The Peerless Power of Comics!

When Jack Kirby turned in those first sets of pages for his new series, The Eternals, I wonder if he knew at the time that he was setting in stone the definitive evolution of mankind in the Marvel universe? I.e., that man would owe its genetic makeup to the Celestials?

It beats me why a race as obviously advanced and evolved as the Celestials would spend their time hopping from planet to planet to planet, experimenting with the indigenous humanoid life they encountered and altering its genetic makeup, and then periodically returning to monitor its progress--only to eventually pass judgment on it as fruitless and subsequently wipe it out. Does that sound very enlightened to you? Planetary lab workers? And as it turns out, lousy lab workers, at that--because, with the exception of Earth (and just barely), and allowing for the special circumstances of another world, Pangoria (exterminating its dominant race), they've given a big thumbs-down to every race they've experimented with. That's a 99% rate of failure, just to be clear. All of those Celestials, with all of those analyzing instruments, and having been at this for millions of years, and still no race's evolution has satisfied them? Someone give these guys the High Evolutionary's number, because they're obviously doing it wrong. (Not that his own work couldn't use some fine tuning.)

Still, Kirby's grand concept has stood the test of time, and writer Mark Gruenwald (with artist Ron Wilson) would later craft a limited series which expanded on the Celestials as well as the Eternals--even folding in Jim Starlin's tale of Kronos. In the first segment, Kirby's short introduction of the Celestials' experiments receives more thorough treatment:

It's a splendid retelling, and certainly does justice to Kirby's massive panels and depictions of the Celestials. Even the Inhumans indirectly fall under Kirby's "origin" of humanity--a race engineered by the Kree, but beings which had already had their genetic makeup tampered with by the Celestials. In a later segment by writer Peter Gillis, we're treated to a reunion of sorts when Black Bolt, searching for a more isolated refuge for his people, encounters the race of Eternals. Though that first meeting occurs in typical Marvel fashion:

But it doesn't take long for Black Bolt to make peace overtures, and soon the Eternals are comparing notes with one who is a more distant "offspring" of the Celestials but who has undergone further genetic enhancement:

Obviously we can paint too broadly with Kirby's brush. It's clear that the Celestials gathered a large number of the "native pre-men" to perform their experiments on, but probably not enough to account for the genetic makeup of an entire species. In other words, as you walk down the street, you may well be seeing ancestors of the Celestial experiments, but you're also likely seeing ancestors of humans who evolved naturally--though, when you take into account how many of those mated with Celestial-humans, there's no telling how many of us owe our DNA to space gods. But if you find yourself having an aptitude for science along with a low tolerance for failure, you might want to veer away from genetic research.

Now that the first trailer for Guardians Of The Galaxy is making the rounds, let's take a little trip back to May, 1982. It's the 20th anniversary of The Incredible Hulk--and writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema are celebrating it by reintroducing us to Mantlo's new creation:

Yes, it's the second appearance of Rocket Raccoon, continued his adventures from a backup feature in a separate magazine. And on an alien planet called Halfworld, in the Keystone Quadrant, Rocket and his first mate, Wal Russ, have stumbled upon (well, there's no other way to say it) the incredible:

The characters of Rocket's story are zany and almost always in crisis mode, and Mantlo has us hitting the ground running. And once the Hulk revives and becomes accustomed to his new companions, we get whirlwind introductions to everyone we need to know about. First, hastening Rocket and his crew's departure aboard their ship, the "Rakk 'n' Ruin," are the members of the local constabulary (though please don't assume that term is any indication of their level of competence):

As for the Keystone Quadrant itself, Rocket describes both Halfworld as well as the massive wall which surrounds the entire quadrant:

And the villain of our story? An evil corporate power monger who's after the quadrant's greatest treasure, the Gideon Bible:

It's then that the story immediately kicks in, with Judson Jakes attacking Rocket's stronghold (Cuckoo's Nest) and making off with both the Gideon Bible and Rocket's girlfriend, Lylla. And Rocket spells out the stakes for the Hulk, hoping that he'll decide to throw in with him:

What will the Hulk decide??

And why are you asking such a silly question?

The "Rakk 'n' Ruin" heads for Judson Jakes' own stronghold in the quadrant, Spacewheel, where Jakes has summoned his resident genius, Uncle Pyko, to discover the secrets of Gideon's Bible:

Jakes has predicted Rocket's reaction correctly, as the mammal approaches Spacewheel. But the "Rakk 'n' Ruin" discovers a reception committee that's both deadly and, believe it or not, amusing.

YES, THAT'S RIGHT, it's the KILLER CLOWNS:

And once the Hulk is geared for outer space battle, he and Rocket launch into the void to make sure these clowns don't have the last laugh:

Once the clowns are dealt with, the Hulk gains them entry into Spacewheel as only he can. And the Hulk will definitely come in handy again, when the pair encounter another deadly nemesis:

Rocket will unfortunately have to face Jakes and the rest of this battle alone, though, because the Hulk has found a ticket back to Earth--with the eager assistance of Uncle Pyko, who is only too happy to have the Hulk looking at the Keystone Quadrant from a departure angle.

As for Rocket, he makes short work of Judson Jakes--and when Uncle Pyko appears, the Gideon Bible is returned, as demanded. Rocket suspects that Pyko is being a little too cooperative--and with good reason, since, unknown to Rocket and his group, Pyko has indeed deciphered the secrets of the Bible. A fact that he plans to keep to himself:

Rocket doesn't cross paths with the Hulk again--though if Hollywood producers have the good sense to combine the Avengers and the Guardians in one amazing blockbuster film, chances are that the Hulk will meet his furry, masked ally once more. But aside from that, you know that we'd all pay good money to see the Killer Clowns explode onto the big screen.

Wow. All this time I'd been pronouncing her name as "GAMora"...

...only to now find out it's pronounced "gaMORa."

(At least I got "Thor" right.)

It's not often that you see one of the most powerful Avengers skipping an important pre-battle meeting and instead deciding that the best use of his abilities at this critical time would be as an errand boy:

Though it's probably just as surprising to see Cap and Wanda completely forget that their state-of-the-art mansion comes complete with telephones, which could accomplish this mundane task not only more easily, but arguably swifter than even Quicksilver. But it seems the Vision is far more qualified than Jarvis to handle relaying a message; yet, how will one of the Avengers explain his role as messenger for "Luke Charles," a high school teacher?

The answer comes with the Vision's first use of his brand-new disguise!

And off he goes, while the rest of the Avengers attempt to learn the location of the missing Panther, a prisoner of foes they would later learn make up the group known as the Lethal Legion. Though once the Vision is out of earshot, Thor can't resist taking a parting shot behind his back:

And speaking of shots, Bessie Hotchkiss gets a shot to her poor heart when the owner of that chill voice announces himself:

As you can see, this matter required the personal attention of an Avenger. In disguise. I don't know, maybe it's a formidable high school. Though we can't say the same for Bessie:

When writer Roy Thomas decided to lead Reed and Sue Richards down the road of marital discord not long after he took over the reins of Fantastic Four, the door was certainly wide open enough to do so. Up until then, the closest the two ever had to even a spat was this little scene:

It was always a fine line to walk with Sue, where the FF's creator and scripter, Stan Lee, was concerned. In Lee's eyes, a woman's role in a super-powered equation was a brave one, but primarily as a supporter of the men--which was especially the case if there was a romantic relationship going on. It was one heck of a balancing act. Both Sue and the Wasp had to go into action with their respective teams--but their frailty and uncertainty were always distinctive from the men, and they were almost always seen as vulnerable to danger.

