Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Speak No Evil


Can YOU


Name This Marvel Villain??



This man looks like he has something to say, doesn't he? And none of it good, because this is Jason Cragg, the Voice of Doom--possibly the earliest incarnation of those like Killgrave, the Purple Man, who could compel others to following their commands just upon hearing their voice. And while Killgrave gained his power through exposure to nerve gas, Cragg's origin involved a little more creative thinking. An announcer at a radio station, Cragg just happened to be in the right place at the right time:


Darn those "electrified particle--ionized atoms," they'll drift in anywhere!


It didn't take Cragg long to discover what he had--and what he no longer needed:



Cragg also discovers a quick path to a claim to fame--the defeat of Ant-Man, who, you'll excuse the pun, is looked up to by practically everyone in the city:



And so Cragg begins his campaign--but, since he can take the direct approach due to his power, he doesn't have to worry about choosing the right words to win people to his cause. For Cragg, every word is the right word:



Ant-Man is now on the run, and must ditch his cybernetic helmet and gas belt cannisters since Cragg and his men are using magnets to locate the small hero. But since his helmet was the only thing protecting Ant-Man from the effect of Cragg's hypnotic voice, Cragg is now able to strike at Ant-Man even if he can't locate him:



Now, if you're a villain who has your enemy right where you want him, helpless to escape, do you crush him then and there? Pfah. How unimaginative. Why not send him off to kill himself, and thus prove to everyone that you're a short-sighted dope?



Cragg's scheme fails, due to Ant-Man's ants loyally saving him from the drink even though he isn't wearing his cybernetic helmet to issue those commands.

And so, Ant-Man races back to his lab to enlarge himself and plan a counter-attack--and lucky for us, because we AT LAST get to see a schematic of Ant-Man's sophisticated lab entrance:



Obviously it's got nothing on the Baxter Building cutaways we've seen, or other detailed layouts of our heroes' pads--but given that Pym probably had to construct it with tweezers and scrounge up a couple of AA batteries for that elevator, I'd say he did a halfway decent job.

When Ant-Man is ready to attack, he's got both a plan and, of all things, a piece:



Wow, threatening to murder his enemy in cold blood--man, this guy has "Avenger" written all over him, eh? But there's a little more to Pym's plan, now that Cragg has fallen for the threat and reversed his anti-Ant-Man oratory:



The story unfortunately ends before the part we were all looking forward to:  watching Cragg suck up to his former employers at the station for his old job back selling dog food.

3 comments:

  1. Now this was the goombah who came back wearing a ridiculous costume incorporating speaker boxes on his shoulders, right? The one who said, "Captain America! I command you to - " (Cap's shield hits him in the face, producing the most unfortunate sound effect ever:)- WANK!

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  2. I think if Edward Woodward took a turn as our erstwhile villain, people would be scrambling hand over foot to obey the sound of his voice.

    The Prowler (When you hear this sound a comin', hear the drummers drumming I want you to join together with the band).

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  3. George, yes, thanks to Madame X (and, goodness knows, there had to be a character named "Madame X" somewhere in comics), Cragg returned to cause trouble, for Cap as well as the Avengers.

    Prowler, all things being "equal," I think you may have a point!

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