#Image Comics 1963

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

DIFFERING COLOR SCHEMES GALORE -- IT'S THE HYPERNAUT REDUX, KIDS!

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on an image-dump of the Hypernaut and opening splash page to the "It Came from... Higher Space!" short story, which also introduces the Hypernaut, from the pages of 1963: Vol. 1 -- Book Three: Tales of the Uncanny." June, 1993. Image Comics.

Resolution from largest to smallest: 1000x1566, 820x1235, & 680x1024.

OVERVIEW: "Today, dear readers, we take a look at the oddest hero of the 1963 timeline! Believe it or not, this orb-headed individual, who shares similarities with Arnim Zola from Captain America, is in fact the Iron Man of the group. His name is Hypernaut! However, as you’ll soon learn, this hero shares similarities with another hero. One who isn’t of Marvel.

The story begins with the origin twist I mentioned earlier. While talking to his alien primate buddy, Queep, Hypernaut explains a familiar origin. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. A pilot, in this case one named Dan Stevens, crashes a prototype jet, discovering a corps of super powered aliens. While there’s no doubt that the crashing, injury, and the eventual metal exterior leads him to be more like Iron Man, there’s no doubt that Mr. Stevens shares similarities with Hal Jordan, a.k.a., the Green Lantern!"

-- ALAN MOORE'S FORGOTTEN AWESOME (blogspot)

Sources: http://forgottenawesome.blogspot.com/2018_06_21_archive.html, The Great Comic Book Heroes, & www.chrisroberson.net/2007/10/hypernaut.html.

[chernobog13]

Alex Ross' unpublished cover for the collected edition of 1963, a six-issue miniseries published by Image Comics in 1993.

Written by Alan Moore, and illustrated by various artists, 1963 was a humorous love letter/homage to the early Marvel Comics of the Silver Age. This included fake ads, editorials, and printing the pages on the same quality (or lack thereof) newsprint paper used back then.

Unfortunately, due to several factors - especially ownership of the various characters - a collected edition is likely never to see the light of day. On the good news front, however, you can usually find these books in the back issue bins of many comic shops.

[dinosaurgiantpenny]

[ironsaguaro]

1963 by ALAN MOORE and Company, The Complete Review (Including the ANNUA...

[dynamobooks]

Don Simpson: X-Amount of Comics (2023)

[thequiver]

So Let's Talk about Pietro and Crystal...

In this meta I am going through Pietro Maximoff's relationship with Crystalia Amaquelin. This meta is not just going to focus on their interactions with one another but also on the ways that they talk about one another and on the culture/societal structure of the Inhumans and Crystal's privilege which are both major factors in this relationship. This reading list is going to have to be in parts just due to how much there is to talk about in these issues and I want to be able to share images freely! The only edits to any panels have been to arrange them in such a way that they easily fit in a tumblr post and to condense panels from the same comic into one image. The content of any panels has been unchanged, and all panels within the same image are displayed in they order they are found within the original printed comic.

Meta below the cut! This one's a doozy.

Pietro and Crystal's first meeting and then subsequent early courtship happens entirely off page between the events of The Avengers (1963) #104 and The Fantastic Four (1961) #131-132. Within The Fantastic Four (1961) #131 we get like little flashbacks in a handful of pages telling us that this has happened and giving us vignettes into how, but it doesn't really provide us with any particular details- which means that going into Fantastic Four (1961) #131, we know about as much as Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), Crystal's boyfriend.

The Fantastic Four (1961) #131

Which is to say that we know that he's come back from a mission only to discover that his girlfriend has been getting cozy with another guy. To Johnny's credit here, he's first mad at Crystal and not at Pietro who as far as we the reader can tell, had no idea that Crystal was dating the Human Torch. Pietro however.....despite clearly realizing that he's the side-piece is still defending Crystal and it's only after his defense of Crystal's decision to be a messy cheater that Johnny decides the two men have beef.

Within #131 we learn that Crystal found Pietro following some intense injuries sustained in a battle with a Sentinel (during a period of comics in which the Maximoff twins keep miraculously losing access to their mutant abilities at the drop of a hat for plot reasons?) and had nursed him back to health and during the days she spends at his bedside helping him recover, in which Crystal apparently decides he's the one while he's unconscious as the other Inhumans (particularly Medusa) around her begin to call her out on her reasons for wanting to stay by Pietro's bedside.

Crystal and Johnny have a conversation where she begs him for more time, and he reminds her (not unfairly) that she's had years of their relationship to think it over and that "if you don't love me- and only me- by now, it's time for me to read the handwriting on the wall." I'm not saying Pietro didn't see the red flags, I'm just saying he might be colorblind.

Within this issue we also get a taste of the Inhuman practice of slavery, wherein they place "Alpha Primitives" beneath them and we get to see the beginnings of an uprising (yay!), the uprising is presented as a bad thing and we're supposed to sympathize with the slavers (boo!). Johnny is portrayed here as being pro-slavery while Pietro is significantly more sensitive to the whole reality of their being enslaved. This being said, Pietro is still upset that the Alpha Primitives have taken Crystal captive and plans to save her, calling her "the girl I love." Johnny pretty rightfully points out that it's been only a few weeks of Crystal and Pietro knowing one another and Pietro....well...by this point we know he rushes into things. Pietro and Johnny run accidentally headfirst into each other during the revolt and Crystal is only concerned about Pietro's wellbeing and almost makes a threat against Johnny, even though it was Pietro who ran into the Human Torch.

