Month: March 2016

It’s an Annual!

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello loves! Just a short post today about Avengers Annual #1. It takes place between issues 44 & 45 but it’s long (as annuals tend to be!) so I’m giving it it’s own post. So, let’s get started…

avengersann1Our story begins with Tony Stark delivering new riot control tech to the state prison. Ironically, while he’s there, the Living Laser (LL) is planning his escape. Tony leaps into action as Iron Man, but the LL disappears suddenly. Iron Man rushes to tell the Avengers about his escape. As he’s arriving, so is Thor! It’s a total Avengers reunion guys!

 

Thor is there to tell the Avengers that Enchantress and Executioner have disappeared from Asgard. At just that moment, Nick Fury (head of SHIELD) calls to tell them that there have been attacks on Asia, Africa, and South America by super-villains and he needs the Avengers help since SHIELD is an American group and can’t act internationally. (Oh, how that will change. LOL)

So, it turns out the Mandarin (who everyone thinks is dead) has gathered LL, Enchantress, Executioner, Powerman, and Swordsman together to help him and they are the ones attacking all over the world. Cap splits the team up to tackle all three invasions at once, and he and Quicksilver stay behind to be liaisons for the others. At this point, the story is separated into parts. This finishes part one, so we will move on to…

Part Two: South America. Powerman and Swordsman are attacking a South American nation with a tiny group of mercenaries. They’re trying to secure diamonds for the Mandarin. It seems they have a giant sword hovering over the capital that will explode if it swings down and touches anything. Just as the nation’s officials are about to surrender, Wasp and Goliath show up to help! They battle Powerman & Swordsman but Swordsman manages to press the button to lower the giant sword. Luckily, Iron Man is waiting in the wings!! He uses all of his strength to stop the sword and throw it into the jungle before it detonates. They capture Swordsman and Powerman and rescue the city. Which brings us to…

Part Three: Asia. Enchantress and the Executioner are here using trolls to try to topple the unnamed South Asian country when Hercules and Scarlet Witch show up. Because they’re Asgardians and don’t do well taking orders from mortals, Enchantress and Executioner almost immediately abandon their mission and instead decide to battle the Avengers. Executioner wants to prove he can beat our Prince of Power (yeah, right.) while Enchantress senses that Herc may have feelings for our Scarlet Witch.

Since Enchantress apparently loves Herc, she attacks her competition. Executioner uses his axe to transport them to a realm between worlds, to the Citadel of Silence. The fights are pretty evenly matched and it’s awesome to see that Scarlet Witch’s powers have grown so much. She’s an almost equal match for Enchantress. It’s great. She’s clearly on her way to becoming the insanely powerful mutant she is in current continuity. Anyway, our Avengers succeed and they bind the Asgardians so that Thor may send them back to Asgard to be dealt with by Odin.

Part Four: Africa. The Living Laser is tearing up an unspecified part of Africa when Thor and Hawkeye show up. They take on LL until suddenly, a nearby volcano begins to erupt. Thor rushes to it to find the Mandarin’s android, Ultimo, rising from the abyss of the volcano. They battle and Thor loses his hammer. Having secured the Living Laser, Hawkeye shows up to help and manages to distract Ultimo long enough for Thor to regain Mjölnir. Thor battles Ultimo back into the volcano and plugs up the top of it, stopping the lava from escaping.

Part Five: Space. While these three battles are happening, Cap and Quicksilver get readings of something fishy going on in outer space that seems to be centered on the three battle grounds. They borrow a rocket ship (for real. It’s so silly.) and find themselves at the Mandarin’s space station. They battle Mandarin, and just when it looks like Mandy (as Hawk affectionately calls him) is going to defeat our heroes, the rest of the Avengers show up!

Mandarin explains his evil plan to them all because, of course he does. I’m pretty sure it’s in the evil super-villain handbook that you have to stop just when you have the upper hand and explain, in detail, your master plan to the hero(es).

