tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41421999003692388522024-03-17T23:04:11.138-04:00The Peerless Power of Comics!A look back at the titles, talent, and stories of Marvel Comics!Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comBlogger2485125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-18096683691544287412023-10-05T02:30:00.179-04:002023-10-14T10:53:25.152-04:00Journey's End<p> </p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Dear Friends</b></span>,<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9UOAxGHyj2Aa44SerzkhJhvFxUtJPoyi4QH9DMYHiZqNlAqotUWXf5E_dmnzQhX-TiGmck7_38pA1K9wke3WXAmlztudtE7a9t0GyzrSMkS-GgOtYs77fHcwx1Y0k5CHrDPwI8XnButdaNHNAEqeWoiiKfJUAfJgcFqzWznTbseVPA_r6rEgx6wz0Q1t/s661/test.gif" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="532" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9UOAxGHyj2Aa44SerzkhJhvFxUtJPoyi4QH9DMYHiZqNlAqotUWXf5E_dmnzQhX-TiGmck7_38pA1K9wke3WXAmlztudtE7a9t0GyzrSMkS-GgOtYs77fHcwx1Y0k5CHrDPwI8XnButdaNHNAEqeWoiiKfJUAfJgcFqzWznTbseVPA_r6rEgx6wz0Q1t/w323-h400/test.gif" width="323" /></a></div>With a mixture of sadness and optimism, I would like to bid you all a fond farewell, as I sign off from The Peerless Power of Comics. I've enjoyed contributing to this effort <i>immensely</i>--but essentially, I feel I've accomplished what I set out to do and would like to pivot to other interests and take a breather.<p>
More of an explanation has to do with time constraints, as well as the creative impulse which has played such a large part in putting together this scrapbook of my memories and impressions of the comics I've read over the years. As you can imagine, maintaining a regular blogging schedule requires working it into your daily/weekly routine, while also taking into consideration the ever-present onus to conceive and bring an idea for a post to fruition. In the first few years of blogging, brimming with ideas and eagerness, that was all surprisingly manageable; but as I've changed and grown over the years and my priorities have shifted, I've found that creative spark has become something I've had to dig deeper for, rather than simply relying on inspiration that always seemed to flow from my thoughts and through the keyboard almost of its own accord. And so, concerned that the quality I endeavor to bring to the PPC might begin to suffer as a result, I opted to tip my hat and make a gracious exit. After over eleven years and having produced over 2,400 blog posts, it feels like the correct decision--and combined with the need I feel to reallocate my time to other responsibilities and pursuits, doing so has left me in a positive frame of mind for whatever might be around the corner in my future.</p><p>
To those of you who have graced these posts with your interest and comments through the years, you've contributed immeasurably to the hopefully welcoming and humorous atmosphere I've attempted to impart--in addition to the thought-provoking back-and-forth which is a necessary component of the PPC, for myself as well as no doubt others who have had the pleasure of reading your thoughts. We are <i>all</i> comics fans, here and throughout this medium--and for each of you, your take on a writer, or a story, or a penciler, inker, or character has brought something different and interesting to the roundtable that we share. I've been known to suggest to some of you that you take a crack at blogging yourself, for however long you care to, and see what direction(s) it takes you in. I, for one, would be eager to see how your own impressions on the subject of comics shape its format and content.</p><p>
To those visitors who preferred to withhold comment but frequented this forum on a regular basis or even occasionally, thank you for making the PPC reading experience part of your week. Various statistics outlets can give one an idea of how many people frequent your site, where they're located, which post(s) they're reading, etc., but when you blog you nevertheless take a shot in the dark as far as how successfully or even <i>if</i> your content will catch on with people. If you've been a reader here, then your enjoyment of comics gave us something in common, and made you a welcome guest in my book.</p><p>
Lastly, to Marvel Comics--where do I begin to express my gratitude? Having spent over a decade of my life adapting my memories of your stories to these pages, I found it to be just as rewarding an experience as when I was bringing home a fresh stack of your books from the store, plopping down on the couch or a bed, and eagerly flipping open fresh pages to a Marvel story. (Your staff and assembled talent may have felt a monthly publication schedule was tight, but for we readers it also turned out to be a considerable anticipation-builder.) I came aboard as a reader during the early 1970s, and began to assimilate this wealth of fictional excitement and imagination which took me through high school, college, and beyond, while <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-riotous-roundup-of-enormous-and.html" target="_blank">improving my vocabulary</a> of ten-dollar words in the process. Within the PPC where both stories and talent share the spotlight, I've strived to strike a balance between the appreciation and admiration of a fanboy and the more scrutinizing and discerning eye of a sometime-reviewer, bolstered with healthy doses of humor and wry observation. In short, Marvel and its writers, artists, inkers, colorists, letterers, et al. have played a part in my creativity and drive flourishing through the years, while providing me with so <i>much</i> enjoyment along the way. If a person sees those things reflected within the PPC, it's gratifying to bring an end to the blog on such a note.</p><p>
As for my immediate future, I'll still be frequenting the PPC behind the scenes (a little tweaking here, a little fine-tuning there), while also maintaining <a href="https://twitter.com/peerlesspower" target="_blank">its limited presence on X</a> (fka Twitter). Once again, my humble thanks to each and every one of you for taking this journey with me, and <i>all</i> the best to you.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucV3NwN7Zw96JQtel43KuM1Zp-5grpOLkjr-XsBlgVCxi9EruISdho4RwRsVY_8BHjPZyTR_l-iJxpMuy3GuD-786Wz6ZmGGV5_1XFMDGeSlzWs_et-I7_nNfIZIzo1NvQTUdhNEVKwwuyetLmHbacfzTBiero9AKoQK-yNGn8RoWg3tk0v4oyEF4xWpd/s811/marvel-banner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="811" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucV3NwN7Zw96JQtel43KuM1Zp-5grpOLkjr-XsBlgVCxi9EruISdho4RwRsVY_8BHjPZyTR_l-iJxpMuy3GuD-786Wz6ZmGGV5_1XFMDGeSlzWs_et-I7_nNfIZIzo1NvQTUdhNEVKwwuyetLmHbacfzTBiero9AKoQK-yNGn8RoWg3tk0v4oyEF4xWpd/w400-h101/marvel-banner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>
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</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2013/02/this-is-job-for.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="371" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQml863y42iIbR_aFz8ww8xT0zhjB2rap8CYFLMNYTdI_gh77mFAIbLkXL5WKbo79YR4cQnub_67Fduw6rVTrKk0eHKN7-bmvzeTLXM1WJ5_2yO1QXmDChEREpFH-3SS1O0lTf0o-6u2u-Rt6c5Ec7BjkSJfHyf1PS0ZkP_eFWewamsesZyZznRnc_1QJI/w188-h104/Stupor%20Duck.gif" width="188" /></a></div><br />
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<p></p><p></p>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-64890721948964227592023-10-02T02:30:00.066-04:002023-10-02T06:53:47.586-04:00The Surfer, The Titan, and the Dethroned<p> </p>Following <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/in-this-corner-champion.html" target="_blank">the introduction</a> of <b>Champion</b> in the 1982 <i>Marvel Two-In-One Annual</i>, a story that saw him pitting his might against not only the Thing but also a grouping of Marvel's strongest characters, we catch up with the fierce competitor nearly five years later as he travels once more to Earth, having conspired with the Elders of the Universe in (to put it mildly) an ambitious plan to destroy Galactus. Yet for what purpose would he return to our planet? Having already whetted his appetite to compete against Earth's most powerful individuals, what could interest him on a world that Galactus has seemingly abandoned for good?<p>
For the answer, we would have to turn our attention to the Antarctic continent in mid-1987, where <b>the Silver Surfer</b> is having an impromptu encounter with the Fantastic Four--a meeting which would lead to the Surfer finally <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2018/10/free-at-last.html" target="_blank">achieving his freedom</a> from being imprisoned on our world by his former master. Unfortunately, it's the Surfer himself who is being targeted by the Elders--and one Elder in particular, who all but announces his intentions upon landfall.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibW2nGdsyNd5qiykRaU0rSSnZo9d86Q8Hn_nuJP2GFSLXHKd7GPfn4hAGYuIrC5EDI2G7RsDxzhJmpK7hcgfjEgIkA9YhS-9Gc8_1jnZT3RRP4KqihiJoU7rGRBFQ45QkXT3w36_gU1Qv8qgQmlNjz8KBtdI9b2N9cN-SRg5EtRRr1uNurMmKufKnrRUW8/s1994/ss1_9-10-11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="1994" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibW2nGdsyNd5qiykRaU0rSSnZo9d86Q8Hn_nuJP2GFSLXHKd7GPfn4hAGYuIrC5EDI2G7RsDxzhJmpK7hcgfjEgIkA9YhS-9Gc8_1jnZT3RRP4KqihiJoU7rGRBFQ45QkXT3w36_gU1Qv8qgQmlNjz8KBtdI9b2N9cN-SRg5EtRRr1uNurMmKufKnrRUW8/w640-h308/ss1_9-10-11.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>As we can see, Tryco Slatterus's arrogance as an Elder is intact, treating the Surfer with the same disdain as he would any other figure he would engage in battle with. Yet soon enough he learns what manner of foe he's challenged, at which point he becomes swept up in his fervor to triumph; but the Elders, including Champion, are known to the Surfer, and he responds accordingly.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLalQEDWub2abrDORq4ZXjb0XQVtwPCsw9ILJtQpAeEVr2vhu0fviyCpa6DlWNqZ38HoTTqEVFEZtZi8z8JM66haNVEzsE1dKkyq446-Xcf8dXrR9b2_V-B-uNvA29uy4OJOUPiu7X6i_uhQgr4GP9jLEb9ckNR55WU8jj_Vvu7gztRkNat5scomcsdl1b/s1539/ss1_12-13-14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="931" data-original-width="1539" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLalQEDWub2abrDORq4ZXjb0XQVtwPCsw9ILJtQpAeEVr2vhu0fviyCpa6DlWNqZ38HoTTqEVFEZtZi8z8JM66haNVEzsE1dKkyq446-Xcf8dXrR9b2_V-B-uNvA29uy4OJOUPiu7X6i_uhQgr4GP9jLEb9ckNR55WU8jj_Vvu7gztRkNat5scomcsdl1b/w640-h388/ss1_12-13-14.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>Witnessing Champion's first loss is rather gratifying for we Earthlings, and particularly for the Thing. Yet Slatterus puts the best face on it he can, remaining in full Elder mode and only providing the Surfer with information he as the victor in their contest is entitled to know.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Fo6HsYRTV6J29iv23jth4kiv1u-rgN3Neluvh1rHFgNc7AQr9m2NEokyEdXgb5G97yTUTTunKbcZHSWrbCSErRlNfduwvs3izKVChLNI5NoqumllUUsVlP50skoe4bMSUQrK9I3VkCLHxp8WIi7eWXZB-o7MYbp8gpYgiQOPVaXw-a667F2x4eJyngtw/s1050/ss1_14-15.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="1050" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Fo6HsYRTV6J29iv23jth4kiv1u-rgN3Neluvh1rHFgNc7AQr9m2NEokyEdXgb5G97yTUTTunKbcZHSWrbCSErRlNfduwvs3izKVChLNI5NoqumllUUsVlP50skoe4bMSUQrK9I3VkCLHxp8WIi7eWXZB-o7MYbp8gpYgiQOPVaXw-a667F2x4eJyngtw/w640-h568/ss1_14-15.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnufYg9uh-qz-5ExTenLKFjscP6qQaOorL9uKeKXBzAX_Cp2FfOqirg4Lvw-p6QMjgnJ3QgBFrQ3Oi4d4hI4CBvA8wAb_uzbV-n2ykQBwwsFvkLO5VODPSUIGBGyReq3dETD9IgzIFOmFnCtwnjEf84XL8nXfPmtrDZ64g4bvxxVlSNXC6yelzsJ-X0QsG/s623/ss1_16.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="623" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnufYg9uh-qz-5ExTenLKFjscP6qQaOorL9uKeKXBzAX_Cp2FfOqirg4Lvw-p6QMjgnJ3QgBFrQ3Oi4d4hI4CBvA8wAb_uzbV-n2ykQBwwsFvkLO5VODPSUIGBGyReq3dETD9IgzIFOmFnCtwnjEf84XL8nXfPmtrDZ64g4bvxxVlSNXC6yelzsJ-X0QsG/w519-h344/ss1_16.jpg" width="519"></a></div><p><br>(A nice touch by artist Marshall Rogers with the breath condensation emitted by the FF members. We can only assume that, until now, they had the Fantasti-Car's rollover windshields in operation, rather than fly what is essentially a convertible through such a frigid climate.)</p><p></p><p>
Inadvertently, of course, Slatterus' refusal to elaborate on just how the Surfer could escape Earth has been the catalyst for the Surfer and the FF putting their heads together to finally succeed in attaining the sky-rider's freedom. (You'll find bits and pieces of the Elders' plans for Galactus in the PPC, but do yourself a favor and read writer Steve Englehart's <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/silver-surfer-epic-collection-john-byrne/1121758284" target="_blank">complete arc</a> to see how it all plays out.)</p><p>
Three years later in 1990, Champion makes another unfortunate choice in sparring partners--<b>Thanos of Titan</b>, who at this point in time has begun his search for the Infinity Gems (which were still referred to as the "Soul Gems")--one of which, the Power Gem, Champion now wears on his forehead yet remaining ignorant of its capability and only subconsciously drawing upon its energy. As a fighter, Champion has found the ideal world to provide sufficient challenge for his ability as a fighter in perpetuity--and when Thanos issues a suitably blatant challenge of his own as bait to draw his attention, a war such as this world has never seen (or, as we'll learn, shall ever see <i>again</i>) explodes onto an already war-torn planet.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ardfe6ciPo9guX6yUFspMIJG9poTYKLPk4jYAGobHCGa_fJxj0uchhTQQVNBoYhGypwr0GxJdbQOpBzh-d5PvJgrtgaL0cGjTfjeAiv2ViJMZZA0d340OVSqc9kcwDJCbOJi1LG1m1B1k5Y6o6SAVrqnV9hB1l94HBJoVrnA0rOSGSN_-JcUHVL83d19/s1428/tq1_22-23.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="1428" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ardfe6ciPo9guX6yUFspMIJG9poTYKLPk4jYAGobHCGa_fJxj0uchhTQQVNBoYhGypwr0GxJdbQOpBzh-d5PvJgrtgaL0cGjTfjeAiv2ViJMZZA0d340OVSqc9kcwDJCbOJi1LG1m1B1k5Y6o6SAVrqnV9hB1l94HBJoVrnA0rOSGSN_-JcUHVL83d19/w640-h426/tq1_22-23.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3c0pXRAM8_s2uCMzr0uF8-KDYtuxzivC7fJUl7eF8LYEdQmrCHryEhhzcYFk7uAuT__Cb69HFt_CNK1szNmH5YIs-qVvYu-YrIdrM5-npfrBQabzZWmqTx7ToprpJtm7DOmeaad3VZGqaWNRNKI94Ucbmx03l8LmkYnPqnL_GqV8j8Kpmbi5yxsCppESy/s1734/tq1_24-25-26.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1734" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3c0pXRAM8_s2uCMzr0uF8-KDYtuxzivC7fJUl7eF8LYEdQmrCHryEhhzcYFk7uAuT__Cb69HFt_CNK1szNmH5YIs-qVvYu-YrIdrM5-npfrBQabzZWmqTx7ToprpJtm7DOmeaad3VZGqaWNRNKI94Ucbmx03l8LmkYnPqnL_GqV8j8Kpmbi5yxsCppESy/w640-h332/tq1_24-25-26.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-surfer-titan-and-dethroned.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-15124294860380393822023-09-28T02:30:00.118-04:002023-10-02T06:46:29.263-04:00In This Corner... Champion!<p> </p>The year 1982 saw the publication of the seventh and final <i>Marvel Two-In-One Annual</i>, which, like its companion monthly series, featured the Thing and a special guest-star in action together--only in <i>this</i> instance, the series ends with a bang (and more than a few punches) when Ben Grimm is joined by a group of Marvel's heaviest hitters in Madison Square Garden to answer the challenge of an alien bruiser to meet him in the boxing ring, where they will fight for the fate of our world!<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLTg-To4rrSAwoqnFldT31HLdTqL8KONw_XmGFmZsWQdJr7pguGD5tuKngvL6XLvcmH_7Ik1O4iXVOolNr6aFB14Mxg7E3m8Wkc0GjpiZq0B_uaa-Xgfti7Rqet2cyXYQ3--WaQfhUvboqZHUk3d4xKPEHLEA2rO0aZTFykMp4XEiTnUVfx1suqqWx64S/s894/mtio-ann7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="589" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLTg-To4rrSAwoqnFldT31HLdTqL8KONw_XmGFmZsWQdJr7pguGD5tuKngvL6XLvcmH_7Ik1O4iXVOolNr6aFB14Mxg7E3m8Wkc0GjpiZq0B_uaa-Xgfti7Rqet2cyXYQ3--WaQfhUvboqZHUk3d4xKPEHLEA2rO0aZTFykMp4XEiTnUVfx1suqqWx64S/w422-h640/mtio-ann7.jpg" width="422"></a></div><p><br>Together with writer Tom DeFalco and penciller Ron Wilson, the six-man finishing crew of Bob Camp, Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Dan Green, Armando Gil, and Chic Stone joined to produce a 39-page story which features the first appearance of <b>Champion</b>, an Elder of the Universe who seeks out and contends with those who can satisfy his thirst for competition. Soon enough, however, we find that DeFalco has apparently taken a leaf from <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2021/08/enslaved-to-fight-or-die.html" target="_blank">the planet Kral</a>, a world in the Skrull empire whose population became fascinated with Earth's gangster era and mimicked the people and culture of that period. Here, we find the sport of boxing having an equally compusive effect on Champion and his entourage of alien trainers as well as a slick fight promoter, who bring along with them an Earth-style boxing ring, a training gym, the lingo of boxing and boxers, and even attire that carries the Everlast sporting goods logo--traveling to other worlds and seizing powerful individuals to offer them (what else?) a "title shot" against Champion, a confident and seasoned boxer who has embraced the sport of boxing to the fullest and who can weave and get in under your guard with the best of them.</p><p></p><p>
