We now move to a story that features some of my very favorite characters
that ultimately feels too busy, and has some questionable story turns in
it. It all took place in 1991, back when Marvel was doing
mini-storylines spread out in various of the annuals. This one takes
place in the Spider-Man family and was called the Vibranium Vendetta...
The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #25 (1991)
"The Spider And The Ghost"
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciler: Guang Yap
Inker: Jeff Albrecht
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Danny Fingeroth
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
Spidey's on the Empire State U campus and spies two men apparently
stealing stuff from a lab. After beating them up, he's confronted by two
guards and one Arthur Dearborn, an employee of everyone's favorite evil
corporation, Roxxon. He tells Spidey that the two guys he beat up were
actually hired by Roxxon to remove debris, but that he won't raise a fuss
about it since he could understand his confusion. Spidey webs away,
noticing that the debris consisted of a metal desk chair that was melted.
He thinks to himself that he had heard Roxxon had discovered a new source
of Vibranium, which as we all know is that element that absorbs sound
(and all vibratory energy).
Meanwhile, the Kingpin hires the Ghost (an anti-corporate terrorist) to
find out how Roxxon pulled off their new Vibranium trick, and to make
sure that they couldn't do it again.
The next day, Peter Parker is set to cover a news conference at ESU
held by Roxxon. He helps out some friends in a lab first, who are doing
experiments on plant growth. Of course, if you say "Vibranium", it must
mean that the Black Panther will show up, and he does. Peter snaps his
photo and is told that he's worried about Roxxon's intentions with
Vibranium, especially if they can really synthesize it--it'll mean doom
for Wakanda's economy. And of course, if you have the Ghost and
Roxxon slinking around, it must mean that Iron Man is going to show up,
which he does. He's greeted by Arthur Dearborn, the man that Roxxon
turned into Sunturion.
The press conference begins, with Roxxon slimeball Jonas Hale
demonstrating the efficacy of "Nuform", Roxxon's synthetic Vibranium.
But there's some kind of problem in the lab, and he goes off with
Dearborn. Turns out that in the Roxxon lab, a lab employee wore a metal
watch; it melted and seared his wrist. Hale reveals that Nuform is
unstable, and that it decays into Antarctic Vibranium--that kind that
destroys metal. Hale claims that Nuform is now being treated with special
microwaves, that would supposedly fix it. Dearborn walks away, and as he
does, Hale talks to another lab aide, revealing that the fix is only
temporary, but that they figure they'll come up with a solution eventually.
Meanwhile... the profits will be tremendous!
On to the star of the show, Ultron! He's being carted in a van off to
the Vault, apparently unconscious. He was just biding his time, and
frees himself, killing the guards. He starts ranting about his
humiliating defeat to the AWC, and about needing more power. He sees a
newspaper article about Nuform, and you can hear those gears whirling in
that evil head of his...
Spidey comes to investigate the Roxxon lab, sensing all is not kosher.
The Panther has the same thought and they team up. Peering through a window,
they see the Ghost raising some hell, beating up lab guys and setting some
bombs. Our heroes bust in and a fight ensues. Spidey webs up the bombs
which contain the blast. The Ghost is having some trouble, even using
his invisibility trick, because of Spidey's spider-sense and Panther's
stealth. They're about to beat him when Dearborn bursts into the room
and turns on the light. The Ghost takes out the Panther and reprograms
the computers to start zapping people, the Panther first. Dearborn
pushes him away, seemingly disintegrated. But he reveals himself to be
Sunturion, and threatens the life of everyone there!
The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #11 (1991)
"The Ghost And the Machine"
Writer: David Michelinie
Artist: Marie Severin
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Danny Fingeroth
Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco
The Ghost starts firing at Sunturion, and a major battle ensues.
Spidey is fearing for his life. Sunturion (who can turn into pure
energy) is mopping the floor with the Ghost, who turns intangible and
escapes. Sunturion turns his attention to Spidey and the Panther
and starts blasting away. Iron Man pops up (investigating the
Roxxon labs) and lays into him. Spidey zaps Sunturion
with the same beam that turned him into Sunturion, and it changes him
back to Dearborn. He apologizes, saying that regaining his powers
affected his judgment, but that everything was OK now. He asks the trio
of heroes to leave. He is a bit concerned about Nuform, starting to have
doubts about Hale. The three heroes agree to meet the next day after
seeing if they can come up with some dirt on Roxxon.
The Ghost returns to the Kingpin's office, who says things have now
changed. He wants the Ghost to get a Vibranium sample, and destroy
everything else he sees that belongs to Roxxon.
Ultron is back in the Big Apple, churning out a robot army in one of
his many hidden labs. His plan is the same: replace humanity with
robots. He figures that if he can incorporate sound-absorbing Vibranium
into his body, he'll be invincible.
Spidey and the Panther move in on a Roxxon plant while Iron Man flies
above it. They're soon attacked by some kind of army, who refer to our
duo as "humans". Back at ESU, the Ghost breaks into the warehouse
holding Nuform and is about to destroy everything when Ultron also busts
in. They start to fight.
Back at Roxxon, Spidey and the Panther discover that their foes are
really robots, and start to bust heads. They're annoyed because they've
ruined the element of surprise, allowing Roxxon to cart away evidence
related to Nuform. Dearborn and some others try to get away in a
chopper, but Iron Man follows them. They shoot a missile at him, which
Iron Man destroys. Dearborn turns into Sunturion, and a fight ensues.
Back at ESU, Ultron and the Ghost keep fighting, but to little avail.