The Fantastic Four (1961) #132 ends with Crystal basically going "this massive enemy that we've been fighting is powered by our own inherent guilt over being greedy enslaving racists (a guilt which has not been shown on page at ALL)." Somehow calling this out and actually triggering guilt does not at all further power their enemy but instead leaves him as an immobile statue and a reminder of how fucking racist they are- and then the Alpha Primitives are sent back down into the caves they live in without any form of reparations: "While the Alphas, free men now, return to their nighted catacombs...their own world...dark, but theirs no less for that. One day, they'll come again into the light and take a proffered brother's hand. One day...but not today." It should be noted, that the Inhumans do absolutely NOTHING to "proffer a brother's hand" in this issue, they just walk away from the Alphas and the Alphas go into their dark caves. In fact, the only Inhuman who seems to have had any kind of fondness for the Alphas is known shit-stirrer, Maximus who is kept in a perpetual open-air prison because none of them trust him. And Maximus was the one who built the machine that's supposedly powering Omega (the big enemy) but it's implied up until Crystal's speech that it is actual physical acts of violence against the Alphas that powers Omega.

Pietro ends this first big Crystal saga, brooding and moping because Johnny Storm has friends and he doesn't (he does...sorta, they're just not with him right now) , and Crystal breaks up with Johnny. And Johnny...does a complete 180 from #131 and is like "oh yeah actually I'm not at all upset that you cheated on me and I was hoping you'd break up with me and actually I have a date with my ex girlfriend tonight." Johnny does cry when he sees Crystal with Pietro, but that's really all we get for the end of their relationship. And for whatever reason the narrative seems to wrap itself around Crystal to make her look good.

Literally one issue later in The Avengers (1963) #110- this happens:

The Avengers (1963) #110

Within this issue Steve Englehart makes the BOLD move to position Pietro as some domineering patriarch when for literally every other appearance he's had with Wanda he has never ONCE positioned himself as "the head of our family." Pietro has up until this point been firm that he and Wanda are equals and just a few issues prior had issued the statement that he would never again even jokingly refer to her as "little sister."

Then in The Avengers (1963) #127, Pietro fails to invite the Avengers to his wedding with Crystal because he's fighting with Wanda and is deemed an "arrogant, posturing fool" by the Inhumans, we're told that Gorgon has "endured a great deal from Quicksilver...for many months." There's only one problem with that, in the blink and you'll miss it Pietro appearances that happen between The Avengers (1963) #110 and the current issue- (Marvel Team-Up (1972) #11 and The Incredible Hulk (1968) #175) We have seen Pietro be nothing but helpful to the Inhumans. And we have seen his help and expertise ignored when it comes to enemies he has fought previously. We have no indications whatsoever that Pietro has been anything but loving and focused on Crystal. It should also be noted that when Gorgon finds out that Pietro didn't invite the Avengers he starts nearly destroying Avengers Tower.

At the wedding, we learn that CRYSTAL HAS INVITED HER EX-BOYFRIEND, JOHNNY STORM, TO HER AND PIETRO'S WEDDING. Johnny is very much a mature adult about things and tells Crystal that if she's happy, he's happy for her. Which is great and lovely and another tick on the box for why I'm a Johnny Storm fan BUT-

The Fantastic Four (1961) #150A-B

Crystal is about to get married and is now suddenly confused about if she's happy or not? That little vague anxiety is never resolved in this wedding arc and in Fantastic Four (1961) #150B, Pietro and Crystal are married. But even the comic is aware that readers might not be thinking this is a happy ending and have an entire panel dedicated to trying to convince you this is happy.

The Fantastic Four (1961) #150A-B

Regardless, these early Pietro/Crystal appearances offer us even more insight into the bigotry on New Attilan. At the beginning of The Avengers (1963) #127, we're told that Black Bolt (who cannot speak) has issued a number of reforms meant to create equality between ALL Inhumans. But upon our first looks at the Alphas, the former slaves of the Inhumans, we see that they're talking of genocide. The genocide mention isn't really resolved here either.

We find out in Fantastic Four (1961) #158 that Pietro marrying Crystal was not enough for him to gain acceptance among his wife's people but that he had to be made an Inhuman by special decree. And yet- Pietro is chained and is willing to die for the Inhumans. "I am an Inhuman since the day of my marriage. From that day until forever, I will live or die- an Inhuman!" This is a sharp contrast to Pietro's issues with the concept of mutant identity that have previously been expressed in: Avengers (1963) #16, Uncanny X-Men (1963) #27, Avengers (1963) #45-49, and Uncanny X-Men (1963) #43A-45A. It's safe to assume that part of Pietro's undying and unearned loyalty to the Inhumans is based around his rushed relationship with Crystal.

I've mentioned above that I don't think Pietro didn't see the red flags, but that he might be colorblind and I'm going to go a little further into that here. Pietro falls in love with Crystal because she is kind to him and nurses him back to health and he's obviously very attracted to her. Crystal falls in love with Pietro while he is unconscious and dependent on her. Even though Pietro is aware that he's essentially Crystal's side-piece in this whole relationship kerfuffle from Fantastic Four (1961) #131-132, he's emboldened by the fact that Crystal chose him. Pietro struggles with self-worth issues (we can see these manifested as well in those mutant identity issues listed above) despite his bluster and pride, and we can see some of that desire and craving to be picked, to be worthy, to be loved, come through in The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #71. But we've also seen so far, how Pietro's loyalty and love for these people who "picked him" by virtue of their princess "falling in love" with him, is largely one-sided as the Inhumans do NOT share his sentiments.

Case in point for Pietro's feelings and attachment to Cyrstal.

The Fantastic Four (1961) #159

Pietro interacts with the Avengers again in Avengers (1963) #137 where he's informed of Wanda's marriage to Vision and is asked to return to the Avengers and leave Crystal because of that marriage. It doesn't go as planned for the Avengers and Pietro refuses. He's putting Crystal above his old friends and family, and we're seeing that he's been interacting more with Crystal's friends and family than his own since they've gotten together.

With the advent of Inhumans (1975) Pietro starts to vocally realize that maybe... just maybe...the Inhumans don't like him very much. And Crystal tries to convince him otherwise.

