Only a thin sheet between you and er, the full MODOK.

Despite the late arrival of Khonshu, last year still seemed a bit disappointing in the Build-a-Figure front (despite miscounting!) but I'm looking forward to this year's more than any figures from their waves! I already have ideas for both Ch'od and Puff Adder, the latter if I can find my other Serpent Society figures. Hasbro has been adding to the team extremely slowly, and most of the guys we see this issue are still waiting! From 1986, Captain America #315, "The Hard Sell" Written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Paul Neary, inks by Dennis Janke.

In Cap #313, the Serpent Society achieved their biggest win to date; assassinating long-time Cap villain MODOK! His track record had been pretty bad at that point, and I suspect Marvel thought he was becoming a joke and wanted to phase him out: the 80's were more about grit and realism, after all, not guys with giant heads. This month, the Society adds insult to injury, stealing MODOK's corpse from the morgue, to collect $100K from A.I.M, which had been pretty tired of his leadership for some time. On the way out of A.I.M.'s posh office, Cobra gets cornered by Alexander Gentry, who might be better known as the Porcupine! ...crickets. Gentry was trying to sell out, but no one was buying; Cobra foists a Society business card off on him to brush him off.

The Society's head, Sidewinder, was torturing Princess Python, since she had chickened out and run up against MODOK: admittedly, she didn't have any powers for that kind of fight, but Sidewinder felt he had to make an example out of her. Not fatally, though: he figured they'd be able to sell her back to the Circus of Crime. He's less thrilled, to get a phone call from Gentry; what idiot gave out their work number? Back in his dive apartment, Gentry laments his lot, but has an idea: if no bad guys want to buy his suit, maybe a good guy would? He calls Cap's hotline, and gets a visit from him right away, interrupting an unproductive penciling session and a talk with his soon to be ex-girlfriend Bernie. (She was a holdover from before Gruenwald's run and wouldn't be around as a regular for much longer.) Gentry makes his pitch to Cap, who is more interested when he mentions the Society; and Cap gets an idea...

Cap has the Porcupine suit up, and call the Serpent Society and tell them he captured Cap. Rattler, Cottonmouth, Death Adder and Diamondback show up, with the guys chomping at the bit to kill Cap immediately: Diamondback is already kind of sprung on Cap and doesn't wanna, but is overruled. Unfortunately for them, since they didn't check if Cap was really tied up, he's able to smash Cottonmouth's teeth and starts slapping around the others. (He's mildly dismayed that both Death Adder and Rattler's tails seemed to be real, and attached to them!) Not wanting to fight Cap, Diamondback opts to take on Porcupine instead, damaging his suit with an acid diamond, which makes Porcy mad enough to fight back. By the time Cap beats the serpent guys, Diamondback had split, and Porcupine was...mortally wounded. Trying to run, he had tripped, fell, and a quill had pierced his heart. Before he dies, Cap tells him they won that day, and he had respected him.

Later that night, Cap waits in jail with the serpent guys, since they had been arrested before and kept escaping somehow, and he finally gets to see how: Sidewinder teleports in. While he's not able to rescue his boys now, he gloatingly tells Cap he'll get them out later; but Cap knows who he's after now. And in Avengers' Mansion, in a glass case, the Porcupine's armor was put on display, as an honored foe. 

Diamondback's face-turn would continue in her next appearances, but the conversation on the letters' pages was, was she liable or culpable in the Porcupine's death? Or any of the other, multiple deaths caused by the Society? Furthermore, how much of Porcupine's figurative blood is on Cap's hands? Also, I honestly thought the Porcupine that appeared in Spider-Woman was Alexander, but nope! He stayed dead, unlike MODOK, who would return on or around 1995's Cap #441.

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"The End" Week: Marvel Adventures #18!

"If Cap can't disarm this missile," proclaims the cover, "--a nation is doomed!" Since this is the last issue, could be! From 1998, Marvel Adventures #18, "Heart of the Hero" Written by Ralph Macchio, pencils by Andy Kuhn, inks by Harry Candelario.