We first meet our promoter, Proja, who surprises the Thing with one of the most offbeat offers our gravelly hero has ever heard--and who, as Ben learns, slyly won't take no for an answer.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT7-2y--fil-Cjy8DoS_tnuC_9Ij1uB0XqPWLtoeOroHrgr9DoqhfVGtGemBiLhykE7k4rUnSjOf5bSvZjQMVM8R6tXAipIqmyA5nZD3jqqpoK1h9NNaBlvclQSS6nnJjitabN5A-RGwA5l4KPX5VDwxqBb3DwYygIDWEuzxvIdRJWsOsDEIptG-lI4GP/s879/mtio-ann7_3-4.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="879" data-original-width="818" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT7-2y--fil-Cjy8DoS_tnuC_9Ij1uB0XqPWLtoeOroHrgr9DoqhfVGtGemBiLhykE7k4rUnSjOf5bSvZjQMVM8R6tXAipIqmyA5nZD3jqqpoK1h9NNaBlvclQSS6nnJjitabN5A-RGwA5l4KPX5VDwxqBb3DwYygIDWEuzxvIdRJWsOsDEIptG-lI4GP/w596-h640/mtio-ann7_3-4.gif" width="596"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiR1xQJIATt0LGKS4SnMftDZ-fPdoGuCRcYGa3DZqWtTLV-IukXm53gzFT8ELANMTPZ3SHFnwAokOWiD8A5i5ufFMI9hK3Y0oVBuoUYWN1_wj0qP9ExAYjBC4M8eByyS03OcHzCrSLmmz50AggDTUpVIiabh6IFsxst1sFtYr8aUSOvfG24-706cDVtOYm/s824/mtio-ann7_4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="824" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiR1xQJIATt0LGKS4SnMftDZ-fPdoGuCRcYGa3DZqWtTLV-IukXm53gzFT8ELANMTPZ3SHFnwAokOWiD8A5i5ufFMI9hK3Y0oVBuoUYWN1_wj0qP9ExAYjBC4M8eByyS03OcHzCrSLmmz50AggDTUpVIiabh6IFsxst1sFtYr8aUSOvfG24-706cDVtOYm/w640-h222/mtio-ann7_4.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>Yet Ben is only the first of several stops Proja makes--extending his "offer" to a number of potential challengers for his master before finally arriving with them in a training area placed outside the fabric of reality, geared for terran clientele.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rRM57cDjJauOUPg9tr01tTBfV1uuPH4Cj1ctfq79cXJexlyFkjAAqNpdg4WZcsoUf0523cy9kS-7tHvCz-yfZVgXOOG4vxt_7sH0ESXmHfrONYIK225UNz_Ygrn_O3YjkAqV91eFCI2fOrOWM6-1Rzbh3RMROkVsuiCmocty7-yBX4m5dVCFUsw0OeRq/s603/mtio-ann7_6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="603" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rRM57cDjJauOUPg9tr01tTBfV1uuPH4Cj1ctfq79cXJexlyFkjAAqNpdg4WZcsoUf0523cy9kS-7tHvCz-yfZVgXOOG4vxt_7sH0ESXmHfrONYIK225UNz_Ygrn_O3YjkAqV91eFCI2fOrOWM6-1Rzbh3RMROkVsuiCmocty7-yBX4m5dVCFUsw0OeRq/w519-h516/mtio-ann7_6.jpg" width="519"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5E_JaMb8pwgMUPJTPa9W654LPChU4OL7Byeb83wRCavaaoqZFNUrBPb9WWsghSKb2k_7-cascDPiAuXEQSDtXC1mYCXFYGUXlWcKU0IyrPoQLoE79tY1LR1wozPMTFwDDuowdkpk593G_e4vaMuN7w9k-g23E8NU3LzgEsh7hJwzWSKFenjWGqn9-YW2b/s1208/mtio-ann7_5-7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="1208" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5E_JaMb8pwgMUPJTPa9W654LPChU4OL7Byeb83wRCavaaoqZFNUrBPb9WWsghSKb2k_7-cascDPiAuXEQSDtXC1mYCXFYGUXlWcKU0IyrPoQLoE79tY1LR1wozPMTFwDDuowdkpk593G_e4vaMuN7w9k-g23E8NU3LzgEsh7hJwzWSKFenjWGqn9-YW2b/w640-h314/mtio-ann7_5-7.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbRypMq3EzLRkQiBUyzUj69i21gjDk0h39UwAMZncXva0h0dBzPwu7nhTWjUmCgmkQ9rQbCy3wdkd9JWSnENLRNxOowEpUh6smcqVqz40T-9WYuh9Uo5w-u0qaRxY7549noFzygI-1PL9waOA7BTnEZUZYbQJ1QL0c1aRMZ3kf_LsI98-VfLkIoSXygWm/s887/mtio-ann7_8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="596" height="778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWbRypMq3EzLRkQiBUyzUj69i21gjDk0h39UwAMZncXva0h0dBzPwu7nhTWjUmCgmkQ9rQbCy3wdkd9JWSnENLRNxOowEpUh6smcqVqz40T-9WYuh9Uo5w-u0qaRxY7549noFzygI-1PL9waOA7BTnEZUZYbQJ1QL0c1aRMZ3kf_LsI98-VfLkIoSXygWm/w523-h778/mtio-ann7_8.jpg" width="523"></a></div><p><br>Finally, their host makes himself and his purpose known to the assembled heroes, while also making it immediately clear that refusal to participate in the upcoming match will exact a lethal cost.</p><p></p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvb-gKXj_3pxNvyD4hPTmjoY-htUHqJBmRBswfYmjI9_4jr6Oe_dCKonly0epQz1vmIEM4H7MhF03OoM03MnM6TCdSAhgtkvnj5ELp8CQwFYtx2fHLS27-mowbQot_o2nOKOzs_8j-sNJ_GQEnt9S1NBk_kiyQHLK0Fn1mdyTDsMZEiJzFDwhAUURvRZVu/s1887/mtio-ann7_10-11-12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1887" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvb-gKXj_3pxNvyD4hPTmjoY-htUHqJBmRBswfYmjI9_4jr6Oe_dCKonly0epQz1vmIEM4H7MhF03OoM03MnM6TCdSAhgtkvnj5ELp8CQwFYtx2fHLS27-mowbQot_o2nOKOzs_8j-sNJ_GQEnt9S1NBk_kiyQHLK0Fn1mdyTDsMZEiJzFDwhAUURvRZVu/w640-h318/mtio-ann7_10-11-12.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_uf9ZDCLMhsDNTSrejIXuE7K6-gly5-XjinbvFxV6zFW5YXbsGSkEJINureCjnEWl07Zmx0s84Le-rtq_EvQ9sUedCO0nEJAKqPhoT4LUIsX-ejtNLj8x-EcBjkXxmNDp4TyAUl9ARilIlusyDW56HmZetf7FWTnQ-y5lZjX76n54nFnAf1Efuc2-axu/s672/mtio-ann7_13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="672" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_uf9ZDCLMhsDNTSrejIXuE7K6-gly5-XjinbvFxV6zFW5YXbsGSkEJINureCjnEWl07Zmx0s84Le-rtq_EvQ9sUedCO0nEJAKqPhoT4LUIsX-ejtNLj8x-EcBjkXxmNDp4TyAUl9ARilIlusyDW56HmZetf7FWTnQ-y5lZjX76n54nFnAf1Efuc2-axu/w563-h412/mtio-ann7_13.jpg" width="563"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/in-this-corner-champion.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-8230937235279322732023-09-25T02:30:00.211-04:002023-11-04T18:27:57.042-04:00Take A Seat<p> </p><center>As I was compiling subject matter for this post, the first thing that came to mind was this guy:</center><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZeOpEj8tcfHduH7S4a-kDIcB6HffKdMJ2vaKNEExeYaqOh3OBOMlfN5RK3nXUHiqlMlT-PzHK2Y5BU4TfiMX70sIO8Y8jUaldbGh9g8v64_RB-hOP_aWvuugpRn_pjmSFzoiGvNaZMUY4wlbQCmXQvcLrM6Zsv39_J2G37KWFNT5lwz_0rRzOiNgFxCH/s936/ng1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="632" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZeOpEj8tcfHduH7S4a-kDIcB6HffKdMJ2vaKNEExeYaqOh3OBOMlfN5RK3nXUHiqlMlT-PzHK2Y5BU4TfiMX70sIO8Y8jUaldbGh9g8v64_RB-hOP_aWvuugpRn_pjmSFzoiGvNaZMUY4wlbQCmXQvcLrM6Zsv39_J2G37KWFNT5lwz_0rRzOiNgFxCH/w432-h640/ng1.jpg" width="432"></a></div><p><br>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, <b>Orion</b>, isn't seated on <i>anything</i>, but simply hunched over, gripping what he calls his "power rods." Yet there <i>is</i> a seated character among those Orion mingles with in New Genesis--<b>Metron</b>, who appears to be persona non grata among the others and flits about time-space in his "Mobius Chair" advancing his own agenda.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2wRFWDJS8TBCUfQ9HUQtbETxrPKVgDW_zmv4UNlYzOGLqa4_fkq7JWOBwf9vIXWKrpwM7GEDrh-qLe5rX5WGeGwA8upWRrQoL9ruiBAmizivZFBGZtHB2Am_IlUj_yTvpmFyWMHcqfZnmeQ4LxKtPyEF9E9TWOg2Kxd4ei00BL0VQLz6jhVw9OX6HDfV/s936/ng1_8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="635" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2wRFWDJS8TBCUfQ9HUQtbETxrPKVgDW_zmv4UNlYzOGLqa4_fkq7JWOBwf9vIXWKrpwM7GEDrh-qLe5rX5WGeGwA8upWRrQoL9ruiBAmizivZFBGZtHB2Am_IlUj_yTvpmFyWMHcqfZnmeQ4LxKtPyEF9E9TWOg2Kxd4ei00BL0VQLz6jhVw9OX6HDfV/w434-h640/ng1_8.jpg" width="434"></a></div><p><br></p><div style="text-align: center;">
And thus, the New Gods have unknowingly summoned us to hear another</div><p>
</p><hr align="center" width="25%">
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><big>Marvel Trivia Question</big></b></div><p>
</p><hr align="center" width="25%"><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62jDPnd3Fjo_mHCpuKc6fsz9su0fMG4M0ArbyPCWgG4hhjRfyl58_t0qjJxO0Q9TCZhwWNk1z5zHr90XwML2qyJrOVV6ien8UfnFXSkukL5XzsNo8Ecjzp3EKJJIdO46Qu_X9auIEFQea9toLV1HftEo8cgD_1kAiT2gPEcnBywzGQz8k5dcgELe-w_fl/s383/ff107_3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="358" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62jDPnd3Fjo_mHCpuKc6fsz9su0fMG4M0ArbyPCWgG4hhjRfyl58_t0qjJxO0Q9TCZhwWNk1z5zHr90XwML2qyJrOVV6ien8UfnFXSkukL5XzsNo8Ecjzp3EKJJIdO46Qu_X9auIEFQea9toLV1HftEo8cgD_1kAiT2gPEcnBywzGQz8k5dcgELe-w_fl/s320/ff107_3.jpg" width="299"></a></div><br>
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>What Marvel characters look to chairs for their status, and/or their power?</b><p>
<small>(Or, in Ben Grimm's case, their life??)</small></p></div>
<a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/take-seat.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-24058573131595037792023-09-21T02:30:00.088-04:002023-09-21T05:44:45.176-04:00Hulk (Didn't) Smash<p> </p>By the turn of the century, you and I had seen and likely enjoyed any number of stories featuring clashes between <b>the Thing</b> and <b>the Hulk</b>--two classic characters who, despite having long since settled the question of who was the more powerful, still managed to convey the possibility of an upset with each clash or, at the very least, give us our money's worth more often than not with some new twist on the circumstances which brought them into conflict once more. But in late 2004, a four-issue limited series appeared on the racks with a story which some of us might have considered unorthodox, even for <i>this</i> pair.<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kVto3wCJ-Q3i9xLOOzffLCF-HFKTsVPcRFcWUeWkoK4bncmWwY9S8pd7gB9X0ZKvHrMnefBsrfUh6XAhg3_lTlgZdL2oOv73sFvZ-j-e3UmGPQhiNaTLxrlEoONn1UsS0Q6vtZEjT7x4uHWVIOG-Jkmg-NuzeH0QwOHMGkBWzzFXtx79gVVETNAlUR_U/s2506/hthk1-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="2506" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kVto3wCJ-Q3i9xLOOzffLCF-HFKTsVPcRFcWUeWkoK4bncmWwY9S8pd7gB9X0ZKvHrMnefBsrfUh6XAhg3_lTlgZdL2oOv73sFvZ-j-e3UmGPQhiNaTLxrlEoONn1UsS0Q6vtZEjT7x4uHWVIOG-Jkmg-NuzeH0QwOHMGkBWzzFXtx79gVVETNAlUR_U/w693-h253/hthk1-4.jpg" width="693"></a></div><p><br>Right away, you've likely already discerned artist Jae Lee's hand here, whose work you may remember from <i>The Sentry</i> from 2000 as well as 1998's <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-inhumans-receive-marvel-knights.html" target="_blank"><i>The Inhumans</i></a>, and who here brings his unconventional style to two men who look distinctly different from the characters who put their stamp on the comics of the '60s, '70s and '80s. In this series, Lee handles full pencils and inks (as he did on the prior works), while this time joining with writer Bruce Jones to craft a tale that frankly takes some patience to get through. That's not to say there's not something here for Hulk/Thing fans--but when you find yourself in full agreement with the Hulk who's all but demanding that the Thing <i>get to the <u>point</u>, already</i> after covering roughly half the series with little progress on that front, you'll either be more determined to see where it's all going, or reach for your back issue of <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2012/10/now-is-not-good-time-alicia.html" target="_blank"><i>Fantastic Four</i> #112</a> and better days.</p><p></p><p>
If nothing else, the approach that Jones and Lee take to open "Hard Knocks" is an attention grabber, considering the characters involved aren't exactly known for their congeniality. Or, to paraphrase an old joke, "Stop me if you've heard this one. Two man-monsters end up at a hole in the wall..."</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbxv8TNedZ_n6M525lgi4xwX9qeWtFQaRPpXR8UbejAjQz2P6J5WthwYOadvl2chEp6s_ZPjrSxxhI2Ca7nv3yB15eSJLsZ7VnRi0eL4A08awrDpRNaR98nwTniz82kRWPsjTHBgkWw3suhkAtQvI9gZ2b7XDqxP2-yh89FlUgQETL3hpcSCx3W3OAcs2/s1936/hthk1_1-3-5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1936" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxbxv8TNedZ_n6M525lgi4xwX9qeWtFQaRPpXR8UbejAjQz2P6J5WthwYOadvl2chEp6s_ZPjrSxxhI2Ca7nv3yB15eSJLsZ7VnRi0eL4A08awrDpRNaR98nwTniz82kRWPsjTHBgkWw3suhkAtQvI9gZ2b7XDqxP2-yh89FlUgQETL3hpcSCx3W3OAcs2/w640-h328/hthk1_1-3-5.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2U28ZsoPK519d-l4qIDt4n9rYWglK9SC2TAUpvQq6kOadT4ZbZwQnbXPe-wupNYdcFl8kB4DwgIPCb1uMngk7HPa8wzdWCLsKulo0lvPuafFB9Lb1XPvEv6nWHczk-X1BAMdXdIpJhZwgkrvlBNjSDSQcaSLvu6pvLS62lIdTIIZKg_6PXDX4h--696ed/s661/hthk1_6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="634" height="571" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2U28ZsoPK519d-l4qIDt4n9rYWglK9SC2TAUpvQq6kOadT4ZbZwQnbXPe-wupNYdcFl8kB4DwgIPCb1uMngk7HPa8wzdWCLsKulo0lvPuafFB9Lb1XPvEv6nWHczk-X1BAMdXdIpJhZwgkrvlBNjSDSQcaSLvu6pvLS62lIdTIIZKg_6PXDX4h--696ed/w548-h571/hthk1_6.jpg" width="548"></a></div><br><p></p><center><small>Heh, the "Hard <i>Rocks</i> Cafe"--drawing us in with a double pun. Nicely played, Mr. Lee.</small></center>
<br><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/hulk-didnt-smash.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-885582416988679452023-09-18T02:30:00.186-04:002023-09-18T06:55:40.014-04:00The Final Fate of the Scarlet Witch!<p> </p>We've reached the end of a long and winding road involving Wanda Maximoff, <b>the Scarlet Witch</b>, having tracked her activities following her <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-reassembling-of-avengers.html" target="_blank">devastating attack</a> on her fellow Avengers at Avengers Mansion which led to her involvement in reshaping our reality to suit the worldview of <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-house-of-magnus.html" target="_blank">the House Of M</a>. The culmination of that saga saw Wanda, furious after witnessing her brother's fate at the hand of their father, Magneto, not only shifting reality once more but in the process <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/no-more-mutants.html" target="_blank">removing the mutant powers</a> of nearly every mutant on the planet, in addition to excising even the potential to become a mutant from the human genome.<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQCtfdKZvQeT0ONn1wxRartvdsPSt86aptZlWEgQzvl_FonjwJ0AlfmJ9UcX39SY5dNRZIpdxNQ7prgqaRYQngPtdxuFyLHazBqZZBWD02v5TsyhAAFCELSaaG5qiiQbImhl3AqLuMQBn-4dJkEVb92LJV7ULdtKoht4QOSyUNFjwK7caRKSRMM8VNtJY/s981/Doom.gif" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 0em 20px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="462" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQCtfdKZvQeT0ONn1wxRartvdsPSt86aptZlWEgQzvl_FonjwJ0AlfmJ9UcX39SY5dNRZIpdxNQ7prgqaRYQngPtdxuFyLHazBqZZBWD02v5TsyhAAFCELSaaG5qiiQbImhl3AqLuMQBn-4dJkEVb92LJV7ULdtKoht4QOSyUNFjwK7caRKSRMM8VNtJY/w220-h468/Doom.gif" width="220"></a></div>As for Wanda herself, she would end up in the European nation of Transia, bereft of her memory. To the Avengers as well as the X-Men, Wanda's guilt as far as what she's done and the lives she's destroyed is a certainty; but to the <i>Young</i> Avengers, two of whom may likely be the sons she believed to be lost to her forever, she represents not only a person perhaps too quickly condemned by her former comrades, but also the means by which all can be put to rights again. (And hopefully allaying the concerns of the Avengers that one of the young group's number, Wiccan, isn't going to turn out like his "mother.") Joined by Magneto and setting out to find her, they locate her in Latveria, in a curious twist to this story as the fiancée of none other than <b>Victor Von Doom</b>.<p>