Inhumans (1975) #3

A few issues pass, Pietro and Crystal are held for ransom, Pietro barely talks at all, Black Bolt screams and destroys the Great Refuge- and then randomly and all of a sudden, Crystal and Pietro are placed as regents of New Attilan? But even with this regency, it's clear that the Inhumans don't like Pietro. Crystal thinks that Pietro is "beyond reason" for questioning Black Bolt and the way that the Inhumans interpret his silence as royal edict. When Pietro makes solid points about how Black Bolt doesn't talk so he can't say anything.

Inhumans (1975) #7

And then in Inhumans (1975) #12, Crystal asks Pietro why he doesn't trust their new leader, and he speaks of the man's lust for power and Crystal goes "well even if his motives suck, he's making progress." She doesn't really take the time to even think through Pietro's point of view, instead meeting him with a "hope you're wrong." Spoiler alert- Pietro was not wrong as we discover in The Fantastic Four (1961) # Annual 12. And even in that issue, where Crystal is telling the FF about how Pietro was right and how valiantly he fought to ensure the safety of the Inhumans against one who only wanted power- she refers to him as "not a true Inhuman," and in the same breath refers to herself as "I, his loyal wife." And in this same issue Pietro even says, echoing Crystal's earlier wording (which he wasn't even around to hear), "I may not be a true Inhuman, but these people are now my family and no one gets away with killing them." He's continuing to position the Inhumans and particularly the Inhuman royal family as his family, while they continue to keep a distance between them, with his wife referring to him as not a true Inhuman, and others making it clear that he is merely tolerated due to his marriage to Crystal.

Crystal isn't completely without merit here though, her words definitely shine light on one part of her thoughts on her husband, but she also shows extreme care for him and prioritizes finding him over the rest of her family when he's captured in The Fantastic Four (1961) # Annual 12. This does however fall into her growing pattern of caring for Pietro more when he's dependent on her than when he's able to make his own choices.

And then, at the end of The Fantastic Four (1961) # Annual 12, we see Crystal grab Johnny Storm's face, look like she's about to kiss him (while giving him "fuck me" eyes), and tell him that she's never going to stop loving him. Pietro sees them, and Johnny is clearly uncomfortable with Crystal's actions (as he has been this entire issue), and he and Pietro make "peace" despite neither of them being the issue here when Pietro basically tells him that he's okay because he's a friend of Crystal's and hopefully a friend of his too.

The Fantastic Four (1961) # Annual 12

With the dawn of Korvac Saga, we get further confirmation that Pietro is deeply, deeply committed to Crystal. We start The Avengers (1963) #170 with Pietro gazing over New Attilan in a way that's recognized as sad, and then the following exchange happens:

The Avengers (1963) #170

Crystal makes a really great observation about how Pietro's marriage to her has tied him down and changed his life dramatically since his days as an Avenger, but Pietro refutes her concerns saying that what matters to him is that he has her, that he can support her in her place among her people, and is about to say that he'd never leave her when he's teleported elsewhere by agents unknown (at this point in the story at least ;)). This is literally the healthiest their relationship has been to date.

At some point after the Korvac Saga, Pietro rejoins the Avengers, sort of- he's an Avenger again for like a single issue, the whole rejoining thing happens off page, and then come Avengers (1963) #181, he's been kicked off the team and then passes out. In reality we find out that Pietro's soul has been stolen by Django Maximoff who has imprisoned his and Wanda's souls in wooden puppets of themselves. Pietro and Wanda go on a soul-searching journey with Django to discover the truth about their childhoods, learn more about their parentage and then return to Attilan.

It's on Attilan in The Avengers (1963) #188, that Pietro finds out he is going to be a father.

The Avengers (1963) #188

Following the pregnancy announcement, in Marvel Two-in-One (1974) #71, is the first time we see an Inhuman who isn't Crystal be spontaneously kind/nice to Pietro when Gorgon and Karnak invite Pietro to play a game with them. Crystal is also heavily pregnant in this comic so it's safe to assume that some time has passed and that as the pregnancy has continued the Inhumans have warmed some to Pietro's presence among them. With the importance we've seen them place on blood ties and Inhuman genetics in particular, this makes a lot of sense as Pietro is now not just married-in to the family, but is the father of the new member of the royal family.

The next time we see Pietro and Crystal is during Fantastic Four (1961) #239-240, where Pietro has become the sole defender of Attilan in a time of war when all of the Inhumans have come down with a mystery illness. During this time, Pietro continues to be extremely devoted to Crystal and deeply concerned about her health and the safety of their unborn child.

The Fantastic Four (1961) #239

During this great conflict when it seems to be resolved in Fantastic Four (1961) #240, we get another glimpse into the racism in Attilan. The Inhumans freeing those they formerly enslaved is described here as a "mistake," a "failure," and a "noble experiment." The Alphas are still inherently described as being "mindless drones" and as "less-than-human."

The Fantastic Four (1961) #240

It is into this continued dehumanization of the non-Inhuman on Attilan that Luna Maximoff is born. And Luna, is fundamentally not Inhuman nor Mutant at the time of her birth. But for now, Pietro is just concerned with his wife and daughter's health. He looks like the Grinch, but he's happy and that's what matters.

The Fantastic Four (1961) #240

Pietro's bond with Wanda has been repaired and his anger against Vision for existing has dissipated by the events of Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #4, where Pietro encourages Vision to hold his daughter. We get a really great moment of seeing that Crystal and Wanda have started to form a friendship and that Pietro's two families (the one with his sister, and the one with his wife) are becoming closer.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #4

But this is where things start to get a little dicey. Magneto, having recently discovered that he is the father of Pietro and Wanda, has now sought them out on Attilan (now moved to the moon) and is determined to try to once again get his children to join his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (he's not picking up on the message they keep putting down smh). And throughout this fight, Wanda, Pietro, and Erik all make it clear that Erik has severely mistreated his children and that still, knowing he is their father, he is willing to harm and even kill them. Crystal is there- she is witness to this.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #4

And what does Crystal do? But let Magneto hold the baby, before Magneto has even revealed himself to be Pietro's father.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #4

Within the pages of Vision and the Scarlet Witch we don't really get to see Pietro's whole reaction to this incredibly traumatizing series of events, but never fear, Wanda recounts more of the story in Avengers (1963) #234 (TW- G slur).

