Hello everyone and welcome to another addition of the Handbook. I’m Jim Trabold of course. This is my partner, Daron
So Daron how are you this week?
Well, honestly, I’ve been better. I’m in the middle of an overnight shift this week, which is the reason the column is late. I’ve been working and sleeping and that’s about it. I apologize to everyone for that, it was sort of an unexpected scheduling change at work that cause this”¦
Interesting. Want to start this up then?
Indeed!
Skyywolf emails
Love the new setup… congrats on doing consistently great work…read last week about the question that talked about having the same old characters making appearance after appearance in numerous books (i.e. Wolverine) Got me thinking…. Who do you guys think have been the best NEW characters created since 2000? Top 5 hero, and top 5 villains (or 5 if that’s too many to think of) Along with that top 5 redesigned characters? I’m not talking about costume changes … attitudes, personality, etc…
Thanks again for the great work later
Actually an interesting question. Let’s see what we can come up with:
Heroes
1. Sentry
2. The Exiles (The full team)
3. Jessica Jones
4. X-23
5. Young Avengers (full team)
Villains
1. Abraxus
2. Void
3. Cassandra Nova
4. Kid Omega
5. Akhenaten
Redesigned
1. Winter Soldier
2. Drax
3. Supreme Power
4. Sage
5. Shanna the She-Devil
They changed the attitudes and, personalities of a lot of characters over the years. Each writer and artist interprets a character different. I used the 5 above for reasons of drastic changes in ways
I actually agree with Jim’s Heroes pretty much, that and I can’t really think of any other “new” heroes. As for the villains none of these interest me at all, but I also can’t think of any new ones either. Marvel’s villains have been pretty uninteresting for a while now. As for the redesigned ones, I agree with Bucky and Supreme Power, couldn’t care less about the others”¦especially Sage. She’s make for the best new dead hero”¦right after Gambit of course.
Roger emails
Hey Guys,
After the “Planet Hulk” arc (which seems okay so far) is done, will the Hulk come back to Earth immediately, or will there be a detour to another planet? He is really pissed off, and I am interested to see who will be able to stop him when he gets back. Why would Namor be the one that was against banishment? He’s never liked the Hulk and that really suprised me.
I’m thinking Hulk will come back right after Planet Hulk but it’s a long story so expect him back after Civil War. He likely won’t get back to get involved directly. He will come back though and if I’m Reed and Tony I’m hiding or building something to stop the Hulk and quickly. Because the Hulk armor won’t save Tony’s hide now and the Thing might not save Reed either.
As for Namor. Namor after fighting the Hulk many times knows that he’ll come back and likely kill or just smash those who did that to him. He’s not going to be on the list. He knows how stupid they were to do it.
The Tournament: With everything on the line, there’s no way that Captain America loses. Even though he’s overmatched against the Taskmaster, Cap will find a way to pull it out. That is what he does. Just my opinion. Thanks.
Cool vote. Noted. I’m betting Cap wins myself by the way. Classic hero/villain matc. Normally the hero wins
Soak1313 posted
ok so you might have done this at some time but since i have completely marked out for the newest issue of moon knight i would like to get a rundown of his history. also are there any collected trades or anything out there? i know one was just released but i was wondering if there are any others.
Sure thing
Real name: Marc Spector
Other Alias: Steven Grant, Jake Lockley
Affiliations: Defenders, West Coast Avengers, Avengers
Powers: As a mercenary, a U.S. Marine, a boxer, and a C.I.A. operative, Marc Spector developed superb athletic and fighting skills, both in terms of physical ability as well as combat strategy. He is a master at many forms of unarmed combat, including martial arts as well as improvisory street fighting. Later in the character’s history, Moon Knight attained superhuman strength, which waxed and waned with the phases of the moon, albeit this seemed to only occur when Khonshu had invaded his body. He was also given special weapons by the cult of Khonshu, including truncheons, nunchaku, and silver darts. Many of these weapons were crafted by the Avenger Hawkeye during a time-travel adventure to ancient Egypt in the now-canceled Avengers West Coast series. He also carried an ankh like device that had various uses and properties. His silver-white costume conceals adamantium armor.