With the reappearance of Iron Lad (the Young Avenger who's destined to become Kang the Conqueror), the group (including Wanda at this point) <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/witch-hunt.html" target="_blank">return in time</a> to the point where the Jack of Hearts destroys Avengers Mansion--only this time, the life of Scott Lang is saved, though the event also serves as the catalyst for Wanda regaining her memory and resulting in an onslaught of guilt which sees her attempting to use the forces she's marshaled at the mansion to end her own life. Yet more certain than ever that some outside force has taken control of Wanda, Wiccan chooses the moment to reveal to her his steadfast belief that her children are alive, which acts like a bucket of cold water thrown on her. Standing down, she resolves to answer for what she's done, as well as do what she can to undo her actions toward mutants.</p><p>
One such victim, Rictor, arrives on the scene with the rest of his group, X-Factor--and he decides to volunteer to test Wanda's plan to help the affected mutants by asking her to restore his ability to cause earth tremors.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEl0fLY27EX38dZfNDxph0ZlkLnqWNxhz5zbcQtr_7qUEDUuSMMFR12TXpCKZo0eGQ12UILOgeGkAK-4zuYJluEhlmbbDDFo3TOAY7UHUhyg3at6iJ8I1oLO5yK2uaoEwSArab0pfloeVNrkBqIsZfABTAMN03S1eEr9fIzNKY2l58oxiaEvzzhPTt9-Fs/s648/avcc6_17.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="648" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEl0fLY27EX38dZfNDxph0ZlkLnqWNxhz5zbcQtr_7qUEDUuSMMFR12TXpCKZo0eGQ12UILOgeGkAK-4zuYJluEhlmbbDDFo3TOAY7UHUhyg3at6iJ8I1oLO5yK2uaoEwSArab0pfloeVNrkBqIsZfABTAMN03S1eEr9fIzNKY2l58oxiaEvzzhPTt9-Fs/w511-h422/avcc6_17.gif" width="511"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJdgWuzPMyMVm55byGspoRSkMUqA9j4uhFdRy6ngz4v273PoWAmhrgTdHXAeXcJlwC4T8nsf8hAETmSLzfhytl5XJTRjVMrRkB-APV5JPEJTL7zXxqa2MmLJaGZ52QWqVY4cZ2OdfAcUFs8jfOwNd2l_5ooPFdAi4SYvvBU8A1-mGD2lQIpddoV8FRcy_/s1358/avcc6_18-19.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1358" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheJdgWuzPMyMVm55byGspoRSkMUqA9j4uhFdRy6ngz4v273PoWAmhrgTdHXAeXcJlwC4T8nsf8hAETmSLzfhytl5XJTRjVMrRkB-APV5JPEJTL7zXxqa2MmLJaGZ52QWqVY4cZ2OdfAcUFs8jfOwNd2l_5ooPFdAi4SYvvBU8A1-mGD2lQIpddoV8FRcy_/w640-h494/avcc6_18-19.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3AM7RW7yKNjSlm63cZkiuXnvj98AzY2Ja1cORczMFfmAvw9Pls-fNFD91jN8EgVLXDx-g7GvCrRLEqIqpJekONzhD1z3sNvcULR6PojSOchkx-LD_OyuDnC8bZ2uAnuNVVZvj9xWqOkVCuvTdpyxetEhI8El3wIHRzj2XltW1Q9XUeYzJ0IWyauigOsp/s815/avcc6_20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="629" height="646" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3AM7RW7yKNjSlm63cZkiuXnvj98AzY2Ja1cORczMFfmAvw9Pls-fNFD91jN8EgVLXDx-g7GvCrRLEqIqpJekONzhD1z3sNvcULR6PojSOchkx-LD_OyuDnC8bZ2uAnuNVVZvj9xWqOkVCuvTdpyxetEhI8El3wIHRzj2XltW1Q9XUeYzJ0IWyauigOsp/w498-h646/avcc6_20.jpg" width="498"></a></div><p><br>But on the way are not only the Avengers, who are pleased to hear the news about Wanda appearing to have regained her sanity, but also the X-Men, who collectively are of a different frame of mind entirely regarding the woman who devastated the world's mutant population. And the lines are all too quickly drawn, in a story that has taken over six years to at long last reach its conclusion.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDV9boZfLb8fl4JXs2c8RBwVxSIt33aj-ifS0aMM6YtHeVg-cVRChOh3KAz-4HmYwIw93BT2gAT1kwBumlvNlCb8xhFvEjrdkvtru6mQDvZSN--fImAQXTivE5QGoHnxISbtevlmoYQp_h3CQjZMqSGkl-fkdQ_muG8CLZjbUr30eVDSWzGuvYF0tpcw-g/s2134/avcc7_2-3-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="2134" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDV9boZfLb8fl4JXs2c8RBwVxSIt33aj-ifS0aMM6YtHeVg-cVRChOh3KAz-4HmYwIw93BT2gAT1kwBumlvNlCb8xhFvEjrdkvtru6mQDvZSN--fImAQXTivE5QGoHnxISbtevlmoYQp_h3CQjZMqSGkl-fkdQ_muG8CLZjbUr30eVDSWzGuvYF0tpcw-g/w640-h310/avcc7_2-3-4.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-final-fate-of-scarlet-witch.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-826869262117584402023-09-14T02:30:00.049-04:002023-09-14T04:48:30.835-04:00The Return Of... Everyman!<p> </p><center>You remember <i>this</i> guy, don't you?<br>
<small>(You can be sure those covering the scene aren't likely to forget him.)</small></center><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v3vuT4g6AZs/Ur4u6-tLCcI/AAAAAAAAUn0/3VQY-Argwyk/s1600/ca267_a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="566" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v3vuT4g6AZs/Ur4u6-tLCcI/AAAAAAAAUn0/3VQY-Argwyk/w559-h566/ca267_a.jpg" width="559"></a></div><p><br>
A creation of writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Mike Zeck, we first met <b>Everyman</b> in <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2012/09/man-of-some-people.html" target="_blank">his PPC profile</a> that saw him going up against Captain America in 1982--on a mission to avenge those like his deceased father whom he felt had suffered for the false promises of the American dream. Consequently, Everyman's enemy became the man who best epitomized that dream.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXYoErgcrXJxN-Vb-raGZTy_JVQSQIqrYAXe85xfrxg69XsYc1KO8AomieU6gqF5zFYEKCV65vF297uue3vJ1Ui8H7Sizpi9eYKNEA_2JElC_5sgnZonpfgmnkvdK5ovU9g3ZyF2fR6e921su0G3zGk2UO9LFL0QeXPGaXtGz3qwgTL1lVtm3Lg62v8uVi/s1071/ca267_6-7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="1071" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXYoErgcrXJxN-Vb-raGZTy_JVQSQIqrYAXe85xfrxg69XsYc1KO8AomieU6gqF5zFYEKCV65vF297uue3vJ1Ui8H7Sizpi9eYKNEA_2JElC_5sgnZonpfgmnkvdK5ovU9g3ZyF2fR6e921su0G3zGk2UO9LFL0QeXPGaXtGz3qwgTL1lVtm3Lg62v8uVi/w640-h348/ca267_6-7.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>We can see that Everyman bears little similarity to writer Tony Isabella's "everyman," Stuart Clarke, aka <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-super-villains-answer-to-chapter-11.html" target="_blank">Rampage</a>, a character who limited his own wrath to government policies which led to the 1973-75 recession. What the two men <i>do</i> share is a hatred for their circumstances that caused their respective losses--but while Rampage feels he's justified in stealing from F.D.I.C. banks to revive his bankrupt company, Everyman lashes out at the man who in his mind deserves every bit of his rage.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBU0XDhjA_ZwkGxfqiU2EMTgUvUtI0IGWCtjgIwB3osh2_3kM5Iu2vceTLbvgW4G_P73P31RyDy8yVd6biZq3qNqarWPAJF4CA_8mTdBrCwS8deeD8ROwV2K82B83QOkW93SCHZ7ImyNooqT2HGdYXyLzq2Qmy2QmvTD8UR80gNy0K3CtczAuFFWRlUFB7/s1942/ca267_16-17-18.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1942" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBU0XDhjA_ZwkGxfqiU2EMTgUvUtI0IGWCtjgIwB3osh2_3kM5Iu2vceTLbvgW4G_P73P31RyDy8yVd6biZq3qNqarWPAJF4CA_8mTdBrCwS8deeD8ROwV2K82B83QOkW93SCHZ7ImyNooqT2HGdYXyLzq2Qmy2QmvTD8UR80gNy0K3CtczAuFFWRlUFB7/w640-h308/ca267_16-17-18.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>When Everyman reneges on his promise to free his hostage, Cap settles his hash, and Everyman is subsequently sent to a mental institution to treat his unhinged mind. A year and a half later, DeMatteis revisits the character in a two-issue story in <i>Marvel Team-Up</i>, where our former Everyman, Larry Ekler, looks up a "relative" whom you may recognize, a man who quickly realizes that Larry may have fabricated the reason for his newfound freedom.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucsYfkNjRBZP4bCM5Mts-XXorSPWQU7O85gZXxDGeEcjxE96S0v_JS8VYZ8UYaztIuw-BK-nISh0VJv2oKk84Pg6Plu6FdOsyWDyV5fFLwYApbGeGNALbIoiZcWps6DxlnsTJDBxQxzyKIJ-FU7euoVqOi3kcqSzyD9oFqxJPzzrFAqBnrTyIl6hEvoG1/s1298/mtu132_2-3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1298" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucsYfkNjRBZP4bCM5Mts-XXorSPWQU7O85gZXxDGeEcjxE96S0v_JS8VYZ8UYaztIuw-BK-nISh0VJv2oKk84Pg6Plu6FdOsyWDyV5fFLwYApbGeGNALbIoiZcWps6DxlnsTJDBxQxzyKIJ-FU7euoVqOi3kcqSzyD9oFqxJPzzrFAqBnrTyIl6hEvoG1/w640-h358/mtu132_2-3.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qDSU52gsSdb5yAZX3e6rBYbYWs_bwJbomAKVreOq5kNovLuF1BoY5hqMXWu0rdiTWioKWwwjexQCP6s6xqloR8jrYPTxZh3Bf7aQa4tYXORlxZ3h6yz9Rg9zfGmJ3oY_GPHhmo9BjKT4VS7jY_c1AJ3w-MWM3j6-1-1MahnuZyeT1EH4VA_SYoXJlI-T/s1244/mtu132-133.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1244" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qDSU52gsSdb5yAZX3e6rBYbYWs_bwJbomAKVreOq5kNovLuF1BoY5hqMXWu0rdiTWioKWwwjexQCP6s6xqloR8jrYPTxZh3Bf7aQa4tYXORlxZ3h6yz9Rg9zfGmJ3oY_GPHhmo9BjKT4VS7jY_c1AJ3w-MWM3j6-1-1MahnuZyeT1EH4VA_SYoXJlI-T/w640-h474/mtu132-133.gif" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-return-of-everyman.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-87563929950527748472023-09-11T02:30:00.073-04:002023-09-11T05:22:36.466-04:00The Ascendance of... Baron Mordo!?<p> </p>OR: <b>"<span style="color: #fcff01;">Dr. Strange, Hiker of the Mystic Arts</span>"</b><p><br>
The thought of Michael Golden handling the artwork for the forty-page <i>What If</i> story featuring Baron Mordo as the Master of the Mystic Arts would be enough to spur even the Dread Dormammu into picking up a copy. Alas, Mr. Golden took care of just the cover art. Still, one look at the exquisite splash page for the issue has one thinking that artists Butch Guice (née Jackson Guice) and Sam Grainger are the next best thing, eh?</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwqSb_a6TdGSp9dzUxTvimn2kM6FyXQVwkEQI8s-QmlUJMKA8HZtbigkZgUWHmzO2sQ2q0x9MAIqi7F-s0f-cHfsHPBUgN3UbdzUInAcpcWe19DMal3W2ycONxXcdjqdU0BT8wXH2xVzbYOwm1Lr-meyS1UmTntLo2O9vEItFS098xNfrmzAuYhptlZH3/s1210/wi40_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1210" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTwqSb_a6TdGSp9dzUxTvimn2kM6FyXQVwkEQI8s-QmlUJMKA8HZtbigkZgUWHmzO2sQ2q0x9MAIqi7F-s0f-cHfsHPBUgN3UbdzUInAcpcWe19DMal3W2ycONxXcdjqdU0BT8wXH2xVzbYOwm1Lr-meyS1UmTntLo2O9vEItFS098xNfrmzAuYhptlZH3/w640-h450/wi40_1.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>Mordo's turn at being the Ancient One's choice to succeed him is an interesting premise to explore, though we don't really need the Watcher to get that ball rolling: Basically, something must happen (or <i>not</i> happen) to prevent Strange from taking Mordo's place as the Ancient One's disciple. But Mordo actually wanting to be <i>worthy</i> of the Ancient One's teachings is a new twist that only Uatu could see coming.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvScJGaNytjBuauxxCFTSh5w8cBwGb9Y7ls7XePBWtvbHyrmM-pfItbs2wo3Bh9abmNIbJklRWJ0g0ZTy-ualrBRoNy6vmMnnOu_gb--2VA4_YJN6XDn42slNKrzdN3CKaIqo30VBnXRITFrYfK_Z1x8wlrUazgnzlQ6NY0PgWnU4UuNeBJ5Py21eoIxxx/s1493/wi40_3-4-5.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="931" data-original-width="1493" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvScJGaNytjBuauxxCFTSh5w8cBwGb9Y7ls7XePBWtvbHyrmM-pfItbs2wo3Bh9abmNIbJklRWJ0g0ZTy-ualrBRoNy6vmMnnOu_gb--2VA4_YJN6XDn42slNKrzdN3CKaIqo30VBnXRITFrYfK_Z1x8wlrUazgnzlQ6NY0PgWnU4UuNeBJ5Py21eoIxxx/w640-h400/wi40_3-4-5.gif" width="640"></a></div><p><br>(Of course, if you're under the impression that those tentacles somehow played a part in Mordo becoming the model student, you get a complimentary copy of the Book of the Vishanti! <small>(Not really!)</small> )</p><p></p><p>
From here, things progress for Mordo as they did for Strange--except for writer Peter Gillis feeling the need to plant a seed in our minds that something is up here. (It occurs to me that if <i>Wong</i> distrusts Mordo, surely the Ancient One would still have misgivings, but what do I know.)</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFZK9wCAUAlMEnIS0qcHJljorVHqOH3n3G9btDLboIU2x6mYxkg7mJ_RriOcQpcDH4yrUKSVVk62uTzn6h0g9OlH8Y5Mp_oRpyOoyZubYoYLTcslSqfcKJwUmuihgeaGBbaHDAFMKlBULq3oNLkbaJy3mNXi8l3hZ_dOCwEQIsq6IUP13MWHQ1DbMVo3T/s1121/wi40_6-7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="1121" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFZK9wCAUAlMEnIS0qcHJljorVHqOH3n3G9btDLboIU2x6mYxkg7mJ_RriOcQpcDH4yrUKSVVk62uTzn6h0g9OlH8Y5Mp_oRpyOoyZubYoYLTcslSqfcKJwUmuihgeaGBbaHDAFMKlBULq3oNLkbaJy3mNXi8l3hZ_dOCwEQIsq6IUP13MWHQ1DbMVo3T/w640-h348/wi40_6-7.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>Soon enough, Mordo's baptism of fire arrives in the form of Dormammu's intent to invade our dimension. Unlike Strange, however, the shrewd Mordo decides to forcefully secure the aid of another denizen of the Dark Dimension, Clea, in order to enact a plan to free a menace from captivity that even Dormammu must drop everything to defend against.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbe2hIgMTZm3Bu-5tKBDvE5A-sh6CkU_4Z-9wgYKTD55aSpoU1Xp4Hg7vdXhnKujM-jpfC3PA19DSd0yD-iH0W_80t4xb_uASaBXT9aa1TUY64_L_LKnhHs7mxEmSzxOPCxXAWIIahImKajqv4Lr0CcLwAT7u27M-1rzHH9bEihQ3gCwCqZ9Xd35I_T3lB/s621/wi40_8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="621" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbe2hIgMTZm3Bu-5tKBDvE5A-sh6CkU_4Z-9wgYKTD55aSpoU1Xp4Hg7vdXhnKujM-jpfC3PA19DSd0yD-iH0W_80t4xb_uASaBXT9aa1TUY64_L_LKnhHs7mxEmSzxOPCxXAWIIahImKajqv4Lr0CcLwAT7u27M-1rzHH9bEihQ3gCwCqZ9Xd35I_T3lB/s16000/wi40_8.jpg"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWlM4Gq7-eJaY1kA7rHr56v_iFzmZ4w9QbgJ86ona8gE8q1z3pZN7fe28LS2xF5aCMp6DwSH44VKwYmNNp2b0Wr-r8df4l_rl4fmJnxcQTroxS9gb3zBYH_2f6NCx6TIo6chSTG_CNmw6oaE1-0ABmeMebOxrTuMPzKvtrQqQMy_CgPUNPQEpDmRqxD-q/s1277/wi40_8-9.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="1277" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQWlM4Gq7-eJaY1kA7rHr56v_iFzmZ4w9QbgJ86ona8gE8q1z3pZN7fe28LS2xF5aCMp6DwSH44VKwYmNNp2b0Wr-r8df4l_rl4fmJnxcQTroxS9gb3zBYH_2f6NCx6TIo6chSTG_CNmw6oaE1-0ABmeMebOxrTuMPzKvtrQqQMy_CgPUNPQEpDmRqxD-q/w640-h306/wi40_8-9.gif" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qWgoyVTEQp7hLljXUQrbGCM8i9ZOk-lXZ40NVTI-IF7t_Wnn0Rxj4-Q-Tzwj-XWrhwusliadLMqoMF9DsyNed5CJ0AZjw18VtZJ2fIRIcqxPcJCd1tFFvx6R_WUGIjyUfdMHbL7Odzhs81UnQGzkPKGaDvrl2-JcRZNuG9hBaf3slIffjxRQ5ZNjM84k/s1490/wi40_11-12-13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="1490" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qWgoyVTEQp7hLljXUQrbGCM8i9ZOk-lXZ40NVTI-IF7t_Wnn0Rxj4-Q-Tzwj-XWrhwusliadLMqoMF9DsyNed5CJ0AZjw18VtZJ2fIRIcqxPcJCd1tFFvx6R_WUGIjyUfdMHbL7Odzhs81UnQGzkPKGaDvrl2-JcRZNuG9hBaf3slIffjxRQ5ZNjM84k/w640-h400/wi40_11-12-13.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>And what of Strange? He's decided to use his new lease on life to become an instructor at a New York medical school--yet unknown to him, he has also fallen prey to a powerful entity who uses a person's dreams to inflict suffering, a foe he <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2019/11/enter-master-of-black-magic.html" target="_blank">would have battled</a> in <i>our</i> reality as "the Master of Black Magic."</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglS-RAQFpgOoSNbXxihIFqk4eHJSblLTi3spEgLXYFqBH31O7zyi6nOum705zNy0fp1G9U0mXHTrX_ZPNp0rtfGauJKzliz408Dsv8YsSPJdbLTbwCbRvvhPHwmYNrDfQdCq50YXPZscz-aW4C5QW4J8l6RTT50gNA9e9aW8tM86z6ZyFfmUibAgkP1tmV/s1445/wi40_15-19.