When Nefaria Commands...!

 

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 The Avengers in a story scripted by Kurt Busiek. The story's centerpiece turns out to be Whitney Frost, the former Maggia leader who came to be known as Madame Masque when her face was disfigured in a plane crash (where she was rescued by the wealth-obsessed man we know as Midas). Whitney would go on to be involved romantically with Tony Stark, only to break with him following an incident involving her father--and now, the Avengers find that she has resurfaced following reports of her death. Numerous 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.

But then, what accounts for the four "duplicate" Madame Masques? A good word to use, as they were "bio-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.

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.

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 another who has unfinished business with Whitney, someone far 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.

All of which sets up a crossover with the Thunderbolts title, as both teams are confronted by one of the Avengers' most deadly, near-invincible foes who nearly destroyed them once before and who now schemes to inflict death on a massive scale on the entire planet!

The Dragon Seed Saga!

 

In 1991, John Byrne, the writer for the Invincible Iron Man title, began a one-year story arc which focused on essentially three things: the deteriorating condition of Tony Stark, his entire nervous system compromised by an aggrieved engineer using the resources of a ruthless corporation... the ascendance of one of Iron Man's oldest and deadliest foes, the Mandarin... and establishing the origin of a Marvel character which dated back thirty years. And while all of these things cross paths either indirectly or otherwise, we begin with the latter two characters who meet due to the involvement of one other: Chen Hsu, by all appearances an aged wizard who helps the Mandarin to recover his memories and subsequently brings him to the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon in southeastern China, in order to awaken a dreaded creature the PPC has only recently profiled.

Whatever passed between the Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom from that point was presumably not for our eyes and ears, but it was apparently convincing enough to rouse the dragon from his chamber and meet in force an army of 3,000 soldiers sent in response to the Mandarin's incursion into the dragon's resting place--even as the Mandarin and Chen Hsu, calmly observing the death and devastation which followed, come to an understanding between them.

And "romp" our dragon most definitely will during this saga.

Crowd Control

 

Comics stories derive a good deal of their drama from groups or crowds of ordinary people being present while heroes go about their business in major cities or other populated locales, whether interacting with those on the street or in offices or being mindful of those caught up in battles with foes which tend to endanger innocents who are unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet on issue covers, which having the opportunity to convey a powerful image with large crowds who find themselves in the midst of a situation involving the title character(s), crowds are often elbowed out of the picture in order to present the story's main characters, including of course whatever individuals are responsible for selling the book.

But while rare, those cover images are noteworthy, and in some cases memorable depending on the circumstances of the story and the creative talent of the cover artist--and today you'll see a collection of such covers from the first volume of various titles where ordinary people do their part to help establish whatever crisis our heroes must face in the pages of the issue's story. As for a starting point, there's only one cover which stands above the rest in capturing this post's theme perfectly--pictured here with its homage cover rendered nearly twenty-eight years later.

Turmoil on War World!

 

OR: "This Isn't The Wife You're Looking For"

With the 20th anniversary issue of Fantastic Four in our rear-view mirror, let's jump ahead ten years to 1991, and the book's 30th anniversary--the last anniversary acclamation to appear before Volume 1 of the series came to an end. Billed as a triple-sized issue, and clocking in at nearly 80 pages, issue #358 would include only seven pages of ads, while buffering the forty pages of story with 29 pages of FF memorabilia that included pinups, a look back at the series by writer Peter Sanderson, a brief Dr. Doom tale by Tom DeFalco and Arthur Adams, as well as a reprint of Stan Lee's original working synopsis for Fantastic Four #1.

Unlike issue #236's stand-alone story by writer/artist John Byrne, #358 didn't have the luxury of presenting a special FF tale that subtly but effectively evoked a sense of nostalgia for the FF's beginnings even as those elements were woven into a contemporary story; but DeFalco, along with artists Paul Ryan and Danny Bulanadi, do alright with bringing to a head a continuing story involving Johnny Storm and his wife, Alicia Masters, which reaches its climax with a shocking scene that cliffhanged the previous issue, thanks to information delivered to Ben Grimm by Alicia's stepfather, the Puppet Master.

