Marvel Read-Through: Origins… Again
It’s that time again; yup it’s time to go through a bunch of new characters’ first appearances and origins. Seems like Marvel really started to expand their roster in the mid-to-late-70s and before the event era starts in the 80s, I have to know the major players. So let’s begin.
I went with quite an obscure character at first. I don’t think he becomes majorly important but his origin leads into the origin of a character who plays a big role in the 2000s. White Tiger is more of Marvel cashing in on the kung-fu craze of the 70s and there’s not much special in his first issues. It was interesting that his secret identity had no memory of his time as White Tiger at night and I liked that he’s immediately framed for murder and has to prove himself as a hero, but neither of those concepts were fully explored. Maybe it’s because I’m not a big fan of kung-fu as a genre, but I could not bring myself to care about or enjoy White Tiger’s beginnings. Bill Mantlo’s writing just didn’t do it for me.
On the other hand, Jack of Hearts was a cool character to learn about. He is playing a large role in the current She-Hulk and Fantastic Four comics and I had no idea who he was so this was some much-needed background info. I really like what Mantlo did with his power; he can’t take off his containment suit and even when it tears in battle he can’t contain his energy. It resulted in some fun moments of Jack exploding all over his foes. From fighting White Tiger over a misunderstanding, to fighting Hulk for no reason, to fighting Iron Man over a misunderstanding I do have to say that his first appearances fell into the trope of hero vs. hero battles. But he is a cool character despite being so obscure and unimportant for now. I never would have guessed he spent 11 issues as Iron Man’s sidekick before going off on his own and fading into obscurity for years. I also love his design. Huge shoutout to artists Keith Giffen & Rico Rival for his initial design and to Sal Buscema & Ernie Chan and especially colorist Glynis Wein for adding the colors once he had his first appearance in color opposite the Hulk.
Next up on the checklist was Captain Britain. I knew very little about this character until recently. I thought he was British Captain America for years until the most recent Excalibur run that explored the magic and history of the character, so I really enjoyed checking out his origin. I also learned that he was only in print in the UK until a few guest appearances in American comics, like the expertly-written Marvel Team Up #65–66, before being relegated back to a UK-exclusive character. He’ll come back as a big part of the mutant world, but that’s a ways off. Chris Claremont created a very intriguing character and the two-issue team up with Spider-Man was a joy to read. Claremont is amazing. The art by John Byrne was very good too. Some of my favorite art of this era of Marvel for sure.
Okay so this next bit isn’t a first appearance but it is technically an origin. Marvel Spotlight #31 by Jim Starlin finally gets around to explaining how Nick Fury is still kicking ass as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the modern era when he was also active during WWII. He almost died in combat and was given an experimental serum that keeps him young. It’s a standard explanation and I guess it was needed to solve the issue of Fury’s age but to me it really felt unnecessary. It’s a world with Gods, monsters, magic, and all sorts of unrealistic occurrences. I think we could just accept that the guy doesn’t age normally or is just in really good shape for an 80-year-old. It wouldn’t be the most far-fetched thing in the Marvel universe. I’ve sung the praises of Starlin on more than one occasion, but I didn’t like this issue at all. His first miss for me.