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="1445" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglS-RAQFpgOoSNbXxihIFqk4eHJSblLTi3spEgLXYFqBH31O7zyi6nOum705zNy0fp1G9U0mXHTrX_ZPNp0rtfGauJKzliz408Dsv8YsSPJdbLTbwCbRvvhPHwmYNrDfQdCq50YXPZscz-aW4C5QW4J8l6RTT50gNA9e9aW8tM86z6ZyFfmUibAgkP1tmV/w640-h272/wi40_15-19.gif" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-ascendance-of-baron-mordo.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-28617941485473699812023-09-07T02:30:00.108-04:002023-09-18T06:35:25.326-04:00Witch Hunt!<p> </p>We've reached the final installment of the <i><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-house-of-magnus.html" target="_blank">House Of M</a></i> limited series from 2005, where the X-Men and the Avengers found themselves swept away into a new reality created by the Scarlet Witch at the behest of her brother, Quicksilver--one which made mutants the dominant species, while our heroes were made to forget their past lives and histories in favor of an existence which saw their fondest hopes and dreams realized. Yet all of that changed when Wolverine, who somehow retained his memories, began to <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/reality-check.html" target="_blank">gather the troops</a>--and with the help of a young mutant named Layla Miller, those who could be located traveled to Genosha once more to <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/no-more-mutants.html" target="_blank">confront the ones involved</a> in the deception, unfortunately leading to the Scarlet Witch again unleashing her power to alter the state of the world, for better or worse.<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCT9T-WBXU2Nlu_ksPypk3C9CaNIJSqtdrgpfwwCEqDorHAKURMMTKqPp3NJxRhxwQcdLRbYpL2ic6mr9NbEo7p0epoWlUrgXdkr8mqvGbPmtH2JLvpyFL3ZsqnzfcWSiAhxfsRfmdH471KEo2XzPkqNGe0ou-JqeA1uvaB-4pg2dxWit1c46PPC6FebYN/s549/hom8_synopsis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="549" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCT9T-WBXU2Nlu_ksPypk3C9CaNIJSqtdrgpfwwCEqDorHAKURMMTKqPp3NJxRhxwQcdLRbYpL2ic6mr9NbEo7p0epoWlUrgXdkr8mqvGbPmtH2JLvpyFL3ZsqnzfcWSiAhxfsRfmdH471KEo2XzPkqNGe0ou-JqeA1uvaB-4pg2dxWit1c46PPC6FebYN/s16000/hom8_synopsis.jpg"></a></div><p><br>In this issue, which essentially has everyone pulling themselves together and picking up the pieces upon finding themselves back in their previous lives, we'll unfortunately be left with lingering questions which still lacked answers even in the course of eight issues. For instance: Where is Charles Xavier, taken from the heroes' midst when they first landed on the island of Genosha to settle the matter of the Scarlet Witch's disposition, the only indication of his fate being a memorial garden set up in his honor? And what finally happens with Wanda, who remains at large? From a publication stance, the only thing that this issue makes clear with reasonable certainty is that the goal of <i>House Of M</i> was to set up plots tying in to any number of upcoming books (e.g., <i>Civil War</i> (mid-2006) and <i>Secret Invasion</i> (mid-2008), two other multi-title events) for the foreseeable future, profitable ventures which appeared to be the only "reality" of concern to Marvel in the early 2000s.</p><p></p><p>
Still, let's see where things stand following Wanda's cryptic declaration of "No more mutants" and a subsequent blinding flash which signaled another seismic shift in reality. For what it's worth, it appears that Magneto isn't going to walk out of this unscathed, if Wolverine has anything to say about it.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3WYpLwFIIBJPzPiJ7YeYDVV3c_2rDs209c54S2ifuvbpQGK_irRsaC0jQtzqAUJBcOQlZ-HCb_5fJiRMOsTFXPVSB5Yh6CVeEg8gruhfeR_JKXdp_BuVxOgUWMw7Ixrz5DciOAOcgi5QmfuDcCYivaq53hwb20DVQpFZAmqsjCMXIR66TlwcJPACKSEL/s924/hom8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="603" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3WYpLwFIIBJPzPiJ7YeYDVV3c_2rDs209c54S2ifuvbpQGK_irRsaC0jQtzqAUJBcOQlZ-HCb_5fJiRMOsTFXPVSB5Yh6CVeEg8gruhfeR_JKXdp_BuVxOgUWMw7Ixrz5DciOAOcgi5QmfuDcCYivaq53hwb20DVQpFZAmqsjCMXIR66TlwcJPACKSEL/w418-h640/hom8.jpg" width="418"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/witch-hunt.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-32246403774630840722023-09-04T02:30:00.113-04:002023-09-07T05:32:58.674-04:00No More Mutants<p> </p>Unknown to the heroes caught up in the new reality of <b><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-house-of-magnus.html" target="_blank">the House Of M</a></b>--which came into existence when the Scarlet Witch, at the direction of another, reshaped the world as we knew it to conform to a utopian existence for mutants at the expense of homo sapiens--things appeared grim indeed for those among them who had <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/reality-check.html" target="_blank">regained their memories</a> of their prior lives and have decided to travel to the island of Genosha to confront both Wanda as well as Magneto, the man they presume to be responsible for forcibly twisting their lives, and those of the planet's entire population, to better favor his own worldview. For we have been witness to evidence that the man they seek, Charles Xavier--presumed to have been forced by Wanda's power to help bring those changes to life--is now deceased.<p>
And so, having commandeered the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier and its resources (including its formidable Sentinel guard detachment), the group arrives just as the House of Magnus celebrates a glittering evening of special guests assembling to pay tribute to Lord Magnus and his family on the anniversary of "the rebellion against homo sapien oppressors that held the world captive for decades." It's Cyclops who lays out the stakes for everyone (in words that Captain America, unavailable to the group, might or might not have chafed at--it's a fair topic for debate)--and following the deployment of their initial sortie in the form of one of the Sentinels, all hell breaks loose.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivHkybnTqUcjH6r8FDnXh5YA11Ff_y3xMdzCjM4qRrbKPB2-szAN205IeGE6mefi_eB0pTCGz7lm5bFO9w0FhfeLUdTsZ6xfAenGNAAE7G7lqsRc9kOe95ee_y_czgTqWlEOb7l-uWX7HHr6T81AU7rfsA3BorT8jVEY3GckLhuXszMqgf2NyT4tFYemzU/s1400/hom6_7-12-13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="1400" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivHkybnTqUcjH6r8FDnXh5YA11Ff_y3xMdzCjM4qRrbKPB2-szAN205IeGE6mefi_eB0pTCGz7lm5bFO9w0FhfeLUdTsZ6xfAenGNAAE7G7lqsRc9kOe95ee_y_czgTqWlEOb7l-uWX7HHr6T81AU7rfsA3BorT8jVEY3GckLhuXszMqgf2NyT4tFYemzU/w640-h328/hom6_7-12-13.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbtx2AqdPqyuvnCETHR7wdygj5ia9G_-NpXvNFiRDl6iDoU1gvjKsqfseZw5Q8gmNiUF9VwELpzTjMBhM6WkNzcsIMk045au_3_907S5Wvs-ZvlUCzGLq8Jzzw_XyRCGchMwXUVYbIktNfzK6HKIZ4tosovUSxAQNKU7kzdUHAEoboua4RLjaDCQAsw6q/s1427/hom6_16-17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1053" data-original-width="1427" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbtx2AqdPqyuvnCETHR7wdygj5ia9G_-NpXvNFiRDl6iDoU1gvjKsqfseZw5Q8gmNiUF9VwELpzTjMBhM6WkNzcsIMk045au_3_907S5Wvs-ZvlUCzGLq8Jzzw_XyRCGchMwXUVYbIktNfzK6HKIZ4tosovUSxAQNKU7kzdUHAEoboua4RLjaDCQAsw6q/w640-h472/hom6_16-17.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBPaVTpqjupPsAsNIaZE9w7FPtExP3fVdx6xPIb2OdONK4Q1O2O6WYlrBDrlcw_NC9LgC5h38PYNjDjd4Y1F-nWSHVDYgKODmQt09DrTubCb0Qk-AcTtrdjPDVqUu4tUmlyFIWf8Vzn0WLpzahZjDyOGxLSsKYf8xRV2VsgmLIwrNnzHfXQbx80HUWHRw/s2457/hom6_18-21.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="2457" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBPaVTpqjupPsAsNIaZE9w7FPtExP3fVdx6xPIb2OdONK4Q1O2O6WYlrBDrlcw_NC9LgC5h38PYNjDjd4Y1F-nWSHVDYgKODmQt09DrTubCb0Qk-AcTtrdjPDVqUu4tUmlyFIWf8Vzn0WLpzahZjDyOGxLSsKYf8xRV2VsgmLIwrNnzHfXQbx80HUWHRw/w640-h244/hom6_18-21.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/09/no-more-mutants.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-81531773392529135332023-08-31T02:30:00.114-04:002023-09-04T06:52:55.227-04:00Reality Check<p> </p>We've recently begun taking a detailed look at the 2005 Marvel event known as <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-house-of-magnus.html" target="_blank"><i>House Of M</i></a>, which followed up on <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-reassembling-of-avengers.html" target="_blank">the chain of events</a> that led to the Avengers falling victim to one of their own--the Scarlet Witch, who suffered the breakdown of all breakdowns and unleashed her reality-altering abilities on her former friends, shattering their ranks and leading to a confrontation that saw her taken into the custody of her father, Magneto, who returned with her to the (now devastated) island of Genosha.<p>
Together with Charles Xavier, the two sought to treat Wanda's mental state, though it became clear that they could do nothing for her. That led to a briefing with the <i>New</i> Avengers and the X-Men, and a decision to travel to Genosha to hopefully meet with Wanda and settle matters between them. But soon after arrival, both teams became engulfed in a wave of power that changed their thoughts, their histories, and their lives to align with a new reality where mutants were the dominant culture, and the world's population fell under the reign of the so-called House of M[agnus] which consisted of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, Lorna Dane, Wanda's two children, and the man himself, Magneto.</p><p>
It's not the ideal world for homo sapiens, the dwindling race of humans who still enjoy decent lives but are nevertheless looked down upon as "sapiens"--though you'd never know there was any serious discord if you passed by the magazine stand and picked up the news on the latest goings-on.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNSqGDB-ciqU5nIQluwh817lFhKXJY9zMCf95Gx2cxpQ9Wfcn9WeVnfmViyQt6X5fNTBNIuOqTtDVW5XTfa0pYk4OhgGiwEztD_-lUuT-lnGETNf5UyfX2DGc3Dhu1WspRtKkNItPeunZP0KyMDWSGg00MxUpcESQicTJvteXcSr6vP3xKXis3D2UiMmL/s2156/hom3_9-10-11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2156" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNSqGDB-ciqU5nIQluwh817lFhKXJY9zMCf95Gx2cxpQ9Wfcn9WeVnfmViyQt6X5fNTBNIuOqTtDVW5XTfa0pYk4OhgGiwEztD_-lUuT-lnGETNf5UyfX2DGc3Dhu1WspRtKkNItPeunZP0KyMDWSGg00MxUpcESQicTJvteXcSr6vP3xKXis3D2UiMmL/w640-h320/hom3_9-10-11.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>But will this be the "new normal" for sapiens--for <i>everyone?</i> That depends on the actions of the one man who somehow retains his knowledge of the prior reality--the premiere operative of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s elite Red Guard unit, who struggles to piece things together from what he <i>knows</i> to be the final moments of a world now ripped away.</p><p></p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9klYPgvVbRukj4Velai3IslsfLL73IN1q30Okjfmz-k9kQBX4zb5wARGUWHFQ2JV7DK5veGAAtKwCVSLJz3qNT8wWbfjrUzACSQqp0ANsVu7PCIR96WfdycrGqeldbh4164HPW35DlFh3DNFK90jHlYOyyXiaOb8hcJqsbVqJAP9S4napG6O90A13XPUg/s1427/hom3_4-5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1427" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9klYPgvVbRukj4Velai3IslsfLL73IN1q30Okjfmz-k9kQBX4zb5wARGUWHFQ2JV7DK5veGAAtKwCVSLJz3qNT8wWbfjrUzACSQqp0ANsVu7PCIR96WfdycrGqeldbh4164HPW35DlFh3DNFK90jHlYOyyXiaOb8hcJqsbVqJAP9S4napG6O90A13XPUg/w640-h332/hom3_4-5.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/reality-check.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-88555771128979926302023-08-28T02:30:00.175-04:002023-09-14T04:49:37.420-04:00What Were YOU Reading in 1983?<p> </p>Forty years ago in August of 1983, we had these items of trivia occupying our minds and media:<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>
12-year-old <b>Samantha Druce</b> becomes the youngest female to swim the English Channel (21 miles), at 15 hours, 27 minutes (and locks it in for good--the minimum age for solo attempts to swim the Channel is now 16 years)</li><li>
<b>John Sain</b> of South Bend, IN builds a 3.91-meter house of cards (hopefully avoiding drafts)</li><li>
<b>San Diego Comic-Con International</b> opens at Hotel San Diego</li><li>
<b>La Cage aux Folles</b> opens at the Palace Theater, NYC and runs for 1761 performances, winning 6 Tony Awards</li><li>
Revival of the Jerry Herman musical <b>Mame</b> starring Angela Lansbury closes in NYC after 41 performances</li><li>
Albums released: <b>Billy Joel</b>, "An Innocent Man"; <b>Elvis Costello</b>, "Punch The Clock"; <b>Jackson Browne</b>, "Lawyers In Love"; <b>Heart</b>, "Passionworks"; <b>Cheap Trick</b>, "Next Position Please"; <b>Bette Midler</b>, "No Frills"; <b>Rick James</b>, "Cold Blooded"</li><li>
Rock singer <b>David Crosby</b> is concurrently sentenced to 5 years in Texas state prison for possession of cocaine and 3 years for illegal possession of a loaded handgun (i.e., the 5-year sentence controls) (I believe he ended up serving nine months--there are conflicting accounts as to when he was released)</li><li>
<b>Nuclear tests</b> are carried out by the U.S. (Aug. 3 and Aug. 27), France (Aug. 4) and the USSR (Aug. 18)</li><li>
Marriages: <b>Paul Simon</b> (41) and <b>Carrie Fisher</b> (26) (divorced the next year); Film director <b>Philippe de Broca</b> (50) weds actress <b>Margot Kidder</b> (34)</li><li>
Birthdays: <b>Chris Hemsworth</b> (39); <b>Andrew Garfield</b> (39); <b>Mila Kunis</b> (you guessed it, 39)</li><li>
Top Five Songs in the U.S.: (1) "Every Breath You Take" (The Police); (2) "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" (Eurythmics); (3) "She Works Hard For The Money" (Donna Summer); (4) "Maniac" (Michael Sembello) (no relation to <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2014/02/no-pretty-pretty-is-safe.html" target="_blank">this guy</a>); (5) "Is There Something I Should Know" (Duran Duran)</li><li>
Deaths: lyracist <b>Ira Gershwin</b> (86); actress <b>Carolyn Jones</b> (53); actor <b>Simon Oakland</b> (61)</li><li>
Cost of Living: Avg rent, $335/mo.; Gallon of gas $.96; Ford Mustang $6,572; Avg. income/year, $21,070; Price of a comic book: $.60</li></ul><p>
</p><center>And speaking of your hard-earned 60¢...</center><br>
<center>The Marvel checklist of books published during August of 1983.</center>
<center>What were <u>you</u> reading around this time?</center><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcExPoNxAun4hTLlZ_yG_o_RvPu5dQmqe3feZmI3yEuvFCuAI0vE-q3Cfcj4C7MZjxopCEAFEULN2HR_y8oAQTekI8OT5RZoyJmjgo1-7zqc61vCmiT6t31nnB9xNzoNuZi3lCSweVcVlzYBsm5R4nIvh12HMif3c0KwtYoAmq3WiC4ttzMl0D0amv5UYy/s722/checklist.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="722" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcExPoNxAun4hTLlZ_yG_o_RvPu5dQmqe3feZmI3yEuvFCuAI0vE-q3Cfcj4C7MZjxopCEAFEULN2HR_y8oAQTekI8OT5RZoyJmjgo1-7zqc61vCmiT6t31nnB9xNzoNuZi3lCSweVcVlzYBsm5R4nIvh12HMif3c0KwtYoAmq3WiC4ttzMl0D0amv5UYy/w626-h315/checklist.jpg" width="626"></a></div><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/what-were-you-reading-in-1983.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-12000798105093714252023-08-24T02:30:00.137-04:002023-08-24T06:02:32.407-04:00It's Not Nice To Bind Mother Nature<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd3pJuwksoU8KQN8ZqcXBOaQ0ddqqdbOvcJt0ifWntC0coZotrOxGKc9iW52uYF5OBjmZ-ORkcoxQAllN5zw8rR67YwrNveFkSpkH7tUQAovjjjqhYDZg8OUMk3caQW3EeTOCghl5HAoAZS8EZXJzSv3MwkIIFyPYWa6kqxtWNgWvaO4xnCjUyCOdTNu0/s920/ds6.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; padding: 0em 20px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="610" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd3pJuwksoU8KQN8ZqcXBOaQ0ddqqdbOvcJt0ifWntC0coZotrOxGKc9iW52uYF5OBjmZ-ORkcoxQAllN5zw8rR67YwrNveFkSpkH7tUQAovjjjqhYDZg8OUMk3caQW3EeTOCghl5HAoAZS8EZXJzSv3MwkIIFyPYWa6kqxtWNgWvaO4xnCjUyCOdTNu0/w265-h400/ds6.jpg" width="265"></a></div>For nearly all of its 1974-1987 run, <i>Doctor Strange</i> was obliged to follow a bimonthly publication schedule, having briefly flirted with monthly issues from April-October of '76 during the height of Steve Englehart's time as scripter on the book. It was Englehart who had announced that, despite the strenuous toll such a schedule would take on both himself (who had other projects he'd hoped to pursue) and artist Gene Colan (who was also doing <i>Tomb Of Dracula</i> at the time), the effort would be made, since all involved (which now included inker Tom Palmer) were "determined to keep at it, and to keep the quality high," in Englehart's words.<p>
