EARTH'S MIGHTIEST ANNOTATIONS
By Sean McQuaid
AVENGERS FOREVER # 1
December, 1998
"Destiny Made Manifest"
By Kurt Busiek & Carlos Pacheco
with Jesus Merino (inker), Steve Oliff (colors),
Richard Starkings/Comicraft/Albert Deschesne (letters),
Greg Schigiel (Assistant Editor), Tom Brevoort (editor) &
Bob Harras (editor-in-chief).
Avengers Assembled:
Iron Man, Giant-Man, Captain America, Scarlet Witch,
Firestar & Justice
appear as Avengers in the present, along with honorary member
Rick Jones.
Thor, Hulk [II], Wasp, Beast and Wonder Man appear in flashbacks
(the
flashback featuring Beast is new material). Black Panther,
Two-Gun Kid
and Human Torch (possibly the non-member second incarnation of
the
Torch) all appear on Immortus's monitor screens. So do 3-D Man (a
member
of the 1950s Avengers) and Thundra, who may or may not be a
future Avenger
(series writer Busiek has said that Avengers Forever will feature
characters
who become Avengers in the future). In addition, this story
features what
appears to be a group of Avengers culled from various past,
present and
future timelines (though who comes from when remains to be seen):
a figure
who seems to be the present-day Giant-Man circa Avengers (v3) #
10; a figure
who seems to be a future incarnation of the Wasp; a figure who
seems to be a
future incarnation of or future successor to the original Captain
Marvel; a
figure who seems to combine elements of Hawkeye & Goliath
[II], both
identities used by longtime Avengers member Clint Barton (who
last used them
in combination in AWC # 97); a figure who seems to be the
original
Yellowjacket (Giant-Man in one of his past identities); a figure
who seems
to be a future incarnation of Songbird (currently a member of the
Thunderbolts) as an Avenger; and a figure who appears to be a
past or future
incarnation of Captain America.
Other Characters:
The people of 26th-century Centauri-IV (including
Farthi, Lendu Garinta,
Carva Tessara & Finu Birana), The 26th century Galactic
Avengers (including
Hammer-Troopers, Repulsor-Troopers, Shieldsmen, Micro-Swarm &
Jonz Rickard),
The Time-Keepers (including Vort & Ast), SHIELD (including
Agent Beaulieu),
Starcore, The Supreme Intelligence, Immortus, Tempus, Kang and an
unidentified robed figure. The Executioner, the Lava Men, Space
Phantom,
Melter, Black Knight [II], Radioactive Man, Baron Zemo, the Kree
and the
Skrulls also appear in various flashbacks. Rawhide Kid appears on
one of
Immortus's monitor screens. So does Thundra, who may or may not
be a future
Avenger (series writer Busiek has said that Avengers Forever will
feature
characters who become Avengers in the future). Angel, Blazing
Skull, Fin,
Patriot and Vision appear in a flashback to Avengers (v1) # 97,
when Rick
Jones mentally conjured up facsimiles of these heroes.
Chronological Note:
The present-day Avengers roster seen here and the
costuming they wear places
this story somewhere between Avengers (v3) # 9 & Avengers
(v3) # 10.
FRONT COVER
The cover illustration by Carlos Pacheco, George Perez,
Steve Oliff & Tony
Kelly depicts Rick Jones seated in front of a montage of faces,
faces that
seem to represent people associated with the Avengers. Some of
the faces
represent characters who have never been Avengers, but series
writer
Kurt Busiek has said that Avengers Forever will feature Avengers
from other
time periods, including characters fated to become Avengers in
the future.
Non-Avengers (who may be future Avengers) on this cover include
Jack of
Hearts, Red Wolf, Valkyrie, Mister Immortal (a member of the
unofficial
Great Lakes Avengers), Thundra, a new Captain Marvel, Songbird, a
helmeted
man who may be a future incarnation of MACH-1, Deathlok, and
several
partially obscured figures (including one below and to the left
of
Deathlok). Identifiable faces in general include Jack of Hearts,
Crystal,
Red Wolf, Valkyrie, Iron Man (original armor), Black Panther,
Magdalene,
Wonder Man, Sandman, Stingray, Deathcry, Goliath [II], Hawkeye
(in his
"Heroes Reborn" incarnation from the
"Franklinverse"), Mister Immortal,
Moondragon, Hulk [II], Vision [II], Hellcat, Thor, Ant-Man,
Masque [II],
Thundra, Captain America, Black Knight [III], Giant-Man, Human
Torch,
Mantis, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Yellowjacket, Sub-Mariner, Iron Man
(current
armor), Songbird, Rage, Wonder Man, a future Captain Marvel,
Hawkeye, a
future MACH-1 (unconfirmed), Beast, Wasp, Spider-Woman [II],
Jocasta,
Thing, Mockingbird, Warbird, Quasar [III], Falcon [II],
Quicksilver,
Swordsman [II], Hercules, Machine Man, Justice & Deathlok.
Busiek has said
he has Avengers plans for Jack of Hearts in 1999.
BACK COVER
The back cover illustration by Comicraft's John Roshell
& Randee Z features
a moon surrounded by warped images reprinted from past Avengers
comics,
including Avengers (v1) # 10 & 97 and Giant-Size Avengers #
2. Avengers
(v1) # 10 is the first appearance of Immortus, seen here meeting
the
original Masters of Evil. Avengers (v1) # 97 contains the first
meeting
of the Supreme Intelligence and Rick Jones, during which the
Intelligence
activated a vast mental power within Rick (a feat the
Intelligence repeats
in this story). Giant-Size Avengers # 2 features a major battle
between
Kang and his past self, Rama-Tut (Kang's first known meeting with
such an
alternate counterpart) during the quest for the Celestial
Madonna, a battle
that resulted in Kang killing Avengers member the Swordsman, the
team's
first casualty.
