quickly sends one of his warriors to bring this person to them, and he returns quickly with “¦. Kurse. Upon hearing Malekit’s name, Kurse immediately erupts in rage, turns and runs towards the direction of Svartalfheim. It is all the other Avengers can do to keep up. The assault on Malekit’s fortress is short-lived, and elves, trolls and frost-giants are sent flying in all directions until finally they arrive in his “throne-room”. Malekith is seated there with Mjolnir at his side. After an epic battle, Kurse brings the fortress down around Malekit’s ears, but as it collapses, Captain Marvel’s cosmic awareness kicks in, and he senses Tho’s presence deep below the rubble, but his life essence is very weak. The Avengers quickly cut through the rubble under the guidance of Captain Marvel, and eventually find Thor chained, bleeding and beaten. They free him, and Mjolnir returns to him instantly.
Quickly, the team return to check on Balder and the others, who have despatched the remaining forces of Malekith, but they must now travel back to Earth and defeat the other cursed Avengers. By this time, the remaining original team (Cap, Iron Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch and Wasp) have joined forces and are imposing themselves on the helpless populace of the planet. The two teams meet in a cataclysmic battle, waged around the White House. Eventually however, Hawkeye’s team is victorious (but only after Doc Strange appears to help by re-directing their power into the original-and-still-the-best, Mjolnir, and Thor is able to then shunt this power into another dimension).
Now returned to their previous state, the original team are in disarray. Thor believes he is too dangerous to so closely associate with mortals, and leaves. Namor just thinks the surface world is too much hassle. Most of the others are too ashamed to remain with the Avengers any longer. Only Iron Man remains, as he feels he has to make amends.
Interesting story all around, and I really enjoyed it.
So the new team at the end of the story is as follows:
Hawkeye (leader)
Songbird (finally ties up the storyline from Avengers Forever)
Captain Marvel (as above)
Moon Knight
Black Knight
Binary (they’ve never let a woman be the most powerful person on the team before)
Iron Man
Kurse
Impressive new team even though Kurse doesn’t fit in that well. I like the idea.
And that, I believe, is a serious team. Now this is obviously way too long for you to print, but I’d be interested in your thoughts.
Anyhoo – I’m outta here
Very cool. That makes you our last Avengers team guy. I think we’ve got enough to end the little challenge. We need to get on with more questions and answers and I think everyone got their say. Thank you fans for getting involved. It’s been fun reading the Avengers ideas. We may try something like this again later on so stay tuned.
William emails
When did Firestar & Justice get married?? I’m huge fans of both characters from their ‘Warriors and Avengers days, but don’t recall an issue where they actually get married. Did it happen off panel? If so, do you know where this is first mentioned?
Good question. Both left the Avengers around issue 27. They left to get married if I remember the story right. They would return later already married, I believe. So it was an off panel marriage.
For some reason I can’t remember the details of the marriage either”¦but I do know that it happened at some point. – The Overlord
Tim emails
Has there been any sign of Façade (Spider-Man villain) as of late. Last I remember of him, he had been pretty righteously smashed up by Doc Ock in Peter Parker, Spider-Man. Any idea what happened to him post that?
Haven’t seen him since Web of Spider-Man 116 and that’s a long time. He’s in comic limbo.
Wait maybe I’m thinking of a different character. I think I need more info here. Like an issue number for where you saw him.
How about that villain Typeface from the same book? What was his deal?
His name was Gordon Thomas he had a variety of letter themed weapons, including explosive letters and scrabble-like letters he used to create words, which he used as weapons. He was involved in the Vietnam War and had emotional scars. He came back and was an educator yntil he was fired and went insane. Haven’t seen him since Peter Parker Spider-Man 24.
Finally, what was the deal with Century from Force Works?
Ah, the age old question. What happened to Century? Now like everyone knows, Century was an alien from another world. I don’t think we really got all of the information we could about our alien friend. He was a mystery and left like a mystery as well. I really have little information on him so anyone else that can help feel free.
