PAGE TWENTY-TWO
Gorilla Man, Venus, 3-D Man, Marvel Boy & the Human Robot appear, calling
themselves the Avengers. This group of Avengers made its first and only
previous appearance in What If? [v1] # 9. Joining forces under the direction
of FBI agent Jimmy Woo to protect President Eisenhower from the criminal
mastermind known as the Yellow Claw, these five 1950s adventurers formed a
team they dubbed the Avengers; however, after the conclusion of their
first case, Eisenhower asked the team to disband and keep their existence a
secret since he thought the public wasn't ready to know about the existence
of robots, goddesses, monsters, superhumans and alien technology. These
events were all observed by several members of the present-day Avengers on
an experimental "dimensional transporter" constructed by Iron Man, a device
capable of monitoring other time periods and parallel worlds; however, Iron
Man could not verify whether or not the 1950s Avengers existed in
"mainstream" history or an alternate timeline.
Two other 1950s adventurers, Jann of the Jungle and Namora, participated in
the founding of the 1950s Avengers but did not become members of the group.
The "Avengers" logo used here is the same one used in What If? [v1] # 9
when the team came up with its name, inspired by a comment from Jimmy Woo
about "avenging" the Yellow Claw's crimes.
GORILLA MAN (Ken Hale) was a hunter obsessed with the legends of a
half-human, half-animal gorilla creature said to be living in Kenya. Hale
eventually tracked down this gorilla-man and killed it, but a curse on the
creature resulted in Hale himself becoming the new Gorilla Man, leaving
his human mind trapped in a gorilla's body. At first, the embittered Hale
hid out in the African jungle; but word of his existence leaked out, and
Woo had Jann & Marvel Boy recruit him into the Avengers. As a human mind
with the strength and agility of a supernatural gorilla, Hale proved to be
a valuable member of the team; however, he still longed to regain his
physical humanity, and Marvel Boy promised to research his problem using
Uranian science. What became of Gorilla Man after the 1950s is unknown.
An apparently unrelated criminal known as Gorilla Man has appeared in
recent years, though this Gorilla Man (Arthur Nagan) is a surgeon turned
criminal mastermind whose human head is attached to a gorilla's body.
The original Gorilla Man first appeared in Men's Adventures # 26.
The HUMAN ROBOT was a humanoid robot that killed its scientist creator after
it was sabotaged by the scientist's unscrupulous business manager. The
robot's "kill" programming persisted after the scientist's murder, though,
so it killed the business manager, too, and then went on a rampage in search
of more victims; however, it plunged into New York Harbor and deactivated
before it could get far. Namora and 3-D Man salvaged it on behalf of Jimmy
Woo, and Venus used her love powers to negate the robot's murderous urges.
Marvel Boy then repaired the robot, eliminating the killer programming and
giving the robot the power of speech and the capacity for human-like
intelligence. The robot served capably with the 1950s Avengers, but what
became of it after that is unknown. The Human Robot was superhumanly strong
and durable, and could absorb & redirect massive amounts of electricity.
The Human Robot first appeared in Menace # 11.
MARVEL BOY (Robert "Bob" Grayson) is the son of Horace Grayson, a scientist
who left Earth to live in a colony established on the planet Uranus by
the superhumanoid race known as the Eternals. Horace took his son with him,
and Bob grew up among the Uranian Eternals, mastering their advanced
science and technology. Bob also became experienced in the use of Uranian
wrist bands that manipulated light and gravity, compensating for the
limited sunlight and massive gravity of Uranus. Curious about the planet
of his birth, Grayson journeyed to Earth armed with a modified pair of
Uranian wrist bands that gave him the power of flight; the bands could
also absorb and magnify light, releasing it in blinding flashes. Using
his special skills and exotic weaponry, Grayson became a famous 1950s
crimefighter known as Marvel Boy. He usually acted alone, but he was also
a member of the 1950s Avengers.
When Bob received word that his father was ill, he returned to
Uranus; but by the time he amassed enough resources for the return trip, he
arrived to discover that a mysterious disaster had destroyed the entire
Uranian colony, taking Horace Grayson with it. Mad with grief, Bob headed
back to Earth and swore revenge on banker Calvin McClary, a family friend
who had refused to fund Bob's return trip to Uranus, delaying Bob's rescue
mission. En route to Earth, Bob's ship passed through a mysterious comet,
the radiation of which cast him into a state of suspended animation, slowed
his physical aging and further eroded his mental stability. Adrift in space
for decades, Marvel Boy finally crash-landed on Earth several years ago and
emerged as a criminally insane maniac. Calling himself the Crusader and
armed with the supremely powerful energy-manipulating bracelets later
known as the quantum bands, Grayson went on a destructive rampage and
attempted to kill McClary, whom he blamed for his father's death. The
Crusader was opposed by the Fantastic Four, and during his battle with them
he lost control of the quantum bands, accidentally disintegrating himself.
After Bob Grayson's death, the quantum bands were given to the
intelligence agency SHIELD for further study. After further mishaps, SHIELD
agent Wendell Vaughn proved to be the first person capable of safely
controlling the quantum bands, and used them to become a superhero. In
memory of the late Grayson, Vaughn called himself Marvel Man and wore a
variation of Grayson's Marvel Boy costume. Later, Vaughn changed his
costumed alias to Quasar and has worn a variety of costumes under that
name. Originally a SHIELD agent as Marvel Man, Vaughn became the security
director of Project Pegasus as Quasar and later became a freelance
adventurer. During this period, Vaughn journeyed to Uranus to learn more
about the origins of the quantum bands and discovered that they were
ancient alien weapons traditionally wielded by the Protector of the
Universe, a role filled by various beings under the direction of the
cosmic entity Eon over the millennia. Vaughn turned out to be Eon's latest
choice for Protector of the Universe, which is why he proved able to safely
operate the quantum bands. The previous Protector of the Universe, the late
Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), had not worn the quantum bands since they had
gone missing for decades, and were found & used by Marvel Boy during that
period. Informed of his destiny by Eon, Vaughn accepted his new role as
Protector of the Universe and has dedicated himself to its duties since
then, using the quantum bands for good. Though he usually operates alone
these days and is mobile throughout outer space, Quasar has also served as
a member of the present-day Avengers. Ironically, an evil duplicate of
Marvel Boy created by the villainous Thanos later became the menace known
as the Blue Marvel and battled the Avengers.