In Sue's case, her role in the background of Reed's shadow seemed cemented. And while Lee would occasionally let her fume at it, she would ultimately (and quickly) snap back to "normal" (i.e., what was normal for Lee):

(You know, Sue, if we're picking nits, that costume would indicate that you're one of those "do-gooders" you're steamed about, wouldn't it? Though right now you're not coming across as all that dedicated.)

Under Lee's tenure, Sue had her assertive moments, though they were few, far between, and somewhat "assertive-lite." But those moments were practically nonexistent when Reed began those famous scenes of leaving her behind on missions, where Sue's objections were shut down almost immediately. First, Lee used the excuse of her pregnancy:

And then, once the baby was born, her motherhood became the anchor around her ankle:

There was even this incredible scene, where Sue appears to have stopped making any objections entirely, and the reader is virtually asked to simply accept it as "the new normal":

Even Franklin being safely off-site with a governess didn't seem to help Sue's status in ~~Lee's~~ Reed's eyes:

So we can see that Thomas was given a lot of ground to work with--not only in terms of raising Sue's profile, but also in using Sue's newfound assertiveness to add drama to Reed's relationship with her. After all, it wouldn't make sense for Reed to just roll over here--he's had this dynamic with Sue for a long time, as both his wife and as a member of his team. To date, those two aspects have pretty much amounted to the same thing. But, in only Thomas's second issue aboard the title, that begins to change.

With the hectic life the FF lead, and so many distractions available, Thomas doesn't have to be concerned with this "Richards disassembled" plot seeming to readers like it came out of nowhere and was happening overnight; and, with Reed and Sue having such a long and deeply-felt relationship, with its "Sue darling" and "Reed darling" exclamations practically littering the pages, no one is really expecting their marriage to take any turn for the worse. And so Thomas only has to insert a few key scenes to reach his goal. Shortly, we've gone from yet another argument on being left behind:

To apparent disinterest in important family matters:

Until, before you know it, Sue walks out the door, with Reed practically pushing her through it.

It was a pleasant surprise from Thomas--who could have easily had Reed's reaction be one of shock and ultimately sadness, but instead has him more firmly than ever taking the stance that Sue has her priorities mixed up and that she's dead wrong on this issue.

And it all took less than five issues.

It would be a much longer road back for the Richards, and things were going to get worse before they got better. Thomas would hand the whole thing over to Gerry Conway to continue, who would mine this high drama for well over a year before it was resolved. But in the climactic scene, I wonder if he might have missed Thomas's point:

Um... did anyone catch where Reed said he was sorry?

With apologies to artist Herb Trimpe, I always thought this was one of the most ridiculous-looking villains of all time:

A big space energy blob with fangs. Not exactly awe-inspiring, is it. The Hulk, even with his limited grasp of vocabulary, still manages to adequately sum up the appearance of the Galaxy Master: "mouth-monster." When you find yourself agreeing with the simple assessment of the Hulk, it's probably an indication that your villain needs to be sent back to the drawing board.

The Galaxy Master's singular goal is also uncomplicated, a sort of kill-you-before-you-can-kill-me philosophy, which one of its thralls explains:

Which sort of mirrors the mindset of your friend and mine, Annihilus:

The Galaxy Master, needless to say, possesses a great deal of power, and it also has the ability to change its shape depending on the circumstances. That's fortunate for the Hulk, since even he would find it hard to grapple with an energy blob. Though we can give him a little credit for surviving its withering attack:

The various forms that the Galaxy Master takes also make little headway against the Hulk. But this villain didn't get his rep by not being resourceful, so he takes the form of the one thing the Hulk has little defense against:

But in this encounter, the Hulk is lucky enough to have allies, who distract the Galaxy Master with admittedly futile attacks. When one of them is captured by the Galaxy Master and beamed into its domain, the Hulk uses his head and decides to tag along, where he can finally do some serious damage:

And poof, the Galaxy Master is dispersed. It would later reform and renew its mission of conquest, this time using the Abomination to soften up its targets. But eventually the battle again comes down to the Galaxy Master and the Hulk--and the Hulk vs. a mouth-monster isn't exactly the most sensational battle you'll ever lay eyes on:

Nevertheless, you guessed it--the Galaxy Master is once again toast.

Other than perhaps a sense of nostalgia, which played heavily throughout writer Bill Mantlo's run on Incredible Hulk, I don't know what would make anyone decide to bring back the Galaxy Master a third time. Putting aside for a moment the fact that a threat to the galaxy which has easily beaten armadas can somehow be repeatedly thwarted by the Hulk, two of Marvel's premiere artists (Trimpe and, later, Sal Buscema) have failed to bring to life the kind of fearsome foe that Marvel obviously wants the Galaxy Master to represent. I'm not saying that every villain needs to have appendages, or even physical form--but the only foe I can imagine the Galaxy Master facing would be someone like Ego or Galactus. Or maybe a good dentist.

The reunion between Drax, the Destroyer and Moondragon, self-styled goddess of the mind, took place with the best of intentions. Father and daughter, separated by death from an alien attack, had found themselves involved in the fierce conflict that saw the presumed death of their attacker. That conflict ended, Drax, a reincarnation of sorts for the soul of Art Douglas, now wandered aimlessly--as did Heather, his Earth daughter who had been taken to a distant world after Art's death and trained in the physical and mental disciplines to become Moondragon. And finally, the daughter felt the need to seek out her father:

Drax, however, found himself both alone and frustrated, now that his one purpose in life--to destroy Thanos--had been accomplished, albeit by another. And that frustration and bitterness led him to a colony of parasitic life forms, and an attempt to end his second life:

Locating Drax in this state, Moondragon, in desperation, brought him to the Avengers for assistance, though only Thor was in residence. Unfortunately, both Drax and the alien attached to his mind were in symbiotic agreement on one point--both wanted to die:

Thor finally prevailed over Drax--and the alien's plaintive words served as a wake-up call for Drax which made him reconsider his grim aim to die:

And so Drax joined Moondragon in her travels--first returning the alien to its hive, and then to find mutual purpose and fulfillment in the exploration of both the stars and their new relationship. It's an ending--and a beginning--which normally would have been rewarding to read about for these two beings who had both been products of death and rebirth.

Instead, this tale will lead to much worse for Drax, and an ending more tragic than any he'd planned for himself.

