Marvel: The Lost Generation #5 (October 2000)

It's that time again! It's time to return to the adventures of the Lost Generation of Marvel Super Heroes: The First Line! Last time, we looked in on the Line as they helped prevent the Skrulls and their super-villainous cronies from wrecking the historic Moon Landing. But they had another adventure in the Swingin' Groovin' 1960s. Let's take a look at it! This is Marvel: The Lost Generation #5!

The cover is a John Byrne and Al Milgrom piece. I love it! It's such a cool cover. You have the First Line gasping in shock at a familiar hammer. Gets you wondering why Thor himself has shown up.

"Wild in the Streets"
Writers: Roger Stern, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story begins in Asgard, the realm Eternal. Odin is sitting on his throne, and he is not a happy skyfather. It's not the throne itself, that's fine. The new cushions are nice and comfy. What he's angry about...is Thor.

"Thou has spilled the royal coffee on mine favorite couch for the last time, Thor!"

You see, Odin had been working to renew a royal truce between Asgard and Niffelheim. Things were finally cool between the Asgardians and the Storm Giants. Of course, Thor had to go and screw it all up by trespassing on some forbidden lands. Dagnabit, Thor...

Thor defends himself by saying there was a legit reason he was there. He was pursuing a monster that was a threat to Asgardian and Storm Giant alike, and he feels Odin is deliberately ignoring that part. Odin is in no mood to hear it. He tells Thor that the Thunder God must go to Midgard (what the Asgardians call Earth), and see this evil to its end. And it's here that we head to Earth. 

We're still in the 1960s, before the Moon Landing. A mysterious singer has a whole lot of young people ensorcelled by her magical songs. Among the people enraptured is Autumn MacRae, the superheroine Sunshine, much to the horror of her husband Fred, aka Captain Hip. 

Yeah, you may remember the MacRae family from earlier issues. It can be presumed that their daughter Truth is very young at this point. Pixie tells Fred there's nothing they can do now, as they need to find out who is behind all this at the moment.

The singer on the stage would have a natural knack for getting people under her spell, as this singer is no ordinary woman: this woman was Venus. As in the Olympian Goddess of Love.

Funny enough, Timely Comics (the predecessor to Marvel Comics) published a romance comic series starring Venus from 1948 to 1952. It lasted 19 issues. The series started out light-hearted but would take on darker sci-fi and horror themes through its short run. It's also notable for introducing an early version of Marvel's incarnation of Loki. 

If we go by how Marvel incorporated their Golden Age comics into their canon, then we can assume that not only were the events of those series canon, but they also happened in-universe in the late-40s/early 50s. So yeah, Venus would be running around in the MU in the 1960s.

She herself has seemingly fallen under the spell of a mysterious man.

"Now, who wants to hear some Chubby Checker?!"

He laments that his power no longer works on everyone, just the young, but since gods can have eternal youth, they still work on Venus. Backstage, the ensorcelled Sunshine is brought backstage. Venus wonders how she could be affected, as Sunshine is in her mid-twenties at this point, too old for the power to work on her. But Sunshine says that age is a state of mind. The man behind is worried about something else. If Sunshine was in the crowd, then other superhumans could be there as well...and that could get the attention of the First Line. And much to his fear, Pixie is spying on him. She spots a man towering over her and hits him with her petrifying pixie dust. But it has no effect. You can guess why.

"Urgh! Tastes like cranberries! I hate cranberries!"

Heh heh, that's pretty funny. Anyway, Captain Hip is off looking for Sunshine himself, as he thinks Pixie flaked out on him. He finds her, but she has no idea who she even is. In fact, she blasts him with her powers. She can create kaleidoscopic light effects that can dazzle or even hypnotize people. She can even use this power to control minds...which makes you wonder how she can be effected by Venus. But then again, Venus is a goddess, and Sunshine has to actively try to control someone's mind, so...yeah. Either way, Captain Hip is out of action for a while.

Meanwhile, Black Fox is angrily grumbling about "the hippies".

"Those hippies stole my car!"

One member of the Line, a Major Mercury, thinks this is just kids acting up, a tradition in every generation. Black Fox disagrees. This isn't normal juvenile delinquency. The Fox believes an old enemy of his is behind this. A man...called Rumor. Thankfully, Pixie has brought Thor to the First Line. The Black Fox is naturally unhappy with Pixie just bringing presumed gods straight to their command post, but the argument is tabled for now. After all, there's a massive gathering of youths...being led by Sunshine and the now mind-controlled Captain Hip. 

One First Liner, Frank (who may or may not be Frankenstein's Monster. Personally, I think he's a different monster. That's because in the comics, the actual Monster was in suspended animation in the 1960s, and wouldn't be revived until the Marvel Age), doesn't want to hurt the kids. Mr. Justice is sure Black Fox has a plan, but he disappeared.

Makes sense when you keep in mind that Robert Paine is meant to be a pastiche of Batman. Thor's had enough and is eager for some action. Oxbow will hold the fort down as he's been sidelined with a broken leg. I imagine he got injured in an earlier battle. 

Meanwhile, Effigy is sneaking around. He thinks about how the world is seemingly falling apart since 1963. He hints something really bad happened then, but he's not going to let an entire generation of Americans suffer. After all, he owes it to the Yankee Clipper. He sneaks in pretending to be a child that's hard of hearing and ends up recognizing Venus. Effigy's thoughts reveal that he and Venus first met in 1952. Again, the last issue of Venus's comic was published in 1952, so it can be assumed that they met after the events of it. 