History: In a twist of Concience, Mercenary Marc Spector spared the life of an archaeologist and his daughter, Marlene. Spectors superior, Bushman, didn’t take the action lightly and banished Spector into the desert to die a horrible death. Several of the workers near an archaeological site found Specto’s body and brought him inside. The woman and man, whom he spared earlier, tried to save him, but it was too late. After all hope had been lost, Spector came back to life. It became his belief that the Egyptian god Khonshu, to which he had been placed in front of, had resurrected him. This was due to many reasons, such as his instant knowledge of this secret god as well as the mystical light bleeding onto his body from the statue.
Spector Decided to take his second chance at life in a pursuit of good, in what could only be assumed as a sense of retribution for his sins. He took the cloak of Khonshu and went on to defeat his former boss, Bushman.
After making an outfit, and traveling to New York, Moon Knights Journey begins. His crusade against evil is aided by Marlene, who took a fancy to him, and Frenchie, a former French Foreign Legionnaire who is a life long friend of Spectors. Spector assumed multiple identities to help him in his crusade against evil: Jake Lockley, streetwise cabby, Stephen Grant, debonair millionaire, and of course Moon Knight. With Frenchies Helicopter, Spectors enhanced strength in the moon Light, and his passion for redemption, Moon Knight is a fearsome force of reckoning.
On his first outing as the Moon Knight, he battled the werewolf Jack Russell, better known as the Werewolf by Night. After this encounter he laid low for a time; during this period the money that he had accumulated as a mercenary had grown into a small fortune, thanks to wise investments on Spector’s part. To distance himself from his mercenary past he created the identity of the millionaire Steven Grant, using this identity to purchase a spacious estate; to remain in contact with the common man he also created the identity of taxicab driver Jake Lockley. Resuming his activities as Moon Knight, he battled a number of criminals and supervillains of a bizarre and mystical nature. However, the stress of maintaining four separate identities began to take its toll on his psyche. Marlene convinced him to retire the Grant and Lockley aliases, to sell the statue of Khonshu, and to retire as Moon Knight.
However, he was soon telepathically summoned to Egypt by the cult of Khonshu who had saved his life. They gave him a small arsenal of moon-themed projectile weaponry, such as throwing discs and crescent-shaped blades, originally designed by Hawkeye during a jaunt to ancient Egypt. Khonshu himself then appeared to Spector and entered his body, giving him superhuman strength, which waxed and waned with the phases of the moon. As the direct agent of Khonshu he recovered the statue of Khonshu and joined the West Coast Avengers, but at the cost of alienating Marlene and Frenchie. Khonshu was eventually forcibly expelled from his body by Daimon Hellstrom. Reuniting with his friends, Moon Knight began his career of adventuring anew. He died in battle, only to be once again resurrected by the statue of Khonshu.
Also there is a Trade paperback called Essential Moon Knight that came out before the new series. Moon Knight 1-10 plus his first appearance and many other early appearances. I expect more trades. If not most Moon Knight issues will not cost much in back issue bins
Um”¦Moon Knight rocks YO!
you answered the various hook ups from the savage land but didn’t answer if anything has been written since about these offspring. have there been any other stories about the kids since the original ones about the women having them?
Alright
Pete’s kid will be in Chris Claremont’s new series called Gen Next. He hasn’t been seen much since Pete’s last visit to the Savage Land way back in Uncanny X-Men 12 Annual.
Wolverine’s kid I don’t think we’ve seen since Wolverine Jungle Adventure.
Kazar and Shanna’s kid was last seen in Kazar’s series in 1997. Most times you see them together in the Savage Land you could see their kid atleast. Any others we don’t know of and haven’t seen.
Eh”¦if the fathers of these kids don’t care about them, why should we? :)
A faceless name posted
Whatever happened to Sleepwalker? All this Moon Knight talk has me wondering.
Actually Sleepwalker (Even though not one of my favorite characters) has appeared a few times since the 90s.
One was in Epic Anthology # 1 in which Sleepwalker had apparently taken up residence in or been trapped in David Daily’s mind. It was unclear if it was the same Sleepwalker either.