PAGE 1
A member of the Centaurian race was first seen in Marvel
Super-Heroes (v1)
# 18, which featured the debut of alternate future Centaurian
adventurer
Yondu Udonta. Yondu was a founding member of the Guardians of the
Galaxy, a
group formed to liberate Earth and its allied worlds from the
invading
Badoon in the 31st century. Yondu and his fellow Guardians became
honorary members of the Avengers during an extended visit to the
20th
century some time ago, but they have since returned to their own
time.
Yondu's principal weapons are his arrows, which are made of
sound-sensitive
yaka metal (when Yondu fires arrows from his bow, he controls the
speed
and direction of their flight by whistling). This story marks the
first
time we have seen a 26th century Centaurian society. In fact,
this is
the first time we have seen this particular timeline and its
inhabitants.
PAGE 4
The invaders' abilities and outfits are obviously patterned after
the
20th century Avengers members Thor (the Hammer-Troopers), Iron
Man (the
Repulsor-Troopers), Captain America (the Shieldsmen) and Ant-Man
(the
Micro-Swarm).
PAGE 5
The invaders, identified as the Galactic Avengers (apparently an
alternate
future imperialist interstellar army patterned after the 20th
century
Avengers) are led by a JONZ RICKARD, whose name and appearance
suggests he
is a descendant of 20th century honorary Avengers member Rick
Jones. The
Emperor Rickard that Jonz mentions is also presumably a
descendant of
Rick Jones.
PAGE 6
The figures in Panels 3-4 are The TIME KEEPERS, enigmatic cosmic
beings
dedicated to ensuring the orderly maintenance of the timestream
with an eye
towards preserving their own existence. A key part of their
agenda is the
prevention or negation of unwanted alternate timelines, and they
may regard
this particular reality as just such an unwanted timeline. Their
only
known agent to date is Immortus, who oversees and protects
seventy centuries
of time on their behalf. The Time Keepers first appeared in AWC #
62 when
they were revealed as the guiding force behind Immortus, who
failed to
enslave the Scarlet Witch as a time-regulating nexus being on
their behalf
and was then forced by them to serve as an immobilized nexus
being himself.
Later, the Time Keepers appeared to observe the changing fortunes
of Kang's
cross-time empire Chronopolis in Avengers: Terminatrix Objective
# 3.
PAGE 7
Panels 1-2:
The Kree Lunatic Legion recently used the Blue Area as a base
from which to
assault Earth, planning to mutate humanity in their own image.
They were
thwarted by the Avengers with the aid of the Kree's erstwhile
leader, the
Supreme Intelligence. For more information on the Kree, the Blue
Area,
the Lunatic Legion and the Supreme Intelligence, see the EMA
annotations for
Avngers (v3) # 7 and the Live Kree or Die crossover. SHIELD and
Starcore
have been mentioned and/or featured in previous issues of the
current
Avengers series and annotated accordingly.
Panel 3:
The present-day Avengers roster seen here and the costuming they
wear places
this story somewhere between Avengers (v3) # 9 & Avengers
(v3) # 10 (Thor
was absent circa Avengers [v3] # 9; Hawkeye left the group in
Avengers [v3]
# 9; Firestar, Justice and Scarlet Witch are wearing costumes
they adopted
in Avengers [v3] # 8; Captain America wields the energy shield he
was using
as of Avengers [v3] # 8; and Giant-Man is wearing an outfit he'd
abandoned
as of Avengers [v3] # 10). Avengers seen here include IRON MAN,
CAPTAIN
AMERICA, GIANT-MAN, FIRESTAR, JUSTICE & SCARLET WITCH. Their
"cargo",
RICK JONES, appears in Panel 4.
Agent Beaulieu is named after Mark Beaulieu (a.k.a.
"Baloo"), a longtime
member of the Avengers Mailing List.
Panel 5:
As the captions indicate, it was a summons from Rick that first
brought the
Avengers together when he was seeking aid to clear the Hulk's
name. Pictured
here are Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Rick Jones and Iron Man (in the
second version
of his original armor) as they looked in Avengers (v1) # 1.
PAGE 8
Panel 1:
Rick and the early Avengers members (Giant-Man, Wasp, Thor,
Captain America
& Iron Man [in the fourth, "classic" incarnation of
his armor]) pose against
a montage of early Avengers foes, including The Executioner, the
Lava Men,
Baron Heinrich Zemo, Wonder Man, Immortus, Kang, Space Phantom,
Black
Knight [II], Melter & Radioactive Man. For more information
on these foes,
see the annotations for Page 11 of Avengers (v3) # 10.
Panels 2-4:
These panels are a flashback to the events of the Kree-Skrull war
from
Avengers (v1) # 89-97. Panel 2 depicts a Skrull on the left and a
Kree
on the right. Panels 3-4 depict events from Avengers (v1) # 97.
Panel 3
depicts Rick mentally conjuring facsimiles of several Golden Age
heroes:
the original Vision (Aarkus), Angel (Thomas Halloway), Patriot
(Jeff Mace),
Fin (Peter Noble) and Blazing Skull (Mark Todd).
Panel 5:
As noted, Rick recently suffered crippling injuries from a
beating
administered by his friend the Hulk, and has since been plagued
by an
unknown ailment.
