You know Daron you are evil enough to do that to me with the editors. I mean you’re the Dark Overlord, damn it. You’re so evil that you might not even be here this week.
Indeed I am. Maybe I should just give myself the day off. I do have a couple Dawson’s Creek box sets piling up…
Alright, I don’t want to fight I just want to know I’m not talking to myself here.
What? Oh, you’re still talking. Whatever, I’m sure you can handle this puppy on your own this week. I needs to get me some alone time with Joey…
Beadle posted
Another little point for the Handbook. In the recent Thanos series, he saved Galactus from being destroyed by his first (and most powerful) Herald, and it wasn’t Tyrant. Can’t remember the name though.
Actually it’s the Fallen One
Also I forgot Johnny Storm and Dazzler
The_Dark posted
Some questions!
DC has Deathstroke and David Cain, but who are the top mercenaries in Marvel U? Also, who is the top female one?
Some of the best:
Deadpool
Bullseye
Sabretooth
Sandman
Bushwacker
Typhoid Mary
Female:
Silver Sable
Domino
*Cough* Task Master *cough*
If you could pick one title to remove Wolverine from, which would it be and who would you replace him with?
I’d remove him from New Avengers. They don’t need him as much as the X-Men do.
Agreed, and I’d replace him with Moon Knight. That boy really needs a book.
Who do you think would win in a fight between Hyperion and Gladiator?
Depends on which Hyperion.
Squadron Supreme version: Gladiator
Supreme Power: Hyperion
Squadron Sinister: Gladiator
Exiles evil version: Hyperion
Have Deapool and Bullseye ever fought? If so, who won?
Just some questions I was wondering about…
Yes they have meet and are friends as well.
Chase emails
Hey guys, been a while (former SyxFactor here). I keep up with Marvel and love reading about it, but oddly enough, I do not read one book. I have not found one website that updates regularly with new info, so not only must I rely on you guys for history and obscure Marvel facts (which is cool) I must also ask you questions about what’s going on at the moment. It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading them; it just feels worthless to read one sixth of a story at a time or whatever it is, so I just read TPB most of the time.
Anyway, what’s up with Thor being dead? I never heard anything about this until one day, when it suddenly seemed to be common knowledge. How did he die? Who killed him? It must have been pretty crazy if this guy stood toe-to-toe with Superman, and I imagine the impact this had on Asgard was off the charts.
Actually Thor technically never died as much as the rest of Asgard did. He sort of died but he decided to sleep the sleep of the gods. Ragnarok happened and Asgard fell. Only Thor stood and shattered the Fates’ weave to prevent the cycle’s continuation.
Yeah…what he said.
Also, what’s the deal with this “Young Avenger” stuff? Seems lame to me, but I could be wrong. I hate when they do that whole “it’s the same as the real deal, only in KID form!” A similar phenomenon is that whole “it’s the same thing, only (FE)MALE!” like Spider-Girl and She-Hulk. I’m curious to see if you agree. I know there are different circumstances, but on a whole, do you and Daron love or hate this idea? Or do you split?
Actually Young Avengers has been rather interesting. Here’s what we know:
Spoilers ahead
Iron Lad is Kang the Conqueror as a teenager, armed with a bio-metal suit that responds to mental commands. He was “rescued” by his adult self moments before an event important in shaping the villain’s life: his long-term hospitalization by bullies. Horrified at the life of evil his future self describes, he takes the time-travel technology that he is given and transports himself into the past, hoping to avoid his sinister destiny. Upon finding the Avengers disbanded, he interfaces with the remnants of the Vision, destroyed during the Avengers Disassembled storyline. It reveals a heretofore unknown contingency plan created by the android to reform the Avengers should they disband or fall in action. It is through this plan that the young Kang assembles his new team, with the sole purpose of defeating his future self and reshaping his own future.
