Been a While: Ant Man

Yes, yes. It’s Been a While. We’re going to hop right into it. We are going to do a full review on Ant-Man through the various iterations (and the various people taking on the role as well). Let’s start with the Original.

Hank Pym: The original Ant-Man.  First appearing in Tales to Astonish #27 (January 1962), it was supposed to be a stand-alone Science-Fiction story (called “The Man in the Ant Hill”). He is a genius level intellect, and scientist. One of his 3 biggest/most known moments was when he discovered Pym Particles (these particles that can be manipulated to grow or shrink objects and/or people). Using these particles he became a whole slew of heroes (Giant-Man, Goliath, Ant-man, Yellowjacket), along with his one-time wife Janet Van Dyne (Wasp). His second major moment was the creation of Ultron.  This big bad, has nearly destroyed the world (multiple times), created his perfect Vision (the now hero Vision) and has been more than a handful for anyone who fights him. Also, Ultron got his own MCU movie (though in here he was created by Bruce Banner and Tony Stark). His third big moment (though a dark spot that has haunted him ever since) was the infamous moment where he beat his wife. The comic itself was intended to have him raise his hands in exasperation accidentally hitting her (not knowing she was behind him). The artist drew the panel as him turning around and fully backhanding her, they couldn’t redraw the panel as it was to go to press the next day. It became a huge focal point that many writers have focused on.  Though he isn’t the only “wife-beater” in the Marvel Universe (I’m looking at you Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), but he is the one who gets the label stuck on him. In comics him and Janet Van Dyne divorced, and have slowly become friends again. In the MCU he is a supporting character of the (second) Ant-Man, Scott Lang.

Scott Lang: The second Ant-Man made his Marvel Universe debut in Avengers #181 (March 1979). He is an electronics expert, and (now reformed) small time thief. While serving his first sentence in prison, he further studied electronics, and received a job with Stark International installing security on Avengers Mansion after being released from prison (3 years after being paroled for good behavior). He came into the Ant-Man suit after stealing it from Dr. Hank Pym in an attempt to save his  daughter Cassie Lang (he needed money for hospital bills due to her having a heart condition, with the American health care system being rather, well, lackluster). The only doctor who could save his daughter was kidnapped by the person who owned the business he was robbing, so he turned a slightly heroic leaf and rescued the doctor. He did intend on returning the Ant-Man suit to Pym, but Hank (being a genius and such) already knew it was stolen, and had figured out why Scott stole it. He told Scott Lang to keep the suit, but use it to uphold the law. He shortly became a hero, frequently helping Iron Man, Spider Man, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. His career had been depressing though, as his daughter died (got resurrected) and then kidnapped, along with having been killed himself (and then retconned via Scarlet Witch doing that thing where she brings dead characters back to life).  In the MCU it is the Scott Lang version of Ant Man they use, and he is portrayed by Paul Rudd.

Eric O’Grady: The one (well technically the third), the only, the Irredeemable Ant-Man. His first appearance was in Irredeemable Ant-Man #1 (2006). As I’m sure you can tell from the title (“Irredeemable”), he is a man of low moral standards. He is more than willing to lie, cheat and steal to get ahead in life (which was rough for him as a low level S.H.I.E.L.D. agent). He found a new incarnation of Hank Pym’s Ant-Man Armour which he immediately steals so that he could commit crimes and use his status as a “Hero” (since people recognize Ant-Man) to stalk women. As is the trend with the various Ant-Man characters, there is that tortured battle between his evil side and good side which ultimately leads him to becoming a proper hero. A noticeable characteristic with Eric O’Grady is that he is a complete coward, who will run from any fight he can that appears to be a challenge. He has also fought Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie (under her hero name Stature) and Hank Pym after getting caught telling a bunch of lies about Scott Lang (such as hiding in womans changerooms to spy on Ms. Marvel, or lying about being an Avenger, both false to Scott Lang, but true for Eric). He has a child with another S.H.I.E.L.D.  who he has abandoned (since he doesn’t believe he would be a good father, the whole lying, cheating and stealing thing). As part of the Initiative he started training a new generation of heroes, and then the Skrull Invasion happened. With which he cowered and shrank to escape a fight, and ended up finding a secret plan to transport the USA into the negative zone. He told that information to other Initiative members and earned an invitation to join The Thunderbolts. He earns a true Heroes death in a mission against The Father while protecting a child. There is a Life Model Decoy of himwho works for The Father known as The Black Ant.