And it begins with the mysterious reappearance of Moondragon's ship on Earth, which waits for the Avengers to board:

Now in flight to an unknown destination, the Avengers find no one aboard--but they're greeting with a recorded message from Drax, who begins to explain what happened in his travels with Moondragon but which only raises more questions:

The ship eventually lands on its planetary destination, Ba-Bani, where Moondragon greets them and explains why she (and presumably Drax) sent for the Avengers:

And though it's clear they have reservations, the Avengers agree to help quash the insurrection:

Afterward, Moondragon wastes no time in arranging for their departure--but the Avengers decide to stay another day, for reasons of their own. Investigating separately, they not only find that the "insurrection" was fought by men who didn't know what they were doing, but that Drax himself can share that claim:

Iron Man, of course, has a good idea of what's been going on--and just who is responsible:

While Thor has naturally taken the direct approach:

Unfortunately, Thor now begins to fall under Moondragon's mental sway. But in gaining a powerful new ally, her hold on her "father" lapses, thanks to Iron Man's efforts:

It's generally not a good idea to have someone called the Destroyer gunning for you. And, sensing her danger, Moondragon circles her wagons (or, in this case, "wagon"):

And protect her he does!

Writer Jim Shooter and penciller Bob Hall do a first-rate job with this two-part story, and with the Avengers in particular. Personalities and decisions are as we'd expect from these four members who are just two short of the original Avengers team, and the fight scenes of Thor against his comrades and Drax are well-paced and visually exciting. And while we're really focusing on Drax here, we can't in good conscience duck out on a Thor/Iron Man skirmish, which, as Iron Man notes, just might have a third party involved:

Finally, the enraged group confronts Moondragon herself. But she has marshalled her forces, and immobilizes the Avengers before they can strike. However, she's forced to steel herself in order to face down one attacker in particular:

It's admittedly difficult to feel sympathy for this woman who has not only acted like a puppeteer with her own father, but also ruthlessly brings him down--and in such a calm and collected way, at that. The Avengers, now free, attack in force, and the Wasp lays out Moondragon with a right cross that I think every reader probably felt land.

But for Drax, the circle finally closes for him:

(Nice bit of misdiagnosis there, Dr. Blake. I guess by "You're going to be all right," what you really meant was that in a moment Drax wouldn't need to worry about his discomfort.)

As for Moondragon, while she may be beyond the laws of Earth, this "goddess" will nevertheless have her day in court. And she finds her court date expedited:

Back on Earth, the Avengers make an adjustment to Moondragon's ship and give Drax a final sendoff.

This wasn't the ending for Drax the Destroyer we were led to believe it was, and of course we all know what the character of Drax eventually morphed into. But it was still the ending for him I wish would have stuck, as it was a fine concept from Shooter and capped a very fine Avengers story. You might say that Drax was living on borrowed time anyway, and this final scene made something of an epilog for Jim Starlin's character--who had such a single-minded existence and, when you think about it, was doomed to never have anything to show for it.

Back in the day, it didn't seem to be all that difficult to throw together the ingredients for a Marvel fight. Take Captain America, for instance. All you needed was a bitter villain/genius:

Then, you only had to either find the formula for the Super Soldier serum scribbled down in some dusty archive, or create your own, just by using the resources at your friendly local library:

Then just go out and find some brainless muscle--or, better yet, let him find you:

From there, it's just a quick walk to your lab, where you don't waste any time:

Heh, check out that label--"ZXX Serum." Did I mention you don't need to be all that creative in naming your serum? Your hired muscle probably isn't going to give it much thought, either.

Then you just lure your target into a trap--which is simplicity itself, thanks to the Avengers, who apparently don't screen anybody:

And before you know it, voilà! You've got yourself a Marvel fight!

From there, you just sit back and watch an artist of the caliber of Gene Colan dazzle us with pure panel-to-panel action:

As we watch Cap slug it out with a bruiser like the "Man-Brute," it's easy to think of other such match-ups--for example, his fight with Power Man, another opponent with superior strength that had Cap outclassed in that respect. The Man-Brute doesn't have quite the strength level of Power Man, but he's acting similarly by relying on that strength to win this fight. And as is usually the case with such overwhelming opponents, unless Cap thinks of something, he knows that's really only a matter of time:

In a Marvel fight, the tide has a way of turning--and here, Cap's opening comes with the actions of one of the orphanage boys, who gives Cap a breather but also stops this fight cold (keep an eye on the Man-Brute's face):

Our final ingredient to a Marvel fight is often to see the mastermind receive his comeuppance. Sometimes that occurs even before the hired muscle is turned loose, in a "what do I need YOU for?" scene that has the souped-up bad guy immediately turn on the one who thought to control him. But, as was the case with, say, the Disruptor, our lab rat returns to the lab to have it out with his benefactor. For the Man-Brute, he's given a twist to his story that puts the villainous scientist responsible for turning him loose in an orphanage square in his sights:

I wouldn't go so far as to say the Man-Brute is redeemed here; he may (may) be on the straight and narrow from this point, but he's also now a murderer. In these old Marvel fights, the goal was usually to leave the reader with a "crime doesn't pay" message. That's definitely true for our poor scientist smoldering in that circuit panel--and also true for the Man-Brute, wandering now without purpose, though the door is left wide open for his return. When we check in on him again, we'll see if he was able to lose his mad-on. Something tells me we haven't seen the last of the work of ZXX Serum.

Judging by this cover, it's reasonably safe to say that the Man-Brute didn't care much for retirement:

He's also obviously still just as peeved as he was when we were first introduced to him, having just finished a stretch in the big house (a/k/a "the slammer,""the pen", "the pokey," take your pick) only to be used by a scientist to gain revenge on Captain America. But with this new appearance, we're at least getting to the bottom of the reason why this man has been so embittered:

And so the newly named "Blockbuster" is going all-out to help his son. Which would normally be an admirable thing for an ex-con to be focused on--except that his idea of not being a "deadbeat dad" is to knock over banks for the cash he needs:

Enter Omega the Unknown, who's going to attempt to stop Blockbuster's rampage. After this fight's over, I'm afraid we still won't know much about Omega--nor, I'm afraid, will Blockbuster's son ever know his father. (Though, come to think of it, that may be a good thing.)

We might as well start by seeing Omega get knocked around a little (okay, a lot) when he first encounters Blockbuster, proving that heroic intentions don't always win the day.

Nor does Round Two cut our hero any slack:

At this point we're tempted to rename this hero "Omega the Punching Bag," since he's demonstrating that he's only one-half of the phrase "the strong, silent type." But as the battle continues, he sees another side to Blockbuster, and follows his gut:

Naturally, from what we've seen of Blockbuster, this gesture of Omega's isn't likely to change Blockbuster's attitude nor his method of providing a nest egg for his son. And, sure enough, Omega runs across him later while he's pulling another bank heist. It's logical to sometimes assume that what previously worked before will work again--but, what if your efforts didn't work before?

I don't think Omega is thinking that far ahead.

Frankly, it's looking like curtains for Omega--I mean, Blockbuster is the guy who nearly mopped up Captain America. Fortunately, Omega has someone looking out for him; or, to put it more accurately, someone is looking at Blockbuster, as a target:

Yes, the Foolkiller--not the original, but definitely as deadly, as he's just proven with the unfortunate Blockbuster. We see that the Foolkiller hasn't quite made up his mind about Omega--but with the cancellation of Omega's book with the next issue, it's clear that the book's readers didn't have that problem.