And again a character who we’ve seen before, but not like this, Carol Danvers returns with superpowers as the iconic Ms. Marvel! I am a huge Carol Danvers fan based on her time as Captain Marvel in modern comics. I know enough about her past to follow along when references are made but I was still so excited to read the original Ms. Marvel comics. I found it extremely interesting that at first Carol and Ms. Marvel are two separate identities unknowingly sharing a body. Of course, I knew that eventually Carol would consolidate her identities into one but even knowing the outcome, I still enjoyed the few issues I read. Gerry Conway writes the first two issues as a serviceable setup to the new status quo for a returning character; she’s quit NASA and is now a magazine editor working for J. Jonah Jameson, befriends Mary Jane, and has a possible romantic interest in her therapist. Also she keeps blacking out and can’t remember her exploits as Ms. Marvel, the newest hero in New York City. She fights Scorpion and it’s pretty standard comic book stuff but when Chris Claremont takes over in issue #3 things pick up. She discovers the source of her powers is the energy she absorbed from a Kree psyche-magnetron explosion way back in Captain Marvel #18 (which I mistakenly had not read so I read it now even though it’s very out-of-order since I’ve read Captain Marvel #34 and multiple other issues with him since then). I expected this discovery of her origin to be where she consolidates her personalities but Claremont subverts my expectations entirely and takes it slow: she is now aware of her two personalities but is still two separate entities. Carol and Ms. Marvel are completely different people who are forced to share a body. I really like this development. It’s taking time for Carol/Ms. Marvel to become one person but the mystery of her past isn’t prolonged and the consolidation of her personas isn’t rushed. It’s one of the things I like about comic books’ long-form storytelling. The story can take time to fall into place and character development can gradually happen, and Claremont has a grasp on this concept like no other writer. My biggest complaint about modern comics is that the storytelling is decompressed and it takes too many issues for things to happen, and one of the most jarring things for me reading these older comics is that things happen so quickly. Carol and Ms. Marvel only becoming the same person in issue #13, a full year into this run, seems like the perfect middle-ground to me, especially since it isn’t the only thing to have happened over 13 issues. It’s the most notable and the biggest development of Carol’s character, but she’s gone through many villains, established a new career, found a love interest, and more. I can easily see this taking 13 issues but being the sole storyline in a modern book. A lot happens in 13 issues here and from the six I read, nothing feels rushed. It’s something I’ve noticed with Claremont’s X-Men run so far too. I think he’s going to give Starlin a run for his money for my favorite writer.
As mentioned above, I had to go out of order and read Captain Marvel #18 so while I was at it I also read #50 where Mar-Vell and Rick Jones are finally separated. I’m not sure how this issue slipped past me but it’s a big deal for the characters so I had to throw it in here.
Throwing me completely by surprise I now had to head over to Iron Fist for the first appearance of… Sabretooth?? Wolverine’s arch-rival, one of the biggest X-Men villains, created by Claremont and Byrne, yet he debuted in Iron Fist and not in X-Men. Huh. Go figure. What I find most interesting about this whole situation, even after reading the issue, is that this one-off silly Iron Fist villain somehow becomes an integral part of Wolverine’s past and a major player in the X-Men’s battles. I also really like that Claremont writes this book in the second person. Normally, I can’t stand that and if he did it in every book I would hate it, but it works in this specific case. The mysticism of Iron Fist is felt through the non-standard writing perspective. Claremont impresses me again. Still, I’m so curious how the goofiness of this villain turns into one of the deadliest characters in the Marvel universe.
Unfortunately for Iron Fist, he could no longer sustain his own book by 1977 and it was canceled. Loose ends were tied up in Marvel Team-Up and then something wonderful happened: Iron Fist was brought into Power Man, another book on the edge of cancellation. A team-up arc with major supporting characters from both sides led to one of the greatest partnerships in all of comics: Luke Cage aka Power Man and Danny Rand aka Iron Fist, Heroes for Hire. With the book’s title even changing to Power Man and Iron Fist, the Heroes for Hire became an official team in the Marvel universe. I enjoyed reading these few issues, the merging of the books was written by Claremont after all, and it is always nice to delve into the street-level heroes side of Marvel, away from the glitz and glamor of the Avengers and Fantastic Four. The issue where they officially partner up was written by Ed Hannigan, who I have never heard of, and drawn by Lee Elias, another unknown name to me. I liked the writing and Elias’ art suited the grittiness of the street-level heroes perfectly.