Chris McCarthy: The fourth character to don the Ant Man armor (Technically the third, but his tenure was so brief it doesn’t really count), his first appearance in Marvel was also Irredeemable Ant-Man #1 (2006), He was originally a guard (along side O’Grady), he had stolen the armor before O’Grady, and shrank down in size. HYDRA attacked the helicarrier they were on, and he got crushed and changed back to normal size. O’Grady stole the suit off of him.

Sunday Comic Character: Dr. Karl Malus

It’s another Sunday, and another Comic Character. In a break from my previous couple, this one features our first Villain. So here goes, ladies and gentlemen. Today’s Sunday Comic Character is the nefarious Dr. Karl Malus.
His first named appearance was in Spider-Woman, though he did have two behind the scenes in previous comics. This villain is a genius level intellect with a nice set of supporting powers. Agility, Escape Artist, Weapons Expert, Genetic Manipulation (including Elasticity and Claws), as well as several gadgets and a power suit. Many of his early antics resulted in the creation of the villain Hornet and Armadillo, via gene splicing and manipulation. He had also managed to figure out some of the secrets to manipulating Pym Particles.

During a stint in prison, he worked as a partner with the Power Broker to help guys with a wrestling federation. This involved a heavily drugging people, as well as constant lying. Eventually one of his test subjects broke free and that was the end of this cooperation. He later tracked down some remnants and reformed the Corporation, with it’s own private army of superhuman operatives. It eventually fell apart when Luke Cage and The Tinkerer teamed up to take him down. He escaped and quickly formed an alliance with the Maggia. After getting captured by Black Widow and the Thunderbolts, he agreed to help them stop Count Nefaria in return for a lighter sentence, allowing the heroes to win.

Later on in his career, he became crippled and was wheelchair bound, but that didn’t stop his plans. Teaming up to form another version of the Frightful Four with The Wizard, Klaw and the Carnage Symbiote Cletus Cassidy. He attempted to back out after finding that the Carnage Symbiote could not be controlled as Cassidy had been lobotomized and effectively had no brain to control, but that did not work out for Dr. Malus. Klaw knocked him unconscious, while The Wizard did his thing. He transfused blood from Cletus Cassidy into Dr. Karl Malus to create a new Carnage (for those who don’t know, the Carnage symbiote is fused with Cassidy’s blood). This is when Dr. Karl Malus became, Superior Carnage.

A reign of blood and terror occurred during this period. While he was controlled, he did have a more intelligent method to his madness. He not only utilized his symbiote, he actively used weapons. Every one he could get his hands on. Eventually he got beat by the Superior Spider-Man, which resulted in the death of Dr. Karl Malus, and the symbiote found its way back to Cletus Cassidy.

Dr. Karl Malus

Dr. Karl Malus as Superior Carnage

Sunday Comic Character: In Memoriam Leonard Nimoy

Something I’ve wanted to do for a while, is on Sundays, honor a single character from the greater comic-verse. And while the greats will get their time eventually, I want to focus more on the lesser known characters, the guys and gals who keep the universe running while the spotlight is elsewhere.

Unfortunately, we all have heard of the tragic event on Friday. One of the 4 Horsemen of my childhood geek-dom has died. Scotty has beamed up Leanord Nimoy one last time. He had a massive impact on our community as a whole (our community being that of nerds, geeks and others often portrayed as socially awkward, to varying degrees truthfulness). To top it off, his last message on twitter was hauntingly beautiful and gave the impression that he knew that his time was up.
“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP” (which is Live Long and Prosper, a common saying he had in his iconic role as Mr. Spock on Star Trek). It is safe to say, that at 83 years of age, he had lived long and prospered. And while we could not preserve this fine specimen in reality, we can preserve him in memory. My condolences to his friends and family, his loss is felt by us all, even if his impact on us wasn’t as personal as it was for you.