PAGE 9
Panel 1:
Inactive Avengers members Giant-Man and BEAST, two of the team's
foremost
scientists, are expert biochemists. As such, it's logical that
they would
be called in to help diagnose Rick's condition. Beast last worked
with the
group in Avengers (v3) # 1-4 when he aided the team against
Morgan Le Fay
and helped Warbird diagnose the current state of her superhuman
powers.
Giant-Man has appeared most recently in Avengers (v3) # 10, when
he was
among the Avengers attending the Avengers Day Parade. He adopted
a new
costume in that story but has apparently not adopted it yet in
this story,
so Avengers Forever # 1 is chronologically earlier than Avengers
(v3) # 10
even though the latter was published first. Giant-Man also
upgraded from
inactive to reserve status in Avengers (v3) # 10, and the fact
that he is
still an inactive member here is another indication that this
story takes
place before Avengers (v3) # 10.
The Legacy Virus (source of many subplots in the X-Men family of
comic
books) is a virus deadly to mutants. The Beast has devoted a
great deal
of time to the study of the Legacy Virus epidemic.
PAGE 10
A computerized amalgamation of the greatest minds in the history
of the
alien Kree race, The SUPREME INTELLIGENCE has ruled the vast
interstellar
Kree Empire for most of the past million years. In recent years,
the
Intelligence became obsessed with the genetic stagnation of the
Kree,
engineering various plots to artificially accelerate Kree
evolution. In
fact, as the Avengers discovered to their horror, the Supreme
Intelligence
secretly orchestrated the Galactic Storm war between the Kree and
the Shi'ar
empires, a war that climaxed in the detonation of a nega-bomb
whose
radiation killed most of the hundreds of billions of citizens of
the Kree
Empire. The Supreme Intelligence wanted the Kree almost totally
wiped out so
that the survivors, genetically altered by the nega-bomb
radiation, would
evolve into a new, stronger Kree race. The Avengers were so
outraged by this
revelation that several of them tried to execute the Supreme
Intelligence
for its crimes, but it secretly survived their assault and went
into hiding.
The surviving Kree, meanwhile, unaware of the Supreme
Intlligence's role in
Galactic Storm, blamed the death of their empire on the Shi'ar
and the
Avengers, whom the Kree believed to be Shi'ar accomplices. As a
result,
surviving Kree soldiers such as Galen Kor's Lunatic Legion swore
to destroy
Earth and its Avengers. The Supreme Intelligence has plans for
humanity,
though, and has no interest in seeing the old Kree empire rise
again, so it
actually helped the Avengers defeat Kor's Legion. The true nature
of the
Supreme Intelligence's longterm goals remains largely unknown for
now, but
this will reportedly be explored in Avengers Forever. The Supreme
Intelligence first appeared in Fantastic Four (v1) # 64. Its
Avengers
appearances include Avengers (v1) # 89-90, 92-93, 95-97, 124, 134
& 346-347;
and Avengers (v3) # 7.
PAGES 12-13
The identity of the robed figure is not revealed in this story,
but his
ankle garments resemble those of former Avengers member Mantis, a
woman
with considerable connections to both the Kree and the timelords
who
figure prominently in this story, Immortus and Kang. This figure
could
be Mantis's reincarnated father Gustav Brandt (also known as
Libra or
Moonraker) or her own long-lost child (name unknown). The
figure's
references to "balance" suggest that it may be Libra.
PAGE 14
IMMORTUS is an alternate future incarnation of the
time-travelling warlord
Kang, who has conquered a variety of eras but has never managed
to defeat
the present-day Avengers of Earth. In his future incarnation as
Immortus,
Kang retires from conquest to rule the timeless realm of Limbo,
where
(according to one account) he regulates the timestream on behalf
of the
cosmic beings known as the Time Keepers. The true origins and
motivations
of Immortus remain mysterious, however, since his words and
actions often
contradict what he says and does in earlier encounters (one
possible
explanation for this being the potential existence of various
alternate
timeline versions of Immortus, just as time travel has spawned
multiple
incarnations of Kang).
Depending on the situation, Immortus has been both an ally and an
adversary to the Avengers in the past. His most infamous scheme
(supposedly
underlying his entire association with the Avengers) was an
elaborate,
long-term plot to drive the Scarlet Witch insane as a means of
subjugating
her will so that she could serve as a "nexus being" to
facilitate the
regulation of the timestream. This plot ultimately failed, and
the
displeased Time Keepers transformed Immortus himself into the
immobile
nexus being he'd hoped the Scarlet Witch would be, but Immortus
(or this
incarnation of him) has evidently since escaped that fate. If the
Time
Keepers are determined to prevent the timeline seen in the
opening sequence
of this story, Immortus may be trying to prevent that timeline on
their
behalf by taking action against the present-day Rick Jones, who
obviously
played a key role in bringing about the timeline in question.
Immortus first
appeared in Avengers (v1) # 10. His subsequent Avengers
appearances include
Avengers (v1) # 16 & 131-132; Giant-Size Avengers # 3;
Avengers (v1) #
134-135; Giant-Size Avengers # 4; Avengers (v1) # 141-143 &
269; AWC # 48,
50-51, 53, 55-56 & 59-62; and Avengers: Terminatrix Objective
# 2-3.
Immortus oversees various time periods through his monitors, four
of which
display readily identifiable figures: one screen shows the
Rawhide Kid and
the Two-Gun Kid; another screen shows the Human Torch in battle;
another
shows Thundra and Black Panther rushing into action; and a fourth
screen
shows the 3-D Man in battle with a Skrull. Assuming the Torch in
question
is the original Human Torch (the later Human Torch is not an
Avengers
member), these are all people with Avengers connections.