Anyway: Mandarin has a GIANT synthetic diamond on his space station. Apparently, he wants the diamonds controlled by the nations he attacked because when he filters them through his big diamond, it creates “hate rays” (yeah, don’t ask. It’s never explained and it’s kind of dumb) that will cause the whole world to kill each other. Then, he plans to rule over the survivors as ruler of the entire planet. He turns his machine on and the Avengers are hit by the “hate rays.” They begin to fight whoever is closest to them. Luckily, the Wasp happens to be standing closest to the Mandarin, so she attacks him. She knocks him into the controls and the machine turns off. They start fighting the Mandarin but something explodes and blows a hole in the side of the space station. Mandarin is sucked out into space. Thor and Herc manage to plug the hole with the giant diamond before anyone else dies. Seriously. I mean, I love when my demi-gods save the day, but come on!!! The force of the suction into space would be insane! They ALL would have been sucked out. And while I’m pretty sure Thor can survive in space (I’m not positive that’s been established yet though, so don’t quote me!) and perhaps Iron Man’s armor would save him, the rest of them would TOTALLY be dead. There’s no Phoenix here to save the day! (OPPS! SPOILER ALERT! LOL)

But, moving on. The gods stop up the whole and then Avengers head back to Earth in their rocket, blowing the space station up behind them as they go. On the way back, they all decide that this was *so much fun* and that they should all fight together as a huge group more often.

A few things about this issue. First of all, as silly as the ending was, I loved this. It was cool to see Iron Man and Thor again. It was also cool to see the Avengers fighting in small groups. It really allowed us to see how everyone’s powers have evolved over the last few years; especially our resident mutants! Wanda and Pietro have gotten so much stronger in their powers. It’s really great to see. And speaking of Wanda’s powers: in this issue, she makes mention that she has power over the Laws of Probability.

This is the first we’ve heard about this. It’s also, apparently, the first time the creative team has as well, since there’s a note from Stan Lee stating that they’re still a little confused how her powers work. We are going to keep a close eye on this one. Wanda’s powers are some of the most dangerous, and also the most confusing powers in all of Marvel. It’s really interesting to see how those powers evolved as the decades progressed since currently, she’s kind of powerful, but seems to have generic “hex” powers. Now we learn she has power over the laws of probability. That seems totally out of left field, and yet also totally makes sense in some way. In the early days of her mutant career, her hexes sometimes seemed to make things happen that she didn’t intend to happen, but they almost always worked out in her favor. This seems to lend itself to the idea that she’s actually influencing probability unknowingly.

The last thing I want to talk about has to do with Wanda too. Can we talk about how she’s drawn on the splash page of this issue? Cause it sucks. Here’s the full page, and a blow up of the Avengers:

Wanda, despite pretty much holding her own against a freaking Asgardian and helping the Avengers defeat the Mandarin as an equal, is drawn laying down, submissive and sexualized. GRRR. Look, I know that this happens all the time in comics. It still happens today. But that doesn’t make it alright and doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it. The way an artist choses to present female characters has a huge impact on the story and how they’re viewed by the reader. By drawing Wanda in this submissive position while all the male Avengers (and Wasp for that matter!) are drawn in battle poses, on their feet, ready to fight, you’re saying Wanda is beneath them. She’s not as capable, she’s a damsel in distress, etc. While this might not seem like a huge deal when it’s only one splash page, it becomes a HUGE deal when it’s repeated with almost every female superhero for the next 50 years of comics! So, my loves, I hope you’re ready to talk about this a LOT. Because it will happen a LOT, and I will point it out and talk about it a LOT.

And, on that note, it’s time to call it a day my dears! Until next time, keep searching…

This is Getting Silly…(Or, Bring on Factor Three Already)

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello my dears!!

I’m back already! It felt so good to finally get back in the blogging saddle yesterday that I couldn’t help but post again today! I’m sure you won’t mind!

Today we’re going to talk about the 4 issues from August and September of 1967. AKA, Avengers 43 & 44 and The X-Men 35 & 36. Since I read the monthly titles in alphabetical order, let’s talk about them that way too. Which means….