The original Sleepwalker was recently featured in Marvel Team-Up. In “The Legion of Losers” story arc which featured: Darkhawk, Speedball, Dagger, Araña, X-23, Gravity, Terror Inc., Mutant 2099 and Sleepwalker. Sleepwalker’s role in the team was a supporting character. However, the book did explore the effects of Sleepwalker being severed from his link in with Rick. Half of the arc is set in Mutant 2099’s timeline, and in the story this version of Sleepwalker remains in the future, as the past is “fixed” and the heroes are “already there” and therefore unable to return.
Moon Knight, yay! Sleepwalker, boo!
Colin emails
As someone who owns both the regular AND Director’s Cut, shame on you Jamie for crapping on the DD movie. SHAME! Sure Ben wasn’t great, but he hasn’t been great since Mallrats. The movie had a lot going for it, but the fights just sucked. It had a lot of cool buildup, but the action was always flat. The reliance on CGI is annoying as heck, but Spider-Man is just as bad. And Farrell ruled as Bullseye, Daron. All he needed was the costume, and hopefully in a sequel he’ll be murdering innocents thinking they’re all Daredevil.
I sure hope Superman is on wires this summer, and not the lameness of CGI.
Wait didn’t you just make all my points? I’m serious isn’t that what I basically said. I’m not saying I hated Daredevil. Never will. Hell I liked three parts the most.
Colin Farrell as Bullseye (Personally he would’ve been better as Daredevil himself. He took over the whole movie. He did Bullseye perfect.)
Jennifer Garner as Elektra. (She just pulled off the role perfectly. I know that’s why they did the Elektra movie. She was perfect.
Joe Pantoliano as Ben Urich (I think he did a wonderful job to. He played Ben perfect)
I think they merged about 3 movies into one. You could’ve done Man Without Fear with younger people for Matt, Foggy, Elektra and Kingpin even. The second movie would be the Death of Elektra. That’s the most important battle in the movie Daredevil but it should be DD II. The third movie that was put in was the Fall of the Kingpin. You can make 3 movies out of the 1. I would’ve done that myself. Made 3 movies. Now you might not even get a DD II because how bad this went.
I liked Ben as DD, Joe as Ben, and Jon as Foggy. The rest I would definitely have recast”¦especially Colin.
Beadle posted
While we’re on a Savage Land kind of trip… After the revelation a few years ago that Polaris is Magneto’s daughter, where does that leave Zaladane? Isn’t she supposed to be Lorna’s sister?
Actually Zaladane is her adopted sister.
Polaris was raised by the Dane’s. She gained the identity after her mother (the woman Magneto married and had Lorna with) died in a plane crash. He supposed family took her in and raised her. They gave Lorna the Dane name. Zala is her sister as far as Zaladane has said.
Its also quite possible Zaladane could be one of Mageto’s children as well but we don’t know it yet. She could be a love child from the Savage land
I believe it was Daron or one of our readers that also asked me how Spidey could be for the registration act.
Here’s how come: Spider-Man was coerced into joining Iron Man’s side FOR the superhuman registration act. After all Tony did give him the Spider-Armor and helped him out in the Other storyline. So he agreed to help Tony out no matter what. He is sort of in between as well but he’s starting on Tony’s side for now.
Ohhh, ohhh, that was me, that was me!
The fighting tournament of 64.
The winner is: Captain America. He took all the votes in the fight too.
So with that we end another Tournament. Cap is the best fighter in the Marvel Universe folks. No questions asked.