The RAWHIDE KID (Johnny Bart, born with the surname Clay) is a
legendary
hero of the 19th century American West. When the Clays were
massacred by
Indians, their infant son was found and rescued by Texas Ranger
Ben Bart,
who raised the boy as his own child and called him Johnny Bart.
Ben was one
of the best marksmen in the Texas Rangers, and he trained Johnny
until the
younger Bart was even better with guns than his adoptive father.
When two
drifters murdered Ben in hopes of making a reputation for
themselves, Johnny
outshot the men and brought them to justice. After that, Johnny
became an
altruistic wandering gunfighter known as the Rawhide Kid (Johnny
having
grown up on Ben's ranch just outside Rawhide, Texas). The Rawhide
Kid was
one of the most celebrated heroes of his era, and occasionally
teamed up
with other heroic gunfighters such as Kid Colt, the Phantom
Rider, the
Ringo Kid and the Two-Gun Kid. Rawhide even teamed with the 20th
century
Avengers during their visits to his time period, aiding them
against Kang,
Iron Mask, the renegade Phantom Rider and other foes (in Avengers
[v1] #
142-143 & WCA # 18-23). He first appeared in Rawhide Kid (v1)
# 1 and
starred in his own ongoing series for years before its
cancellation.
The TWO-GUN KID (Matthew J. Hawk, born Matthew Liebowicz) was a
legendary
gunfighter of the late 19th century who led a double life as
lawyer Matt
Hawk and a masked lawman known as the Two-Gun Kid. A clever
thinker, a
skilled fighter and a phenomenally accurate sharpshooter, the Kid
became one
of the most celebrated of the old western heroes. When the
Avengers battled
Kang in the 1870s, Two-Gun was intrigued by the team, struck up a
fast
friendship with longtime Avengers member Hawkeye (Avengers [v1] #
142) and
allied himself with the Avengers against Kang (Avengers [v1] #
142-143),
accompanying them back to the 20th century once their battle was
won
(Avengers [v1] # 144, 147). Two-Gun offered his services to the
Avengers and
was awarded membership in absentia (sometime during or after
Avengers [v1]
# 151) while he explored 20th century America with Hawkeye as his
guide.
Two-Gun became increasingly homesick, though, and returned to his
own era in
Avengers (v1) # 174-175.
Since then, the Avengers made a second visit to Two-Guns
time
period (WCA # 18-23), during which he helped rescue Mockingbird
from the
Phantom Rider but declined returning to the 20th century and the
Avengers,
though he didnt rule it out as a future possibility. The
Two Gun Kid:
Sunset Riders limited series has since told a story in which
Two-Gun, later
in life, faked his death in both his identities and embarked on a
new life
as the anonymous leader of a band of adventurers called the
Sunset Riders.
Whether that is Two-Guns true future remains to be seen.
Two-Gun appears
here in his conventional costuming, as opposed to the less
distinctive look
he sported come the conclusion of the Sunset Riders story. He
first appeared
in Two-Gun Kid (v1) # 60 and starred in his own series for years
prior to
its cancellation.
The original HUMAN TORCH (alias James Hammond) was an android
crimefighter
created in 1939 and active throughout the 1940s, disappearing in
the 1950s.
For years it was believed that he had been reconstructed into the
artificial
being currently known as the Vision (a longtime Avengers member),
but more
recently this was revealed as a hoax perpetrated by Immortus as
part of
his long-term plot against the Scarlet Witch (the revelation of
Vision's
supposed Human Torch heritage helped give him the confidence to
propose
marriage to the Scarlet Witch, a marriage that Immortus
ultimately ruined
as part of his plan to drive the Scarlet Witch insane). After
learning that
the Vision was not the reconstructed Torch, the Avengers found
and revived
the real Human Torch, who had been rendered inert by the Mad
Thinker years
earlier. The revived Torch joined the Avengers in AWC # 50 but
left the
group on personal business as of AWC # 65 and downgraded to
reserve status
after seemingly losing his superhuman power to generate and
control heat
and flame. Since then he has worked with the Avengers only once
(in AWC #
83) and now considers himself retired from adventuring. He
currently serves
as manager of the corporate-sponsored super-team Heroes For Hire.
During
his time with the Heroes For Hire, two interesting facts
regarding Hammond
have come to light: he retains a portion of his flame powers
(though he
cannot safely set himself aflame as he once did), and his
interior
physiology almost exactly resembles that of the Vision, a mystery
that
may be explored in this series.
THUNDRA is one of the greatest warrior women of the United
Sisterhood
Republic, a leading nation in the 23rd century Earth of an
alternate future
timeline. In this timeline, biochemical warfare sterilized 95% of
the
world's female populace, and the fertile 5% seized political
power. The
emerging governments brutally oppressed the male populace since
men were
blamed for their world's destructive wars. By the 23rd century,
natural
childbirth had been almost totally replaced by the genetic
engineering of
children in laboratories, and men were bred only as servants,
entertainers
or breeding stock. Genetically engineered with superhuman
physical prowess,
Thundra became a celebrated soldier in the United Sisterhood
Republic by
battling foreign powers and renegade bands of free men.
