Marvel Spotlight #13 (January 1974)

Back in November 2017, I took a look at Marvel Spotlight #12 (October 1973), Daimon Hellstrom's first solo feature (He debuted in Ghost Rider's book beforehand). With his getting his own series on Hulu, and Halloween coming up, I thought I'd take a look at the next issue of his solo adventures. This is Marvel Spotlight #13!

The cover is a John Romita Sr. piece, and it's pretty cool. It depicts our man Daimon front and center, holding up his trident, surrounded by demons. The pose and proclamation give the impression that Daimon is a hero standing defiant against the demonic horde. Some would say that it's a bit undercut by Daimon himself having a demonic aura to him, but I disagree. It's a great cover.

"When Satan Walked the Earth"

Writer: Gary Friedrich

Penciler: Herb Trimpe

Inker: Frank Chiaramonte

Colorist: Petra Goldberg

Letterer: Artie Simek

The story begins with a mansion. Your stereotypical dark and mysterious mansion standing ominously at the shore of a lake. It's here that Daimon Hellstrom returns from Hell, fearing that he may have triggered a war thanks to his actions in the last issue. 

This mansion is Daimon's home. Upon entry, the half-devil senses an evil presence. His dear Satanic daddy may be there, so he has to check something. In the mansion's cellar is a sealed portal to Hell itself. It's been able to keep Ol' Scratch at bay for two years so far, but it wouldn't hurt to check it over. It's here that Daimon discovers that he has some guests...and they're not here for a friendly visit.

"Where's our money, Hellstrom?!"

The demons have surprise and numbers on their side, but it's not enough against Daimon. One demon even tries to attack him with his own trident, but ends up impaled by it for his trouble. Daimon can't be harmed by his own weapon, you see. After he dispatches the demons, Daimon locks away his trident and searches for something. What exactly is he looking for?

Ah, a Dark Souls strategy guide! I'm kidding. It's really a diary, belonging to his mother Victoria. It's here we learn about Daimon's origins. Victoria Wingate was once a lonely young woman until she met a rather handsome man. He wanted to introduce himself, as he was a man of wealth and taste... The two started to enter what seemed to be a perfect romance, eventually getting married. Soon after Daimon and his sister was born. The comic reveals that Daimon was the older of the siblings by three years.

Mr. Hellstrom would take long "business trips", but Victoria was not bothered. After all, she was busy playing housewife. One night, she went to look for him and little Satana (yeah, this was why the Helstrom Hulu series gave her the name "Ana". A bit less obvious), and found the two of them engaged some...unusual father-daughter bonding.

"We're doing some surgery on this cat, honey! Honest! You know little Ana wants to be a vet!"

Mr. Hellstrom reveals his true nature as Satan to her, and it drove Victoria mad. Before she died, she learned that her children were adopted, and that Satan had disappeared. The last time that Daimon visited her she gave him a chain of Ankhs, as a protective talisman against Satan. Daimon's own memories reveal that despite this, he had a pretty normal childhood. As a young man, Daimon wanted to take up the religious life, becoming a priest. He spent three years in a monastery, and was about to be ordained when he got word of his inheritance. 

His inheritance was his parents' old home, which he would have gotten when he turned 21. So, how old was Damian supposed to be here? It was then he discovered his mother's old diary, and learned about his half-demon heritage. He then heard a voice summon him, commanding him to leave behind his ankh chain. He obeys and finds himself in Hell itself and in the presence of "Satan" himself.

"I forgot to put on pants again, didn't I?"

Big Red himself wants to explain his side of the story, but he just shows Daimon around and basically tells him "rule by my side or you'll be tortured forever", the standard Devil-temptation shtick. He gives the redheaded half-demon some time to think it over. Daimon decides that next he meets his old man, they're going to duke it out. But how? Well, our resident half-Devil has an idea.

You see, in his tour of Hell, Daimon learned that there were mines the extracted a metal called netheranium. Netheranium is basically Satan's Kryptonite, according to Victoria. If that was the case, why were the mines unguarded? Well, that's because the knowledge that this stuff can harm Satan is not known by the workers, so they can't revolt. Oh, and the mines are guarded.

Yeah, Satan's not quite as dumb as Daimon thought. The half-demon priest-in-training retreats into a cave. The dragon-demon-monster fires a blast of flame into the cave. Daimon protects himself by hiding behind a boulder made of netheranium. The metal's properties allowed not only protection from the flames, but also it reflected the flames back at the monster, killing it by literally making its head asplode.

(head explode)

You'd think a dragon would be immune to its own flames. Maybe it had a birth defect. Daimon sees the workers come out of hiding and tries to rally them to rise against their demon masters. The workers are surprisingly open to the idea and start fighting with their demon overlords. Satan himself decides to intervene. He figures that this is Daimon's way of turning down his offer. As such, he's going to nuke his son. 

Daimon then figures "Hey, I'm this horn-head's kid, I must have inherited some of his power!" He then realizes he can shoot fire from his hands. The two then fight some more, Daimon causing a rockslide to distract Ol' Scratch. This allows the future New Defender to get Satan's trident. He then uses the trident to summon Satan's personal chariot and basically use it to escape. Once he comes back to Earth, he seals the portal in his home with some netheranium. 

That was two years ago. But now the seal is broken, and Daimon senses that Satan is out there, ready to strike. And only one of them will walk away from this eventual confrontation...

This was pretty enjoyable, but it is a bit basic. It does make some leaps because of its length, like Daimon figuring out his powers right away and the like. It has that wacky overdramatic stuff that makes 70s comics fun.

