Captain Marvel: Secret Invasion

While I hated to plop myself square in the middle of a story arc without knowledge of the continuity pertaining, new stories featuring Captain Marvel was something that couldn't wait until I got caught up as far as I was concerned. In 2007, several ongoing Marvel titles were tied in to the one main Secret Invasion storyline. These were all collected in 26 separate trade paperback collections. Uugh! Captain Marvel: Secret Invasion includes Captain Marvel issues #1-5 and Civil War: The Return, centering around Captain Marvel's role in the story arc involving the Skrull invasion of Earth.

Having died from cancer, the result of an earlier exposure to toxic nerve gas during a battle with Nitro years ago, the late Kree warrior is a man out of time when he suddenly appears from beyond the grave inside a maximum security prison in the Negative Zone, much to the surprise of Sentry, Iron Man, and Reed Richards. Knowing he will die all over again, Mar-Vell resolves to spend his remaining days championing his adopted  home world of Earth, in spite of a suspicious Tony Stark's attempt to keep a lid on him.

The Church of Hala, a cult that worships Captain Marvel, has been waiting for the return of the long dead champion of Earth. The congregation hails his return as that of a savior of their world gone wrong, the recent Superhuman Registration Act having caused a violent civil war among the heroes of Earth. Widely disregarded as religious fanatics, Mar-Vell recognizes the good they do though uncomfortable with the worship aspects, and dons their ceremonial robe in service of the homeless & needy at a food distribution center in Sudan. Tragedy strikes as the leader of the church is killed by military shelling in the war zone where the mission workers are encamped, and Mar-Vell lashes out in anger, destroying the tanks as he recalls his vow to save the people of Earth even if from themselves.

Following of a failed attempt to put Mar-Vell back into the Negative Zone by Iron Man and Ms. Marvel/Carol Danvers brings up the question between the two, and Carol asks, "We are supposed to be stopping bad things from happening. Why do we focus on guys in silly costumes and not people who are causing real harm?"  For as it had been observed that 24 hours following Marvel's renewed vow to end a wars on Earth and angry disarming of the warriors in Sudan, not a shot was fired, a missile launched.

Realizing this incarnation of Mar-Vell might be someone or something else entirely, S.H.E.I.L.D. Agent Sante tries to arrest him, but Mar-Vell reasons with her "If you want to end this now... you can destroy me and what potential I hold... or you can help me, Agent Sante... you can stand tall beside me and help me make the world a better place."

I 've read some reviews claiming this was an unnecessary book in the series- I suppose that's true if you aren't a fan of Captain Marvel (shut yer face)! Like I've said before, he was an acquired taste for the comics of Silver and Bronze Age- something I've grown to love. The story was well done with some surprises I wasn't expecting, having only been back into comics for a year or so, and unfamiliar with a lot of the Marvel mythos. I found Brian Reed's story detailed & far-out yet interesting. The penciling of Tom Raney & Lee Weeks meshed seamlessly going from Civil War: The Return into Captain Marvel #1-5. The colors & inking were perfection! There were several great variant covers throughout the book by Ed McGuinness, as well as a Ms. Marvel #25& Capt. Marvel #4 combined variant by Terry & Rachel Dodson that rules! Behold:

I loved this book! I'm a fan of Captain Marvel's cosmic melodrama- the stories are heroic, romantic, over-the-top space opera... perfect for comic books  :D

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ToyBiz Famous Covers Storm

According to Thomas Wheeler's "Flashback Review" on these, this is the second version of Storm in ToyBiz's Famous Covers line of 9" dolls action figures, created for the X-Men movie line of toys. I have dug deeply into the outer internet space and found zilch on her. I scored this on eBay quite some time ago from a seller who also had a Storm and Wolverine in black leather outfits styled after the movie outfits. He wasn't asking much for any of them, and I bought this white Storm on am impulse. To be honest, I can't find a thing about her on the internet- she might be somewhat rare!