When soldiers from the male-dominated alternate Earth known as
Machus invaded Thundra's Earth in hopes of liberating its male
populace,
Thundra retaliated by stealing a Machus time machine in an effort
to journey
back in time and prevent the world of Machus from coming about;
however, she
ended up in the mainstream 20th century, which was not truly the
past of
either Machus or her own Earth. Determined to ensure a
female-dominated
future, Thundra decided to humble the world's strongest male in
combat and
repeatedly battled the Thing with that goal in mind. Eventually
realizing
that her actions in the present had no bearing on her alternate
future
homeworld, Thundra actually became a friend and ally to the
Thing, whom she
had come to admire more than any other man. Thundra eventually
returned to
her own time, but left for the 20th century again when the
prospect of her
people peacefully coexisting with the Machus men left her
disillusioned.
Thundra did mercenary work for Roxxon Oil after they promised
they
could send her to an alternate future whose matriarchy had not
been
compromised by the men of Machus. Thundra became the ruler of
this alternate
future Femizonia and eventually found herself at war with the
otherdimensional kingdom Polemachus and its chauvinistic warrior
monarch,
Arkon. Despite their long, bitter conflict, Arkon and Thundra
discovered
that they shared a strong mutual attraction, an attraction that
ended their
conflict when they became lovers. Thundra has since joined Arkon
in
Polemachus as his consort.
Thundra first appeared in Fantastic Four (v1) # 129. Her Avengers
appearances include Avengers Annual 8 (skirmished with the
Avengers when
they accosted her admirer Hyperion II), AWC # 75 (employed
Avengers and
Fantastic Four as pawns in her conflict with Arkon before making
peace with
him) and Avengers (v1) # 358-359 (alongside Arkon & Avengers,
failed to
prevent murder of the maiden Astra by Anskar, high priest of
Polemachus,
who said she had to die as a religious human sacrifice).
Avengers writer Kurt Busiek has said that Avengers Forever will
feature characters who have not become Avengers yet, but who are
destined
to become Avengers in the future. Thundra may be one such
character since
she is featured among the Avengers faces on the cover of this
issue.
The BLACK PANTHER is an inactive Avengers member who last worked
with the
team in Avengers (v3) # 1-4, when he aided the group against
Morgan Le Fay
and Whirlwind. He currently stars in his own ongoing series.
The 3-D MAN was a 1950s hero (published in the 1970s) who came
about through
the unique merger of two brothers, Hal and Chuck Chandler. Chuck
was a test
pilot who was abducted by alien Skrulls during an important test
flight.
Earth is a strategic location in the ongoing conflict between the
alien Kree
and Skrull empires, so the Skrulls were seeking information on
Earth's space
program and had captured Chuck to interrogate him. Chuck resisted
and
escaped, accidentally causing the explosion of the Skrull
spacecraft in the
process. While his brother Hal watched, the radiation from the
explosion
seemingly disintegrated Chuck, who disappeared in a burst of
light. Hal
later discovered, however, that the light burst had imprinted an
image of
Chuck on each lens of Hal's eyeglasses. Through concentration,
Hal could
merge the images and cause Chuck to reappear as a
three-dimensional man,
clad in an altered version of his experimental flight suit and
endowed with
physical abilities roughly three times greater than those of an
ordinary
human. Hal would fall into a trance-like state when Chuck
appeared, and
Chuck could only exist in the three-dimensional world for three
hours at a
time, after which Hal had to revive. Chuck used his limited time
well,
though, becoming the costumed adventurer known as the 3-D Man and
single-handedly subverting the Skrulls' early attempts to
undermine Earthly
civilization.
Hal would remain comatose whenever the 3-D Man was active, but
was
aware of the 3-D Man's activities through a sort of mental link.
Later, a
Skrull's ray weapon altered the transformation so that Hal was
the 3-D Man's
dominant consciousness for some time. Both brothers' minds seemed
to be
present in the 3-D Man at all times, but only one of them
(usually Chuck)
would be in conscious control of the 3-D Man's form on any given
occasion.
Few people are aware of it, but a team of adventurers known as
the
Avengers briefly formed in the 1950s before disbanding at the
request of
the President, who felt the public wasn't ready to learn of them
and their
exploits. The 3-D Man was part of that short-lived Avengers team,
and
their rescue of the President from the Yellow Claw helped dispel
the 3-D
Man's reputation as a dangerous outlaw thanks to the President's
influence
(current Avengers editor Tom Brevoort has said the 1950s Avengers
may not
be part of the mainstream Marvel timeline since their existence
in standard
Marvel time has not been confirmed).
The 3-D Man's career wasn't much lengthier than that of the 1950s
Avengers. Hal soon decided to retire the 3-D Man, partly because
he was
thinking about starting a family, and partly because he was
afraid his
brother's consciousness might somehow be lost during periods when
Hal was
the 3-D Man's dominant consciousness. Hal settled down into a
career as a
research scientist, got married and raised two sons. He has only
activated
the 3-D Man twice in recent years, and Chuck seemed to be its
dominant
consciousness again. The 3-D Man first appeared in Marvel
Premiere # 35-37.
His Avengers exploits were recounted in What If? (v1) # 9. The
scene visible
on Immortus's monitor seems to come from Marvel Premiere # 36.
What ultimately became of 3-D Man is unknown, but he is
apparently
somehow connected to Triathlon, a new adventurer who recently
encountered
the Avengers in Avengers (v3) # 8-9. Triathlon and 3-D Man have
the same
super-powers, they use the same triple motif, and Triathlon's
costume is
similar to the 3-D Man's outfit.
PAGE 15
TEMPUS is a gigantic artificial humanoid who functions as warrior
servant
to his master, Immortus. He first appeared in Giant-Size
Fantastic Four # 2.
