Ultimate Marvel Handbook 191

Features

Hello everyone. Guess who’s back? I’m not exactly sure what’s happened these last few weeks. I’ve been completely out of it and offline since Christmas, but I’m back and ready to get this puppy swinging again.

With that said, I’m ready to get this show on the road. This is the first of a couple editions of the Handbook that will be going up this week to get us caught up, so be on the lookout!

On to the show:

Jagjiwan emails

Hey Marvel dudes…

Have a question (or statement) for you.

1) Wolverine. I’ve been reading a bit of Marvel in the past few months with Civil War and Wolverine: Origins and I’m finding one thing apparent: Wolverine bores me. He is EVERYWHERE in Marvel and he seems so one-dimensional, i.e the gruff warrior who kicks a lot of ass, blah blah blah.

I know that’s how he generally has been portrayed in comics but I look at his beginnings in the 70s and 80s and he was a completely different character. Yes, he was gruff and mean but he had that soul part of him that was appealing in how despite his violent nature and tragic past, there was something redeeming in him. Even in the 90s X-Men cartoon (which I attribute to his mainstream popularity more than his comic adventures), he seemed more multi-faceted, even though he was turned into a more kid-friendly character.

I look at how Garth Ennis portrayed him in the Punisher Max series and find that it was pretty true of how writers today write the character: a tough but imbecilic character. Then again, when he had a cameo in The Pulse and had an exchange with Jessica Jones over the missing Luke Cage, he was shown as what he truly is in those few panels: a tragic, manipulated and broken man. I read a past Marvel Handbook where he was rated as the second most prominent Marvel character after Spidey and believe that its true, but I think that Logan is definitely in need of a character makeover.

What do you guys think?

Can I stay out of this one? I’m a big Wolverine fan. I agree they are over using him now BUT I can’t bash the character. I just can’t. I love Wolverine too much to do it. I don’t think he needs a makeover though

What I can do though is hand you over to my girl Fox (yes I call her Fox.) As in SilverFox. I bet she might have some points. She loves Wolverine a lot too so this might be closer to my opinion.

Its hard with Wolverine because there have been so many variations. Different writers/different artists see him in different ways. He is an incredibly complexed man. The majority of his attitude comes from a) he is a loner, so not used to people-issues. He has always been independent so it is therefore his own person. Then there is the whole Weapon X thing. After what he had been through, is it any wonder he is gruff. He wanted 2 things: Freedom & Revenge. It just wouldnt be Woverine if he was a softie! No, he does not need a character make-over. He’s actually better when the artist/writer shows compassion or grieving that puts him in touch with his human side. One more thing: because friends are few n far between, he uses the ones he has as a focal point. This guy has been through a lot!

Wow, I don’t think I could disagree with my partner in crime more! Wolverine USED to be a very interesting character (even after he became the “face” of Marvel). However, ever since the initial Origins story, which was sub par (to the say the least) Logan has been on a downward spiral as far as his character goes. This problem has only gotten worse since he got a second ongoing series (an ongoing origin story no less – can someone please explain that to me while we’re at it). But to be honest, Wolverine’s lameness is only a symptom of the bigger problem, and that as I’ve said in the past is that Marvel really needs to have a “Crisis” like event to fix their continuity (or start it over) and make their characters interesting again. Marvel has always been about having the more “interesting” characters (in comparison to DC’s godlike characters), but lately to be honest, most of Marvel’s characters just aren’t doing anything for me anymore…

Charles emails

I don’t think that your answer about the Inhumans’ move to the moon was quite accurate. The Inhumas came to Reed Richards because they kept getting sick and couldn’t figure out why. Reed figures out that they are susceptible to air pollution and that there was no place on Earth left that they could live that wasn’t polluted. Bummer. So Reed helps them move the whole city to the Moon because there is air there with no pollution. There was never any mention of Morgana LeFay. In a nice touch Ben Grimm plots the course that they city takes because he has the mad pilot skills that he almost never gets to use.