Avengers (1963) #234

Again, all of this is happening in front of Crystal. There is absolutely no way she gets out of this conversation without the knowledge that Pietro and Wanda have been horribly abused by their father and that Pietro is on some level afraid of turning into Magneto and is aware of the temper he shares with the older man and has been actively combating it. It would be reasonable to think that Pietro might need time to process this information.

When we next see Pietro and Crystal it is during a battle on Attilan against the Avengers in Avengers (1963) # Annual 12, inspired by Maximus. Maximus is spared, as always, because Black Bolt loves him too much to actually do anything about the consistent and ever present threat the man poses to the safety and security of their people. (This is a surprise tool that will come back to bite them in the ass). And once again, this issue presents the Alphas as Maximus' allies, continuing to have the formerly enslaved be shown as enemies of the "good" Inhumans.

Pietro and Crystal's relationship goes from bad to worse in The Thing (1983) #3. In this comic, Pietro wishes to partake of his right as an Inhuman father and in the fashion of the Inhumans, his adopted people, expose Luna to the Terrigan mists to spark forth her Inhuman abilities- Crystal does not agree. Crystal brings in Ben Grimm (The Thing) to stop Pietro from following her people's customs in regard to their child, and sends her dog, Lockjaw (who is technically an Inhuman himself but that's never really explored?) to teleport the baby away from Pietro. Crystal's reasoning for not wanting to expose Luna to the mists? She's afraid her daughter will become ugly.

No seriously, that's the reason. Pietro is worried about his daughter's life as one who is both mutant and Inhuman, what her humanity will bring her among her two super-powered peoples. Crystal is worried about her looks. Pietro acquiesces to his wife's wishes following the testimony of their dog/friend(?) and Ben Grimm and is thoroughly painted in the wrong for wanting to raise his daughter as an Inhuman among Inhumans. At least the rest of the royal family was on his side this time?

Anyway, let's remember that Lockjaw is a person and has been a person this whole time and then think back on how Crystal has treated him. Based on Ben and Pietro's reactions to Lockjaw speaking it's also pretty clear that nobody who isn't an Inhuman was aware that Lockjaw was a person and not a dog......anyway....

The Thing (1983) #3

We get a completely different idea of Pietro's feelings towards the Inhumans in Marvel Fanfare (1982) #14B than what we've seen previously. In this issue, Pietro is openly critical of the bread and circus approach the Inhumans take with their ruling, and in a shocking turn of events from the last 20+ issues, explicitly says "I'm no Inhuman, and I give no obeisance to Black Bolt...or to your foolish traditions." Pietro is accused of stealing a royal scepter because he made a comment about not being a monarchist (based) and is lured into a trap by someone he thought was his friend who he has had to twice this issue turn down a proposition for sex from.

Marvel Fanfare (1982) #14B* *editorial says this issue takes place before Attilan is moved to the moon, however, Luna's birth occurred after the fateful move and she was named for the move which puts the actual chronology of this issue in question, but I'm keeping it here for an easy publication order chronology

We get a clear image, even clearer than it's been in the past that the Inhumans hate Pietro for...not being an Inhuman.

Do we all remember when Crystal literally brought in people who aren't even related to her child to stop Pietro from exposing Luna to the Terrigan mists because she might turn ugly? We all remember this? Okay great- because she's now adopted Pietro's anxieties in Avengers (1963) #243.

The Avengers (1963) #243

And though Crystal apparently doesn't trust Pietro's parenting choices she's come around to his same anxieties about Luna's human-ness. Pietro tries to support her and then she goes "well none of us have experience with a human baby, what if we just.... didn't deal with that and hired a nanny." And Pietro goes along with it, trying to track down Bova, his minotaur-esque nursemaid from his own childhood who he's only just learned about and has met but once.

We see Crystal and Pietro together again during the wedding of Black Bolt and Medusa, in Fantastic Four (1961) # Annual 18. Where we see Pietro brooding over the wedding festivities. Here we learn that Pietro was given no role in his sister-in-law's wedding and that he is still continuously feeling like an outsider, despite all of the efforts we've seen him take in past appearances to be as much of an Inhuman as possible he is still kept at arms length even by these he considers family. Even Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) wonders at the differences between Pietro and Crystal's wedding and the wedding of Black Bolt and Medusa- and Reed wonders if the difference can't be attributed to the fact that Crystal chose to marry someone who was not an Inhuman. And it's a fair question. Pietro even asks Crystal if it's okay that he and their daughter stand beside her during the wedding.

The Fantastic Four (1961) # Annual 18

In Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #5, we see that Pietro has decided to introduce human traditions to the Inhumans with trick or treat, and that he plans to take Luna on her rounds, Crystal along with them of course.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #5

Then in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #6 (that fateful Thanksgiving with the surprise Magneto appearance), we begin to see some strife between husband and wife. According to Crystal, she is "used to being alone." (She is literally a princess in a close-knit family who didn't even stop dating Johnny Storm to start dating her now-husband). And she adds that.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #6

The militia, being something Pietro had discussed with Wanda briefly in #5, is a new responsibility of his entrusted to him by the Inhumans. He is now responsible for training a militia intended for the protection of Attilan. It's the first real job he's had since getting with Crystal and the moment he has responsibilities and focuses outside of her, she's not happy. Also yes, Luna does look like a Renaissance baby in this panel.

