Do You Believe in Magic, In a Young Girl's Heart? Avengers 187

Avengers #187 (September 1979)
"The Call of the Mountain Thing!"
Steven Grant & Mark Gruenwald (plot)/David Michelinie (writer)
John Byrne/Dan Green (pictures)

Doug: When we left Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Wanda had been taken over by an evil demon named Chthon and the Avengers had gone around the will of Agent Gyrich and headed off to the Balkans in a quinjet. And in the Marvel Universe, you know what a bunch of super-heroes in an airborne vehicle means...

Karen: I think the X-Men hold the record though. But before we go any further, I have to say that I've heard a lot of comments in the past about what a memorable cover this is, and I can't help but think that fuels the idea that this is a great story, which I think is debatable.

Doug:  It is a pretty nifty cover, though.  I think the color scheme of the background, emulating a little reddish-orange Kirby Krackle, makes it special.  I always wonder if artists turn the paper around to draw figures that are upside down.

Doug: As the Avengers approach Wundagore Mountain, after having received Pietro's call for help last issue, the quinjet begins to malfunction due to the magic forces at work. Wonder Man was asked to accompany the team in place of the Vision -- he had been ordered by Gyrich to remain behind. As the Beast loses the ability to effectively pilot the craft, Wonder Man slides into the lead seat. Cap orders all who can fly to prepare to evacuate. Beast protests, but Wonder Man straps his own belt onto McCoy, and jettisons him as well. The quinjet indeed crashes, but out of harm's way. Hank has no control over the flight belt, so faces a roller-coaster ride right into the side of the mountain. Once on the ground, however, Henry McCoy spies something odd that catches his attention -- more on that later. The rest of the team lands safely, only to come face-to-face with Modred. The Falcon attempts to stake his claim to "usefulness", but to no avail.

Karen: Falcon's been called up to the majors and he's trying to prove he should stick there. He gives a pretty impressive punch to Modred, but unfortunately it's shrugged off. I thought Wonder Man's bravery in taking the quinjet down seemed a bit uncharacteristic, as he had been portrayed as fearful of dying in the past, but perhaps he really did not think a crash would hurt him.

Doug: Wonder Man emerges from the wreckage and sees a bright light off in the not-so-distance. Recognizing it as a hex sphere he begins to head toward it when he's greeted not by Wanda Frank, but by the demon that has possessed her -- Chthon. Captured within an energy cocoon, he finds himself spirited away. Back to the battle against Modred, the mage makes short work of our heroes -- except for the winsome Wasp! Jan gets a clean shot in, and drops him. However, she's soon disposed of by the arrival of Chthon. Now all of the team is moved to the spot we saw in ish #185 where Modred had shown Wanda the altar. The Avengers, and Django Maximoff, are held inverted in stasis, in a circle, while Chthon begins to narrate his origin to Modred.

Karen: This story was my introduction to Modred (I'm sure this was true for many readers) and I was shaking my head at the time, wondering where this guy came from. I mean, he could take on the entire Avengers! I also liked Beast's discovery of the armored skeleton of one of the High Evolutionary's New Men on the snowy mountainside.

Doug:  I didn't know anything about Modred, either.  Where I bought comics a lot of the out-of-the-ordinary series like Creatures on the Loose, Monsters Unleashed, etc. were not sold -- I was tabula rasa here, so I appreciated all of these introductions and origins.

Doug: Chthon and his sister were the last of the gods who formed the Earth. She became known in legend as Mother Earth while he fled to Hell (inferred) after scribing the Darkhold -- the book that would be his gateway back to Earth. He then relates the history of the Darkhold, through the ancient world and on into the Middle Ages, when it fell into the hands of Morgan LeFey. She and other magicians had sought to bring Chthon back to Earth to do their bidding, but finding that they could not control him succeeded in imprisoning him within the mountain that would become known as Wundagore. Modred had actually attempted to use the Darkhold for good, but had become consumed by it. And on and on, through even more history, the tome encountered men who fell under its spell. Finally, shortly before the present a Russian named Gregor Russoff became cursed. In an attempt to raise money for his schemes, he sold Wundagore Mountain to two scientists. And here the High Evolutionary created his New Men -- warriors who eventually rose against one of Chthon's attempts at return.

Karen: This was both annoying and fascinating! It seemed to go on and on, yet I sat there nodding my head as I read it, thinking, "Oh yeah, the Darkhold is the book responsible for Werewolf by Night!" and so on. Typical convoluted Marvel lore.

Doug:  I got the same sense reading this as I did when I read the introduction to Thor Annual #5, and much later the History of the DC Universe.

Doug: To conclude (somewhat) the origin of the Scarlet Witch, Chthon tells that on the night he was defeated by the Knights of Wundagore, the twins were born. And as Wanda's birthright was her mutant powers, it was Chthon who also imbued her with latent magical powers. These would begin to manifest themselves under the tutelage of Agatha Harkness. As the demon tells Modred how he came to be Chthon's pawn, a Knight of Wundagore suddenly appears, distracting Chthon. Piercing the Darkhold with a lance, the hold on the Avengers is broken and they are free. Quicksilver strikes the face of his sister, attempting to punish the demon. But as Chthon shakes that off, the attention focuses on Django Maximoff, who still cradles the marionette of Wanda. He remarks that he had previously channeled her spirit into the doll. He finds that it is still there. Pietro deduces that the combination of the uranium-exposed wood on Wundagore, coupled with the magical essence of Chthon on the mountain, has indeed imbued the puppets with mystical powers. Seizing the doll, Pietro points it at the body of his sister in an attempt to exorcise the demon.