Trimpe's art looks...well, I'm honestly mixed about it. I think he was trying to go for more of a horror vibe. I'm kind of not a fan of his rendition of Daimon myself. I get that he's the son of the Devil, so he would have some devil in him, but I kind of wish he didn't make it quite so obvious with the pointed ears, fangs, and the eyebrows. Personally, I would have gone for a bit of a compromise. Maybe have those features show more when he gets angry or something like that.

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2016 trade paperback Son of Satan Classic. Thanks fore reading this blog entry, and Happy Halloween! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! See you next time!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I hope it was a safe and fun day for all of you. Unfortunately, I was unable to dress up this year as I had to work (and it was a bit cold, too), but I did see some neat costumes. One of the cashier girls was dressed as Marge Simpson, and another was dressed as Harley Quinn.

Hope you all had fun and enjoyed some candy! See you around!

Text Play: Pokemon Zeta #14

Hello, and welcome back to the Vesryn region! It's time for number 14 in my Text Play through Pokémon Zeta!

As always, I want to warn you, I will be spoiling the whole game, so please keep that in mind before reading this. If you want to play it for yourself, you can download it at the game's official wiki here. And with that, let's rock!

Last time, we went through Route 312, and battled Jake. Jake is an idiot. My Pokémon and I smacked him around like the idiot he is. I get the feeling we'll encounter the so-called "King of Swag" again. Hopefully, we won't see his smug mug around for a long time. Heh. I'm a poet and didn't even know it. Anyway, I thought it would be nice to battle some of the remaining Trainers on Route 312. Get some extra XP in. Once that was done, I made my way to Route 313.

Route 313 is a maze of raised platforms over a river. You can encounter wild Pokémon on the bridges, and there's a variety of trainers here to battle. I expected lots of Fishermen here, as this route is over a river, but there's only one. Huh. It's strange, but in a good way. I like it because it forces you to bring a variety of Pokémon with you on this journey. They are generally easy to avoid if you just don't want to deal with them on your travels at the moment.

The things about this route is that the wild Pokémon you find here can be very tough to catch. I get what they're going for with this. The Pokémon species you encounter on this Route are fully-evolved. Well, except for Skarmory. It has no evolved forms or pre-evolutions. Unless Sword and Shield changed that. Anyway, it makes sense that wild fully-evolved Pokémon would be pretty tough. But the game seems to almost make it...unfair.

What I mean is that catching these Pokémon can be very frustrating. You can bring their lifebars to the red, you can put them to sleep, you can try to catch them with Ultra Balls (Ultra Balls are the most powerful Pokéballs that you can buy), but they refuse to get caught. It's a real pain.

I hate trying to catch Pokémon here. I really do. It can be done, but it requires a lot of luck, and willingness to spend a pretty penny on Ultra Balls. And they're not cheap. Really. I know I don't have to capture all the Pokémon on the Route, most likely I'll never use them in battles, but I would like to complete the Pokédex. After all, that's usually one of the goals of Pokémon games. "Gotta Catch 'Em All", and all that. I especially hate Gliscor. Hate trying to catch them here. Hate hate hate HAAAAATE Gliscor.

Look at it. Look at Gliscor. Look at that smug flying squirrel scorpion bat thing. Look at that face with its cocky grin that mocks me. Well, joke's on you, buddy! I got a Gligar! Gligar is Gliscor's pre-evolution. I just need to give it an item called a Razor Fang and level it up during the night! Who's the man now, Gliscor?! WHO DA MAN NOW, YOU BAT SCORPION FLYING SQUIRREL JERK?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!

Now where was I? Oh yeah! Once we get through Route 313, you enter a cave to go to Route 314. "But wait!" You say to me. "You said that Route 313 is a maze of raised bridges, right?" Well, yes. Yes it is. But don't you worry. I'll get you through. It's actually kind of simple.

1. When you enter the route, you will encounter a fork in the road. Turn left here.

2. Follow the path until you get to another fork in the road. One path goes right, the other goes up. Go right. The upward path takes you to a dead end.

The item is a Rare Candy, if you're wondering. If you end up here, just head back to the previous fork, and then go right.

3. Shortly after going right, you'll encounter another fork, with paths going up and down. Go on the downward path. And then just follow the path until you reach the entrance to Route 314.

Route 314 is a short underground route. You just travel through five floors on with ladders.

If you're worried about trainers, there's none on this route. However, there is something interesting on the third floor.

Don't worry about this right now. We can't do anything with it at the moment. Once we make our way through Route 314, we arrive at Treader Town. Treader Town is a small mountain town, located right at the base of Mt. Press, the Everest of the Vesryn region.

The metal doors there are the entrance to Mt. Press itself. It's closed off right now, so don't worry about it. We'll get through that place in due time. I'm just hoping it's not as bad as that lousy mountain in Pokémon Mega Adventure. God, I hate Mt. Snarlet. I haven't thought about that game in a long time. I really should finish it. Maybe I should. One day...

Anyway, Treader Town a bit unusual from other towns in the region for one reason. If you've been following this Text Play, you may have read me pointing out that the towns in this game tend to follow a theme: Lakes. The towns here are named after real life lakes from around the world. It's a neat theme as we got to learn about places it's likely many of the readers of this blog never heard of.

Treader Town seems to buck the tradition, not being named after a lake. Well, I don't think there is a Lake Treader. But I get why the town has its name. It's on the base of a mountain, so it's best to stop here and get supplies before treading up the mountain, ha ha.

Yeah, I apologize. Treader is a small town, but there's quite a bit to do here. For one, there's the Game Corner. When you enter, you get greeted by this man.

