marvel comics | Searching For Genosha

Why Stan Lee is Basically George Lucas!

Posted on November 5, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

I’m back! With most of 1967 finished now! I’m really starting to get into the reading more now, and am enjoying some of the stories more then before. I really think I just needed to get acclimated to the ’60’s style of writing. Or, I just needed to get to a point that Roy Thomas was writing everything. LOL.

In all honesty, I think that has a lot to do with my increased enjoyment. My husband, C, put it perfectly when I was trying to explain why I prefer Thomas’s writing to Stan Lee’s. He said that Stan Lee is a lot like George Lucas. He’s AMAZING at world-building, big idea stuff. But when it comes to the details and the human relationships, he’s better when he has help. I think C nailed it. Stan and Jack Kirby created an amazing world with amazing characters within the Marvel 616. But when it comes to writing the day-to-day stories of those characters, Stan is better as an editor and not the writer.

With that said, let’s talk Avengers. I’ve now read through Avengers 42, but we’re only going to talk about Avengers #39 & 40 today. Like I said earlier, I’ve read most of the way through 1967, and I think we need to break it up over multiple posts! So…here we go!

In issue 39, the Avengers are captured by the Mad Thinker and his Triumvirate of Terror (Hammerhead, Pile Driver, and Thunder Boot). Cap is still gone, and everyone thinks Black Widow is a traitor. (We knows she’s not, obvi! But poor Hawkeye isn’t too sure.) Anyway, Mad Thinker succeeds in capturing all the Avengers and is holding them prisoner in Avengers Mansion. Just when it looks like he’s won, Hercules returns from a night on the town and saves the day. Guys, I love Hercules. He’s so powerful, and so full of himself. It’s like having Thor around, but with more self-importance. Where 60’s Thor can sometimes pull his punches literally and figuratively when dealing with mortals, Herc is always Herc. He goes full boar always, demolishing anything in his way (including Goliath’s training equipment) and constantly complaining that he’s not being challenged by the mortals and super-villains he fights. It’s what I imagine hanging out with Kayne West is like. Dude is totally in love with himself, but he’s so good, you kind of can’t fault him.

Another thing I love is the attention to continuity and the timelines paid in the early years. Right now, in Tales of Suspense, Cap is off chasing a lead that may take him to Bucky, and is undercover pretending to work with Red Skull. So, he’s missing from the Avenger’s adventures and they make mention of his exploits. It’s nice. It seems that so often with current comics, the timelines don’t add up, or characters are everywhere at once when stories are supposed to be taking place simultaneously. Wolverine, for example, spent years on the X-Men or Uncanny X-Force, but was also an Avenger, and had a least one current continuity solo series going on. No way he’s in all those places at once. It gets confusing…

I know it’s harder to do now that there are so many monthly on-goings. I get it. But it’s refreshing to read this older stuff and have the characters only on one adventure at a time. It grounds the 616 in a bit more reality. And that’s the end of my little rant.

Let’s talk about X-Men 31, shall we? Here, the X-Men battle Cobalt Man, and we get to see a bit more of our teenagers’ lives outside of their costumes. The Professor tries to play match-maker with Scott and Jean (You go, Chuck!!) by asking Scott to take some library books back to Jean at school on the boy’s night off. Warren offers to drive him (because, you know, dumb love triangle. GRR). Bobby and Hank head to the Village to see their girlfriends.

Meanwhile, Jean is on a date of sorts with Ted. They’ve met up with his older brother Ralph. Ralph is a scientist who is trying to create armor like Iron Man’s to give to the government. The three of them meet up with Scott and Warren for dinner, and then they go to Ralph’s labs. Warren doesn’t go, clearly seeing how into each other Scott and Jean are, and decides to go out on his own. (*insert happy dance here*)

While at the labs, Ralph, who has a concussion, tries on his suit for Ted and he loses it a bit. He goes crazy, and decides to go after Iron Man. Scott and Jean rush into action, and the Prof telepathically sends the other three to help them. They manage to stop Ralph before his suit blows up from radiation, and he comes to with no memory of what happened after he hit his head. But, in the last panel, Ted hints to Marvel Girl that he may know she’s really Jean Grey!

We’ll see how that revelation plays out going forward, especially if Ted begins to see Scott as a threat for Jean’s affections (which he should!) It’s a lot of fun to see Cyke and Marvel Girl fight together. We get to see the beginning of the spark these two grow to have on the battle field. They become a seamless pair in many ways, and this seems like a nice beginning. It’s also about time that Warren moved on from Jean, and it’s nice to see that happening. He meets up with his old friend Candy in this issue, and they seem to hit it off right away.

So, with that thought reassuring my Cyclops-loving heart, let’s head back over to NYC and Avengers Mansion, shall we? Avengers 40! Cap is still gone, “working” with Red Skull. Widow is still undercover in the “Far East”. Wanda is bed-ridden. (The Mad Thinker caused her hex power to kind of back-fire on her last issue, and it’s messed her up a bit.) The Avengers receive a message from Cap that they need to try to go find the Cosmic Cube (for those who’ve seen the Marvel movies, this is what they call the Tesseract in the MCU). They head off towards the coordinates Cap left them, but meanwhile, Namor is headed there too. It seems there have been submarines in his neck of the ocean, and he’s not happy about it. He’s headed to the naval base to destroy all the subs. When the Avengers (plus Hercules) arrive, they battle Namor thinking he’s after the cube as well. Namor manages to get his hands on the cube, and is winning the battle, when his pride kicks in. He wants to fight Hercules on even terms to prove he’s better. During the battle, the Wasp manages to get him to drop the Cosmic Cube, but it falls into a crack in the ocean floor before anyone can get it. It lands near the Earth’s core, where it is discovered by Mole Man, who just as quickly tosses it away, not realizing what it is!!

This was a fun issue. I always love seeing Namor, and it’s fun to watch he and Hercules battle. They’re basically evenly matched strength-wise, and Namor’s ego could give Herc’s a run for it’s money. This is also the last issue in this trade, so we’ll be moving on next post!

X-Men #32 is the beginning of a two-issue arc, so we’ll talk about that next time. Just know, I’m about to get really excited about the return of a certain giant bad guy!

So, until next time, my lovelies…keep searching!

More Roy Thomas is Always A Good Thing…

Posted on October 17, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

Hello, my loves! I’m back already! I hope you all don’t get sick of me!

Anyway, I was able to do lots of reading over the last two days, so we have 6 more issues to talk about today. I’ve read The X-Men #28-30 and Avengers #36-38, which takes us through January, February, and March of 1967. At this pace, I may just reach my reading goal!

Let’s start with Avengers # 36 & 37. This first thing of note here, is that Roy Thomas is now writing the Avengers too! He actually took over in issue #35, but I didn’t notice. It was the middle of an arc, so I didn’t even think to look to see if the writer had changed. For those of you keeping track, Roy is now writing both Avengers and The X-Men. This makes me very happy! While I love Stan Lee’s ideas and vision, I prefer Roy’s writing style. His women are a little less “damsel in distress” and a little more competent and sure of themselves. He’s also just slightly less heavy-handed when it comes to having characters describe exactly what’s happening to them. (I really can’t wait to be out of that phase completely, but we’ve got a while to go before then, so I’ll take what I can get!)

Anyway, in this arc the Avengers are fighting a super computer controlled by an alien named IXAR. He lands his spaceship in Eastern Europe, kidnaps Wanda and Pietro, who are still there regaining their powers, and then lures the rest of the Avengers and Black Widow there to try and steal all of their powers. He wants to use them to power his Ultroids (Basically just fancy, super strong androids) in the war he’s fighting in space. There’s lots of fun fighting, and then Hawkeye and Black Widow save the day when Hawk figures out that the human hostage the computer has is actually IXAR, not a hostage, and then Black Widow threatens to kill him if he doesn’t release the Avengers and go back to space.

This story was kind of fun. It was nice to see Hawkeye get to save everyone for once. He’s also trying to get the Avengers to let Black Widow join. He mentions it in the beginning of the arc before they’re lured into IXAR’s trap and for some reason, Goliath is violently (*here’s my shocked face*) opposed to it. He doesn’t have time to give his reasoning for not wanting Widow on the team, but he does try to throw his weight around both metaphorically and literally when he reminds everyone he’s a founding member of the Avengers, and then threatens Hawkeye. Hank REALLY needs to turn it down a few notches. It’s bad when I’m actually siding with Hawkeye!

Dianna Agron has the BEST angry face!

I should mention that none of the Avengers know that Black Widow threatened to kill IXAR except Hawkeye. Cap specifically tells IXAR that they have a code not to harm or kill humans. But since Widow isn’t actually an Avenger, she makes the threat while everyone but Hawk is unconscious and means it so IXAR lets them go. Hawkeye doesn’t tell any of the other Avengers this, because he’s worried they won’t let her into the group if they know.

Also, I’m so happy to have our wayward mutant siblings back on the team. I didn’t realize just how much I missed them until they were back! I love Pietro and Wanda so much!

And speaking of mutants…let’s hop on over to Westchester and check in on the X-Men, shall we?

In The X-Men #28 we meet Banshee and Ogre. They are working for the mysterious Factor Three to try and kidnap Xavier. Banshee is awesome and the way Werner Roth draws him when he’s using his powers is amazing! I wish every artist drew him that way!

Seriously, look at that art!!