Karen: Henry McCoy to the rescue! Beast had donned the armor of the knight and used his flying steed to save the day. Loved that! Another thing I liked was how Byrne made the possessed Wanda appear more and more cadaverous facially as the story went on. She truly looked evil. At this point, with many years of perspective, I can say that I wish this connection between Wanda and 'elder forces' had never been made. It opened the door for many more opportunities for messing with the character, having her go nuts and go evil several times. Her learning magic was one thing; her being tainted by evil, so to speak, was another.

Doug:  Question:  Is this the same sort of flying device that Hawkeye would employ in later stories?  It seems that the Black Knight also rode a similar vehicle.

Doug: And here's where this story heads south for me. I'm just really not a fan of magic. I suppose from a writer's standpoint, it's pretty nifty because there are no rules and it's a built-in deus ex machina. And for my money this is what happens here. Quicksilver finds that there's not enough "will" in the doll to drive out the spirit. But Ms. Marvel steps forward and places her hand on Pietro's arm. Cap chimes in with a "we can do this thing" of his own. And then, in a narrative box I don't quite understand, David Michelinie writes: "And thus ensues a literal battle of wills, as six struggling heroes pool their concentration into a phalanx of sorcerous thought, hoping to restore a soul -- and in the process, save a world!" Whatever it is they do, it works -- Chthon's spirit is ejected from Wanda's body, her soul moves from the doll into her person as Chthon's essence is stored in the doll. Pietro races with the marionette to the top of Wundagore and hurls it into a chasm. Wanda, no worse for the wear, summons a mighty hex and blasts off the top third of the mount, it's debris falling onto the puppet, thus returning Chthon to his prison inside the mountain.

Karen: Yes, I didn't care for the whole doll thing either. The team joins wills -good vs. evil -and drives the demon out. Doesn't that sound more like Chris Claremont's stuff? In fact, the whole scene is very similar to the one in X-Men #108, where the team gives their energy to Phoenix so she can mend the universe. Also, why throw the doll in the chasm? Why not just destroy the thing?

Doug: As the story wraps, Bova offers to care for the eyes-are-open-but-no-one-is-home Modred, who looks an awful lot like Loki did right after the Avengers/Defenders War. The Avengers, their work done, walk off into the sunset. I suppose they didn't fly commercial out of Sofia, but how they got home is a mystery.

Karen: You're dead right about the Loki-Modred thing. I guess that's what happens when you form alliances with devils.

Doug: So, how was this as far as an origin story goes? Did we learn anything? To recap -- we know that Bob and Madeline Frank were not Wanda's and Pietro's real parents. We know that their real mother was a woman named Magda. We know that the Maximoffs were not their real parents, either, but had a role in raising the children. In spite of knowing who their mother was, we know only that she was scared of their father because he had begun to manifest real power -- scary real power. She'd fled, to hide the children from him (do you think George Lucas read this story?). And for all the loose ends to be tied up, we'd all have to wait four years, until the conclusion of the first Vision and the Scarlet Witch mini-series. How 'bout them apples?

Fire on the Mountain, Lightning in the Air: Avengers 186

Avengers #186 (August 1979)
"Nights of Wundagore!"
Steven Grant & Mark Gruenwald (plot)/David Michelinie (writer)
John Byrne/Dan Green (pictures)

Karen: I gotta say: I'm a sucker for floating heads on a cover, especially all lined up like that. Don't ask me why. We're back with the middle section of our three-part review of this late 70s story featuring the Avengers' brother and sister act, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Last time you'll recall, Wanda had been kidnapped and Pietro had run up the mysterious Wundagore Mountain to find her, only to come crashing into an invisible barrier. Here, he awakes to find himself in the care of a humanoid cow, Bova, who is serving him milk soup. No, really.
Doug: Milk soup... is that like mushroom soup, without the mushrooms? Hey, before we get too far into this, I want to throw out a "thank you" to my partner for her patience with me over the past couple of days. For those of you who don't know how this works, we always reserve Mondays for our tandem reviews -- the rest of the dates are first-come, first-served as individuals, with the occasional collaboration thrown in. So Mondays are a big deal for us. Well, my son's graduation party was Sunday, and all of the preparations, cleaning, etc. as well as the day itself got the best of my blogging. So I appreciate everyone's patience during one of my "real life" interludes.

Doug: I, too, love the floating heads covers. While certainly other mags had their fair share, this motif always cried out "Avengers" to me.

Karen: Not a problem pal! Bova explains to Pietro who she is, and her story ties in with the birth of his sister and he. Bova was "evolved" from a normal cow by the High Evolutionary. She was to serve as the nursemaid to the children of the New Men the Evolutionary was creating. One night, a pregnant woman, Magda, came to Wundagore seeking sanctuary. She explained that her husband had gained great powers and had begun to talk about ruling the world. Fearful, she fled him. Bova and Magda grew close, and the cow-woman delivered Magda's twins, a boy and a girl. You guessed it, they were Wanda and Pietro. As Wanda was born, there were bright lights in the sky, and the tiny babe also seemed to glow at the same moment. But the children were healthy and Magda was pleased. However she took left them behind, leaving a note that said she feared her husband would find the children if she stayed with them.