Allow me to clarify what I meant:

Attilan was originally founded in 5000BC on an island in the North Atlantic by King Myran and was later relocated to the Himalayas. In more recent times, Attilan was shifted to the Blue Area of the Moon, and later onto Atlantis after it was raised by Morgan Le Fay. It was once more transported back to the Himalays under the direction of Black Bolt after deceiving humans into believing it destroyed. Finally Attilan was brought into space by the Kree as a mobile weapon but the Royal Family initially elected to remain with it in space

You will have to read a story called Atlantis Rising to understand it.

For more on the Inhumans:

At the beginning of the Kree-Skrull War, millions of years ago in Earth time, the alien Kree established a station on the planet Uranus, a strategic position between the Kree and Skrull empires. Through their work at this station, they discovered that sentient life on nearby Earth had genetic potential invested in it by the alien Celestials. Intrigued, the Kree began to experiment on Earth’s then-primitive homo sapiens by splicing Eternals DNA into Cro-Magnons.

Their goal was apparently twofold” to investigate possible ways of circumventing their own evolutionary stagnation, and to create a powerful mutant race of soldiers for use against the Skrulls. However, although their experiments were successful in creating a strain of humanity with extraordinary abilities, the Kree abandoned their experiment for reasons which are not yet clear.

Their test subjects, the Inhumans, went on to form a society of their own, which thrived in seclusion from the rest of humanity and developed advanced technology. Experiments with the mutagenic Terrigen Mist gave them various powers, but also caused lasting genetic damage and deformities. This led to a long-term selective breeding program to try to mitigate the effects of these mutations. Their city Attilan has frequently been relocated and, as of 2005 stories, rests in the oxygen-bearing Blue Area of the Moon.

The once-secret existence of the race has come to light among the general public as the Inhumans interact more often with many of Earth’s superheroes” including the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and the X-Men ” whom they have aided against threats such as Galactus, Ultron 7, Magneto, and Apocalypse.

The Inhumans are led by their king, Black Bolt, and his royal family, consisting of Medusa, Karnak, Gorgon, Triton, Crystal, Maximus the Mad, and the canine Lockjaw. Both Crystal and Medusa have been members of the Fantastic Four; Crystal has also been a member of the Avengers.

One interesting observation is that Attilan’s society and culture are predicated on a conformist belief system which permits individuality as it applies to genetic development and physical and mental ability, but demands rigid conformity in that each member of society is assigned a place within that society according to those abilities following exposure to the Terrigen Mist. Once assigned, no Inhuman, no matter how great or powerful can change their place within this rigid caste system.

Another interesting note is that the Inhumans’ culture strictly prohibits miscegenation, or racial combining, between Inhumans and other races. Although a member of the royal family, the Inhuman Crystal appears to have ignored this prohibition married outside of her caste to wed the mutant Quicksilver. However, this may be a privilege due to Crystal’s standing as a member of the royal family.

In contrast it appears that such permissive behavior is lost on the children of the immediate members of the royal family. Gorgon’s daughter, for example, attempted to form relationships outside of her caste and was strictly prohibited from doing so, although this may have been because her relationship was with an Alpha Primitive, a cloned creature with subhuman intellect bred for labor, the lowest Inhuman caste. It is not clear, however, whether commoners face such strict disciplinary measures under similar circumstances.