Anyway, Banshee and Ogre attack the X-Men. The X-Men manage to capture Banshee and save him from Ogre and Factor Three; it turns out they were controlling him and he’s actually good! (We’ll be seeing more of my favorite Irishman once we get to the ’70’s! <3)

Old costumes on top, Jean’s new designs on the bottom

This story introduces Factor Three, who will be a recurring theme for a bit. We don’t see this mysterious villain, or learn what the motive is. What we do see, is the new costumes Jean made for the team last issue, that I totally neglected to mention. They’re REALLY similar to the old ones, just with a bit more blue, red belts, and a mask for Marvel Girl instead of a cowl. Take a look:

Also, for now, Mimic is still the leader of the team, and Scott STILL hasn’t told Jean how he feels. Mimic is aggressive, and head-strong, and arrogant. It’s not going to end well friends. He’s basically the antithesis of my Scotty, so it should go without saying that I can’t stand him! And speaking of my dear Scott, let’s get to issue #29, where he gets to let loose a bit!

In issue #29 the youngsters fight the Super Adaptoid. He’s an android that was created to destroy Captain America. He is 10 feet tall and has the powers of Cap, Goliath, Hawkeye, and Wasp. He fought the Avengers before, and has now taken to hiding out in a cave in Westchester apparently. But an avalanche disturbs him, and he decides to find beings to assimilate into adaptoids like him so he can rule the world. He wants to assimilate the X-Men, but they’re unwilling, so he decides to destroy them instead. They fight, Mimic decides to be assimilated so he can keep his powers forever, changes his mind at the last minute, and then sacrifices his powers (and almost his life) to stop Super Adaptoid.

Now, the avalanche that brings the android out of hiding is started by Scott (who is looking very handsome in a turtleneck sweater instead of his normal leisure suit, BTW!). The X-Men are ice skating on a pond near the school, and Scott wanders away into the woods to be alone. He feels like he may be getting more control of his optic blasts, and wants to test his theory. Turns out, he doesn’t really have too much control. He loses his temper and REALLY lets loose, causing an avalanche. It’s awesome. I love it when Scott really lets go like that. Sometimes it’s easy to forget just HOW powerful (and dangerous) he can be when he wants to. It makes a girl’s heart get all fluttery!

Anyway…where were we? Oh yeah! So, before the adaptoid attacked, Xavier had kicked Mimic out of the X-Men because he’s ~~such a dick~~ ~~no one likes him~~ he’s a bad leader and won’t listen to Charles. But Mimic comes back to hear the Super Adaptoid’s offer of assimilation and wants to join him so he doesn’t lose the X-Men’s powers when he leaves. Scott talks him out of it, and at the last second Mimic uses the Profs telepathy to convince the SA to try and take his powers. Since Mimic has “artificial” powers, it short-circuits the android and Mimic and they both lose their abilities to replicate others powers. They begin to fall to their deaths (they’ve both lost their borrowed wings) but Angel swoops in and saves Mimic. The SA manages to land in the water and survive, vowing to continue his quest for world domination. So, there’s the Mimic story line wrapped up in a nice little bow! Thank God!! Now that he’s gone…let’s head back over to Avenger’s HQ!

Avengers #38 brings us an old foe and a new friend. And lots and lots of new story threads. In this issue, Enchantress tricks Hercules into attacking the Avengers for her so she can get revenge for the time they stopped her and Power Man from framing them. They attack the Avengers at HQ, and the Avengers eventually succeed in lifting the spell that Enchantress put on Hercules. She flees, but Zeus banishes Herc to earth for a year for disobeying a direct order. So, Herc is going to be hanging out at HQ in Thor’s old room for awhile it seems.

Also in this issue, Hawkeye and Goliath actually come to blows over Hawkeye wanting Black Widow to join the Avengers. Cap and Quicksilver have to break the two of them up. Personally, I was hoping Hawk would get off at least a couple blast arrows before the fight stopped, but no dice.

Black Widow never shows for the meeting to discuss her membership, and the Avengers head out for dinner, leaving Cap behind on watch duty. When they return, Cap is gone with no explanation, (The readers get an explanation that he’s taken off following a lead about his old WWII partner, Bucky.) which causes even more tension between Goliath and Hawk because Goliath says they can’t vote on Widow without Cap. It also causes issues between Goliath and Wasp, because, like usual, Hank is being an ass to Janet because he’s mad about something that’s totally out of her control. This causes both Hawkeye and Janet to quit the Avengers and leave. They go to dinner together, and then don’t respond right away when Goliath sends a distress signal to come help them battle Herc. It’s interesting to note that, even though neither of them are in costume, and even though Hawkeye refers to her as Janet the whole time, Jan calls him Hawkeye. So, for those keeping track, we STILL haven’t learned Hawkeye’s real name! And this is where I like Roy Thomas’s writing better than Stan Lee’s. Roy gives Janet a back-bone. His version of Janet stands up to Hank, and even walks out on him when he’s being a dick. She’s not his doormat.

The final thread being spun in this issue is centered around Black Widow. She’s late showing up at Avengers HQ because she’s kidnapped by Nick Fury! He’s sending her to the “Far East” to do a secret mission for him. We aren’t told it’s details, and she’s forbidden from telling Hawk or the rest of the Avengers anything. So, she returns to HQ to tell them she’s going back East and basically lets them all think she’s turned traitor again. She even goes so far as to tell Hawk she never loved him so that he won’t try to follow him. Poor Hawkeye!!

And, finally, we have The X-Men #30. Werner Roth was busy for this issue, so it s drawn by Jack Sparling. Guys. His artwork is GORGEOUS! Seriously. I’m obsessed! I like Werner Roth’s work, a lot. But Sparling’s looks like brushstrokes. It’s so different then most of the ’60s style art. I wish he would stick around!

But, enough about the art. This issue has Marvel Girl, Angel, and Professor X kidnapped by the mutant, Warlock. Warlock is actually Merlin, form King Arthur’s court. He’s refashioned himself so that Thor doesn’t find out he’s up to no good again. But he’s trying to take over the world and has decided that Marvel Girl will be his Queen. It’s a similar idea to the Avengers story with Living Laser from my last post, but way less gross. First, Warlock doesn’t harbor illusions that Marvel Girl will love him if he kills the X-Men. He gets she won’t love him and is controlling her mind. And yes, that’s a whole different kind of creepy in it’s own right, but, it’s also behavior that is treated as being bad and coming from a villain. He also doesn’t only want her as his queen because of her looks. While those obviously played a part in his decision, he also “chooses” her because of her mutant powers. It’s partially her strength that draws him to her. That’s a refreshing change, TBH. Anyway, the Prof is able to get the rest of the X-Men to them, and they battle Warlock’s army in a tournament. The X-Men win, but Warlock attempts to escape with Jean. She’s able to break free of his mental control and helps the guys defeat him. Professor X puts him back in the coma state Thor had left him in, and they save the day. And, Scott’s fury when Jean’s in trouble, and his concern for her safely finally show Jean that he cares for her!! So, hopefully these two will just kiss soon and get it over with!

Well, my loves, that’s all for now. This was some fun reading! So, until next time, keep searching!!

Finally Done with 1966!

Posted on October 15, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

Hello my loves! I’m back!!

And I’ve FINALLY finished 1966! I really just haven’t had any time to read recently. But I think I’ve worked it out so that I can start getting my reading in more frequently, so hopefully there will be no more long hiatuses from yours truly. My goal is to get us out of the ’60’s by the end of October, but we’ll see how doable that is as we go!!

In order to finish out 1966, I read Avengers #33-35 and The X-Men #25-27. I also skimmed over Thor #134. It’s not on my list, and I’ll explain why I skimmed it when we get there! But first, lets start with Avengers!

Avengers #33 finished up the Sons of the Serpent story line from previous issues. We ended with Cap captured by the SOS, and with Goliath being a huge dick. The Avengers plus Black Widow manage to save Cap and defeat the SOS, exposing their leader as General Chen, the communist leader of an unnamed “hostile Oriental nation”. He’s basically a walking stereotype, the likes of which Avengers readers are accustomed to seeing in the villain role.

Stan Lee also lays on the patriotic rhetoric pretty thick in this one. There’s lots of talk about how democracy means anyone can think and preach anything, and it’s what makes America great. Lots of talk of freedom, and “the American Way” and the like. I mean, it’s not wrong; just laid on a little thick for my liking. And that’s not the only thing laid on thick in this issue. What else is laid on too thick for my liking, you ask? Well, my loves, that would be the over-size helping of Hank Pym’s testosterone!

Seriously, you guys. Hank is a walking, talking ball of male ego and chauvinistic, hyper masculine ideals. I can’t even deal. He’s CONSTANTLY ordering everyone around, treating Janet like she’s a child, threatening violence whenever someone makes him mad or something doesn’t go his way, and just generally trying to prove he’s the toughest and smartest guy in the room. The whole thing seems all that more nuts because he’s literally the biggest, strongest guy in the room. The man is 10 feet tall!! What could he possibly need to compensate for?!?!

On second thought…maybe that’s exactly the problem. Not to work blue, but the man is 10 feet tall. I would imagine his and Janet’s relationship isn’t quite as, um, intimate as it once was for the same reasons he has nothing to compensate for…

But, that’s enough about the Avenger’s and Goliath for now. Lets move on to the X-men!