In honor of one of my biggest personal influences in getting my child self into geek-dom (along with Patrick Stewart, Stan Lee and George Takei), my first Sunday Comic Character is going to be Mr. Spock. While this may shock many of you, there was a run of Star Trek comics. Paramount Comics was a co-owned company between Marvel and Paramount Studios. During this run there were comics from almost every TV series at the time, along with a couple unique runs (Starfleet Academy for example) and two crossovers, Star Trek/X-Men and Star Trek: The Next Generation/X-Men Second Contact. There were also two Star Trek series of comics run by DC, based heavily off of Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is one of the main characters for DC’s Star Trek: TOS, and a main character in Star Trek/X-Men as well as a minor supporting character in Starfleet Academy for Marvel. Spock is is vital in hand-to-hand combat and his “hunches” are well thought out and usually quite accurate. Able to get under the skins of those he works with (Such as Leonard “Bones” McCoy) for his unerring need for accuracy and generally cold demeanor (by Human standards) due to his Vulcan upbringing. He was born in the year 2232, to a Vulcan father and Human mother. Throughout his career in Starfleet, he has assumed control of the Enterprise on multiple occasions, usually while Kirk would be getting in some form of trouble on another planet. He also faced a court marshal and death penalty at one point, but the charges were later dropped and he resumed his role as First Officer on the Enterprise.

It should be known that while the comics are there, what was seen on T.V. and the Movies are considered canon, and in the comic-verse it is only considered canon if it doesn’t contradict the T.V. and Movies (one of the only characters to appear in both the big screen and comics where the big screen is considered canon).

I plan on making the Sunday Comic Character a weekly thing, but please bear with me, as sometimes life may get in the way and two articles a week on some weeks may be a little much, as I am but one man (and if it is, it will likely be this one that gets the cut). I hope you all enjoyed this rather short read, and may you all Live Long and Prosper.

5 Badass Beards of Marvel

So, all the people who know me, knew this was bound to come at one point or another. The feature today is about 5 Badasses with beards in the Marvel Universe. There are so many beards, and not nearly enough space to write about them all (and if I had the time, I totally would write about them all). So let’s go with the flow.

The Maestro

The Hulk from Future Imperfect A dystopian future Hulk, all the intelligence of Bruce Banner, and all the malevolent aspects of Hulk. It’s a perfect match for the future, where Earth has been ravaged by nuclear war. Has even further enhanced strength (due to all the nuclear radiation), has enhanced mental abilities (including being able to see astral projections) and may have limited inhibitions do to being insane. And this version of Hulk has a beard. He is potentially the most badass Hulk, the only competition being World War Hulk/Planet-Breaker Hulk, and the most Bearded Hulk.

The Mandarin

A mastermind, leader of a clan of ninja’s and assassins and the master of the Ten Rings of Power. A descendant of Genghis Khan and has some alien DNA in his blood that allows him to use the Ten Rings. In one timeline, he conquered the world and even used the children of Iron Man to hunt him down, and was only defeated by the built in failsafe inspired by Spider-Man. His facial hair has changed over the years, but not his capabilities. A master of martial arts and skilled in the use of the alien tech that is attributed to the magic rings. His hair has included a full beard, a Fu Manchu, and a Goatee at various points. But, I do believe that the Goatee is the most iconic when thinking of this Iron Man villain, though the full Beard might be more known to those who are more involved with the Movie Universe.

Thor
The  Prince of Asgard and the God of Thunder. Wielder of Mjolnir, early member of the Avengers, leader of the Thor Corps and member of the God Squad. His stories are known throughout the world, and had quite the following himself back in the Viking Age. The man lays a smackdown with the best of them, often competing with Hulk over who is truly stronger. Recently he has been found unworthy of Mjolnir, but he is still a badass in his own rights. Some versions of Thor have him clean-shaven, others embrace the viking heritage and has a beard of righteous proportions. And the Marvel Cinematic Universe Thor rocks some solid stubble, so many of those who aren’t into comics can get behind a bearded Thor easily enough.