A month later, in Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #7, we discover that Crystal, who started her relationship with Pietro by cheating on her then-boyfriend, is now cheating on her current husband.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #7

Now, I've shown you all the lead-up there is to her cheating. I've covered all of the Pietro and Crystal interactions, and touched base with every major Crystal appearance leading up to this. There isn't any rhyme or reason to this aside from, Pietro has a job and he's doing it. And beyond this, as we move into #8, we learn that Crystal is planning on spending more time on Earth, and from Pietro's perspective it's to spend time with Wanda, but really it's to cheat on him. Once again, the militia (Pietro's job) is very much cited as the reason for this.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #8

While Pietro runs off with Wanda, Vision, and Luke Cage to make sure that Wanda is safe for the duration of her pregnancy (it's a demon thing, Scarlet Witch stuff y'know?), we discover that Crystal is taking this opportunity to cheat on her husband again.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #8

Crystal's affair goes on for MONTHS, and even her boyfriend is more worried about what all this is doing to Pietro than she is. She overdoses on anti-pollution potion in order to continue to see her boyfriend, and Pietro spends the vast majority of his time at her bedside frantically trying to get someone to wake her up in deep concern for her wellbeing.

In #10, Crystal calls out her boyfriend's name in her sleep, confessing to the affair, and Pietro tries to kill him. He's stopped by Vision and the Inhumans, and then tries to rally his militia against Norm the real estate agent, the man who has stolen his wife's affections. Wanda confronts Norm and he gives her a sad speech about how Pietro is "neglectful" of his wife's needs and ends it with "I'm not making excuses for deceiving you, but you like your brother better than a lot of people do." Essentially saying "It's okay that she cheated on Pietro, because he's Pietro." Wanda then talks to Crystal's spirit and Crystal says "I cheated on Pietro! I'd do it again!"

Pietro and Vision talk and Pietro comments on how Crystal doesn't allow him to pursue any of his own interests, which tracks with what we've seen that now that Pietro is spending time with the militia she's determined him neglectful and is using it as justification to cheat on him. Throughout all of this too, the Inhumans confirm to Pietro that they think lesser of him because he isn't one of them.

Pietro decides that he can't take Crystal back after this betrayal of his trust (fair and reasonable) to which Crystal calls him a "self-righteous pig" and even Wanda insists that he must take her back because he loves her. And in issue #11, Vision claims that Pietro has "run out on his wife" and Wanda thinks poorly of him for establishing a boundary of not wanting to be around a woman who cheated on him. Meanwhile, Pietro is having a mental breakdown about the fact that nobody actually loves him and that the loyalty he shows to others is not reciprocated.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #11

And rounding us out in #12, Crystal tells Norm that she wants to keep seeing him and celebrates the fact that if Pietro stays away for a bit longer she'll be granted a divorce.

Here ends part 1 of the meta (stopping close to image limit at a good rest point) and I'll reblog this post with even more commentary at a later date!

Reading List so far:

The Fantastic Four (1961) #131-132 The Avengers (1963) #110 The Incredible Hulk (1968) #175 The Avengers (1963) #127 The Fantastic Four (1961) #150A-B <- Wedding Issue The Fantastic Four (1961) #158-159 The Avengers (1963) #137 Inhumans (1975) #3, 7, 12 The Fantastic Four (1961) # Annual 12 Avengers (1963) #170, 188 The Fantastic Four (1961) #239-240 Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982) #2, 4 The Avengers (1963) #234, Annual 12 The Thing (1983) #3 Marvel Fanfare (1982) #14B Avengers (1963) #243 The Fantastic Four (1961) # Annual 18 Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #5-12

[multimonorail]

Big Hero 6 Month Day 17: Comic Books

"June 1963. Disgruntled artist AJ Dohertz slips a wildly inappropriate drawing of Captain Fancy into issue 188. It wasn't until after it was printed that people caught the offending...hmm...image. The entire run is pulped, save for one copy, smuggled to freedom, few have ever seen it." -Fred

[pedrocomicreviews]

One World Under Doom #4

“It appears you do know how to wield the powers of the Sorcerer Supreme after all... at least when it comes to protecting yourself.”

In which Doctor Doom heroically saves the world while guaranteeing it’s going to keep on going despite his previous mistakes. Full spoilers and discussion of specific pages of both this and, for some reason, Amazing Spider-Man #33 (1963). 

Alright listen look I can’t go on weird Heil Doom-adjacent rants every time a book of these comes out, so let’s try to engage in why I think this specific attempt at showing Doom as potentially heroic but ultimately too flawed a man to keep doing this doesn’t quite hit the right tone for me.

After Dormammu realizes Doom is a really shitty Sorcerer Supreme who didn’t renew the Netflix subscriptions that keep enemies away from Earth, he instantly invaded, took every hero out of play and humiliated Doom for about 20 pages with superior power and experience in these magical battles. Eventually Doom gets the upper hand, but the issue is basically a strange version of a hero’s journey through being overwhelmed by impossible odds and facing the idea that he might die because he wasn’t strong enough.

I think the main image I want to push here as a direct equivalent would be Spider-Man being crushed by that building in Amazing Spider-Man #33. It’s considered maybe the most important, specific example of what makes Spider-Man great in his literary history, and there’s plenty of reason to think that. In Doom’s case, it’s less a building falling on him and more the totality of magic from the Dark Dimension, but walk with me here.

Now, let’s go check out what happened with Peter:

Yes, there are very obvious contextual differences. Peter’s strength comes partially from his relationship to his family, while Doom’s comes from his own ego and ideas about where he fits in the world. But notice how they reach similar conclusions about themselves, in this very classic example of destroying a character to see what comes out of the pile of ashes.

Both Doom and Spider-Man, when cornered, look within for their own strength in order to protect what they care about. What Doom cares about is himself, yes, but also the things he wants– he wants to be Sorcerer Supreme, he wants to rule the Earth in a way that actually works, he wants to be himself. He knows who he is and he must prove he is worthy of the name he gave himself. 