He shows you around the games available at the Game Corner: The slots and Triple Triad. Yes, Triple Triad from the Final Fantasy series. I'm guessing at least one of the game's developers was a fan. He also gives you a Coin Case. Gotta carry your money in something, and a moneybag would be a bit obvious. He then gives me a free deck of Triple Triad cards. Well, you can choose between a Fire, Water, Electric, or a Grass-themed deck. Considering I chose a Fire-type as my first starter here, I chose the Fire deck.

The slots are pretty fun. I got two credits the first time I played them.

One of the main events of this place is the Treader Town Gym. This is the sixth gym we're going to have to face. The leader, one Avery, is a specialist in Bug-type Pokémon. We'll have to load up some Fire, Rock, and Flying types to take him down.

We can also find another Ancient Tome in this game. It's located in a house that's located above the Poké Mart.

You see that woman in front of the sink? You have to get behind her and talk to her. The Tome is hidden under the sink. Yeah. Under the sink. ...who is hiding these Tomes? I can imagine these things are ancient and very important, so why hide one of these things under some random person's house in some mountain town? It's just so hilarious to me.

There's an opportunity to add to your Pokémon collection in this very house. You just have to talk to the old man.

He'll give you a Spinda for any Pokémon. Seriously. Just give him anything. I had an extra Phanpy, so I figured he'd like that.

Cute little fella, ain't he? I always enjoyed watching Spinda stagger around in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. It's kind of like they're drunk or something. I can imagine that in-universe, Spinda tend to be portrayed in media as either cloudcuckoolanders or alcoholics. Anyway, there's an opportunity to add to our HM collection here. There's a house near the Poké Mart. An old man resides in it, chasing around his Wingull.

This is what you get for letting a Pokémon drink soda, I guess. When you talk to him, he mentions that his Wingull is named Peeko. Wait, I know of a old man who had a Wingull by that name. Is this Mr. Briney? Yeah, in Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald as well as in its remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, you do a sidequest in which you save Peeko from Team Aqua or Magma (depending on the version). In gratitude, Mr. Briney will take you between Dewford Town and Slateport City. I wonder what he's doing here in Vesryn. Is that even Mr. Briney? Is it a relative of his?

Either way, he gives you the HM05 (Waterfall). It's a Water-type attack that basically allows the player to climb up waterfalls. In Gens II and III, you could go down waterfalls without the HM, but you needed it to go up. In Gens IV-VI, you needed the HM to go down as well as up, which makes no sense to me. I mean, it seems easier to go down a waterfall than go up. I can also have to use this item once before we end up discovering an item that effectively replaces this. I know that I've gone into a rant about this before, but I just have to say it again. This is the only thing about this game so far that I have really hated. I hate that this game has items that can be used as replacements for the HMs, but the game not only still has the HMs, but forces me to get and use the HMs before I get the items! Just give me the items! What's the point of having HM01 (Cut), when I can get a Machete, which does the same thing?! It's needlessly redundant! I'm sorry, it's just that this drives me nuts.

I know you've all heard this rant before, and I do apologize. It's just...that's the big thing that drives me nuts about this game. Anyway, let's get back on track. To get inside Mt. Press, we have to defeat the Gym here. As I established earlier, the Gym here has a fondness for Bug-type Pokémon. Avery's style of battling involves using powerful Bug Pokémon and using status ailments to his advantage.

That makes sense. Bug-types tend to learn attacks that emphasizes status effects. Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, Acid, that kind of thing. To counter this, I'll need Pokémon that can hit hard, and hit fast. Flying, Fire, and Rock are strong against Bug. I can keep my Magmortar and my Butterfree on the team. Butterfree knows Gust (a Flying-type attack), and Magmortar is a Fire-type.

I might bring out the Murkrow and Charmeleon I caught. Charmeleon can become Charizard, which is Fire/Flying. Murkrow is a Flying-type, and mine knows Wing Attack. I also have a Nosepass, which is a Rock-type. It's at a rather low-level, so I'll have to do a LOT of grinding to catch it up to the others. 

And I think that's where we'll stop for the month. I have some work to do, so I'd better get on that. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask if you go out! See you next time! 

Pokémon Obtained:

Route 313

- Honchkrow

- Mandibuzz

- Skarmory

- Swellow

Route 314

- Drilbur

Treader Town

- Spinda

The Batman Teaser, My Thoughts

At the event known as the DC Fandome, many things were announced, including a teaser trailer for the upcoming film known as The Batman. Directed by Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson as the titular caped crusader, the film tells the tale of a younger Batman who has not a lot of crimefighting experience. So, how is the teaser? Let's take a look!

Huh. Usually trailers like this start with some music. Usually some old classic tune. 

"We know join Mask Man in the middle of this duct-taping session..."

Considering the times we live in right now, I can think of quite a few people that need that treatment...

Hi, Commissioner Gordon! How's Babs? Yeah, Jeffrey Wright is playing him in this flick. Neat.

I gotta admit, that's a nice-looking Batsuit. And I bet he's thinking "The Riddler's been drinking again."

You know, with Robert Pattinson wearing the Batsuit this time around, I had to admit, I was kind of hoping this would pay homage to the Red Rain trilogy. Get it? Batman was a vampire in those and Robert Pattinson played a vampire.

We also got Catwoman and the Penguin attending this party. Is this a remake of Batman Returns?

He's also the night. 

Well, this tri, this trailer looks pretty good. I liked the look of the Batmobile the best. It had that 1970s vibe to it. I do hope this film get to show off the detective skills that Batman has more. That's something that would truly make it stick. And the cast look pretty good, too. I think this will be a fun film. 

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you enjoyed it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! See you next time! 