Doug: For a somewhat cross-referencing of some of the events on Wundagore, you can check out our review of Spider-Woman #1. As to Magda and the twins, it was difficult to read the line about the husband becoming fearsome due to his acquisition of "great powers" with any sense of wonderment. I'm sure when I was a kid that went right by me. Now I think it's an ingenious little gem hidden in a throwaway line. And don't the artists (colorists included) do a remarkable job of making Magda look just like Wanda? Hmmm -- and who were we to assume Pietro looked like? Any thoughts on Bova's statement about Wanda's glowing like the sky lights? Is there a reference, a foreshadowing, that I'm not getting?

Karen: It's coming, but not til next issue. Not long after the twins were born, Robert and Madeline Frank -aka the Whizzer and Miss America - came to the village below the mountain and the High Evolutionary summoned tham. Madeline was pregnant and died giving birth to a hideous still-born child. The Evolutionary presented the twins to Robert Frank, representing them as his own children, but Frank was filled with grief over his wife's death and ran from the mountain. This really reflects poorly on the Whizzer, don't you think? Finally, the Evolutionary, certainly fed up by now, decided to play God and appeared before a Gypsy couple, telling them to take the children and raise them. The couple had lost their own son and daughter so they were more than willing. Bova wraps up her flashback by saying she stayed behind on Earth when the Evolutionary took to the stars.

Doug: Do we know what happened to Miss America after WWII? As this is a retcon, was there ever an explanation in the 1950's comics as to her fate? I agree -- Bob Frank doesn't come off as looking too good. Also, I'm going to have to check out the Nuklo stories, as the whole "still born" thing has me curious. What was the High Evolutionary's role in his growth? I'm sure I'm just forgetting something. And... what "personal reasons" would a cow have in wishing to stay on Earth? No grazing in space?

Karen: So the origin of the twins is a convoluted one. While tying together past references to their childhood, Michelinie has also sown the seeds of the idea that Magneto was their father, without actually stating such. But he was not the originator of that idea. Both Byrne and Steven Grant had come to the idea separately. Anyone who is interested in the backstory should take a look at this post from Comic Book Legends Revealed from May 2010. It'll explain it all.
Doug: The Magneto non-reveal is really all here, isn't it? In an era when comics would soon become way too confusing, this is a nice, slow evolution. I'm still not sure it makes sense overall, but it does create that legacy feeling among Marvel's characters -- so even as the relationship to Golden Age heroes the Whizzer and Miss America falls away, a new older/younger generation tale dawns. Here's my next question -- has the Jewish heritage of Wanda and/or Pietro ever been mentioned or played a role in a storyline? Oh, and one other question -- would the offspring of a mutant still be considered a mutant? It would seem to me that any mutation would be passed on simply as re-ordered DNA. There would have been no mutation in Wanda or Pietro.

Karen: The other sibling in our story, Wanda, is being held on top of Wundagore by that mystical loon, Moodred. It seems his magical powers are greater than hers. However, Wanda still has her mutant hex power, and it frees her. She and Modred begin throwing spells around, but she quickly realizes that he's stronger than her. She feigns defeat, only to give the wizard a good sock to the jaw, sending him plunging to his doom. Wanda frets that she's never killed before, but she couldn't let Modred unleash the occult force in the mountain; it could kill millions. Unfortunately for her, Modred comes back and blasts her from behind.

Doug: There are some really nice panels during this battle, and the coloring is a big-time enhancer. I like the original bondage scene, with Wanda suspended by magic while Modred floats above the Darkhold. As they really get to blasting each other, there's a really cool panel somewhat akin to depictions of Havok. Lastly, I thought there was some real force behind the blow Wanda landed on Modred's kisser!

Karen: Well, hey, she was trained by Captain America! As Quicksilver prepares to go back up the mountain, despite Bova's pleas not to, Wanda's face appears in the stormy skies above. She tells Quicksilver to flee and sends a blast of energy at he and Bova. Bova convinces him that he can't face whatever's waiting on the mountain alone. He finally concedes and runs towards the village. On the way, he finds Django Maximoff, his foster father, wandering in the forest. Suddenly the trees themselves attack them. Pietro grabs Django and races for the village, as the sky erupts in a hail of rocks, and the earth splits open before him. Pietro outruns it all and makes his way to the post office (the only place with a phone) and places a call to Avengers mansion.
Doug: I am just full of question today! In the panel where Pietro is snared by the mystical tree branches and vibrates his body in order to create enough friction to set the limbs ablaze -- have we ever seen Quicksilver use this Flash-like power before?