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

I know what you're thinking--"Sheesh, this guy looks like a human fly!" Your instincts are right on the money. Meet Rick Deacon, a punk who's on the run from holding hostages at gunpoint with his small gang, wounded by the police after being foiled by Spider-Man and looking for sanctuary. And he finds it at the lab of Dr. Harlan Stillwell, who's known for taking a stipend from folks like J. Jonah Jameson to recruit volunteers like Deacon and turn them into super-powered hired guns. Only in this case, it's Deacon who's holding the gun:

The idea was to find someone who had considerably more moral integrity than Deacon, but Stillwell isn't about to risk his life to satisfy Jameson's terms. And so Deacon undergoes treatment that's along the lines of Stillwell's current research, research which involves--well, see for yourself:

That's right, Deacon becomes none other than the Human Fly--who puts a bullet in Stillwell's head for his trouble, and then goes gunning for Spider-Man. And to lure Spidey into his trap, he figures on using none other than Jameson himself as the bait:

The Human Fly, as planned, has a number of abilities to offset those of Spider-Man, which he's all too eager to demonstrate to his target:

But the Fly's first appearance here is in Spidey's annual, where there's not much chance that he's going to be permitted to come out on top in this fight. And so, ultimately, this fly lands smack dab in the spider's web:

The Human Fly was swatted relatively easily here, but his appearance was impressive enough to get him a few more gigs both in Spidey's titles as well as several others. And while it's generally the kiss of death for a villain to start out solo only to later be lumped in with others in a super-group, the Fly also spent some time with the Crime-Master's "Savage Six." Eventually, he was targeted and eliminated by the Scourge of the Underworld--but he would be resurrected to buzz again, on his own as well as part of the Hood's "Deadly Dozen."

In a Marvel blog, you can never have too much clobberin', I always say. Which means it's time for another round of:

Now, let's see--where did we leave off last time? If I'm not mistaken, I think an orange rock-like fist was connecting with a super-villain leading with his chin! But any foe of the Thing's should keep in mind that he loves to multi-task:

So let's find a few more chins to wallop!

First of all, just because you happen to have a beard doesn't make you any less a target. In fact, it's kind of like guiding the Thing in for a landing:

There's also the case of a rampaging foe, like the Hulk--who's really had more than his share of being clobbered by just about everybody, but who generally spoils for a fight and is rarely disappointed where the Thing is concerned:

To be honest, I wasn't really expecting the Hulk to have a rebuttal:

I could say the same for Gorgon, though it's clear he doesn't share the Hulk's opinion:

And if Dr. Doom has his way, the Thing's battle cry may be discontinued:

Yes, good luck with that, Victor. Better fiends than you have tried. Like this next guy (and if you can guess his identity, you get a no-prize):

Alright, alright, our mystery opponent wasn't really a fiend, so I cheated. What are you going to do, clobber me?

Let's instead see how an expert does it.

Annnnd we're outta here 'til next time. When will these guys learn to wind their watches?

In prior postings, we've already covered a little ground where, in the early 1980s, The Mighty Thor title was in a bit of a rut. Let me rephrase that. The title was in a sinkhole, one that seemed to be expanding every month. We saw the Thunder God fighting the likes of mathematicians, and slum lord mercenaries, and religious fanatics, and vampires, and even bullfighters. Only we completists probably stayed with the title at this point; after all, this was Thor we were talking about, one of Marvel's flagship characters. Nobody at Marvel was going to just stand around and let Thor get to the point where it had to be cancelled, or so we steadfastly thought.

The book needed a firm hand, someone who would again give it scope and vision. In late 1983, that hand would belong to writer/artist Walt Simonson, who had been aboard the book previously as artist but who would return and also take over scripting and plotting reins and pull the Thunder God out of his downward spiral. In the meantime, the wait would be excruciating in terms of some of the stories readers had to slog through. And if you think that means unscrupulous bloggers like myself would take advantage of the many, many sub-par stories which are just begging to be made into posts...

...why, I'm shocked at the implication.

I'm also shameless in confirming it.

I look at it this way:

If I and others had to suffer month after month, pulling these issues off the rack and reading each and every one, feeling like we were in some kind of Asgardian purgatory and wondering who the heck at Marvel had lost their sanity and somehow thought that this was Thor at his best--then, in the interests of fairness, you should experience the same uncomfortable winces that we did.

"WHICH ONE THIS TIME??" you gasp, quickly covering your eyes--and well you might. What mortal threat is going to require all the power of the God of Thunder to defeat? Why, no less than...

A MUTATED HORROR MOVIE ACTOR.

So you'd better hold onto your chairs and pray for Thor, because:

This story occurs when Thor is giving some thought to his alter-ego, Dr. Donald Blake, moving his practice to Chicago, at the urging of Blake's friend and colleague, Dr. Shawna Lynde. In fact, the story's first few pages have us wondering if writer Doug Moench might be getting a few bucks under the table from the city's tourism office, given how both Thor and Blake are all but giving us the grand tour:

Caught that bit about the Manhattan Project and bleachers, did you? Well, just where do you think our maniacal actor is chasing his hapless actress-victim?

But, c'mon, you point out--the Manhattan Project was back in the forties. What's that got to do with a movie crew? Well, thanks to a disgruntled passer-by, accidents will happen:

And not only is our "Zaniac" born, but it seems he's truly burying himself in the part.

Naturally, with Dr. Lynde now a hostage, once Blake shakes off the cobwebs from the blast he's going after this guy as Thor:

Calm down, Thor. It's not like Odin is sending you on a glorious mission here--you're hunting a crazy actor. And since you are Thor, we're thinking this fight should be over and done with in three panels:

But with the Zaniac's super-strength, I'm cutting Thor some slack and assuming he's just caught off-guard by this guy's resilience, just like Moench is proposing:

Zaniac takes off while Thor is--sorry, it's right there in front of us--digging himself out from a pile of garbage cans. At least Dr. Lynde is safe and sound--but, still going by his old film script, Zaniac now heads for the "Home for Women" in the Loop, where he plans to slaughter all the "pretty-pretties" he finds there. Fortunately, Thor has thought to get some info from the film's director on the villain's next move, and arrives at the location in time:

And as they battle, Thor spells out what we've already been led to believe by this point:

So, how to stop the Zaniac? Thor ends up using Zaniac's own irradiated "knives" against him. I don't know why that would work in combination with the metal railing of the El tracks they battle on--but, admittedly, I don't know why it wouldn't work, either:

Yes, let's mull over what Thor said here: "My powers are useless in stopping him!" I'm betting your jaw dropped to the ground right alongside mine after reading that.

Suffice to say, the threat of the Zaniac is over, and Brad Wolfe is carted away by ambulance to be treated for radiation poisoning. As for Thor, he's decided (as Don Blake) to relocate to Chicago after all--which, all things considered, has the city's tourism office now wondering whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Particularly with a "next issue" banner like this one:

See? We've got lots more of these Thor stories to hack our way through. You lucky dogs.