Avengers #212 (October 1981)

In the comics, Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, was one of the original five Avengers. He had fonded the group alongside The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Iron Man (Tony Stark), the Hulk (Bruce Banner), and the Mighty Thor. During Hank's career as an Avenger, he became known for changing up his superhero identity. He would become Goliath for a while, then become Yellowjacket.

When Jim Shooter became the writer of the Avengers' book, he theorized that the reason why Hank changed up his identity so much was because of feelings of inferiority. As such, he crafted a storyline that would have an effect on Hank's character for years afterward, both in-universe and in the real world. How did that storyline start? Let's find out in Avengers #212.

The cover is an Alan Kupperberg piece, and it's pretty cool. You have the Elfqueen in front of the Capitol Building, knocking the Avengers back with her magic. It gives the idea that she is quite the powerful threat. And it's not wrong there.

"Men of Deadly Pride!"

Writer: Jim Shooter

Penciler: Alan Kupperberg

Inker: Dan Green

Colorist: Ben Sean

Letterer: Janice Chiang

Editor: Jim Salicrup

Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with dawn rising over New York City, including Avengers Mansion. The Avengers' loyal butler, Edwin Jarvis, is doing his morning rounds. However, what the man does not realize is that he's about to be attacked.

Nope, this is not some brand-new villain. It's just Tigra, the Avengers' newest member. The Female Feline Fury just wanted to give Jarvis a bit of a harmless scare. It's stuff like this (as well as an allergy to cats) that makes Jarvis find her more uncomfortable than other Avengers he's served in the past. It's here we get a bit of a recap of Tigra's origin.

In a fancy apartment on the Upper East Side, Tony Stark is getting ready for his day. He's having some flat Dr. Pepper for breakfast (This was shortly after the events of "Demon in a Bottle" over in Iron Man's book). He's staying over at the apartment of a lady he was seeing. He gets into his Iron Man suit and jets off...but not before he calls his secretary and tells her to send a cleaning crew over and some roses.

In Brooklyn Heights, Steve Rogers flips out of bed. He grabs a shower, suits up in his Captain America gear and heads to the Mansion. While he heads out, Rogers is thinking about the big roster shake-up in the previous issue. Vision, Scarlet Witch, and the Beast had left the team in the last issue, and Tigra had joined up. Cap worries about the feline woman. After all, not much was known about her at the time, and he decides he'll keep an eye on her. After all, being an Avenger can be rather...demanding, physically and mentally.

We next look in on Donald Blake, who is working in a West Side medical center. He's leaving for the day, as he had to work the night shift. He walks into an alleyway, and undergoes an incredible transformation.

Yes, our dear doctor is actually the Mighty Thor! With a swing of his powerful hammer Mjolnir, he takes to the skies, Avengers Mansion his destination. Four Avengers down, two to go. And who are those two Avengers? Why, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, aka Yellowjacket and Wasp of course! However, the two seem to be having a bit of trouble in paradise.

Yeah, Hank seems to have grown a bit cold and is in a foul mood. He destroys one of Wasp's outfits, and loses his temper with their chauffeur over their limo being stuck in traffic. Eventually, they manage to arrive. We get a bit of club business. It's time to elect a new Chairman for the team. Iron Man and Thor decided to let Cap remain Chairman for now, as the team recently got its roster shake-up, and letting Cap stay Chairman will let it keep some stability for now. The two veteran Earth's Mightiest Heroes waived it as their right as founding members.

An infuriated Hank roars that he should have been consulted. He was a founder as well. So was Wasp, but Hank doesn't bring that up. He rants that he is fed up with being forgotten, but the matter is tabled. We next shift scenes to something...bizarre.

This little cottage, located out in the wilds of...Virginia, does have a pair of occupants. Rather...strange occupants. Meet Linnea and Gorn. She's a sorceress and he's a barbarian. The setup for a Hyborean Era sitcom. Gorn is feeling a bit restless. You see, Linnea, aka the Elfqueen, was once hunted as a witch. It's funny she's called "Elfqueen", as she's not an elf. Gorn is tired of hiding from the world as a result. If people give them trouble, they will fight.

The two go into town...which happens to be Washington, DC. Yup, they were living right near the nation's capital. How did they get there? They hinted they lived in the cottage for likely centuries. How did they end up living within a horse ride's distance of the nation's capital? And how come nobody in Washington DC has ever noticed them?

(Huh?)

The two find their way to a restaurant, and try to order to order some food. They're awestruck and very confused by the ways of the modern world. Gorn and Linnea's relationship here is shown to be paralleling Hank and Jan's. At one time, the two were very much in love. But now, their union has hit some rocks.

A modeling agent notices Linnea and basically pulls the whole "You ever considered being a model" routine on her. Gorn gets angry about this and confronts the man. However, the agent has taken six whole lessons in Jiu-Jitsu. Which he demonstrates.

I love that bit. It's a nice subversion of the whole "tough guy easily beats down skinny guy" routine. Gorn didn't like his free trip to the salad bar and decides to try to practice his long-neglected skill at defenestration. However, Linnea is able to save the agent from learning what glass tastes like with her magic. The restaurant's owner tries to remove them, but Linnea gives him her golden necklace as an attempt to pay them back for the damage they caused. This inspires the manager to give them the five-star treatment.

After the meal, they leave and find that their horse is gone. Gorn had earlier tied its reins to a parking meter. Guess they forgot to put money in it. Linnea's like, "Gorn, this place is confusing and scary. Let's go home to our vale, where things make sense." Gorn refuses, as he feels like a pet. He wants to regain the past glory he had. Before he can start his quest, a cop goes over to talk to him. After all, there are laws about carrying swords in public nowadays. Gorn accepts what he thinks is the cop's challenge, but he gets maced and cuffed for his trouble.

