Friday, March 8, 2013

Updates for 3/8/2013


UPDATES

Sometimes I come across new facts, and sometimes something I’ve written as a current event becomes old news to be replaced by a new current event. I’ve been stockpiling such facts until they reached critical mass, and I have now gone back and updated several entries. I’ve also read some issues outside the normal flow of continuity and written them up so they can be placed where they belong in the fictional timeline. This means I’ve updated several entries, but I don’t want you to have to go back again to double-check old entries to see where I made changes. I’ve assembled the changes below as well as placed them back in the old entries, so everything I’ve changed is here as well. 

Two of the issues below, Hulk Smash Avengers 1 and The New Avengers: Illuminati (2007) 1 were recently offered for free on the Marvel website, which is where I was able to read them for inclusion. The latter reminded me about the New Avengers: Illuminati (2006) issue I already had. 

(You can download these and other free comics at http://comicstore.marvel.com/ once you download their reader and start an account. You can read them on your computer even if you don’t have a tablet. If you like digital comics that are free, Marvel changes what they offer for free every Tuesday, but this also means that sometimes comics are removed and replaced with something new, so these particular two won’t be there forever. Once you’ve ordered it for your account, though, it’s in your digital collection even if the price later changes.) 

Also, here are lines for sites I use often: www.comicvine.com , marvel.wikia.com/Main_Page

The old info changeth!

Avengers 9 

·         Wonder Man seems to have reconciled with the Avengers at the end of the 2010 series. He has not shown up in the new 2013 series, so we’ll see if or how he is portrayed there. 

Avengers 70 

·         This Hyperion thinks he is a Microverse resident called Zhib-Ran. The real Zhib-Ran will not appear until New Thunderbolts 16 in 2006. 

Avengers 85 

·         The new Hyperion in Avengers (2013) is yet another alternate version of this Hyperion, or at least it seems to be. 

Avengers 136 

·         Although he had contributed to other Marvel stories before this, this was his first full-length writing credit at Marvel. He also did the coloring for the original issue. 

Avengers 103 

·         Starting this month with issue 5, Marvel Triple Action (1972) starts reprinting older Avengers tales, beginning with a reprint of Avengers 10.
·         With this issue, this series becomes the longest American Avengers series. The later Avengers West Coast (aka West Coast Avengers) only lasted 102 issues. Foreign editions reprint tales from various series and are sometimes weekly, so many of them have lasted longer. 

Between Avengers (1963) 11 and 12

 
Hulk Smash Avengers Vol 1 1

Hulk Smash Avengers 1
By Banner Betrayed!
July, 2012
Written by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz
Art by Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema
Lettered by Chris Eliopoulos
Colored by Nick Filardi
Edited by Bill Rosemann and Jake Thomas 

After tracking the Hulk in the American Southwest for a few days, the Avengers try to restrain him long enough for some special Stark restraints to arrive. Their hope is to convince him to return to the team. Despite being outnumbered, the Hulk is able to batter his way free and leap away. Coincidentally, Baron Zemo, Enchantress, and Executioner are magically observing and also wish to recruit the Hulk. Zemo offers to help the Hulk crush the Avengers, and they reach an agreement to team up. The Avengers continue their search alongside the military, and Zemo’s force attacks them. Both teams split off into individual battles. Captain America is fighting against Zemo’s Killbot, and Rick Jones and another solider attempt to sneak up on Zemo to take him out of the fight. The plan fails, and Zemo gets ahold of Rick and threatens to shoot him in order to torture Captain America by depriving him of another partner. The Hulk sees this and, because of his friendship with Rick, the Hulk causes a ground quake that frees Rick. Seeing the tide turning, the villains retreat. The Hulk claims that he knew all along his new allies would turn on him, and he bounds away. 

