Take A Seat

 

As I was compiling subject matter for this post, the first thing that came to mind was this guy:

Who looks like he's traveling through space seated on some kind of contraption--at least that's what I'd assumed, having never read the story. Except that this character, Orion, isn't seated on anything, but simply hunched over, gripping what he calls his "power rods." Yet there is a seated character among those Orion mingles with in New Genesis--Metron, who appears to be persona non grata among the others and flits about time-space in his "Mobius Chair" advancing his own agenda.

And thus, the New Gods have unknowingly summoned us to hear another

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Marvel Trivia Question

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What Marvel characters look to chairs for their status, and/or their power?

(Or, in Ben Grimm's case, their life??)

There's no character who tops this list like Thanos, whom we saw making use of a teleporting chair during an encounter with the Silver Surfer that afterward served his needs in a succeeding two-issue series, The Thanos Quest by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim.  In that series, Thanos seeks out and reclaims the six "soul gems" (renaming them the "infinity gems")--each gem in the possession of an Elder of the Universe, who one by one is maneuvered into parting with their gem by this thrall of Death.

Thanos's chair also possesses a number of technological systems which assist Thanos in his quest--but against the Elder known as the Runner, it ends up demolished. (Though despite his cockiness, the Runner would fall to one of the gems which Thanos had already purloined).

Despite his chair now reduced to a pile of scrap metal, acquisition of the gems allows Thanos to travel to his destinations himself thereafter. Yet the chair/device served as a reminder that Thanos preferred making use of technology to achieve his ends, well before he laid hands on all-powerful items like the Cosmic Cube or the Infinity Gems.

Back on Earth, we take as sharp a turn from Thanos as possible when we peek in on the doings of Dracula, who has confronted and been confronted by his old enemy, Quincy Harker, a man who has sworn to bring about his death. As we can see, due to his confinement to a wheelchair (thanks to you-know-who), Quincy has been obliged to invent tools and devices specifically designed to defend against vampires, which over the years have had a mixed rate of success.

In their final encounter, we would see Quincy's conveyance offer one last surprise for the lord of vampires that would conclude their death duel forever.

Magneto, as well, was skilled in the art of surprising his foes--a talent which even Black Bolt finds himself stymied to deal with (and rather painfully at that) when given his own chair after being taken captive.

The X-Men, by contrast, are all too relaxed by Magneto's seated accommodations for them--confinement which, they learn to their horror, might turn out to be their final fate.

M.O.D.O.K., the handiwork of Advanced Idea Mechanics, is one of the most recognizable of Marvel's characters who uses a chair to move his bulk around, though it's this villain's mind that makes him a threat.

Yet in the 1977 Iron Man Annual, he creates a "Doomsday Chair" to augment his might, and which seems to make him a more viable threat until it would prove to be more than even he could handle.

Both Ms. MODOK and MODAM made use of seating similar to their predecessor, though the latter could be something of a vicious, mobile arsenal when necessary.

Another character whose girth required mobility in the form of a specialized chair was Midas, whose obsession with wealth caused him to take extreme measures with those who crossed him, as Morgan Stark found to his near-detriment.

Inevitably, it wasn't just the black sheep of the family who would face Midas and his chair, but Iron Man himself, who battles his foe after a recent operation which repaired his heart with synthetic tissue--having no choice but to flout his doctor's orders to avoid stressful situations.

(I'd say we can make a fair guess as to how things ended up for the old boy.)

Like MODOK, two other characters whose seats were used more in a practical sense than offensively were Brain-Child and Janus, whose power originated from pure mentality or negative force, respectively. (Though Janus's gyro-craft was known to crash through obstacles.)

Naturally, there were a number of characters who merely preferred their seating to be comfortable, yet imposing. Kang the Conqueror comes to mind, introduced to the Avengers in a floating, transparent chair, though not at all averse to an imposing throne. The Mole Man, of course, prefers a throne, as he would hardly be imposing without one; but it's Dr. Doom who often proves he's imposing no matter how or where he's seated.

Due to a condition which rendered him a paraplegic, the Owl was forced to resort to a chair provided by the Maggia that allowed him to still conduct criminal operations. But both he and it meet their presumed end from the weapon of ex-C.I.A. agent and special investigator Simon Stroud, an old friend of the Black Widow's.

There were also occasions when the Avengers were inclined to use their seats offensively--on each other!

And just for good measure, Hercules gets a second round with the so-called memory "inducer," albeit on a slab table this time--while both Iron Man and Thor make sure to diplomatically substitute the word "probe" for "torture."

And don't think you're getting off easy just because you're not an Avenger, Mar-vell.

As for their foes, the Avengers found that even a diminutive opponent packed a wallop when their method of mobility was well-designed--as was the case with Tom Thumb, of the Squadron Supreme. (Though a little teamwork proved to be his undoing.)

Fortunately, not all chairs designed by others were harmful. Thanks to her late husband, Madame Web's seating was built primarily for life support--though it also accommodates her gift for clairvoyance.

But leave it to Annihilus to construct a chair for the sole purpose of stealing a child's power, and, almost certainly, his life.

With thanks to a comment from alert reader Rip Jagger, we turn our attention to the Red Skull's Chiefs of Staff, a group of Nazis hidden for two decades on Exile Island--all bloodthirsty men who desire the death of Captain America (for starters). One of whom, Cadavus, has modified his wheelchair to offset his status as an aged invalid, in a manner befitting its name.

Scratch one "Murder Chair." (I shudder to think what this geezer will tinker with next.)

And, finally, to wrap up this offbeat post, it was only a matter of time before a chair turned on one of the Avengers.