I've never been sure why Marvel felt it needed to introduce another sand-based villain like Quicksand, given how the original Sandman was still on the loose. Granted that Sandman didn't have the most impressive of introductions, and it would take awhile before his abilities were given their due--but what does Quicksand bring to the table that's new?

Well, a little, but not much. First of all, unlike Sandman, whose power was initially treated more as a novelty than a villainous threat, Quicksand leaves no doubt with her first appearance that she intends to use her power ruthlessly and viciously:

Secondly, and obviously, Quicksand is a woman, and not another "Sandman"; in fact, I think her villain name is awesome, leaving no doubt as to her intentions or her threat level. I don't know anyone who ever ran into a non-deadly pile of quicksand, a threat that traps you and has only one goal where your life is concerned. The Sandman may have a tough street rep by now, but I'd certainly prefer a dynamic new villain not be associated with sleep and dreaming.

It also says something that, while Sandman didn't really get his "villain legs" until he teamed up with the Frightful Four, Quicksand starts her career by going after Marvel's biggest hitter (and confidently, at that):

Quicksand calls herself a "living elemental," a description which was probably concocted to give a little boost to the way she announces herself, as well as to further distinguish her from Sandman. It really does little else; we've certainly seen what other "elementals" are able to do, and Quicksand displays only a fraction of those abilities with her sole talent to interact with the earth. She also strangely appears to be in denial, refusing to categorize herself as a mutant despite her origin:

Which is probably just bitterness talking, since she's definitely not happy at all with being turned into this form and wants only to regain her human appearance. But in the meantime, she's willing to take out her sorry state on everyone else:

As for her match-up with Thor--well, I don't recall Thor ever slugging it out with Sandman, but hopefully it would have gone something like this:

Unfortunately, Quicksand right out of the gate has chosen to mix it up with the likes of someone like Thor, who gives her a taste of his power in his own distinct fashion:

In this first battle, Quicksand, as we've seen, wishes to take a shortcut to exacting her "revenge" by taking out a nuclear facility which has recently become the focus of protest groups. And since she used to work at such a facility, she has no trouble in rigging it to detonate, which would result in a nuclear holocaust. But Quicksand is foiled by a quick-fix tactic which, thankfully, Thor only uses on rare occasion:

Which I suppose relies on Thor having an extensive knowledge of the locations of dead worlds. Either that, or he has a handy cheat sheet tucked into his belt.

The move effectively ends Thor's battle with Quicksand, as she flees to fight another day. And that day comes when she allies herself with the Mongoose, an agent of the High Evolutionary, and again engages Thor--this time, to draw him out into the open.

Thor, as we see, is battling Quicksand while experiencing a mysterious weakness which is affecting all Asgardians. A heck of a time to be facing a villain of Quicksand's ruthlessness:

On the other hand, Quicksand doesn't win any points in the "take me seriously" category when she's (you'd better get a grip on yourself for this) firing sand shells from her sand tank:

Fortunately, we don't get to see what other absurd ideas Quicksand comes up with, because she's done her job as far as putting Thor in the sights of the Evolutionary's weapon (which fires and extracts a tissue sample from Thor, but that's another story), and she departs. Quicksand would go on to make sporadic appearances both solo and as part of villain-groups like the Femizons. For the most part, we can chalk up Quicksand as a character who featured a great name and looked promising, but who has quite a way to go before reaching even the Sandman's rap sheet.

You could say that Fantastic Four #107, the issue where Reed Richards finds a viable "cure" for the condition of the Thing, falls into the "be careful what you wish for" category for both Ben Grimm as well as the book's readers. For the first time, the Thing would be able to function as his three partners in the FF--having the ability to turn into his super-powered form when needed, and then be able to "turn off" his power and return to his human form. It would finally be the best of both worlds for Ben Grimm, who has been trapped in the rocky, misshappen form of the Thing and consequently found that his life is at a standstill, outside of his contribution to the FF.

On the other hand, the cure effectively removes the most compelling aspect of the Thing--the anguish of Ben Grimm, always having to be kept in check, always stewing beneath the surface of his hard, orange skin. With the Thing's power now functioning in the same way as the others, Ben is no longer the odd man out, and no longer having cause to be bitter. It opens up a whole new set of possibilities for the character, and alters the dynamic of the Fantastic Four since Ben would really have no reason to change to the Thing unless the team had to meet a threat or otherwise go into action. It's what's best for Ben, of course--but is it what's best for the book?

Writer Stan Lee never really gives either the team or even Ben a real chance to find out, since he's rigged this cure with the dreaded side-effects sub-plot. The more Ben invokes his change to the Thing and vice versa, the more the process begins to affect his mind, making him increasingly short-tempered and irrational. At first, the changes to his personality manifest as irritability and impatience, qualities which could have applied to the Thing on any given day. But, when his treatment of Alicia becomes abrasive, his behavior raises our eyebrow:

But, this being the Fantastic Four, their hectic lifestyle briefly takes our focus off of Ben and puts it back on the team, when they undertake a desperate mission to the Negative Zone in order to stop one of Reed's former colleagues from making a bid for power. Ben is more "himself," and we get a sense of how his new state might mesh with the rest of the team:

Ben's personality change abruptly accelerates, though, when Reed is trapped in the Negative Zone--and Ben, for the first time, is able to step out of his friend's shadow and take a more assertive role in the FF. Unfortunately, in his current state, Ben takes that thought to extremes, and his anger and frustration lash out in all directions at once.

Eventually, though, Ben reconsiders and decides to help with Reed's rescue. But all bets are off once that's accomplished:

In and of itself, this development of Lee's actually makes for a good story, particularly in terms of an internal matter between these four close teammates and friends. It may yank the rug out from under the Thing, as far as a new direction for Ben Grimm--but for the FF and their individual and collective characterization, it doesn't get any better. Reed and Sue are in shock (particularly Reed, for whom these radical changes in Ben's personality are probably his first real exposure to them)--Johnny wants to take Ben's head off (and the feeling's mutual)--and Alicia, blind and only really "hearing" Ben's state of mind, has little to no idea of why he's treating her in such a way. The issue ends explosively, as well it should:

As for Lee, he's really only recycling an old plot (Ben turning bad after his mind is affected by an experiment meant to cure him) while giving it a new twist. This time, Johnny takes after him solo, as the two battle in the midst of the city--a situation which is further inflamed when the Hulk appears and attacks. When everything finally plays out to Lee's satisfaction, he pulls the plug on Ben's cure, though with a curious thread left dangling:

Which is to say, Ben's "cure" is still likely in effect--but he chooses not to pursue it. The note that Lee wishes to leave this story on seems clear: Ben has finally come to terms with who and what he is, and decides to continue as both the member of the Fantastic Four that he's thrived as, and as the Thing. And as he's noted, there's also his relationship with Alicia to be considered, an uncomfortable point of concern that has never (to my knowledge) been satisfactorily confronted (though Lee once came close). We know this running theme so well by now--Ben knows that Alicia loves him, but only as the Thing. As writers, both Lee and artist/writer John Byrne benefited from the drama that's always available to be tapped from this pairing: a blind girl, in love with someone who resembles a monster. The situation being a constant source of anguish for Ben--having found such unexpected happiness with Alicia, while mulling the nagging feeling that he's wrong for her. Byrne at one time even made Alicia's feelings pivotal in a 99.9%-certain cure for Ben that nevertheless failed tragically. The situation has had a fair amount of panel space, and yet no discernible resolution.