Avengers! 43 & 44 are a two issue arc centered around Hawkeye’s attempts to rescue avengers43Natasha from the generic Asian communists that have her prisoner. It’s fun and silly, so let’s dive in. We open up with Cap & Hawk coming back from some recon mission and walking into Quicksilver freaking FLYING around the Mansion. That’s right. He’s flying. It’s AMAZING. Basically, Quicksilver has figured out that if he vibrates his legs at super speeds, he can levitate himself and “fly” for short distances. Guys, it’s so great to see our resident mutants (the whole reason we’re reading through Avengers for this enormous project) growing in their powers. This is one of the things I love about Quicksilver (and admittedly, also The Flash over at DC) and his powers. There are so many creative ways to use super speed other then just running really fast. It’s nice to see Roy Thomas exploring those other uses!

So…back to the story. Herc is being Herc, and thus fighting with everyone. Cap picks a fight with him to keep him from hurting anyone else, and then easily avoids getting trampled by out maneuvering Herc. This gains him Hercules’ respect, so now Herc is calmed. While all that is going on, a lawyer shows up to tell Jan that since she’s now 23, she can access her inheritance of more then $3 million! In the commotion of her celebrations, no one notices that Hawkeye has slipped out to follow the lead he and Cap got by himself. Hawkeye goes to a sketchy bar to find out where Natasha’s being held. But, because he’s Hawkeye, he can’t get in and our of there without getting in a fight. Seriously. He returns back to the mansion to find everyone asleep but Hercules. Herc is itching for adventure, so Hawkeye invites him to come help rescue Natasha. The unlikely duo heads out.

Meanwhile, at the secret, non-descript communist base where Black Widow is being held, we see that Colonel Ling* is showing his precious Psychotron to “Comrade General”, a generic Soviet general who is overseeing Ling’s work. He also shows the General his latest creation: Red Guardian. For those of you at home, Red Guardian is basically Commie Cap. He has all the same abilities as Captain America, but he wears red and hates capitalism.

So, Commie Cap gives the General a demonstration of his abilities, and then he and the General forget all about Ling’s Psychotron and decide what they really need to do is lure Captain America to their top secret base full of top secret military research so that Red Guardian can beat him up. When even Colonel Ling is telling you that’s a bad plan, you know it’s a bad plan. These guys are seriously stupid! But, their minds are made up and now they just need a way to lure Cap there. Enter our dynamic duo of Herc and Hawk…

Commie Cap quickly knocks Hawk out, and then tricks Herc into the Psychotron. Herc is kept busy in there battling hallucinations of hydras while Hawkeye is locked up in a glass tube right next to Natasha. When he wakes up, he (and Natasha) discover that Commie Cap is…Natasha’s husband?!?

For the end of the issue we cut back to Avenger’s HQ in New York, where Cap and the rest of the Avengers are gearing up to go rescue our intrepid rescuers and Natasha.

Before we move onto issue 44, can we just pause for a second? Guys, Quicksilver can fly!!!! I’m still not over that. It’s so freaking cool. It’s like Roy Thomas woke up the morning he wrote this issue and said, “You know, Quicksilver is actually a WAY cooler character then we’ve been giving him credit for!” and I couldn’t be happier. Also, since we talk a lot about power sets for out mutants, I think we should also talk about powers for our non-mutant Avengers since they’re such an important part of our reading. In the beginning of this issue, Cap thinks to himself that Herc probably doesn’t like being challenged by him because he has no super powers. But then, later in the issue when Commie Cap is bragging to Hawkeye and Black Widow about how he’s going to wipe the floor with original recipe Cap, he mentions that Caps powers were given to him by science (Super Soldier serum for those at home). So, I’m a bit confused as to what Cap’s story is at this point. I know his origins are that he was a scrawny kid from Brooklyn who volunteers for the Super Soldier program and is the sole success story. I thought (and it’s cannon much later on) that the serum gives him enhanced agility and strength. Like, not just enhanced from his former self, but like, super strength and agility. But in these early Avengers comics, they seem to imply Cap has no actual powers; he’s just a really well-trained fighter. We’ll have to see how that takes shape as we go forward.

