It all started when Firelord, the former herald of Galactus, arrived on our world to use it as a "rest stop" while deciding on his next destination, but who then developed a craving for a certain type of Earth food he'd sampled before--"a culinary achievement which has been mastered nowhere else in the universe!"
(And he may be right about that!)
Did I mention Firelord's temper which, combined with his enormous sense of entitlement, basically placed Earthlings at his beck and call, as far as he was concerned? Perhaps someone should have clued in Tony.
Regrettably, Firelord has arrived during the anti-mutant sentiment that had taken hold in the country and had begun to saturate the airwaves. And with Tony of Tony's Pizza being forced to serve this fire-haired intruder, Tony's human clientele aren't making the distinction between "alien" and "mutant":
Firelord scatters his attackers like tenpins, but persists in his attack when his human foe armed with the firehose targets him once more. Fortunately, someone's spider-sense is going off like *ahem* a four-alarm fire, and our rash "mutie" attacker lives to see another day.
Which puts the amazing Spider-Man in *a-hem* the line of fire,
against a being who was once the herald of Galactus!
And that means...
(Last one, I promise!)
...the fat's spider's in the fire now!
Firelord is quick to disavow any blame on his part for this situation getting out of control; even worse, he feels entirely justified in turning the tables and retaliating against the humans who hosed him (heh). And so Spider-Man, who as yet has no idea of this being's identity or background, springs to their defense, though he errs in his deduction of Firelord's Achilles' heel.
It's to Spider-Man's credit that, even now being aware of his foe's credentials, he continues his attempts to put a halt to Firelord's rampage. Another quick deduction gives him an idea of how to let Firelord's own force and momentum take him out; but this time, he underestimates the sheer power of his opponent, and quickly reaffirms his earlier thought that he's in over his head.
As we can see, Firelord's well-known temper has consumed his thinking completely, and he should be taken at his word--he will go so far as to tear the entire world apart (or, at the very least, the city) to exact what has now become a matter of vengeance for him.
As for Spider-Man, in order to get Firelord temporarily off his back while he regroups, he hurls Firelord's staff into the East River, where the alien races to retrieve it--which gives Spidey an opportunity to call in reinforcements. The Avengers, however, are currently on a mission to investigate the return of Terminus--while the whereabouts of the Fantastic Four, Spidey's first choice, are unknown to him since the destruction of their Baxter Building headquarters.
And then a disturbing thought crosses his mind, if briefly:
And so Spider-Man steels himself for what will likely be a very mismatched, desperate battle against a foe whom he hasn't the power to defeat. And after this superb cliffhanger ending to Part 1 of the story:
...no one is gripping their seat harder than I am.
NEXT:
For a place with more super-heroes per square mile than anywhere else, it seems you can never find any help in New York when you need it, huh? (Although I guess 150 issues of Marvel Team-Up might indicate otherwise.)
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of food , CF, the European Union has just put tariffs on, among other things, orange juice from Florida in retaliation for Trump's tariffs on European steel. You must be worried ; )
ReplyDeleteI bet I've read this story a 100 times, but the cliff-hanger got me lol
ReplyDeleteYes, great observation, George! I suppose if Spidey had intended on teaming up with either the FF or the Avengers instead of just handing over his Firelord problem to them, we might have gotten a different story altogether, eh?
ReplyDeleteColin, since this is probably going to result in another media blitz targeting domestic Florida orange juice consumers, what can I say but: "This is a job for... Captain Citrus!"
Considering the odds against Spidey, Reggie, I thought the cliffhanger was a great way to end Part 1 of this story (as well as this post) and whet readers' appetite for the conclusion. Not to give too much away, but I can at least guarantee that it'll be (heh) a blast.
How do you go from the Kangaroo to Firelord?
ReplyDeleteI do admit, though, I loved this story! Particularly the conversation Hercules had with Firelord after the battle.
M.P.
I think the reverse is also true, M.P.--after facing off against a herald of Galactus who swats his way through meteors for fun, how does Spider-Man get worked up over the likes of the Hobgoblin and the Kingpin? Maybe he should think about getting an agent to field the villains that want to take him on. "So tell me, Mr., er... Molten Man, is it? Have you any background in shrugging off collapsing buildings--or, say, wielding cosmic power, perhaps?"
ReplyDelete