Iron Lad : is a young Kang the Conqueror
Patriot : grandson of Isaiah Bradley, the first Captain America. Though Bradley had his only child before the Super Soldier Serum experiment, Patriot gained the powers of Captain America through an emergency blood transfusion from his grandfather.
Hulkling : Teddy Altman has an unknown origin.
Asgardian : Billy Kaplan als has an unknown origin
Ant-Girl : Cassie Lang enhanced with Pym Particles from her father.
Oh, and sorry, I forgot it was Tim and not Daron. Tim is a lot meaner to you, Jim, than Daron was.
WOW, you think Tim is meaner to Jim than I am??? I’m not sure if should take that as an insult or a compliment…
Anyway, I honestly haven’t read Young Avengers yet, but I think it looks outstanding and EVERYTHING I’ve heard about it has been extremely positive, even from people who had the same reservations as you going into the book. Similarly, I absolutely adore She-Hulk. Except for the last issue, that series was about the best book Marvel’s published in some time. I also hear a lot of good things about Spider-Girl. Remember the old saying, “Don’t judge a book…”
Daredevi1 posted
Dear Jim:
I had a dream last night, i was a member of the brotherhood of evil mutants and i was fighting the New Avengers. I was fighting the Mystery nunchuck bubble boy ,and i blasted his face with a energy beam ( Don´t ask where it came from!!) well so i check out his face so , reveal the big spoier etc etc and the guy was Ex-avenger now dissasembled guy clint barton the HAWKEYE!!!….just this reveal wake me up and made me post you this e-amil!!!
Do you think that it could be possible??? or its DD, Shang Chi, Iron Fist; Mockingbird the mystery guy???
sincerely yours.
I doubt it’s Hawkeye. I think it’s Daredevil. Even though he said he could not join, Cap might give him the new costume so he can join them.
But hell if it’s Hawkeye lot’s of people would be happy.
jim:
Can you tell me the diferent origins of ultimate and marvel 616 Elektra? ( I´m familiar with the 616 only)
The Ultimate version is very similar to Marvel main stream version:
Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios are both students in Columbia University, where they meet and start dating. Murdock is blind and studying law. Elektra and her roommates are harassed by a rich boy, Trey Langstrom, until Elektra fights back. In response, Langstrom and a group of thugs destroys Elektra’s father’s business. Matt forces the thugs to confess. But Elektra seriously wounds Langstrom.
By the way what you think about the movie?
Actually I liked the movie in many aspects. I mean it’s not your normal comic movie but it was rather interesting. I mean you have the Hand and Stick in this one.
Beadle posted
Jim,
Little question for ya. Towards the end of the last Heroes for Hire series, they had a storyline where K’un-Lun was going to merge with Earth with disastrous consequences. But from what I can remember, the series was cancelled before they ever resolved that story. So did that ever get resolved elsewhere? Or did the merge happen with not-so-disastrous consequences, like a couple of old coffee-cups fell off a shelf in Poughkeepsie, and some girl-guides began to snore when they hadn’t before? Or, as I suspect, did they just kind of forget about it and hope we did as well?
Actually the story in a way got settled in Iron Fist and Wolverine: The Return of K’un Lun I believe. The merge never happened thankfully. So there was no disaster.
RatCat posted
Here’s one for you. What happened to “The Shroud?”
I was digging around in my old books last night and found the first issue of his solo title (obviously it didn’t live long) and I was wondering if he’s still hanging around or not.
Actually that solo book was a planed limited series. Also don’t forget the old note of him being a reserve Avenger while the West Coast team existed. I don’t think he’s done much since the limited series though. He’s gone to Comic book Limbo.
Jon emails
Good day all,
As always, I enjoyed reading the Handbook as it is (other than Jesse’s apoplexy) my favorite part of the Comics Nexus.