So, issue 44: The Avengers find the top secret communist base in Asia very easily and get out of their Aero-car to discover it was a trap. They fight their way through all the bad guys on the base and Wanda and Jan are both given the chance to fight as equals with the guys for the first time in awhile. Wanda’s hex powers seem to not only be back up and running, but she seems to have better control of them then before. It’s nice to see her sure of her powers and not second guessing herself.

While they’re fighting outside, inside the General is insisting that Natasha be given a lie-detector to make sure she’s really a traitor because she’s still insisting she’s been on the communist side all along. Tash beats the lie detector because, of course she does. She freaking Black Widow. There was never any doubt she would be able to pass a lie detector. Meanwhile, Cap has made his way inside to find his fellow Avengers and instead finds his commie counterpart. They fight, and are fairly evenly matched. A quick cut to outside shows us that our other Avengers seem done for when the communists unveil a giant machine thing to kill them. Goliath is too worn out from the prior fighting to be able to stop it. But then, our favorite speedy mutant saves the day! He runs in circles around their foe so fast that it creates basically a mini hurricane that tears the machine apart! And, in another cut scene, we see that Hawkeye as mysteriously been freed from his glass tube (most likely by Black Widow) and goes to join Cap’s fight. That fight seems to be at a stalemate, but then Colonel Ling grows impatient and electrocutes Cap. Commie Cap is SOOO mad guys. He wants to beat his foe fair and square, but since Ling is the only communist with a brain in this arc, he insists they don’t have to play fair, and that they need to stop worrying about beating up the star-spangled Avenger and start focusing on their plan for world domination.

But at just that moment, Natasha reveals herself by trying to climb up the wall to destroy the Psychotron, which was the real purpose of her mission from SHIELD. Colonel Ling takes aim at her and tries to shoot her down, but Alexi (Red Guardian) leaps in front of the shot to save her. As Alexi falls, Ling aims at Widow again, only to be stopped by Hawkeye this time. Widow succeeds in destroying the Psychotron, but Ling’s second shot still hits her and she falls. Hawkeye catches the mortally wounded Widow just as Hercules FINALLY busts out of the stupid, and now malfunctioning Psychotron. The base is on fire, so Herc scoops up the unconscious Cap and they head for the hole Herc bust in the ceiling. The other Avengers pull them to safety, but Herc wants to go back for the commies, as he doesn’t think they deserve to die in the fire. But before he can, Colonel Ling loses what little sense he had this whole time and attempts to shoot the Avengers down. Commie Cap stops him, as this goes against his moral code of combat, and instead Ling’s shot causes the base to erupt in lava (it’s apparently on top of a dormant volcano. Don’t ask. LOL.)

The Avengers rush the wounded Natasha to the nearest hospital (in Hawaii) where she survives her surgery and tells the Avengers that Alexi, her husband, was a test pilot for the Soviets. She was told he died in a training accident, and was then recruited to become the Black Widow to honor his sacrifice. She had no idea he was actually being trained to be Red Guardian! Whew!! That was exhausting!

And, now that I’ve caught my breath (and rested my fingers!) let’s move onto X-Men! xmen35Issue 35 starts with Banshee (!!!) flying over Eastern Europe looking for Factor Three’s secret base. He seems to find it in the mountains, but he’s attacked by a mechanical spider and barely gets away. He makes it back to his base and sends a message to the X-Men telling them to beware of the spider, but can’t get anything else transmitted before he passes out and is kidnapped by F3!

Cut to Westchester where the kids are frantically trying to find any info about F3’s whereabouts so they can find Charles. They receive Banshee’s cryptic message about the spider just as Cerebro alerts them to the presence of a mutant nearby. They decide it must be evil mutants from F3, and the guys go to check it out, leaving Jean behind to keep tying to pinpoint the Prof’s location.

