Gorilla Men!

Gorillas and pop culture have been linked forever. Nigh human creatures of immense strength are a savory draw for any writer or artist. Certainly DC Comics made the most of them with their unusual but weirdly savvy policy to feature gorillas on their covers when they noticed that such comics sold better. Marvel had its share of Gorillas and as a necessary offshoot Gorilla Men. This volume features one of those Gorilla Men, but also pays homage to many others.

Ken Hale, the Gorilla Man was first excavated by Don Glut as part of the ragtag 50's Avengers who popped up in the pages of the What If? #9. This is one of my favorite issues of the run under a dynamic Jack Kirby cover. I was not alone as these Avengers popped up again in the pages of Avengers Forever by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco. That appearance led them to get their own limited runs under the name of Agents of Atlas.

And among the stand outs in this series by Jeff Parker is Gorilla-Man. So much so, that he eventually got his own stand alone limited series.

The series offers up a nifty little story which slowly but surely is actually Ken Hale's secret origin and we get insights into the character far beyond the limits of his other appearances. We see him as young orphan scooped up from poverty by a charismatic man and who becomes swashbuckling adventurer long before he sought immortality and so became the Gorilla-Man.

Also in these issues are stories of other Marvel Gorilla-Men, not the least of which is Arthur Nagan, leader of the notorious Headmen. We get his origin story by Weird Wonder Tales #7 from its original 1950's source, the twenty-first issue of Mystery Tales.

We also get the two-part story by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby of the Gorilla-Man who became so by use of the powers of science.

And finally we get the story of Ken Hale himself from the vintage pages of Men's Advnture. And for those patient enough to follow this post this far, here's a treat, the full story of how one man became a gorilla.

I found this volume for tiny money and enjoyed it thoroughly. If you find it cheap I recommend it mightily, despite the somewhat indifferent cover which reproduces the first issue's. The interiors are much much better from the across the whole of Marvel history.

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The Destiny War - Avengers Forever!

The Destiny War's final battle begins, and it starts up with a bang. The Avengers, imbued with a bit of the Destiny Force from Rick Jones drive off the Time Keepers, who seem more than anything focused on keeping themselves alive. The trail leads to the lair of the Time Keepers at the end of time where Kang leads the Avengers in an assault on the Forever Cannon, a deadly device powered by the Forever Crystal which Immortus had harvested from the remains of Chronopolis. But as the Avengers press their attack Immortus turns on his masters and denies them the Crystal but they take it anyway and destroy Immortus in the bargain.

To forestall the attacks of the Avengers and Kang the Keepers call forth evil versions of the Avengers from across time and suddenly the hall fills with armies of variations of the great heroes. The Avengers fight on against these dark versions of themselves and press their advantage, led by Rick Jones and the ferocious Kang. Even Libra joins the fray but the proves to be a mistake as the Time Keepers use him to turn the tide and use the Destiny Force inside Rick to freeze the Avengers in their tracks. They then seek to defeat Kang by forcing his transformation into Immortus. Then  Captain Marvel, the one member of the team who remembers the war uses the Nega Bands to change places with Rick Jones, as had his father before him. But this Rick is much older and the evidence  of many battles is displayed in his clothes and his wounds. He has but one arm, wears Doctor Strange's amulet as a broach, Falcon's boots, and a belt which suggest great utility and a shoulder wrap from a super-looking red and yellow cape, these last two details seemingly of another world entirely. This aged Rick meets and consoles his young counterpart and together the counter the evil Avenger army of the Keepers by calling forth an army of good Avengers from across countless time lines and alternate universes.

The Destiny War rages as an army of good Avengers from across time and space battle an army of evil Avengers. Battles and fights go on in all directions and Avengers on both sides fall. The Avengers led by two Ricks press the attack on the Forever Cannon while Kang fights to forestall his change into Immortus, but Kang's will proves too powerful and he sloughs off their attack. Kang once more he joins the furious fray with savage gusto. Old Rick Jones uses the Nega Bands to again become Captain Marvel to join the fight. The battles rage then young Rick Jones dives into the Forever Cannon and uses his Destiny Force powers to destroy it once and for all but perhaps at the cost of his own life.