Ultron can't hurt the Ghost when he's intangible, and all of the Ghost's
weapons can't hurt Ultron. Ultron then manages to activate the sprinkler
system, making the Ghost's outline apparent (he can't be invisible and
intangible simultaneously). He then zaps the hell out of the Ghost,
blowing him out the side of the building. The Ghost knows when he's
beaten, and slinks away. Some guards break in, and mention calling the
Avengers. Ultron thinks he's not ready for them yet, and zips away down
the hole in the ground that he originally burrowed in from.
Iron Man and Sunturion continue to fight, and Sunturion accidentally
destroys one of the chopper's rotors. Iron Man saves it with magnetism,
and brings the chopper down. When Dearborn sees to the pilot, Iron Man
downloads the Roxxon data, which really annoys Dearborn, threatening to
have them all arrested. Iron Man tells him to think twice about this,
since a trial would only expose Roxxon. Dearborn just tells them to leave.
Ultron is lurking outside ESU, talking to himself about the problems of
increased security outside the warehouse. A rep of the Kingpin shows up,
and tells Ultron that they should work together to achieve their goals.
He tells Ultie that the Ghost clued them in on who he was, and how their
goals could coincide. Ultron expresses his distaste for working with humans,
but agrees. Meanwhile, the Nuform sitting in crates is starting to change into
Antarctic Vibranium, melting the nails on its crates...
Web of Spider-Man Annual #7 (1991)
"The Machine and the Man"
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciler: Guang Yap
Inkers: K. Aiken and B.LaRosa
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Danny Fingeroth
Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco
A disguised Ultron comes to the Kingpin's offices. The Kingpin talks
about a deal for Nuform: Fisk wants it for profit purposes, Ultron for
power, and suggests that they join forces. Kingpin says that his
connections can get Ultron's robots close to the Nuform warehouse, and
that once Ultron gets it, he should bring him back a sample. Ultron
agrees, thinking that since he's going to kill every human on earth
eventually anyway, the Kingpin won't be a problem for long.
Iron Man, Spidey and the Panther are checking out the data that IM
managed to get off the Roxxon computers. They learn about the
instability of Nuform; T'Challa wants to confront them directly about it,
but Iron Man suggests that they wait until they get more info. Spidey is
intrigued by the combination of mineral and organic matter in Nuform. No
one knows who sent those androids to Roxxon, but they're all worried
about someone else trying to get Nuform.
Ultron is back in his lab, making more human-looking robots, and does
his usual ranting about destroying all of humanity.
T'Challa goes to Roxxon and tells Hale that he "knows" that there's
something wrong with Nuform, and urges him to stop making it. Hale tells
him he's bluffing, and T'Challa walks out. Hale doesn't want to take
chances, and calls up a Roxxon attack squad. T'Challa kicks their butts,
and Spidey happens along to help with cleanup. Iron Man meets up with
Dearborn, asking him if there's anything he wants to tell him. Dearborn
admits he's skeptical, but can't believe that Roxxon would do anything
deliberately harmful. Meanwhile, the increased security arrives (in the
form of the military), without Dearborn being told about it.
Dearborn calls in, but it's too late. The "guards" throw up an energy
field around the warehouse, and open fire on IM. He zaps a guard, who
falls into the field, and proves to be another robot. Dearborn turns
into Sunturion, passes through the field,, and encounters Ultron in some
kind of bizarre forklift device. Ultron locks onto his frequency and
zaps him. He wanted to retrieve a large amount of the Nuform, but
Sunturion damaged his vehicle. So he simply grabs a crate and scoots
away. Sunturion notices that the metal bands holding together the
capsules of Nuform have melted.
He goes outside and reports the problem to the others. Spidey
realizes that the agro-experiments (for plant growth) involved
microwaves, and that it was affecting the Nuform. He and the Panther run
off to stop the experiments, and run into Ultron's army. Meanwhile, Iron
Man and Sunturion go after Ultron. Ultron ambushes them, knocking out
Sunturion, as he and Iron Man go at it.
Spidey and the Panther manage to defeat the robots, and discover that
the experiment was over...the Nuform was changing as a result of a chain
reaction. And it was starting to affect other buildings as well. The
Kingpin calls Spidey and gives him some info on Ultron.
Spidey radios Iron Man and tells him to transmit a certain frequency of
sonics, which causes Ultron to freeze up for a moment. Sunturion then
blasts him through the wall. They don't go after Ultron, who is still
quite alive and promises vengeance. The duo grab the Nuform and head back.
The chain reaction continues to spread, and the heroes don't know what to
do. If it continues, it could wipe out New York. T'Challa comes up with
the solution to bury it in the center of the earth, where metal is
already liquid. Iron Man tells Sunturion that he could teleport it
there, but Sunturion said that he can't do it without company
authorization. So Shellhead does it himself, burrowing down, finding a
molten river, and then drops the Nuform down, saving the day.
Hale comes around with some story about a "rogue cell" at Roxxon that
withheld the Nuform data, and Dearborn believes him. Iron Man is
disappointed, but the day was generally saved.
Comments: This wasn't a bad story, but it was so plot-driven that there
was almost no room for a very interesting set of characters to interact.
Fact is, it was just jammed with too many characters. It was nice to see
great Michelinie characters like Sunturion and the Ghost around, but
T'Challa's presence was almost entirely superfluous. I also thought the
Ultron-Kingpin team-up was ludicrous. Once again, Ultron did not seem to
be like much of an opponent here.
On the other hand, I've always loved those Michelinie evil-corporation
stories, and this one was a doozy. Plus, we got the rare treat of seeing
Marie Severin doing the art for one of the issues. She was one of the
earliest members of Marvel's bullpen, famed for her caricatures. Her
knack for drawing faces really stood out in this issue.
--Rob Clough, historian undying