Effigy asks for Venus's autograph. Rumor tells her to keep him close by, not realizing the boy is actually Effigy. He then puts on a special mask.

"The mask makes me feel pretty!"

To Effigy, the mask confirms that the man is Rumor, mind controlling war criminal. During World War II, he was a hidden member of Hitler's elite, using his powers to subtly amplify the madman's own charisma and persuasive abilities. Until he ran into an Allied intelligence agent named Robert Paine. Yup, Paine was an Allied spy before he became the Black Fox. Rumor managed to flee the future costumed crimefighter and had not been seen since. Effigy had heard, well, rumors about Rumor's activity since, mostly that he may be helping the Soviets, but this is the first confirmed activity he's been involved in since the war. Makes you wonder what he was doing in the last nearly twenty years since.

Black Fox is watching the march, and he finds it ironic that Captain Hip and Sunshine are leading them, despite they're being mind-controlled. You see, the Fox believes that the two got their powers thanks to secret drug tests from the CIA. Yeah, a government agency may have created the superhumans that just may end up destroying it.

The Fox tries to use some sleeping gas to slow the march down, but there's far too many people. He also manages to knock out Sunshine before her dazzle powers knock her silly. An angry Captain Hip starts beating him down with his own superior speed and strength. Thankfully, the Fox is saved by Thor, who has arrived with the rest of the First Line. They need to contain the riot; Frank gives it a shot by throwing a car over the crowd...but Major Mercury is able to bring it a gentle landing. That's because throwing a car could cause a fire and even an explosion thanks to damaging the gas tank.

How are the Line doing when it comes to containing the riot? Honesty? ...things could be better. A lot better. 

Thor was sorely tempted to bring down the lightning after one kid kicked him in the nards.

The First Line may be full of experienced superheroes with a variety of powers, but they're massively outnumbered. Not to mention the First Line really do not want to harm any of these people, being innocent victims of Rumor and Venus. And as if fate has decided to be a big troll, Venus manages to get Thor under her power.

Yeah. It's not a good day to be a First Line member. Frank gives the addled God of Thunder a Mighty Punch across the chops, showing that he can potentially match him in raw power. Effigy is just left completely confused by the whole thing.

To be fair to Effigy, he wasn't in the room when Pixie introduced Thor to the Line. Rumor uses his power to make Frank toss Thor away, reasoning that his power will work on the monster's child-like mind. Meanwhile, Captain Hip and Sunshine are back to their normal selves. Hip is confused as to why Sunshine fell under Rumor's spell. After all, she's no kid. But Sunshine has a theory: she's pregnant. Yup, the MacRaes are going to be parents!

Remember Truth McRae from previous issues? Yes, she's the kid they're going to have here. Anyway, the rioting youths are advancing on the Line. Thankfully, a massive tragedy is averted as Effigy manages to capture Rumor, and Black Fox ends the threat.

"Augh, that was my favorite voice box! WHY?!"

Yeah, Rumor's vocal cords can produce a subsonic pulse, and I'm guessing his mask has some tech in it that helps enhance it. With that, Rumor's threat is stopped. Black Fox offers an invitation to Thor to join the First Line. Thor is not interested. He was only here to help stop the threat. And now that it's done, he has better things to do with his time than hang out with a bunch of mortals. Like get drunk.

Remember, this is long before Thor re-emerged in the Marvel Age a humbler god thanks to his time as Donald Blake. Frank suggests that Captain Hip and Sunshine join up, but like Thor, they're not interested in it, either. They've always preferred doing their own thing. Also, now that they got a kid on the way, Hip and Sunshine have decided that now is a good time for them to retire. Hang up their costumes for good, as it were. The story ends with Venus wondering if that was really Thor. Lady, you're a goddess, I think you'd know if that was the real deal or not. 

Sadly, I have to say, this is the weakest issue of the maxiseries so far. And that's a shame, because the First Line meeting a pre-Marvel Age Thor? That is just ripe for story and character potential. The Line dealing with an arrogant Thunder God that could presumably take any of them to the woodshed if they annoyed him enough? That sounds a like a big old fountain of story potential. I did like Thor remarking during the riot that he'd rather embrace Hela than allow the rioting children to come to harm. It's a nice little bit of subtle foreshadowing, showing that even though at this point, Thor is more arrogant, self-centered and hotheaded, he still has lines that he will not cross. He still has a code of honor, and helps show a bit of the humbler god he'll become in the future.

I also admit, I was a bit thrown off by Odin sending Thor down to Earth to deal with a "great threat", but then I remembered that "Oh yeah, Nazi war criminal managed to somehow get a goddess under control". Personally, I would have gone with the idea of an Asgardian monster or mad sorcerer making their way to Earth. That would be cooler in my opinion. 

As for John Byrne's art, nothing new. I still enjoyed it. That's pretty much it, really.

Sadly, this maxi-series has never been collected as a standalone trade. It was collected in a 2018 Omnibus: The Marvel Universe by John Byrne Vol. 2. Otherwise, you'll have to look around for the original issues. I got the maxi-series on eBay. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!