At the same time, we see Peter Parker riding his motorbike around Westchester Co. He stops at a stream with an old mill nearby to check it out, and suddenly sees a flying egg-shaped pod landing right where he is. He ducks into the mill to become Spider-Man and fights the mechanical spider that climbs out of the egg. Of course, this spider is what has set Cerebro off, and of course, Spider-Man defeats it before the X-Men arrive. And OF COURSE the thing self-destructs, leaving not trace it was ever there. Do you see where this is going? No? It’s telegraphed pretty openly here. Banshee told them to beware of the spider, so OF COURSE that MUST mean Spider-Man since he happens to be where Cerebro led them! And OF COURSE our boys are just going to attack him without any explanation or even asking him why he’s there. It’s soooooooo silly. I hate these story lines. Seriously, it’s like, fate has to set it all up perfectly, and everyone has to act like brainless idiots just so this plot can play out. And it really has nothing to do with finding F3 or Professor X. It’s just an excuse to have the X-Men battle Spider-Man. It’s annoying that they spent a couple REALLY GOOD issues setting up this kidnapping, just to give us useless stories before we can finish the F3 storyline. (SPOILER ALERT! I’m going to have an even bigger problem with the next issue!)

Anyway, while the boys are out being dumb, Jean is busy being the only useful person in the issue. She’s found a note in the Professor’s files about the transmitter he put in Banshee’s headband so they could contact him using Cerebro. She tries to do this and finds Banshee unresponsive. She also realizes that Cerebro stopped registering a mutant almost right away after the boys left. (Probably around the same time Spider-Men succeeded in destroying the mechanical spider, funnily enough!)She sends Cyclops a message letting him know this and he FINALLY comes to his senses and stops the fighting long enough to ask Spider-Man what he’s doing there. SM tells them about the mechanical spider and they realize this is what set Cerebro off and apologize for attacking SM. When they arrive back at the school, Jean tells them about the tracking in Banshee’s headband and that she’s used it to find his location! You go, Jeanie!!! Now they have a destination! Hurray! Progress! We’re finally going to move forward with this story-line! Oh, wait…xmen36

It’s issue 36, which I am entitling: “Dumb plot contrivance to have the kids fight another D-list bad guy with Daddy issues instead of rescuing their mentor!”

That’s right my loves! Remember our mutant superheroes? The ones that live on a giant estate in Westchester County, drive a Rolls Royce, and have their own jet? Well, they apparently have NO MONEY to buy plane tickets to Eastern Europe. I know what you’re thinking! Surely they can just take their jet? But alas, it’s out of gas and apparently the Professor doesn’t think ahead enough to have fuel on-hand in their hanger. What’s that you say? Surely the Professor MUST have some emergency cash lying around the school somewhere? Apparently not. Wait? What? Surely rich-boy Warren Worthington III can just borrow the money from his parents? Sorry guys! They’re on a cruise!

So, now our teenagers are forced to find another way to get the money. They try the welfare office, but luckily the lady there has a brain and doesn’t approve their loan. Next, they try to get construction jobs, but they’re not union, so that’s a no-go. Finally, Bobby and Hank decide to preform tricks as Iceman and Beast in Washington Square Park for loose change. (I wish I were kidding). While they’re there, a nobody of a villain named Mekano shows up. He says that Iceman and Beast are helping him by drawing the crowd so that they can all watch him destroy the new library. (for real) So, he begins to destroy it. The cops think our mutants are in on it, so they handcuff Iceman to a pole and try to arrest the rest of the X-Men. Marvel Girl disarms them and moves them to safety and then disappears for the rest of the fight because, not only are the kids magically penniless, but they’ve also reverted to treating her like a precious flower, so Cyclops orders her  to stay outside.

Beast, Angel, and Cyke fight Mekano, but he escapes out the window and attempts to jump to the roof of a neighboring building. He misses and falls! Lucky for him our boys are chauvinists this month! If they weren’t, Marvel Girl might not have been sitting around outside waiting to catch him!! Just as MG lets him down, the cops close in to arrest them all. But because this whole issue is one plot contrivance after another, the man who built the library shows up just then and insists on asking Mekano to explain his reasoning. Turns out Mekano is this guy’s son, and all of this was just his way of acting on his deep-seeded Daddy issues because his dad didn’t love him enough or something. So, Daddy Mekano refuses to press any charges, and then wants to give our youngsters a reward for saving his son from falling to his death. Yay! Now they have the money for their plane tickets!! UGH! This sucks. But, they thank him for the money and then head off to the airport. While they’re there, we learn that F3 is watching their every move, even when they’re traveling under their civilian identities! (finally, a plot point that has actual ramifications to our F3 arc!!)