Karen: I seem to recall him using his speed in a variety of ways back in the Kooky Quartet days, but not so much later on. The Vision is on monitor duty and gets Pietro's call. As friendly as ever, Pietro calls him 'robot' and tells the android that Wanda has been possessed. The rest of the Avengers are having dinner as the Vision phases through the wall and tells them what's happened. Cap begins to issue orders to get to the quinjet when who should appear but the government watchdog, Henry Gyrich. Gyrich says there's no way the team is going to Bulgaria, as it's not a matter of national security and they don't need another international incident. Cap is fed up and disappears for a moment. As the Beast berates Gyrich, Jarvis appears with a telephone, a call for Gyrich. The crew-cut bureaucrat begins to yell at the person on the line until he discovers it's the President! Cap certainly has some clout. The President says the Avengers need to head out for a 'goodwill tour' of Bulgaria immediately. Gyrich is humiliated, but has another trick up his sleeve. He says the Vision will have to stay behind to continue monitor duty. Enraged, the android Avenger grabs Gyrich and hauls him off his feet, but a cooler headed Cap intervenes, telling him they don't want to lose all their privileges, and that they will bring Wanda back safe. The Vision accedes, although he is clearly furious.
Doug: Ah, yes -- back to the regular Pietro we all know and loathe! You may recall that last week I said he was actually somewhat likable; yeah, not any more. How silly is it (and we've discussed this before) that Ms. Marvel and the Falcon are eating with their masks on? There has been some nice characterization for the Vision in this series of issues. His condition always made great fodder for the writers, though.
Karen: He looks as furious here as he did back in Avengers 95, when he nearly killed a Skrull commander in his rage over Wanda's abduction. Gyrich is lucky Cap held him back -we all know what happened to that Skrull! Back in the shadow of Mount Wundagore, Quicksilver and Django hope that the Avengers will arrive in time. But their hopes are shattered when the door to the office flies open and an explosive force blasts them unconscious. On the last page, a possessed Wanda stands over their bodies, proclaiming that there is no more Wanda, only Chthon.

Doug: Pretty scary stuff! It's a great splash page, too -- as we've said, John Byrne was really at his peak around this time.

Karen: This wouldn't be the first or the only time Wanda would be possessed, but I think it did set things up for her to be possessed again and again. Why does Marvel seem to require that their powerful female characters become possessed so frequently? Her powers were redefined here, giving her a much closer tie to magic, which may not have been such a good thing eventually ("Avengers Disassembled", anyone?). Still, the art here is fabulous, with Dan Green doing a pretty good job of inking Byrne, who was in top form.
Doug: The possession angle, or the storylines where characters have to fight evil doppelgangers, does grow tired. I don't mind super-baddies whose powers somewhat mirror the hero's (Flash vs. Professor Zoom, for example, or Hulk vs. the Abomination), but the turning bad of good guys will certainly be abused in the coming decade that was the 1980's.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough: Avengers 185

Avengers #185 (July 1979)

"The Yesterday Quest!"
Steven Grant & Mark Gruenwald (plot)/David Michelinie (writer)
John Byrne/Dan Green (pictures)

Doug: Before we begin, I just have to say that this comic book is a slice of "fallen angels" history. In the middle of the magazine, within five pages of each other, are ads featuring Pete Rose and O.J. Simpson. Talk about being your own worst enemy... OK, on to today's fare. How do you feel about origin stories that are told much later? We've discussed among us that Wolverine became quite a bit less interesting as more layers were stripped away from his backstory. I think in the case of Wanda and Pietro, there was a sense of coolness in the fact that these were (as Karen says) "legacy heroes" -- the offspring of Marvel's 1st generation of super-heroes. With the notion that their parents were Miss America and the Whizzer, Marvel had in these two young mutants something that DC Comics has made a hallmark of their universe. But what happens when all is not what it seems, or what we believed?

Karen: By the late 70s, DC had plenty of legacy characters -the Super-Squad, the Huntress, and so on. At this point, only Wanda and Pietro could trace their lineage back to the heroes of yesteryear. At least that's what we'd thought. But honestly, that Whizzer/Ms. America idea had only popped up five years prior to this issue, in Giant Size Avengers #1. So even that origin was relatively new. Before that, we really didn't know much about the siblings, other than their Gypsy roots and association with Magneto and the Brotherhood.

Doug: Although we're going to review this three-issue arc, it would have been helpful to have seen the last few issues. This one opens right after the big battle against the Absorbing Man, with a wharf and warehouse destroyed. A local cop asks who is going to pay when the owner finds out, and since there's no Absorbing Man to hand over, Iron Man coyly wonders if a check from Tony Stark will suffice to keep the Avengers off the hook. Remember, this is in the period immediately after the arrival of one Henry Peter Gyrich and the incessant meddling of the United States government. The battle against the Absorbing Man was also one of the first with the new 7-hero line-up -- the line-up which had left Hawkeye on the outside while the Falcon got a spot based on Affirmative Action. As Iron Man talks to the police, Hawk stalks off, to emerge minutes later in his civvies, with a duffle bag over his shoulder. He tells the team that he's done (again) and exits. The rest of the heroes return to Avengers Mansion.

Karen: Hawkeye really did get a raw deal, but instead of handling it stoically, like a stereotypical hero, Hawk fumes about it. And that's exactly what I'd expect from him!
Doug: Once at the Mansion, there are a series of short vignettes that really show the characterization we grew to know and love during the Bronze Age. Stark puts a move on Ms. Marvel, who returns the sentiment (did anyone think it was a bit naughty back in the day when Carol told Tony he could "bump her" any time?). Jocasta hears the banter, but leaves, feeling out of place. She heads to the parlor, where the Vision sits brooding. Jocasta tries to strike up a conversation, but the Vision remarks that he's distracted by Wanda's absence -- her trip with her brother Pietro to their Balkan homeland is on his mind. But when Jocasta uses the word "worried", Vision calls himself a "machine", and questions whether he is capable of emotion. This is off-putting to Jocasta, who leaves him.