The Decimation 198 update
1. Alchemy (198 Files)
2. Anole (New X-Men 21)
3. Apocalypse (X-Men 182)
4. Archangel (198 Files)
5. Arclight (198 Files)
6. Aurora (198 Files)
7. Avalanche (198 Files)
8. Banshee (X-Men Deadly Genesis 1)
9. Beast (House of M 8)
10. Beautiful Dreamer (198 Files)
11. Big Betha (GLX-Mas)
12. Tito Bohusk (Exiles 72)
13. Bishop (House of M Day After 1)
14. Black Box (Cable/Deadpool 21)
15. Blaquesmith (All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z 2)
16. Blindfold (198 Files)
17. Blindspot (All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z 2)
18. Bling (X-Men 177)
19. Bella Donna Boudreaux (All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z 2)
20. Jamie Braddock Jr. (198 Files)
21. Bruiser (Runaways 12)
22. Cable (Cable/Deadpool 18)
23. Caliban (198 Files)
24. Callisto (Repowered)
25. Cannonball (Cable/Deadpool 18)
26. Catiana (198 Files)
27. Centennial (All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z 2)
28. Lila Cheney (198 Files)
29. Cloak (Runaways 12)
30. Collective Man (198 Files)
31. Colossus (House of M 8)
32. Cyclops (House of M 8)
33. Dagger (Runaways 12)
34. Dark Beast (198 Files)
35. Dazzler (New Excalibur 1)
36. Deadgirl (X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl 1)
37. Debrii (New Warriors 1)
38. Diamond Lil (198 Files)
39. Doctor Lury (X-Factor 5)
40. Domino (House of M Day After 1)
41. Doorman (GLX-Mas 1)
42. Dragoness (198 Files)
43. Dust (New X-Men 20)
44. Elixar (New X-Men 20)
45. Empath (198 Files)
46. Erg (House of M Day After 1)
47. Ernst (198 Files)
48. Exodus (198 Files)
49. Fever Pitch (198)
50. Firestar (House of M Day After 1)
51. Flatman (GLX-Mas)
52. Forge (Cable/Deadpool 18)
53. Freakshow (repowered)
54. Frenzy (198 Files)
55. Emma Frost (House of M 8)
56. Gambit (House of M Day After 1)
57. Gateway (198 Files)
58. Gazer (Repowered)
59. Ghoul (Generation M 1)
60. Glob Herman (198 Files)
61. Hack (repowered)
62. Havok (House of M Day After 1)
63. Hellion (New X-Men 20)
64. Hub (repowered)
65. Husk (House of M Day After 1)
66. Iceman (X-Men 178)
67. Icarus (New X-Men 20)
68. Hisako Ichiki (198 Files)
69. Indra (House of M Day After 1)
70. Shola Inkose (repowered)
71. Irving (Generation M 4)
72. Jazz (198 Files)
73. Madison Jeffries (198 Files)
74. Martha Johansson (198 Files)
75. Johnny (Son of M 1)
76. Johnny Dee (X-Men 198 1
77. Justice (House of M Day After 1)
78. Karma (House of M Day After 1)
79. Kid Omega (198 Files)
80. Kylun (198 Files)
81. Lady Mastermind (198 Files)
82. Leech (198 Files)
83. Lifeguard (198 Files)
84. Litterbug (198 Files)
85. Living Monolith (198 Files)
86. Loa (198 Files)
87. Lorelei (198 Files)
88. M (X-Factor 2)
89. Madrox (House of M Day After 1)
90. Magma (House of M Day After 1)
91. Mammomax (House of M Day After 1)
92. Marvel Girl (House of M Day After 1)
93. Marrow (Generation M 4)
94. Match (198 Files)
95. Meld (Sentinel Squad O*N*E 1)
96. Meltdown (Cable/Deadpool 18)
97. Mentallo (198 Files)
98. Mercury (New X-Men 20)
99. Microbe (New Warriors 5)
100. Micromax (198 Files)
101. Layla Miller (House of M Day After 1)
102. Mister Immortal (GLX-Mas 1)
103. Mister M (Mutopia X 5)
104. Armando Munoz (Deadly Genesis 2)
105. Mystique (X-Men 179)
106. Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Astonishing X-Men 13)
107. Nezhno (New X-Men 20)
108. Nightcrawler (House of M 8)
109. Kiden Nixon (198 Files)
110. Nocturne (New Excalibur 1)
111. Northstar (198 Files)
112. Omega Red (198 Files)
113. Outlaw (X-Men 179)
114. Onyxx (198 Files)
115. Ozymandias (X-Men #182)
116. Peepers (House of M Day After 1)
117. Perfection (Astonishing X-Men 13)
118. Persuasion (198 Files)
119. Pixie (New X-Men 21)
120. Prism (198 Files)
121. Pulse (X-Men 179)
122. Purge (repowered)
123. Psylocke (House of M Day After 1)
124. Quicksilver (repowered)
125. Quill (198 Files)
126. Random (198 Files)
127. Mikhail Rasputin (Colossus: Bloodline 3)
128. Rhapsody (198 Files)
129. Franklin Richards (Fantastic Four)