He battled the Avengers on behalf of Immortus in AWC # 62 when
Immortus
was trying to prevent the Avengers from interfering with his
plans for the
Scarlet Witch. In addition to his size and sheer strength, Tempus
has proven
capable of altering people's physical age and making people
relive events
from their past. In Avengers: Terminatrix Objective # 3-4, an
incarnation of
Kang (Immortus's past self) used Tempus to absorb the chronal
energies of
the dying Cross-Time Council of Kangs and pit them against the
primal time
being Alioth in a seemingly eternal battle to prevent Alioth from
absorbing
all of time into itself. If this is the same incarnation of
Tempus, he was
either somehow freed from that state or appears here prior to
being locked
in eternal combat with Alioth.
PAGE 16
The man later known as KANG was born on 30th century Earth in an
alternate
future timeline but became bored with his world's stagnantly
peaceful and
prosperous society. Seeking challenges and adventure, he
reconstructed the
time machine created by his ancestor Nathaniel Richards and
journeyed back
to ancient Egypt, where he used his advanced science to become
absolute
ruler as Pharaoh Rama-Tut. Forced to flee that era by the
Fantastic Four
(with an assist from Doctor Strange and the Avengers) in one
timeline,
Rama-Tut fled forward into the future, rescuing the
super-criminal Doctor
Doom from an encounter with the Fantastic Four on his way through
the
20th century. Inspired by Doom's fearsome armored battlesuit,
Rama-Tut
created similar armor for himself after arriving in the 40th
century, an
era of barbaric warfare waged with remnants of the advanced
science of
earlier eras. Thus clad, Rama rechristened himself Kang and
quickly
conquered an empire for himself in the 40th century. Unsatisfied
with this,
Kang visited other time periods in search of conquests and
challenges,
eventually founding a cross-time kingdom of various Kang-led
cities in
various eras, a kingdom known as Chronopolis. He has been
repeatedly
defeated by his favorite foes, the present-day champions known as
the
Avengers. Kang's current whereabouts and activities are unclear,
though one
incarnation of Kang seems to be plotting against Captain America
in the
present day.
Repeated time travel has spawned multiple incarnations of Kang in
various alternate timelines (some of them active in alternative
guises such
as Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion and Immortus). Many of the
alternate Kangs
have joined a variety of Kang imitators in founding a group known
as the
Council of Cross-Time Kangs, most of whom were seemingly
slaughtered by
Alioth in the Avengers: Terminatrix Objective limited series.
That same
story established an alliance between Kang and his longtime rival
and love
interest Ravonna, a.k.a. Terminatrix, with whom he would rule
Chronopolis
jointly. Later, however, Kang was seen in the company of a
different consort
who appeared to be the long-lost Avengers member Mantis, with
whom he
plotted against the Avengers during The Crossing. Which Kang is
the "real"
original one remains to be seen, as does the status of the
original Kang.
Kang and Immortus have clashed repeatedly before, but the
motivations
driving their current dispute are as yet unrevealed.
Kang first appeared in Avengers (v1) # 8. His subsequent Avengers
appearances include Avengers (v1) # 11, 16, 23-24, 69-71 &
128-129;
Giant-Size Avengers # 2; Avengers (v1) # 130-132; Giant-Size
Avengers # 3-4;
Avengers 141-143, 267-269, 291-297 & 300; Avengers Annual #
21; Avengers:
Terminatrix Objective # 1 & 3-4; and Avengers (v1) # 393-395.
PAGE 22
As the robed figure says in Panels 5-7, Rick Jones summoned
champions from
his memories in Avengers (v1) # 97 using the mental powers
awakened in him
by the Supreme Intelligence. This time, says the mystery man,
Jones must
use those powers to summon champions from the past and the future
(this
fits with advance publicity statements about Avengers Forever
featuring a
team of Avengers culled from various time periods, including
future Avengers
who have yet to join the group).
PAGE 23
Jones has summoned seven champions, seemingly a group of Avengers
culled
from various past, present and future timelines (though who comes
from when
remains to be seen):
1) a figure who seems to be the present-day or near-future
Giant-Man circa
Avengers (v3) # 10 (he is wearing the costume Giant-Man recently
adopted in
that story)
2) a figure who seems to be a future incarnation of the Wasp (she
doesn't
look quite like any past incarnation of the Wasp, especially
given her
strangely dark skin)
3) a figure who seems to be a future incarnation of or future
successor to
Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel (his costume is a variation
on the
late original Captain's final uniform, and his hair is white like
Mar-Vell's
used to be; Mar-Vell's son Genis, the most recent Captain Marvel,
also has
white hair, but neither Genis nor Mar-Vell usually looked quite
like this
starry-faced individual since they were rather
conventional-looking
caucasians, though Mar-Vell did look somewhat like that during
moments when
he was employing his cosmic awareness)
4) a figure who seems to combine elements of Hawkeye &
Goliath [II], both
identities used by longtime Avengers member Clint Barton (who
last used them
in combination in AWC # 97, though this figure is missing the
mask and chest
harness common to Barton's Goliath outfit)
5) a figure who seems to be the original Yellowjacket (Giant-Man
in one of
his past identities, an identity he abandoned for good as of
Avengers [v1]
# 230 since he experienced his worst personal and professional
failures
in that guise)
6) a figure who seems to be a future incarnation of Songbird
(currently a
member of the Thunderbolts) as an Avenger (a status indicated by
the fact
that an "A" emblem belt buckle has replaced her
Thunderbolt emblem belt
buckle), in which case she would be a future Avenger since
Songbird has
never been a member of the Avengers before
7) a figure who appears to be a past or future incarnation of
Captain
America (it can't be the present-day incarnation of Captain
America since
he is carrying his traditional shield, which is currently lost at
sea)
GIANT-MAN (Hank Pym) and WASP, founding members of the Avengers,
are
currently reserve member of the team and are appearing
simultaneously in
Avengers (v3) # 10-11 (Wasp, however, does not look like this in
her current
Avengers appearances).