Odin
To quote Ron Burgandy, “By Odin’s Beard” we knew the All-Father Odin Borson was making the list at one point. The Chief god of Asgard, and the primary wielder of the Odinforce. Old Man Odin is a galaxy buster, and that’s just collateral damage from some of his conflicts. A king, a conqueror, a destroyer and possibly the patron god of Beards. The man sacrificed an eye for wisdom and it shows, after all he grew a beard. A beard that makes him look majestic as fuck. Even in the movies, he has an aura of strength, wisdom and power. And my theory is that his beard is truly the source of the Odinforce (and if you don’t believe me, Thor rocked a righteous beard when wielding the Odinforce).

Wolverine
The classic Canadian badass. X-Men, X-Force, Avengers, Alpha Flight, Department H, Secret Defenders, the Jean Grey School. The list of teams he has been on and represented are near endless. He knows everyone, and has developed a reputation as a bit of a wild-card. So unpredictable that even psychics can’t predict his next move when he goes into a berserker rage. In the running for the hairiest man in the Marvel Universe (next to a few werewolves, Dr Henry McCoy/Beast and Nightcrawler), this man has been known to roll with a beard from time to time even though he normally rocks his iconic mutton chops

Some Honorable mentions.

Hawkeye

In the Old Man Logan story arc, Hawkeye the blind archer is one of the last heroes left in America. As befitting an an old blind archer with an uncanny to hit targets (even while blind),

Iron Man
This man is one of the most identifiable characters in Marvel, heavily in part thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (portrayed by Robert Downey Jr, who for all purposes, essentially plays himself with an Iron Man suit), Heavily identifiable by his Goatee.

A Comic Recap and Review: Old Man Logan

Today we are doing a review of one of my favorite heroes in one of the lesser known storylines of a dystopian future. Wolverine, in the Old Man Logan storyline. This review was brought to you via a recommendation from a good friend of mine, a gaming brother, a man I met first as Huruqan (of course I’m obviously not going to use his real name without his permission, but his gaming tag I am more than willing to use). Hope you dudes and dudettes enjoy.

Old Man Logan: This collects Wolverine #66-72 and Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size

A dystopian future, the heroes have died or disappeared. Villains have divided up the United States, Hulkland (Ruled by the children of the Hulk, formerly the territory of the Abomination), The Kindom of the Kingpin (Formerly the Domain of Magneto), Dooms Lair, The President’s Quarter (the President just happens to be the Red Skull), and some miscellaneous territory. Logan, lives with his family in Hulkland (near Sacramento) when the redneck offspring of the Hulk come along to extort protection money. They were given a short extension, and Logan accepts a job from an old friend known as The Blind Archer to transport some goods, on one condition, he doesn’t fight. A few stops later, you run into The Blind Archer’s family. One of his wives (been divorced a few times), and his daughter (the grand-daughter of the one, the only, Spiderman). At this point you figure out, only one mortal man is able to go by the moniker of The Blind Archer and still be one of the worlds best. Clint Barton, aka. Hawkeye. They continue on their way after a pit stop to rescue Hawkeye’s daughter, and assassinate one of the leaders of the USA. They fight moloids, and eventually get captured by Red Skull as two of the last heroes. Hawkeye gets killed but Logan regenerates, and continues on beating the crap out of everybody without using his claws. Wolverine arrives in Red Skulls trophy room. Iron Man’s armor, Captain America’s shield, Thor’s helmet, Moon Knight’s hood, Punisher’s shirt, Hulk’s pants and other assorted parts of uniforms from the heroes. Logan and Red Skull fight to the death, and we know one of the two can’t die. I wont say how but that fight seen is pretty amazing, and one of the more memorable ones I’ve read in a while. But remember Logan hasn’t used his claws since the night the heroes disappeared. And he hasn’t started yet. Hijacking Iron Man’s armor, Logan heads home with money in hand to pay off the incestuous grandchildren of the Hulk only to arrive to a surprise. His family dead, unburied and left taunted by the Hulks. Understandably, Logan gets angry, and the Hulks wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. The claws come out and Wolverine makes a return. Another rather amazing fight results in the whole Hulk family being killed, with the exception of one. The youngest, baby hulk. And in a more touching display of emotion, Old Man Logan adopts the child of those who slaughtered his family as his own. The future goes on, and where it leads is only the stuff of stories.