However, Inhuman society changed radically recently. Ronan the Accuser sought to use the Inhumans as an army to disrupt the Shi’ar control of the Kree after their defeat in the Kree-Shi’ar War. Appearing over the city of Attilan, Ronan seized control in a surprise attack and forced the Inhumans and their king, Black Bolt, to obey, or he would destroy their only home and everyone in it. During their time in forced servitude, Ronan revealed that the Inhumans had always been intended as weapons in service to the Kree. To this end, much of the genetic attributes that were encoded in them during the original experiments were meant to give them the abilities and appearances of various alien races. The idea being that these Inhuman slaves could be used to infiltrate alien worlds and races to conduct espionage or assassinations to weaken potential conquests. Ronan used the Inhumans in just this manner, disrupting treaties being negotiated by the Shi’ar, and launching attacks on ships and bases. Eventually, Black Bolt sought to free his people by challenging Ronan to a personal battle. If Ronan won, the Inhumans would continue to serve him. If the king won, the Inhumans would go free. After a terrible battle, Black Bolt won and Ronan, demonstrating that the Kree still had honor, kept his word and left the Inhumans. All was not over however, as the Inhumans were not willing to just follow Black Bolt back to Earth. Pressure had been building in the closed society of Attilan since open contact with the outside world had been made. During their enslavement by Ronan, the Inhumans had wished for their freedom, but had also developed a sense of pride in their power and a belief in their own destiny. They no longer believed that Black Bolt or the royal family was fit to lead them in the new life they wanted, and they exiled the royal family from Attilan. The royal family returned to Earth to find their destiny. After suffering bigotry and living in Latveria, they returned to Attilan which was located on the Blue Area of the Moon. The Inhumans are currently fostering better relations with Earth by sending students to a Wisconsin University.

In the events of Son of M, Quicksilver stole the Terrigen Crystals in an attempt to give himself back his powers, and to give back the depowered mutants from M-Day their powers. The theft led to a conflict on Genosha between the repowered mutants (whose powers came back as too powerful for their own good, and eventually surrendered), the Inhumans, and the U.S. Office of National Emergency. The conflict ended with the O.N.E. confiscating the Terrigen crystals, to which Black Bolt then verbally declared war on the United States.

Jcfalk9783 asked

Where did you get your info on Toxin coming into CW?

I’m still trying to recall where and I can’t find it either. It’s annoying the heck out of me

How long does it take for Eddie Brock to recover from loss of blood and cancer?

Long enough that he might come back AFTER Civil War? Well likely since the movie is coming out.

Do you think they are going to try to bring Ben Reilly back?

Back in a way but I think that is might be Pete in disguise.

Do you have any other symbiote info?

Symbiotes are an alien race first encountered during the Marvel crossover series, Secret Wars. Grafting itself onto the body of Spider-Man during a battle, one symbiote hijacked a ride back to Earth.

After being separated from its original host, the symbiote then proceeded to take over the body of Eddie Brock to what become know as Venom.

Symbiotes feed on their host’s adrenaline, usually released into the bloodstream during the fight-or-flight response. While they’re connected to a host, they raise their host’s dopamine levels. They can apparently be killed, or at least forced into some sort of death-like state, by an overdose of dopamine-inhibitor.

Symbiotes aren’t able to bond with hosts who have high levels of vitamin C in their blood streams.

Symbiotes reproduce asexually and generally produce one offspring. In the case of Venom, symbiotes were extracted and produced more offspring.

There is no family structure, and while they can sense the proximity of their progeny, they have no interest in them. (The one exception comes once every 1,000 generations, when a symbiote is born with a high risk of psychotic breakdown, and must be guided by older symbiotes, or destroyed.)

The symbiotes are said to have ‘genetic memory,’ and can read the memories of others of their kind by absorbing chunks of their material. They also have some sort of psychic ability — when Venom’s symbiote was in anguish, it let out a psychic scream that effected sensitive humans worldwide, and was received by symbiotes in a nearby star system.

New Tournament

Everyone wanted a team one so here it is. Now I’m setting this up rather different. Field of 64 but we’re doing a few different groups. (so we’re doing a larger tournament then normal. For today we start with Avengers) The final four groups left will move into the big final tournament. I think we could get to March with this if I have it mapped right. So let’s start. (one request: when sending votes send a question too)

1. Ant Man, Hulk, Iron Man I, Thor, Wasp
16. Iron Man I, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Vision

2. Captain America, Giant Man, Iron Man I, Thor, Wasp
15. Hawkeye, Iron Man I, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Vision

3. Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch
14. Black Panther, Iron Man I, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman I, Thor, Vision

4. Captain America, Goliath I, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Wasp
13. Black Panther, Captain America, Iron Man I, Scarlet Witch Swordsman I, Thor, Vision

5. Captain America, Goliath I, Hawkeye, Wasp
12. Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man I, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Vision