Linnea rescues her overly-macho barbarian boyfriend, and the two argue over going home. Gorn gets so infuriated that he ends up smacking Linnea. She angrily flies off. Let him pursue his stupid glory. A horrified Gorn tries to apologize, but she doesn't hear it. The Conan-wannabe wanders off into the seedier part of the city.

Over at Avengers Mansion, Iron Man and Yellowjacket are checking out one of the Quinjets, as it wasn't working quite right. Wasp and Tigra are discussing the sightings of Linnea and Gorn. News travels fast in the Marvel Universe. Yellowjacket found the component that was acting up. Hey, he can fix it, no problem. Just call him Hank the Builder!

(can we fix it)

Wasp suggests another idea. She can have her butler fetch a spare component from Hank's lab and can bring it over. It would only take a couple of minutes. Hank explodes at that, ranting that Janet will take any opportunity to show off her wealth. He's Hank Pym, dagnabit! He doesn't need her money! The other Avengers worry about this. Captain America wonders if he should do something.

...yes. Yes you should, Steve! I get that you're uncomfortable about getting into what you think is a family matter, but these two are active members of the team you're leading! This can cause problems in the field! Meanwhile, Gorn meets some...potential new friends.

They don't like Conan cosplayers, and they wish to express their dislike of Conana cosplayers by beating him up. However, Gorn is a rather experienced warrior, so he handily thrashes them. A couple of cops see the fight, and recognize the barbarian. There's an all-points bulletin out on him. Gorn spots the cops and challenges them. They respond by giving him some hot lead.

Linnea appears, but it's too late. Gorn is dead. The Elfqueen furiously attacks the policemen, and vows revenge. She then goes on a rampage. The Avengers arrive (minus Wasp) and engage the mad sorceress. She is able to take down Iron Man. Thor restrains her, but she's able to toss him off. Yellowjacket prepares to blast her, believing that if he does, he can finally get the team to respect him. But his disruptors decide to short out, showing that the universe hates Hank Pym.

The Elfqueen tries to pick up Mjolnir, Thor's enchanted hammer. However, she is not worthy of it, so she ain't going to get it. So, she tries another tactic, one I think is actually pretty clever: She forms the ground around the hammer into a fist, and uses the earth fist to smack Thor with his own weapon.

(smart)

Tigra tries to engage the sorceress, but she gets a free trip heading to orbit for her troubles. Luckily, Iron Man Airlines picks her up. The Elfqueen tries to sic a building on Captain America. The Sentinel of Liberty thinks about her as he dodges the debris. She speaks a language nobody seemingly understands. Her dress is seemingly from an ancient time. Cap wonders if she's like him in a way, a person out of time. She tries to block Cap with a wall of fire, but the super-soldier is able to leap over it. He then tries another tactic with her: Staying still.

(huh)

He's hoping that his showing no aggression towards her will convince her to stand down. It seems to start working, but Hank Pym's got his disruptors working again.

Believing she was tricked, Lianna tries to bring down a car on the scientist. Hank's suit shorts out again, and there's no time to dodge. Hank Pym is a dead man...well, no.

The Wasp had followed the team from New Jersey, and Hank boils with fury over it. Again, Janet gets one up on him. He gets humiliated again by her again. Cap tries to speak to Lianna again, pleading with her not to kill Hank. The other Avengers recover and are ready to rush her, but the Star-Spangled Avenger assures her that will not be necessary. Lianna's rage gives way to sadness. With tears in her eyes, she walks towards the body of Gorn.

The Avengers are understandably confused about this. Steve tries to give her his condolences despite the language barrier. Lianna doesn't understand his words, but she does pick up the compassion and nobility in his voice. This world took the only man she loved from her, and she can't find it in her heart to forgive. But for Steve Rogers, she agrees to leave in peace...for now, anyway. She takes to the air and vanishes in a flash of light. The story ends with the Avengers wondering if she'll ever return...well, except for one.

A worried Wasp looks over at Hank Pym, but the Yellowjacket is too busy fuming, bitter thoughts churning in his mind.

  

I liked this issue, but it does have some...well, issues. For once is the Elfqueen herself. Why is Linnea called that? She's not an elf, nor is she shown to be the ruler of an elf kingdom. It's bizarre. One thing I did like about this issue is that it showed Linnea and Gorn being confused about the modern world. It does make sense that two people from a presumably medieval-like time of swords and sorcery would be utterly befuddled by things like cars and movies and electric razors. I also like that Gorn and Lianna's relationship parallels Hank and Jan's, and I wish that parallel was explored more. Maybe having them being forced together? Alan Kupperberg turns in some fine art for this issue.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2012 trade paperback Avengers: The Trial of Yellowjacket. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show

Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

This game was a surprise to me. In case you're wondering, Zoids is a line of model kits depicting robotic versions of various animals, including legendary creatures. The line of toys would spawn a franchise of its own that would make its way to various media, including anime, comics, and of course, video games. This game is based on the 5th Zoids anime: Zoids Wild. Let's look at the launch trailer!

That robotic velociraptor looks like Barney's cooler cousin.

I would love to ride the red one to work. That would be sweet.

That blue wolf mecha brings me back. One of the characters in Zoids: New Century used a blue Wolf zoid. Brad Hunter and his Command Wolf.

I feel like that wolf's attack should be accompanied by Ozzy Osbourne's "Bark at the Moon".

Man, I bet the Yellow Ranger in the last Power Rangers movie wished the Sabertooth Tigerzord looked this cool. Yeah, I saw that movie on TV some time back. I thought it was pretty good, but I didn't like the Zord designs.