Karen: Ms. Marvel was a really different female Avenger; Wasp had always been a flighty, girly-girl and Wanda had been reserved. Ms. Marvel was more assertive and confident than either of them. Her flirtations with Stark seemed fitting. I was more taken aback by the Vision's behavior. By this time, it seemed like he had accepted his emotional side and gotten past the whole Wonder Man issue. His treatment of Jocasta seems out of character.

Doug: The story moves to Transia, a small nation nestled in the Balkans of Bulgaria. Wanda and Pietro have come here with Django Maximoff, the old man we'd seen in several of the previous issues often cradling a marionette of Wanda or Pietro. Pietro cannot sleep, and his mind wanders to his childhood -- at least to what he can recall of it. He sees himself and Wanda, playing in the presence of a mother and father, the father carving puppets from wood. They are Gypsies, transients as those people could be. Pietro recalls always being told to take care of his sister -- an order that was impressed upon him repeatedly. The camp was eventually burned, and the twins fled as villagers beat their father. But Pietro wonders, too, why Wanda's memories always settle on Wundagore Mountain, and of Bob and Madeline Frank entering a citadel to have their children -- twins. Madeline died in childbirth. Of course, as the twins became young adults, they fell in with Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants -- but could never find further clues as to their heritage.

Karen: I liked this sequence. It was a fairly long recap of the sibling's history, but it was done well. My only surprise was the lack of notations regarding which books these scenes had occurred in. I thought that was still common at Marvel in 1979.

Doug: I never tired of the editorial footnotes -- even if they referenced only an issue or two past. That was an element that made every issue back in the Bronze Age a jumping on point. As Pietro retired, Wanda was in the next room sleeping. A narrative box alludes to her "will-induced slumber" -- is that an example of her probability-altering powers? I don't know if anything like that was addressed before or after. Suddenly her room is illuminated by the presence of another: Modred the Mystic. Modred paints himself as an ally, displaying a clairvoyance toward Wanda's presence in the mountains. He convinces her that he can help, and she allows him to spirit her away to Wundagore Mountain. But once there, they are attacked by defensive mechanisms, devices installed by the High Evolutionary. Modred allows Wanda to defeat the blasters, perhaps in an attempt to size her up. The come upon an altar, with a book laid open hovering above it. Modred remarks that the tome belongs to him who he serves, but the altar is for Wanda. Then he takes her out with some nasty beams of his own!

Karen: I just recently got Marvel Chillers #1, which features the first appearance of Modred. But when I first read this issue, I had no idea who he was! It didn't really matter, I suppose. His role is clear enough. I think we see a more confident Wanda here -a product of the years that Steve Englehart wrote her. Prior to his handling of her, Wanda would never have gone off without consulting Pietro!

Doug: I agree -- and I agree that I like the relatively safe ambiguity of their relationship here, unlike the heinous perpetration in Ultimates 3 with the "no implication required" incestuousness. So Pietro awakes the next morning, and discovers that Wanda is not in her room. Asking around the inn, he cannot find anyone who knows her whereabouts. A quick patrol of the village reveals nothing. Suddenly a young girl tells him that she was awakened in the night by a blinding light atop Wundagore -- and off speeds Quicksilver. Racing up the mount, he's repelled by a forcefield. The recoil sends him down, hard. He blacks out from the strain and comes to in a cottage. His wounds are tended to by a stranger, who suddenly reveals herself to be a... talking cow!

Karen: I always felt Byrne did a great job depicting super-speed. Pietro's search for Wanda, and his consequent frantic run straight up the mountain were really exciting. His depiction of Bova, the cow, was also well done. This character could have been cartoony or ridiculous, but he managed to make her look very realistic.

Doug: John Byrne's art is really solid in this story. This was certainly during the period when Byrne's figures had some mass to them; and Byrne has always been a master of facial expressions. Dan Green does a good job on the inks, but as we all know Terry Austin is the gold standard for Byrne inkers. I read this from the comic book, and it seems a bit muddy here and there -- I'll write that off to the printing process and paper quality of 33 years ago. I also want to give a shout-out to Pietro Maximoff -- he's actually likeable in this story! Scribe David Michelinie makes him seem a bit more introspective and less spontaneously combustible. That rounding-out allowed me to empathize with the speedster rather than simply loathe his presence, which had been standard operating procedure over the previous several years' appearances.

Karen: I agree, Pietro's characterization here seems much more in line with how he was during the Kooky Quartet years. You know, it might be interesting to trace his path over the years and figure out exactly when he really turned into a jerk. It seems like it began with Roy Thomas but later writers ran with it, probably a bit too far.

Doug: So you're saying he got "Hank Pym-ed"?

Project Pegasus: The Age of Aquarian!

Marvel Two In One #58 (Dec 1979)
"To the Nth Power!"
Writers: Mark Gruenwald/Ralph Macchio
Artists: George Perez/Gene Day

Karen: This is it, the conclusion of the Project: Pegasus saga! We start with an unconscious Ben being threatened by Klaw, who knocked our heroes out at the end of the previous issue. Suddenly Klaw is overcome and his body begins vibrating madly, and is sucked back into the metal blaster of his hand. As Ben regains consciousness, we pull back and see that Klaw's undoing is the work of Wundarr, who is now dressed in a white and sky blue outfit. It kind of reminds me of Dove over at DC.