Earl emails
Hey, love the column and I’m enjoying the new site. I do have a couple random question for you:
1. What is the origin of Omega Red?
Well he is a mutant. Plus most of origin is still unknown. In fact that only thing I’m sure of is he was a former KGB member and he’s a Soviet Super-Soldier
Also it should be noted, the like many comic fans, Omega Red is sick to death of all Wolverine’s appearances in random books”¦which is why he’s always trying to kill him. – The Overlord
2. Whatever happened to the Chamelion? Last time I remember him, he thought he was Kraven the Hunter.
Actually he’s dead. In a story called Identity Crisis (sound familiar) Chameleon escapes from Ravencroft. He goes insane an then he dies. (Spectacular Spider-Man 242-245)
Man”¦I hate it when people randomly go insane and die”¦that’s always happening to people around me. What’s up with that? – The Overlord
3. In Spectacular Spider-Man #259-261, Norman Osborn was after Roderick Kingsley (a.k.a. Hobgoblin) because he had proof Osborn was the Green Goblin. Osborn had someone in the Green Goblin costume as a stand-in. Was the identity of this other Green Goblin ever revealed?
Actually, it was Harry Osborn. That’s right Harry Osborn. I should say though it was a clone of Harry Osborn though and not the real deal. It’s revealed in Peter Parker Spider-Man volume 2 # 18
Thanks in advance
You’re welcome
George emails
Two questions:
1) When the Human Torch flames on, why doesn’t he die of asphyxiation?
Because his powers allow him to breathe no matter what. Really, I don’t know. You see that’s one of those physics of Marvel that I think most people question. It’s comic so it’s best to ignore it.
I think it’s a universal comic law that unless otherwise stated any person’s powers don’t affect them. Usually, it’s explained somewhere along the line, but not always. I think it’s best to try not to think about it”¦ – The Overlord
2) If a person does Beast, is it a case of a furry fetish?
Yes I would guess so, since he’s a big blue fur ball.
I’m just going to pretend I didn’t see that question. *whistles* – The Overlord
Thanks for pondering these questions and hopefully not being too weirded out.
I think Daron might be.
Yeah, you think? – The Overlord
Chase emails
Hey Jim and Daron! Insidepulse or 411, this column still kicks @$$. At any rate, I have two questions, both about X-Men’s Angel.
Technically, we’re neither at this point. The Nexus (www.comicsnexus.com) is it’s own domain. Thanks for the compliment though, and I’m glad you’re still enjoying the column. – The Overlord
First off, I recently read a character bio on the very useful X-Men site Uncanny X-Men.net, and it mentioned a Soulsword he took from Majik… What? I’m still not a hundred percent clear on this whole thing. Was this Illyana Rasputin, and what exactly can this Soulsword do?
The Soul Sword can do anything a normal sword can do, but it can also cut a hole into Belasco’s demon universe, which S’ym and all come from. Magik a.k.a. Illyana was the first to hold the sword. The second was Amanda Sefton/Magik II. Now if I remembered the issue your talking about I could tell you which gave it to him but I can’t and I’m not going to check the site since I’m not supposed to. Daron if you want to help please do.
Um”¦okay, though I’m not sure why you can’t “check the site.” Anyway, I can’t remember the issue numbers (because well it isn’t my job to remember issue numbers”¦ *glares at Jim*), but this all took place during the Uncanny X-Men/Exiles crossover. At that point, Magik was a member of the Exiles (not the Magik from the 616 universe but from another), and at some point she and Angel tussled. After a decisive victory big bad principal Angel took Magik’s toy sword away and kept it for himself. A few issues later, the sword was nowhere to be seen”¦even tough he still has it.
Hope that helps. – The Overlord
The second question is about his second power. It says he has the power to heal others of his same blood type (the blood type thing is lame, but what can you do?), but is his healing also enhanced? And, if so, is it comparable to Wolverine’s?
Well actually it would be better then Wolverine’s in a sense. Wolvie can only heal himself. Angel with his can heal others. So technicality gives it to Angel there.
I don’t remember a blood type thing in the power. As far as I know he can heal anyone with his blood, and they’ve used him that way in the comics. – The Overlord
Thanks in advance, gentleman.
Your very welcome.