A few power-related notes from this issue. Apparently Bobby’s back to being able to use up his ice powers (or at least, he is when the writers need him to stay handcuffed and need an excuse as to why he doesn’t just freeze the cuffs and shatter them…) Also, apparently Cyke can use his optic blasts to “catch” heavy machinery in mid-air and lower it, unharmed, to the ground? I call bullshit on that one. Those optic blasts have been nothing but forces of destruction from day one. Why can they suddenly be used in this way? If that were the case, then every time in the past that Cyke accidently hit one of his teammates with his optic blasts and hurt them was either a plot devise or Scott being a huge dick.

Ok. I’m done for today. As I’m sure you noticed, I was a little annoyed with our X-Men this time around. Hopefully that will change in the next issue since it seems like they’re finally going to rescue Professor X and Banshee now! (I hope!!) So, until next time my loves, do what our X-Men should have been doing these two issues and keep searching!!

*In my last post, I mistakenly referred to Colonel Ling as a General. This issue makes it fairly clear that Ling is under the control of the Soviets, and thus not at the rank of a General.

It Feels SOOO Good to Be Back!!!

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello my dears!! As promised, I’m back with more reading done!

Today we’re going to tackle Avengers #41 & 42 and X-Men #34. I know it’s been awhile, so if you don’t remember where we last left our many heroes, I suggest you refresh your memory here. Now, lets get started.

Let’s start with Avengers today. When we last left our heroes, Cap was off fighting Red avengers41Skull, Natasha was on a mission in the “Far East” for SHIELD, and Hercules was hanging out at Avengers mansion and being awesome. Issue #41 starts with Herc and Hawkeye fighting and almost coming to blows. I’ve gotta be honest guys, as much as I love Herc’s huge ego, this toxic masculinity both he and Hawkeye are constantly displaying is getting really old, really fast. They’re destroying tons of equipment in the mansion during their fight, and it’s only Wanda and Pietro’s interference that eventually stops the fight. It’s annoying, and basically there just to take up a couple pages.

We then cut over to Natasha’s mission in the “Far East”. I’ve got to interject here to say that I find it hilarious that they constantly refer to the communist threat they’re facing as the “Far East” so as to not name an actual county. It’s clear from the way these communists are drawn (remember those crazy Asian stereotypes we talked about before?) and their names that we’re supposed to be in Vietnam. I know we’ve talked about it before, but as a modern reader, these portrayals of the evil, sneering, Asian bad guys with Fu Manchu beards and beady little eyes are hard to read. It makes sense historically. We’re in 1967 right now. The Cold War is raging, and we’re in the middle of the Vietnam War. Of course the bad guys are going to be Russian and Asian communists! It’s still hard to read though. It’s funny how time will change our views on things like this. I’m sure to readers in 1967, these villains were the embodiment of evil the same way the Nazis that Cap fought in his solo series in the ’40’s were. But, from a modern view-point, these villains seem like terrible, racist caricatures, where the Nazis of Cap’s solo adventures still seem just as evil now as they did then. Who knows, maybe it’s just that everyone can agree that Nazis are evil no matter what?

Anyway, back to Natasha. She’s showed up to the secret base of General Ling to deliver the submarine plans she “stole” from the US so she can prove her loyalty to the cause. Ling seems to believe her, and takes her to see his secret weapon. It seems his scientists have been working on a “Psychotron” that basically makes people experience “living nightmares” constantly. Whatever. Anyway, he shows it to Natasha, and then tricks her into it and turns it on! He knows she’s a double agent and has decided to use her as his guinea pig to test the Psychotron. Poor ‘Tasha!!