The X-Men #25 & 26 are a fun little arc about El Tigre, a gem hunter who finds a magic pendant in South America that, when he reunites it with it’s other half in New York, gives him the powers of a Mayan god named Kukulcan. The four guys fight him in New York, and then in South America before finally defeating him (Jean is at college).

During the fight in New York, Scott is hurt. When Jean shows up at the mansion to bring the Prof books on Mayan legends, her worry for his well-being finally shows through and both Scott & Warren realize that she loves Scott. Scott vows to himself to tell Jean of his feelings when the boys return from South America. Warren begins to pout, and then spends the rest of the arc fighting with Scott. It’s soooo annoying. It’s also well done. Just as I was getting annoyed with it, as it reminded me so much of Hawkeye fighting with Cap constantly in Avengers, Roy Thomas actually has Angel say just that! He thinks to himself that he is beginning to sound like “a poor man’s Hawkeye“. It was enough to quell my annoyance and make me laugh! But then, just when I think this Angel being mad a Cyke thing is going to go away, a mishap in their battle with Kukulcan makes sure it doesn’t. Cyclops is aiming at Kuku with a full-blast optic blast, but at the last second, Kuku ducks, causing Cyke to hit Angel instead!! Angel is severely injured, and falls to the ground. In a moment of consciousness at the end of the battle, Angel accuses Cyke of hitting him deliberately, so that he can have Marvel Girl to himself! While the readers, Cyke, and Angel all KNOW that’s not what happened, Cyke begins to doubt himself. He actually starts to think that maybe, subconsciously, he did do it intentionally. So now there’s that drama…

But seriously, when are we going to get to the point where Jean and Scott are just together, and Warren’s totally over her? Are we almost there? Cause I can’t wait to be at that point. Scott and Jean are one of my favorite comic couples ever, and I’m so over this love triangle crap!

So over it, in fact, that we’re going to move back over to Avengers before I get too worked up! LOL. So…Avengers #34 & 35. Let’s go!!

Here we see the first appearance of the Living Laser. Arthur Parks is a scientist who, after falling instantly in love with Janet upon seeing her, decides to take out the Avengers to win her love. Just some fair warning, dears, but this is going to get messy. I hate this storyline, and I’m not going to pull punches talking about it. It’s icky, and it’s not an uncommon trope, which icks me out even more.

So, Living Laser (LL) attacks Goliath at home, but is defeated, and given to Hawkeye and Cap to take to Avengers HQ. He escapes, captures those two, then captures the Wasp. He topples a South American dictatorship in a single day, and means to rule the country and later the rest of the world, when the Avengers finally beat him. Goliath gets to save the day, and the Wasp, and overall, the action is a lot of fun. My issue is the motive. LL does all of this to impress the Wasp, and make her love him. He spends the entire arc repeating the thought that once he kills the Avengers, she will see that he’s the most powerful, and then she’ll HAVE to love him. Guys, this is really gross thinking. And really problematic thinking. This idea that all women will automatically love the strongest, most powerful man is a gross idea that plays into male-centric fantasies that value hyper masculinity above all else.

Why do men think that women think like this?! And before you get on me about how “it’s just a comic” and “it was the ’60’s“, just stop yourself. I know these things. I also know that this type of thought process, and these types of stories have been around forever, and that they’re problematic at best, and harmful at worst. Especially when, within this type of story, you have your only female character literally saying “I wish I understood machines…like a man” Janet seriously says that while trying to figure out which lever on the machine will save Cap and Hawkeye. She also, after being captured by LL, threatens him by saying that HANK. WILL. SAVE. HER. She went from a card-carrying member of the world’s best super-hero team, to a helpless damsel in distress in one issue! I really can’t even!

Jan, you’re an AVENGER. You don’t need your giant, angry boyfriend to beat up LL for you. Except that, apparently in this issue, you do. Because that’s exactly what happens. Goliath spends the entire arc making threats about the violence he’s going to inflict on LL for capturing Jan, and it’s almost as gross as LL thinking she’ll love him if he’s the most powerful. And then he comes to Jan’s rescue, and then also saves Cap & Hawkeye, who have been captured again, and blows up LL’s giant laser cannons, thus saving everyone.

He does all this because he’s able to shrink again. While Jan was missing, he disappears for a while, and it’s revealed at the last second that he was trying an experimental treatment to allow him to change size again. It works, and he can now go from Ant-Man tiny size, to normal size, and to Goliath size at will. And, from an Avengers stand-point, that’s pretty cool. Hopefully it will also chill him out, because I’m beginning to hate Hank Pym more then I ever hated Hawkeye.

I’ll also mention that this is where I skimmed through Thor #134. There’s a note in this arc that our missing mutants, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, make a brief appearance in Thor’s solo book, so I skimmed through to see why. I’m glad I did too! In #134, Jane Foster is in Wundagor. It’s under attack, and there’s a bright light in the sky that let’s us know that the High Evolutionary is busy creating “miracles” in his lab. I know that, most likely, none of this makes sense to you. That’s okay. We won’t be meeting the High Evolutionary just yet. What’s important is that, during this scene, we see Wanda and Pietro, and they reveal that a light just like that shone on the night of their birth, and that the name “Wundagore” comes to Pietro for unknown reasons. You see, this will become important to their backstory later! So, let’s try to remember it. And let’s also jump on over to The X-Men, where our twins make another quick appearance!

There’s a lot going on in issue #27, so let’s get to it! To sum it all up easily, Puppet Master is trying to get back at the FF, so he attempts to control Professor Xavier with the hopes of using him to force the X-Men to fight the FF. He can’t control the Prof, so instead he takes control of Mimic. (I also learned in this issue that the X-Men have met the Puppet Master before. A quick Google search told me it was in Fantastic Four #28, when the Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker tried to use them to destroy the FF! Someone’s not too great at coming up with new plans, huh?) You see, Mimic has been going to Metro College with Jean, and, thanks to a chemistry accident, has regained his abilities and his memories of the X-Men. Angel is still out of commission from his injury last arc, and Mimic defeats the X-Men and leaves to fight the FF. The X-Men track Puppet Master down and save Mimic from becoming a murderer. Puppet Master escapes, but Mimic is saved. Angel joins the battle at the very end and saves the day, despite the Profs warning that he could do irreparable damage to his wings and never fly again. It’s all kind of fun, but also REALLY similar to the previous Mimic storyline.

In the midst of that story, the Prof is desperately searching for new members for the X-Men. He and Cerebro sense a growing mutant threat coming, and Charles is worried about the X-Men’s ability to face it with Angel injured and Marvel Girl away at school. He first contacts Wanda and Pietro (told you they’d be back!!). They politely turn him down, saying that they’re Avengers now, and wish to remain Avengers. He also contacts Spider-Man through Bobby and Hank, but Spidey also turns them down. Charles then announces to the team, before Puppet Master takes control of Mimic, that Scott has asked to step down as leader of the X-Men, and Mimic will take his place.

So… there will be that to deal with next issue! I’m not sure I’m going to like this too much. There are very few people who I can deal with leading the X-Men in Scott’s place, and none of them have been introduced yet! Obviously, I know this won’t last long, but I’m just letting you guys know ahead of time that I won’t take it well.

But for now, we’ve covered everything there is to cover in these issues. I learned that my list isn’t quite as complete as I would like it to be. I obviously missed FF #28, which I should have read with the other issues for July 1964! Oops!! I’ll probably read it on Marvel Unlimited now, just to be complete. But we won’t recap it more then what I did here. So…that’s all for now, my loves! Until next time, keep searching!!

Finally, a Bit of Girl Power! (And Also, Hank Pym is a Jerk)

Posted on September 21, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

Hello, loves!!

I’m back to finish talking about all the reading I did last week! We’ve got 5 issues to talk about, so lets just jump right in, shall we?

Lets start with X-Men today! Issues #22 & 23 are a two issue arc in which Count Nefaria shows up with some super-powered henchmen to try to ransom Washington DC. Their plan is basically to capture the X-Men, and then either convince them to join the Count, or frame them. Nefaria’s henchmen are Plantman, Scarecrow, Porcupine, Eel, and Unicorn. He’s hired them to be his second-in-commands and to lead his Maggia crime gang. Anyway, they are able to kidnap the X-Men one by one as the kids leave the school for a vacation. The X-Men of course refuse to join Nefaria, so they’re held captive and framed for Nefaria’s plan.

Nefaria’s plan is this (and get ready, because it’s a little silly): He creates a giant dome around Washington DC. He then sends a projection of the X-Men to make a ransom demand for $100,000,000. It’s ridiculous. For real… But the X-Men decide to play along in order to save the city, so they go into the dome to “retrieve the ransom”. Because Nefaria doesn’t trust the X-Men, he sends his henchmen to watch them. But the henchmen decide they don’t want to work for Nefaria anymore, and attempt to double cross him by stealing the money from the X-Men once they’re outside of the dome. They fight the X-Men, and eventually Jean ends up with the money. She rushes it to Nefaria. While she’s turning it over to him, and stranger with his face covered shows up and destroys the machine that controls the dome. He also switches briefcases so that Nefaria flees without the money.

It turns out that the stranger is the Professor, who has created a device that will allow him to walk for short periods of time! I’m not even kidding. You might as well accept it now, because it’s going to be something he uses often for a little while. In the end, Jean gets a letter from home and announces she must leave the X-Men! Talk about a cliffhanger!