130. Valeria Richards (Fantastic Four
131. Ricochet (198 Files)
132. Rockslide (New X-Men 20)
133. Rogue (House of M Day After 1)
134. Sabra (198 Files)
135. Sabretooth (198 Files)
136. Sack (198 Files)
137. Sage (House of M Day After 1)
138. Scalphunter (198 Files)
139. Scrambler (198 Files)
140. Selene (198 Files)
141. Shatterstar (198 Files)
142. Shadowcat (House of M 8)
143. Sebastian Shaw (198 Files)
144. Shinobi Shaw (198 Files)
145. Silver Samurai (Wolverine 36)
146. Siryn (Cable/Deadpool 18)
147. Skein (198 Files)
148. Skids (All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z 1)
149. Gregor Smerdyakov (Mutopia X 5)
150. Squirrel Girl (GLX-Mas)
151-153. Stepford Cuckoos (New X-Men 20)
154. Storm (House of M Day After 1)
155. Strong Guy (House of M Day After 1)
156. Sunfire (Repowed)
157. Sunspot (House of M Day After 1)
158. Surge (New X-Men 20)
159. Swordsman IV (Andreas von Strucker) (New Thunderbolts 17)
160. Tempo (198 Files)
161. Thunderbird III (198 Files)
162. Toad (198 Files)
163. Trance (198 Files)
164. Unus (repowered)
165. Ursa Major (198 Files)
166. Vanguard (198 Files)
167. Voght (198 Files)
168. Vulcan (Deadly Genesis 1)
169. Wallflower (New X-Men 20)
170. Warpath (Cable/Deadpool 18)
171. Evangeline Whedon (Uncanny X-Men 466)
172. Whirlwind (198 Files)
173. Wicked (Repowered)
174. Pete Wisdom (House of M Day After 1)
175. Wither (New X-Men 20)
176. Wolfsbane (House of M Day After 1)
177. Wolf Cub (New X-Men 21)
178. Wolverine (House of M 8)
179. X-23 (New X-Men 20)
180. Cassandra Nova Xavier (Astonishing X-Men 13)
Must read picks of the week
It’s that time again everyone. This weeks top 3 Marvel books of the week. It wasn’t really a bad week for books but here’s my top 3.
1. Exiles 79 – “WORLD TOUR: FUTURE IMPERFECT” Part 1 (of 2)! The new team is now complete, just in time to be pulled apart. The Exiles find themselves on a world under the rule of the Incredible Hulk! He’s already killed all the heroes of his world, so what’s to stop him from doing the same to the Exiles?!
My favorite Hulk story ever gets revisited by the Exiles. I liked this one a ton
2. Thunderbolts 101 – Zemo and Songbird? When did that happen? A new base, a new mission statement, and a new outlook face the no-longer-new Thunderbolts!
Good issue all around that deals with the changes coming to the team
3. New X-Men 25 – “CRUSADE” The kids are at an all time low, with Rev. Stryker causing problems on the outside and turmoil inside the Institute. At the time when they most need to be unified, will one of their own betray them? Part 2 (of 4)
It’s a combination of the ending and everything that I enjoyed here.
Iron Man’s side (for the Super-Human Registration)
Spider-Man (thanks to Amazing Spider-Man)
Mister Fantastic
Other side (likely Cap’s side)
Namor
Hulk (I’m sure he’s pissed for being sent to space)
Black Panther (he was against the Iluminati to start with)
Doctor Strange
Black Bolt
There’s another edition of the Marvel Handbook for everyone. So Daron what did you think?
Good stuff. Sorry again about the lateness, everyone.
Yes I enjoyed it but more questions for next issue would be wonderful too you know. So how about this week I let you go first and I’ll finish.
I just want to wish everyone a Happy Easter (those that celebrate it), and a wonderful weekend. See you all in a few days.
Good here goes:
Notes:
1. Marvel.com pollWho is your favorite Wolverine foe?
2. Digital comics Comics you can read online
3. superherohype poll What upcoming 2006 game are you anticipating the most?
4. Marvel is in the process of adding new bios and added a ton of new ones. Check them out here
5. As always your opinions on anything in the article or out on the shelves is welcome. After all you never know what type of response you will get.
6. Keep those emails coming and make sure to label them Marvel Handbook.
That’s it from my end. Reporting from my corner of the Marvel Universe I’m Jim Trabold. Have a great week and see you at the comic shop.