Captain America stars this issue, opening with some intensive (and immersive) training with S.H.I.E.L.D. and a bit of hero-worship of Cap, before Nick Fury gives him a mission: rescue captured agent George Tarleton from the clutches of Advanced Idea Mechanics, A.I.M.! Not a handsome guy...still, he looks familiar.

I didn't like the art as much this issue, but I spent most of my time trying to recall if this was a straight retelling of Tales of Suspense #93, the first appearance of M.O.D.O.K.! Cap's jet-sub infiltration of A.I.M.'s base rings a bell, but the original story had Sharon Carter. Moreover, Cap fails to rescue Tarleton, as he has already been transformed into M.O.D.O.K.! After a missile is launched at China, Cap knocks M.O.D.O.K. out of his "rocket-chair" (which I thought he was more attached to) and takes off after it, and manages to disable it while thinking of poor lost Bucky the whole time.

Cap worries that M.O.D.O.K. is still out there, but the rank-and-file A.I.M. scientists rise against their momentarily-helpless leader, but may merely give him enough what-for to try and teach him his place. Good luck with that.

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"Oh, I'll never finish Stilt-Man; I don't see that happening." Lies, all lies!

The local toy show returned for the first time in two years, and while I didn't buy much...actually, I think I spent more on comics at that show, but okay...it was a lot of fun just to walk around and see some stuff. But, I also got a ton the last week or so: The new M.O.D.O.K.! The Hellfire Club! And surprisingly, Stilt-Man! Mercari came through with several of the parts at once, so here we are.

At the show I picked up the recent Rogue from the Rogue/Pyro set, a couple of Fantastic Four bodies that I thought I needed but now wonder why, and some Build-a-Figure parts. I'm two short on both Crimson Dynamo and Demogoblin, and wonder when or if I'll finish them up. Or get any more Hand Ninjas to make Stilt-Man taller...seems unlikely. Read more!

Somehow, twelve years of "The End"?

Way back in 2009, we started looking at last issues with the Intimates #12, one of the few titles we've seen get cancelled and stay cancelled. This year's first book has had a mini-series since, but she'll be back: from 2018, the Unbelievable Gwenpool #25, written by Christopher Hastings, art by Gurihiru.

The writing had been on the wall for a while, and Gwen knew her book was coming to an end. (An earlier issue has her take a moment for a surprisingly affecting goodbye to Batroc, since she knew he would probably be different in his next appearance than he had been in her supporting cast.) As she has adventures with the Avengers, Guardians, and various Spider-types and wraps up plotlines for her supporting cast; Gwen also wonders what, if anything, the future holds for her. She is visited by another future version of herself, but a friendly one, telling Gwen her comic would be read further and further in the future, among other things. That could be read as a commentary on the book finding it's audience: as sometimes happens, I don't think I hopped on the bandwagon until the ride was already ending.

Gwen catches up with her friends, which does include the return of her former boss MODOK; blows off spending more than a page with her police contact; and visits a young fan multiple times in her life, from child to elderly. Her book might be done, but Gwenpool would go on; first in the short-lived (and somewhat iffy) West Coast Avengers relaunch; then in the fun but exhausting Gwenpool Strikes Back. In that limited, she seemed to lose some of the confidence she had here and be worried about her place. She shouldn't, she'll be back. After all, one of her inspirations looked down the barrel of cancellation more than once:

From 2002, Deadpool #69, "Healing Factor, part 4" Written by Gail Simone, art by Udon. (Mainly Alvin Lee, I think.) It is shocking how great, yet how short, Simone's run on Deadpool proper is. While Deadpool's brain is erasing itself, courtesy of jealous merc Black Swan, Pool has bigger fish to fry: his assistant Sandi was beat up and hospitalized by her ex. While Pool is able to cheer her up a bit, Sandi still makes him promise not to kill said ex, as she didn't want that on her conscience. Pool couldn't hang out because of the Swan thing, so he left Taskmaster to watch over her, and left with his "biographer," homeless dysphasic Ratbag. A pouting Pool tells a janitor to get Sandi anything she wants, but Ratbag notices the 'janitor' was a bad guy: Nijo, who had been hunting Pool because he killed his mob boss brother. Nijo had been working with Black Swan, but takes exception at being ordered to kill Sandi, and quits.