So, in this arc, there were some really silly plots. I mean, the idea of ransoming Washington DC in and of itself seems like something straight out of an Austin Powers movie! But it’s fun to watch the X-Men take on 5 super-villains at once and win. Everyone’s powers seem to be working exactly how they should be and no one has any weird new limits or abilities. So, that’s refreshing.

I think it’s interesting that Warren is still vying for Jean’s affections. At the beginning of the arc, as the kids are leaving for their vacations, Warren invites Jean to dinner in the city before she leaves. He is clearly asking her on a date. And she says yes!! But before my heart can break too much, she turns around and invites Scott to come with them!

It’s interesting that at this early point, both Scott and Warren are in love with Jean. She loves Scott at this point, but neither of them seems to notice that. Scott is convinced that she’s in love with Warren, and Warren seems to believe he still has a shot as well. It’s a silly little love triangle, but one the writers are handling well thus far. They’re not pitting Scott and Warren against each other, or having Jean play them both. Everyone’s just really bad at expressing how they really feel, just like real teenagers. It’s fun to read and will make it so much more satisfying with Scott finally gets the girl! (oops! Spoiler! *wink*)

So, lets move on to Avengers for a bit! Issue #31 takes us to South America to find out how this story line with Goliath is going to pan out! It’s also the first issue in our next trade! I’m done with Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 2. and am now on to Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 3! Seriously, I can’t describe how good it feels when I finish one trade and move on to the next. It actually lets me know I’m making a dent in this list, even if it’s the tiniest dent ever!!

That said, lets get back to the comics! The issue starts with Cap, Wasp, and Hawkeye heading for South America to find out what happened to Goliath. Wanda and Piertro are still in Eastern Europe trying to build their powers back up. (And I still think this is a really dumb story-line…) Meanwhile, Goliath and Prince Rey are trying to save Dr. Anton and stop the Keeper from losing control of the magical fire. During this time, Goliath realizes that Rey doesn’t actually want to put out the flames, but wants them for himself! So, Goliath takes off to stop the Keeper himself.

The rest of the Avengers show up, and they’re able to stop the fire and save Dr. Anton. On their way back to New York, Goliath talks to Dr. Anton about his condition. Dr. Anton doesn’t have any ideas, but does suggest that Goliath talk to another doctor he knows. A doctor named Henry Pym! HAHA!

This issue is a little nuts, and things never really slow down. But one of the best things about it is that the guys all treat Janet like an equal in a way we haven’t seen Wanda treated. While I’d like to see Wanda treated this way when/if she returns, it’s refreshing to see at least one of the female characters treated like an equal!

Of course, then we get to issue #32 and Hank ruins it.

In issue 32, Hank is working tirelessly trying to find a cure for himself. Janet is helping him until he decides he needs another scientist’s help. He enlists the help of Bill Foster, who is an employee of Tony Starks. Meanwhile, the Sons of the Serpent (SotS) are running around New York beating up immigrants and spreading xenophobic propaganda. Black Widow comes to Hawkeye to tell him what’s happening and to try to prove she’s trustworthy again.

That night, as he’s leaving Goliath’s lab, Bill Foster is attacked by the SotS because he’s black and in a nice neighborhood. Goliath finds him afterwards and vows to take out all of the SotS. He and the rest of the Avengers start to investigate them. Cap goes to see Nick Fury to see what info S.H.I.E.L.D. has on the info. This is the first time we get to see Nick in our reading! I’m so excited. I love Nick Fury. He’s such a dick, but almost always right. Anyway, while they’re investigating, the SotS attack the UN and then capture Cap. The Avengers pretend to be in support of the SotS in order to save Cap. And that’s where the issue ends! On that cliffhanger. I hate to do this to you guys…but we’ll be talking about the second half of this arc in the next post! I know, I know, I’m evil!!

This issue was fun, but also anvil-icious! I mean seriously, Stan Lee couldn’t have hit us over the head with this month’s message any harder. Prejudice and xenophobia are bad guys! (just in case you missed it!) But there’s also lots of good in this issue. This issue marks the very first time we see Hawkeye without his mask on! He’s a handsome devil, even if he is kind of a bro.

Also, we really get to see just how awful Hank Pym’s temper can be. He completely loses his shit on Janet when she tries to take care of him or help him. It’s really awful. And since I know what it’s leading towards, it’s also a bit like seeing the beginning of a car crash and knowing it’s going to happen no matter what. There’s no way to stop it.

But it’s not just Jan that Hank is awful to, although she does get the brunt of it. He barks orders at everyone and blows up violently at the slightest provocation. It’s this anger that makes Hank so interesting. He’s the most flawed Avenger, and because of that, in some ways the most human. But it doesn’t make it any easier to read. We’ll talk more about Hank as the series goes on. But for now, we need to hop back over to X-Men for a bit!

Issue #24 brings us the Locust. He is creating giant bugs to over run the country so that he can swoop in with his insecticide and save the day. The X-Men fight his giant bugs a few times and then eventually catch him. The professor convinces him he’s doing the wrong thing, and the Locust just gives up! It’s a fun little romp, and basically seems to serve as an “adventure of the month” just to advance some personal plot points for our mutants. Plot points like the following:

Jean is leaving. Her parents have enrolled her in Metro College since they feel it’s time for her to get a college degree. Afterall, the X-Men technically “graduated” from Xavier’s a while ago. This departure allows both Scott and Warren to be sad at losing Jean, and we get to see that even now, none of these clueless teens seem to see how the others feel about them. Warren tries to cheer Jean up by letting her know that Johnny Storm goes to Metro too, but it’s an act that Jean sees right through. Meanwhile, both Jean and Scott are pouting about never having told each other their feelings.

But don’t worry my loves! Jean won’t be gone long! You see, Metro College is right in the city! So Jean can come visit whenever she likes. Which she does, just in time to help the boys out fighting Locust. Roy Thomas writes Jean so much more self-assured in her powers than Stan Lee did, and it’s a treat to read. She’s an equal in the fighting now. And she’s also the one who saves the day in this issue. (She realizes before anyone else that the Locust is using the antennae on his costume to control his giant beetles, and uses her powers to tangle them up, causing the beetles to attack the Locust instead of the X-Men.) It’s also interesting to note that Werner Roth (aka Jay Gavin) draws Jean to be dressing in a much more sophisticated way once she’s at college. It automatically makes her seem older and more mature on her return to the mansion. It will be interesting to see how she continues to progress as a character under Roy!

Well, that’s all for now my loves! I have some more reading to do!! We’re almost done with 1966. I can’t wait! Until then, keep searching…

“Life Is Hard When You’re a Superhero”, Or Why I Love Scott Summers…

Posted on September 16, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

Hello, my loves!

So, I got a TON of reading done yesterday. Seriously. I read my way through like 10 issues (5 months of 1966!!). There’s a LOT going on in these 10 issues, and a couple different arcs, so I’m going to break them up into multiple posts, mostly for the sake of my own sanity. We’ve got some line-up changes in both books, as well as the return of some old friends and foes, so lets just dig in.

Avengers #28! This is sort of a stand-alone issue. By that, I mean that the main story doesn’t continue on into issue 29, but some of the plot points and loose threads do. This issue sees the return of Giant-Man and the Wasp to the Avengers. Hank Pym reveals his secret identity to the Avengers when he asks them to help him find Wasp, who has been missing since she warned the Avengers about Attuma in the last arc. It turns out she’s been captured by The Collector!! This is the first appearance of the Collector, and guys, I’m super excited. He’s such a creepy villain, and really interesting. (Also, I’m totally obsessed with Benicio Del Toro’s portrayal of him in the MCU!!) Anyway, Hank joins the Avengers (with a new costume and a new name! Say hello to…Goliath!) and they rescue Jan from The Collector and the Beetle. Turns out that’s who Hawkeye had tied up in the last arc. He disappeared because the Collector came and “collected him”.

The big take away from this issue is that Goliath and Wasp are back in the main Avenger’s line-up. Also, at the end of the issue, Goliath tries to shrink back down to normal size, but passes out and gets stuck at 10 feet. The issue ends with us not knowing what’s happened to Dr. Pym!

Before we find out Goliath’s fate, lets jump upstate to Xavier’s and check in on our mutants!

Issues 20 & 21 give us the return of Lucifer, as well as the story of how he and the Professor originally met, leading to the Professor becoming paralyzed at the hands of Lucifer. We learn that Lucifer is an alien, but not from where he came. He’s trying to help his race take over the Earth and enslave the human race using a super computer and robots.

The X-Men are able to stop his robots, but before they’re able to deal with Lucifer himself, the leaders of his race step in and banish him to eternal exile for failing them. It’s actually kind of messed up. Remember when we talked about the Prof erasing memories and how it’s clearly a terrible thing but everyone acts like it’s totally okay, and preferable to death? This is another one of those things. Lucifer is banished to some realm with no sense of time or space, so he’s basically going to be stuck in a hell for all eternity. How is that better then killing him? It’s not. It’s totally messed up. And the only thing that makes it a little easier to swallow is that it’s the other villains that do this to him, and not our heroes. But just slightly.