Well, from what I understand, this game is meant for little kids (around ages 10-12), and I can see why they would find this game appealing. It's got robotic animals and it's very colorful. It does look cool. Although I would love to see a Zoids game that maybe employs some elements of a tactical RPG, commanding a team of Zoids with different strengths and weaknesses. Tactical RPGs aren't normally my thing, but I'd play this. Especially if you can use members of the Blitz Team from New Century.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask. See you next time!

X-Men: The Hidden Years #1 (December 1999)

In 1963, Marvel Comics debuted a little comic book known as The X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the X-Men were billed as the "Strangest Teens of All". They were a group of young people that were born with a genetic quirk that made them into mutants, hated and feared by "normal" humans. The book had a lukewarm reception. Over the next seven years, comic luminaries like Roy Thomas and Neal Adams worked on the book.

Despite Thomas and Adams' work being acclaimed, the book was cancelled with #66. In a way. You see, the title did continue on, but it only reprinted the earlier issues until issue #93. The X-Men did continue appearing in various books, mainly as guest stars. This meant that the team must have continued to have adventures after the book went to reprints.

That's where The Hidden Years stepped in. Appropriately, this title was helmed by a man who's name was already tied to the X-Men: John Byrne. The Hidden Years was meant to reveal the 'lost history' of the X-Men after the events of X-Men #66 and before their successful revamp in Giant-Size X-Men #1. So, how did this hidden history start? Let's find out in X-Men: The Hidden Years #1!

The cover is pretty good, if a bit basic. A John Byrne and Chris Dickey piece. It is a bit basic, though. It depicts the original X-Men leaping into action against an unseen foe, a spectral Professor Xavier behind them. He looks like he's barking orders.

"Once More Savage Land"

Writer: John Byrne

Penciler: John Byrne

Inker: Tom Palmer

Colorist: Gregory Wright

Letterer: John Byrne

Editor: Jason Liebig

Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras 

The story begins with the original X-Men battling the Hulk, as shown in X-Men #66 (March 1970). Ol' Jade Jaws is not once to sneeze at, though. He uses his mighty meaty fists to make a hole in the ground, threatening to cause Scott and Jean to fall into the underground lab miles below. Good thing the Beast has their backs, with a bit of help from a ladder and a helicopter. Angel joins them, announcing he has the device they were looking for. The group leaves, and the Hulk doesn't pursue. All he wants is to be left alone.

So, what was the device they were looking for? Well, it's a small gamma-ray emitter. The X-Men hope it can affect their ailing mentor, Charles Xavier. The device works like it should, restoring the old prof back to being hale and hearty. It seemed that happy times have returned for the merry mutants.

However, after three days, one of the X-Men makes an announcement: Robert Drake, the Iceman, is leaving. You see, Bobby is really angry about Professor X keeping secret his own battles with the Z'nox. The man even went so far as to fake his own death. Yeah, Xavier being a bit of a jerk is nothing new. Only Jean Grey knew about his secret plan. As such, Bobby feels he can no longer trust Xavier...nor can he trust Jean anymore, either.

The other four original X-Men try to convince him to stay, but the ice-maker's mind is made up. He's going to make like a banana and split. Professor Xavier summons the whole X-Men team: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, Havok, and Lorna Dane (She didn't get the "Polaris" codename yet). Xavier is made aware of Iceman's departure, but he's got more important things to worry about. Mainly, he wants to debrief the group on what he was up to since he faked his death.

This is used to help readers get an idea of where we are exactly at in X-Men's history at this point. We get a recap of the X-Men's battle against the subterranean monster called Grotesk in X-Men #42 (March 1968). It was during this battle that Professor Xavier seemingly sacrificed his life to stop Grotesk. However, it turned out that the Xavier that died was actually an imposter, a former mutant villain called Changeling. The Changeling had discovered that he was dying of a terminal illness, and wanted to spend his remaining time redeeming himself.

We get much more recap of the events of the X-Men's book up to this point. Iceman's meeting with Lorna Dane, the discovery of Scott's brother Alex Summers, which led up to battles with the Living Pharoah and Lawrence Trask's Sentinels. The X-Men returned to the Savage Land, where they joined forces with Ka-Zar to battle Magneto. Afterwards, they would meet a future X-Man and Avenger, the Japanese mutant known as Sunfire. It was after this they discovered that Xavier was actually alive.

Xavier is left with one question, though. Why didn't the X-Men check to make sure Magneto was dead? The Beast explains that they felt they didn't need to. After all, Magneto may have been powerful, but he was just as squishy as any human. Even he couldn't survive a ton of rock coming down on his head. Xavier is furious. Magneto has survived seeming death before. He demands the X-Men head back to the Savage Land and check for a body. Nine hours later, the X-Men are on their way.

The X-Men are naturally a bit frustrated. They're not just plain ol' students anymore. They've shown they can shine on their own. Scott asks Jean if she has any idea what's up with Xavier. After all, they're both telepaths. But Jean's not sure. His mind was no more open to her than any of the others. She does sense that his mind is...off. Maybe that cure that Bruce Banner provided was not as effective as they thought. Considering what gamma rays can do in the Marvel Universe, it is plausible that they may have caused some...issues. Heck, read some Immortal Hulk sometime.

However, they're going to have to table the issue for now. They've entered the Savage Land, and hit some turbulence. Back at the Xavier Institute, there's another variety of turbulence about to hit. Lorna Dane and Alex Summers are taking a nice walk on the grounds, when Bobby Drake shows back up.

He wants to blow this pop stand, and he wants Lorna to come with him. Smooth, Drake.

(roll eyes)

Alex doesn't take too kindly to this, and the two boys end up having a superpowered brawl...which ends up having some collateral damage neither young man wanted.