To add fuel to the fire, Lyja, the Skrull spy who has been masquerading as Alicia since before Johnny and "Alicia" began their relationship, announces to Johnny that she is pregnant with his child--a development which, with the exception of the Skrull twist, you could no doubt find in one form or another on any number of daytime dramas when they still saturated network television. There is also the added complication that Lyja truly loves Johnny, with Johnny, despite his anger and frustration toward this situation and toward Lyja, feeling the same.

And so this issue proceeds to wrap up this storyline, one way or another, as the FF take off for the Andromeda galaxy with the intention of rescuing the real Alicia from Skrull captivity, with Lyja volunteering to help as their guide. But considering the level of danger involved, and that this team's visits to the Skrull galaxy often has them barely escaping with their lives, will this issue truly be a cause for celebration?

Once More--The Fantastic Four!

Given the grim subject matter, it's probably best if we do a brief visual recap of where we left things last time. And what a visual:

Having witnessed the death of Reed Richards at (literally) the hand of Doctor Doom, as well as having heard the reading of Reed's last will and testament, it seemed certain that the leader of the Fantastic Four had met his end--to say nothing of the equally shocking news that Doom had perished in the same stroke. What wasn't certain was, how would the FF go on without Reed? How would the book?

We would see that for ourselves in the following months, as writer Tom DeFalco and artist Paul Ryan did their level best to assure readers that Reed was gone for good, and that the Fantastic Four would have to continue without him. The only member of the team who didn't fully accept Reed's death was his wife, Sue, though she stepped up to lead the FF and grew into the role--while membership in the FF fluctuated, with Johnny Storm leaving to oversee the new Fantastic Force, leaving Sue and the Thing to go into battle with characters like Ant-Man, the Sub-Mariner, Doom's young protégé Kristoff Vernard, and the Torch's ex-wife, the Skrull named Lyja.

Yet still readers waited, drumming our collective fingers until Reed would surely reappear from wherever he'd been. Because with apologies to Ben Franklin et al., in comic books only taxes are truly certain, while death can be overridden with the klackety-klack of a typewriter. And though we would see twenty-five issues and two years go by before learning the truth, eventually we would be greeted with back-to-back issues which revealed all--emphasis on the word "back."

The Ultimate Reed vs. Namor Battle!

The matchup of Mr. Fantastic vs. the Sub-Mariner has always been one of the more unusual recurring clashes that Marvel has presented over the years; it's also, frankly, one that's difficult to look forward to with any feeling of anticipation, since it's almost always the result of tension between the two characters over their feelings for Sue Storm (Richards) rather than genuine enmity between two classic Marvel characters who each feel the other is a threat. Otherwise, their conflict is the result of Namor moving against the human race, with the rest of the Fantastic Four taking a hand in fighting him.

But as far as Reed and Namor being the headliners in a battle issue--chances are a reader is picking up the issue not because of the potential for a surefire, cover-to-cover blockbuster, but because they're wondering if the writer and artist are going to succeed this time in pitting a stretching man against the power of the Sub-Mariner, in a story that would hopefully go down as a classic. By 1996, you would have thought there had certainly been enough time for Marvel to figure out what worked and what didn't as far as pulling off a no-holds-barred Reed vs. Namor clash--and so, just a few issues before the events of Onslaught would effectively end the first run of Fantastic Four, the title took another crack at it, and we were presented with what was billed as "The Ultimate Reed vs. Namor Battle!"

(Though after so many misfires, such a claim may have been pushing their readers' status as "true believers" to the limit!)

Cover to Cover to Cover

We've already seen a sampling of the many wrap-around and fold-out covers offered by Marvel and its talented artists--yet there's a wealth of such material that's occasionally been tucked away on the sales rack, gems waiting to be discovered by readers who weren't expecting such a dividend in their comic book purchase. The real treat on these oversize covers, just as with many of their single-page counterparts, lies in the creative way that the artist chooses to convey the representation of characters--symbolic portrayals/collages of the content within, and perhaps one of the last few places to be found where word balloons are, thankfully, verboten.

Today, buyers of music lament the absence of the vinyl jacket with its oversized cover photography and/or artwork; and with the comic book, we've come to realize that when it comes to cover artwork which goes well beyond the cover, in no medium but print can you realize the instant gratification of extending a comics cover in your hands to find much more than first met your eye.