Other things of note from this arc: First off, Roy Thomas’s first arc fits in seamlessly to the world Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created. His writing style is similar enough to Lee’s but he gives the characters a tiny bit more depth, which I love! Secondly, at the beginning of the arc, Scott decides to leave the X-Men. He feels like he needs to find a doctor to fix his eyes so that he’s no longer a “danger to everyone”. Here’s the thing…this is a little annoying to me, because I know that Scott will eventually grow into the great leader he’s meant to be, but it makes sense with his character thus far, and I really like it for that reason. Cyke’s biggest flaw is his martyrdom (at least for a few decades). He doesn’t see that he’s a born leader, or that he’s a good guy at heart. He only sees what he thinks is the curse of his eyes. They’re the reason he’s so sad all the time, and the reason he feels he can’t tell Jean how he feels about her. It’s pretty heartbreaking. It’s also what makes Scott one of my favorite characters. I’ve had many discussions with many fans over the years about Cyclops. There are a LOT of people out there that don’t like Scott. They think he’s too much of a boring, vanilla boy scout type.

But I will argue for my ruby-eyed boy till I’m hoarse, because I think that analysis of him misses the whole point of Cyclops. Scott is a deeply flawed, severely scarred individual who has had a really hard, messed up life. We’ll be talking about this more as we learn more about his backstory, his family, and his relationships with Jean and especially the Professor! Just know that, if you don’t like Cyke, I will try to change your mind! And, I’m judging you! LOL. Also, that was a REALLY long paragraph all about one mutant. Whew…I’m tired!

On that note, let’s hop back over the city and check on our mutant siblings and the rest of the Avengers!

Avengers # 29 & 30 bring us some old villains, and some new loves. This is a fun arc! First, we find out that Goliath is okay, but he is stuck being 10 feet tall. If he tries to change size again, the stress it puts on his cells will kill him. This leads to Hank storming off to pout for the first (but far from the last) time. This is also our first real example of Hank’s anger issues. Those will rear their ugly heads in the near future on more then one occasion.

Anyway, the main storyline here is that the Black Widow has returned to the US to try and defeat the Avengers. (She’s showed up in Tales of Suspense before. She was a Russian spy who falls in love with Hawkeye and then is captured by her communist handlers and taken back to “The East”). She’s been brainwashed into being a communist again, and enlists the help of the Swordsman and Power Man to take out the Avengers. The three of them manage to capture all of the Avengers except the Wasp and Goliath. The couple finally show up to save the others, and in the end, our villains escape because Hawkeye can’t bare to shoot his blast arrow at Natasha. He loves her too much. Issue 29 ends with the Avengers heading back to HQ to regroup.

In issue 30, our Avengers split up a bit to take care of personal business while they wait to find where Black Widow, Swordsman, and Power Man have gone. Wanda and Pietro head off for Eastern Europe suddenly because they feel their powers are dwindling and think the answer to fixing them is at home. It’s very sudden, and not explained well. They’re mutants, so there’s no reason why their powers should be fading, but oh well.

Goliath takes off for South America to find a scientist that’s down there, who he believes can help him find a way to shrink back to normal size. Once he gets there, he learns that Dr. Anton has been kidnapped by a race of people living in a “forbidden land” who believe he’s there to steal their magic cobalt fire. Goliath attempts to rescue him and gets caught up in a war over the flames. It’s a little silly, but it IS fun to watch everyone freak out about the “giant” who has some to steal the magic fire.

And finally, Cap, Wasp, and Hawkeye track down our villains, and then Hawkeye insists on going after them on his own to make up for letting them escape. Hawkeye succeeds in defeating Power Man and Swordsman, with some last minute help from Black Widow. Apparently, her love for Hawkeye is so strong, it broke through the brainwashing! Yay!!

Notable things in this arc: Issue 29 gives us one of my favorite lines so far. Swordsman is carrying an unconscious Scarlet Witch and comments that she seems so frail and helpless. (GAG) The Black Widow immediately responds “So does an Asp…until it strikes”. I love it. On one level, Widow is reminding Swordsman not to be too relaxed about their enemies. On another level, she’s telling him (and thus the readers) that even though she’s a woman, Scarlet Witch is still a very formidable opponent. It makes this feminist happy to read. Especially in an arc where the women don’t get to do too much.

Also, Hawkeye has now decided to stop being such a dick (probably because Hank Pym is back to fill that roll *wink*). He and Cap are now all buddy-buddy, and I have to be honest, I think it might actually be more annoying then their fighting! I guess this is a classic “be careful what you wish for” moment!

Well my darlings, that’s all for now. I’ll be back soon so we can talk about what happens to Goliath in South America, as well as what’s going on at Xavier’s! Until then, my loves, keep searching…

Just a Quickie…X-Men #19

Posted on September 16, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

Hello loves!!

This is going to be a quick post about X-Men #19.

I wanted to post about it before I get into May of 1966, since those issues start new, multi-issue arcs for both titles and this is just a stand-alone issue. It is also the last issue written by Stan Lee. Staring with issue #20, Roy Thomas will be at the helm.

We salute you, Stan Lee!

So, in this issue the X-men fight Mimic. He’s basically a jack-ass with the power to “mimic” the talents, knowledge, and powers of anyone he’s close to. He decides to take on the X-Men to gain their powers so that he can retrieve a machine his father was building that would allow him to keep the powers he mimics forever, instead of them fading away when he’s no longer close to X-Men.

It’s a fun story. I have a few issues with it, and a few things I love about it. My biggest issue is that, yet again, Jean is a damsel in distress. Mimic kidnaps her in order to lure the rest of the X-Men to the mine where his machine is buried. It’s really frustrating to constantly get excited about character development for her, just to take two steps backwards. I wouldn’t even mind it so much if we were given a reason why Jean was the one captured. Like, maybe Mimic needs her telekinetic powers for the first phase of his plan. But no, we get no such reasoning. It’s just because she’s the girl, and thus the easiest to capture.

Nine is growing tired of this bullshit

On the other hand, her capture does allow for some of the story line that I loved! And speaking of love, Scotty-boy is in L-O-V-E you guys!! **SQUEE** I can’t begin to tell you how much I love Scott’s love for Jean, especially in the early days before he really tells her how he feels. It’s adorable, and he makes himself into such a martyr. I can’t help but fall for a guy who has those kind of issues. (I realize that I’m probably revealing a bit too much about myself right now, but oh well!) While sometimes, in the future, Scott’s blind devotion to Jean and his martyr act will become problematic, right now it’s just super corny and so sticky-sweet that it gives me cavities. And I love every second of it!!!

But enough about our young love birds. Let’s talk about powers again. Because in this issue, Professor X seems to be able to use his “mutant brain” to no only sense the presence of machinery, but also to effect in a way similar to how he effects people. This seems like a bit of a stretch to me. I find myself looking forward to the day that all of these character’s powers are named and given power sets that the writers adhere to for the most part. It’s becoming too convenient for the writers if Professor X or Magneto can basically do whatever they need to do and it’s all chalked up to “magnetism” or a “mutant brain” Also, according to this issue, Iceman has to worry about running out of ice? Since when? This has NEVER been mentioned before. I’ll be keeping my eye out for an instance where he either mentions it again, or he actually runs out of ice!!

And on that note, it’s time for me to leave you again my darlings. I must read the next arc of Avengers and X-Men! I can’t wait to see what Roy Thomas brings to the table. So, until next time, my loves! Keep searching….

New X-Swag!!

Posted on September 15, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

Hello, loves!!

So, part of the reason I was gone for so long before is because my 30th birthday was over Labor Day weekend! We had friends in town visiting, and had a blast showing them the CLE and spending time with them. But, because we had people visiting, we didn’t have my birthday party until this past weekend. And what a party it was! I rang in my third decade with C and our friends ’90’s style. It was glorious!

I tell you all this as a lead in to the actual reason for this post. My dear friend Matt gave me the most amazing birthday present this weekend. A ~~little~~ huge something to help me in my blogging endeavors! He gave me this beauty:

It’s the most gorgeous book I’ve ever seen. “X-Men: The Adamantium Collection” It’s huge!!! Seriously, I took a picture of it next to a Marvel Masterworks TPB so you can see the scale of this thing.

This book collects all of the important moments in X-history, as well as amazing extras like artist sketches of new character designs, introductions and afterwards from writers and artists, variant covers, you name it.

The stories collected are some of my favorite X-Men arcs. Stories I’m dying to get to in the reading project, partly because I want to read them again, but mostly because I can’t wait to share them with you all! The book contains:

X-Men (1963) 1, 57-59, 141; Uncanny X-Men (1981) 142, 500; Marvel Graphic Novel 5: X-Men – God Loves, Man Kills; X-Men (1991) 1-3, 30; New X-Men (2001) 114-116; Astonishing X-Men (2004) 1-6; All -New X-Men 1-5

So my loves, I just wanted to show off my awesome new book, and to let you know another reading post is coming soon! I promise. But, until then, keep searching…

It’s Been A Long Time…

Posted on September 14, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

I shouldn’t have left you, left you, without a dope beat to step to, step to

Ok…so now that that’s out of my system! LOL. Let’s talk comics.

Things have been SUPER hectic in my life recently, so my goal of finishing the ‘60′s by Labor Day…well, it was laughable. But, I have read a bit more, so we can talk about the next arc in both X-Men and Avengers, and I’ll get my butt reading again now that things have calmed down a bit. I promise it won’t be so long between posts again, my loves!

Let’s start with Avengers today. Issues 25-27.