She has a silky-feeling, luxurious cape- really nice! Some of the Famous Covers females looked as though they were ...a miss. But not Ororo, here- she's one of the prettiest dollies I've ever seen!  :D   The paint apps on her delicate face are flawless. Her head is on a ball-joint, too, making her more expressive than many of these sometimes "clunky" figures. She's a dainty flower. Ororo came to me with her silver mane banded in a long ponytail which I never let down- who would ever cover that angelic face?! *GASP*

The put some cool boots on this girl, thigh-high and fashioned from vinyl, simulating white leather. She does not like to stand in them, however. She definitely needs a doll stand. I just sold her off, so that's someone else's problem. Yeah, that's right... we broke up.

I had an initial photo session with this diva, and put her in the glass cabinet directly after where she lived the rest of her time with me. It's funny, feeling now I never appreciated her until I had her sold... maybe she was, ummm... a little too much like a Barbie doll pretty to live with me. Not that there's anything wrong with that!   :D   All joking aside, I've just been trying to thin the toy collection lately. Thankfully, I got a few decent photos of her before she left. I... I think I miss her...  Women! 

Believe it or not, I have another Storm figure by ToyBiz- one of those 10" Marvel Universe figures from the 90's. I've never opened her, and in retrospect somewhat wished she'd sold instead. While researching the Famous Covers Storm, I found that a 12" Storm that looked a lot like a Barbie was produced at some point- she was in white as well, and even included a casual change of clothes & accessories. If Hasbro produced a 3 3/4" Storm in white I'd buy it. I liked the Storm in the Marvel Universe Giant Size X-Men box set- Slangards gave her a thumbs down over at Joint Junkie. I wonder if Hasbro will take another whack. They gave us 35 Wolverines, after all!

Here's a shot of Storm with my Hasbro Cyclops- they made a dashing pair, don't you think?

I've learned a lot about Storm recently. I was unaware that Ororo married T'Challa (Black Panther) in 2006. She was created by author Len Wein & artist Dave Cockrum for the famous 1975  Giant Size X-Men #1 comic- I discovered who Cockrum was simultaneously, having read about him recently on Tony Isabella's blog. I've recently read some of the early 60's X-Men and 80's Uncanny X-Men. Chris Claremont took over the latter after Wein & Cockrum's Giant Size, fleshing out her backstory and making frequent use of the popular heroine in all the X-Men story arcs- even making her the leader of the mutant supergroup when Cyclops takes a leave of absence.

Ororo Monroe was the descendant of an ancient line of magic African priestesses, their shared physical traits that of white hair and blue eyes. She was orphaned at five, her parents killed when an airplane crashed into their home in Cairo, Egypt.  Found by a gang of street urchins who trained Ororo in the arts of thievery, she quickly became the star pupil of their master, Achmed el-Gibar. This was how Storm first met Professor X, having tried to pick pocket him long before she knew the extent of her mutant powers, and before he recruited her to the X-Men.

From the Comic Book Database:

Storm  possesses the psionic ability to manipulate weather patterns over limited areas. She can stimulate the creation of any form of precipitation such as rain or fog, generate winds in varying degrees of intensity up to and including hurricane force, raise or lower the humidity and temperature in her immediate vicinity, induce lightning and other electrical atmospheric phenomena, and disperse natural storms so as to create clear change. Storm can direct the path of certain atmospheric effects, such as bolts of lightning with her hands, and manipulate ocean currents. She is able to fly by creating winds strong enough to support her weight, the weight of others, and to propel her forward through the air. Storm can thus travel as fast as any wind can, and has reached speeds up to 300 miles per hour. Her powers over the atmosphere enable her to breathe at any speed, protect her from air friction, and grant her limited immunity to extreme heat and cold.

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Addendum 1/7/12

This figure was included in a "X-Mutations"2-pack that also featured a Halle Berry Storm from the X-Men motion picture (2000). A similar box set was also produced for Wolverine:

Batman the Animated Toys Blog!

