The Rage Of The Red Ghost!

At face value, there are two rather silly things about this cover of Invincible Iron Man, and you really don't have to look hard to find them:

For one thing, Iron Man--restrained and menaced by apes. That's a hard pill to swallow. This man has fought and beaten the Punisher, a powerhouse of Galactus that once forced the Fantastic Four to retreat. Still, these "super-apes" have powers, gaining them in much the same way as the FF, so Iron Man can be forgiven for having his hands full with them. So let's jump to the second item: he seems to be terrified that his armor won't stand up to a buzzsaw. A buzzsaw.  You just know every Iron Man villain is going to be packing a buzzsaw from now on.  Perhaps a buzzsaw is the one durability test he neglected to put his armor through, I don't know--but Tony Stark is a pretty thorough engineer, so I doubt it. Since this is a super-monkey, we'll have to assume that this is no ordinary buzzsaw that came from Home Depot.

Now that we've leapt over those two hurdles, let's tackle the story in Iron Man #83--though, given the scene on page one, it looks like this fight, like our hero, is over and done with!

Iron Man's armor may have a problem with buzzsaws, but let's hope it--as well as the man inside--can stand the test against a plummeting impact with a street.

Val, The Gals, Our Pal -- Wow!

Good grief! Captain America is facing the hordes of Hydra, when tragedy strikes:

As always, our money's on Cap, but that's not what makes this issue and the next one stand out. The Captain America book has had three heavyweight artists of note since Jack Kirby left the title in late 1968: Jim Steranko, Gene Colan, and John Romita, each leaving their distinctive touch on the good Captain and a dazzling set of issues in their wake. And now, with this cliffhanger panel, Romita hands over the reins to a new artist coming on board with the next issue:

But who's our next artist??

Why, none other than...

The Dark Horse of Comics

"In a skyliner high above the Alien-contaminated earth, Caryn Delacroix can't sleep. Terrifying images of pursuit, disfigurement, and bloody death have invaded her peaceful dreams in her safe and privileged world. But they're only nightmares . . . or are they? The beautiful trophy-consort of corporate magnate Lucien Delacroix soon discovers that nightmares do come true, and that there are fates worse than death, when a Predator comes to call."

About two years after he'd left the X-Men series, writer Chris Claremont began doing work for Dark Horse Comics, founded in the late 1980s by Mike Richardson and described by Wikipedia as being created with "the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals." You could probably only interpret that one way--writers and artists rediscovering the reason they got into writing and drawing comics in the first place, only this time not engulfed by the directives of Marvel or DC Comics.

The quote above comes from the mid-1993 Aliens/Predator: The Deadliest of the Species 12-issue series written by Claremont. I don't clearly recall why I happened to start reading this series--I was either intrigued by the combination of the two popular Aliens and Predator concepts, or the guy at the comics store I patronized sneakily stuck the first issue into my pull stack. The series has many if not all of the Claremont touches you're used to seeing: a plot revolving around a female lead with a distinctive and somewhat atypical name ("Caryn Delacroix")... sentences that drop their pronouns to make their characters appear self-sufficient, self-reliant, and self-confident (the key word here should be obvious)... cocky combatants... as well as letterer Tom Orzechowski, along for the ride.

For a time, during the mid- to late-1990s, Dark Horse stabled some noteworthy talent under its "Legend" imprint, and you couldn't help but be curious about the work that would be turned out by creative personnel who were free to be a bit more creative:

From what I understand, though, Dark Horse's line of superhero books had only a brief run, with the company opting to focus its energies on a diverse collection of projects including fiction/nonfiction books, manga, collectibles, and digital media, as well as comics adaptations of films and TV series, which by all accounts have done fairly well to this day.

Foes By Default

Rogues galleries seem to have gone the way of the dinosaur--but have a look at this unexpected collection from the 14th Fantastic Four annual, courtesy of artists Keith Pollard and Pablo Marcos!

Aside from the Frightful Four, a few questionable choices this time around as far as the words "famous" or "foe" apply. Attuma, for instance, was never confronted directly by the FF in their one encounter--they only kept his men busy while the Sub-Mariner fought him hand-to-hand, and all without Namor being aware of it. And the identity of the Invincible Man is always changing, depending on the twist the writer wants to add to the story. As for Quasimodo, he may be getting a spot here only because his first direct fight with the FF happened the same year this annual was published.

Gosh, if I had to wrack my brain, I'd probably have suggested:

• Galactus
  
• Thundra
  
• Over-Mind
  
• Janus
  
• Annihilus

Chime in with your own nominee(s)!