6. Black Panther, Goliath I, Hawkeye, Wasp
11. Captain America, Goliath II, Iron Man I, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Vision

7. Black Panther, Goliath II, Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket I
10. Goliath II, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision

8. Goliath II, Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket I
9. Black Panther, Goliath II, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision

—-
1. Beast, Captain America, Iron Man I, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket I
16. Dr. Pym, Hawkeye, Iron Man I, Mockingbird, Tigra, Wonder Man

2. Beast, Black Panther, Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye, Hercules, Iron Man I, Moondragon, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket I
15. Black Knight III, Captain America, Captain Marvel II, Dr. Druid, She-Hulk, Thor

3. Beast, Captain America, Falcon, Iron Man I, Ms. Marvel, Vision, Wasp
14. Black Knight III, Captain America, Captain Marvel II, Hercules, Wasp

4. Beast, Captain America, Falcon, Ms. Marvel, Vision, Wasp
13. Black Knight III, Captain America, Captain Marvel II, Hercules, Sub-Mariner, Wasp

5. Beast, Captain America, Iron Man I, Ms. Marvel, Vision, Wasp, Wonder Man, Yellowjacket I
12. Hawkeye, Iron Man I, Mockingbird, Tigra, Wonder Man

6. Beast, Captain America, Iron Man I, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wasp, Wonder Man
11. Black Knight III, Captain America, Captain Marvel II, Hercules, Starfox, Wasp

7. Captain America, Iron Man I, Thor, Wasp
10. Hawkeye, Iron Man II, Mockingbird, Tigra, Wonder Man

8. Captain America, Hawkeye, Iron Man I, She-Hulk, Thor, Wasp
9. Captain America, Captain Marvel II, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, Starfox, Wasp
—-
1. Black Knight III, Captain Marvel II, Dr. Druid, She-Hulk, Sub-Mariner
16. Black Knight III, Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Giant-Man, Hercules, Sersi, Vision

2. Dr. Pym, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Moon Knight, Tigra, Wasp
15. Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman II, USAgent, War Machine

3. Hawkeye, Mantis, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wonder Man
14. Black Knight III, Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Hercules, Sersi, Vision

4. Dr. Pym, Scarlet Witch, Tigra, US Agent, Vision, Wasp, Wonder Man
13. Black Knight III, Black Widow, Crystal, Hercules, Sersi, Vision

5. Captain America, Gilgamesh, Quasar, She-Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Thor
12. Black Knight III, Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Hercules, Quasar, Thor II, Vision

6. Dr. Pym, Human Torch I, Scarlet Witch, US Agent, Vision, Wasp, Wonder Man
11. Black Widow, Captain America, Hercules, Quasar, Rage, Sersi, Vision

7. Dr. Pym, Hawkeye, Iron Man I, US Agent, Wasp, Wonder Man
10. Hawkeye, Iron Man I, Living Lightning, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman II, US Agent, Wonder Man

8. Captain America, Quasar, Sersi, Vision
9. Dr. Pym, Hawkeye, Iron Man I, Scarlet Witch, Tigra, Wasp, Wonder Man
—-
1. Hulk, Darkhawk, Spider-Man, Binary, Sub-Mariner, Moondragon, Vision, Quasar, Firebird, Starfox, Black Widow, Giant-Man, Thor, Spider-Woman, Living Lightning, Photon, Falcon, Hercules, Iron Man, Machine Man, Crystal, Quicksilver, Black Knight, She-Hulk, Black Panther, Tigra, Rage, Demolition Man, Swordsman, Tigra, Beast, USAgent, Sersi, Captain America, Sandman, Hawkeye, Magdalene, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Stingray and Rick Jones
16. Mister Immortal, Big Bertha, Doorman, Flatman, Squirrel Girl, Dinah Soar, Grasshopper, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Monkey Joe

2. Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Giant-Man, Hercules, Quicksilve
15. Hulkling, Wiccan, Stature, Kate Bishop, Patriot, Speed, Iron Lad

3. Black Widow, Crystal, Giant-Man, Hercules, Quicksilver, Vision
14. Captain America, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Sentry, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Wolverine, Ronin

4. Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Giant-Man, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Vision, Wasp
13. Ant-Man, Captain America,Captain Britain, Falcon, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, She-Hulk, T’Challa, Vision, Wasp, Yellowjacket

5. Captain America, Hawkeye, Hellcat II, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman III, Thor III, Vision
12. Yellowjacket, Scarlet Witch, Wasp, Iron Man,, Silverclaw, Captain America, Quicksilver, Warbird, Firestar, Edwin Jarvis, Justice, Wonder Man, Jack of Hearts, Black Widow, Stingray, Photon, Stingray, She-Hulk, Firebird, Living Lightning, Hercules, Triathalon, Vision, Black Knight, Thor

6. Black Widow, Captain America, Crystal, Giant-Man, Hercules, Quicksilver, Vision
11. Goliath, Iron Man, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Thor, Warbird, Wasp, Vision, Wonder Man

7. Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision II, Wonder Man and Warbird
10. Thor, Jack of Hearts, Starfox, Tigra, Quasar, Photon, Moondragon

8. Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Firestar, Justice
9. Warbird, Goliath, Iron Man, Wasp, She-Hulk, Triathalon, Scarlet Witch

My top 5 must read Marvel comics last week

1. GHOST RIDER #6: How did Johnny Blaze end up in Hell, anyway? It’s simple, really: He died. And when he died, his eternal soul–long promised to Hell in exchange for saving Crash Simpson–descended into the Pit, taking the Ghost Rider along with it. This is the story of how and why it all happened. Daniel Way is joined by horror comic legend RICHARD CORBEN for a special 2-part story.

2. EXILES ANNUAL #1: They’ve battled world-class threats of every kind imaginable and always won, but now the Exiles take on an unbeatable enemy: themselves! It’s the ORIGINAL Exiles versus the current team lineup in an impossible battle that cuts to the heart of Marvel’s most unpredictable series!

3. NEW X-MEN #33: New Arc! X-23’s past returns to haunt the New X-Men. Sure, the team needs a break after the horror and insanity of the last year, but TOO BAD! When Wolverine brought X-23 back into the Institute, only Emma Frost tried to stop it. Here and now, you’ll find out why she was RIGHT. The fallout from X-23: TARGET X begins here!

4. WOLVERINE #49: It’s Christmas Eve, and a heavily armed suicide cult clad in elf outfits–has taken hostage a mid-Manhattan department store and is threatening to blow the place sky high. Among the shoppers: Logan, who’s just itching to sink his (Santa) claws into someone after enduring the Yuletide rush. Should be easy for a damn-near invulnerable force of nature to save the day, right? Think again. All is not as it seems, as a spoiled billionaire’s daughter is about to find out, and the true meaning of Christmas will be spelt out…in blood.

5. X-23: TARGET X #1: Because you demanded it! Superstar Top Cow artist MIKE CHOI joins the team as X-23 returns, picking up the bloody pieces where her first mini-series left off. Having escaped the Facility that created her, X-23 struggles to create a real life for herself. But when your entire life has been about death and destruction, can you ever really escape the darkness? The rest of the story begins here, and won’t end until X-23 faces off with the one man most responsible for her life… WOLVERINE.

Civil War update

Iron Man/Captain America: Causalities of War #1: Captain America and Iron Man meet in the ruins of the old Avengers Mansion to discuss Civil War. We find out Cap and Iron Man have secret Avengers protocols they use to contact each other. They both respect that and agree not to fight in the old base. Cap and Iron Man discuss the past when they didn’t see eye to eye with such events as Armor Wars and when Cap became Nomad and the Captain. They go out to the garden to see the statue tributing the first Avengers. The discussion becomes heated at times but they return to their discussion on the war and friendship. We learn of a battle between Tony and Machine Man when he was drunk almost causing Machine Man’s death. Tony even goes as far to say Cap is using his status to get others on his side. Cap argues Tony is using his own influences on his team. We find out that the original plan was called Project Wideawake where Sentinels would hunt down metahumans and depower or imprison them and the SHRA was a compromise. Cap attempts to leave when Iron Man grabs his shoulder and asks him to stay only to have Cap threaten him and force Tony’s armor off for a fight. We see them fight as well past matches. They stop and agree they should’ve talked sooner and they are not going to stop like in the past. They part their separate ways.