So, Issue 25 gives us our first look at one of my favorite Marvel villains. DR. DOOM!!!

This issue is kind of a stand-alone issue. The basic premise is that Dr. Doom kidnaps the Avengers in order to 1) lure the Fantastic Four into a trap and 2) intimidate the FF because, presumably, they’ll be more afraid of him if he’s already beaten the Avengers. So Doom tricks the Avengers into coming to Latveria by pretending that Pietro and Wanda have a long lost relative that lives there and the Avengers go to meet her. Once there, Doom takes them prisoner and puts a giant dome over the entire country so that they can’t escape. The US government won’t let the FF come to the rescue, so it’s up to our crazy foursome to defeat Doom themselves. And of course, they do. This is a fun little story, but not a lot happens. We do see that leading the Avengers is beginning to wear on Cap. He seems to long to end his hero-ing career and become Steve Rogers again, but also seems to understand that there isn’t much of a life for Steve Rogers to live so far removed from his own time. It’s nice to see SOME depth from at least one of these characters. It’s also nice to see a tiny crack in the shining armor of Captain America, something that makes him seem more human. But also, can we talk about the constant fighting between the Avengers? It’s SOOO annoying at this point. They’re constantly at each other’s throats, and I really can’t take it anymore. It’s really just Hawkeye fighting with everyone, but it makes me want to scream. So, on that note, let’s move on to issues 26 & 27. Lol.

This little arc starts with Steve showing the rest of the Avengers how to operate the new message system Tony Stark built for them. And of course, like always, Hawkeye is being a dick, and not listening, and fighting with Cap. This leads to an awesome little fight between Quicksilver and Hawkeye. Guys, for those of you who maybe don’t know a lot about these two characters, know that NORMALLY, Quicksilver would totally wipe the floor with Hawkeye. There’s just no way Hawks could hit Quicksilver with an arrow. But here, Quicksilver is clearly winning, and then slows down to brag, and Hawkeye catches him with an arrow. That’s when Cap finally steps in and ends the fight. It’s not that important to the story arc, but it’s a great few pages of fun, and I enjoyed every minute of reading it. But in the end, Hawkeye leaves to go out on the town, and isn’t happy at all.

We then cut to see Namor racing towards the shore, and past a ship carrying the Wasp and Giant-Man. Janet decides to fly to shore as the Wasp to warn the Avengers that Namor is coming, since it seems he’s looking for a fight. As she’s taking a break from flying, she’s captured by Attuma and we learn that Attmua is planing on conquering the surface world by raising the tides so high the whole earth is flooded. Janet’s able to shrink down, escape her cage, and radio the Avengers to let them know what’s happening. Cap, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver rush to her aid, leaving a message for Hawkeye on Tony Stark’s new machine to meet them since he’s not answering his signal ring. Who wants to bet Hawkeye won’t know how to work the machine because he wasn’t paying attention at the beginning of the issue? Well, you’d be right!

So, the Avengers end up on Attuma’s underwater ship, and are fighting for their lives. One of my favorite parts about this fight is that that Attuma and his men clearly see Wanda as the biggest threat. They knock her out fairly quickly, but it’s really nice to see her power getting some respect for once! Attuma manages to beat all three Avengers, but then pride gets the better of him. See, the Avengers can’t breathe very well in the super moist air Attuma has in his ship, so his followers are saying that he only won the battle because the Avengers were already weakened. Like all super villains, he can’t let this taunt go. So, he has the Avengers revived, gives them helmets that allow them to breathe normal oxygen, and then fights them again. This time the three Avengers work together and seem to be fairing better against Attuma, until Wanda uses her powers to bring down a pillar and it accidentally floods that whole section of the ship.

Back at HQ, Hawkeye finally returns to try and listen to the message. He can’t remember the code Cap told them, so he uses some other machine of Tony’s to get that memory back. While he’s in the machine, we see that someone is there watching him!! And that’s the end of issue 26!

Issue 27 starts with Hawkeye remembering the code and beginning to listen to the message Cap left for him. Suddenly, he’s attacked by the mysterious figure from last issue. He’s in some weird green suit with metal wings and purple suction cups on his fingers. We aren’t told who this guy is, or why he’s attacking, but Hawkeye eventually beats him and leaves him tied up in HQ so he can go help the others fight Attuma.

The fight on the ship continues, and Pietro gets himself shot out a torpedo tube in to the open water. He’s picked up by Hawkeye and the two of them finally find their way back to Attuma’s ship, fighting guard ships and a giant octopus along the way. Meanwhile, Cap and Wanda are beaten and brought before Attuma. Cap calls him a phony, saying he doesn’t have the power to raise the tides, thus tricking Attuma into showing them his tide machine before their execution. Wanda causes a diversion (by pretending to faint. *ewww*) and Cap breaks them free. They meet up with the other two who have arrived on the ship and are fighting for their lives. They beat Attuma and his men, and escape. During the battle, Cap managed to sabotage the tide machine so that it blows up.

But, before they can really celebrate their victory, they arrive back at HQ to find that the mysterious stranger Hawkeye left tied up there has escaped!! Also, there is NO mention of what the hell Namor was doing when Hank and Janet saw him. It’s weird and slightly annoying. Obviously our mysterious prisoner escaped to set up the next arc, but I’d like to know why we saw Namor at all!

But…let’s move on to X-Men. Issues 17 &18.

This arc picks up in the immediate aftermath of the Sentinel’s arc. The army is cleaning up the aftermath of the X-Men’s battle with the sentinels, and Cyke, Bobby, and Beast are taken to the hospital. Iceman is unconscious. There are some funny moments at the hospital where the doctors are trying to remove Cyke’s visor so they can examine his eyes and they won’t listen when he tells them he can’t take the visor off. And also when the doctors are trying to figure out how to treat the frozen Iceman, or examining Beast’s crazy big feet. It’s some lighthearted humor to undercut the emotional reveal that Iceman could be dying and the doctors don’t know how to treat him if he doesn’t thaw out.

While this is going on, Warren checks the school’s messages and learns that his parents are on their way to visit. He tries to stall them by having the Prof tell them they’re on a field trip and that finals are starting, but the Worthington’s are insistent. Professor X sends Angel back to the school to meet them while he and Jean watch over the others as they’re treated. Once Angel arrives at the school, he’s attacked by a mysterious villain who’s face we never see. He’s incapacitated and taken prisoner!!

The Prof realizes he’s lost mental contact with Angel, so he and Cyke head back to the school to check on him. Once there, they too are attacked and captured by our mysterious baddie. Things aren’t looking good for our X-Men!! Jean and Beast quickly notice that Cyke and the Prof are gone, so they also head to the school, after checking on Iceman, who is still in a coma. They are just as quickly captured by our bad guy, but not before Jean sees his face and clearly recognizes him (although we still don’t know who it is!) While back at the hospital, Iceman is getting worse (and his doctor is prescribing new, experimental medications), the remaining X-Men are being put into a giant metal ball attached to a hot air balloon. Our villain sends the balloon off, explaining that once it gets too high, it will pop, and the X-Men will plummet to their deaths trapped in the steel ball. Just as the ball drifts out of sight, Angel’s parents pull up to the school and ring the bell. The door is answered and we finally get to see who our bad guy is on the last page of the issue. And it’s…MAGNETO!! Seriously you guys, I’m SOOO excited to have Mags back. He’s the best. Especially ‘60′s Mags. He’s so ridiculously nuts. It’s glorious.

Anyway, issue 18 is where things get weird and crazy. First of all, we see Mags lift the entire school up to move it! I love seeing his raw power like that. Sometimes I think that some writers try to get too clever with how to stretch the idea of “magnetic powers” instead of focusing on just how scary powerful Magneto is. He doesn’t need his powers to manipulate things they shouldn’t be able to manipulate (as we’ll see in this issue). He’s just crazy powerful! Ok…where was I?!

So, Mag’s uses his magnetic powers to hypnotize the Worthington’s into going to sleep in one of the bedrooms. I know, I know, it’s a HUGE stretch to say his powers allow him to hypnotize people through “magnetic attraction”. This is what I was talking about with the stretching the things his powers can do. It’s dumb and a catch all to make him nearly unbeatable. It’s a deus ex machina so that he can capture the Worthington’s, but at the end of the issue, they won’t remember anything so the X-Men can remain a secret. It’s contrived and annoying, but it’s also not the last god from a machine we’ll be seeing in this issue, so pay attention!

Anyway, Mags is building a machine that will use the DNA of the Worthingtons to build new mutants! (WHAT?!?!) See, since the Worthington’s gave birth to a mutant (Angel) they clearly hold the DNA for mutation. I can get behind that reasoning. What I can’t get behind is that Mags can build a machine that will create living things from nothing but a scan of some genes, or that he can manipulate those genes into any power he wants. In my mind, I feel like the “X gene” (as it will come to be called later in continuity) is unique for each mutant and their powers. So the Worthington’s DNA only holds the markers to create Angel, and not an endless amount of different powers. But what do I know? At this point, we haven’t been told much about mutation and the science behind it, so I guess anything goes for now!