Doug: Yeah, the new outfit does have that same color scheme. Hey, art question right off the bat -- who do you think did the roll call headshots on the side of the splash page? It sort of looks like Kerry Gammill, or maybe Ron Frenz... no one is credited, and I could not find any more information on the various databases I consult. Readers might notice, too, that this issue has Perez providing breakdowns and Gene Day the finished art. There are times throughout the story when some of the faces seem a bit off. While the art is certainly solid throughout, it's not holding a candle to last issue's Perez-masterpiece.

Karen: For the most part I really liked the art, but I know what you mean when you say a few things were off. As for the headshots -you got me! It certainly doesn't look like the rest of the art.

Karen: Ben is startled and happy to see Wundarr up and around -and quickly realizes that he is changed -not just in appearance, but in intelligence. This is not the man-child he once knew but a far more eloquent man. Wundarr explains that his encounter with the Cosmic Cube has expanded his energy-nullifying powers to a phenomenal degree. The Cube is also responsible for his mental transformation. He declares that he is Wundarr no longer, but shall now be known as the Aquarian. He says he will bring peace to the world.
Doug: You just know you had these lines going through your head while you were writing all of this:

When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

Karen: Oh yeah, hence my title to this post! There's definitely some Christ-like symbology here, but it's so wrapped up in this action-packed story, it doesn't come across too heavy-handed.

Doug: You're right. In fact, it's almost like it's 10 years too late to have any real relevance. I wonder what the influence was that spurred Macchio and Gruenwald to this idea?

Karen: After Ben and the Aquarian take Giant-Man and Quasar to the infirmary, they head off to find the "spatial distortion" that Aquarian senses inside the project. We then get a nice full-page display of what has become of Dr. Lightner: he's used the Nth device to turn himself into a living space warp! And he's sucking the entire project into the void of his body. Ben tries to stop him, thinking he can throw enough objects into him that he will "block him up", but the matter only makes Lightner grow larger.

Doug: Loved the scene where Aquarian hoists Giant-Man with one hand. I've always wondered why our giant friends don't automatically revert to their normal heights when passed out? I'm thinking of Hank Pym in Avengers #140 here...

Karen: Maybe it has to be a conscious effort? The Aquarian then tries to use his energy-nullifying abilities to shut Lightner down; he has some mild success, but also turns off the power in the compound, freeing some of the prisoners, including Thundra. Ultimately, Aquarian fails.

Doug: This was an interesting sequence of events, that like most of this story seemed pretty well-thought out. I think with two writers on the book, or in other cases when there is very close collaboration between the writer and the artist, some of the rough edges get smoothed out, and some of what we might normally find to be plot holes are closed before they become a problem/see the light of day.

Karen: Both Quasar and Giant-Man recover and head for the site of the distortion, to be joined by Thundra as well. Quasar attempts to destroy Lightner -or the Nth Man, as he calls himself -but his energy only feeds him. Giant-Man offers himself up -he says he can try to grow from within Lightner's void and fill him. Quasar objects, saying it might kill Giant-Man. And we finally learn why Giant-Man has been so driven: he's dying of radiation poisoning. He had hoped to find a cure at Pegasus, but that never materialized. So he launches himself at the Nth Man -only to disappear. It didn't work.
Doug: I can't decide if the revelation of Foster's illness makes me like him more or not. Pity him, perhaps. But now his motivation is just to make a legacy for himself -- it just doesn't seem like anything he does is out of altruism. I don't know... sort of just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe he isn't noble at all?
Karen: Well, I think he has a big chip on his shoulder, if nothing else. Aquarian tells the others that he might be able to save Giant-Man, and others, by entering the Nth Man. But they will need to form a living chain in order for him to do so. Despite losing their strength so close to Aquarian, the heroes hold on as the young man plunges into the void that was Lightner. Inside, Aquarian encounters a nightmare realm -actually it reminded me of a Ditko landscape from an old Dr. Strange. He recovers Giant-Man, who is losing his mind there. The Aquarian fires up his null field as much as he can, hoping that it will have a greater effect from inside the villain than it did from outside. Eventually he succeeds, and the Nth Man is dispersed, in some more spectacular art by Perez.

Doug: Very nice scene, evoking all of the great let's-band-all-our-energies-together moments. Ben's devotion to Aquarian, and vice versa, was very touching in this scene. The authors did a nice job with that story element throughout. You mentioned Ditko -- certainly. However, I couldn't get past it seeming like the stupid Sentry vs. the Void from some issue of New Avengers. Then I pulled the fork out of my eye.

Karen: As our story wraps up, Ben and Aquarian say their goodbyes. Aquarian plans to spread his message of peace -yeah, good luck with that! Thundra is cleared of all charges for helping to destroy Lightner. And Giant-Man continues to look for a cure, with encouraging words from Ben. The last three panels of the story tell us who was behind the whole Nth projector scheme: that evil oil company, Roxxon. Seems they want an energy monopoly. Now that's a villain that's not so hard to believe in.

Project Pegasus: Klaw + the Cube = Trouble!