I've lost count of how many cures Ben has either successfully or unsuccessfully gone through since this story. One or two even had him being able to change back and forth to the Thing at will, just as this first attempt made possible. For what it's worth, with this particular story taking place over forty years ago, we can at least be reasonably certain that this loose end from Reed's first real cure for Ben was probably stamped "CASE CLOSED" long ago.

Or, perhaps more accurately, "PENDING."

The "wrap-around" cover is probably a tricky thing to pull off. Presumably, a comic wouldn't draw attention to having a wrap-around cover unless the editor felt that it would not only generate sales, but also measure up in terms of outstanding artwork. Since the second factor would normally be dependent on the work of the regular artist on the book, there would understandably be occasions when the cover fell short of the mark--which sort of defeats the purpose of wanting to increase sales. You're not going to sell the amount of books you'd hoped for if your buyers are passing on the book at the rack.

But if it's done well, the wrap-around cover can indeed be a sales tool, particularly in those instances where the company has built anticipation toward an event culminating in the issue in question. And as this trend continued, most of these covers were not only wrap-around, but became fold-out as well, which certainly provided the issue you were about to read with a little extra bounce right up front. If I'm not mistaken, Marvel's first publication with this kind of cover was with issue #1 of the new X-Men series which launched in 1991:

And talk about going overboard--this representation, in four sections, not only made its way to four different issues (each splitting up the full artwork by Jim Lee you see above into four different covers), but a fifth issue was made available which contained all the sections in a fold-out wrap-around. We'd later see this sales tool get out of hand with "variant" covers, which would publish copies of issues with completely different cover art and thus obscure the perception the X-Men launch conveyed that Marvel was coaxing the buyer to purchase an extra copy in order to get the full artwork. A moot difference between apples and oranges, to be sure. As a cowpoke might put it, "hell, it's the same dance--just a different tune."

In a nod to Lee's depiction, have a look at its Marvel Zombies counterpart by artist Arthur Suydam:

Unlike zombies, though, who usually herald the end, we're just getting started.

For many of us, the one example of the wrap-around cover which first comes to mind would be the JLA/Avengers four-part series, with George Perez doing the cover art. Perez, while unquestionably a great penciller, will at times make such covers too busy with activity, too crowded with characters--and though they're great fun to pore over with the eyes, they're not necessarily the best representation of the story within. In these two examples, we can see each side of the coin--a story-related depiction vs. general all-out chaos:

Given the body of work that Perez has done in this area, he would seem to be the go-to guy when such work is called for. Not that you can blame the editor for wanting him on board:

For me, artist Neal Adams makes the best use of a wrap-around cover with this representation of the Kree-Skrull War which took place in a series of stories in The Avengers:

Just look at how well-used the entire landscape is here. Every part of the drawing generates excitement and interest in the whole story, with the montage boiling down most of the essentials in the space available. (I might have suggested adding the Supreme Intelligence, and certainly Rick Jones.) Adams simply hits it out of the park here. I've read this story numerous times, and this rendering makes me want to buy and read it again.

For the six-part series The Infinity War, artist Ron Lim, like Perez, obviously attempts to cram many of the story's characters into the wrap-around covers, but still manages to do a fine job of dedicating at least the center of each cover to representing that issue's story:

On occasion, we'll also see wrap-around covers which displays art that's either more on-point regarding the overall story or indicative of what the writer is trying to convey about the book. A few examples might be:

Circling back to the X-Men, we see that their wrap-around covers are prolific indeed, with a wide array of talent at the drawing board:

And since "X" ends the alphabet, we might as well close here. Be sure to chime in and mention wrap-around covers which have caught your eye!

I don't know how many of you recall the death of Jean Grey. Yes, you read that correctly--the death of Jean Grey. The real death of Jean Grey. The one that "took." It may not have prevented Marvel from bringing her back, but...

But--hold on, you interrupt. If Jean was brought back, she wasn't really dead, now was she.

Well, there are two schools of thought on that, and they come down to this: Jean was either "sort of" dead, or "sort of" alive again. Either way, it's hard not to feel a little taken advantage of here.

To put it all in perspective, we have to go back a bit to Jean's rebirth as Phoenix--or what we thought was Jean's rebirth. Once Phoenix met her end, due to Jean's self-sacrifice so that the universe would be safe from her deadly power, we'd later be told that Jean never became Phoenix at all--that Phoenix, instead, placed Jean into stasis and took her place as an exact duplicate of her:

Yes, what you just saw was Jean returning from the "dead."Sort of. See how that works?

And so Jean joins Scott and the original X-Men as part of X-Factor; and throughout the run of her stay there, and in future X-Men stories, Marvel continuously dangles a carrot in front of its readers and alludes repeatedly that Jean has some connection to the Phoenix force. We start to believe that Jean IS Phoenix, and is coyly avoiding the subject. It's almost like seeing Lucy hold the football for Charlie Brown, Lucy in this case being Marvel and all of us being poor Charlie Brown. We come running up to kick the football with the Phoenix crest on it, only to have Lucy snatch it away at the last moment before we can make contact with it. Back and forth we go, with no X-Men writer willing to definitively nail it down for us.

Finally we come to a story in New X-Men which sees--no snickering, now--the death of Jean. But how is she brought to death's door this time--and once and for all, is this woman Phoenix?

The "how" involves Magneto, who's attempting to exterminate humanity and isn't interested in making any deals for its survival. To pull this off, he's schemed very carefully to take down the only group which could stop him--the X-Men, including Charles Xavier. And as we can see by this recap, for all intents and purposes he's succeeded:

And so Jean and Wolverine end up on Asteroid M, Magneto's old orbiting base--only it's been blasted from its orbit and is heading toward a collision course with the sun. Jean and Logan are running out of air--the base is heating up--and needless to say, their time is running out:

Now, since Phoenix is known to travel through space, Logan asks a pertinent question that seems like it would be their ticket off this rock and give them safe passage home. Assuming that Jean and Phoenix are one and the same, that is:

If you're thinking that Jean, in that last panel, resembles another comics character by the name of Lucy, your instincts are dead-on. It seems like we're finally about to kick the hell out of that football, doesn't it? Jean is going to stop playing coy and spill the beans on her connection with Phoenix. But slow down there, Hoss. Apparently, the only one Jean is going to tell us about is, well, Jean Grey:

In other words, that sound you heard was Charlie Brown landing on his backside again. Jean is simply answering Logan's question about why she can't fly them out of there. And all we know is what we already knew--that Jean has a connection to Phoenix. Thanks for nothing.

But the clock ticks down, and there's no last-minute rescue from the X-Men--and so Asteroid M's incineration is imminent. Logan and Jean are just about out of oxygen, and you can imagine the intolerable heat level. And thanks to Logan, we're witness to Jean's second death.