Kevin emails
First Question, My friends and I were joking, that the list of people Spider-Man hasn’t teamed up with is shorter than the characters he has. Hell he was in Marvel Team-Up with someone new every month. But none of us could name a marvel hero that hasn’t teamed up with Spidey. The only heroes who I can think of are the newest team of New Mutants appearing in Academy X. Anyone significant Spidey hasn’t meet?
Good question, I don’t think there’s anyone major he hasn’t teamed up with. I mean you mention the new kids in New X-Men and that’s almost it. Runaways haven’t met him I don’t think. Also he’s a former Avenger, a one time Defender and been in most of the big events like Infinity Gauntlet and such. I think it’s possible he’s met everyone else in Marvel. Here’s who I can think of:
New X-Men Academy X kids
Runaways
A lot of Marvel villains he never fought.
Maggot, Joseph, and Cecelia Reyes from the X-Men
The kid from Sentinel
Shard
Second question. I was reading an old issue of Marvel Team-Up, and Spidey suffered three concussions in one day. I’ve suffered 3 concussions in my entire life and could have serious health problems if I have another. Spidey has suffered hundreds, maybe even 1,000 concussions. Any word on if the radioactive spider bite is keeping him from suffering permanent brain damage?
I would say it’s the powers that allow him to have no brain damage. Also this is one of those things that you can basically say it’s a comic book and not reality, so anything is possible in comics.
Nic emails
Hello Mr Jim Type Person! I’m just getting back into comic books and have been looking into running out and spending all my cash on various TPB’s. I was wondering if you’d be willing to post some of your favorite TPB’s from the Marvel Universe and why you like them so much. From what I hear, Daredevil: Born Again is a must read, and Kravens Last Hunt isn’t to shabby either. If you could recommend anything else I’d run out and buy them faster than Wolverine could skewer a sisshkabob.
Secret Wars
Infinity Gauntlet
Marvels
Earth X
Avengers Forever
Avengers: Kree/Skrull War
Avengers: the Korvac Saga
Avengers: Under Siege
Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Man Without Fear
Daredevil: Fall of the Kingpin
Death of Captain Marvel
Hulk: Future Imperfect
Hulk: Return of the Monster
Punisher: Welcome Back Frank
Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt
Spider-Man: Death of Gwen Stacy
Weapon X: Origin of Wolverine
X-Men: Days of Future Past
X-Men: Phoenix Saga
X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga
That should give you a good start. Also, most of these are must reads for Marvel fans.
Definitely get Kraven’s Last Hunt. It’s probably the finest Marvel story I’ve ever read. If you’d like any suggestions for DC trades (or any other company for that matter) let us know, and we’ll come up with a list of those for you too. – The Overlord
BJ Emails
Love the column. Not that it’s life-changing info or anything, but the Bullseye/adamantium thing took place — I believe — in Daredevil (1st Marvel Series) # 196-200, complete with (believe it or not!) a guest shot from Wolverine! Yeah, I know, we never see those… Anyway, the Japanese gentleman in charge was — again, I believe. it’s been over twenty years! — the father of the young lady who would later become Lady Deathstrike. Just if anyone was curious.
Jim emails
hi, jim here, just wondering if anyone could help concerning Tarantula’s daughter from Agent X #6.
can anyone confirm for me, which of the Tarantulas she was the daughter of?
either Rodriguez(I) or Alvarez(II)
thanks in advance
Ah good question.
It was so good Jim apparently forgot to answer. Um, stay tuned and I’ll see if I can get Jim to actually answer your question next week”¦ – The Overlord
Mike emails
Hi Jim can I ask you some questions about BLADE?
1. When did the NIGHTSTALKERS debut in the Marvel universe? You know the team of Blade, Hannibal King and Drake? I know they had their own series for a while but when did the team actually debut?
Actually the first appearance goes back to Dr Strange volume 2. The team was first met there in issue 57. They meet and they formed the group around issue 67
2. I’m a huge fan of DEACON FROST. I was wondering if you could give me a list of his comic appearances? I know he debuted in TOD 13.
This is one of those cases where he’s not in the Marvel Chronology Project. I’m also lost on most of his appearances. I know he battled Blade and even created a blade Duplicate. The problem is I can’t remember all his issues. Also he’s an old man in Marvel comics till he came back in a later Blade series where he was like the movie Frost.