In case you hadn't heard: BubbaShelby from Toyriffic and ChunkyB from Eclectorama asked me me to join their blog, Batman the Animated Toys! The blog is an exploration of the toys and other merchandise that were available during the era of Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. This tribute is meant to be a pool of collections and stories about the fun, memories, and joy of the toys, trinkets, and tidbits that make up this wonderful animated universe of the Dark Knight.

Toyriffic & Eclectorama were two of the first toy blogs I was looking at before I started the Super-DuperToyBox a year ago, and Bubba & Chunky were two of the first to show up on here, snooping around, and making friendly. And so it is really an honor to be asked by two peers I hold in such high esteem to be part of this Gotham team-up!

Go see my first post at Batman the Animated Toys, all about this Kenner Turbo Glider Robin from 1992! I stayed up all night like a good little Boy Wonder preparing it for you  :D

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Uncanny X-Men #246 & 247

Once again, just thumbing randomly through the back issues at BAM! I stumbled across this little slice of Uncanny X-Men at the same time I found the "Fall of the Mutants" issues #226-227. I bought it recognizing it was a tale involving Sentinels- Master Mold is a super computer/giant robot that builds other Sentinels. This is what I've been wanting to read about, People!

“The Day of Other Lights” (issue #246, July 1989) contains a lot of character development- to the degree that seems to separate author Chris Claremont from many who came before him. It's really well done! I've read comparisons of his writing to "soap opera", but he gives these characters some depth. Dazzler (alone, scantily clad in a dark catacomb under the X-Men complex??)  looks into a gem given to the X-Men by Siege Perilous, spooked by the other possible lives she could have ended up living, all of them disturbingly ending in death. The whole thing with Rogue sharing her body with Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel was new to me, and Claremont shares a conversation between Carol & Psylocke on a snowy New York stroll to a coffee shop about how that isn't going so well. Wolverine and Storm's conversation on his duties to the X-Men and himself as he comically tries to spruce up with some hair gel is well written.  Havok & Longshot's training session with Colossus is interrupted by a showboating Dazzler, and Senator Robert Kelly's wife killed by the Master Mold, originally a Hellfire Club girl under Sebastian Shaw's wing, who's ironically trying to garner support from the Senator for a Sentinel building project. There's a lot going on here!

The juicy battle scenes come in the next issue, “The Light That Failed” (issue #247, Aug. 1989)! When Nimrod (indestructible descendant of the robotic, mutant-hunting Sentinels from the future) was accidentally merged with Master Mold in the previous issue, it looked bad for the X-Men.

In an odd twist, Nimrod had evolved/matured beyond seeing mutants as a threat, and comes to the aid of our heroes, convincing the Master Mold that it has become a "mutant" by melding with him. Nimrod asks Master Mold to fulfill its prime directive to exterminate mutants, and so it must self-destruct.They are both sucked into the Siege Perilous along with Rogue (dressed in Ms. Marvel's outfit). Senator Kelly's wife killed in the meelee, he tells Sebatian Shaw he now will find whatever funding necessary to start the "Nimrod" program in order to see the X-Men destroyed- the ones he blames for his wife Sharon's death! This will, of course, ensure the survival of the Sentinels and Nimrod's evolution. Whoa!

Check out Jason Powell's interesting musings on this and other hidden subtext concerning Claremont & the editors at Marvel on Remarkable blog- Fascinating! There are more to comics than one might initially detect- I'm glad people like Jason are out there to guide me. What a great source! As I've said, I'm neither a seasoned critic of comics, nor literature of any kind, and I'm admittedly not a master academic. I only post these to share my enthusiasm for this fascinating & fun medium. Remember: you're never too old to learn something  :D

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Tuesday Comics Haul: More 80's Uncanny X-Men!