Why thank you
Quick observation:
O.K., it’s been twenty-two years since these stories were published but…I believe what Patrick was referring to was a plot point that began in the old Gerber issues of the Defenders (The ELF!!), surfaced again once during Hannigan’s tenure (#87, I think) and then (after long subplots) was finally resolved by J.M. in issues 124-125. The basic gist of it is that at some point in the then-future the original four Defenders (Strange, Subby, Hulk and the Surfer) would get involved in offworld alien affairs that would lead to death of the alien leader’s son. In retribution the aliens would (again, IIRC) destroy the earth. This was shown to them by a group of beings named the Tribunal (not the cosmic Living Tribunal, who probably wouldn’t care). Thusly they were convinced to disband and did so publicly at the weddng of Patsy Walker and Daimon Hellstrom, leading to the infinitely-lesser Defenders that included Iceman, Angel and Moondragon.
In Hulk #369, the intelligent grey Hulk came into contact with Dr. Strange’s astral form while Namor just happened to be passing through the neighborhood (seriously…) and upon returning to Strange’s sanctum, Namor commented that it was lucky that the Surfer wasn’t there or the planet would be destroyed. Strange completely off-handedly mentions that he had investigated that and found out it was a hoax. No further explanation that I’m aware of.
All right, long-winded exposition over and I’m sure someone has probably already brought it up.
Thanks,
You’re the first here to bring it up but I believe your right on all effects as well. Although that had to fade too. Remember the new Defenders series that came out a few years back plus the 92 series of annuals of Surfer, Namor, Strange and Hulk had them reunite as well.
Kent emails
Hey Jim,
when you asked for Marvel’s creepiest moments, I’m not sure if you meant creepy/scary, or creepy/icky, but anyway…
Didn’t X-Man have some type of creepy sexual relationship with Madeline Pryor in his series for a time? Since Maddy is the clone of Nate’s mother from a different reality, isn’t that more than just a little disturbing? Thankfully, I remember very little of what I read in that godawful title and I’m too damn lazy to go back and re-read it, so I could be remembering all of this wrong.
That works as creepy alright. You got the point with that one. Scary and creepy all at once. Good pick
So you’re saying you DON’T fantasize about your mom? Yeah right, like I believe that…
Kevin emails
Jim
Great column. I dropped out of regular Marvel purchasing many years ago, but you have brought back some fond memories for me. Thanks very much.
Your welcome
A couple of questions, but first let me earn your indulgence with some help on the question from last week regarding the curse on The Defenders which stopped them from being together. I think the question actually pertains to a storyline from the original run of The Defenders sometime in the early eighties. This was the plot which led to the break up of the original team and the reformation with the X-alumni, which never clicked and was buried to make way for the first version of X-Factor.
The Defenders were called before some sort of cosmic tribunal (that old plot device) where it was revealed that they would be responsible for the death of an entire alien race. The tribunal determined that the merged karmas of Dr Strange, Hulk and Silver Surfer would inevitably cause this cosmic tragedy no matter what they did to avoid it, and that the only way they could avoid it was to never team up again. It was a terrible story and I think it was later revealed that the tribunal were lying (something that never occured to our heroes). The tribunals agents on Earth were some kind of robot elves with bad attitudes who had appeared years earlier and never been explained, so this was an attempt to tie up a hanging plot thread which ended up making no sense. I wish I could be more specific, but I don’t have access to the books right now, plus they are just awful and I don’t really want to re-read them.
Thanks very much. These emails really do help make the points.
Ok, thats my attempt at helping. Now for my questions. Both of which relate to writer/artists who were the hottest in the business back in the early nineties.
I have read many negative reports recently about Rob Liefeld. I remember his uber-successful first run on X-Force and am curious about how he has fallen so far in the eyes of fans today. There seems to be a retrospective disdain for his comics, which seems strange given the gushing praise heaped on him in his earlier career. Is the current perspective on his work that he has always sucked, or is this based on later work and anything with his name is now considered sub par? I do recall his books with Image as being filled with Cable lookalikes and the stories being a little convoluted.