He falls and lies still as Kang uses his poweful weapons to seemingly destroy the Time Keepers and with a bold bravado shouts his victory to the stars "Kang Conquers!" Captain America takes possession of the Forever Crystal and despite its allure to alter time he seemingly crushes it denying its power to Kang. The that aspect of Kang which almost became Immortus takes shape as a child who quickly grows into a young and vital Immortus who fired with new purpose leaves the scene and the Avengers behind. Kang now at long last free of his destiny to become the hated Immortus feels empowered and alive as never before and seeks new conquests. He too disappears into time.

To save Rick Jones Captain Marvel bonds with him as his father had once done at the end of the Kree-Skrull War and the two become a new hero who will have adventures following this one in a new title. The Libra steps in and sends them all home, with memories which will seem like dreams. Captain America is returned to the pitiless moment which shattered his confidence as a man dies in the White House, Yellowjacket returns to marry the Wasp, Hawkeye returns and makes a call about a mystery man he's found who we know to be Hercules, Mockingbird returns to the mansion to find Jack of Hearts and Wasp who know well of the Destiny War.  Wasp and Giant-Man return to help the Avengers as they have always done. The Supreme Intelligence though gets the last moment when we see that he has taken possession of the Forever Crystal, and it suggests adventures to come, as always.

Sigh.

Kurt Busiek said that Avengers Forever was not the story he and Carlos Pacheco began to tell, that one was too similar to an X-Men begun at the same time. So they switched it up and cobbled together this ultimate Kang epic, at the same time weaving together the myriad threads of nearly all the Avengers lore which had attached itself to Kang over the decades. Like the best jazz, they began with no real clear destination but rather allowed the story to unfold over time and seek its own ending. It did with a bang. Now if the finale of Avengers Forever can be faulted for anything it's that it has so many heroes in attendance that we never get a good look at all of them. That's frustrating, but there's no denying the gusto which permeates ever page of this wild time travel yarn.

Busiek has said he wanted to emulate what Roy Thomas, Neal Adams and the Brothers Buscema accomplished with the historical Kree-Skrull War, make a sprawling epic without a pre-ordained plan, allowing incidents and events to happen which would inform the direction of the story. I don't know the extent to which he and Pacheco accomplished this, but I do know the final result is a story which lingers in the mind like a fine meal.

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The Destiny War - Kang Dynasty!

This ninth issue of Avengers Forever much like its predecessor is a look back through the lore of Marvel Comics at the lives and times of Kang the Conqueror. We meet Kang in a moment of recuperation and reflection, not for the moment at least the man of action but a Kang who is marshaling his mind and spirit for the next battle. In this repose in the relative security of a part of Chronopolis he thinks back over his myriad battles with the Avengers and others and we see, from his perspective, how he came to be the conqueror.

It begins in a future filled with destruction visited by a stranger from the past named Nathaniel Richards (possibly an ancestor of Kang) who makes a new utopian world. In this peaceful time comes the man who will be Kang and he wants adventure. He finds his ancestor's time machine technology and travels back to become Rama-Tut. Defeated by the FF he escapes to meet Doctor Doom (possibly and ancestor of Kang), becomes for a time the Scarlet Centurion, and then travels accidentally to the 40th Century to become for the first time Kang. He conquers the Earth then more through space and eventually hearkens back to his memories of the 20th Century (which he longed for as a 30th Century man) and begins his many battles with the Avengers. He meets Ravonna, loses her and from there it gets quite complicated.