Marvel Two-In-One #57 (November 1979)
"When Walks Wundarr!"
Mark Gruenwald/Ralph Macchio-George Perez/Gene Day

Doug: If you thought George Perez was good last issue, just wait. There are panels in this story that are simply breath-taking. And to think that when this mag hit the newsstands, young George had only been getting paid by Marvel Comics for a scant four years. Marvel Two-In-One #57 is the penultimate chapter in the Project Pegasus arc, and mainly serves as a set-up to the grand finale -- which we'll have for you in one short week!

Doug: As we dive in, Quasar has assembled the PP security team to discuss just what the heck has been going on within the Project. The break-ins by Deathlok and Thundra, and the breakout of Nuklo. What's the common thread? Has anyone been seen at or near any of these circumstances? What could be the motive? But more importantly, the security at this energy research center has been compromised, and that is of utmost importance!

Karen: You mentioned the art at the top of this review, and I'll bring it up again. The splash page, showing the meeting room and huge monitors, is pure Perez gold. He would do a similar scene in Avengers vol.3. The man can draw command centers, situation rooms, you name it!

Doug: After a nice recap of the events discussed above, Ben volunteers to attempt to get information from Thundra. However, fish ain't bitin' and Ben leaves no better off. We then cut away to Wundarr's cell, where the alien manchild has awakened and leaves his quarters in a zombie-like state. As he moves down the corridor, his energy-dampening powers dim not only the lights, but the containment apparatuses at the front of the prison cells. The super-villain Solarr takes full advantage, but in attempting to attack Wundarr, finds that his powers fade -- even his physical prowess.

Karen:I liked that all forms of energy, even kinetic energy, were dampened by Wundarr. Of course, he seems immune to his own power, which is lucky for him, or he might not be able to breathe or pump blood through his body!

Doug: Solarr decides he's not going to let the opportunity to escape pass him by, so he seeks an ally in his quest for freedom. Seeing the name "Electro" on a nearby cell, Solarr deactivates the security and enters, only to find that Electro's basically in a body cast! Now some might think this scene was superfluous, but I thought it was great! Most of us who grew up in the Bronze Age would say that what separated Marvel from DC in that era was the continuity between titles, and even the cross-company self-promotion. So while Electro was incapable of assisting his fellow baddie here, we got a nice reference to his recent battle against the amazing Spider-Man. Good stuff -- a nice touch.

Karen: That was too funny -and actually quite realistic -why would Solarr bother with Electro? I agree with you, it was a nice touch, showing once again the inter-relatedness of the Marvel U.
Doug: While the good guys have figured out that Dr. Lightner seems to be the common thread, Solarr finds the cell of Klaw, the master of sound. Breaking in and finding only the sonic prosthesis, Solarr throws it against the wall in anger. However, the clanging and jarring of the device is enough to let the genie out of the bottle, so to speak, as Klaw is reformed from the very claw he wears! Weak and somewhat incoherent, he agrees to assist Solarr in their breakout. In a brief interlude, we see Lightner up to no good, hoping to use the now-assembled Nth projector to transform himself into the Black Sun. However, something goes awry -- but we'll have to wait until next issue.

Karen: The scene with Electro served a purpose: it sets up this scene with Klaw. Here we see that there is some sense of comradeship between thieves, as Solarr seems genuinely disturbed that Klaw might be dead. Sure, they're both a couple of self-serving criminals who could turn on each other, but still, you sense a bit of humanity here as they try to escape together.

Doug: Solarr and Klaw have made their way to the track that surrounds the complex. Hijacking one of the kiddie-cars, they now ride toward freedom. Until Quasar confronts them. His intervention is short-lived, however, as Solarr blinds them. Stepping into the void, Ben and Giant-Man don't have much initial success, until Ben does a maneuver he saw on a Road Runner cartoon and whiplashes the tracks. Solarr and Klaw are disengaged and attacked by a recovering Quasar. Back to Wundarr, the still-entranced youth has found what he was looking for: the safe-keeping place of the now-dormant Cosmic Cube! However, as Wundarr approaches, his energy-dampening powers seem to have the opposite effect, as the Cube now begins to return to activity!

Karen: Again with the art: I really like the way Perez draws Quasar when he's all powered up. He's like a glowing human star -it's really effective.

Doug: We close the story with a nice little battle between our heroes and Klaw, with Klaw of course coming out on the short end. Bill Foster is for the most part useless (although he does knock Klaw out), as he's proven to be in this entire story. I'll tell you, I certainly thought there was more potential in the character than what was ever realized. But he just comes off as a step slow physically and mentally.

Karen: I love that Ben is able to use the experience he's gained form years of facing Klaw to figure out how to get through the villain's force field. Once again, Perez outdoes himself with his depiction of the crackling energy surrounding the Thing and Klaw. Giant-Man does come across as a bit of a third wheel, although as I recall he'll get a better showing next issue.

Doug: While the good guys congratulate themselves on vanquishing Solarr and Klaw, it is the vibrations of their voices that re-energize the sound claw, and it's Klaw who ends with the upper hand. Next issue -- to be concluded!

Project Pegasus: Battlin' Babes on the Loose!