Nice work, Bobby. Lorna gets in the Iceman's face, screaming "I'M NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND" at him. Xavier telepathically ends this fight, as he needs them to go help the other X-Men. Bobby storms off. After all, he quit the X-Men. Back to the Savage Land! Warren flies out of the X-Men's flying machine, guiding them through the turbulence. But then another problem erupts. The turbulence broke something in the craft, not allowing the to land. Scott fixes that with his optic blasts.

Hank brings down the landing gear, but it snags on something and it causes the craft to flip end over end. The three X-Men were able to make it thanks to Jean's telekinesis. However, she herself is...not in the best of shape. Beast theorizes that Jean felt the impact through her TK field, and she's likely got a serious concussion. There's not much the X-Men can do for her, except let nature take it's course. But it seems that's not going to be an option.

The natives bring the mutants down with poisoned darts fired from their shields. Beast valiantly tries to fight them off, but even he succumbs to the venom. The natives then carry the four away. Some time later, Scott wakes up. One of the natives greets him, explaining the darts were basically a security measure. They weren't sure if the X-Men were enemies. Scott notices that Jean is missing. Another native explains they tried to tend to her, but her injuries...were too severe.

Page 36, Panel 2

In another place, the frog-like Amphibius is hopping along in a hurry. He's got an announcement to make: The X-Men are back in the Savage Land! And the man he is reporting this to is pleased. After all...the X-Men were the ones who killed Magneto.

This was a rather interesting comic book. I did enjoy it very much, though. It definitely is trying to imitate the feel of the old X-Men book, and I can't help but feel that maybe Byrne is trying to pay homage to his old X-Men comrade Chris Claremont in the narration. Byrne also turns in some pretty fine artwork as well.

X-Men: The Hidden Years would be Byrne's last work for Marvel Comics. The book was cancelled with issue #22 as part of a line-wide revamp of the X-Books. Byrne had claimed he could have done about 100 issues of the book before the events of Giant-Size X-Men #1, and the book was doing rather well in sales. This led to him deciding to no longer work for Marvel, and to this day...he's kept to that. In the years since, he's mainly kept to working for IDW, as far as I know.

X-Men: The Hidden Years is, well... a hidden gem in my opinion. It's a great series that helps fill in a rather significant hole in X-Men history, and I think it deserves more spotlight. If you want to read this for yourself, then I recommend tracking down the 2012 trade paperback X-Men: The Hidden Years Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! Join me next time, when I look at the beginnings of the downfall of Hank Pym...

Wonder Woman #220 (November 1975)

It's that time again! It's time to join Wonder Woman as she goes another one of her Twelve Labors! Last time, the Elongated Man monitored as Wonder Woman prevented . It...was not a great story in my opinion.

The cover is a Dick Giordano piece, and it's pretty good. It shows Chronos gloating over Wonder Woman getting restrained through some clock arms. I also liked the

"The Man Who Wiped Out Time"

Writer: Martin Pasko

Penciler: Dick Giordano

Inker: Dick Giordano,

Letterer: Unknown

Colorist: Unknown

Editor: Julius Schwartz

The story begins at the Justice League Satellite, located 22,300 miles above the Earth. The ductile crime-solver Ralph "Elongated Man" Dibny, and the robotic wind machine John "Red Tornado" Smith. The two notice that a carrier pigeon has come to the space station by teleporter. Ralph realizes that Hawkman must be reporting in. You see, back in the Silver and Bronze Ages, Hawkman could communicate with birds. Ralph realizes that Hawkman won the race.

Red Tornado is confused by this. Did the League taking up racing pigeons? Well, that would be hilarious, but no. You see, in the last issue, Superman flipped a coin in the air to determine who would monitor what would be Wonder Woman's tenth trial: Hawkman or the Atom. However, the coin decided to beat some odds...

I think Superman used a trick coin by mistake. Hawkman has an idea. He and the Atom both keep an eye out for Wonder Woman's next adventure. Whoever reaches it first, get to monitor it. Ralph discovers a very small note attached to the bird...made of gum wrappers. He then realizes that this report isn't from Hawkman, but the Atom. It's here we learn of Diana's latest adventure.

Diana is returning from an adventure she had in the Catskill Mountains in New York. That's a story for next month. She arrives at the UN's Secretariat Building, and realizes that she's due for the annual medical exam that all UN personnel go under. She races up two flights of stairs to the doctor's office. Tracy Morgan notices this and goes to see her. He sees the doctor check her heartbeat, and it's a normal 70 bpm (beats per minute). This is essentially Morgan's face.

Yeah. Diana ran up two flights of stairs. Her heart should be pounding from the exertion.

No, not like that. Diana just tells him that she must be in great shape. However, Diana reveals in her thought balloon that as an Amazon, her heartbeat always stays constant, regardless of physical exertion. So, how does an Amazon's body deal with the increased demand for blood during physical activities? Maybe it's because they're somewhat magical beings? I don't know. Anyway, the doctor starts to examine the next patient, when...

It's weird. It's like it just...vanished from the doctor's wrist. He's not the only one. Ray Palmer is in New York City, and he turns on the news. He's not going to let Hawkman beat him to finding a crisis to monitor. Instead, he finds himself watching a game show. Wasn't it supposed to be time for the news? Ray checks his watch, and finds that it's gone. And that's not the only timepiece to go missing. The game show's clock has vanished, too. Ray goes to a phone, dialing the operator for the time. It was the 1970s, after all. The number he called no longer works. Looks like he beat Hawkman to finding a crisis after all.