To get her back he confronts the Avengers again, takes time to battle the Thing and Human Torch and the Hulk as well. Conquers the dimension of Cosmos and gains tech which will give birth to the Growing Men. Then he seeks the Celestial Madonna and is seemingly destroyed. But it's all a ruse and he returns to confront the results of his time travels, a myriad of Kangs of various capacities and he seeks to prune this cavalcade of himself and reclaim his autonomy. But he seems to fail but breaks himself into to two branches, one to create Chronopolis the other to deal with the Cross-Time Kangs. He battles the FF over the Celestial Madonna again and his again thwarted. He confronts a version of Ravonna who in some realities rules in his stead. Eventually the come together and live a time in stately repose, but again ennui strikes him and he returns to the past as Rama-Tut to eventually play that role in the Celestial Madonna saga. It is this Rama-Tut who becomes the Kang of this tale who becomes aware of Immortus and his deal with the Time Keepers to kill off the human race to save the universe. He plots to end other powers who meddle in time in order to gain a firm hand to confront his alternate self. His reflections end as Rick Jones appears and with the Supreme Intelligence at his elbow makes a pact with Kang to save the Avengers.

In the tenth issue The Avengers meanwhile are waking up after being captured by Immortus and the traitor Yellowjacket. They find themselves on a world confronted by armies of "Avengers" who serve Emporer Jonz Rickard, a descendant of Rick Jones who has mastered the Destiny Force. This army does not recognize the Avengers but rather thinks they are the Guardians of the Galaxy, a force for freedom in the universe. A battle rages before they are pulled out by Yellowjacket who is responsible for their mistaken identities by use of Limbo bugs. He takes them to Immortus and the Time Keepers where as prisoners they hear of the origin of the Keepers (who in other realities are the Time Twisters) and of their plan to use the Forever Crystal to power their cannon which will destroy 42 percent of the timelines in which mankind poses a threat to the universe.  Immortus too reveals that his work has been along these same lines, though on a smaller scale and with the constant hope to save as much of humanity as he can. The Avengers debate with the Keepers but they remain resolute in their mission to prune the time lines.

But Yellowjacket, himself promised a reality in which he has the Wasp as his wife, becomes convinced he's chosen the wrong side and helps trigger a revolt. They all seem for a moment touched by the Destiny Force which allows them to oppose the Keepers with some effectiveness. Then when all seems lost suddenly Rick Jones and Kang appear in the "Supreme Cycle". The Supreme Intelligence seems cozy in tucked in the back seat.

So the definitive Kang story reaches its climax as the "Destiny War" is upon us. Tomorrow the fighting breaks out in earnest. 

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The Destiny War - Secret History!

I frankly doubt my abilities to fully relate the story to follow. Avengers Forever by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco luxuriates in the boundless complexities which the time-traveling Kang and his kin have wrought in the Marvel universe, with numerous contradictions and oddities of exposition put forth over the decades. Attempts to explain and put right a complicated history only serving to further add to the complexity, and this story does no less.

With the destruction of the 50's Avengers timeline Captain Marvel and Wasp barely escape back into the times tream and  aboard Kang/Rama Tut's Sphinx-like time ship where Rick Jones awaits them. He is confused by images which have been parading on the various screens in the ship showing Immortus acting out throughout time and space and in places where previously his presence had not been known, such as the creation of the Human Torch.

Meanwhile Giant-Man and Captain America are working to help the Black Panther and his crew of Martian-fighting Avengers (Thundra, Killraven, Living Lightning, and a pregnant Jocasta). They enter Wakanda and discover that the caves which once held vast stores of Vibranium have become occupied by a mysterious woman-like creature called Mourning Glory and her insect like offspring. She has made use of the Vibranium to allow her children to thrive and now as Jocasta gives birth to the child fathered by Machine Man the Vibranium help makes that possible. With so much new life around them, the Black Panther makes the hard decision to stay and husband that life rather than seek out further vengeance against the Martian invaders.

Meanwhile (again) in the Old West, Yellowjacket, Songbird, and Hawkeye try to investigate their anomaly while staying away from the unfolding story with Kang and the western heroes Rawide Kid, Kid Colt, Ringo Kid, Night Rider, and Two-Gun Kid which ran in its course earlier in Avengers lore. They find new monsters created by Kang and further learn that their own ranks have been invaded by a Space Phantom posing as Songbird. But they survive and return to the Sphinx.