So in that spirit, let's take a look at a few more of these dazzling covers--digitally presented, but still a feast for the eyes.

Art by Kerry Gammill and Bob Layton

Nobody Gets Out Alive!

The winding road which writer Tom DeFalco took in bringing the Fantastic Four closer to their 400th issue provided its share of diversions and sub-plots before finally reaching that point. Some of those seemed to just be marking time, while throwing in an assortment of characters that made the members of the FF virtual guest-stars in their own mag. (Anyone remember Lyja? Psi-Lord? Vibraxas? Huntara? Paibok the Power Skrull? Devos the Devastator? Move along, nothing to see here...) But there were one or two stories dealing the FF back in which were pretty interesting, and actually might have made excellent What If stories--particularly with the twist of the Watcher himself playing an integral part in the stories he might otherwise have simply observed while offering dispassionate narrative from afar. And at the end of one such story, a dramatic double-page spread by artist Paul Ryan illustrates the aftermath of the tragic events that preceded it, where we find the Fantastic Four as decimated and lifeless as their world.

Quite an eye-opener, and perhaps more suited to the pages of Fantastic Four, after all--for the story spawns two unforgettable and iconic cover recreations that herald the battle the FF face, but which now appears to end far differently than when they first fought it. Yes, these are indeed the same FF members who again face the coming of Galactus--for the first time, and the last.

"Velvet Rope?? BAH!"

It's not every day that the Avengers throw a "housewarming" party for a new headquarters building. But when they left their Hydrobase digs (after the base's destruction during "Acts of Vengeance"), the team decided to step into the '90s not with another Avengers Mansion, but a state-of-the-art "Avengers Headquarters":

(Though, these days, obviously not everyone was convinced of the Avengers' neutrality.)

It's a "Who's Who" affair indoors, however, with Captain America's hand-picked security team overseeing the sophisticated monitoring and safeguarding measures put in place by Tony Stark himself. And they're probably busy tuning their screen to artist Paul Ryan's exquisite two-page spread of the Avengers and their guests. How many celebrities can you pick out?

Can we all agree that Quasar makes the "worst-dressed" list?

And what a security team. Former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Peggy Carter, Chief; overseeing former astronaut Col. John Jameson, former Guardsman Michael O'Brien, as well as the once-infamous Fabian Stankowicz, who's been known to challenge Avengers security more than once. Tonight, their brand-new building and equipment are going to be tested by one who is unmatched in entering where he wants, when he wants.

Fortunately, the best security Avengers Headquarters could have is in the diligence of the Avengers' long-standing butler, Jarvis, who knows an uninvited guest when he sees one:

And so Peggy's team quietly and discretely puts out the alert--starting with Captain America, who picks the Sandman and the Vision to assist with searching the building for signs of infiltration--and of Doom.

Meanwhile, another Avenger makes the scene. Nothing out of the ordinary, of course, for Iron Man to pay a visit, if unannounced. And he certainly is compliant enough with security measures:

As for Cap and his scouting party, they've each struck paydirt! Wait--each of them?

The final surprise of the evening comes when the entire security grid fails, though that depends on your perspective. Because Doom's security is in full operation--as is Doom himself!

All right, what's going on?? Why has Doom taken such elaborate steps to break into Avengers headquarters? The only clue you get right now is that it has something to do with "Plan D," an obscure Avengers tactical maneuver that has become of interest to Doom--and when we continue to Part Two of this story, we'll find out why!

Avengers #332 Script: Larry Hama Pencils: Paul Ryan Inks: Tom Palmer Letterer: John Costanza

Beer, A Bar, and Bygones

After Wolverine sliced into the face of Ben Grimm, the Thing, it would take awhile before Logan would make an attempt to mend fences with Ben--"unfinished business," as he'd call it. And that business takes place at the "Last Gasp Saloon," an abandoned bar where probably a good deal of unfinished business got settled. But this story has another word for what this meeting may come to:

Welcome to the final day of Bar Fight Week!

(Let's hope Wolverine thought to bring a LOT of beer.)

Miracle on Yancy Street

It must have taken some crisis for the Yancy Street Gang to step out of the shadows and meet with their legendary target, the Thing:

Though they would also end up meeting the Fantastic Four's deadliest enemy.