While all this is happening, the X-Men have woken up in their big steel balloon. Professor X has explained how Magneto escaped from the Stranger, leaving Toad behind, and came back to Earth with the sole purpose of destroying the X-Men. He’s also contacted Iceman, who is responding well to the meds his doctor tried, and gets him to leave the hospital, still weak, and go to the house to fight Mags while the other X-Men find a way to save themselves from the trap they’re in. Bobby manages to sneak into the school, find out what Mags is up to, stop the machine, and then fights Mags. It’s looking good for Bobby until he tries to trap Mags in an igloo and Mags seals Bobby in with him “magnetically” Can someone who knows more science then me please explain to me how you us magnetism to solidify ice? Seriously? It’s getting a little stupid with all these aspects to Mags powers that make no sense. It’s like the writers just said that he can do anything and they’ll just explain it using “magnetism”. GRR.

So, Cyke and Jean work together to get the steel ball back to the ground safely and then Cyke blasts them out of it and they race to Iceman’s rescue. They fight Mags for awhile before Professor X calls them off. He tells Mags that only he knew how to stop him for good. And then…our second god from a machine shows up in the form of The Stranger. You see, the Prof called him telepathically to come get Mags again. Seriously. It’s so dumb. The X-Men could beat Mags all together if the writers didn’t insist on giving him a ridiculous power set that makes no sense. But instead, they need another deus ex machina to save the story from the box they wrote it into. I’m more than little annoyed at this. Mags is a great foe, and will be forever. But having him be more powerful then he should be, so that the only option is to have the god-like Stranger come swoop him up again isn’t just lazy writing; it’s writing without regard to the whole story.

But anyway, Mags is gone, his machine and the mutants it was creating are destroyed, and the Worthington’s remember nothing! So everything’s A-OK at Xavier’s Institute! Hooray!!!

So, this entry is super long. I said in the beginning that I wasn’t going to give you long summaries of the issues because it would be too much work, but here I am, giving you fairly detailed summaries. This won’t be the case once we have more then 2 books to cover each month, just so you guys know. Once we’re into the 90′s and ‘00′s, there is just WAY too much to summarize everything. So, enjoy it while it lasts kiddos! And, until next time…Keep searching…

Original Tumblr Post: here

A Long Weekend…And Sentinels!!

Posted on September 14, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

Hello my loves!

I’m sorry it’s been a little bit since my last post. I had a long weekend this past weekend, and we had family visiting from out of town, so it was hard to find time to read, let alone write! But, we’re back in action now! So get ready for some fun and some iconic story lines!

Today we’re going to talk about an arc for each of our two titles. This will take us through The X-Men #14-16 and Avengers #23 & 24. It also lands us in January of 1966! We’ll get out of the ‘60′s if it kills me! My goal is to be into the ‘70′s by Labor Day. Let’s see if I can maintain that pace!

So, X-Men. This 3 issue arc is a biggie, kids. It’s the first appearance of the Sentinels!! If you’re not a big comic fan, but you’ve seen the X-Men movies, please know that while they were, in fact, created by Dr. Bolivar Trask, these are not Bryan Singer’s sentinels! These are huge, lumbering, ridiculous hunks of red and blue steel. And they’re glorious! Take a look for yourselves:

So, this arc starts with Professor X appearing on TV to debate Dr. Bolivar Trask about the danger of mutants. Trask introduces his Sentinels, which he’s designed to protect humanity from the “mutant threat” But, the Sentinels immediately turn on Trask, taking him prisoner and declaring that in order to protect humanity, they must rule it. As the X-Men, who are all on vacations separately, rush to the Prof’s aid, the Sentinels begin to leave with Trask. Our mutant teens and their mysterious leader follow the Sentinels, and the next two issues consist of awesomeness as they attempt to penetrate the Sentinel’s defenses, stop the Master Mold (basically the King Sentinel) from creating any more Sentinels, and save Dr. Trask. Let’s see how this goes down…

Bobby and Hank get taken hostage. Whoops! The other three break into the base to save them, leaving Prof. X outside alone. The other three get taken prisoner just as they rescue Bobby from his cell. (Not going too well so far…) Eventually all 5 are reunited. As they attempt to fight their way through the Sentinels, Professor X figures out that some crystal will basically short circuit them, so he brings the crystal and shuts them all down. At the same time, Trask apparently sees the error of his ways and sacrifices himself to destroy the whole complex and all the sentinels within. The X-Men barely escape the collapsing building in time! It’s all really fun to read, and here are some notable things to mention:

First off, after all my talk about the way the writers treat the females on their superhero teams, Jean is really starting to show a bit of a backbone and also her true potential as far as her powers go. This arc introduces her ability to levitate herself, allowing her to float through the air. It also has her falling a Sentinel on her own (something no other X-Man accomplishes), saving herself, Angel, and Cyke from the burning fortress, and then saving them all again by unlocking a hidden door telekinetically. It’s awesome! She also puts both Hank and Scott in their places when they try to treat her like a damsel in distress instead of an equal member of the team. I love it! This is the Jean I love. As I’m sure you’ll see as we go along, I have a love/hate relationship with Jean Grey. Basically, I love her to the ends of the earth, but sometimes I want to slap her for being a doormat. It’s frustrating, but also makes reading this old stuff so much more enjoyable, because I get to see her grow up and progress as a character.

Also notable: Though his creations with be around to hunt the X-Men for decades to come in one form or another, it’s interesting that Bolivar Trask himself only lasts these three issues before dying. It’s also interesting to me that a man that published multiple articles decrying the “Mutant Menace” and who’s fanaticism led him to create the Sentinels in the first place, would suddenly change his mind and want to save mutants just because Hank McCoy explained that the X-Men’s purpose was to protect humanity from evil mutants. It’s a bit far-fetched. But, we’ll later learn that, although he created the Sentinels, Bolivar Trask is FAR from the most fanatical mutant-hater in the X-Men’s world!

Also…Cyke RIDES Angel into battle, guys. No joke. It’s amazingly hilarious. In fact, I’m going to leave you with that image as we make our way over to Avengers…

In Avengers 23 & 24, we meet another iconic villain! Kang the Conqueror!! Avenger’s fans met him before in issue #8, but this is the first time we’re meeting him in our reading. Guys, Kang’s a fairly big deal in the Avengers/Fantastic Four side of Marvel, and this is a really interesting arc.

In order to prove his invincibility and win over the Princess he loves, Kang kidnaps the Avengers (minus Cap. Remember, he left at the end of the last issue!) He takes them to the future where he resides, and proceeds follow their progress through his base, which seems to be a gigantic maze/obstacle course designed to defeat the heroes. Suddenly, Cap shows up. He apparently used something called a Recreater (?!?) to find out who took the Avengers, and then all but dares Kang to bring Cap into the future too. Kang takes the challenge, and Cap shows up to re-inspire our team. They manage to surround Kang, who then tells his armies to attack the city. The Avengers rally with the local people to try and stop the invasion. But, instead, Kang’s generals turn on him and Kang agrees to free the city and return the Avengers to their own time safely if they’ll help him save the princess from his generals. They manage it, and Kang, surprisingly, keeps his word. But, at the last minute, just as the Princess is about to confess she loves Kang just as he loves her, one of the captured generals attempts to murder Kang and hits her instead, killing her. I don’t know about you guys, but I wouldn’t want to be ANYWHERE near Kang right now!

This arc gives us the re-emergence of Captain America as the leader of the Avengers (as if we had any doubts he’d be back almost right away!) It also shows us that, while Jean may be getting stronger and demanding more respect from her male counterparts, Wanda is still being written as a pretty face for Hawkeye to flirt with. Occasionally she gets to be equal to the guys. I mean, she is the one who rescues them from the glass tubes Kang is holding them in. But the effort weakens her to the extent that Hawkeye must carry her around for a bit. In fact, Hawkeye is so obnoxious in his flirting, that in this little, 2 issue arc alone, he calls Wanda all of the following instead of Wanda or Scarlet Witch: Gorgeous, Dreamboat, Baby, Doll, and Lady. I mean seriously. I get that this version of Hawk likes to call people nicknames, but at least his nicknames for the other male Avengers have something to do with either their costumes or their powers (Wings for Cap and Speedy for Pietro). But Wanda is just another chick for him to hit on. One of these days, I’d love to see her hex him really good! It’d serve him right! On the other hand though, Pietro and Steve seem to be treating her more and more like an equal with each passing issue. So, that’s something, I guess!

I also want to bring up the race issue again in regards to this Avengers arc. While Kang himself is white, it’s important to note that all of his generals are drawn as Asian. Most have Fu Manchu beards, and darker complexions. They seem to fall into the same stereotype as the Mandarin did. It’s important to note this because they end up being the real villains of the story. They’re the ruthless killers who would sacrifice Kang’s beloved Princess and her kingdom (who all seem to be, notably, white) causing Kang to team up with our Avengers. So, we have our all-white Avengers team fighting with the all-white nation and the white conqueror against the uncouth, dis-loyal, Asian generals. This kind of casual racism is going to be around in our reading for a bit. It changes, if not exactly improves, as the decades go on. Don’t be surprised when I point it out. It’s hard to read as a modern reader. Especially in this context, there the villains were never said to specifically be Asian. This appears to just be the artist’s choice. That, to me, says a lot about the 1960′s and the racial biases within the US at that time. And, as time moves on, we’ll see those biases shift and change. Historically, it makes sense that, if the villains weren’t going to be white like everyone else, they would appear Asian. In 1966, the US was in the middle of the Vietnam War. It makes sense that the villains in comics at that time would look like the “enemy” the US was fighting. It doesn’t make it any less racist, just fitting within a historical context. It’ll be interesting to see how this shifts as the Vietnam War ends and as the Cold War reaches a fever-pitch.