Captain America: “Save your breath, Iron Man. If he’s not going to cooperate, there’s no point in arguing. We’ll have to take him down like we practiced…” 

·         The team of DeFalco and Frenz also worked on the series A-Next, which showed the adventures of an Avengers team in the future that featured the superhero children of many of the Avengers characters.
·         Letterer Chris Eliopoulos designed the in-house font for the Marvel comics computer lettering software. He won Best Letterer Eagle and Harvey Awards in 2007 and 2008 respectively. He was also artist on the Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius series of comic books for Marvel.
·         Rosemann and Thomas were also editing the Avengers Academy series when this issue was released.
·         An opening note places this adventure between issues 7 and 14. I chose this spot since Wasp is using the Wasp sting established in issue 9, issue 10 “never happened,” Iron Man is missing in action during issue 11, and Wasp is in the hospital between issues 13 and 14. The team starts issue 12 off without anything pressing happening.
·         Iron Man has his Mark II armor on the cover, but the interior has him using his Mark III armor, which is appropriate for this time period.
·         Rick is still suffering feelings of abandonment in this issue, both from being rejected as Captain America’s partner and then left behind by the Hulk. 

Between Avengers 97 and 98

 
New Avengers Illuminati Vol 1 1

The New Avengers: Illuminati (2006) 1; pages 1-10
May, 2006
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Alex Maleev
Lettered by Chris Eliopoulos
Colored by Dave Stewart
Edited by Tom Brevoort, Andy Schmidt, Molly Lazer, and Aubrey Sitterson 

Within the week after the Kree-Skrull War, Iron Man calls a meeting of some of the more well-known superhumans on Earth, including Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Professor X, Mister Fantastic, Black Bolt, and Namor. Iron Man posits his concerns about how the heroes had not addressed the presence of the Kree and Skrull on Earth with a bit more seriousness, and he proposes that they join forces to create a more cohesive defensive unit in case of what he feels are certain future attacks from space. The others, especially Namor, voice their reservations about the idea, each with their own ideas of why it would not work. Mister Fantastic instead suggests that the individuals assembled here meet on occasion to share information, as this might have helped in the Kree-Skrull situation. Stipulating that no one else is to know about the meetings, most of them agree. Black Panther is the only one to dissent, thinking that secret meetings in which heroes presume to dictate the fate of Earth is not something he can support, and he fears what will happen when there is a disagreement about how to handle a situation. After he leaves the meeting, the rest do form a tentative alliance and agree to meet in the future. 

Iron Man: “If the Earth is attacked again…when the Earth is attacked again…we’re the ones who will defend it. There is no one else. No army is ready.” 

Namor: “You think you can put these people up as role models and delegates for the entire planet Earth? That is completely deluded.” 

Black Panther: “What happens when you disagree? When one of these Earth-changing moments finds you all at odds with each other, here in a secret meeting? What happens then? Walk away now.” 

·         Brian Michael Bendis was the regular writer on the flagship Avengers title New Avengers when this was published in 2006. He was one of the main architects of the Avengers line from 2005 until 2013 and continues to write the current Age of Ultron Avengers event. He or a series he wrote won several Eisner Awards between 1999 to 2003.
·         Alex Maleev is a Bulgarian artist who frequently collaborates with Bendis. Their Daredevil work received an Eisner Award in 2003 for Best Continuing Series.
·         Eliopoulos is credited as “VC’s Chris Eliopoulos.” This stands for Virtual Calligraphy, a lettering studio that Eliopoulos started.
·         Dave Stewart has won the Best Colorist Eisner Award multiple times, winning seven of the nine annual awards presented between 2003 and 2011.
·         Tom Brevoort started as Avengers editor with the 1998 Avengers series. He is currently Senior Vice President of publishing at Marvel, but he is still editor on the current 2013 Avengers series. He won the Eisner Award for best editor in 1997, before his Avengers tenure.
·         Since this takes place in the days following the Kree-Skrull War, Iron Man took time out from searching for Hawkeye to set up this meeting.
·         Teaming up more Mutants with non-Mutant heroes is brought up here, but rejected, as they feel all heroes would be grouped with Mutants and then not trusted by the public. Captain America recently formed a “Unity group” of Avengers in Uncanny Avengers that does combine mutants visibly into an Avengers team, hoping for the opposite, that instead it will improve the image of Mutants by association with the Avengers.
·         Despite his objections here, Black Panther will finally join the Illuminati Avengers group in the New Avengers 2013 series.
·         Once this group has formed, Professor X’s first order of business is Krakoa, a South Pacific island that developed its own mind after nuclear testing took place there. It seems Professor X got no help from this group, as he ended up having to send three different teams of his X-men to the island to either investigate it or subsequently rescue captured X-Men from it. 