The Avengers then make the decision to invade Limbo and the castle fortress of Immortus. They are constantly plagued by images which seem to show pasts they are not familiar with and hope to find the answers in Limbo. Limbo proves to be quite confusing, changing at nearly every moment and the team becomes separated. Hawkeye runs into Tempus, the giant time warrior of Immortus. Cap encounters versions of Nick Fury. Yellowjacket has to come to terms with the truth that he is in fact Hank Pym and his response to that truth will prove dangerous. Songbird has her demons to conquer and guilt as her former life of crime haunts her.

But each overcomes their challenge. Hawkeye grows to giant size to smash Tempus, Cap takes some heart from his talk with Fury (revealed to be Libra), and Songbird and Captain Marvel strike up a romance, which Genis-Vell says will be theirs in his future. But Immortus discovers them and they rally to leave Limbo and despite enormous odds and a giant army escape back to the Sphinx, though Hawkeye does bring with him a Synchro-Staff from the lair of Immortus. Yellowjacket is left behind but makes his own plans with Immortus to bring down the team which he thinks threatens him.

And now it gets really confusing. Hang on to your hats amigos.

What is titled nothing less than "The Secret History of The Avengers" rattles the cages of nearly everything in Avengers lore we think we know as settled fact. To begin with, the Syncrho-Staff liberated by Hawkeye turns out to be a Space Phantom. Up to this point, the Avengers had believer there to be only one Space Phantom and now they learn there are a multitude, Phantoms becoming created whenever anyone is isolated inside Limbo for too long a time (which itself is a conundrum). The Space Phantom tells the Avengers that Immortus works for the Time Keepers, a trio of aliens from the distant future who work to prune the timestream and who regard the Avengers as one of the most dangerous threats to the cosmos. Further it is revealed that the Phantom's earliest battle against the Avengers in the second issue of the comic was the first foray by Immortus against the team. The Avengers then learn for the first time of their initial encounter with Immortus himself which to that point had been wiped from time by the Enchantress of the Masters of Evil. They learn that Thor's hammer had been deprived of its time-traveling ability in an effort to limit the Avengers' ability to travel in time.

Debut of the Space Phantom -- Never what we thought he was...ever.

The Avengers learn that in the distant future Earth will spread through the universe and the Avengers will inspire an army of soldiers which will conquer throughout space. This is the future the Time Keepers wish to stop and they push their agent Immortus to make it so. Further they learn that the Scarlet Witch and the Vision were nudged into a romance to stop her from having children destined to become powerful nexus creatures able to rock the cosmos. And all the myriad stories concerning Mephisto and other such demon like types had been a concoction to this end. They learn that the Vision is not created from the Human Torch's body, but rather a doppleganger body created by Immortus. We learn more that the foray into space by the Avengers against the Kree-Shi'ar War was manipulated by Immortus again and the Avengers who took upon themselves to kill the Supreme Intelligence were under minor mind control. The entire bewildering saga of teen Tony Stark after the Onslaught battles was a concoction by Immortus to control the team.

Everything almost they knew about themselves proves to only half-truths and just as they attempt to get their heads around the news Immortus and the traitorous Yellowjacket appear and knock the team out.

Whew!

I love Kurt Busiek, but even I was getting addled by the constant rejiggering of past stories in this yarn. He's a master of this kind of thing, as was Steve Englehart and Roy Thomas before him, but there is so much Marvel lore being re-knitted in this story that it all rather boggles the mind. I'm a reader steeped in Avengers history (pre-2007 that is -- couldn't tell you squat about the current situations) and I was constantly having to reach into my deepest recesses to remember all the myriad story lines Busiek and Pacheco touched on here. They truly attempted to fold all the material in to a seemingly-coherent whole but who knows yet if it was the truth.