Marvel Two in One #56 (Oct. 1979)
"The Deadlier of the Species!"
Writers: Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio
Artists: George Perez and Gene Day

Karen: This is part 4 of our look at the Project: Pegasus storyline, and this issue focuses on Thundra. Introduced back in Fantastic Four #129, Thundra is a warrior woman from an alternate future where society was divided along genders. Her people, the "Femizons" had genetically enhanced Thundra, granting her incredible strength. Originally she traveled to our time to battle Ben, whom the Femizons believed to be the strongest man of all time. They did fight, again and again, and Thundra became interested in Ben romantically, although this was never reciprocated by Ben.

Karen:We also have new artists starting with this issue. George Perez and Gene Day take over from John Byrne and Joe Sinnott, and they do an outstanding job. So often second or third tier books like MTIO would suffer from very weak art, but that's certainly not the case with this series of stories.

Karen: When the issue opens, we see that Thundra and the female wrestlers from last issue are breaking into Project Pegasus. In flashback, we are told that a mysterious man made her an offer she couldn't refuse to plant a device within the Project. However, once she and her team have placed the device, the lady wrestlers take off deeper into the complex, stating they have other orders!

Doug: Assembling those gals for the mission was sort of like a Dirty Dozen, wrasslin' style! Thundra would definitely be an example of all brawn/no brains, wouldn't she?

Karen: We get a quiet interlude with Ben visiting the still-comatose Wundarr. Ben is feeling guilty for allowing the scientists to use Wundarr in their experiments, and tells the man-child how sorry he is, and then quickly leaves before he starts to breakdown. After Ben exits the chamber, we see Wundarr lift his head and say, "Ben, I understand."

Doug: There have been some touching moments with Ben in this story -- it's a very human look at him. It just goes to show that anyone with talent can write any character -- sometimes we complain about certain writers not finding a character's "voice"; that just isn't the case here with scribes Macchio and Gruenwald. It looks like they've done their research, and stretched what they found just enough to make it their own.
Karen: Who should Ben run into after he leaves Wundarr but Thundra. When she refuses to come with him, the two get into another donnybrook, with Ben at a disadvantage due to to his injured arm (the one Deathlok blasted a few issues back).

Doug: I liked how Ben was startled at seeing her, but in that "Oh, crap..." way; he just knows when she shows up something stupid is going to happen. And it did.

Karen: As Ben and Thundra tangle, we pop in on Quasar and Giant-Man, who are cleaning up after the previous issue's fight with Nuklo. An alarm goes off -the female wrestlers have been detected. Our two heroes split up to go after them, and Quasar runs into Letha and Screaming Mimi. Quasar, ever chivalrous, fires a couple of warning shots and tells the two he doesn't want to "use real force on two women." The aptly named Screaming Mimi then cuts loose with a super-powered howl that causes Quasar's vision to distort - Perez' art here is very effective in getting across the feeling of disorientation. Eventually he overcomes his concerns about hurting the two and lets loose with a blast that drops them. As a side note, Screaming Mimi would go on to become Songbird of the Thunderbolts. It's a much better look in my opinion!

Doug: I really liked the panel with Giant-Man and Quasar working. I've said I'm a sucker for characters who are giants, and the perspective in that panel adds to the awe of it.

Doug: You are spot-on in your assessment of Perez's pencils on the Screaming Mimi scene. That is just really, really well done. I could get a sense of vertigo just looking at that page! Perez's choices of camera angles really added to the speed of the battle. The panel where Quasar flies across the floor into the wall is good, too.

Karen: While Quasar is busy with those two, Giant-Man has his hands full with Titania and Poundcakes. G-M has a tough time with the two of them, getting knocked into a fiery pit, and then nearly having his arms torn out by the two, before he finally manages to knock them out.

Doug: Bill Foster has gotten about as much respect in this story as his mentor, Dr. Henry Pym!

Karen: Truer words were never spoken. What is it about giant-guys?

Karen: Meanwhile, Ben is having his own problems with a certain Femizon. I got a chuckle out of the panel where Thundra has Ben on the floor, twisting his head, and yet proclaiming how the two are destined for each other!

Doug: Isn't that how all women behave?

Karen: Very funny sir. Ben manages to get back up and the fight continues, while Ben gives Thundra a lecture about true love. Eventually it comes to a screeching halt -with Ben caught in a scissor hold by Thundra! - when Quasar, Giant-Man, and the security team arrive with the other wrestlers securely in hand. Ben asks Thundra to come clean, but even though she feels betrayed, she has her honor and keeps silent.

Doug: Ben's line to Thundra about not being able to shine Alicia's shoes, followed immediately by "ya blasted tomboy!" was priceless. This is a really great fight scene, really well-choreographed. You could see this playing out on the silver screen in a sort-of Matrix-style battle.

Karen: Our story concludes with that scurrilous scientist, Dr. Lightner, recovering the device Thundra planted. With it, he will have all the components he needs to make the Nth projector, which certainly sounds ominous!

Doug: I cringed when Bill Foster said "mama" to Thundra...

Karen: You noticed that too? There were a few times during this series when the writers seemed to feel the need to throw some 'jive talk' in there. I might expect that from Luke Cage, but from Bill Foster? A biophysicist? This issue was a lot of fun; once it got going it was primarily one fight after another, and yet all were entertaining. As we re-read this little saga, I'm reminded again of how well all the characters were integrated into the story. Each had their own problems that they were dealing with and got the spotlight at different times. Yet Ben is always the center of the story as a whole. This is just a very well-crafted story, and the art has been fabulous.