Make Way For The Invulnerable Human Torch

The closest I can come to figuring out how this fight came about:

...is that Alicia Masters was doing some banking business (probably making a withdrawal in order to employ more men to cart in all that stone she sculpts with) at the same time the Sandman was pulling a heist. We never do end up seeing Alicia, which means the FF were (a) in the general vicinity, and/or (b) received a call for help from Alicia via her special transceiver when she heard the Sandman threatening everyone. More likely, though, we can blame (c) writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez for never comparing notes on the matter.

But whatever happened, the end result is possibly the shortest FF/Sandman fight ever (I don't count the fight when the Sandman escaped from prison, since it didn't involve a full FF complement):

Johnny. Dude. No. If you were slugged with the same impact as being hit by a steamroller, especially a granite steamroller, you'd be DEAD. Yet you're still talking--heck, you're still conscious. You even shattered the Sandman's punch on impact.  You couldn't do that even if the Sandman's sledge hammer punch had been just solidified sand--after all, whether or not you're generating flame, you're Johnny Storm, plain human being. Do you think you've been taking Thing pills?

But again, this is fated to be a really short fight, so let's wrap it up:

Reed, by the way, is talking off-panel to his son, Franklin, who couldn't resist scoping out this fight like any curious youngster. Hanging with the FF has Xbox beat by a mile. We knew it couldn't possibly have been Alicia.  Alicia probably hasn't said "Wow!" since we've known her, come to think of it. If you'd spent your career chipping away at rock, you'd probably need to loosen up, too.

Death Takes A Holiday

The cover to Thor #190 happens to be one of my favorite Marvel covers of all time.  I didn't have the good fortune to experience the giddiness of seeing it on the comics rack; instead, I read the story later when I'd ordered it as a back issue (among several I'd ordered at the time)--and after pulling out the copy from the small stack that arrived in the mail, this cover bowled me over, and made me pause just to absorb everything it represented. It's the kind of cover that draws you in through all the questions it's posing. We certainly know death is involved, given that bold caption--but what are the circumstances? Thor looks out for the count--is he dead? What's happened to Hela, the goddess of death? Why is Odin grimly surveying the scene?

Yet it's also a very basic cover, in that there aren't any other elements to distract us. Even someone who isn't familiar with the Thor book is probably going to take a second or third glance at it. The smoking rubble depicting the aftermath of some tragedy or disaster; the bright and detailed costuming of three obviously powerful characters; and an older figure, whose posture and garb indicate someone in authority, who's either the cause of the carnage or who bears some responsibility. New reader or regular, we only know that there's one heck of a story waiting in those pages--and somehow, this dramatic portrayal on the cover makes sense. Who's not going to plunk down 15¢ (or whatever I had to pay to order it after the fact) to find out?

If you've read the prior issue, of course, you know at least some of what's happening, even if the way the newer cover is laid out presents its conclusion as a mystery. Thor has been concealing his whereabouts (that's Asgardian spin for "hiding") from Hela, who intends to give Thor her death touch in retribution for the defeat of her latest scheme by Odin. But Hela has used a crisis on Earth to draw Thor out into the open, and now has him at her mercy:

And since Hela's idea of mercy is bringing the "final sleep," things don't look too good for Thor as far as getting a reprieve from her.

Odin gets word of the situation from Balder (who's been informed by Karnilla, the Queen of the Norns who's recently secured Balder's vow of loyalty)--though, judging by Odin's slouch, he's already well aware that Thor's moments are now numbered:

Odin's hands seem to be tied, though his reasoning is (dare I say it?) flawed. Hela's reason for being, in and of itself, is not evil, true enough--but making use of it in the form of revenge ranks right up there with evil, particularly in light of Hela's scheme to use Odin's essence to bring widespread death. Nor is there much merit to be found in Thor's "natural" death being fast-tracked and coming in nonbenevolent and almost spiteful fashion from Death itself. But those factors don't seem to influence Odin; instead, it only takes one powerful image to spur him to action:

Here's Glove In Your Eye

You can't help but be intrigued with this eye-catching cover:

I mean, what's Cap going to do, somersault his way out of this?

It turns out Dragon Man has been found and reactivated by the villain Machinesmith, who uses a hovering, ball-shaped "gadget" to lure the creature into battle with Captain America. You'd think Machinesmith would just reprogram Dragon Man--but while Dragon Man is indeed a mechanical creation, he defies classification as a robot or android. Dragon Man exists through a combination of engineering and alchemy, as well as an unknown "life force" tapped from a fragment of stone which fell from outer space:

So he's somewhat unique, in the sense that there's no artificial "mind" to reprogram, though he's been shown to be susceptible to control in any number of ways. Machinesmith uses the "gadget" to first lure Dragon Man in the vicinity of Cap's location, and then to emit harmful sound waves that anger the creature and provoke him to destroy the device. Consequently, all Machinesmith has to do is to have the gadget stay in close proximity to Cap, who thereby becomes a living target for Dragon Man:

Cap's only option, then, is to remove the cause of Dragon Man's agony. Unfortunately, the attempt deprives Cap of his only means of defense:

From that point on, Cap has only one possible means of staying alive: to stay out of Dragon Man's path of destruction. But with Machinesmith's gadget remaining near, that proves almost impossible. Soon enough, the inevitable happens:

So, that's that, isn't it? Cap has about as much hope of breaking or slipping out of Dragon Man's crushing grip as--well, let me rephrase. Cap has NO hope of breaking or slipping out of Dragon Man's crushing grip. "But this is Captain America!" you point out, whose middle name is "resourcefulness":

With Dragon Man distracted and a weapon in hand, Cap is free to turn his attention to Machinesmith's bothersome gadget:

Dragon Man, however, pays little attention to Cap afterward, instead focusing on Machinesmith--the man who made the agonizing device that's been tormenting him. And so he angrily heads back to the villain's lab with Cap in tow. Machinesmith, being Machinesmith, makes short work of Dragon Man, but Cap manages to settle the score--though Machinesmith would "live" on to undoubtedly menace again.

When Wakes The Golem!

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

The Icy Touch of Death!

It's funny how some comics stories turn out to be such good reads when they follow up on the more major events that preceded them. That doesn't always turn out to be the case; in fact, in most cases, it seems that subsequent stories make an effort to break with prior events and not dwell at all on what came before. Some examples might be the stories following the climax to the Korvac saga in Avengers, or the wrap-up of the Fantastic Four stories where Dr. Doom had stolen the power of the Silver Surfer--major events for these characters by any measure, yet you'd think the Avengers and the FF overcame them with a shrug and made casual dinner reservations that evening.

With the Asgardians, such reactions are understandable, living under the shadow of eventual death as they do with the threat of Ragnarok. They know the true battle is yet to come; but in addition, they're a warrior race to begin with, and a victory in a life-or-death fight is something to be celebrated, with the next such battle hopefully on the horizon. Perhaps, to them, every battle is a welcome distraction, as well as a morale booster, given what they know is to come.

Yet, when Death itself is the foe, and waiting in the wings, it can be an uncomfortable portent of Ragnarok--and such a state is where we find the Asgardians at the start of an excellent two-part story beginning in Mighty Thor #189, as the entire kingdom of Asgard waits for the retribution of Hela, the Goddess of Death, following the conclusion to the story which saw Hela take possession of a portion of Odin's essence and use it to broaden her deadly base of power across the stars. "Infinity," as she named it, was eventually overcome by Thor and then Odin himself; but with Odin denied her, Hela is now seeking to claim one other, as the issue's splash page makes clear:

We can assume that the phrase "Death is imminent!" likely got its start from an Asgardian.

Mismatch Of The Gods

Thor vs. Pluto!

Gee, it doesn't look like much to get excited about, does it?

Pluto is the ruler of the Grecian "netherworld"--an abode of demons and the damned, surely, but not necessarily of the dead. (Though, if you take a look at the netherworld, the difference would probably be negligible.) He's not thrilled about being the ruler of demons and surrounded by stygian fire all the time, and he's definitely not in that position by choice--it seems Zeus has consigned him there because... because... oh, even Zeus has probably forgotten why, or no longer cares. Suffice to say that Pluto is always looking for a way out of the netherworld, often resorting to trickery as well as outright force.

Ares, the Greek God of War, has been known to throw in with Pluto in his schemes from time to time--which should tell you something about Ares, in spite of his makeover in the Avengers. Pluto has also demonstrated a knowledge of and willingness to interact with Earth's population and history when it suits him, and it seems to suit him often enough. And while Pluto indeed has his own domain in Greek mythology, he's ventured into matters concerning other pantheons when seeing opportunities to increase his power base, as when Odin was presumed to have died and the Asgardian's soul was ripe for the taking.

As for his somewhat extensive involvement with Thor--well, Thor gets around, as we know. He's friends with Hercules, who's found himself the target of Pluto's machinations; he's one of the Avengers, who also get around, including a nice little damnation trip to the netherworld courtesy of Zeus; he's the son of Odin, and isn't going to just watch and see a thug like Pluto swoop in and steal his father's soul; and he's frequently involved in Earth matters, and will thus cross paths with Pluto from time to time.

But, as I've implied, the skirmishes between Thor and Pluto, with rare exception, have been nothing to write home about, so perhaps I'm giving more of a build-up to Pluto than he deserves. We know that Thor can provide a darn good fight for practically anyone, man or god--but Pluto, being on a standing with Odin and Zeus (though not quite equal standing), is really out of Thor's league. Yet, Thor is resourceful, and not without his own exceptional levels of power--and so, while seeing Thor square off with Pluto won't necessarily have us sitting on the edge of our seats, it's still enough to get our attention.

At least, it used to be.