</p>Flip the calendar ahead to October, with both Englehart and Colan having departed and writer Marv Wolfman announcing that the book would return to a bimonthly schedule--the reason being that its sales, though good, didn't warrant being published monthly. Early on, however, there were similar bumps in the road for readers of the new monthly series to weather, such as a reprint issue being released so shortly after the book's launch, with bimonthly status kicking in two issues later; then, the departure of celebrated artist Frank Brunner, who made no secret of the fact that he preferred a bimonthly schedule but also had other projects he was interested in pursuing, at which point Colan, who had worked on the first <i>Dr. Strange</i> series in the '60s, came aboard. Englehart would later provide a bit of perspective in that regard:<p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">
"<span style="color: #fcff01;">When Dr. Strange had his own book in the late '60s, it failed. The insider's official explanation has always laid it off on Gene's panel layout ("you couldn't follow the story"). But it's been my conviction for some time that the real reason is far more basic: in the late '60s, despite all the hue and cry over mind expansion, there just weren't enough spacy people reading comics to support a mystic--while today, there are. In fact, as I say, there are so many spacers around that this book is not just supported. This book is a certified hit. That means there are a lot of people out there who dig Dr. Strange as he now is, and they deserve consideration.</span>"</p><p><br>
And that leads us to a four-issue story from 1975 which I like to think smoothed the road ahead for our new Sorcerer Supreme and his creative team, and certainly for his readers who despite a two-month wait between issues were demonstrating that they were in it for the long haul. Monsieur Brunner has left us a stunning cover for that story's first installment, featuring Strange facing the unrelenting Umar, the sister to none other than the Dread Dormammu--and while Colan had yet to contribute cover work, we get a sense that Strange, as well as his lover and now-disciple, Clea, are literally about to undertake their baptism of fire!</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojMprzK5UsITswvlNez0CJuHRZzUSSnjV6d5_brMtY3_6lURDhZ2Y2r1YIa4zQLAuVbFURkJjX_xK_hOFPOg7Rr4IX7JlhQJ4peTrdED1U6nW873V_MxzoOxVnx06kzLGEHG8tyeB5yWHz7fze7vap-Gh_7ZnBfuxsndhRwAzRz0BCSFHCYUwaEmurAxq/s1836/ds7-8-9.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="913" data-original-width="1836" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiojMprzK5UsITswvlNez0CJuHRZzUSSnjV6d5_brMtY3_6lURDhZ2Y2r1YIa4zQLAuVbFURkJjX_xK_hOFPOg7Rr4IX7JlhQJ4peTrdED1U6nW873V_MxzoOxVnx06kzLGEHG8tyeB5yWHz7fze7vap-Gh_7ZnBfuxsndhRwAzRz0BCSFHCYUwaEmurAxq/w640-h318/ds7-8-9.gif" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/its-not-nice-to-bind-mother-nature.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-90837012388848515432023-08-21T02:30:00.081-04:002023-08-21T02:30:00.145-04:00A World They Never Made<p> </p>Continuing the PPC's look at the <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-house-of-magnus.html" target="_blank"><i>House Of M</i></a> crossover event from 2005, we turn our focus away from the title series to others whose lives were affected by the rise of mutants in the world, where a brief synopsis tells us the circumstances of not only the clinging existence of homo sapiens, but of those heroes who now unknowingly find themselves in different lives than those they led.<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhrfBxA2zfPBLUjsZLKPu0oEFKi10nkcempPyMYbCfJOvCuDhvRrDd0DWBUFeizk08gp7qfRsL9h8Jay9WU_ZmsE4uv2_Nw4f7qpFTtiP6zjPZrxIWJpfkA8HntMpccsNMDnRVry0qN6snAJg2eruEXmaRQr5NAaTT_bqGK4p3Biy_7fDq0jrILv8pD5Jx/s553/hom-synopsis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="132" data-original-width="553" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhrfBxA2zfPBLUjsZLKPu0oEFKi10nkcempPyMYbCfJOvCuDhvRrDd0DWBUFeizk08gp7qfRsL9h8Jay9WU_ZmsE4uv2_Nw4f7qpFTtiP6zjPZrxIWJpfkA8HntMpccsNMDnRVry0qN6snAJg2eruEXmaRQr5NAaTT_bqGK4p3Biy_7fDq0jrILv8pD5Jx/s16000/hom-synopsis.jpg"></a></div><p><br>The earliest two books out of this gate comprise those who, in <i>our</i> reality, saw their characters <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2021/06/theres-never-been-hero-like-spider-man.html" target="_blank">meet very early</a> in their respective careers. But the reality we're exploring in <i>this</i> series was created by the disturbed mind of the Scarlet Witch--and in the world that she brought into existence, Spider-Man never met those we know as the Fantastic Four, and their histories are radically different here where mutants reign supreme, and where their lord, Magnus, has fulfilled the goals he long fought for but could never achieve in adversity.</p><p></p><p>
Peter Parker, as well, has seen his dreams of happiness and fulfillment come true--but if that is so, why does he feel uneasy in a life where he's achieved everything he ever strove for? And if Reed Richards and those who accompanied him into space were killed during their flight, as we learned previously, then what four people have taken their place?</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSN0p_7m5v0WlkZFWftezKjwhb2MPMIQ897KHdiscGeAEAYbbwDaOHdUGtfSY67dmFiPT8BS2szZhNC2Mq44bckMzL4kvAqFz7JEZ2-LhfcH6O-Ers4UTYrlaHakfR0sHmkx7oYuvKNtUHSpWj8l0m3d98wxFzGJLZU2uyoTAsESLy7Xeol7DZ2PDPCLl/s1267/hom-ff-sm1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1267" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSN0p_7m5v0WlkZFWftezKjwhb2MPMIQ897KHdiscGeAEAYbbwDaOHdUGtfSY67dmFiPT8BS2szZhNC2Mq44bckMzL4kvAqFz7JEZ2-LhfcH6O-Ers4UTYrlaHakfR0sHmkx7oYuvKNtUHSpWj8l0m3d98wxFzGJLZU2uyoTAsESLy7Xeol7DZ2PDPCLl/w640-h464/hom-ff-sm1.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-world-they-never-made.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-54229484617898357372023-08-17T02:30:00.214-04:002023-08-17T05:14:02.387-04:00Birth(s) Of A Living Legend<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisS6apTM3yb6KAKcfBmsOqXjWYZAJavDn4r3_qq9UDIq21kX1QgDK6_WkZS7G2sG4IiV3r_W1BgTklQ2hGRJcInVuoDTMt1MOeF82oC9cfM8JVxtmRF9Wzhr8slfQI7pkS_-rkRL5VnIkgSmwZT5Hzr81u8OT7CFAPdH-xzpXSrAHZ4GlHEpEsXPPvHGID/s469/cap.gif" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 1px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="251" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisS6apTM3yb6KAKcfBmsOqXjWYZAJavDn4r3_qq9UDIq21kX1QgDK6_WkZS7G2sG4IiV3r_W1BgTklQ2hGRJcInVuoDTMt1MOeF82oC9cfM8JVxtmRF9Wzhr8slfQI7pkS_-rkRL5VnIkgSmwZT5Hzr81u8OT7CFAPdH-xzpXSrAHZ4GlHEpEsXPPvHGID/w214-h400/cap.gif" width="214"></a></div>There have been no less than four full-fledged origin tales of the star-spangled Avenger known as <b>Captain America</b>, which in a way is astonishing considering that Cap's origin is among several that could probably be easily repeated by any number of comics aficionados <i>or</i> laymen, even if one doesn't go into detail. Nor did that change (and you'll discover why shortly) when Marvel decided in 2010 to <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-revised-marvel-universe.html" target="_blank">revise the origins</a> of a number of select characters whose pasts were deemed to need a fresh approach or were otherwise too dated to bring forward through the years. And yet, researching this topic yielded a certain level of fascination for me--and I imagine similar feelings must have occurred to writer Roger Stern and artist John Byrne when they put together the <i>definitive</i> (emphasis by Mr. Stern) origin to celebrate the character's <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2015/01/captain-america-reporting-for-duty.html" target="_blank">fortieth anniversary issue</a>, a story which weaves in elements of those four tales as well as <i>new</i> tidbits of history for Cap as well as Steve Rogers prior to the latter's astounding transformation.<p>
Add to that the curious coincidence that three of those four tales were published in the same month of their respective years, and taking place roughly fifteen years apart each, and you have to figure that their creators might have each been tipping their hats to history.</p><p>
So in the spirit of both discovery and nostalgia, let's take a look at the ways in which writers in more contemporary times did their part to add to the material which Joe Simon and Kirby first crafted in 1941, introducing their readers to a character who would continue to endure over eighty years later.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1l1X5lkKQLn-7wnoDRHNrYIOjzbdYHiJhxSbf2WJilQ2wGKYOuK6qoBPepcnmxhzvTgxefBa3-YmERyU02L1qlZ7qXLzEH5uKHITCwHO9PnjZZinwjto0jinX33L_0jhOOiIYliiO8kIuLWvWtXy6BNY3mOQlzh7eYx4gPUKIcsZNBbJbp-EhLP2DnviZ/s1331/cac1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="1331" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1l1X5lkKQLn-7wnoDRHNrYIOjzbdYHiJhxSbf2WJilQ2wGKYOuK6qoBPepcnmxhzvTgxefBa3-YmERyU02L1qlZ7qXLzEH5uKHITCwHO9PnjZZinwjto0jinX33L_0jhOOiIYliiO8kIuLWvWtXy6BNY3mOQlzh7eYx4gPUKIcsZNBbJbp-EhLP2DnviZ/w640-h470/cac1.jpg" width="640"></a></div>
<br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/births-of-living-legend.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-59818332062522843802023-08-14T02:30:00.110-04:002023-08-21T05:26:04.534-04:00The House Of Magnus<p> </p><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">"<span style="color: #fcff01;">You know how sometimes you hear the phrase: AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN? Well, this time believe it, buster!! NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!</span>"<br>
-- <i>Promotional copy taken from Marvel.com</i></div><p><br>
In December of 2004, the first volume of <i>The Avengers</i> came to an end after the team was rent asunder by <a href="http://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-reassembling-of-avengers.html" target="_blank">a fierce conflict</a> set in motion by the unbalanced mind of one of their most long-standing members--a woman finally dealt with by Dr. Strange, and subsequently retrieved by her father, the master of magnetism.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6wBJQ3YoB1JTY-qcCmhpe4chWy3jSXLmAacm5l48gSGwjuKICZ3w3gkHUxXiEV16ukGuHtTOgw7AwZmTTrpsU_6Wd_vrsIhV-WUxIfDChIJYuOaAochBxu8tsgM5vGX41cE_KRlBJ6gXUCIMndOeOlXWXfuR_0uVJKlBeSodWHfTsnnINnOE0QZjI2BL/s1368/av503_28-30.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1368" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6wBJQ3YoB1JTY-qcCmhpe4chWy3jSXLmAacm5l48gSGwjuKICZ3w3gkHUxXiEV16ukGuHtTOgw7AwZmTTrpsU_6Wd_vrsIhV-WUxIfDChIJYuOaAochBxu8tsgM5vGX41cE_KRlBJ6gXUCIMndOeOlXWXfuR_0uVJKlBeSodWHfTsnnINnOE0QZjI2BL/w640-h464/av503_28-30.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqUOd8oTHLyJKvY5pZsSJf1uUOX1tUpU47s4M_Q5P69-zIQt-HTcgq36WjzeWQ2MvJiaRZOluhxGpPIuAzZZnM0FMEtwMp2helSp9gHvW0j0wzmmZKAralzgEFUZeAXxzPgxcogH6diwCe77Tk8reN2habkpNTxOzudp65aGb_ZyxoSUthbC9aPQjXCW4/s986/av503_31.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="637" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtqUOd8oTHLyJKvY5pZsSJf1uUOX1tUpU47s4M_Q5P69-zIQt-HTcgq36WjzeWQ2MvJiaRZOluhxGpPIuAzZZnM0FMEtwMp2helSp9gHvW0j0wzmmZKAralzgEFUZeAXxzPgxcogH6diwCe77Tk8reN2habkpNTxOzudp65aGb_ZyxoSUthbC9aPQjXCW4/w414-h640/av503_31.jpg" width="414"></a></div><p><br>Eight months later, Marvel segued from that tragic development to embark on an ambitious crossover event which would be spearheaded by the eight-issue <b><i>House Of M</i></b> series, an attempt to <strike>capitalize on</strike> resolve the fate of the Scarlet Witch whose ability to alter reality remains a clear and present danger but would also involve--and revolve around--the world's mutant population to a degree we'd never seen before.</p><p></p><p>
That level of involvement takes its cue from a prior issue of <i>X-Men</i>, where the sister of Charles Xavier, Cassandra Nova, had sent a squad of Sentinels to destroy the island of Genosha, resulting in the deaths of its mutant population to the tune of over 16,000,000 people (including, presumably, its ruler, Magneto). It's to those ruins where Magneto returns with Wanda, where we learn in a synopsis that he's called on Xavier to do what he can to heal Wanda's shattered mind.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCLPqZqyMVVmBcJfRrS-6pLtVV7hr4xEqPwI65w7WQS6UcjbcAtAXYHQiAmJtcInF8-ZkiZT2lZOQFZNaulf9YAJMIQrKIYbkqhxLWxr9BylJmWoUT9AFqD3Z---QIO8FToi3qmBBjy0o-Sk--TSBMHG3xjvO3MHYg20hg7szt9GC_lYMzd7Saf8MHDLH/s636/hom1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="636" height="533" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvCLPqZqyMVVmBcJfRrS-6pLtVV7hr4xEqPwI65w7WQS6UcjbcAtAXYHQiAmJtcInF8-ZkiZT2lZOQFZNaulf9YAJMIQrKIYbkqhxLWxr9BylJmWoUT9AFqD3Z---QIO8FToi3qmBBjy0o-Sk--TSBMHG3xjvO3MHYg20hg7szt9GC_lYMzd7Saf8MHDLH/w566-h533/hom1.jpg" width="566"></a></div><p><br>Knowing what's to come, one can't help but think of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_road_to_hell_is_paved_with_good_intentions" target="_blank">a certain proverb</a> at this point. But thanks to the logo of this series, which is ever-present on every title that this event extends to, it would seem that there is one figure who appears to benefit from the seismic repercussions which are to follow.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTD5HbtEkCJlrGzTZnRidxGnQeVfR-Y4pNUgjAml_DE7roF3pzcQfMSlsSJw2FSSmWvu8DnAIRsjYqF4IlQq4LE8frEKzwbdbzr0n6oee5-QFMj61ejsW6fVj3Kajv9lZJfQRGAsipgxvN2Uw3qS1-kYVLfumXsOLpys7ZRAH1u7zGAVaVmvDQHvea7O9E/s284/hom_logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="261" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTD5HbtEkCJlrGzTZnRidxGnQeVfR-Y4pNUgjAml_DE7roF3pzcQfMSlsSJw2FSSmWvu8DnAIRsjYqF4IlQq4LE8frEKzwbdbzr0n6oee5-QFMj61ejsW6fVj3Kajv9lZJfQRGAsipgxvN2Uw3qS1-kYVLfumXsOLpys7ZRAH1u7zGAVaVmvDQHvea7O9E/w176-h192/hom_logo.jpg" width="176"></a></div><br><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-house-of-magnus.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-6063120461934296612023-08-10T02:30:00.081-04:002023-08-10T02:30:00.135-04:00Objective: Seize The Power of the Kree!<p> </p><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Can YOU</span></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEk2ygZPEX7U2nX5_km9npAQeasuk5SYP5hmy5ub28UTolGahIq6omed6eA1cw_QvfUiFXXMcvuT4_ZauW2utm5clS25fkgjP64rNMjlUHVcBY-xaz77wMhlq_EntTp1TU3yrpgHIYjfmngS30vFV6P9WclKRNgZTvodccXlxjPjQ7TsGIIW4g3TIYNw/s588/villain.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="588" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEk2ygZPEX7U2nX5_km9npAQeasuk5SYP5hmy5ub28UTolGahIq6omed6eA1cw_QvfUiFXXMcvuT4_ZauW2utm5clS25fkgjP64rNMjlUHVcBY-xaz77wMhlq_EntTp1TU3yrpgHIYjfmngS30vFV6P9WclKRNgZTvodccXlxjPjQ7TsGIIW4g3TIYNw/w397-h246/villain.gif" width="397"></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Name This Marvel Villain??</span></b></span></div>