CAPTAIN MARVEL (Mar-Vell), a legendary spacefaring alien hero who
served
as the Protector of the Universe, was a recurring ally to the
Avengers. He
aided the team against menaces such as Zodiac (Avengers [v1] #
72), the
Kree-Skrull War (Avengers [v1] # 89-97), Space Phantom & Grim
Reaper
(Avengers [v1] # 106-108), Thanos (Avengers [v1] # 125 and
Avengers Annual
# 7) and Korvac (Avengers [v1] # 173-177). When Mar-Vell died of
cancer (in
Marvel Graphic Novel # 1), the Avengers were among his many
mourners and
posthumously declared him an honorary member of their team. The
Avenger
currently known as Photon (Monica Rambeau) used the Captain
Marvel title
for most of her Avengers career following Mar-Vell's death, but
she
recently conceded the Captain Marvel name to Mar-Vell's son Genis
out of
respect for the family. Though Genis has followed in his father's
footsteps
as an adventurer, he has yet to rival the exploits of either
Mar-Vell or
Rambeau and is regarded by some as an unworthy pretender to the
title
apart from his biological relationship with Mar-Vell. This figure
may be
some more experienced and accomplished future incarnation of
Genis, or it
may be an altogether new Captain Marvel patterned after the
original. Who
or what this person is remains to be seen. The original Captain
Marvel first
appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes (v1) # 12.
HAWKEYE (Clint Barton), the costumed archer and longtime member
of the
Avengers, recently took an indefinite leave of absence from the
team in
Avengers (v3) # 9 to become the leader of the outlaw heroes known
as the
Thunderbolts. Hawkeye has occasionally used Hank Pym's growth
serum to
offer more raw power to the Avengers in his guise as the second
GOLIATH
(Avengers [v1] # 63-97 & 345-347 and AWC # 90-97), but he has
always
opted to resume his Hawkeye identity since he feels more
comfortable and
useful to the team in that role. He reportedly lost his tolerance
for
Pym's size-altering formulae permanently in the Giant-Man
flipbook limited
series, so this incarnation of Hawkeye/Goliath (if it is Clint
Barton) may
come from the past. Barton has wielded his Hawkeye weaponry (the
bows and
arrows) in his Goliath costuming on a few occasions (notably at
junctures
when he decided to resume his Hawkeye identity full-time), but he
seems to
be missing some elements of his usual Goliath costuming here
(specifically
his Goliath mask and chest harness).
Hank Pym assumed his YELLOWJACKET identity in Avengers (v1) #
59-60 during a
chemically induced nervous breakdown when he decided to create a
persona
in which he would be more compatible with his longtime love
interest the
Wasp, whom he married as Yellowjacket after a whirlwind
courtship. Pym
returned to his senses and a full awareness of who he was shortly
thereafter, but decided to retain the Yellowjacket identity and
let his
marriage to the Wasp stand since he was happy with the way things
had turned
out. Pym remained emotionally unstable, though, due to mental
problems he
had been suppressing for years, and he was chronically insecure
about his
merits as a husband, a scientist and an Avenger. This eventually
led to two
more nervous breakdowns, the second of which resulted in Pym
being divorced
by the Wasp (whom he had begun to abuse), expelled from the
Avengers for
disgraceful conduct and framed for treason by his old foe
Egghead. Pym
eventually defeated Egghead and cleared his name with the aid of
the
Avengers, but he decided to retire from costumed adventure and
renounced his
Yellowjacket costume in Avengers (v1) # 230. He later rejoined
the Avengers
as the plainclothes Doctor Pym in WCA # 21-24, and more recently
resumed his
old Giant-Man identity (in Avengers [v1] # 366) for reasons as
yet
unrevealed.
Over the course of his career as an adventurer, Pym has been
known
as Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket and Doctor Pym. He
first
appeared as Hank Pym in Tales to Astonish # 27, became Ant-Man in
Tales to
Astonish # 35, assumed a new identity as Giant-Man in Tales to
Astonish
# 49, became Goliath in Avengers (v1) # 28, changed his identity
to
Yellowjacket in Avengers (v1) # 59, switched back to his Ant-Man
identity
in Avengers (v1) # 97, resumed his Yellowjacket identity in
Giant-Size
Defenders # 4, retired from superheroics in Avengers (v1) # 230,
rejoined
the Avengers as Doctor Pym in WCA # 21-24 and resumed his
Giant-Man identity
in Avengers (v1) # 366. As Doctor Pym, Pym maintained an arsenal
of tools
and weapons that he had used in his various costumed identities.
As
Giant-Man, he has employed costuming elements and devices from
all of his
costumed identities except for his Yellowjacket guise, which he
recently
said he wants to keep dead and buried (a comment from Avengers
[v3] # 10).
As Yellowjacket, Pym could reduce his bodily size at will and
wore a
costume with antennae that allowed him to control insects, wings
that
allowed him to fly and "stinger" gloves that allowed
him to fire electrical
bolts. He also sometimes carried a cellular disruptor gun that
could
incapacitate a target by momentarily disrupting his or her
cellular
structure.
Interestingly, Pym seems to be wearing the earliest version of
his
Yellowjacket outfit from Avengers (v1) # 59-60, the one without
goggles.
