I still haven't watched his series, but honestly, Marvel/Disney is missing the boat by not getting "Secret Hospital" on there. From 1986, Wonder Man #1, written by David Michelinie, pencils by Kerry Gammill, inks by Vince Colletta. Cover by Bill Sienkiewicz!

Was this the first mention of the in-universe soap opera "Secret Hospital"? Michelinie would use it again years later, as Mary Jane Watson-Parker would get a role there in Amazing Spider-Man; but here Simon Williams flubs an audition for it, by not turning off his glowing ionic eyes. (Which I'm not sure he could do before!) Sulking over it, we get a recap of his origin, and this was post-Avengers #211, where Simon left the team to go Hollywood with Hercules, but rather unsurprisingly none of Herc's contacts had worked out for him. Headed back to Avengers Mansion for a workout, he gets a tip from another hero who never felt he was far from the unemployment lines either: Scott Lang, Ant-Man! He gives Simon a card for Cordco, a scientific research company set up by Tony Stark, before he lost his company to Obidiah Stane. (Ah, continuity! Like a warm hug when it does a good job.)

Cordco turns out to be weird science central, and after Simon goes through on the tour; a scientist desperate for a breakthrough blows open a dimensional portal and unleashes a horde of angry little gnomes. His prospective employers are somewhat blase about sending Wonder Man into the thick of it, but hey, he's invulnerable! He doesn't even have to breathe, which is kind of news to Simon: it feels like it took him a long, long time to get his head around his powers. While he does manage to save the day, he later loses the job when during another emergency, he gets called in by the Avengers to stop the Sandman from causing a nuclear meltdown. The Sandman's not usually like that (although, the splash page notes this was before Marvel Two-in-One #86!) but had been told he was dying of cancer. Simon is able to stop him, and whatever they did in the reactor room cures Sandman, but Simon's annoyed that they may have found a cure for cancer and lost it. Still, all of this maybe helps Simon get himself back on track. 

 This is also noted as being before West Coast Avengers #1--wait, the GCD even notes, this came out in '86 but is set before "Marvel Two-In-One #86 (April 1982) and West Coast Avengers #1 (September 1984)." It reads all the way like Michelinie is giving Simon his own supporting cast, for solo adventures, then nopes it away in the end.

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"Snitch."

It's entirely possible that everything Blur says is just a high-pitched whine, allruntogetherlikethis; and the Squadron can maybe understand him like 30% of the time. Still, he wasn't the brains of the operation; so most of them probably weren't super interested in anything he had to say. Also, there's apparently a band called "Zip Tang," I thought that was trademarked by the Road Runner! And "Gotta go, big meeting" is from Some Assembly Required, a moderately amusing Netflix kids' show my Youngest liked, set in a toy factory.

Also, today we continue with the notion that the Squadron had certain utility positions they were interested in filling; which of course line up with classic Justice Leaguers. I'm considering now if there's a Marvel character that would be close to Firestorm, as that would kind of be the cut-off...But, we've got the most recent Ant-Man and Namor figures: the Namor seems a bit unnecessary, as I feel like I just got his movie figure.  

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Geez, Norrin, Homer Simpson has to go back to his old job less often than you.

Reading this one, I swear I could hear a cartoon bear mom imploring everyone to "roll it back!" But, some changes from this series maybe stuck? From 2018, Infinity Countdown #4, written by Gerry Duggan, pencils by Aaron Kuder and Mike Hawthorne, inks by Aaron Kuder, Terry Pallot, and Jose Marzan Jr.

After nearly being taken over by Ultron, the Silver Surfer seemingly ditched Adam Warlock mid-fight, as Ultron was about to launch rockets (which seems so old-school!) at the entire universe, spreading himself like an infection. The Surfer wasn't chickening out, though, as much as running to get his old boss to eat Ultron's planet: Galactus turns him down flat, since he was currently the fresh-maker er, "Life-bringer," and eating a planet...would be bad? Like him falling off the wagon?

Meanwhile, on Xandar, the Nova Corps is both surprised and mildly annoyed that Richard Rider and the Guardians of the Galaxy both survived the Chitauri and had the no-longer-planet-sized Power Stone. They may have lost Ant-Man, though...I'm pretty sure he turns up later, but couldn't tell you how: "But the important thing is, we're okay," says Rocket. Gamora wants to put together a new Infinity Watch, and Rich gives it a second, to see if maybe they did it and could go back in time and confirm...? No? All right. Rich has to take off, since his younger brother was now part of the Darkhawk-related Fraternity of Raptors. They briefly seem like they're going to pass the Power Stone like the Beastie Boys pass the mike: Gamora suggests maybe not taking it back into enemy territory, so Rich leaves the Stone with Star-Lord, although Gamora then firmly asks for it, followed by the Nova Corps claiming it was their property. With a saxophone blast, Drax takes the Stone, pissed at all of them. Then, Star-Lord is asked to consult for the Collector and Grandmaster, who have acquired the Reality Stone. Or rather, a Reality Stone: Phyla-Vell and Moondragon from a neighboring reality show up for it, explaining each universe's Reality Stone was hidden in the figurative next universe over. It didn't work here, so Star-Lord gives it to them; and they leave with a cryptic remark about "who Requiem is." (You'll be able to guess when they show; and it's not a secret for long.)

Warlock was unable to stop all of Ultron's rockets: he was rocking the half-Hank Pym face there; it's very Cyborg-Superman. I think elsewhere in the series Hank gets really got, like pretty definitively killed? His soul eaten, maybe? They briefly kind of tried to play up the metaphorical connection between Warlock and Ultron, as "sons of man." The Surfer arrives with Galactus, which Ultron laughs off; thinking it was a scam, since it was now well known that the Guardians had a fake-Galactus mech; but this was the real deal, who changes from gold to his traditional purple as he eats the planet. The rockets are destroyed, and Warlock shoots the Soul Gem out of Ultron's hand...by shooting his hand off; although the robot presumably still escapes. But while that disaster had been averted, was the price too high? Galactus now again hungered, and the Surfer was again forced into service as his herald. Which seems to happen a lot, when the Surfer doesn't have his own series? Well, like I keep saying, it's work, man. Gotta keep workin' it. Read more!

"Infrared."

Ah, I didn't save the link, but extreme heat does affect passive infrared sensors! If you have motion detectors in say, Arizona, they might not be that effective in over 100 degree heat.

And with Namor, the Black Cat's referring to the 1991 Spider-Man: the Video Game. Unlike the arcade X-Men or Captain America and the Avengers, I hadn't played it much. Sadly, I didn't see it at the Internet Arcade, but you can see some playthroughs on YouTube. Like this one!



In two weeks: the conclusion of the storyline for White Kitten!


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"Manhole."

Bortles is the Jacksonville Jaquars quarterback, and they are just getting spanked by my Cowboys as I write this! (Almost two months ago! He may even be benched as of now.) Dickson is the Seattle Seahawks punter, and I'm not sure he had a punt all day today. I don't play fantasy football, but if that's your thing go nuts. I don't think anyone actually picks punters, though. Sasquatch, per Wikipedia, played for Green Bay...that's what it says, but "citation needed," I'm not positive about that.

How the Lizard plans on fitting his wide hide down a manhole, I'm not sure...
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Everyone wants to be the fifth Beetle, or the new Fantastic Four.

I didn't spring for it, since I've long since soured on Bendis, but I'm still curious about his Infamous Iron Man #2, guest-starring the Thing; who probably was not overly supportive of Doom's new role as 'Iron Man.' I wanna see Ben just shut him down, although I'm not sure that's what ends up happening. On the other hand, I did hop on this dollar book: from 1994, Nova #11, "Those Who Would Destroy Us" Story and pencils by Chris Marrinan, inks by Mark Stegbauer.

If that title sounds familiar, it was a classic Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four; and this one guest-stars the team's only current member: Ben Grimm, recently scarred up by Wolverine. Who had been part of the previous new FF, it almost feels like Marvel was really considering changing up the team. Former replacement She-Hulk and 'associate' Ant-Man are there as well, and would be needed as Four Freedoms Plaza is attacked by the Hulk, Dragon Man, and Dr. Doom; all of whom are there to kill Nova? All three are robots--technically, Dragon Man had always been a robot; I'm not sure if this was the original or a dupe. They're joined by Armada, who flees when Ant-Man figures out how to defeat the robots.

Dragon Man splits, the Hulk robot is seemingly atomized but very obviously could've escaped into the sewers, and the Doombot is smashed up real good by Ben, who just has to hate those things. The heroes briefly consider forming up as a new Fantastic Four, but "Naaah!" Nova doesn't get a break, either, as he's immediately swooped up by Nick Fury, to take care of some loose ends from previous issues, even though his girl Namorita protests. (She may have been 'Kymaera' then, but Rich still calls her Nita.)

I wasn't familiar with Marrinan, but he had penciled most of the series to that point, took over writing in #8, and would stay on until #16. New Warriors writer Evan Skolnick would write the last two issues for this series, possibly an attempt to consolidate those titles.
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Remember when Scott Lang was respectable? No?

Even though the Fantastic Four is broken up and MIA at Marvel right now, you almost can't say it's not for lack of trying. How many times has there been an ancillary FF book, like Fantastic Force, Fantastic Four 2099, or FF? Like today's book! From 2013, FF #1, "Parts of a Hole" Written by Matt Fraction, art by Michael Allred, color art by Laura Allred.

The titular FF here is the Future Foundation, Reed Richard's initiative to raise up the next generation of geniuses. When the Fantastic Four plans a year-long trip outside of the universe, they need adult supervision for the Foundation, even if from their perspective the team will only be gone four minutes. Barring disaster. Reed recently diagnosed himself with a form of cancer, and the trip is an attempt to find a cure. Reed, and later Ben, seem to acknowledge the likelihood of something going wrong.

Each of the team brings in a replacement: Reed picks Ant-Man, Sue gets Medusa, Ben names She-Hulk, and Johnny puts up his girlfriend Darla Deering. We don't see much of her this issue, but she's the girl with pink hair wearing a Thing exo-suit. Since I hadn't seen Darla before, it would be easy to think the worst of Johnny: like he forgot to pick a replacement, and instead just went with whoever he woke up with that morning.

Mostly, we meet the young Foundation students; and Ant-Man struggles with the idea of dealing with kids, since he had recently lost his daughter Stature. She would return (albeit, seemingly younger than she had been with the Young Avengers) but it's jarring to see a mourning Ant-Man in Allred's friendly, cheery style.

Also this issue: Ant-Man works on a "kind of coil" that he wants to use to ride around instead of an ant, which seems like bad branding. Or, if it were any other artist, I'd suspect it being an excuse to avoid drawing ants!
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Wow, the Ant-Man movie took a lot of liberties from the source material...

From "The Amazing Ant-Man" in 2000 AD #640, reprinted in Dredd Rules #8. Story by Alan Grant, art by Carlos Ezquerra. As young Henry Pymm takes his genetically-engineered ants for 'walkies,' Judge Dredd tails a drug supplier who has a run-in with Pymm's pets. Things go a bit sideways after that.

This issue also reprints some other fun Dredd short stories with allusions to other comic books, including "Curse of the Spiderman" and "Kirby's Demon."

Picked this up, along with a ton of other books, at Kalispell Comics! If you're in the Glacier Park area, check 'em out!

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"Patent Pym'ing."

Question: In regular Marvel continuity, how many people have stolen Hank Pym's tech? Not used or borrowed; straight-up jacked? I'm pretty sure Hawkeye started that ball rolling when he helped himself to Hank's serum to become Goliath. Bill Foster got the Pym particle formula when he worked with Hank, but I don't know if he had permission to use it as Black Goliath. Eric Josten, the mercenary known as Power Man, Goliath, or Atlas; he definitely stole it; as did Ant-Men Scott Lang and Eric O'Grady. Rita DeMara stole the Yellowjacket uniform and used it as a member of the Masters of Evil and then as a Guardian of the Galaxy...before being horribly murdered. Stature got her powers from stealing Pym particles from her dad Scott, and Tom Foster stole it from Avengers Mansion.

It seems like Pym's work is swiped, a lot--I mean, how often is Iron Man armor stolen? (The tech on occasion, but full-on armor?) Anyway, still haven't seen Ant-Man, and don't know if I'll be able to get in this weekend. Still, found a Walgreen's exclusive Ant-Man/Black Ant, at like the sixth Walgreens I checked.
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Haven't seen Ant-Man yet. Did this instead.

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Timing, part thirty-seven.

Why is Ultron tiny? Continuity!

Only a few chapters left, then I have to think up something else. Uh-oh. The return of tiny Ultron wasn't really planned, since it could've been built up more.

Since I made this strip, the baby mutant has gone on to get a proper name, and maybe age a few years, in the regular Cable book. Dr. Strange is about to be replaced as Sorceror Supreme, Nick Fury 616 has realized S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA were related organizations; and no matter how good I hear that series is, until they reveal those were just fronts for H.A.T.E. and the Beyond Corporation, I'm not biting. Ultimate Nick Fury is still stuck in the Squadron Supreme universe, and Frank is still Frank.
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