Meanwhile, back in New York: Hank has taken possession of a giant, basically unstoppable android called Dragon Man (DM going forward) that was defeated by the FF. He wants to study it. But, before he can, Diablo (the bad guy who brought DM to life when he battled the FF) attacks and brings DM back to life. Diablo captures both Wasp and Goliath and takes them to his castle! And that’s where the issue ends.

Issue #42 starts with more inane fighting between Herc and Hawk. Seriously guys? You’re trying to find and save two of your fellow Avengers and you can’t stop fighting for like, two seconds?!? Anyway: Diablo wants Goliath to help him bring a whole army of Dragon Men to life, or he will kill Wasp. Goliath sets to work as the other Avengers race to find a way to save them. They get the coordinates for Diablo’s castle from Reed Richards and head out. Hercules joins them this time, which is good because no one else stands a chance against DM!!

When they get to Transylvania, the Avengers drop Herc down into the mountain cave here Diablo is keeping an unconscious Jan hostage. She’s being guarded by DM, so Herc will have to defeat him in order to save her. The rest of the Avengers head into the castle itself to find Diablo and Goliath. They find Goliath quickly and he begins to fight them. Ok. Obviously he’s worried about Jan, but he can’t take two seconds to tell the Avengers this? Instead he just attacks them. God, these guys are so dumb sometimes! Wanda figures out why soon enough, but it’s still dumb.

They eventually tell Hank that Herc is rescuing Jan, so he stops fighting them and joins them in going after Diablo. He also tells them that he was never REALLY helping Diablo, but was instead sabotaging his Dragon Men. They get to Diablo, but he’s constructed a mystic barrier between himself and the Avengers, and is threatening to blow up the cave where Janet, Hercules, and DM are. He bets that DM will survive the blast, but Herc probably won’t, and Jan surely won’t. All seems lost until…CAPTAIN AMERICA SAVES THE DAY!!!!!!

That’s right my loves! Cap is back!!!! Since his adventures taking on Red Skull ended at the same time that issue #41 was taking place, he began to head back to Avengers Mansion. Apparently the homing beacon on the Aero-car led him to his fellow Avengers. Now, normally, I HATE coincidences like this, but I’m just so happy to have Cap back that I don’t care! I didn’t realize how much I missed our star-spangled hero until he was back. Anyway, Cap stops Diablo, and the group heads to the caves to help Herc save Jan. By the time they get there, Jan has woken up and shrunk out of her own bonds, and Herc has defeated DM by basically throwing him into a pit of lava! OK. I have to pause here. Guys, I was super, super sad that DM seemingly dies here. He’s basically just a mindless slave who pays the ultimate price while his evil master gets to live. Also, DM is SO. FREAKING. CUTE. Not even joking. Look at him!! He’s adorable!!!!

dragonman

Anyway, while all this is going on, Natasha attempts to escape her captors. She makes a break for it and takes out like 10 guards in the process (You go, girl!) But it’s all a trick to observe how well the Psychotron worked on her and General Ling quickly recaptures her. By the time the Avengers get back to the mansion, General Ling has sent word that he has Natasha prisoner and that she was working for SHIELD all along. The Avengers feel shitty for not believing in her and vow to save her, but Hawkeye insists on going ALONE to save her because he loves her is a moron.

Whew! That was a lot happening in two little issues! I’m exhausted. But, no time to rest, as now we’re going to hop on over to Westchester Co. to check on our favorite mutants! It’s X-Men #34 kiddos!!

When we last left our mutants, they had defeated Juggernaut only to find that he was an unwitting distraction so that the mysterious Factor Three (F3 going forward) could kidnap the Prof! Well, that’s where we’re picking up, and apparently F3 also destroyed Cerebro while they were there. While Hank works on fixing it, Scott orders Bobby and Warren to bed so they can be rested if F3 shows up. He also sends Jean back to school. Once she gets there, she gets a message from Ted. She calls him back and he frantically tells her that his brother Ralph (AKA the crazy Cobalt Man from issue 31) has been kidnapped and he needs her to get the X-Men to come help. Jean calls the school and Iceman and Angel head out to help her, leaving Scott and Hank behind to finish Cerebro.