A few words on my Tuesday comics haul, my love for old comics, and what I'm currently reading  :)

I enjoyed the 1988 Uncanny X-Men issues I picked up last Sunday so much, that I went back to BAM! and picked up some more issues that surround the "Fall of the Mutants" event of early 1988. As I say in the video, while I'm a novice at the X-Men, these aren't my first experiences with the group. I had some Uncanny X-Men in my teen years, including this trade paperback (left) that follows the group through 1980, telling the story of Jean Grey's fall from grace in the "Dark Phoenix" story arc- loved it as a kid and read it again a year ago. This well-thumbed tome is fallin' apart at the seams! -Loved it as a kid and read it again a year ago.

Also of note, I picked up Captain Marvel: Secret Invasion  trade paperback (Marvel, 2007-2009) at The Fantasy Shop last Sunday. The Kree Warrior is back ...or is he?  The collected works of his return- Captain Marvel # 1-5 plus Civil War: The Return. Greatness! I love Captain Marvel, and read the TPB  The Life & Death of Captain Marvel, as well as The Avengers: The Kree-Skrull War (Roy Thomas' excuse to write more about Cap after the title was cancelled, I understand!) both this year. The artwork in this rocks and I've really been enjoying it! The melodramitic nature of Captain Marvel stories are an acquired taste I almost didn't get at first, but I find his space opera heroics are a blast to me now. FUN!

AND... The TPB of Avengers-Defenders War (Marvel, 2002) I scored on Amazon came in today- a reprinted collection of Avengers #115-118, and Defenders#8-11, the 1973 crossover clash of these two titles' Marvel superhero teams. Look at that new cover! You know that's gonna rock!

As stated in my last post, I have great a love for old comics & the old Marvel stories, remembering pop culture back when I was a kid, and thinking about that in context with all that came to be up to now. Fascinating!  They are a slice of a time past- an exciting, fun time in the Marvel Universe.

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Uncanny X-Men #226 & #227: Fall of The Mutants, 1988

After writing my last post on Wolverine & Kitty Pryde, I was checking out some used comics and stumbled onto some late 80's Uncanny X-Men. A couple that I picked up were from the "Fall of the Mutants" story arc. I didn't know exactly what I was looking at, but have been into the idea of taking a look back in time at The X-Men in general after thumbing through some old comics I had back in high school. I also recently found Vol. 1 & 2 of Marvel Masterworks: X-Men for a decent price on Amazon, and so I'm really excited about reading about the X-Men at their genesis here in the near future- can't wait!

All new to me, "The Fall of the Mutants" involved three separate non-intersecting storylines: one running through the Uncanny X-Men, one in X-Factor, and the other in the New Mutants title. Immediately upon opening Uncanny X-Men #226, there's action with characters I knew of: Colossus, Rogue, Wolverine, Mystique, & Storm. Thrown into the mix were some X-Men I didn't know much about: Forge, Longshot, Havoc, Psylocke, & Dazzler.  I was also limited in my knowledge of the Blob, Pyro, Crimson Commander, and Spiral. Exciting!

At some point earlier, Storm had gone missing while looking for Forge to help restore her lost mutant abilities, and the X-Men head to Dallas, Texas in search of her. A group of government sanctioned, reformed villains led by Mystique is after our heroes for refusing to file under the Mutant Registration Act, trapping them in a building, nearly killing Wolverine and leaving Rogue, Dazzler, & Psylocke unconscious in a pile of their wreckage out front. The irony of the situation isn't lost on Havoc who while tyring to figure out what to do notices a "tear in the sky", like daylight poring out into the night. All hell begins to break loose as a sudden "rift in time" mixes dinosaurs, barbarians, Cheyenne Indians, and futuristic vehicles & buildings right there in downtown Dallas, causing Wolverine to suggest a temporary teamup until crisis is averted. Hilariously, she agrees! Only in the comics, Kids- only in the comics  :D

Meanwhile, Forge and Ororo (Storm) are stranded like Adam & Eve on a world devoid of civilizations or other people, a trap created by Adversary on which he hoped the two mutants would turn on one another or simply not survive on. Storm goes on walkabout to figure things out, but Forge begins to feel the worm may turn. Upon Ororo's return months later, Forge has already built a solar paneled home, created a ring that can channel energy needed to send them back home, and built a device that will restore her lost powers. Handyman!  :D  Adversary reveals himself on Forge & Storm's return, having been under Wolverine's nose the entire time as some hillbilly with a gun, helping the X-Men keep danger at bay during the recent rip in time. 