I hope you didn't place any wager on that death scene, because you're out a pretty penny about now. We know that Logan's healing factor can, ridiculously, survive exposure to the sun's 10-million-degree heat, so he'll live to slash another day. As for Jean, we finally see the Phoenix solidify its hold on her--or, we finally see Jean fully embrace the Phoenix. Take your pick:

And so Jean returns them to Earth, where a pitched battle with Magneto has him on the ropes. Unfortunately, Jean underestimates the master of magnetism, for the last time:

Yes, I did say the last time, didn't I--and this time I mean it. Because this third death of Jean Grey is real, and as final as it gets:

Three strikes, she's out.

But if you glance around, you're liable to see Lucy nearby, smirking and still holding that football. We'll have to follow up later with X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong, and see if Jean is content to stay dead, if not buried.

I'd certainly be one of the first to admit that there are times when it's difficult to think of just the right title for a blog post--so just imagine a comic book on a monthly deadline, with its writer sometimes stuck for the story's title. As a result, we're going to get the occasional head-scratcher for a title--one that might look great emblazoned at the top of a dramatic splash page, but which is otherwise puzzling in terms of just what the heck the writer is getting at.

To give you a few examples, I chose the Incredible Hulk book at random, and wasn't disappointed. Let's start off with the Hulk's near-match, the Abomination:

In this story, the Abomination's last battle had put him in something of a coma for two years, a state which was broken by an explosion at ground level. The Abomination then battles the Hulk, still thinking that he'd only recently faced him, not realizing that two years have passed. So it's hard to make sense of the title as worded, as incomplete (and inaccurate) as it reads. If it's simply an adaptation of the Richard Dana novel about a two-year sea voyage, the similarity between the two escapes me.

The Juggernaut is similarly affected by wording that doesn't really apply:

If you're thinking that Thor is guest-starring in this issue, no. But aside from that, no one is out to try to kill the Juggernaut; in fact, if the title wanted to come closer to the mark, it might have substituted "stop" for "slay" (and maybe been a bit less Death Be Not Proud about it).

Next we move to outer space, where Counter-Earth orbits on the far side of the sun. And when you have a duplicate Earth, your title choices become exercises in alliteration:

Moving on, surely a review of this type without a title by Roy Thomas would be incomplete:

Leaving little doubt it's adapted from the 1969 film title (from the novel). A letter writer went so far as to call it "the least-inspired story title" they'd ever seen, which is a valid point. Neither the Hulk nor the Valkyrie are being put out of their misery (nor is it even implied that they should be), and none of the events in the story resemble the odd marathon/mock derbies character study of the film. Even Marvel doesn't know what to make of it, responding to the letter writer with "Our title uninspired? Maybe...but, for a comics title, it certainly seemed offbeat to us and many others." I'd only suggest that lauding a title as "offbeat" is hardly a defense; an offbeat title lacking any foundation is a bit like pulling your story title out of a raffle drawing.

Another title with a play on words would be:

As groan-inducing as this title is, it at least has some reasonable connection with the story (though that hardly excuses it). Bruce Banner, at the time cured of becoming the Hulk, lies at death's door, having been shocked into a coma when the robot he'd been interfacing with and using against the Leader was destroyed, sending the deadly feedback straight back to him. It's decided that the only chance of saving his life is to subject him to gamma rays, thereby cursing him once more to be the Hulk.

But the hands-down winner of our little titles tour has to be none other than the Rhino. I'd once thought of the Rhino as mainly a Spider-Man villain--but he's been a major Hulk foe in a number of stories, and he probably deserved more respect when it came time to assign titles to them:

It would have been just awful if the story accompanying this title had featured the Mandarin, wouldn't it. The only "ring" I can see that would apply here is the ring of fire surrounding the Rhino later in the story. But that's too easy an assumption to make, so I'm probably wrong. Feel free to take a whack at it yourself.

This next title appears on the same page as a newspaper headline announcing that Banner and Betty Ross are to be married:

It's actually the Leader who's the one making such a fuss about saying no, though. The Rhino is just hired muscle against the Hulk.

Here's another title that twists around what's really happening:

In that story, the Leader takes over the Rhino's body, and threatens to cause death and destruction at Betty's wedding (this time to Glenn Talbot), just as he did at Banner's. When Jim Wilson tries to intervene, the Rhino/Leader brutally swats him down--and the Hulk is now doubly determined to destroy the Leader. So it's either the Leader's vengeance we're talking about here (in which case you could say the Rhino is enabling him to carry it out), or the Hulk's vengeance against the "Rhino," even though the Leader hasn't yet carried out his plan. It's a good thing the Hulk doesn't take the time to figure it out, or we'd never get anywhere.

And to wrap things up, a story which substitutes Doc Samson in battle against the Rhino:

Which I'm thinking is making some connection (however tenuous) to the fact that the Rhino is out to destroy a train, which is carrying a package he's been hired to recover. ("Train stop," get it?) I refuse to believe it has anything to do with the film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," just because the story takes place in the southwest. The silver lining here, however, is that I can definitely recommend the movie.

The last time we looked in on Jean Grey, she had died.

"Again," you quickly point out. All right, fair enough.

This would make three times Jean had died--though technically it was only twice, since her first death was as the Phoenix while duplicating her form. The Phoenix was more directly involved with Jean (on some level) in her second death (her first "true" death), and more fully merged with her when she died again at the hand of Magneto. I can see your eyes glazing over at this point, and I'm right with you--it all seems so ridiculous when you see it on paper like this. "Only twice." Good grief.

Let's go back a bit to when Jean was recovering from her first transformation into Phoenix (though at the time she actually was Phoenix while thinking she was Jean, but for pity's sake let's not get into all that again). "Jean" asked a question which would echo its way through her convoluted history with Phoenix and land at the doorstep of where we are now:

At the time, "Jean" was under the mistaken impression that she had indeed died on that space shuttle (which I guess might count as another death, eh? Oboy.), but the question never really applied until Wolverine ended her life aboard Asteroid M--after which, Jean and Phoenix were reborn in a state of co-existence. This time, with both Jean and Phoenix aware of each other, Jean was on board with being Phoenix (or, rather, hosting Phoenix), and seemed to set aside any concerns about being brought back from the dead.

Jump ahead to a year (in publication time) after that story concluded, where a new series continues the story of Phoenix, and Jean will be forced to more directly confront the implications of rising from the grave. And the X-Men will find themselves caught up in the struggle.

In X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong, a few things have to occur before the story can proceed. How to bring back the Phoenix, and how to involve it with the X-Men again? To put the story in motion, we have a group of Shi'ar who don't seem to know how to leave well enough alone. They're hunting for and have found the Phoenix force, and they make ready to attack it--but in this scene, we discover their hands aren't exactly clean:

Yes, you read that correctly--after all this time of having no Phoenix to worry about, they've gone to the trouble of bringing it back so that they can then turn around and try to destroy it. Normally, that wouldn't make any sense whatsoever, and certainly doesn't seem like a plan that would hold water with the Shi'ar government; but these appear to be rogue agents, and we'd learn later that the instigator of this plan had lost loved ones in the D'Bari system where Dark Phoenix wiped out five billion people. So it's basically a vendetta we're talking about here, and a dangerous one--to risk once again endangering the universe in order to settle a grudge.