On that note, it’s time for me to wrap this up. I hope you guys are enjoying this ride as much as I am! And until next time, my loves…keep searching!

Original Tumblr Post: here

New Trades and New Villains

Posted on September 14, 2015 by GenoshaGirl85

Welcome back, my loves!

Over the weekend, I did a little shopping at Carol & John’s, and did lots of reading. We’re really starting to get to some good stuff! I’m excited to get into it!! First off, as promised, let me tell you about the trade I got.

Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Vol. 3. It contains Avengers 21-30. Now, for those of us who aren’t very familiar with Marvel’s trades, Marvel Masterworks are a bit pricier than most other trades. For example, this paperback version was $25. However, they are worth every penny! (In my opinion, at least!!) They a gorgeous! I mean, take a look at it, it’s so pretty!!

So, obviously, this is how I’m reading Avengers for the next 10 issues. (I’m still reading X-Men on Marvel Unlimited) And speaking of the reading, we’ll be covering things in arcs going forward, instead of going back and forth between Avengers and X-Men each month. I’m reading the titles in their monthly order, but for sake of keeping these posts clear, we’ll talk about them in arcs. So, without further ado…

X-Men 12 & 13!! Here we meet Professor X’s step-brother Cain Marko, better known as the Juggernaut! You guys, I love Juggernaut. He’s just so ridiculous in his hatred for Charles, it’s awesome. Also, he’s crazy powerful. It’s a great combo! These two issues give us Juggernaut’s first appearance, as he shows up at the school to attack Xavier and the battle leaves basically everyone but Jean and the Prof injured. This time, they actually turn the bad guy over to the police too (although how long normal police hope to keep Juggernaut in jail is questionable)!

Some observations from this little arc… First off, let’s talk about Scott’s powers. There seems to be no set level for them. In issue 12, he uses them to gouge a huge trench all along the inside of the school walls in preparation for Juggernaut’s arrival. This monumental feat seems to barely wind our fearless leader, and yet in prior issues, just shooting a bad guy for 2 seconds at full blast has left Scott unconscious! And in Issue 13, he uses his power at full blast against Juggernaut without much problem, but then suddenly needs “a few minutes” for his power beam to recharge. It’s a little confusing, so I look forward to seeing how his powers and their limits take shape as the series progresses. Also, apparently Professor X can use his telepathy to form a “mental shield” around himself strong enough to at least temporarily slow down Juggernaut. This is the first we’ve seen of this power, so let’s keep an eye out for it as we continue. It’s a cool idea, especially since, at least right now, Magneto has the ability to do this using his magnetic powers, and it seems Stan Lee and the rest of the team want to keep the Prof and Mags fairly evenly matched (assuming Mags ever makes it back from his capture by the Stranger! *wink*)

Also cool: in issue 13 we get a quick cameo from Matt Murdock, and a longer one from the Human Torch himself, Johnny Storm, who comes to the X-Men’s aid to help defeat Juggernaut! On a final note, I have a confession to make to you guys. And this is a little embarrassing since I consider myself a huge X-Men fan and a fairly knowledgeable one at that…I had TOTALLY FORGOTTEN that Cain Marko isn’t a mutant, but instead got his powers from black magic. WTH?!? How I forgot that *minor* detail is beyond me. But, it’s true…whoops!

Professor X gives us Juggernaut’s backstory (and also part of his own) in issue 12 as Juggernaut slowly makes his way towards the school. And apparently Cain and Charles stumbled into the lost Temple of Cyttorak in Korea while serving in the war. Once inside, Cain touched the forbidden ruby, which transformed him into The Juggernaut. It’s crazy, and I feel like it’s totally nuts that I forgot that! In fact, I’m so embarrassed, that we must move on now…

Meanwhile, over at Avenger’s headquarters, our fab four have been really busy. Issues 19 & 20 have the team battling the Swordsman. (Who, incidentally, happens to have trained Hawkeye!) These issues have Cap being duped yet again (Seriously, someone needs to tell the star-spangled Avenger he can’t be so trusting), this time by the Swordsman. He is attempting to kidnap an Avenger to prove he is worthy of joining the team. He captures Cap and holds him hostage, tied up on the top of a building, and threatens to push him to his death if the other Avengers don’t agree to make him the team leader. In very typical Cap fashion, Steve throws himself off the building to save his teammates from having to surrender! And that’s how issue 19 ends! Talk about a cliff-hanger!

But of course, in issue 20, the other Avengers save Cap by working together and they all go after the Swordsman. Just as they get him pinned down, he suddenly disappears. Turns out the Mandarin transported him to China! He wants Swordsman to join the Avengers and then plant a bomb in their HQ so that Mandarin can blow them up whenever Iron Man decides to show up again. Yeah, it’s a pretty silly plan. But, they go through with it, convincing the Avengers to accept Swordsman by projecting an image of Iron Man to tell them he vouches for Swordsman. He plants the bomb, but at the last minute, changes his mind and attempts to stop the plan for no real reason. He gets the bomb out of there just as the Mandarin is detonating it (having chosen to attack immediately instead of waiting for Iron Man, again for no reason)

This was a fun, if silly, arc. I was struck by how much fighting goes on between the Avengers, with Wanda always playing peace-keeper. All three of the guys have hot tempers and all three feel they should be the leader. What’s also interesting is that, despite the fact that she’s the only one with a cool, level head, no one ever even mentions the idea of Wanda leading. (Can’t imagine why that would be.) It seems to me the Scarlet Witch would be a more rational leader than Hawkeye or Quicksilver! Just saying… Also, can we talk about the ridiculously politically-incorrect racial stereotypes in ‘60’s comics? I mean, the Mandarin’s depiction as a crazy, sneaky, Fu Manchu is particularly dissonant to a modern reader. This is something else I look forward to following. It will be cool to discuss the evolution of these racist stereotypes throughout the years. How does the depiction of the Mandarin change from 1965 to 2015? What do you guys think? I’d love to hear your feedback or questions. You can give me your question and opinions at the “Ask Me Anything” tab at the top of the page.

The next arc in Avengers was a good one as well. Issues 21 & 22 saw Enchantress create Power Man using the same technology that created Wonder Man (Avengers #9) and the two of them successfully frame the Avengers and split them apart. Remember how I mentioned the in-fighting going on at Avengers HQ in the last arc? Well, it’s SO. MUCH. WORSE. in this arc, making if fairly easy for our dastardly duo to frame the Avengers and let them come apart at the seams, blaming each other for their failure to stop the frame-job. Issue 21 ends with the City Council of NYC declaring the Avengers illegal and forcing them to disband. The Avengers go their separate ways, and eventually Wanda, Pietro, and Hawkeye end up getting jobs at the circus. What they soon realize is that this isn’t a normal circus, but one run by the Masters of Menace. A fight breaks out, and when the cops show up, Ringmaster convinces the cops that the Avengers are robing them. It’s a little nuts to think that, even with the frame-job Enchantress and Power Man pulled off, the cops would believe a group of ex-cons over the Avengers, but whatever. The Avengers are forced to flee.

Meanwhile, Cap has gone undercover to try to get evidence that Power Man and Enchantress framed the Avengers. He gets a confession on tape, and then he and Power Man fight. The rest of the Avengers show up just in time to help. In the midst of the battle, Enchantress disappears, leaving Power Man to surrender because he apparently has no reason to continue without her. So, the Avengers take him and the tape to the police and have their names cleared. And then the police AND the Avengers just LET POWERMAN GO. Seriously guys. The guy is as strong as Wonder Man, and a criminal, and they just let him go. I can’t even. And then, just when you think everything is back to normal, Cap quits the Avengers!! No joke. He just up and quits, telling them to find themselves a new leader to fight with!!!

Some notable things I noticed in this arc: In past issues, we’ve been told that the Avengers keep their identities secret even from each other (for example, none of the Avengers know that Iron Man is actually Tony Stark). But, everyone seems to know that Captain America is Steve Rogers, and that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. On the flip side, Hawkeye’s identity is never mentioned, and we never see him out of costume, so no one seems to know he’s Clint Barton. This is interesting to me. Let’s keep this in mind as we move forward, and see how this plays out. Also, I just want to re-state that ‘60’s Hawkeye is a HUGE dickhead. Like, I can barely stand reading him. I constantly want to punch him in the face, and keep hoping that Cap is finally going snap and beat the crap out of him. Now, I know that he evolves into a much more likable character, so I can’t wait to get to that point. But for now, I’ll just relish in my hatred for him!

That’s all for now my loves. Come back next time, when we’ll meet one of the X-Men’s central foes and witness the beginning of a war that will define the X-Universe for decades to come!! (I can’t wait!!!) So, until then…keep searching!!

Original Tumblr Post: here

	1969 Part 1: Let… on Professor X is Dead!!! Let…
	Finally! Factor Thre… on It’s an Annual!
	It Feels SOOO Good t… on This is How The X-Men Should…
	Tyroc on Why Stan Lee is Basically Geor…

	1969 Part 1: Let… on Professor X is Dead!!! Let…
	Finally! Factor Thre… on It’s an Annual!
	It Feels SOOO Good t… on This is How The X-Men Should…
	Tyroc on Why Stan Lee is Basically Geor…