Map of the Old Man Logan United States

Comic Review: Magneto Infamous

This is my first official Comic Review on my blog. So I am starting out with the collected edition of Magneto Infamous (Magneto #1-6). Classic character. Villain. Hero. Terrorist. Revolutionary. Savior. This man has been there and done that. When I bought this, it was the description on the back that intrigued me.

“Hope has made him weak. NO MORE. Magneto is not the man he was. Allying with Cyclops and the X-Men, he became a pawn in another man’s war. But now, determined to fight for mutantkind’s survival on his own terms, Magneto sets out to regain what he’s lost. He will safeguard the future of the mutant race by hunting down each and every threat that would see his kind extinguished. What are bloody hands to this man? But the future haunts him in the guise of memory, and S.H.I.E.L.D. is tracking the trail of blood. Magneto’s mission is muddled in politics, in compassion – in everything he rejects. What remains: a mysterious woman from his past. Guilt. Always, death.”

Magneto is living an almost normal life. Dressed in normal clothes, shaved head (in a form that is reminiscent of a certain Professor). Early on it is noted “I could see it in his eyes. For him, killing is on auto-pilot.” Sums up his past pretty well, and most likely his future. Wherever Magneto goes, we know there is conflict, bloodshed and death. And Magneto is on a mission. Righting perceived wrongs, and that includes making those suffer if they have ever made a mutant suffer. Murder is an option. Victory, by any means necessary,

Moving from place to place, Magneto must stay several steps ahead of the government, or else he wont be able to fight. His powers are diminished and he is slow to re-master them. But he can do enough. Handful of nails to the hands and face leaves behind a bloody mess and a high body count. Torturing someone for more information, and then killing them when he gets what he needs. On to the next place. His life, his past, has taught him several tough lessons.

There are flashbacks to his youth, and what he endured in Nazi Germany. Sacrificing another person to achieve your goal. To save your life. Fear makes people compliant. And weak. And these lessons ring close to home as he plans on shutting down a Sentinel facility. Guilt steers him down his path. Having brought together mutants for a sanctuary. And in the blink of an eye, Genosha became a mass grave. Anger fuels him. At the world, at the atrocities. At humankind. Genetic Genocide. His thoughts on what the humans are doing to mutants.

“If you’re not going to stand up for yourselves, then… get the hell out of my way.” Even mutants aren’t spared from his anger, though they are not the target. They are the victims. “This is why I fight. Names. Thousands of them. The names of mutants who were taken violently from this world. Each and every one of them a scar to remind me. To fuel me.”

Anger to fuel his One Man War against those who want to harm mutant-kind. And that includes other mutants. The Mauraders just hunt. Kill. Exterminate. Eliminate every mutant they come across. The anger rises as he remembers their assault on the Morlocs. And with that he is determined. The clones of the Mauraders shall be destroyed, and the final copy will serve a new master. To rediscover what it is to be a Mutant.

 

All in all, it was a great book, showing his post-hero days and what drives him to be better than before. I would give this a solid 8.5/10. Well done comic with good insights, but it does jump around a bit.

With that I shall leave you with a single page to pique your interest.

First Post

This is my first post on my new blog. First, a little about myself. My name is Cyhrus, I am a skeptic, gamer, comic geek, science nerd, pirate enthusiast and an all around good guy. While I may post about other things, I am going to mostly be posting about Comics, Hero Cartoons, Games and Music Reviews. I intend on doing at least one post a week, though some weeks I may be able to do two.

So onwards to my first post. Today I will be reviewing an episode of the cartoon Marvel’s Avengers Assemble. The episode in question is Hulked Out Heroes from Season 1.

A gamma weapon has turned the majority of the avengers into Hulk variations. While they all learn what the Hulk deals with on a daily basis, Hulk is learning what it is like to live with himself. As tensions rise in Avengers Tower, Black Widow and Hulk must work together to reverse the process. At the end of the day, they realize that self-control is what truly makes Hulk the strongest of all.

With that I leave you with a short clip from the episode, featuring none other than Tony Hulk. Enjoy.