Fantastic Four #541: On his way to the airport Ben Grimm is annoyed by his cab driver who’s talking on a cell phone. Ben breaks his phone by flipping a button off his shirt but the cabbie pulls out a second phone. Ben is told by government people if he leaves he could lose his money and citizenship. In France Ben find a group of French heroes who want his help. After a meal they fight the villain who is only doing because his girlfriend. The heroes are met by applause as the villain contacts his girlfriend

Civil War; War Crimes #1: We see Kingpin as a kid who never got to play with his peers because he was teased. We see him on Rykers where he hired the Enforcers to beat up and inmate. We find out a man named Mr. Barrett is taking care of most of Fisk work. Hammerhead tells Kingpin he’s been paroled hoping he rots in jail. Tony shows up and we find out him and Fisk have a past (including playing chess). Fisk agrees to help find Cap like Lucky Luciano helped in WW II. Tony agrees. Outside Hammerhead talks with Trapster and Slyde. Slyde turns him down and is killed by Underworld. Others learn of thes and attempts are made on Fisk life. Fisk tells Tony Cap’s alias as well as the others as Barrett find out more on Hammerhead. Kingping is told by Tony that the government has captured Cloak and Dagger. If he helps Tony find the others he will be let out. Hill approves. Instead Kingpin tells them where to find Hammerhead. They capture him and as bunch of other criminals who want to take advantage of Civil War. Tony goes to see Fisk but Barrett tells him no. We see Cap met with Fisk to take down the villains for secrets. Later Underworld shoots Hammerhead. He was really working for Kingpin. Kingpin regains his stature

Civil War: Frontline #9: Sally Floyd meets with Captain America to write a story on his side of the war. Cap compares the actions of the government in trying to register heroes to the actions of Nazis. Sally leaves after angry. We see Pete with Ben’s help hacking Tony’s computers to find out the truth about Tony making money from the war and he is. Sally goes on a blind date. Back at the Tower Reed tries to find out who helped Norman and Tony says he thinks he knows who it is. At the Raft Robbit is escorted to a cell only to be taken hostage to help others escape. He explodes and stops the escape killing many inmates. We see him in the end in a cell saying he’ll register. In another story: two detectives interrogate Norman Osborn about the Atlantean Ambassador but Norman can’t answer. Some government officials take him away as he says”They put something inside me–.”

Invincible Iron Man #14: Tony Stark meets with the pro-registration before visiting a training camp and rehab center for villains. We find out Happy is in a coma. At lunch Pepper says Happy didn’t want to be a vegetable and tells Tony to let him die. Tony says no and leaves angry. Tony contacts Cap and meets him at Yankee Stadium. He ask if Cap and his people hurt Happy. Cap denies it. The Secret Avengers show up and fight Tony. Spidey helps as well and learns Tony is using something like spider sense with his armor now. Tony takes them down and leaves them go. Later at his place Tony almost makes a drink as Sue shows up and blames him for her seperation to Reed. She also was at the hospital with the meeting with Pepper and tells him Pepper was right. Tony gets mad. Tony pours out the alcohol he almost drank As Happy dies

There’s another edition of the Marvel Handbook for everyone. What did you think Kev?

Well for one…I think I’m not Kev. Past that, it feels good to be back in the saddle again.

I just hope it picks up after the holidays again. I’ll catch you all next week.

1. Digital comics Comics you can read online

2. Marvel is in the process of adding new bios and added a ton of new ones. Check them out here

3. 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.

4. Keep those emails coming and make sure to label them Marvel Handbook. The more emails the better the article is.

Indeed as we gear up for the new years here, we’re going to need all the emails you can send. Sorry again for my time away. It was much needed, but now I’m back and rarin’ to go. I hope everyone had a great couple of holidays. We’ll see you all in a couple days. Until then, let’s get those emails flowing again.