Spider-Man, on the other hand, wants to be worthy of what he already has– he wants to save his aunt, but he also wants to be Spider-Man: the Spider-Man the kids love, the hero people aspire to be, his best possible self. He rejects the idea of an easy trial, and hypes himself up until he finds strength he never thought he had. 

This is the fundamental heroic archetype in Marvel Comics, the thing writers come back to when they’re out of ideas and want to have a cool moment where the hero beats the odds. And to have Doctor Doom, of all people, going through it, is… well, it’s something.

Because it’s not that I don’t believe Doctor Doom has a shred of heroism in himself, I just think this kind of moment is reserved for when we’re dealing with transformation. That was basically the moment that cemented Spider-Man as the greatest hero in Marvel– not because the feat is particularly noteworthy on a galactic scale, or because he can’t be beaten. It’s all because when all is said and done, Spider-Man gets it. He understands why being a hero is important, and where your mind has to be when you’re one.

I’m thus forced to wonder, when put in a similar situation, and going through a similar journey of self-discovery, what does it mean for Doom to reach a similar conclusion, and what is the audience supposed to take away from it? Because when it happens to other heroes, it’s very obvious– you’re supposed to think they’re the hero. And the dissonance of giving this moment to the villain of the arc is obviously on purpose– North is a very good writer and understands how to do these things.

I just kinda wonder if he maybe went too far, and made him too heroic? Every time Doom shows up in one of his scripts, he takes over the entire exercise. The guy obviously loves writing the character, like many writers do– Doctor Doom is very fun to write, and extremely entertaining to read. I sometimes go back to Ewing’s Guardians of the Galaxy just to reread that first big entrance Doom makes on the battlefield.

But one wonders if giving this much breathing room for this character, that I will eventually have to watch having all of these things stripped out of him for the greater good, won’t just make the future, inescapable moment harder to swallow, as opposed to tragic or relieving. Maybe it will come with a sacrifice, maybe he’ll be powerless for a while; maybe he’ll even be good again! We’ve had that before, it was alright. But it will come, and it will mean a return to the way things were. And that’s not how it goes when other characters do this, you know? Because they’re heroes, and are allowed to keep that difference of opinion. 

I just find it hard to place the feelings a scene similar to ASM #33 gives me when it’s about a guy who I’m supposed to find morally and politically repulsive, in a comic that isn’t trying to shock me or anything. Because my problem with the rest of the book is exactly the fact that the other heroes don’t seem to have a point, in a way that I don’t think is on purpose. So to assume this part of the story is on purpose, and that I am supposed to look at Doom and go “Oh, look, he can do these things too if worst comes to pass,” only to then remember “right, it’s not real, he’s Doctor Doom”... ah, I don’t know. 

Maybe when One World Under Doom ends and Doctor Doom becomes an anti-hero forever I’ll just eat my words, but assuming Marvel won’t change the cake recipe they’ve had for over half a century, the idea that this is all a ploy just makes issues like these deeply unsatisfying to me.

There’s no vindication or even a sense of betrayal when it’s one of your most established villains of all time doing all of this. It’s just a lot of pulling a string and telling me not to look at the end, while at the same time teasing that I’m gonna be really shocked.

My guy, I can see the end of the string from here, yall announce the end of these strings coming 3 months in advance. 

Either way, this was a well-executed, interesting issue that wasn’t just nonsensical fighting. I really liked it and wish it didn’t come with this foreboding feeling that it’s not showing me a real story about this character, it’s just preparing to pull the carpet from underneath my feet. 

[mybeingthere]

Raven Girl, 2013 by Audrey Niffenegger (American, b. 1963, South Haven, MI, USA), who tells us about this story:

"Once there was a Postman who fell in love with a Raven. So begins the tale of a postman who encounters a fledgling raven on his route and decides to bring her home. The unlikely couple falls in love and conceives a child—a raven girl trapped in a human body. The raven girl feels imprisoned by her arms and legs and covets wings and the ability to fly. Betwixt and between, she reluctantly grows into a young woman, until one day she meets an unorthodox doctor who is willing to change her.

Raven Girl was created as part of a collaboration with Wayne McGregor for the Royal Opera House Ballet in London. I wrote the story and made aquatints to illustrate it. Wayne then used the story and images as the basis for his ballet, which premiered at the Royal Opera House in June, 2013."

Audrey talks about herself:

"I was born in South Haven, Michigan, grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and now live in Chicago with frequent visits to London. I am married to the artist and writer Eddie Campbell.

I began making prints in 1978 under the tutelage of William Wimmer. I trained as a visual artist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and received my MFA from Northwestern University’s Department of Art Theory and Practice in 1991. I have exhibited my artist’s books, prints, paintings, drawings and comics at Printworks Gallery in Chicago since 1987. In 2013, a major mid-career retrospective of my prints, paintings and artist’s bookworks opened at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC.

My first books were printed and bound by hand in editions of ten. Two of these have since been commercially published by Harry N. Abrams: The Adventuress and The Three Incestuous Sisters.

In 1997 I had an idea for a book about a time traveler and his wife. I originally imagined making it as a graphic novel, but eventually realized that it is very difficult to represent sudden time shifts with still images. I began to work on the project as a novel, and published The Time Traveler’s Wife in 2003 with the independent publisher MacAdam/Cage. It was an international best seller, and has been made into a movie.

In 1994 a group of book artists, papermakers and designers came together to found a new book arts center, the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. I was part of this group and taught book arts for many years as an Associate Professor in Columbia College’s MFA program in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts. Until May, 2015 I was a Professor on the faculty of the Columbia College Creative Writing Department. I’ve also taught for the Newberry Library, Penland School of Craft, Haystack, the University of Illinois at Chicago and other institutions of higher learning. I am currently on hiatus from teaching in order to get my own work done."