The three X-Men show up and Ralph’s lab and Ted tells them that he was kidnapped by Tyrannus, who wants to rule the world under the Earth’s surface. Apparently Ralph created a cobalt alloy that is stronger than steel and super heat resistant that Tyrannus thinks will help him defeat his arch-rival, Mole Man. Ralph’s also conveniently already used to it create a vehicle that will drill to the Earth’s core. Marvel Girl, Angel, and Iceman take this down into the Earth to find Ralph. They eventually crash and get out of the vehicle, only to be attacked by the Mole Man! He lures them to the River Lethe, where the mists from the water cause the three of them to lose their memories and become Mole Man’s willing slaves.

We learn that Mole Man has been attacking Tyrannus with a giant robot made of DIAMOND. For real. Freaking diamond. Since there’s nothing stronger then diamond, Tyrannus is losing their war. He wants Ralph to coat his giant robot with the cobalt alloy so that it can defeat the diamond robot. Ralph complies to keep himself alive, but seems to be up to something. We also learn that Tyrannus is centuries old and must drink from the Fountain of Youth (for serious) every day in order to remain alive. Remember that loves. It won’t be mentioned again in the comic, but we’re going to be talking about it later!

Anyway, Mole Man sends his X-Men slaves to fight alongside his diamond robot. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Beast have made there way down to the scene, found the cobalt vehicle and taken it to find the other X-Men. The vehicle keeps them safe from the mists of the River Lethe when they pass it, and they eventually find Mole Man and force him to tell them where the other X-Men are and to give them the antidote to the amnesia-causing mists. They show up at Tyrannus’s castle just as the cobalt robot defeats the diamond one. It then begins to attack Marvel Girl, Angel, and Iceman. Luckily, Angel is able to blind it by throwing metal-laden mud in it’s eyes, and it topples off a cliff. The fall causes it to explode, and we learn that Ralph built in a fail safe, making the alloy much less heat-resistant so it could be destroyed.

So, Cyke gives his fellow X-Men the antidote and they capture Tyrannus and save Ralph. And this is where things get super sketchy. The kids don’t know what to do with their prisoners, because they clearly can’t just let them keep fighting under the Earth. They’ve both expressed ambitions of taking over the surface world as well, and that just won’t fly. So, to my horror, my beloved Cyke decides the best course of action is to leave both Mole Man and Tyrannus on the banks of the River Lethe with no memories and no idea who they are!

Guys, I thought we went over this already? This is SO. MESSED. UP. They’re just going to leave these two guys as shells of themselves in a place as dangerous as the center of the earth? How is that better than killing them?!?!? The answer: It’s not! And speaking of killing them, do you guys remember that tidbit I told you to remember from earlier? The one about how Tyrannus MUST drink from the Fountain of Youth daily in order to stay alive? Well, I think it’s safe to say he no longer knows that. So our kiddos basically just sentenced him to death anyway. I’m seriously heartbroken. This is such a shitty thing to do. It screams of Professor X, and I hate that Cyclops and the rest of them have become numb to this kind of thing. I get that heroes in comics don’t kill (at least not in the ’60’s), but I feel like it’s crazy to think this is a morally superior solution.

And so, on that sad, heartbreaking note, we’re done for today. I’m going to need some time to get over this. But, I suppose that’s how it is when you’re delving into the world of mutants and super-villains. LOL. So, until next time my loves, keep searching…

 

 

Hiatus is OVER

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello my loves!

It’s been MONTHS since my last post, and for that I am so sorry. What can I say? Life got hectic. Between the holiday’s, by daughter’s first birthday, my hubby’s schedule changes, and learning to parent a toddler, I’ve been stretched thin.

But, I’m back. I promise. I will have new content up this week, and we’ll pick up where we left off. I swear we’ll get out of the 60’s eventually! So, if you’re still reading this, thanks for sticking around. I love you guys!!

 

Until later, my loves…Keep searching!!