Actually that’s what the problem is with him. All his characters look the same. The fans started noticing that more and more after he left Marvel for Image. He basicly made X-Force clones and the like. Nothing really new. Plus him taking the rights to the names of some rather good characters away from Marvel didn’t help either. Can everyone tell I’m not a big Liefield fan either?
I think the real problem is we all grew up. I would hazard a guess that most of his fans were the younger generation who were impressed with his big flashy style. But once we grew up, and had a vague concept of anatomy his stuff (even retrospectively) devolved into what it is…crap.
The other wunderkind of the era, who has fared somewhat better in historical perspective, was Todd MacFarlane. My question about him pertains to a feud he had with some of Marvels top writers during the founding days of Image. MacFarlane used his letter columns in early Spawn books to flame Marvel in general and Peter David and John Byrne in particular. These columns degenerated quickly into rants against the two and made MacFarlane come of as a bit of an arrogant prick. What did those two do to attract his ire? I assume they had spoken out against his anti-Marvel views, but have never heard what was at the heart of this. MacFarlane has worked for Marvel since, so I guess the matter was resolved. Any light you can shed on this would be appreciated.
Once again, thanks and keep the memories coming.
Could be Todd was just a pompous ass at the time. Could be that he just didn’t get along to well with them. Also could just be he held a grudge with Marvel so long that he thought he’d go after them.
I vaguely remember this, but can’t put my finger on what the reason was. I’ll bet $10 bucks that we hear from someone in a week or two that has the answer though…
Oh and one more thing. Why does Stan Lee end all his columns with the sign-off “Excelsior”?
He’s always used it and it’s also the New York state motto. He explained the reason in Stan Lee’s Mutants, Monsters, and Marvels
Justin emails
Okay, gimme the lowdown on all this symbiote madness in the Spidey-verse!
Where/what is Venom up to these days?
Well the symbiote was connected to the Scorpion after Eddie Brock killed himself. Although we can’t be sure Brock actually can’t come back. It’s Marvel after all. Plus who knows Brock could have got cured of Cancer by the symbiote.
Is he hero or villain?
He’s a villain again. Venom that is. The symbiote is pure evil. Brock sold the symbiote to the crimelord Don Fortunato, intending to donate the $100 million received to charity before dying. Angelo Fortunato died after the symbiote abandoned him in mid-air, Brock slit his wrists. After Angelo’s death, the symbiote bonded with Mac Gargan
Was Carnage really “killed” (and I mean that loosely, we all know he’ll back, if not already) in New Avengers, or do you think you the symbiote sealed itself up off panel?
Well I don’t think Cletus was inside somehow or he’s gone to. Damn that’s a hell of a way to go still.
And isn’t that version of Carnage still Cassidy but with a different symbiote than he originally had?
Yep. The first symbiote was eaten by Venom. The second came from the Negative Zone. Plus who knows the symbiote may be capable of surviving in orbit
And finally, who the heck is Toxin and how does he figure in with Venom & Carnage?
Toxin is the spawn of Carnage. Pat Mulligan is the host. This symbiote seems good as well.
Thanks!
Your welcome
That’s it for this week. Keep those emails coming. I’ll be covering a few of those 10-year Marvel character things by request here shortly. Oh and I may even do a special House of M project when that comes up but I still need the emails to keep this going. I’ll get anyone who emailed questions in as I get them. So be patient.
Now let’s see if the editor would like to sign out first or shall I?
Taking the sly “don’t name the editor route,” eh? That would be all well and good if you didn’t basically infer that it was me you were talking to in the opening of the column. Come on, man, where’s you’re sense of continuity? It’s not like this column actually takes place in the Marvel U!
Oh Snap!
Okay, back to Dawson. Have a good one all!
My turn then.
1. Free Comic Book day is Saturday.
2. Marvel.com poll: Who is the Winter Soldier?
3. My thoughts on Man-Thing: Worst Marvel movie ever and that counts Howard the Duck and Nick Fury.
Reporting From the Marvel Universe I’m Jim Trabold. Have a great week and see you at the comics shop.