[spideycain]

(The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #127)

Gwendy... *Ugly sobbing*

Image ID: [Two comic panels. Mary Jane is falling from a high height in the first and Spider-Man catches her with one arm. As he does, he says "It can't happen again! I won't let it! Not to you! Not to you!" while Mary Jane says "Spider-Man! Help me! I can't--can't--"]. In the second panel, Spider-Man has caught Mary Jane while ricocheting off a building and a tree to reach the ground safely. He says "Don't worry, lady--Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe now. I promise you, you're safe. Gwendy, you're safe."]

[danthepest]

oh hey, now that I can post 30 images instead of 10, guess I'm redoing my DC characters collections. Anyway, here's the Batman villains from the DC Animated Universe.

The Joker - First comic appearance in Batman v1 #1 (1940).

Harley Quinn - First appearance in Batman: Harley Quinn (1999)

Two-Face - First comic appearance in Detective Comics v1 #66 (1942).

Killer Croc - First comic appearance in Batman v1 #357 (1984).

The Riddler - First comic appearance in Detective Comics v1 #140 (1948).

Bane - First appearance in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (1993)

The Scarecrow - First comic appearance in World’s Finest Comics #3 (1941).

The Penguin - First comic appearance in Detective Comics v1 #58 (1941).

Poison Ivy - First comic appearance in Batman v1 #181 (1966).

Mr. Freeze - First appearance in Batman v1 #121 (1959).

Ra’s al Ghul - First appearance in Batman v1 #232 (1971).

Talia al Ghul - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #411 (1971).

Ubu - First appearance in Batman v1 #232 (1971).

Rupert Thorne - first appearance in Detective Comics v1 #469 (1977).

The Ventriloquist - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #583 (1988).

Firefly - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #184 (1952).

Clayface - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #298 (1961).

The Mad Hatter - First appearance in Batman v1 #49 (1948).

Thomas Blake - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #311 (1963).

Man-Bat - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #400 (1970).

Blockbuster - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #345 (1965).

Deadshot - First appearance in Batman v1 #59 (1950).

Hugo Strange - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #36 (1940).

KGBeast - First appearance in Batman v1 #417 (1988).

Hellhound - First appearance in Catwoman v2 Annual #2 (1995).

Lock-Up - First appearance in Robin v2 #24 (1996).

Gork - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #480 (1978).

Copperhead - First appearance in The Brave & the Bold v1 #78 (1968).

Electrocutioner - First appearance in Batman v1 #331 (1981).

Joe Chill - First appearance in Detective Comics v1 #33 (1939).

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

SEE! THE UNBELIEVABLE N-MAN! SEE! JOHNNY BEYOND! IN ANOTHER "1963" EXTRAVAGNAZA!

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on cover art to "1963: Vol. 1 -- Book Four: Tales from Beyond." July, 1993. Image Comics. Artwork by "Sturdy" Steve Bissette. Story/script by "Affable" Al Moore.

PIC #2: Opening splash page to "Tales from Beyond" (July 1993), and featuring the Unbelievable N-Man (an homage to Marvel's Silver Age Hulk) falling from the sky to the ultra-radioactive zone in Yucca Flats, Nevada -- your standard superhero stuff, of course.

Source: https://viewcomiconline.com/1963-issue-4.

[chernobog13]

We need more hyper-intelligent, villainous dinosaurs!

Not dinosaur-wannabes like Stegron or Sauron (the mutant, not the LOTR guy), but honest-to-goodness real dinosaur villains!

Like Warbeast here, from 1963 # 2 (May, 1993):

Just how evil is Warbeast? Why, he's the real reason why dinosaurs became extinct - he wiped them out! You could've been riding a stegosaurus to school everyday if it weren't for this guy!

Now, imagine how much cooler the Ultra-Humanite would be if he next transferred his brain into a dinosaur body!!!!!!!!!!

[allergictocolor]

Character Profile - Gomez Addams

“Husband of Morticia (if indeed they are married at all), a crafty schemer, but also a jolly man in his own way. Tries hard to be father and teacher to the children, though sometimes misguided - we can depend on Morticia to straighten him out. Sentimental and often puckish - optimistic, he is full of enthusiasm for his dreadful plots. He is dressed in a tight double-breasted striped suit and is sometimes seen in a rather formal dressing gown. The only one who smokes - though Pugsley can be allowed an occasional cigar.” - Chas Addams

That was the description Charles Addams provided for the producers of the television show in 1963. His cartoon depiction of Gomez (named after a friend of his) was short and squat, dark-skinned, with a pushed-up nose, a mustache, and hair parted in the middle. I mentioned previously that he was modeled after Thomas E. Dewey. My husband pointed out to me that Dewey was the “Dewey Defeats Truman” guy. You can read about that weird event-turned-meme here. The TV show included an Easter egg for that in the 4th episode “Gomez, the Politician” (left).

It was the show that established that Gomez is driven mad with passion when Morticia speaks French, or any other language, in front of him, causing him to kiss her arm (right image above). They also established that he’s Spanish (they said Castilian to specify central/northern Spain) and his hobbies include fencing, knife throwing, zen yoga, and blowing up model trains. He calls Morticia “Tish”, “Querida”, and “Cara Mia”.

The comics always portrayed the family as eccentric and wealthy without an explanation as to where their wealth came from. The show depicted Gomez frequently checking a stock market ticker in their living room for his investments in companies with names like Amalgamated Dust.

Gomez in the 60s was a jack of all trades, but a master of none. He was a lawyer, sort of. He fenced, badly. He threw knives, and usually missed. He lost a lot of money in the stock market, but it didn’t matter. They were still rich beyond imagining. Per their creator’s wishes, it was Morticia who really ran things. Gomez was the starry-eyed dreamer. He would do anything for her.

Charles Addams never meant for Gomez to have “leading man” good looks. He was meant to be a bit of a ghoul, a weirdo, a loveable creep. The producers of the 60s TV show knew that wouldn’t really fly with their viewing audience, so they cast John Astin. They could let Fester and Lurch be weird looking. They needed Gomez to at least be cute. Addams passed away before the 1991 movie, but he likely would have objected at least a little to the suave and debonair Raul Julia. At least the movies brought back a little more of the evil.