More to come, much more.

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The Destiny War - Untimely Heroes!

"The Destiny War" in Avengers Forever #3 rages as the Avengers (see the previous installment for who they and where they come from) become acquainted with one another, though Yellowjacket still seems to not realize another Hank Pym is in the room. Immortus invades Chronopolis and defeats Kang's armies. The Avengers flee with Libra and Immortus converts the timeless city into a great gem called "The Forever Crystal". It will become a tool for him to use to prune the disparate timelines which worry him.

Jeff Smith

In Avengers Forever #4 (which came with an assortment of alternate covers), the Assemblers escape in Kang's Sphinx-like time ship and and safely outside of time gather their wits and scheme up a plan to counter Immortus. The identify different points in the time where it seems that Immortus might be up to no good and divide the team to head to some of those to discover the problem and solve it if possible.

Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino

Captain America and Giant-Man find an alternate world where "The Avengers" are the Black Panther, Thundra, Jocasta, The Crimson Dynamo, the Living Lightning, and most strikingly Killraven. These Avengers are among what's left of mankind and battle ferociously against the minions of the invaders from Mars.T'Challa recognizes Cap and Giant-Man and realizes they are part of the Destiny War.

John Buscema and Tom Palmer

Meanwhile Songbird, Yellowjacket and Hawkeye head to Earth's Old West and discover dinosaurs are roaming the vintage western streets. They disguise themselves to blend in, but it has minimal success. Hawkeye realizes they are in the middle of another time traveling adventure which involved Kang and Thor and the Marvel Western heroes Rawide Kid, Kid Colt, and Two-Gun Kid among others. The team head into the hills so as to not interfere.

Frank Quitely

Wasp and Captain Marvel end up in the 1950's at a California carnival. They too disguise themselves to blend in but are quickly detected by the heroes of the day, Marvel Boy, Venus, Human Robot, Gorilla Man, and 3-D Man. These heroes call themselves "Avengers" too.

From his vantage point inside the time Sphinx Rick Jones watches his comrades across time. He sees Giant-Man and Captain America help the freedom fighters battle against the Martian forces. It's a deadly and bloody battle. The 1950's Avengers meanwhile capture Wasp and Captain Marvel until thanks to the loving power of Venus they cool down long enough to realize that something is wrong with Richard Nixon, not the usual stuff but he's a Skrull. The Western team of Hawkeye, Songbird, and Yellowjacket find themselves trapped in a cave but escape and are confronted by the heroes Reno Jones, Kid Cassidy and the Black Rider. But Hawkeye soon tips to the fact these latest heroes are in actuality Space Phantoms, the servants of Immortus. Likewise Wasp and Genis-Vell discover the FBI of the 1950's has been infiltrated by Phantoms too. Though they do succeed in unmasking the Skrull-Nixon, the arrival of Immortus forces them to withdraw as the timeline of the 1950's Avengers is washed away by the Forever Crystal and so might Wasp and Captain Marvel be if they don't move quickly.

Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, Two-Gun Kid and Night Rider make the scene.

The debut of T'Challa of Wakanda, the Black Panther.

The debut of the Femizon Thundra.

The debut of Killraven and his desperate war against the Martian invaders.

Debut of the Living Lightning, briefly a member of the Avengers.

Jocasta, the bride of Ultron.

The 1950's Avengers, a clever notion that became The Agents of Atlas.

These stories are everything I love about time travel stories, a rocking adventures with all kinds of misdirection. The heroes in these kinds of stories have to live by their wits more than their brawn and think their way out of the threats they discover. It was really cool to see some familiar timelines such as the Old West haunted by Kang, the 1950's Avengers, one of the greatest What If? adventures as well as a new way of thinking about Killraven's battle against the Martians from H.G. Well's novel. There are hints of other stories untold (Jocasta is pregnant for instance) and call backs to some of the best of what Marvel offered over the years. Big time fun indeed.

More to come next time.

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