Between Avengers 136 and 101

 
New Avengers Illuminati Vol 2 1

The New Avengers: Illuminati (2007) 1
February, 2007
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Brian Reed
Art by Jim Cheung and Mark Morales
Lettered by Cory Petit
Colored by Justin Ponsor
Edited by Tom Brevoort, Molly Lazer, and Aubrey Sitterson 

While the Skrull Emperor is berating his troops for allowing themselves to be defeated by Rick Jones, the newly formed Illuminati team appears on the royal flagship. They ask the Emperor to give up his plans for invading Earth and threaten to escalate their attacks on him if he refuses. When he is not impressed, Black Bolt lets loose a powerful sonic attack that destroys the flagship and part of the city below. The Illuminati try to escape the planet, but their craft is destroyed, and they are captured. Skrull scientists study the genetic codes and technology of the team. Skrulls masquerading as the main Avengers team show up to stage a rescue of Tony Stark, but Stark doesn’t buy the ruse for a moment. Even without his armor, he takes advantage of the opening of his cell, overpowers the Skrull imposters, and escapes. He frees his companions in turn, and they commandeer a Skrull craft and escape. Dorrek VII is shown to be pleased with the information that was gathered from the captives before they got away. 

Namor: “Rejoice. That was perfectly executed.”
Mister Fantastic: “We did what we had to do…we don’t have to enjoy it.”
Namor: “Why not? They already tried to kill us and take our planet. And they were planning to try it again. We did not start this. Well, I’ll enjoy it enough for all of us, then.” 

·         Artist Jim Cheung contributed to several other Avengers series, including New Avengers (2005) and Young Avengers (2005).
·         Mark Morales, Cheung, Petit, and Ponsor all worked on the Avengers: The Children’s Crusade series as well.
·         Letterer Cory Petit is also the regular letterer for both the Avengers (2010) and Avengers (2013) series. He is credited as working in the Virtual Calligraphy studio.
·         I chose this spot to put this story because after the events of 101, the team goes into the Incredible Hulk series and the subsequent Avengers issues follow in short order. They are free enough to go to a chess match at the beginning of 101, so I doubt they had much pressing Avengers business. The Illuminati could have rushed off after their original meeting, but I think it’s more likely Iron Man would stay to find Hawkeye rather than jet off to another galaxy.
·         The Skrulls in the issue are speaking the Sfdsdgf dialect of Skrull. Rather than a reference to something previously established, it looks like four letters next to each other on the QWERTY keyboard were used to make this name, so it may have just been a place holder that was never filled in with a real term. (Credit to http://www.jakehateseverything.com/2006_12_01_archive.html for noticing that.)
·         Emperor Dorrek VII mentions prophecies concerning the destruction of the Skrull Throneworld and Earth’s destiny as a new home for the Skrulls. The former will come true and had already happened for the readers in 1983 when Galactus destroyed Throneworld. The latter is the impetus for the Secret Invasion event where the Skrulls try to claim Earth completely, but it was still over a year in the future for the readers.
·         Despite the huge amount of destruction caused to the flagship, Dorrek VII survives.
·         The Skrulls mention a group of priests from the Vovco Islands that are en route to study Doctor Strange’s magical nature. Since they mention a geographic feature and not the name of a planet, this implies these islands are on the Throneworld.
·         The Skrulls that impersonate the Avengers also impersonate Wasp, even though she was not an active member of the team at the time.
·         Doctor Strange and Professor X team up to create a convincing illusion of Galactus that frightens the Skrull armada and allows the Illuminati to escape. They had no way of knowing the real Galactus would in future actually arrive and consume the same planet.
·         The data gathering on Earths’ heroes shown here finally enables the Skrulls to create a large number of Super-Skrulls and improve their mimicry abilities.

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