Things get really weird in the next issue, #227, (March 1988)! The timewarp in Dallas has the X-Men battling demons in Vietnam where Forge's past self calls in a B-52 to raze the area where his fallen platoon lies, while Storm and Roma are prisoners on a space citadel up in the sky. Longshot's luck gets him aboard the ship first, his steel daggers showing Adversary's weakness to steel, and Colossus, Wolverine, and Rogue pouncing right after. Forge knows a real sacrifice has to be made to defeat Adversary, and Storm and the other X-Men agree to to give their combined life force, (the same number of souls used in the original enchantment) which Forge hurtles at Adversary, sending him back to his otherworldly prison. opened in a rage when Forge took the lifeforce of his slain platoon without permission all those years ago back in Vietnam. 

Kitty Pryde is one of countless millions watching this all broadcast live on television as a cameraman from the news station got caught in the middle of the X-Men's battle struggle against the Adversary, broadcasting the drama across the world. But Roma's Starlight Citadel, "beyond time & space" has access to eternity we learn, and so she brings the sacrificed heroes. This makes me wonder that if her power is  so vast that she can ressurect the X-Men, why didn't she just put Adversary down in the first place?! Anyway, they decide to let the world think they are dead as Wolverine suggests, the idea that villains they need to bring down would be caught unawares when struck. Next stop: Austrailia!

I have great love for these old comics, their quirky arcane printing, the old advertisements for candy, video games, model kits, ecetera. I like reading the old "Bullpen Bulletins" from that time, remembering pop culture back when I was a kid, and thinking about that in context with all that was to come later. Fascinating! The story was by living legend Chris Claremont who made Uncanny X-Men the top selling comic during his years writing it from 1975-1991. Mark Silvestri's detailed pencilling was lauded in this series, and he went on to found the indie Image comics with Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, & others later. A small slice of a time past- an exciting, fun time in the Marvel Universe.

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Marvel Universe Wolverine & Kitty Pryde

Aside from pairing these two X-Men  for a review due to their membership in the mutant supergroup, Logan & Kitty actually had a 6 issue mini-series published by Marvel between November 1984 and April 1985. This coming of age story featuring two of the most popular X-Men was a spinoff of the Uncanny X-Men title, the relationship of these two very different characters & Logan's mentorship of young Kitty making for an interesting contrast. This platonic big brother/little sister relationship appears to have lasted in the comics to this day, the comic included in the Wolverine Vs. Sabertooth 2 pack  prominently featuring Kitty as Wolverine's literary foil yet again. Kitty also changes her codename from "Sprite" to "Shadowcat", neither of which seems to have stuck for whatever reason.  

There are definitely some paint issues with my Kitty! But this seems to be par for the course with these Marvel Universe 3 3/4" figures. I'm not crazy about her face, nor her hair. The back of her mane looks fine, but her hair looks too tall in front? Not sure. And she looks as though she's wearing too much makeup- a lighter pink on the lips would've made her face look softer. Her body sculpt is fine for a young woman- I only wish her belt & X-Men buckle were sculpted into the figure like Wolverine's. He articulation is simple, though she has both a cut waist joint and an upper abdominal joint. No bicep or thigh swivels. I'm most certain it's all the same parts as the First Class Marvel Girl, right down to the hands. She came with a tiny Lockheed that actually has paint apps- kudos to Hasbro for putting him in, it made her unique.

Kitty's mutant ability is the power is manifested in the ability to phase through solid objects, and can take along people or other objects in physical contact with her. A result of this is disruption of any electrical field she may be passing through. Kitty also shows somewhat of a resistance to She also shares a sort of mental connection with Lockheed, a highly intelligent, dragon-like alien that followed her home after an outerspace mission. Originally portrayed as a highly intelligent adolescent girl with a lot of self doubt, but has since been depicted as a mature woman, even conumating her relationship with her teenage crush, fellow X-Man Colossus.