<br><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/objective-seize-power-of-kree.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-54094694287328901892023-08-07T02:30:00.068-04:002023-08-07T02:30:00.137-04:00The Mid-1970s Hulk, Redux<p> </p>Nestled in between the second volume of <i>Incredible Hulk</i> and its 1999 successor, <i>Hulk</i> (renamed in 2000 after eleven issues to <i>Incredible Hulk</i>), was the six-issue series <i>Rampaging Hulk</i> published during 1998-99, recycling the title of <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-rampaging-tv-sensation.html" target="_blank">the late '70s magazine</a> and promising a depiction of the Hulk "as you've <i>never</i> seen him <i>before!</i>"<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-UFk8iq4MYZw_0KilOIyo2j2UE7ee1OAZIFQgGJeGJQ9a5mZJ71d7mEuj31jzHlBAF1DxVIVOr88PPyEJmyF3hGHk32exeI6oIyZmXGIO_xAf85VzFwrF5X0FxrWo0niyv21ZH3atJJfZHmjoY8jNi5CrljWG8A25MACHVmguQH0thWbY-vWak5DZQ/s1860/rh1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1860" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-UFk8iq4MYZw_0KilOIyo2j2UE7ee1OAZIFQgGJeGJQ9a5mZJ71d7mEuj31jzHlBAF1DxVIVOr88PPyEJmyF3hGHk32exeI6oIyZmXGIO_xAf85VzFwrF5X0FxrWo0niyv21ZH3atJJfZHmjoY8jNi5CrljWG8A25MACHVmguQH0thWbY-vWak5DZQ/w640-h322/rh1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />Yet, as this first issue's introductory info has alluded to, this Hulk in fact will ring very familiar to those readers of his prior series who well remember the "Hulk smash!" behemoth who leaped around the New Mexico desert and clashed with the military forces stationed at Gamma Base. Nor does that base's C.O., Gen. Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, seem all that different to us as he and his second-in-command, Maj. Glenn Talbot, prep what we presume to be a number of new base recruits on their installation's mission, so like that of the original <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2012/09/make-love-not-hulkbusting.html" target="_blank">Project Greenskin</a>.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgi5MsUA9sMzDay_Qr1reYAeafNR0T7Ej1NgaUOgxN3KUwmFDxuOoRnfenQSYXwd7T7T-2laSSTOWVV8RR9dGL-mkH8WtOOrDGGiBfk39YPsz4wYjR7DD5bFHFcIssGU7Z_tLb9ZcPHsANcMoqxBDrPbAerXO9GEM3deV0Qw6Cv5ODHxS3gx30ocZm-Q/s1281/rh1_2-3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1281" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgi5MsUA9sMzDay_Qr1reYAeafNR0T7Ej1NgaUOgxN3KUwmFDxuOoRnfenQSYXwd7T7T-2laSSTOWVV8RR9dGL-mkH8WtOOrDGGiBfk39YPsz4wYjR7DD5bFHFcIssGU7Z_tLb9ZcPHsANcMoqxBDrPbAerXO9GEM3deV0Qw6Cv5ODHxS3gx30ocZm-Q/w640-h458/rh1_2-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaeTlAdMfhWqDBCkRR4IEStzu2ROak9dJY4PlM4w_XMKj9fw0wyZbsMjhVo7ph6pzqPuWYKKXGkL2Uu4gg5BwIF01A7PN9JIJmr1fwT2pxLhjV1mY_hFd0ddK6ZU3PMnEWarZqIqQyjEWd__2zrwq-7JxRvxJx3VoxTN42U8aZUvWEtIYTL68bVUbHjw/s979/rh1_4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="979" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaeTlAdMfhWqDBCkRR4IEStzu2ROak9dJY4PlM4w_XMKj9fw0wyZbsMjhVo7ph6pzqPuWYKKXGkL2Uu4gg5BwIF01A7PN9JIJmr1fwT2pxLhjV1mY_hFd0ddK6ZU3PMnEWarZqIqQyjEWd__2zrwq-7JxRvxJx3VoxTN42U8aZUvWEtIYTL68bVUbHjw/w640-h218/rh1_4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />Though with his antipathy toward Bruce Banner, Talbot clearly isn't interested in following the General's lead and highlighting the Hulk as an opportunity for scientific advancement but, rather, a dangerous creature and threat to the human race that must be dealt with.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPC4jUrLAxFwrMnGRvU73YN_6mYmiZ3j5mBsPjq594t6bR3qX7KDiuda6pmb6VeDmnC6BxexrzDUuZlBghTw-eFSmjDgFV-1tmiyB8y5z5zhGT-THzdvZVoTXYMz46yvqo5Ayy93hAl9uuLoT5qotKVI8ypFzDdTGqBqXv4jTxnCtiHypQksXISdyrlg/s859/rh1_5-6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="859" data-original-width="615" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPC4jUrLAxFwrMnGRvU73YN_6mYmiZ3j5mBsPjq594t6bR3qX7KDiuda6pmb6VeDmnC6BxexrzDUuZlBghTw-eFSmjDgFV-1tmiyB8y5z5zhGT-THzdvZVoTXYMz46yvqo5Ayy93hAl9uuLoT5qotKVI8ypFzDdTGqBqXv4jTxnCtiHypQksXISdyrlg/w458-h640/rh1_5-6.jpg" width="458" /></a></div><p><br />We learn on the splash page(s) that what we're seeing occurred almost six years prior, which would have been in the early '90s (our time) when Peter David was writing the book. But given that the issue establishes a marker of sorts that indicates the recent marriage of Talbot and the General's daughter, Betty, that would normally put us circa 1973--except for the fact that the General is referring to his military installation as Gamma Base, which wasn't officially commissioned as such until 1976.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMaTFHtkRe89u_0JGvaMJO_y13Wr_RCnMTIQWkMMPPo7LSWS4cvJ5np68gNtqIQLbqW3nHJ0zHhRN1vU07S8A_uSu8my_ATyz62aLKdTNoU-IEpsPWL9k4z1BGOCw0bO7wVQHZCq5LN7NCpA3p51RjbW87WJ8z3EzPgzJAkdZgfX5SN-Jsxva-H0fWw/s844/hulk198_7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="844" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMaTFHtkRe89u_0JGvaMJO_y13Wr_RCnMTIQWkMMPPo7LSWS4cvJ5np68gNtqIQLbqW3nHJ0zHhRN1vU07S8A_uSu8my_ATyz62aLKdTNoU-IEpsPWL9k4z1BGOCw0bO7wVQHZCq5LN7NCpA3p51RjbW87WJ8z3EzPgzJAkdZgfX5SN-Jsxva-H0fWw/w640-h230/hulk198_7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />And since the General's mission statement at that time about the base's purpose mirrors his words from his briefing, we're left to assume that this series takes place sometime after Talbot's comatose mind (courtesy of the Gremlin) was returned to consciousness in issue #200 in mid-'76--a prelude, unfortunately, to sadder days, since Talbot and Betty were <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2014/09/this-time-its-personal.html" target="_blank">headed for divorce</a> three years later.</p><p></p><p>
As for Betty, it's difficult to say here whether Talbot's fears about his wife's true feelings are justified. Regardless, we're perhaps seeing signs of the man that <i>Colonel</i> Talbot will eventually become when he would later take control of Gamma Base and go after the Hulk in earnest, in part due to regarding his past with Betty as "a life of loneliness and wasted memories" thanks to Bruce Banner.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelnVDZP6-Yd6DR7hStEnwNNdp-fXYn8uHkG2gvnb8VzHNmNn-lIfc6YvAMbdhuOnMDLI5CWH0BJIujQ2SaRsEqmnyPHI-OlVOA0dkf5EHnLqRSaJjkpTVkTueKXRRfYNeaxehTAkoUiDZEemM5g7ZWkvsdGoLPOjTw9nclelZi1fa4FTOc0iDmGf04g/s1168/rh1_11-12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="1168" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelnVDZP6-Yd6DR7hStEnwNNdp-fXYn8uHkG2gvnb8VzHNmNn-lIfc6YvAMbdhuOnMDLI5CWH0BJIujQ2SaRsEqmnyPHI-OlVOA0dkf5EHnLqRSaJjkpTVkTueKXRRfYNeaxehTAkoUiDZEemM5g7ZWkvsdGoLPOjTw9nclelZi1fa4FTOc0iDmGf04g/w640-h324/rh1_11-12.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />And what of Banner? Taking a janitorial position at the Brand Corporation (you sure can pick 'em, Doc), he once again works toward a possible cure for himself, even as it's clear he fumes at Talbot in much the same way as the Major does toward himself, though with the difference that Betty is now Talbot's wife. But all of that takes a back seat when the procedure he conducts on himself takes a turn for the worse. <small>(And boy, we can say that about Bruce Banner a <i>lot</i>. There's a post in there somewhere.)</small></p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5fj6YjE1aBFwyl7YKebwUQAW43l1kIrdSGO3NMFtSVYNE-7APfRYwR82ZdpEFSIYxeApdlK20OmsDGkAxqGuo0kBm3hJhg3jHOvABhCnXgF1C3v0CK5a0TvHZpWmMVekYPr9Q39NgK-DLQ-QH-g9DKS9I2NYzYrxHZVQUcQ2alF-P2DeM2QoOhAlAg/s1834/rh1_13-14-19.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="1834" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-5fj6YjE1aBFwyl7YKebwUQAW43l1kIrdSGO3NMFtSVYNE-7APfRYwR82ZdpEFSIYxeApdlK20OmsDGkAxqGuo0kBm3hJhg3jHOvABhCnXgF1C3v0CK5a0TvHZpWmMVekYPr9Q39NgK-DLQ-QH-g9DKS9I2NYzYrxHZVQUcQ2alF-P2DeM2QoOhAlAg/w640-h324/rh1_13-14-19.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk84r-3fuWQFf_jjEBy-4Xa-wqkafke4q8E_5l96aNP_Ko0HzEekH8fFXu2npejO293wzL5LGFYmcae_AjWJh9W-TQ19OhOzt9UXDZ1RhtJv2ZvGDHuCirWoACDDNQl_9D_73XhEE16IOOwNNYbp-chZ4VlUWmIf-8L6q6B78k1-vqnRgTRuOmiZhxFA/s1254/rh1_20-21.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1254" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk84r-3fuWQFf_jjEBy-4Xa-wqkafke4q8E_5l96aNP_Ko0HzEekH8fFXu2npejO293wzL5LGFYmcae_AjWJh9W-TQ19OhOzt9UXDZ1RhtJv2ZvGDHuCirWoACDDNQl_9D_73XhEE16IOOwNNYbp-chZ4VlUWmIf-8L6q6B78k1-vqnRgTRuOmiZhxFA/w640-h478/rh1_20-21.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />The scene carries disturbing undertones of <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2014/02/my-son-monster.html" target="_blank">a 1985 story</a> by Bill Mantlo and Mike Mignola which detailed Banner's pent-up anger as a child due to his treatment by his father--here, seeming to make clear that their relationship, and Banner's helplessness throughout, remains the reason that the Hulk "hates Banner."</p><p></p><p>
Here and now, though, Banner realizes that he has the chance to make a stand of a different sort--a chance to finally seize control, assuming his physical body can stand the strain of such an inner battle. To those on the outside, such a struggle is touch and go, by all appearances--while for Banner, who seemed so optimistic, it becomes clear that the rage of the Hulk, as in the waking world, cannot be denied, or contained.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2i_znm6L5O1c43aPTRRFDpNu14DepUHwlliCOG0H6wQMLqD68XsKlp1m8Gs9coZQGCpvJMymrRe-PKoeDbJAEqheXzd09uRK0tcijhIBipvAkqVQV7AsQKHllvO1_G0RWetDX6-yRqt2TSAfWEAuYmu98F7-v-hs6Mc5e1c_jFeAxLZYkzYklWpLBQ/s1811/rh1_25-26-27.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1811" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2i_znm6L5O1c43aPTRRFDpNu14DepUHwlliCOG0H6wQMLqD68XsKlp1m8Gs9coZQGCpvJMymrRe-PKoeDbJAEqheXzd09uRK0tcijhIBipvAkqVQV7AsQKHllvO1_G0RWetDX6-yRqt2TSAfWEAuYmu98F7-v-hs6Mc5e1c_jFeAxLZYkzYklWpLBQ/w640-h314/rh1_25-26-27.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />With the Hulk's ascendance, Ross remains defiant in the face of his captive's rage, telling the monster in no uncertain terms that this time there will be no escape for him from the state-of-the-art containment cell he's imprisoned in--another example of Ross's steadfast belief in the military's superior might over that of the Hulk, an obsessive state of mind which is part of what makes Ross such a flawed yet compelling character, even though in hindsight we know it will lead to him <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2013/09/duty-honor-disgrace.html" target="_blank">committing treason</a> down the road.</p><p></p><p>
Once again, however, the Hulk's jailers reckon without his prodigious strength in relation to his growing anger. In response, Ross's reaction is sadly predictable--but for the Hulk, and especially for the trapped Bruce Banner, writer Glenn Greenberg ends the issue more poignantly.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1P2mcFnDb11Vek-L0YEGAyTfkgwvik6Z4K_Q7Q_SDzacGExtDPTyFG4d0i1gnujmVFlo-Pff7Jw14AER2mCoKRKbMs6hLgg_Rv3d17hFMwzKLQXNzYzKfCoUPrR2ucp39Ta-qX1EHE72rWCcPGu6CqXNRH26XWLL63Kd_htLk-Jc6_8AFVVp28iqqg/s1152/rh1_29-30.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="1152" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1P2mcFnDb11Vek-L0YEGAyTfkgwvik6Z4K_Q7Q_SDzacGExtDPTyFG4d0i1gnujmVFlo-Pff7Jw14AER2mCoKRKbMs6hLgg_Rv3d17hFMwzKLQXNzYzKfCoUPrR2ucp39Ta-qX1EHE72rWCcPGu6CqXNRH26XWLL63Kd_htLk-Jc6_8AFVVp28iqqg/w640-h340/rh1_29-30.gif" width="640" /></a></div><p><br />With this being before the time when Marvel would think nothing of limiting a new series to a set number of issues before pulling the plug and beginning another such run with only a tweak to the masthead, it was reasonable to believe that <i>Rampaging Hulk</i> would have some measure of success on the comics stands, even constricted to being "stuck in the past" as the saying goes--yet in its sixth issue, only a cover caption and an unceremonious blurb in the issue's letters page marked the fact that the series had ended. The release of the new <i>Hulk</i> series three months after <i>Rampaging</i>'s cancellation, however, made it clear that this man-monster, even in print, was indeed unstoppable.</p><p></p><p>
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<p></p><p></p>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-88495312785094013862023-08-03T02:30:00.073-04:002023-08-03T02:30:00.137-04:00The Death Chair of M.O.D.O.K.!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDP0qIw7_H2JSZDC1qICTLDpJncn7Z45IV5Bdx3Aey1qd9d0TaGtJvA0owHu3iK9pg3NlkhexU38TLZHhFXy4cJF3kBMIcIYDw4tv9welOvQRU2QDqSBPG7rWWn5EJ5ncP3FcZ6EpNlBIzON3xxj-Gi276jlFGrlbOP2iljTuKp6elsJZi6Nm9EdCkEQ/s948/imann4.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; padding: 0em 20px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="614" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDP0qIw7_H2JSZDC1qICTLDpJncn7Z45IV5Bdx3Aey1qd9d0TaGtJvA0owHu3iK9pg3NlkhexU38TLZHhFXy4cJF3kBMIcIYDw4tv9welOvQRU2QDqSBPG7rWWn5EJ5ncP3FcZ6EpNlBIzON3xxj-Gi276jlFGrlbOP2iljTuKp6elsJZi6Nm9EdCkEQ/s400/imann4.jpg"></a></div>The 1977 <i>Iron Man Annual</i>, written by Bill Mantlo with art by George Tuska and Don Perlin, could be viewed for all intents and purposes as a Hail Mary pass to benefit the mid-'70s super-team the Champions, who co-star with the title character in a battle which would involve the forces of Advanced Idea Mechanics (aka A.I.M.) and <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2016/10/when-modok-commands.html" target="_blank">M.O.D.O.K.</a>, their creation which has once again imposed his will on the organization. At this point in time, the <i>Champions</i> book was two issues away from cancellation, which, taking into account its bi-monthly publication status, gave the book four months to reflect any sales bump which it might have received as a result of the group's appearance in the annual. We know in hindsight that such a sales increase either didn't occur or was negligible--yet for Iron Man, the pairing of himself and the Champions made for a decent story, while also serving as a last hurrah for a team which <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2020/05/mission-seize-black-widow.html" target="_blank">never quite resonated</a> with readers.<p>
Most of that likely has to do with Mantlo playing to one of Iron Man's strengths which is separate from his armor--specifically, his status as a member of the old guard who at times throws his weight around with those he considers less seasoned than himself, who then tend to fall in line and defer to his better judgment. We get a look at such character dynamics up front in this issue when Iron Man realizes he could use backup in this affair--particularly when he investigates a deserted AIM base in Nevada and discovers evidence of MODOK being close to achieving a threat level that could endanger the world.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7IN6NvHqcfR0Fe8wwKPU4lv77gzdFW5yeuKullx0PWAfUPJOIoiUm5Xpt568_N8wvskvBiikLXfZVNIoTsan0c_3akjWOIinMFaXr3e3jrvCWWydC1JbgFNPB_ld1-WeGHIf1GRF12kgXe_o6sdhRzSEQujwPbKaeboHcQ_zmw5kakbYh2ZETRYzX6g/s1290/imann4_2-7-8.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="1290" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7IN6NvHqcfR0Fe8wwKPU4lv77gzdFW5yeuKullx0PWAfUPJOIoiUm5Xpt568_N8wvskvBiikLXfZVNIoTsan0c_3akjWOIinMFaXr3e3jrvCWWydC1JbgFNPB_ld1-WeGHIf1GRF12kgXe_o6sdhRzSEQujwPbKaeboHcQ_zmw5kakbYh2ZETRYzX6g/w640-h472/imann4_2-7-8.gif" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-death-chair-of-modok.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-36028561823786957302023-07-31T02:30:00.098-04:002023-08-03T04:41:55.904-04:00The Cure, Or The Cost? <br>On the heels of a procedure conducted by Leonard "Doc" Samson which made use of <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2014/07/my-cross-to-bear.html" target="_blank">a nutrient bath vat</a> to physically separate Bruce Banner from the Hulk, which led to the <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-strangest-man-of-all-time.html" target="_blank">re-emergence of the gray Hulk</a>, writer Danny Fingeroth and artist Sal Buscema joined their talents to bring us the 1986 <i>Hulk Annual</i> which served as a coda to the whole affair, as Banner returns to the abandoned (and locked down by S.H.I.E.L.D.) Gamma Base to reconsider and perhaps salvage the hope he briefly realized for a time as a separate being from his raging alter-ego. But, judging by Banner's hesitancy and doubts, the procedure seems no less fraught with risk and uncertainty, even with his own expertise at the helm this time.<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuY82KaMi2t1FnU00gcMF4upoTNpOl04g3KAyvimDSvTHC_lLjsUz6hXtAKslCqMlUnyx7ESwsvEIkJxMgRnOzDZB3iibUd2rf5pBoJ5hG90mVQjlREUzcUXKJb4qx7jRaRH9N9MvXYc01ay-TfYC1WusNMS3EY_2OQ5MeXHIf99xrJ43jCGmNj9wTEA/s1237/hulkann15_1.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1237" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuY82KaMi2t1FnU00gcMF4upoTNpOl04g3KAyvimDSvTHC_lLjsUz6hXtAKslCqMlUnyx7ESwsvEIkJxMgRnOzDZB3iibUd2rf5pBoJ5hG90mVQjlREUzcUXKJb4qx7jRaRH9N9MvXYc01ay-TfYC1WusNMS3EY_2OQ5MeXHIf99xrJ43jCGmNj9wTEA/w640-h448/hulkann15_1.gif" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVe847ljItk0aEgUjKg0wTxN6KyuJ5ApV2khVOQb24c8UWo07zScywT6xDbm7I2hZGmK54UWJvXC-Kf_AMDt_gFcpYhwwS0esKXS7mJKSnVbBR1MVso8B-KQbO-ihgEevt6TS5KnAtnaRbpbBNHcKyAGCY5pZygvaXsW1AA1-uSwgv2xY5igHDJtXNlw/s1033/hulkann15_2-3.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1033" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVe847ljItk0aEgUjKg0wTxN6KyuJ5ApV2khVOQb24c8UWo07zScywT6xDbm7I2hZGmK54UWJvXC-Kf_AMDt_gFcpYhwwS0esKXS7mJKSnVbBR1MVso8B-KQbO-ihgEevt6TS5KnAtnaRbpbBNHcKyAGCY5pZygvaXsW1AA1-uSwgv2xY5igHDJtXNlw/w640-h432/hulkann15_2-3.gif" width="640"></a></div><p><br>Joining Banner in this endeavor are the two people closest to him--his wife, the former Betty Ross, and Rick Jones, who shares responsibility in the tragic event which created the Hulk. Betty and Rick are of two minds as to whether Banner should go forward with what he plans. But there is another who will play a part in this drama, whose arrival coincides with what is at first believed to be a meteorite impacting in the New Mexico desert; however, upon learning that the object is emitting gamma radiation, SHIELD approaches the area fearing the worst. For Clay Quartermain and his forces, what emerges from the impact crater will surpass that assessment by far.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygW5kz-_nWHeyvqfoUWOTZbkNf_v-UxKuSxz-Af0h8pAEoIkTvukiLTwrgclTsQFuNEhROJ7EpDhF0-R_6SBrpqfRRli3aN-EASH41yT3Dk5Z42TyKcL6nO2Z-hdkIJ3iDkXSL3mbIc_LNdye90iCWKK05IL82ATcOhuS9SNRfvPbyRuFWiD1r7ZRuA/s1275/hulkann15_7-8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1275" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygW5kz-_nWHeyvqfoUWOTZbkNf_v-UxKuSxz-Af0h8pAEoIkTvukiLTwrgclTsQFuNEhROJ7EpDhF0-R_6SBrpqfRRli3aN-EASH41yT3Dk5Z42TyKcL6nO2Z-hdkIJ3iDkXSL3mbIc_LNdye90iCWKK05IL82ATcOhuS9SNRfvPbyRuFWiD1r7ZRuA/w640-h466/hulkann15_7-8.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-cure-or-cost.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-65446381785884529072023-07-27T02:30:00.078-04:002023-07-27T02:30:00.138-04:00The Man Without Super-Senses<p> </p>At first glance, you'd think the question that this 1978 cover of <i>What If</i> poses was dealt with on that very cover, asked and answered:<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMtzI5UuUufPYpU1P2-ZW_p68J3ahuavv1IL1JXsFEVEI04aneCQVPXLwmwEMndYMn6ik1pcQDUFHZhxplWVyAsRXkTQ3bhi7AwmRzP1VKUjFAEM8Ar77_mvnuQ2iivkGRCMyQG4PAQXNorW_OfpVyuqTw3zojwDVGYwfpulgyzf2kOyUpWXj_DZQyA/s953/wi8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="614" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihMtzI5UuUufPYpU1P2-ZW_p68J3ahuavv1IL1JXsFEVEI04aneCQVPXLwmwEMndYMn6ik1pcQDUFHZhxplWVyAsRXkTQ3bhi7AwmRzP1VKUjFAEM8Ar77_mvnuQ2iivkGRCMyQG4PAQXNorW_OfpVyuqTw3zojwDVGYwfpulgyzf2kOyUpWXj_DZQyA/w412-h640/wi8.jpg" width="412"></a></div><p><br>We could also presume that the <i>world</i> wouldn't necessarily care one way or the other about Daredevil's sight or lack thereof--it's really a matter of anyone going up <i>against</i> him knowing that he's sightless, and coming to the conclusion that some <i>other</i> form of perception is at work that makes him such an effective fighter. A well-laid trap sprung later by an enemy, and that's that.</p><p></p><p>
But how did such a secret ever get out, and when? We find the answer in Daredevil's <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2018/07/its-electro-vs-acme-company-and-one.html" target="_blank">second issue</a>, just as the nascent crime-fighter is getting out of the gate in his red and yellow togs, and facing Electro in the Fantastic Four's deserted Baxter Building headquarters. This time, however, Spider-Man's unexpected entrance into the fray prevents Electro from taking Daredevil by surprise--and when Electro is consequently forced to defend himself from the charging DD, he takes note of something he otherwise would not have picked up on.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOl__bt0wzn77Rp2dukE6RFUilbVYdg2XsxzExsTQrD9GfL8h5dTrhvYmoVfUz0U_5PvEP4ggaXwhVA-0VsUf1KxGfOifbA4iuvg7YEbhRJQoajhmy0nFj6RW1PZ_sjEXv9zwBL7oeztpwF2NuIpj9gZs8Lxiq-bXxJXuewSwhF8PuXjHdlo2fjMX1mg/s1306/wi8_8-9-10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="1306" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOl__bt0wzn77Rp2dukE6RFUilbVYdg2XsxzExsTQrD9GfL8h5dTrhvYmoVfUz0U_5PvEP4ggaXwhVA-0VsUf1KxGfOifbA4iuvg7YEbhRJQoajhmy0nFj6RW1PZ_sjEXv9zwBL7oeztpwF2NuIpj9gZs8Lxiq-bXxJXuewSwhF8PuXjHdlo2fjMX1mg/w640-h466/wi8_8-9-10.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>The conclusion that Electro jumps to is very selective on writer Don Glut's part, considering that Electro doesn't make the same observation when Spider-Man would later dodge a hurled electric bolt in similar fashion and, like Daredevil, is also unaffected by its blinding brightness. Regardless, a little quick thinking on DD's part, where he could mention, say, special eye slit lenses which shield him from such attacks, is all that would be needed to head off Electro's train of thought. (Artist Alan Kupperberg even has DD pointing to his mask as if to accommodate Glut heading in that direction, though for the sake of the story Electro isn't deterred from making his point.)</p><p></p><p>
And so we return to the world now knowing of Daredevil's condition--and with the exception of the news media capitalizing on such a surprising development, it appears the man on the street is hardly fazed.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pdw1VW3II8mtSzW3d_fT9k2RmsE5zhMcpyY_nBTYPUKuh6xzG1ZL6LvFd2x7vAoJXeZ4g-vb1tTR4PBHAIPJ-5AV76ozM7lSar6g0SivLJV5b6Dnmy-LosmoZMsPLpd_i83kOEByhcAKd7Pzo_MHPvoYBXJh2aw66hmbfBV9F_z8hALtRKNXYKheJg/s665/wi8_14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="632" height="537" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pdw1VW3II8mtSzW3d_fT9k2RmsE5zhMcpyY_nBTYPUKuh6xzG1ZL6LvFd2x7vAoJXeZ4g-vb1tTR4PBHAIPJ-5AV76ozM7lSar6g0SivLJV5b6Dnmy-LosmoZMsPLpd_i83kOEByhcAKd7Pzo_MHPvoYBXJh2aw66hmbfBV9F_z8hALtRKNXYKheJg/w510-h537/wi8_14.jpg" width="510"></a></div><p><br></p><center>The Owl, on the other hand, is another matter.</center><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALN7vqEF3_cN5H7a7NzWl_lxEAwZh5jYIEyY-qkdCSP-w9QJj6beJF9-7QZtaA2p4lH_UTL_URJu6ICxu8xc5P7F9GXGcjEMiJQQk2eeos9QL06tSQLWbOUapOPFV4IGiHyTxwJdMa0p10KVx0tp-EapXDBxxZG2i_p_pz14Zz60KGFUuHkJFFeaeEw/s847/wi8_15.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="847" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgALN7vqEF3_cN5H7a7NzWl_lxEAwZh5jYIEyY-qkdCSP-w9QJj6beJF9-7QZtaA2p4lH_UTL_URJu6ICxu8xc5P7F9GXGcjEMiJQQk2eeos9QL06tSQLWbOUapOPFV4IGiHyTxwJdMa0p10KVx0tp-EapXDBxxZG2i_p_pz14Zz60KGFUuHkJFFeaeEw/w640-h354/wi8_15.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-man-without-super-senses.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-5033898150108687492023-07-24T02:30:00.118-04:002023-07-24T05:18:51.403-04:00The Alternate Fantastic Four<p> </p>Slipping by the PPC's roundup of <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2017/06/fantastic-wannabes.html" target="_blank">other incarnations</a> of the Fantastic Four was a late-1977 story by writer Roy Thomas which started the ball rolling after <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2013/01/things-have-changed.html" target="_blank">an earlier tale</a> from 1972 successfully piqued reader interest on the subject. This time, the Watcher steps in for Lockjaw and guides us through the events of an alternate world in which Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and Sue Storm returned from a disastrous flight into space and experienced different transformations than the members of our <i>own</i> famous quartet.<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEusHBV4e_-SFBPi1Umwn2giunRuKxh7gA6vz4eG4vtoKcwcZ3ux5HeBHc-X5cgzzxhbDQNmcco47r-q7u-3Gd6XN75rJWBMjuzzSJs_wJp9b2mt0C50ik7C7FMIJ6ZpOOETS6gTD05sx-7NnYOFpel9V-LZTa3fdILkQa2tYnQeATmXKmXha3RZ0RTw/s1216/wi6_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="1216" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEusHBV4e_-SFBPi1Umwn2giunRuKxh7gA6vz4eG4vtoKcwcZ3ux5HeBHc-X5cgzzxhbDQNmcco47r-q7u-3Gd6XN75rJWBMjuzzSJs_wJp9b2mt0C50ik7C7FMIJ6ZpOOETS6gTD05sx-7NnYOFpel9V-LZTa3fdILkQa2tYnQeATmXKmXha3RZ0RTw/w640-h454/wi6_1.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>The appearance in this story of the FF <i>we</i> know is limited to the (appropriately enough) opening four pages of the issue (if you're not counting the <i>slightly</i> misleading cover which offers the impression that the two groups somehow come into conflict). Once the introduction has run its course, Thomas has made it clear he intends to further cement the premise he began exploring when he was scripting the main title, which floated the <strike>probability</strike> <i>possibility</i> that the FF's individual powers were the result of their personality traits<b><span style="color: #fcff01;">*</span></b>--even roping in the Watcher to validate what at this point is now formalized as canon rather than supposition.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YRjgBV1VKAtE3-sHWpeNey6X0nXkmWICSNtGH6jRW_1LiJ2jXARK3wFHQ_rWFjIWi07UIpXhDzQ9p7_kILRNUw1r3oTn5jJe5NvYe17r_kFcIcvKbe4bEnfG3dh4kZDRX1tK6lp36WqGqUCuxoJ-CjpOVxVEptDl7ACdcMu9mvusU1tPRc8GebbImg/s875/wi6_6-7.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="875" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YRjgBV1VKAtE3-sHWpeNey6X0nXkmWICSNtGH6jRW_1LiJ2jXARK3wFHQ_rWFjIWi07UIpXhDzQ9p7_kILRNUw1r3oTn5jJe5NvYe17r_kFcIcvKbe4bEnfG3dh4kZDRX1tK6lp36WqGqUCuxoJ-CjpOVxVEptDl7ACdcMu9mvusU1tPRc8GebbImg/w640-h334/wi6_6-7.gif" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAl_p-NM_9W9B-CxSg_ebu888-iaoba5iQeCh4u9jjC2FbTa_3OHDiPxq-qvoCcFGpVyowTJd1ikB6IslDG_mYKOLZCBaRlwaIykvHFEY59hRo9TNaAU35VbihA8u3EsjD6VB9_l53e7nqamIxJMAE5cu8yEyoIYkfsi0r4IHrI_IB2rBZmEeMb5Ghww/s621/wi6_10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="621" height="531" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAl_p-NM_9W9B-CxSg_ebu888-iaoba5iQeCh4u9jjC2FbTa_3OHDiPxq-qvoCcFGpVyowTJd1ikB6IslDG_mYKOLZCBaRlwaIykvHFEY59hRo9TNaAU35VbihA8u3EsjD6VB9_l53e7nqamIxJMAE5cu8yEyoIYkfsi0r4IHrI_IB2rBZmEeMb5Ghww/w541-h531/wi6_10.jpg" width="541"></a></div><p><br><b><span style="color: #fcff01;">*</span></b><small>How we could possibly apply this theory to the powers of <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2013/10/seriously-no-trespassing.html" target="_blank">the Red Ghost</a> and his three super-apes, all of whom underwent the same cosmic ray exposure which created the FF, is a fair point to raise. Kragoff himself, for instance, gains the ability to become "unsolid," while the baboon of the trio of apes becomes a shape-shifter and the orangutan gains magnetic abilities.</small></p><p>
Which begs the question as to how the four individuals from an alternate Earth take on powers and forms so radically different from their counterparts.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IWX7hLb2zw630MTQgiBlaAnxojvDsJBBcpeaCgGm0ak8Ky6Ai_mBfLVur3miT3w3wR3recLa6I3iNL72vYh57yQBWgcT2yFc8OOxARILZVD0yihggEIvC4fIRdvCSsxbtdh5ofyPcKfXnxVbj4EKy0XhqK1NJak4GulNjnfmTUm0wZTgfOsRxpBk9g/s1327/wi6_11-14.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="1327" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IWX7hLb2zw630MTQgiBlaAnxojvDsJBBcpeaCgGm0ak8Ky6Ai_mBfLVur3miT3w3wR3recLa6I3iNL72vYh57yQBWgcT2yFc8OOxARILZVD0yihggEIvC4fIRdvCSsxbtdh5ofyPcKfXnxVbj4EKy0XhqK1NJak4GulNjnfmTUm0wZTgfOsRxpBk9g/w640-h446/wi6_11-14.gif" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifR6qQyY1eH6T6BUjW02PRY_8alJsMoYM8okKgfATIbIh6kNFIKiwSP5HNlCss-ju2211qyGZ-TJvxS72f_A22N6BhnyO4RSY-72X9BpkexKXjsxwFUS5NzOK9wHbgX0K-3zDH9QFHfThy8tVnwBPULD8FYkrUe4vtumyVpUYWdlOcoU5FwJkrzaGFBQ/s1971/wi6_15-16-17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1971" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifR6qQyY1eH6T6BUjW02PRY_8alJsMoYM8okKgfATIbIh6kNFIKiwSP5HNlCss-ju2211qyGZ-TJvxS72f_A22N6BhnyO4RSY-72X9BpkexKXjsxwFUS5NzOK9wHbgX0K-3zDH9QFHfThy8tVnwBPULD8FYkrUe4vtumyVpUYWdlOcoU5FwJkrzaGFBQ/w640-h310/wi6_15-16-17.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>Curiously enough, this world's "Fantastic Four" have somehow managed to successfully establish their heroic reputation in the public eye as a group of three, given that their fourth member, "Big Brain," cannot operate in the field for obvious reasons and instead appears content to remain within the confines of the Baxter Building. (His counterpart in the Fantastic Five from 1999 was obliged to find a way around the problem.) But when the three foil a museum robbery attempt, their fourth member cannot escape the scrutiny of the one who set that plan in motion.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinzdxlYWupXXhoN8_nU6vYZeNGKinU4Qu8r24oCy4clggr91Ul0TGVwd_NhFJRKuv4HQJ35dTqTDDczR_D3szRM58NHqoMyMc4zq4ggkhTA7Be55b6wSXFfxO2kbv6k5mjmfkgL58JDPgqo49en3kUT4HJF3oK16jplhC-qRnYlu8m_MZv_C1B_PzusQ/s1307/wi6_22-23.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="1307" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinzdxlYWupXXhoN8_nU6vYZeNGKinU4Qu8r24oCy4clggr91Ul0TGVwd_NhFJRKuv4HQJ35dTqTDDczR_D3szRM58NHqoMyMc4zq4ggkhTA7Be55b6wSXFfxO2kbv6k5mjmfkgL58JDPgqo49en3kUT4HJF3oK16jplhC-qRnYlu8m_MZv_C1B_PzusQ/w640-h462/wi6_22-23.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8eI5j33FNMeEZKZrCQXSyMIN5Hi5E0bE7vdI1OMWe46dWZTHxiZwZKhZe04rikfXNiAGASSgwrmhniky6RzeZPvXErjZtmn7eZEZnG-qKMEVpVA-QQ7XQok9I3ikXJNFAZ1hFHB5M0XgGCanki9s3qWwSSfdxzHidOk1JUg3IMZcR9beXZ3J71cPRA/s653/wi6_24.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="653" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge8eI5j33FNMeEZKZrCQXSyMIN5Hi5E0bE7vdI1OMWe46dWZTHxiZwZKhZe04rikfXNiAGASSgwrmhniky6RzeZPvXErjZtmn7eZEZnG-qKMEVpVA-QQ7XQok9I3ikXJNFAZ1hFHB5M0XgGCanki9s3qWwSSfdxzHidOk1JUg3IMZcR9beXZ3J71cPRA/s16000/wi6_24.gif"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-alternate-fantastic-four.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-36366850840915773452023-07-20T02:30:00.057-04:002023-07-20T06:35:26.670-04:00In Defeat, We Stand!<p> </p><center>Holy Hannah! The Avengers sure look peeved at <i>somebody!</i></center>