If this Yellowjacket comes from that time period, then this is a
Yellowjacket who is still mentally confused to the extent that he
doesn't
know he is really Hank Pym (when Pym first appeared as
Yellowjacket,
he referred to himself as his own "replacement" and
claimed to be a new
adventurer superior to Goliath, the identity Pym had been using
previously).
If this is indeed the deluded (and arrogantly cocky) early
Yellowjacket from
Avenger (v1) # 59-60, his interaction with the other Avengers
promises to
be interesting, especially if one of them is indeed a future
incarnation of
himself.
Criminal-turned-adventurer Rita DeMara used a stolen copy of
Pym's
Yellowjacket outfit and equipment as a new Yellowjacket for a
time, and even
became an honorary Avenger, but she seemingly died in Avengers:
The Crossing
# 1. She first appeared in Avengers (v1) # 264.
SONGBIRD (Melissa Joan Gold) was still a young child when her
mother, who
was planning to run away with another man, was jailed for theft.
Melissa
was crushed and couldn't believe her mother was guilty, so when
her
embittered father became abusive she ran away from home in hopes
of
somehow reuniting with her mother, convinced that her mother
couldn't really
be in prison. Growing up alone on the streets, Melissa called
herself Mimi
after her mother and developed a Mimi persona to protect herself,
a callous
and cruel personality that helped her endure life on her own.
Eventually,
she found happiness in a romance with a small-time crook named
Mike and
began to let her Melissa personality reassert itself, confident
that Mike
would take care of her, but he framed her for possession of
stolen goods
when the police found evidence in his apartment.
Imprisoned for theft, the traumatized Melissa resumed her harsh
Mimi
persona and befriended Marian Pouncy, a fellow inmate who was
also the
costumed wrestler known as Poundcakes. When Melissa and Pouncy
were
released, Melissa joined Pouncy as a member of the Grapplers
female
wrestling team under the costumed alias Screaming Mimi. Mimi and
the other
Grapplers moonlighted as criminals and mercenaries when they
weren't
wrestling, and a mercenary mission for Roxxon Oil led to the
Grapplers
being technologically and cybernetically augmented by Roxxon's
scientists.
Mimi in particular was given bionically augmented vocal cords
that allowed
her to scream at superhuman volume levels, inducing effects such
as anxiety,
panic attacks, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, headaches, fatigue,
blindness,
euphoria, stupor, hallucinations or even unconsciousness in
anyone who hears
her scream. At sufficiently high levels, her scream could even
shatter solid
objects. Her physical strength was slightly augmented by the
Power Broker,
but she did not achieve the levels of superhuman strength enjoyed
by the rest of the Grapplers and most other Power Broker clients.
As Screaming Mimi, Melissa fought heroes such as the Thing,
Quasar,
Dazzler, the Avengers, Paladin, Captain America, Hawkeye &
Mockingbird.
Originally operating as a member of the Grapplers, Mimi began to
drift away
from the group after half the early members were killed and a
large number
of newer, stronger members joined, but she soon found other
partners to
work with: she briefly served as a member of Baron Helmut Zemo's
Masters
of Evil, and later formed a romantic and criminal partnership
with Angar
the Screamer, who had sonic powers similar to hers. When Angar
was killed
by police, a grief-maddened Mimi went on a screaming rampage that
demolished
a woodland area and almost completely ruined her voice. Rescued
from the
authorities by Zemo, Mimi had her larynx rebuilt and modified by
Zemo's
confederate the Fixer (a.k.a. Techno), who also outfitted Mimi
with a
harness that would focus her scream into solidified sound
constructs (using
sound technology stolen from another Master of Evil, Ulysses
Klaw). With her
new powers, Melissa adopted the identity of Songbird and became a
founding
member of Zemo's Thunderbolts, a team of Masters of Evil posing
as
superheroes to win public trust while secretly plotting world
conquest.
As Songbird, Melissa became romantically involved with fellow
Thunderbolt MACH-1 (Abe Jenkins, formerly the career
super-criminal known
as The Beetle). Feeling happy and secure in her new roles as
Abner's
girlfriend and an acclaimed superheroine, Songbird allowed her
benign
Melissa personality to reassert itself; just as she was becoming
comfortable
with her new life, though, it ended when Zemo himself revealed
the team's
true identities to the public while launching his world conquest
scheme.
Songbird, MACH-1 and most of the other Thunderbolts, unwilling to
abandon
the heroic roles they'd come to enjoy so much, turned against
Zemo and
thwarted his near-successful attempt at global domination,
rescuing the
Avengers and the Fantastic Four in the process; however, the
Thunderbolts
are still considered wanted outlaws due to their past crimes, and
are
currently roaming America in search of opportunities to prove
their heroism
to the world while evading the authorities. For a time, this
stressful
situation prompted Songbird to revert to her mean-spirited Mimi
persona,
but MACH-1's supportive devotion to her and the recent induction
of veteran
Avengers member Hawkeye as the Thunderbolts' new leader have
buoyed
Songbird's spirits enough to make her benign Melissa personality
resurface
again.
Since Songbird is currently a fugitive as an active member of the
Thunderbolts and has never been a member of the Avengers, the
Songbird
shown here must be a future incarnation of the character, a
future Songbird
who will apparently join the Avengers.
Screaming Mimi first appeared in Marvel Two-In-One # 54 (cameo)
& 56. Her
Avengers appearances include Avengers (v1) # 271, Avengers
Spotlight #
28-29 & Avengers Unplugged # 4 (all as Screaming Mimi). She
first appeared
as Songbird in Incredible Hulk # 449 and currently appears
regularly in the
Thunderbolts ongoing series.