Why would anyone want another 3 3/4" Wolverine? It's as though Hasbro automatically mailed one to every kid in the suburbs last year! I now own five, and saw two I don't have on the pegs just this weekend  :D  Slangards recently claimed there are 35 Hasbro Wolverines in this scale, and he painstakingly listed them on Joint Junkie, begging Hasbro to just stop! :D   I wanted this Wolverine to go with my 90's Jean Grey & Cyclops, and I liked the sculpt. Many refer to this type of 90's X-Men outfit with straps/pouches/buckles galore as Jim Lee era,  after the famed artist's work on The Uncanny X-Men- a faint memory to me, having only picked up an issue or two in younger days.

The back of his package showed Logan bearing his teeth, but the figure in the package isn't- at some point, they gave this figure a new head sculpt. He's noticeably bigger than the other Marvel Universe Wolverines I have. The face looks way better than my Silver Samurai 2 pack Wolvie! Logan's muscles are deeply cut in this sculpt- extreme, like  90's comic art. Also extreme is Logan's waffle iron belt buckle, highly pronounced on the sculpt. Me likey! :D  Here he is with a couple other Wolverines I have, Silver Samurai 2 pack Wolvie and Sentinel Wolvie:

Group shot with the  Jean Grey, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, and Cyclops:

*See the Marvel Universe visual checklist at ItsAllTrue.Net

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The Invincible Iron Man: World's Most Wanted

Since we're on the subject of Iron Man here at the Super-DuperToyBox, I thought I'd write a post about a graphic novel I picked up for five bucks at the antique mall down the road awhile back, The Invincible Iron Man: World's Most Wanted.

 

Set directly after the Secret Invasion story arc, at the beginning of Dark Reign, Tony Stark's Extremis armor is failing after the Skrulls infiltrated his technology during their invasion of Earth , S.H.I.E.L.D. has been disbanded and replaced by Norman Osborn's H.A.M.M.E.R. With the power of the U.S. government fully behind him, Osborn demands from Stark the only thing he has left: the Superhuman Registration Database. Having made sure that all remaining copies of the database have been destroyed after hacking H.A.M.M.E.R.'s systems and frustrating the increasingly despotic Osborn, Tony reveals to Pepper Potts & Maria Hill the only remaining copy is in his brain. Deciding this copy must also be removed, and that this process will essentially erase his brain, Hill must be tricked into starting the process by Tony.

The story follows Hill, Potts & our hero through the process of Tony preparing for the end of his life and Stark Industries, biding his time while fighting off all Osborn throws in his way, including brawls with both Sub-Mariner and War Machine/Jim Rhoades. I found the dialogue, storytelling, and artwork to be quite satisfactory- it should be noted that author Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca won the 2009 Eisner Award for "Best New Series" for this Iron Man series.  I was left hanging though- there is a second part to this story (Invincible Iron Man, Vol. 3: World's Most Wanted, Book 2)!  Looks Like all be hunting that down  :D

This book was full of a lot of surprises, and knowledge I was unaware of, not having read the preceding material nor much Iron Man literature at all for that matter. That said, I wasn't going to pass up a $25.00 book for five bucks, and having read some of the earlier Avengers material recently, the character has started to to take shape in my mind more clearly. Like Thor, Iron Man was one of many Marvel characters I'd been introduced to in a group, never having taken the time to give him much thought as an individual. But Iron Man is a deep subject: his physical disablity, a shrapnel-filled heart kept unclogged by his own Repulsomagnetic technology, was the reason for him rising to the occassion and being all that he could to save both his own life and the lives of others. The hero is the man inside the suit- a normal, flagile human that had to give all he had to rise above. This makes Tony Stark a hero that every man can identify with.