They also have a counselor with them who warns of the consequences of their actions, though he might have spoken up before their plan actually went into effect; but someone should also point out to him that the "heart" of the Phoenix (i.e., Jean) is what caused it to kill on such a scale in the first place, and wasn't as mitigating as he seems to believe.

Whatever process they used to reconstitute the Phoenix, it's left the entity unfocused and unable to deal with the attack the Shi'ar have formulated: creating a miniature black hole, which draws in and consumes the Phoenix. But a spark of the Phoenix has survived, enough to see to its survival by seeking out the one being it believes might restore its focus and help it to regain its power--Jean Grey. When it arrives on Earth, it inadvertently makes the X-Men aware of its presence--Wolverine, the Beast, the three telepathic proteges of Emma Frost known as the "Stepford Cuckoos," as well as the energy form of Quentin Quire, an Omega-level mutant who had caused a riot at Xavier's school. Of course, two people in particular are forced to deal with the ramifications of "Jean's" return on a more personal level:

The Phoenix finds that it isn't strong enough to take on Jean's form, as it did before--and so it ends up taking rather gruesome action in order to secure its former host.

This story obviously sets aside any precedent Marvel has established about reanimating the dead--specifically, that the person's soul would remain irretrievable, and thus only a shell is brought back to "life." Here, whatever timetable the dead adhere to for moving on seems undefined in Jean's case, leading us to believe that either the Phoenix is "life incarnate" across the board, or that Jean herself has unresolved issues that tether her to the mortal plane. Neither conforms to similar examples of reanimation we've seen in prior stories--for instance, where Captain Marvel regains his lost love, Una:

Or when the enigmatic being "Her" pursues a mission to bring back from the dead a being she considers her perfect mate, Adam Warlock:

As for Jean, what's done is done. But the situation is complicated by the fact that Jean's love affair with Scott Summers is ended--and with Phoenix still drawing on its past memories of Jean and still coveting that relationship, the desires of Phoenix to "reclaim" its life as Jean make the entity a danger to not only the X-Men, but possibly in time to others, as well. And so Jean covertly works against the Phoenix, attempting to make Logan understand that danger by making clear that she and Phoenix are not on the same page here:

Meanwhile, the Shi'ar have realized that the Phoenix has survived their trap and have tracked the fragment of Phoenix to Earth. We also learn through their analysis that Phoenix is just shy of having both oars in the water, thanks to their reckless plan:

The X-Men are also confirming the presence of Phoenix in their midst--and, with a trip to the cemetery, they face the realization that it's bonded with Jean once again, despite Scott's skepticism.

And finally, our last piece of this evolving puzzle--Quentin, who has reformed his physical body and learned that a young telepath that he had a crush on, Sophie, is now dead. And he, like the X-Men, also visits the cemetery to get confirmation at the grave--but we see that he intends for the Phoenix to play a role in easing his anguish:

And so, by the middle of this series, things are about to heat up on several levels. The Shi'ar are coming after Phoenix. They've also detected an Omega-class mutant--Quentin--whom they fear the Phoenix might seek out as a host, and they plan to end his life before that happens. Quentin, as we've established, is making a beeline for Phoenix, in order to have it bring Sophie back to life. But, what of the X-Men? If they manage to locate Phoenix, how can they stop her? And how will Jean be able to affect the outcome, one way or the other?

So far, it's difficult to get past the belief that this story is putting all of its stock in the shock value of readers seeing Jean blatantly brought back from the dead and involved with Phoenix again. Next time, we'll see if there's more to this drama than meets the eye.

Or: "Who Needs A Workforce When You've Got Thor?"

Let's say you're in Asgard while it's under reconstruction after the damage caused by the rampage of the Destroyer. If you're one of Asgard's finest, pitching in, you've certainly got your work cut out for you, with all the monuments and palaces you've got to repair or rebuild. In fact, it looks like none other than Balder the Brave is charged with the task of being Overseer:

Take a good look at that Pillar of Sovereignty. No, we're not interested in making any "size matters" comments about Odin's penchant for *ahem* erecting very large symbols of his rule for all to see. Just focus on the considerable task of putting something that enormous into place with a bunch of pulleys and rope. We're talking about days of work, maybe weeks, even for Asgardians.

Now imagine how the whole operation hinges on the "master cable" staying intact. Maybe these guys should be asking Tony Stark to loan them some of his engineers:

Fortunately, Balder has the God of Thunder for a best friend--who not only saves the day and prevents loss of life, but performs this whole job by himself in a matter of seconds:

I love how Thor simply excuses himself, as if this was but a trifle use of his time. As for Balder--well, why was he doing things the hard way, anyway? If you're tasked with a major repair project, wouldn't you want on your workforce someone who wrote the book on using a hammer?

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

Gary Gilbert is something of an activist, like his sister, Roxanne--only where Roxanne struggles for peaceful solutions to problems, Gary dons the super-powered costume of Firebrand and becomes an anti-establishment, anti-capitalist terrorist:

Firebrand's outlook on money and industry of course put Tony Stark's factories on his hit list:

Which consequently put him square in the sights of Iron Man, who defeated him. Later, at a time when Stark was dealing with a string of business crises, Firebrand reappeared, striking a deal with a treacherous member of Stark's own Board:

Despite these two being at odds, Firebrand agrees to blow up Stark's factory. But, again, Iron Man is there to foil his attack. In the midst of the battle, though, the man who met with Firebrand, Simon Gilbert, attempts to complete the plan by detonating a bomb, only to be fatally caught in the blast--and Firebrand, now in custody, is doubly enraged, revealing a secret he never even disclosed to Gilbert:

Firebrand would later escape and show up on his sister Roxanne's doorstep--and, though giving him shelter, his pacifist sibling would fail to dissuade him from his revenge on Iron Man:

But Firebrand's battle with Iron Man would be as unsuccessful as the others. Unfortunately, Roxanne would also find herself in his line of fire:

Iron Man jets the critically wounded Roxanne to the hospital, while Firebrand is again taken into police custody. Firebrand would later become involved with the Black Lama in a struggle with Iron Man on an alternate, alien world, but was eventually returned to Earth, suspending his one-man war against corporate America and instead becoming something of an agent for other costumed criminals. He would eventually meet a deadly end from the gun of the Scourge of the Underworld, as well as that of the Punisher.

Up The Long Ladder

Keystone Kops, Killer Clowns, and--Rocket Raccoon!

Accent On The "Deadly"

This Is A Job For--The Vision!

To Love, Honor, And Destroy!

Master of the Galaxy! Lord of Floss!

My Father, My Foe!

Build Your Brute The Marvel Way!

Battered By--Blockbuster!

Buzz-Kill(er)

"It's Stompin' Time" Might Work, Gorgon

No Pretty-Pretty Is Safe

When Villainy Is Woman's Work

A Change For The Worse

Full Coverage

Jean Grey Must Die!

Ten Tales Of Terrible Titles!

No Rest For The Weary

This Old Realm

Down With The Establishment!