<center>What's going ON here?</center><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhXz3cwpD9vlvSzx3dkhy4rT2uBc7p2_nq4Jp56Gzy0qFC16XTbvwwKErm8Xw7UXoTpzzlUDbc8viRhIaBqj3aAjOQKBMDdsDBJl4N6_BBDINi6Smw0xofyKsyADXiTXIYMEAmVBZ1bXE9H-ppZ1blwqXvib0kOO5t6FcNoZRGUH1f2fSphB9J0MxChA/s701/av34_1a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="701" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhXz3cwpD9vlvSzx3dkhy4rT2uBc7p2_nq4Jp56Gzy0qFC16XTbvwwKErm8Xw7UXoTpzzlUDbc8viRhIaBqj3aAjOQKBMDdsDBJl4N6_BBDINi6Smw0xofyKsyADXiTXIYMEAmVBZ1bXE9H-ppZ1blwqXvib0kOO5t6FcNoZRGUH1f2fSphB9J0MxChA/w574-h430/av34_1a.jpg" width="574"></a></div><p><br>If you had caught <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/07/when-nefaria-commands.html" target="_blank">the PPC's review</a> of the 2000 <i>Avengers</i>/<i>Thunderbolts</i> crossover story, you'd have a good idea which poor slob is on the receiving end of all those fists/bolts/arrows and whatever else is being hurled in his direction. And more to the point, you'd know why the reaction this individual is experiencing right now is probably nothing more than... boredom.</p><p>
But to answer the who and the what, we can give you the rundown that readers received of events leading up to this melee, before all hell breaks loose:</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIC2fInCevQd3lgVVQxjwCRdBO5JpSGuvkR6QUteVYKkYJLAUNgdfPZ4yDxacXrkpIASjyxZCBWg8BNJh9gwyqgryL6WOMTeOVxpbZXdbLMrQwu0ZZ0xwu0BRAjFrLkm-N3qn0mHxVb79qc7nq8o31lBD9nCLKoWP3N2gmWwswqPVsqRNvxOeczUFh3g/s645/av34_1b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="645" height="401" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIC2fInCevQd3lgVVQxjwCRdBO5JpSGuvkR6QUteVYKkYJLAUNgdfPZ4yDxacXrkpIASjyxZCBWg8BNJh9gwyqgryL6WOMTeOVxpbZXdbLMrQwu0ZZ0xwu0BRAjFrLkm-N3qn0mHxVb79qc7nq8o31lBD9nCLKoWP3N2gmWwswqPVsqRNvxOeczUFh3g/w568-h401/av34_1b.jpg" width="568"></a></div><p><br></p><center>Of course, "all hell" goes by another name, a gent who most of you no doubt recall:</center><p></p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPhWu1I35g273fGXLRwQ29RdTjURdO6RICHpZ2EJ9tICnFaIAJ4w9UCWHm5IHKOLLfUsLJCL3Z8isfdLX-wSB_-YkyQy5v-usHzHk3bfK6BsG68vD1VRaiLnoifM8JpoZbprlVjeu3kVRXjNRh-YuT5V65_yZ_Wfc7Bu5dy-2y9GNnNAUPFCuStNhJA/s1849/av34_2-3-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1849" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPhWu1I35g273fGXLRwQ29RdTjURdO6RICHpZ2EJ9tICnFaIAJ4w9UCWHm5IHKOLLfUsLJCL3Z8isfdLX-wSB_-YkyQy5v-usHzHk3bfK6BsG68vD1VRaiLnoifM8JpoZbprlVjeu3kVRXjNRh-YuT5V65_yZ_Wfc7Bu5dy-2y9GNnNAUPFCuStNhJA/w640-h324/av34_2-3-4.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>That's right, <b>Count Nefaria</b>, who stars with the Avengers and the Thunderbolts in a blockbuster battle issue clocking in at thirty-eight pages and featuring the closing work of artist George Pérez, sticking with this new volume of <i>The Avengers</i> from the start for nearly three years. So it's a sad day all around--particularly for our heroes, who are in for the fight of their lives!</p>
<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAyrqWghWfp1x-X-qQb1zQALtHBCRNDq85vnXhA50zwJxp25RElvuS_lWvf90UrikFq9t9sjP5-Y9SqRJfKysN1onXTxZ87mV7QFJ0HvLyUKZtVg1mYBM66o72cNm1pZ_CICDu_pFUrD3ObAKdMkjlQwr2MKwkoAMpo5a2YjExaHTng_zzlps3s26Ng/s914/av34.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="914" data-original-width="594" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAyrqWghWfp1x-X-qQb1zQALtHBCRNDq85vnXhA50zwJxp25RElvuS_lWvf90UrikFq9t9sjP5-Y9SqRJfKysN1onXTxZ87mV7QFJ0HvLyUKZtVg1mYBM66o72cNm1pZ_CICDu_pFUrD3ObAKdMkjlQwr2MKwkoAMpo5a2YjExaHTng_zzlps3s26Ng/s600/av34.jpg"></a></div><br><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/07/in-defeat-we-stand.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-39004505237696822402023-07-17T02:30:00.138-04:002023-07-20T06:30:55.000-04:00When Nefaria Commands...!<p> </p>It's the fall of 2000, and Marvel has pulled itself out of its nose dive from the late '90s and making great stories again. And it doesn't get better than artist George Pérez closing out a nearly three-year run on <i>The Avengers</i> in a story scripted by Kurt Busiek. The story's centerpiece turns out to be Whitney Frost, the <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2022/03/its-all-in-wrist-gladiator-vs-iron-man.html" target="_blank">former Maggia leader</a> who came to be known as <b>Madame Masque</b> when her face was disfigured in a plane crash (where she was rescued by the wealth-obsessed man we know as <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2012/11/bad-for-business.html" target="_blank">Midas</a>). Whitney would go on to be involved romantically with Tony Stark, only to break with him following <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2022/03/its-all-in-wrist-gladiator-vs-iron-man.html" target="_blank">an incident</a> involving her father--and now, the Avengers find that she has resurfaced following reports of her death. <i>Numerous</i> reports, as it turns out, considering that on four separate occasions, four bodies were each identified as the deceased Madame Masque. We readers, however, learn that the bona fide Whitney has been holing up in a hollowed-out butte in the Nevada desert all this time, and gripped in a state of uncharacteristic paranoia.<p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk79mnmg-VdVOeojQqFWIWR92V-q65HokHEpYphq1ijShdcgh2Ue5oOqP2KibIkBF-25UK9DoNEeEFEJhEM2iRhRcGVDnetC4tg0yydu4zZ7hvM55g8N67ui5Vn4iExKl5-ebfMjKA4Au6eLJ2Fd6KPJsW1OP2h6OXr5vY8TW9JsUShdbyY0h1wuOSQ/s998/av32_8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="700" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk79mnmg-VdVOeojQqFWIWR92V-q65HokHEpYphq1ijShdcgh2Ue5oOqP2KibIkBF-25UK9DoNEeEFEJhEM2iRhRcGVDnetC4tg0yydu4zZ7hvM55g8N67ui5Vn4iExKl5-ebfMjKA4Au6eLJ2Fd6KPJsW1OP2h6OXr5vY8TW9JsUShdbyY0h1wuOSQ/w448-h640/av32_8.jpg" width="448"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiWjo7Q0itr5E1AJHvtxliwLhHhtOybd5HGJCONuSNrvVGvtLpNtF4wyLmyxJinmp7_59ocHT1qXDkNvT_nI8b18eL-N1uQbt1mxHthDUAnETwZ016pCcA5ZaU7yfA1NwyrpOsGCtwhxV7-YPdduAtMRbjXC1iqCo8dnKu7fY7kZ1O83ChRaoaODJkg/s719/av32_10.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="666" height="641" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKiWjo7Q0itr5E1AJHvtxliwLhHhtOybd5HGJCONuSNrvVGvtLpNtF4wyLmyxJinmp7_59ocHT1qXDkNvT_nI8b18eL-N1uQbt1mxHthDUAnETwZ016pCcA5ZaU7yfA1NwyrpOsGCtwhxV7-YPdduAtMRbjXC1iqCo8dnKu7fY7kZ1O83ChRaoaODJkg/w594-h641/av32_10.gif" width="594"></a></div><p><br>But then, what accounts for the four "duplicate" Madame Masques? A good word to use, as they were "<i>bio</i>-duplicates" created by the real Whitney so that she could sequester herself in safety and still conduct her operations--the latest of which, "Masque," is even now making an attempt to pierce Whitney's distrust and fear with perceptions and feelings which Whitney herself has repressed.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWhyV9YPXiS7OSC8qYRH_z63DCaTa6ZdmmjU9tUkbSmcd7ltvwIFSCWhqP_otrxew5kDzKwQqKo1cIpw3wKBhopn3HSvqqIDAU8rPKxZ2VBE5Q0ZJkBluWQoOJA1rZXRZnpKIEtdJiO6s7Tn2TSxT6MaC5cXUK0NksUrdp81VMNoLW3MsJBwx7ax_Sg/s938/av32_14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="593" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWhyV9YPXiS7OSC8qYRH_z63DCaTa6ZdmmjU9tUkbSmcd7ltvwIFSCWhqP_otrxew5kDzKwQqKo1cIpw3wKBhopn3HSvqqIDAU8rPKxZ2VBE5Q0ZJkBluWQoOJA1rZXRZnpKIEtdJiO6s7Tn2TSxT6MaC5cXUK0NksUrdp81VMNoLW3MsJBwx7ax_Sg/w404-h640/av32_14.jpg" width="404"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilD_3PothGEPJcETYJzYK8EDWPuIyCPvOy8Kxk_SLODBQHmK0a36bvP3IAH424BWHrkmJ-h_6VcvwkG_fIFOlilXjxQ-ENT9jbRTiZwB9REcvmp6rbvDRFKpdvY0AaeoQdpJh-WNTgD5e-P57hcn6AlLgndL269bY0Mql7rGND1ner_MMIwVm-t_1UmQ/s646/av32_15.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="646" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilD_3PothGEPJcETYJzYK8EDWPuIyCPvOy8Kxk_SLODBQHmK0a36bvP3IAH424BWHrkmJ-h_6VcvwkG_fIFOlilXjxQ-ENT9jbRTiZwB9REcvmp6rbvDRFKpdvY0AaeoQdpJh-WNTgD5e-P57hcn6AlLgndL269bY0Mql7rGND1ner_MMIwVm-t_1UmQ/w556-h486/av32_15.jpg" width="556"></a></div><p><br>Ordinarily, we might view Whitney's anxiety and fear here as yet another manifestation of her paranoia. But in this case she happens to be right, as the Grim Reaper, also one of those after Madame Masque, arrives with a strike force to personify her worst fear--an enemy discovering her whereabouts and intending to presumably kill her on sight. Fortunately for Masque, there are others who have been able to track her whereabouts, though their presence wouldn't necessarily put her mind at ease.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4INjL_tD--Gf8nzxbjHuP5VTxucWd0fiHnKN1YBco6KL2Bf2MDlpJa-c_C9-fDvFTQPlnmjYmS1eWtPiajiJcJYUhd_-ZFvh9YA994D1bFkyt6ujKOD6Di8qlvBf4NT1yNoaVuYoIbJeY8MG_whGpT2RKaGxosIushh5-ClP40lQn8_1wyiRU0fvbA/s1200/av32_16-17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1002" data-original-width="1200" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC4INjL_tD--Gf8nzxbjHuP5VTxucWd0fiHnKN1YBco6KL2Bf2MDlpJa-c_C9-fDvFTQPlnmjYmS1eWtPiajiJcJYUhd_-ZFvh9YA994D1bFkyt6ujKOD6Di8qlvBf4NT1yNoaVuYoIbJeY8MG_whGpT2RKaGxosIushh5-ClP40lQn8_1wyiRU0fvbA/w640-h534/av32_16-17.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>As we'd expect, the Avengers do well enough against the Reaper and his goons. But their headway is blunted by the unexpected arrival of <i>another</i> who has unfinished business with Whitney, someone <i>far</i> more dangerous and undeniably powerful--Whitney's not-so-dead father, who has apparently conscripted two powerful heroes who share his goals as well as his own ionic-infused body chemistry.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhak_fteno_-ufZmqqFeFTMhRpimDm7Er2-7CfRnUVzI8zKUdy1nNJ8NEUkVqQ-AHsGUPVnexf2RvU0w5N7hHOSpnJhBpp1bTiIN-QNfSADQ7_eNaiqFc2iN70Sxgs8_J4GwKOC6jS1swimcGGjhja852LWODJwVXL2b0oFFAr3Cyc2_qQ9bmn-182OPA/s1402/av32_21-22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1019" data-original-width="1402" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhak_fteno_-ufZmqqFeFTMhRpimDm7Er2-7CfRnUVzI8zKUdy1nNJ8NEUkVqQ-AHsGUPVnexf2RvU0w5N7hHOSpnJhBpp1bTiIN-QNfSADQ7_eNaiqFc2iN70Sxgs8_J4GwKOC6jS1swimcGGjhja852LWODJwVXL2b0oFFAr3Cyc2_qQ9bmn-182OPA/w640-h466/av32_21-22.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>All of which sets up a crossover with the <i>Thunderbolts</i> title, as both teams are confronted by one of the Avengers' most deadly, near-invincible foes who <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2020/11/its-return-of-lethal-legion-it-says-here.html" target="_blank">nearly destroyed them</a> once before and who now schemes to inflict death on a massive scale on the entire planet!</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEYmtpmubRPxwRmNO9hY1uTMaSm2ewu1SoTExs5lxhTTAovoN0zmjmiHiLSdHb5wNseDlnAp09wlBdl3MY-bk97PtJmONXGUvfpxIZ869I_42xO7VkLvclaNcblkO_EnA3zlBocl-5eKWnA_syIkw5q0qzaz1EsrFvKqDbAV6803EhagmjjSpIPM91Q/s1239/av33-tbolts44.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1239" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEYmtpmubRPxwRmNO9hY1uTMaSm2ewu1SoTExs5lxhTTAovoN0zmjmiHiLSdHb5wNseDlnAp09wlBdl3MY-bk97PtJmONXGUvfpxIZ869I_42xO7VkLvclaNcblkO_EnA3zlBocl-5eKWnA_syIkw5q0qzaz1EsrFvKqDbAV6803EhagmjjSpIPM91Q/w640-h476/av33-tbolts44.gif" width="640"></a></div><br><p></p><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/07/when-nefaria-commands.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-13878663698178847672023-07-13T02:30:00.121-04:002023-07-14T20:02:39.459-04:00The Tragic Life of Shiela Whittier<p> </p>It was in <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-curse-of-dracula.html" target="_blank">the first (and only) issue</a> of <i>Giant-Size Chillers</i> where we saw the introduction of <b>Lilith</b>, the daughter of Dracula, slain by Quincy Harker three decades past but whose essence rises from the grave to possess the form of any woman who had suffered abuse from their father. But when meeting with <i>her</i> estranged father and proposing that joining together in future endeavors is in both their best interests, Lilith suffers abuse of a different kind--rejection and disdain.<p>
From that point, we follow Dracula to Castle Dunwick, where he meets with its resident owner, <b>Shiela Whittier</b>, a distraught young woman who is being tormented by forces unknown.</p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73onLN4U2LD_Uz5GFNjcoSHCjfP6Z-qmsuU6Al4DOq0df2XWW9i2fBLwoiFr7e6KOwS27j6hAch5LGfqCEQJLkLGaQOc5ec8-HLPjF2OcjDbEbBTOiRgdsCvj7lyqoOchKJGGAKnfkf-4wj7M50CCL2WS9ZWhU3IME-aKzoJuy49szOyZsyXmOG9nNQ/s636/gsc1_17.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="636" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj73onLN4U2LD_Uz5GFNjcoSHCjfP6Z-qmsuU6Al4DOq0df2XWW9i2fBLwoiFr7e6KOwS27j6hAch5LGfqCEQJLkLGaQOc5ec8-HLPjF2OcjDbEbBTOiRgdsCvj7lyqoOchKJGGAKnfkf-4wj7M50CCL2WS9ZWhU3IME-aKzoJuy49szOyZsyXmOG9nNQ/w559-h272/gsc1_17.gif" width="559"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJK9nK_nGfn7civsSRFq0EaKwVblqrQgMfSKcLg7QV3cvVhPepJpU4PXSjKgqXyUllJegOpYdvM_pQUNyT4BuzI31X9h2OOrNbv_Y5q_FJ5wxkHOXdrQBlJgqIZR0pTqA_oP8l_NQMLLnOiwoyEaGash9H8mYmCCPRVcyhclxiF-44AI7iKT2eLJNZSg/s840/gsc1_19.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="840" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJK9nK_nGfn7civsSRFq0EaKwVblqrQgMfSKcLg7QV3cvVhPepJpU4PXSjKgqXyUllJegOpYdvM_pQUNyT4BuzI31X9h2OOrNbv_Y5q_FJ5wxkHOXdrQBlJgqIZR0pTqA_oP8l_NQMLLnOiwoyEaGash9H8mYmCCPRVcyhclxiF-44AI7iKT2eLJNZSg/w640-h354/gsc1_19.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJGd1UxiRF3Iru9hpTcN-HX43KhzAPOEaXrpDnhN2FKiqXQqKkklFRfNdzYYDuo_FiHBMZmA5zKkppS63oWmydsrc719jOxrkDGNf8eWrcF4Ca51wkrnGveelmU5-edUB6mN3gjL8mNx2O4wtzNbspptyA4qt6pv3GGKSgMTpTWgLQewwzcVW7cjNbPA/s1063/gsc1_19-20.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="1063" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJGd1UxiRF3Iru9hpTcN-HX43KhzAPOEaXrpDnhN2FKiqXQqKkklFRfNdzYYDuo_FiHBMZmA5zKkppS63oWmydsrc719jOxrkDGNf8eWrcF4Ca51wkrnGveelmU5-edUB6mN3gjL8mNx2O4wtzNbspptyA4qt6pv3GGKSgMTpTWgLQewwzcVW7cjNbPA/w640-h304/gsc1_19-20.jpg" width="640"></a></div><p><br>Once Dracula returns from slaking his thirst for blood, he's confronted by one of his slaves, Lord Henry from Parliament, who has miraculously broken free of Dracula's control and makes a failed attempt to kill him, after which he ends up taking his own life. At first, Dracula, believing it was Lord Henry who was behind Shiela's harassment, seeks to reassure her that her nightmare is over--but the laughter that surrounds the pair afterward tells them, and ourselves, that the torment that Shiela has been experiencing is far from over.</p><p></p><p>
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiripJrIy8dD3eeywgGFCIWTOtERbqz-TTgO6vUCv9UJM_z3JSmJXjJwl5dSoJKl8vsODff0sExgw7-VGIjdeMgnNjkOSaSrTPacmBol18lKzNrVUP2625Y0EklrzfDcrMrzATNubQaR-nigQBt-bUsjhLs_p5LZzzRj-2jg5-w-N5qoKmdym5ORtWUqA/s1131/tod23_1-2-4.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1131" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiripJrIy8dD3eeywgGFCIWTOtERbqz-TTgO6vUCv9UJM_z3JSmJXjJwl5dSoJKl8vsODff0sExgw7-VGIjdeMgnNjkOSaSrTPacmBol18lKzNrVUP2625Y0EklrzfDcrMrzATNubQaR-nigQBt-bUsjhLs_p5LZzzRj-2jg5-w-N5qoKmdym5ORtWUqA/w640-h506/tod23_1-2-4.gif" width="640"></a></div><p><br>You would think that the fact that Shiela has only now suffered a vicious attack--within arm's reach of Dracula, who was virtually helpless to prevent it--would make it impossible for Shiela to even consider sleeping, despite Dracula's consoling words. Mostly, however, the scene opens the door to Dracula himself facing this bizarre threat from whatever is stalking the halls of this castle.</p>
<br><a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-tragic-life-of-shiela-whittier.html#more"><b>Continued »»»</b></a>Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.com7