Robert Grayson is the second character known as Marvel Boy, and is
unrelated to the original Marvel Boy (1940s adventurer Martin Burns) and the
third Marvel Boy (present-day adventurer Vance Astrovik, now known as
Avengers member Justice). Marvel Boy II first appeared in his own
short-lived series, Marvel Boy # 1-2 (1950-1951). He resurfaced as the
Crusader and died in Fantastic Four [v1] # 164-165.
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.
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,
in stories set during the 1950s. His only contemporary appearances to date
have been Incredible Hulk # 251 and Marvel Super-Heroes Contest of Champions
# 1.
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.
The Olympian goddess of love, VENUS (also known as Aphrodite) is one of very
few Olympian gods to take an ongoing interest in mortal affairs in recent
centuries. The Olympians are an immortal superhumanoid race of apparently
otherdimensional origin, and were worshipped as gods by the ancient Greeks
& Romans for centuries; however, the Olympians have had little traffic with
humanity in recent times. This was due in part to declining human interest
in the supposedly mythical gods, but has been made official policy by
Olympian ruler Zeus for various reasons. Despite this discouragement of
Olympian interaction with humanity, Venus has retained her affection for
mankind and decided to walk among them once more in the 1940s and 1950s. She
was allowed to do so, but on condition of renouncing most of her godly
power. Determined to use her remaining powers to spread love and goodness on
Earth, Venus acted as a heroic adventurer among humanity for years. She
eventually became less visibly active, though, and ultimately returned to
Olympus to take her place among the gods once more. During her time as an
Earthly adventurer, Venus was allied with heroes such as the Champions and
the Sub-Mariner. Since returning to Olympus, she has aided the Avengers on
one occasion (Avengers [v1] # 283-284), when she was among the Olympians who
supported the Avengers in their conflict with Zeus. She has also battled
the team on one occasion (Marvel Super-Heroes [v3] # 9), when she was
mentally manipulated by Ares into plotting against Zeus and fighting the
Avengers in the process. Her friend and half-brother Hercules is a longtime
member of the Avengers, and she fought alongside him during the founding of
another super-team, the Champions (in Champions # 1-3).
Like all Olympians, Venus has a superhumanly powerful physique that
grants her immortality, superhuman strength, near-limitless stamina and
durability, and superhuman speed, agility and reflexes. Unlike other leading
Olympians, though, Venus has developed little or no fighting skills over the
millennia, preferring to resolve conflicts non-violently. In terms of
physical appearance, Venus is regarded as one of the most aesthetically
perfect humanoid specimens in existence--in short, she has the appearance
of an idealized beauty, and sometimes uses that beauty to manipulate others.
She has mastered all the arts and sciences of physical love, and has
extensively studied the subject of emotional or sentimental love. Like
many Olympians, she also has an undefined capacity for mental and mystical
powers beyond the abilities of ordinary humans. In the past, Venus has
employed Cestus, her magical girdle, which can induce feelings of love or
passion in other people, and can also transform weapons of violence into
peacefully productive tools. When possessed of her full godly powers, Venus
can apparently manifest these abilities without the girdle as well.
Venus first appeared in her own ongoing series, which ran for 19
issues, beginning in 1948 and ending in 1952. She also appeared in Marvel
Mystery Comics # 91. Some of her Golden Age stories were reprinted in
Marvel Spotlight [v1] # 2, Weird Wonder Tales # 16-18 and the Golden Age of
Marvel trade paperback. Her significant "modern" appearances include
Sub-Mariner # 57, Champions # 1-3, Avengers [v1] # 283-284 &
Marvel Super-Heroes [v3] # 9.
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition (the
most recent edition of the Handbook) has treated the 1950s Avengers as
canonical in the entries covering Marvel Boy [II] and 3-D Man, but 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. If the 1950s Avengers are not canonical, then
Gorilla Man is presumably still hiding in Africa (where he remained at the
conclusion of his first appearance) and the Human Robot is presumably still
submerged in New York Harbor (where it sank at the conclusion of its first
appearance). The present-day status of the other three 1950s Avengers
(Marvel Boy II, 3-D Man and Venus) would presumably not be affected
regardless of whether or not the 1950s Avengers stories are deemed
canonical, since all three characters have made appearances post-dating
the 1950s. Venus remains active as an Olympian goddess, 3-D Man has been
out of the public eye since the Contest of Champions (though he is
apparently somehow linked to the Triune Understanding cult and one of its
more prominent members, the new superhero Triathlon), and Marvel Boy remains
deceased.
The next issue blurb about "Triple Action" is a reference to Marvel Triple
Action, the 1970s ongoing series that reprinted early issues of the
original Avengers ongoing series. It may also be a reference to the
triple-strength abilities of the 3-D Man, one of the more prominent
1950s Avengers. Plus, there's the fact that the Avengers are in action in
three different time periods at this point in the story. So the "triple
action" phrase is also a triple reference. Clever.