3. And finally outside of Blade, Deacon Frost, and Hannibal King did any of the characters from the movies appear in the comics? Such as the BloodPack and the Reapers from Blade 2, or Abigail Whistler from the upcoming Blade Trinity?
Well Whistler did. Abigail didn’t, but the old man did after the movie. I’ll bet the vampires where in comics somewhere along the way. Even that fat ugly thing that Deacon had working for him that did all the research for him. Of course, Blade’s mother appeared in comics too. I’d have to research each one and if you’re willing to help a little by giving me a list of who you want to know it would help me.
Colin emails
Good morning,
I’ve been re-reading my TPB of Mutant Massacre, and have come to the conclusion that it’s not a very good crossover. The X-Men issues are just fine, but the rest aren’t so great. It’s as if there’s no straight narrative, like the writers of the various books involved were barely talking to each other about what the overall story would be. Claremont said I’m going to kill a bunch of Morlocks, and sow the seeds of tension between X-Men and X-Factor. Then Simonson says I’m going to destroy Warren’s wings, and follow that up in Thor! Hey, let’s make it one loose story, but without the X-Factor book mentioning the X-Men!
The X-Factor issues make the Morlock tunnels look like some futuristic far off world, complete with the type of generic futuristic aliens that are supposed to be mutant outcasts.
Power Pack? It’s hilarious that the X-Men and X-Factor get smoked in the tunnels, but a bunch of dopey kids can hold off the Marauders, including Sabretooth!
The issues of Thor aren’t bad, but just don’t seem to fit.
The New Mutants issue was kinda cool though.
What I do like about the story is that the X teams lose. Warren loses his wings (and I think he was an infinitely more interesting character with his metal wings), Shadowcat and Nightcrawler have to go to Muir Isle for healing (and don’t see the X-Men for years, thinking they die soon after the Massacre), and the Morlocks are almost wiped out. I love the fact that after the story’s done, the X-Men couldn’t beat the Marauders, nor could X-Factor (but Power Pack do – that’s gay). You’d think a team that beats Cyclops, Jean, Angel, Iceman, Beast, Wolvie, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Rogue would get a push. Which leads to my question:
When did the X-Men get their heat back?
They actually did have a lot of heat still in the 90s. In fact, I would say the best example was Fall of the Mutants and the after effects there when they lived in Australia
Whatever happened to the Marauders?
The team has been seen since and most of them are being kept by Sinister for later work, like when they attacked X-Man.
And also, I thought Madrox died in X-Factor 100? What was the explanation for his return? The ol’ it was a duplicate!?
It was one of his dups that dies of the legacy Virus. The real Jamie went into hiding and returned later in X-Factor.
East
1. Thanos (5)
8. Molecule Man
Winner: Thanos
2. Mephisto (1)
5. Beyonder (4)
Winner: Beyonder
North
1. Apocalypse (2)
4. Onslaught (3)
Winner: Onslaught
2. Magneto (5)
3. Mister Sinister
Winner: Magneto
South
1. Loki (4)
8. Set (1)
Winner: Loki
2. Dormammu (5)
5. Hela
Winner: Dormammu
West
1. Doctor Doom (5)
7. Morlan
Winner: Doctor Doom
2. Kang (1)
3. Ultron (4)
Winner: Ultron
The next round
North
4. Onslaught
2. Magneto
South
1. Loki
2. Dormammu
West
1. Doctor Doom
3. Ultron
We’re almost back on track with everything now. One thing I can say is that I love all the questions this week. Already got something for next week. Have to hold it since it just showed up today. What did you think of today’s Handbook Daron?
I think I’d like it better if YOU answered the questions and let me make my biting sarcastic comments afterwards, but besides that”¦it was cool.
Very cool. You may now sign off first.
Oh, may I? Thanks your highness. Just for fun I’d like to pimp not only 144Anima.com this week, but also my return to semi regular column writing (I’m shooting for a bi-weekly schedule here) with last week’s Missing The Boat, featuring an in depth look at a title everyone should check out, Small Gods. Past that”¦I’m going to bed. See you all next week.
Reporting from the Marvel Universe, I’m Jim Trabold. Have a nice week. See you again Thursday, and keep sending those questions.