Pool catches up with Sandi's ex, and administers a world-class beating, but lets him live...for about 30 seconds, until Taskmaster shows up: "...I didn't promise her squat." Pool then makes a few (mostly prank) calls, before setting up transportation to Germany, to face Black Swan. Nijo was still there--apparently unwilling to do Swan's 'spying,' but still wanting Pool dead. After killing his way into Swan's castle, Pool commandeers...Swan's sound system! Bastard! He and Ratbag also vandalize a lot in a brief time; but Pool has put together Swan's deal: at the start of Simone's run, Pool had pulled off the "Four Winds" hit, killing four mob bosses with seemingly impossible shots. Those shots were in fact impossible: Swan had killed them, but Pool had been given the credit. Nijo is stabbed by Swan, who admits killing his brother.

Pool has a very large bomb, and a very big ask, for Swan: not to save himself, but to fix Ratbag's broken head. Ratbag is cured and flees, but it's still a standoff: there's no cure for the virus erasing Pool's mind, and he's not about to give Swan the code to disarm the bomb. Swan turns out to be an expert swordsman, and while trying to psychically extract the code also cuts off Deadpool's hand; but then Pool turns the psychic attack back on him, giving him full access to his horrible, horrible mind. Pool beats the 'snob' Swan and leaves him with his head crammed into a fireplace, then tries to remember the code to disarm the bomb. "Oh, yeah. I wrote it on my hand..." Still able to see the humor in that one, he jumps for his severed hand, as the bomb explodes, destroying Swan's castle...

This was the end of Deadpool, but in two weeks Simone and Udon would deliver Agent X, sort of the Player-2 version of Pool but not really: all the clues are in this issue. I could be misremembering, but I could've sworn Deadpool and Cable were both cancelled because Marvel thought they could maybe do without the Rob Liefeld-aspects of the characters, or cut him out of any deals, if any. (I know that's wrong, I've referenced it before, yet still think it happened!) Nah, it very well may have simply been Deadpool and Cable sales were in the toilet. I don't think either Agent X or Soldier X took off at all, possibly due to lack of sales push, or editorial interference: Simone would leave after #7, and despite two super-fun issues from Evan Dorkin the book was going to be cancelled with #12; but Simone returned for three issues to bring back Deadpool. If you haven't read those issues, you've seen them referenced online; they had some jokes!

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"Perfunctory" would be the word I'd use to describe this last week, as I couldn't do some stuff I usually enjoy so instead I think I did the bare functional minimum of everything to work, stay alive, etc. I need a bit of a pick-me-up, so a fun comic should hit the spot, and luckily enough this one might have two doses! From 2012, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #23, "There Can Be Only One!" Written by Paul Tobin, pencils by Matteo Lolli, inks by Terry Pallot; and "Control Freak!" Written by Paul Tobin, art by Rob Di Salvo, color art by Sotocolor.

Highlander reference notwithstanding, nobody gets decapitated in this one, it's a kids' book! Besides, how would you decapitate MODOK? Spidey's having a busy morning wrapping up purse-snatchers and carjackers; which is weird since he's also guarding a Stark armored car from A.I.M! The beefier, guard Spider-Man doesn't make a good showing, since he's just a decoy in a suit, an actor hired to scare off thieves. It doesn't really work, although even when confronted by the real thing, MODOK still seems convinced, since there's no way a scrawny little nothing could be the genuine Spidey, right? In the end, Spidey has a pretty good sense of humor about it, even as you can see the actor, still in costume, getting interviewed by the news.

"Control Freak!" features Fantastic Four baddie the Puppet Master, who starts by using pigeons in a robbery. Luckily, Spidey has back-up: his girlfriend in this series, the mutant Chat, who could talk to animals. Once Spidey squashes Puppet Master's clay effigies, he's "just a bald guy in a cheap suit!" Chat probably shouldn't let herself be seen by police detective George Stacy, but this was the second-to-last issue of this series, so OK.

I bought a little stack of these during quarantine, and luckily didn't plow through them all at once! Pretty sure we'll have at least one more before the year is out.
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Y'know, I think today's going to be a great day!

Evergreen, that one. But sometimes things can turn around. Or turn up, like today's issue! From 2016, Spidey #10, "Bad Reputation" Written by Robbie Thompson, art by Nathan Stockman.

Thanks to J.Jonah Jameson's editorials and headlines, Spidey is about as popular as the plague; although they might cheat a little bit on the pictures: this was basically year one Spider-Man, yet he's already shown fighting the Hobgoblin, Tarantula, and the Kangaroo! Admittedly, that last one might just be to set up the headline "Spider-Man in Kangaroo's Pouch." Ick.

Luckily--or possibly by plan--Captain America runs into Spidey on patrol. Spidey thinks maybe he needs to get frozen for thirty years or so, maybe then he'd be as popular as Cap. But a heart-to-heart about why they do what they do is interrupted by A.I.M. And where there's A.I.M, there's M.O.D.O.K! Who is wrapped up really quickly, but he wasn't the villain that needed to be beat here...

After a recap with Agent Coulson, Cap is pretty pleased with how Spidey is turning out; which makes him markedly displeased to see the next day's headline in the Bugle: "Spider-Man, Agent of A.I.M.?" Cap marches down to the Bugle to set the story straight...and maybe take care of something else that bothered him.

We mentioned we were looking for this one when we looked at the last issue of the series, and it turned up soon enough. Haven't seen the rest yet, though. Those issues should have been collected in a digest, and I'd suspect they could eventually end up in one of the newsstand Archie-style ones they've been doing recently.

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Like this character? Here's eight more! Now they're gone!

Marvel's publishing strategy is often to flood the market; and sometimes that involves spin-off versions of a popular character. That's nothing new, really; that's how you get a Supergirl or Batwoman. But then when the market contracts, usually Marvel has to clear the boards and go back to just the original flavor. Like today's book! From 2014, Hulk #6, "The Omega Hulk, part 2" Written by Gerry Duggan, pencils by Mark Bagley, inks by Andy Hennessy.

I had more than lost track of the Hulk at this point, but there's a helpful recap page: the Hulk's current persona, Doc Green, has decided to rid the world of gamma-powered weapons. Great, except most of those were his close friends and his son: A-Bomb, She-Hulk, Red She-Hulk, and Skaar. (Oh, and Red Hulk, but we know he's a dick.) This issue, he's starting with Rick Jones, the blue A-Bomb.

Doc Green may have a couple points: A-Bomb was created by MODOK, so there's every possibility he left a backdoor into Rick's mind. And who knows what would happen in the future, if A-Bomb mutated or got Alzheimer's or something. It's super-patronizing, actually; but he manages to stick Rick with his untested cure, and it seems to work. Rick isn't thrilled about this, but Doc Green's next stop is give MODOK--and his current employers, S.H.I.E.L.D.--a stern talking-to and beating, to encourage them not to mess with gamma radiation. Meanwhile, "Thunderbolt" Ross, the Red Hulk, isn't going to wait for Doc Green to come at him...!

If you're following Secret Empire, I don't think Doc Green did Rick any favors. But again, Marvel does this sometimes: clear out all the alternate versions or sidekicks or spin-offs, to try to bring focus back to the original. Probably, they do that about the time you've started to accept the Player-2 versions...
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I was looking for a specific comic, didn't find it, came up with this instead. Approximately 70% of the posts on this blog could start this way, but this is a good one: from 1981, Marvel Two-In-One #82, "The Fatal Effects of Virus X!" Written by Tom Defalco, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Chic Stone.

I just read the issue prior, #81, recently; featuring the Sub-Mariner. While a depressed Ben walks the streets of New York, feeling dejected since Alicia was moving out of the Baxter Building; Namor is taking a break in the city to remember the peaceful, relaxing time he spent there as an amnesiac, homeless drunk. Ah, good times. (Seriously. The pressures of ruling have got him down, but he still acts here like his time in the Bowery was a lark.) Their plotlines intersect when they discover A.I.M. is sending giant synthoids to kidnap homeless people, for use in germ warfare experiments. While Namor rallies the homeless in an attempt to rescue an old friend; Ben is captured while saving a bum, and exposed to MODOK's Virus X. MODOK then flees with said virus, the homeless people turn on the "freak" Namor, who leaves in a depressed huff, while Ben staggers, the effects of the virus already taking hold...(Actually, Namor may have just split since it wasn't his name on the cover next issue; he had fulfilled his obligation there!)

Dazed, Ben trudges towards the Baxter Building--to be fair, Virus X did take his mind of his depression, it may have legit treatment uses. A multicultural street gang of three thugs see the Thing as an opportunity to make their reps, and attack; doing so ineffectually that Ben may not even realize they were there. Fortunately, he's "saved" (if he was in any danger) by the passing Captain America; and Cap goes easy on the thugs because they're young and frankly sad. At the Baxter Building, Reed begins work to diagnose Ben's condition, with the assistance of biochemist Bill Foster, better known as Giant-Man. Bill was dying of radiation poisoning, which may have been an open secret at that point: Reed and Ben probably knew, and Cap knows, although that may just be for purposes of exposition. A cranky Ben wakes up on the examination table, in a lot of pain, since he was mutating: as the cover puts it "It can't be! I'm ch-ch-changin'--becomin' UGLIER!" Ben rages for a moment, perhaps justifiably, before Cap and Reed calm him down. Cap actually plays the "Dead sidekick" card there: rough, but not really the time for that. (Not sure if it's intentional, but DeFalco seems to write Cap as really square.)

Needing some air, Ben takes off on his jet-cycle, joined by Giant-Man, who wanted to return the help Ben had given him. While Cap hits the streets, and numerous thugs, looking for a lead on A.I.M; Ben has returned to the launch site where he and the rest of the Fantastic Four stole a rocket and went into space, for a bit of flashback. (The launch site "spaceport" is abandoned, which is both depressing and probably accurate; but was the launch site in New York state? They couldn't have gone much further...) Bill gets a rare glimpse behind Ben's cheerful facade: he puts up a good front, but hates being the Thing. (Usually. That can vary somewhat.) When Cap finds an A.I.M. hideout, the three heroes take it down, then take a transporter to MODOK's secret iceberg base, where they are confronted by stacks of A.I.M. "beekeeper" thugs (in blue this issue, as opposed to their traditional yellow) and MODOK's new Thing-inspired synthoid. The latter gives Ben a hard time, since the Virus was taking its toll, but he rallies and punches it out of the base, causing the ocean to come flooding in.

Giant-Man fights to a research lab for the cure, which an A.I.M. tech explains works by making the body temporarily immune to radiation. Bill's ears perk up a bit at that, since something like that might be able to cure him as well. While he's able to get it back, while the heroes use the teleporter to escape, a falling chunk of debris damages the "hypo-gun," leaving only enough for one dose. Ben had lost consciousness, but it's to Bill's credit that he barely hesitates to give Ben the dose, saving him and returning him to his usual Thing look. Giant-Man knows the world needs the Thing, "not second-rate losers...like Giant-Man!" He does a very sad, very end of an Incredible Hulk episode walk away; and the issue ends without the traditional "Fin" or next issue blurb or anything. (Flipping through Essential Marvel Two-in-One #4; that cold-ending was done at least sometimes: it was for the Ghost Rider story in #80, where Johnny Blaze does something similar except on a motorcycle; but still affecting.)

We've had the tag "Another one in the loss column for Giant-Man" for years here, partly because of this plotline: he would be cured, but lose his powers, in MTIO #85. Bill would get his powers back years later, in 1988's West Coast Avengers Annual #3, but didn't stay in that title long at all. Then Mark Millar would try to make him, as Goliath, seem like a big name, as to make killing him off in Civil War #4 a big deal: it doesn't work, the other reason for the tag here. This issue makes you feel more for Giant-Man; he deserved, if not obscurity, at least better than a plot-point death.

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"Game Break."

My oldest son had Flappy Bird, back when it was briefly pulled from the market. He probably should've cashed in on that. Still, I could see Flappy MODOK being a big hit, except you probably have to deliver a sledgehammer blow to your phone for each flap!

I know you can buy Star Trek 3-D chess sets, but like Pool and Kurt, I'm a bit vague on the rules. Ditto the Dejarik game board from Star Wars.
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Happy Hogan kicks so much ass in this one:

Through happenstance and dumbness on my part, I ended up out of office Monday. Way out of office. But, it did give me time to re-read William Rotsler's Iron Man novel, And Call My Killer...Modok! It's pretty solid. I know I have a couple more of the old Marvel novels from 1979 or so, although I missed them the first time around and got them at a used bookstore over a decade later. But this one's probably my favorite. Wouldn't mind reading Holocaust for Hire, though...

Anyway, new strip tomorrow, although I'm at a loss why I didn't do an Avengers one; or set up any themed posts for this week. Asleep at the damn wheel, is my guess.

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Need a comic and a bean burrito? Um, better hurry.

I should've mentioned this earlier. I think Blog@Newsarama tipped me off this year, or maybe Comics Alliance: more Marvel Comics packed in with Taco Bell's kids' meals, or sold separately...damned if I remember what they cost, though.

I think they were reprints of Marvel's all-ages books this year, rather than new issues; and I was slightly disappointed that there were no new Chris Giarrusso Mini-Marvels strips either. Of course, I firmly believe everything should have Chris G. strips at the end. Sandman would've been better with Chris G. strips--that's a bold statement, but I stand by it.

On the plus side, this year's Taco Bell books do have Nightcrawler in the X-Men story, and the Iron Man comic features MODOK and the Atomic Robo team of Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener!

So, if you're there at three in the morning this week, see if there's any left!
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Sadly, the Abomination has had double-digit losses since this one:

Even though Peter David did some compelling issues with the tragic side of the Abomination, I rather prefer the dickish aspect of the character: a mean-spirited bully, stronger and smarter and more heartless than his rival the Hulk. Well, that version's not showing up today, either. This was a recurring theme across the Marvel Universe in the mid-eighties or so: villains who had been taking biannual clubbings for twenty-plus years of continuity, suddenly becoming afraid of the heroes and of taking yet another ass-whupping. (It happened to Doctor Octopus, and I want to say there were others, since two doesn't seem like a "recurring theme.")

(I also think Abomination is currently dead in the Marvel Universe, for what that's worth, and while I'm not a big Jeph Loeb fan, it may be easier to kill him off and bring on "A-Bomb" rather than sort him out. Is he a cold war spy? A man mourning his wife? A heartless sociopath? A beaten shell of a monster? What?)


In Incredible Hulk #288, General Ross commits treason by making a deal with MODOK (a somewhat taller look for him than usual) to give him the frozen Abomination. Ross doesn't believe the then-Banner-controlled Hulk won't become a menace again, and can't stand that his daughter Betty still loves Bruce. MODOK wants the Abomination to use against Advanced Idea Mechanics, which had overthrown MODOK's leadership. Unfortunately for both, the Abomination is having a bit of a hissy-fit, and is terrified of facing the Hulk again. (Giving this issue it's questionable title, "Anyone out there know how to cure a case of...Yellow Fever?!")

Meanwhile, the Hulk goes to the dentist.


Ah, but the dentist, and Dr. Banner's new assistant Dr. Kate Waynesboro, are both agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. keeping tabs on him; a fact not unnoticed by Bruce's new Recordasphere. The Recordasphere is already developing feelings for Bruce and an intense jealousy of Kate, so it sabotages their brakes, and Kate is injured in the crash...

OK, two things about the Recordasphere: I wonder if Peter David was thinking of that thing, when something similar shows up in Hulk: The End. And two, it's comic book science that Dr. Banner, who specializes in the field of blowing crap up with radiation, would be able to build a sophisticated artificial intelligence capable of flight, recording multiple streams of information, sabotage, etc. I guess Bruce figured if Dr. Pym can do both biochemistry and evil robots, so could he.

After being rescued, Kate kisses the Hulk; but the rest of the issue is devoted to MODOK torturing the Abomination, to get him back into fighting shape. Abomination even cries a bit, and I think I've seen him melted into goo more often than I've seen him cry. The next issue banner proclaims, "Next Month: Phase One!" so I don't know if MODOK had to break Abommy down and rebuild him a couple more times...

Panels from the Incredible Hulk #288, written by Bill Mantlo, layouts by Sal Buscema, finishes by Jim Mooney. Read more!