Moving on, I picked up my first comic of the 1980s: Savage She-Hulk #1, the first appearance and origin issue of She-Hulk, written by Stan Lee himself! I won’t lie, Stan’s writing is very old-timey Silver Age stuff and it makes it a little grating to read, but it’s an important issue so I had to check it out. In hopes that a character as beloved as She-Hulk isn’t written so poorly for long I also read the second issue by David Anthony Kraft and it wasn’t great but it was an improvement. It was definitely more mature and the tragedy of Jennifer Walters losing her best friend certainly completes the origin story. Stan explained how she got powers but Kraft makes Jen a real character with real problems. She-Hulk goes on to be an Avenger, a member of the Fantastic Four, and a pretty integral part of the Marvel universe so I’m excited to see the rest of her story play out in the future.
In the spirit of characters with shows on Disney+ this year, I next explored the beginnings of Moon Knight. I never really got into Moon Knight but I did enjoy the show and I know the basics of the character but oh wow he was different at the beginning. The Moon Knight I read here is nothing like the Moon Knight I know now. Starting as a semi-antagonist facing off against Werewolf by Night, reworked into a vigilante hero in two issues of Marvel Spotlight, and then receiving a full origin story in his own solo book debut, the Moon Knight of the 1970s is not at all the Moon Knight I’m used to. Even in his origin, the Egyptian God Khonshu is only hinted at and is not a distinct character. Marc’s resurrection is never explained and he is never given any duties by Khonshu. He just resurrects in a pharoah’s tomb under moonlight reflected off a statue of Khonshu. No explanation or Khonshu character at all. And then I was waiting for the thing that makes Moon Knight unique, his DID, but it never came. Marc Spector is Moon Knight and he has fake identities as millionaire Steven Grant and cab driver Jake Lockley, but they aren’t their own personalities. They’re guises for Marc with no mental illness even hinted at. Very strange experience seeing how different this character was in the beginning. Further research showed me that the DID aspect is more developed throughout the decades, but especially in the 21st Century. I never would have guessed the main thing about the character was such a recent addition. I think one day I would like to read through Moon Knight’s history in-depth and go through his solo titles. This is a character with an extremely complex and detailed history that can’t be grasped without a deep-dive.
And to end things off on a fun note, I checked out one of Marvel’s strangest characters, Howard the Duck. This character is so ridiculous, so silly, and so strange that perhaps it’s that absurdity that led to him being a somewhat well-known character. I’ll never understand how the first live-action Marvel movie was a Howard the Duck film, but somehow this character has made an imprint on pop culture. First showing up as a side-character in Adventure Into Fear #19 starring Man-Thing, Howard followed the creature into Man-Thing #1 and then he accidentally slips and falls into the nothingness between realities. He was an inconsequential joke of a character that Steve Gerber threw in the Man-Thing’s life for a total of one-and-a-half issues. Man-Thing goes on to save reality without Howard and, similarly to Moon Knight, maybe one day I can read all of Man-Thing’s history. He is an extremely interesting character. Gerber then inexplicably brought Howard back as a backup feature in Giant-Size Man-Thing #4–5 which picks up with the duck falling through reality and landing in Cleveland. He saves the city from a giant frog and a vampire cow before starring in his own title. Howard the Duck #1 sees the titular bird teaming up with Spider-Man and befriending Beverly Switzler, who goes on to be an important character in this book. This is one strange issue. I remember reading it years ago when I found it in my dad’s collection, but I did not remember how absolutely nutty it really was. Howard the Duck, what an odd character.
Issues Read:
White Tiger portions of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19–23
Incredible Hulk #214
Iron Man #103, #107
Marvel Premiere #44
Captain Britain #1–2
Marvel Team-Up #65–66
Marvel Spotlight #31
Captain Marvel #18
Ms. Marvel #1–4, #12–13
Captain Marvel #50
Iron Fist #14
Power Man #48–49
Power Man and Iron Fist #54
Savage She-Hulk #1–2
Werewolf by Night #32–33
Marvel Spotlight #28–29
Moon Knight #1
Adventure Into Fear #19
Man-Thing #1
Howard the Duck portions of Giant-Size Man-Thing #4–5
Howard the Duck #1
Favorite issue: Iron Fist #14 which came as a pleasant surprise to me