Back at the UN, chaos has erupted. Nobody seems to know what time it is. Diana switches to her Wonder Woman togs, and looks over some monitors. The entire UN building has gone bananas. Watches, clocks, anything that can be used to tell the time has vanished. Today, that would include phones and smartwatches. Luckily, Diana is the Star-Spangled Woman with a Plan. She glides out of the building. Yeah, back in the Silver and Bronze Ages, Wonder Woman couldn't fly. She had to glide on air currents. She takes her magic lasso and wraps it around the UN building.

She commands everyone inside the building to freeze. But this is a temporary solution, and a much bigger problem is afoot. The entire city is breaking out in riots and traffic jams. Diana can't confine all of Manhattan Island in her lasso, so she'll have to use a new gadget she's been working on. She's been modifying her Invisible Jet's mental radio to have a telepathic public address system. She uses it to contact everyone on the island to calm people down. Diana succeeds, so it looks like her new modification is working perfectly.

Wonder Woman realizes that she needs to provide the city a way to tell the time. She can build a big clock for them, but how could she ensure that it told the proper time? Well, remember earlier when Diana thought about how an Amazon's heartbeat always remained constant? Diana knows how many beats her heart makes per minute, and she can use that to calculate the time.

She flies off in her Invisible Jet and notices a building still has its giant clock. Didn't all the devices that could tell time in the city vanish? So, what is this clock still doing here? Why don't we ask this guy?

Meet Chronos! Appropriate that the Atom is monitoring this adventure, as the time-themed villain is one of his rogues. Wonder Woman and the self-proclaimed "Time Thief" had crossed paths before, in Justice League of America #21 (August 1963). The time-obsessed villain is floating on a flying sundial that somehow makes him invisible. He uses the flying sundial's gnomon to knock Wondy's plane out of the sky.

The Amazing Amazon tries to use her lasso to catch the plane. Chronos throws her a rope.

He did this because he wanted to taunt the Amazing Amazon. He reveals to her that he developed a device that can literally destroy time, and he's hidden it inside a time-themed landmark in Manhattan. True to his gimmick, the rope is actually a rope-clock, that counts down the minutes until it burns away. Once it does, Wondy starts to fall. Before it did, Diana managed to get her plane on the Secretariat Building's roof. She then used her lasso to swing onto the roof. Which is rather awesome.

(awesome)

There's still one question remaining. How is Chronos doing this? Well, we have to go back a bit and join one David Clinton. He was appointed the new assistant curator of the Knickerbocker University Museum of Clocks and Watches. It's not a real place.

David Clinton is Chronos's civilian identity, by the way. He puts on a pair of protective contact lenses, and activates a small device he calls a "Time-Perception Banisher". It makes people think clocks have vanished. But they're actually still there. It's just people can't see them. This is how Chronos "stole time". It's all just a big illusion.

(magic)

He also somehow managed to slap a giant bubble-shield that caused all of Manhattan Island to suffer from the Banisher's effect. The shield also blots out the sun, so they can't even use that to tell the time. We get a bit more of an in-depth look at the chaos of the "lost time". Workers are confused when lunch breaks are, or even when they go to work. Trains are arriving at the wrong time, even Julius Schwartz can't get comics out.

Chronos is watching the madness from within his flying sundial. I can imagine he wishes he had some popcorn and soda to enjoy the show. Wonder Woman heads to Grand Central Station. It's a giant clock landmark, and Wondy hopes that the device is there. However, the clock reaches out to give her a hug.

The hands of the clock grab Wondy, but she's able to get her arms free...and take the clock with it. Oops. She uses her lasso to avoid getting people crushed by the giant clock. The Amazing Amazon uses an improvised net between two lampposts with her magic lasso to fully free herself from the clock. Wonder Woman continues investigating every clock she can find, until it hits her. Where is the device?

Before she can head to where she figured the Banisher is, Chronos attacks. He tries to hit Wondy with a hourglass containing special sand. It's "reverse quicksand", trying to trap the Amazon royal. She spins it off her. Some of the sand hits Chronos's face, knocking out his special protective contact lenses. Thanks to the Banisher, he can't see his clock-themed weapons. Oops.

With a toss of her tiara, Diana takes down the flying sundial. But where was the Banisher? You see, when Chronos said it was in a "time landmark", he was being literal. He meant something that marked the land...like a signpost indicating Times Square. She rips open a lamppost, finds the Banisher, and crushes it. And with that, time has returned to Manhattan Island.

Later, Diana is back in her civilian togs, meeting with Tracy Morgan. Morgan notes that every time that he sends her on an assignment, Wonder Woman is involved. He wants to know why that is. Diana states that's not true. She gives him her report of her assignment in the Catskills. Remember, that was mentioned earlier. And Wonder Woman is not mentioned in the report. Curious...

Back at the Justice League Satellite, Green Arrow, Flash, and Superman have arrived for a meeting. So has the Atom. He noticed that Hawkman isn't here, which means he won the race to monitor Wondy's next adventure. But then the Winged Warrior does show up, stating that he did monitor Wonder Woman's tenth trial. Wait, if the Atom was monitoring Diana in Manhattan...and Hawkman was monitoring her in the Catskills...then that means there were two Wonder Women running around! One of them has to be an impostor! Well, maybe next month, we'll get to find out...

I admit, I enjoyed this issue a lot more than the last one. It was neat seeing Wonder Woman fighting a supervillain that's not a regular part of her rogues gallery. I did find it funny that the comic said that Chronos "stole" time because technically...he didn't. He just stopped people from being able to tell what time it is. That's not quite "stealing" time. This story has a bit of a Silver Age feel to it, which does make some sense. I also quite liked Giordano's art. I'm not sure why.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommen