Comic Conversations: the Troyjan War

 

The Troyjan War, not to be confused the the Greek Trojan War, is a 4 part storyline that takes place in issues #413-416 of the Incredible Hulk series from the nineties.  [1993-1994 to be exact]

Our story begins in deep space, as the Troyjan known as Trauma meets with his father, the dreaded Armageddon to ask his permission to return to Earth and take the woman known as Atalanta to be his bride. The ruler of the Troyjans allows his son, but warns him not to fail.  How could he possibly fail?  Well, his heart's desire happens to be on Earth training with a certain GREEN Avenger.  Trauma and his army grabs the girl, forcing Bruce and his team to go to space and get her back.  

After Atalanta was kidnapped by Trauma and the Troyjans, the Hulk returns to the Mount where he has the Pantheon construct a ship to follow their foes into space, the Argo IV.   After final checks with Prometheus, the countdown begins and soon the Argo IV takes off into space. Achilles is confident that Atalanta is probably giving them all sorts of trouble to slow them down. As it turns out, Achilles prediction is correct as aboard the Troyjan ship, Atalanta is giving the warriors a run for their money while incapacitating their ship as well. Trauma orders his men to capture her but not to harm her as he intends to make her his bride.

While this is happening, one of the Troyjans reports back to Trauma's father, the dread Armageddon. When learning that the Pantheon is closing in on his son, Armageddon orders his warriors to stand back and watch to see how his son handles the situation.  Soon,  the Pantheon arrived and Hector, Ulysses, Cassiopeia and the Hulk try to force their way into the ship. However, they are confronted by Trauma who refuses to let them foil his plans. 

While the Hulk battles Trauma, he orders the rest of the Pantheon to break into the ship. They accomplish this thanks to Cassie's energy blasts. Meanwhile, the Hulk is prepared for most of Trauma's weapons, but when his space suit is damaged he is blasted off the ship by one of its onboard weapons only to be saved by the Silver Surfer.  Seeing the battle as lost, Trauma jumps back into his ship and orders his crew to activate the warp drive. When the ship goes into warp, the Hulk and the Silver Surfer get pulled into the warp field and dragged along for the ride, leaving Achilles and Prometheus alone in the middle of space.

The Starjammers are surprised to find the Hulk drifting in space. As they debate on if they should bring him aboard their ship, the Silver Surfer catches up and insists that they let them come aboard. Meanwhile, aboard Trauma's ship, Atalanta is still on the run from her captors but has paused because traveling through hyperspace makes her sick. While she has stopped to throw up, Trauma manages to catch up and incapacitate her. Elsewhere on the ship, Ulysses, Cassiopeia, and Hector battle it out with the Troyjan warriors. Trauma arrives with Atalanta in his arms and orders the Pantheon to stand down or she will mutilate his captive. With no other choice, Ulysses, and the others surrender.

Elsewhere in space, Lord Armageddon learns that his son Trauma has succeeded in capturing Atalanta and is now on his way back home. However, they soon detect the Starjammer and the Silver Surfer invading Troyjan space and fighting through their defenses. Intrigued to hear that the Silver Surfer is coming, Armageddon arms himself and orders his minions to prepare for a fitting welcome. As the Starjammer and the Surfer fight their way to the Troyjan star port, they are ordered by High Lord Vitto to surrender. The Hulk convinces Corsair that pretending to surrender is their best bet. It is at this time they are horrified to discover that their leader Agamemmnon made a deal with the Troyjans for the technology that had prolonged his life. In exchange, the Troyjans could then claim a tithe by means of any member of Agamemnon's family they desire.

The Hulk refuses to honor the deal and tries to attack Trauma, but is incapacitated by Armageddon's weapons. When the Silver Surfer tries to come to the Hulk's aid, Armageddon blasts the former herald of Galactus with powerful eye beams which overloaded the Silver Surfer by channeling and redirecting the Surfer's own Power Cosmic.

The Hulk then plays to Trauma's pride, mocking him for having his father intervene in all of his battles. This enrages Trauma who demands his father to free Hulk so they can fight to the finish. Armageddon concedes to his son's wishes and lets the Hulk free and the two are soon trading blows. While his son fights the Hulk, Armageddon continues to bombard the Silver Surfer with his own Power Cosmic. Cassie steps in the way, absorbing the Surfer's tremendous energies and shooting them towards Armageddon in the form of an incredibly powerful blast (whose power output is multiplied by the factor of two). As the Surfer recovers, the Hulk continues his fight with Trauma. During the fight, one of Trauma's spiked shoulder pieces gets embedded into a wall. As the two powerhouses struggle with each other, the Hulk shoves him into the wall again, impaling Trauma on his own armor. Mortally wounded, Trauma falls over and begins to bleed out.

The fight suddenly ends when Trauma cries out for his father. When everyone gathers around the dying Trauma, he asks Atalanta if he should die for his love of her. When she says he shouldn't, he releases her from her bond to him. As he dies, Trauma is cradled by his father who orders everyone to get out. When the Hulk offers his own grief, Armageddon tells Banner to save his grief for himself.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Meanstreak (X-Men 2099)

 I apologize for the late post but I was watching the Wild Card games with friends and family.  It is when I was home I realized I needed to put another showcase up.  I am still staying in the Marvel 2099 universe and I am still on the X-Men team.  This time we will focus on the speedster of 2099, Meanstreak.

    Henri Huang was a scientist at Alchemax who worked alongside Jordan Boone. After Jordan helped Henri break his Alchemax contract, he left New York, where he eventually encountered Krystalin in Berkeley and was recruited into Xi'an's X-Men and was given the codename Meanstreak. Joining the X-Men out of gratitude, he remained for the thrill the work gave him and for Krystallin, with whom he had fallen in love.

    Henri was the team tactician and point man, leading the group through the Synge Casino, searching for evidence to clear suspicion that Xi'an assassinated casino head Noah Synge.  After clearing Xi'an's name, Meanstreak leaves the team briefly to search for Jordan Boone, who had gone missing. As they make their way to New York, aided by Skullfire, Bloodhawk and Krystalin, they are captured by the Theatre of Pain. They manage to escape and arrive in New York to find that Boone had been genetically altered into the 2099 version of the trickster god Loki. Along with Doom, Ravage, Punisher and Spider-Man, they manage to defeat the Alchemax created Aesir and then return to Nevada.

    After the ordeal with Thor and the Norse gods of 2099, Henri is approached by Halloween Jack, the latest persona of Jordan Boone. Together they travel to Las Vegas to enact revenge on the new heads of the Synge casino and children of Noah Synge, Desdemona and Lytton. They easily break in and take over the casino, gaining access to not only the bank accounts of the Synges, but also the rest of the Greater Nevada Syndicate. Henri helps Jack build a Virtual Unreality projector which, when activated, begins warping Nevada and fusing it with alternate dimensional energies. Doom arrives, having recently installed himself as President of the US. He quarantines Las Vegas, leaving Jack to lord over the twisted city. It's at this point Henri decides to move on.

Powers and Abilities

    Henri Huang possesses enhanced speed, stamina, reflexes, and thought process. Meanstreak is capable of breaking the sound barrier, if he pushes himself though only for small periods of time or cover vast distances. His body heals and metabolizes at the same incredible rate, but oddly, he does not seem to need more than average sustenance. [Unlike another speedster from another universe Dr. Jay]

    He is also a technological genius, able to manipulate most computer systems with ease.

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  X-Men 2099 #1

Created by John Francis Moore & Ron Lim

Alter Ego: Henri Huang

Species: Human Mutant

Place of Origin:  Earth-928

Team Affiliations: X-Men 2099

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Nitro

 

In my opinion, MARVEL has been sitting on a gold mine in a villain they need to spotlight in their movies and TV shows.  Who is this villain? The one and only Nitro.  I know that this may be the first time some of you have hard of Nitro, but he has been involved in some of the most historic events in Marvel Comics history.  If you do your research, you will see that Nitro was the cause for the Marvel Comics version of Civil War and not what you were fed in the theatres.  Here is what you need to know about Nitro.

Robert Hunter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was an electrical engineer. Due to genetic alteration carried out on him by the Kree Lunatic Legion, Robert gained the ability to explode and reform himself at will and became a professional criminal. During one of his exploits, he exposed Captain Marvel to a carcinogenic nerve gas that ultimately caused Captain Marvel's fatal cancer. (Historic Event #1) 

Since then he has clashed with Earth's superhumans such as Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Avengers, and the New Warriors to name a few.  At the start of the Civil War storyline, the New Warriors performed a videotaped raid of a house containing the Cobalt Man, Speedfreek, Coldheart and Nitro, who had recently escaped from prison during the Ryker's Island Incident. 

The New Warriors attacked each villain, with Namorita going after Nitro. Slamming him into a school bus, Namorita taunted Nitro who then quotes "Oh, baby, don't you even know? You're playing with the big boys." Nitro then explodes causing a massive explosion. This explosion killed Namorita, Night Thrasher, Microbe, and the supervillains he was with during the raid along with sixty children at the nearby elementary school and some 600 people in the surrounding neighborhood in Stamford, Connecticut where the fight took place. (Historic Event #2)  This event led to the hero registration act which would start a Civil War amongst those with powers.

Powers and Abilities

Nitro can forcefully convert his whole body into gases, resulting in a violent explosion. This transformation could be limited to discrete portions of himself, such as his fist and aim the force in a specific direction. While in a gaseous form, he cannot reform if any fraction of his body is separated from the rest and must completely reconstitute himself before detonating again. The process does not have any healing qualities, so any wound received due to the explosion would be present when he reforms.

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  Captain Marvel #34 (September 1974)

Created by Jim Starlin (writer) & Steve Englehart (artist)

Name: Nitro

Alter Ego:  Robert Hunter

Species: Human Mutate

Team Affiliations:

• Defenders
• Hardcore's Untouchables

Notable Aliases:

• Exploding Man
• Living Bomb

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Steeplejack (Maxwell Plumm)

The next Marvel Villain I shall showcase from the "Bar With No Name Massacre" is the Power Man & Ms. Marvel villain known as Steeplejack.  Three men have used the identity of Steeplejack but we are here to discuss Maxwell Plumm.

Maxwell Plumm was a building contractor in New York City. He was indebted with crime boss Dominic Varone. To pay his debts, he was forced to perform budget cuts in his projects which caused different security failures. 

Sadly, two of his construction workers fell to their deaths due to a sudden wind slipping the cable of a girder. A surviving worker was Jake Mallard, brother of the two victims.  Mallard discovered Plumm's illegal activities and budget cuts.  He swore to get revenge on him. He made some construction-tool-like weapons and would become the first Steeplejack to avenge the death of his brothers.

Steeplejack tried to kill Plumm by throwing him from the top of one of his buildings. However, Power Man was coincidentally near the area, witnessing the scene, and rushed to save Plumm. After exchanging some punches, the Steeplejack managed to throw Plumm from the building, and Power Man had no choice but to save him. Eventually Power Man would fight Steeplejack  again.  This time the battle ended with the death of Jake Mallard, thus ending the career of Steeplejack...but not really.  You see Maxwell Plumm noticed Steeplejack's gear at the scene of his death and found it interesting, so he savaged and reproduced it.  He wanted to patent and sell Mallard's inventions. He relocated to Boston and began a new project, Monarch Plaza, using his budget-cutting tactics.

This new project involved a worker named Joseph Danvers, who happens tobe the father of one MS. Marvel aka Carol Danvers.  Due to Plumm's illicit activities, Danvers was almost killed by the impact of materials thrown by a wind - and he would have died if his daughter were not there to save his life. Joe Danvers threatened Plumm because of the event, but Plumm counter-threatened Danvers.

Seizing his opportunity to strike, Plumm disguised himself as the second Steeplejack. He had a slighter complexion than Mallard, and thus he could fool no-one pretending to be the original Steeplejack. However, he designed a completely-different costume, and other weaponry. He used it to kidnap Joe Danvers and intended to throw him from the Monarch Plaza. He wasn't counting on Danvers having his own galactic guardian angel.

Steeplejack fought Ms. Marvel and stood toe to toe with her for a minute, but she was just too powerful  in the long run.  He was captured and sent to prison.  It was in Captain America #319 that we see the return of Steeplejack.  His return wouldn't last long due to the fact that he walked into a trap set by the Scourge of the Underworld.   It was here where he and 16 other villains met their deaths by the Scourge and his machine gun.

Publication Information

First Appearance: Maxwell Plumm - Power Man #18 (April 1974)

First Appearance: Steeplejack - Ms. Marvel #14 (February 1978)

Death: Captain America #319 (July 1986)

Created by Len Wein & George Tuska

Powers & Abilities

Steeplejack had a padded costume that his physique look larger than he actual was.  

The costume also helped soften the blows in a fight.

He also carried a rivet gun that could fire several forms of energy and force (including light and heat), red-hot rivets, and a cable.

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: Cyclone (André Gerard)

 

Today's Showcase features another one of the Scourge's victims who was later resurrected by the Hood only to  be killed by Frank Castle aka the Punisher.  This villain has fought Spider-Man and Moon Knight in his prime.  He had a good career as a villain until the Scourge of the Underworld put him down,  Let's learn about how vital h is to the Marvel Universe.

André Gerard was born in Lyon, France. Mr. Gerard was a French engineer working for NATO but he had a falling out with his former employees based on the development of a weapon that generates high velocity tornado-like winds. So André took his invention and used it for his own criminal ends, developing his costume and other weapons. Since h e had the capability of creating tornado-like winds, he named himself Cyclone.  Like many criminal masterminds in Spider-Man comics, he decided to form a gang and capture J. Jonah Jameson, the owner of the Daily Bugle, and like so many criminal masterminds who follow this plan, he was defeated by Spider-Man.  He also attempted to  kidnap Joseph "Robbie" Robertson, but was again defeated by Spider-Man.

André  was broken out of prison by the Masked Marauder and employed by the Nefaria Family of the Maggia as an enforcer. Cyclone was sent to kill Spider-Man and Moon Knight, but was defeated by Moon Knight.

He was doing relatively well for himself, in spite of his defeats at the hands of Spider-Man. Concerned over the deaths of various costumed villains by the vigilante Scourge organization, Cyclone attended a meeting at the "Bar with No Name" in Medinah County, Ohio, to deal with the Scourge and was shot to death by a Scourge agent posing as the bartender.

Cyclone was later among the eighteen victims of Scourge to be resurrected by Hood using the power of Dormammu as part of a squad assembled to eliminate the Punisher.  After the Punisher is captured, he is present at the ritual where the Hood intends to resurrect the Punisher's family. The Hood gives the Punisher a knife to sacrifice G. W. Bridge, but the Punisher instead uses the knife to slash Cyclone's throat.

Publication Information

Publisher:  Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  The Amazing Spider-Man #143 (April 1975)

Created by Gerry Conway & Ross Andru

Full Name: André Gerard

Team Affiliations:

• Maggia
• NATO

Partnerships:

• Hood

Abilities

Expert engineer

Gifted intellect

His Costume grants the ability to create whirlwind

Until next time, get your READ on!

All I got to say now  is "Who's Next?"

Saturday Showcase: Firebrand

 

Greetings my fellow Nerds,

It is time once again that I showcase a character that you may have never heard of or simply forgotten.  Last weak I showcased the villain Mirage.  Well, sticking to the villains of the Avengers theme, I chose to discuss the Iron Man villain known as Firebrand.  He made is debut in July of 1970 and was very popular in the 70's and 80's.  He made a brief return in the 2000's as one of the villains that the Hood had resurrected to take on the Punisher.  There have also been other versions of the villain known as Firebrand but I am going to concentrate on the original Gary Gilbert.

Gary Gilbert was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is a superpowered enforcer for corrupt industrialist Justin Hammer.   As Firebrand, he is a former radical activist saboteur who turns to violence after believing peaceful protest produced no results.  Firebrand's "clenched fist" logo on his chest recalls the Black Power movement.

In his first appearance in Iron Man #27 (July 1970), Firebrand describes his experiences demonstrating for the civil rights movement in a speech to Iron Man.  The speech is included in the panel above. (It's an actually good speech isn't it Dr. Jay?)

While the story includes some positive messages about the civil rights movement, Firebrand is presented as a villain, because he sets himself outside of the existing political structure, and is willing to let innocents die to further his political and social aims. 

When Firebrand accidentally kills his own father,  he fell to alcoholism and gave up political activism only to work for other villains because he "needed the work".  He later gave up his costumed identity and became a "supervillain agent", brokering employment for other costumed villains.

[Dr. Jay, does this panel look familiar?  Well it should.]

When news of the Scourge of the Underworld's initial wave of supervillain murders spread among the criminal community, Gilbert took it upon himself to gather several costumed criminals for a meeting to determine what should be done about this menace. The meeting, held at an abandoned tavern in Medina County, Ohio, known among the criminal underworld as "The Bar With No Name", turned out to be a massacre, as Scourge infiltrated the event disguised as a bartender; a few minutes into the meeting, Scourge slaughtered every criminal present, including Gilbert, with machine gun fire.

Firebrand was later among 17 of the criminals murdered by the Scourge, who were resurrected by Hood as part of a squad assembled to eliminate the Punisher.  After the Punisher is captured, he is present at the ritual where the Hood intends to resurrect the Punisher's family. The Punisher refuses to accept this, and forces Firebrand to burn his family alive, and then Punisher shoots Firebrand in the back of the head.

Powers, Abilities, & Equipment

With his suit, the armored exoskeleton gave him superhuman strength and resistance to fire. It also housed flamethrowers (which allowed him to fire thermal blasts from his hands), one mounted on each wrist, and flying jets that gave him the ability to fly.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  Iron Man #27 (July 1970)

Created by Archie Goodwin (Writer) & Don Heck (Artist)

Until next time, get your READ on!

Saturday Showcase: the Mirage

 

Desmond Charne aka the Mirage is an interesting Marvel villain from the 70's.  Sure, the costume wasn't the greatest back then, but his costume wasn't the only one that would have you say WTF? back then.  I was just going through some old comics, and I came across a Captain America Scourge storyline that featured this forgotten villain and I decided to educate you new comic readers to the man known as Desmond Charne but better known by his alias, the Mirage. 

Desmond Charne was a former holography technician who wanted to be a supervillain. He used holograph technology which could make him invisible or create 3-D illusions.  He made his criminal debut at Betty Brant and Ned Leeds' wedding, intending to rob them and their guests, but Spider-Man interfered. Alas, his plans were ruined by your friendly, neighborhood, Spider-Man. [Amazing Spider-Man #156]

The next time we see Mirage, he had planned to kidnap the Thing from a hospital, to sell him to the highest bidder. However, Daredevil prevented hiss plans, and defeated him.  [Marvel Two-in-One #96]  No one said he was a successful criminal. (Right Dr. Jay)

Mirage attended the "Bar With No Name" in Medinah County, Ohio and was massacred along with all the other villains present at the incident by the Scourge of the Underworld, sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. He was reported to have survived, as part of a ploy to lure the Scourge into a trap. Dressed as Mirage, Captain America captured Scourge, who was then shot to death by another mysterious assailant.  [Captain America #319-320]

During the "Dark Reign" storyline, Mirage was later among the 18 criminals that were murdered by Scourge of the Underworld to be resurrected by Hood using the power of Dormammu as part of a squad assembled to eliminate the Punisher.

Mirage disguises himself and a number of the criminals as the Avengers out to kill the Punisher. The Punisher uncovers the ruse when he knocks out Mirage (disguised as Captain America) and captures him. He interrogates Mirage about the villain's plans, and leaves him with a grenade in his mouth.

He was saved by his crew only to have the Punisher find him once again but it wasn't the Punisher that finished him.  He was silenced before Frank could get him to talk.  [the Punisher #5-8 (2009), Punisher: In the Blood #2]

The Mirage has returned in many storylines since his "reveal" back in 1976, which is proof you can't keep a bad guy down.  They just don't seem to stay dead.  It is the world of comics you know, lol.

Publication Information

Publisher: Marvel Comics

First Appearance:  The Amazing Spider-Man #156 (May 1976)

Created by Len Wein & Ross Andru

Alter Ego: Desmond Charne

Team Affiliations:

• Grapplers
• Sinister Sixteen

Notable Aliases: Master of Illusion

Powers & Abilities

Genius Electrician, Physicist and Laser Technologist

Carries a handgun and tranquilizer gun

Costume grants him three dimensional holographic image projection

Which one of these fallen villains should I write about next?

Until next time, get your READ on!