Charles Addams had complained that the characters in the 60s show were “half as evil” as his cartoon creations. The 1990s Barry Sonnenfeld films may have had a handsome Gomez, but they brought back the sinister nature in a big way. The family drank poison. Gomez practiced his golf swing by hitting balls into his neighbor’s house. Importantly, the very first scene was a recreation of one of the most popular Addams family comics, pouring an unidentified something on a group of carolers at the front door of their mansion.

Raul Julia’s Gomez was many things John Astin’s was not. He was a crack marksman, a skilled knife thrower, and light on his feet. But like Astin’s Gomez, he thought working for a living was for chumps, so he was completely unmoored when the family was ousted from their home. Members of the Addams family don’t have such mundane things as jobs. It was with Julia’s Gomez that we got the real impression that most of the family’s money came from crime, and we loved him for it.

Raul Julia made such an impression as Gomez, that when Nathan Lane stepped into those shiny loafers to play him on a Broadway stage, it was clear he was not so much playing Gomez Addams, as playing Raul Julia playing Gomez Addams. The musical is a hoot, and if you get a chance to see friends in a local production of it, I recommend giving it a shot. However, it didn’t add anything significant to any of the characters.

The 2019 animated film blended visual aspects of both the original comics and the 1960s TV show. This version of Gomez is extremely similar to the comic version, and also has a bit of Peter Lorre to him. (He was the Igor type in old horror movies.) He follows Charles Addams’ original brief of trying hard to be father and teacher to his children, though perhaps he takes this too far with Pugsley. The animated medium allowed the storytellers to be as cartoonishly evil as possible. Charles would have been delighted.

One theme which has been present in all versions of the Addams family is the sense that they don’t belong in polite society. This is taken to an extreme in the 2019 animated film, which I do recommend if you haven’t seen it. (You can skip the sequel.) That theme is then built upon in the 2022 Netflix series, where the Addamses are all members of a caste of society called “outcasts”, different from “normies” in various ways. Typically, outcasts are werewolves, sirens, vampires, witches, etc. We have not yet seen what sets Gomez apart, but perhaps we will in season 2.

In the Netflix series, Luis Guzmán is the latest actor to fill out Gomez’s pinstriped suit, and he’s the one we can most easily believe has committed some crimes. People who only know of the Addams family from the 90s movies objected to his casting, but those of us who understand the full history know that he’s a perfect fit. And I, for one, can’t wait to see what he does in the next season.

[owldart]

Epic Mickey irks me a little because while it's canon that Walt Disney existed in-universe, we get nothing about how he felt about Oswald getting stolen, which isn't nice because he was vocal about it in interviews even though he never mentioned Mintz by name.

The implication from Epic Mickey is that he and Yen Sid abandoned Oswald and other stuff in "Defunctland" for years and years and did nothing about the blot despite Mickey's success. Which I hate the implication of. Also, Walter Lantz is never mentioned at all, or even seem to exist in-universe, which doesn't feel good because Walter Lantz and Walt Disney were happy about him being the new writer for Oswald. You know that famous image where Mickey is waving to a grumpy Oswald while smiling and walking towards him? That was from a letter from Walt to Walt(er) praising him. Also, that song about Oswald that some Disney parades sometimes sing? That was from Walter's show.

I've heard that the real reason why Oswald suddenly vanished from print, animation, comics and all was because he shared a name with the assassinator of JF Kennedy, in 1963. Since then, he wouldn't appear in anything until a few unnamed cameos in early Woody Woodpecker video games.

I think that being associated with a murderer despite having done nothing wrong, and then having your entire existence seemingly vanish into nothing is significantly worse than the "tHe cReAtOrS aBaNdOnEd hIm" thing that Epic Mickey went for, which is grossly oversimplified. If you're going to write metafiction, at least don't make erase a bunch of important irl people from existence?

Maybe we could have mention about something terrible happening in 1963, that made him vanish like that? Not even being under Disney's care would protect him from that. There could be a bit of metafictional commentary about how cartoons are seen as representations rather than people, and they need to please an audience who has the predisposition to associate them with things they had nothing to do with, and sheer coincidences can utterly break a career, and how maybe if you're not famous enough, you'll be hit way harder than someone popular. Maybe all the characters are aspiring hard for fame because they're afraid of how quickly public opinion of them can change, and how little control over they have over it.

IDK, I just like Lantz cartoons. I don't like how Epic Mickey treated him.

i genuinely did not know about walter lanz so this is very interesting to me but also how did you not hit tumblr's character ask limit

[lav-reads-comics]

Oh boy oh boy, it’s time to start reading X-Men. From the very beginning!

That’s right we are (re)reading some old comics straight out of the 60s to see just how wonderfully they’ve aged. Starting with…

Uncanny X-Men #1, September 1963

This issue is literally nothing of substance because it’s all about introducing out WILD and CRAZY characters! The likes of…

Professor creep X and his weird brown nosing teenagers Cyclops and Angel.

Jack Kirby’s foot fetish AKA The Beast.

The world’s (not yet) gayest snowman, Iceman!

And Jean Grey, the GIRL.

This issue consists mostly of the boys showing off in training and being gross about a girl joining the team. All except Bobby, who for SOME reason has no interest.

Me too Bobby.

Remember kids. Sexual harassment is ok if the girl beats you up.

Magneto then saves the day by deciding to be evil and take over a military base. You know. Magneto stuff.

He has such nice handwriting.

If I were Jean I’d be running for the hills by now what is wrong with Men.

Anyways Warren is trans sorry if they didn’t want him to be trans shouldn’t have given him a binder.

The team gears up, blah blah blah, they fight Magneto, he gets away. Very standard fare.

Why is there a ten image limit this is bullshit.