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scans_daily2013-11-30 08:20 pm
skjam) wrote in scans_daily2013-11-30 08:20 pm
The Man Who Had Everything--But Had Not Love
Hi folks!
Back in the day, Marvel Comics had a "no late shipping" rule. If it looked like a writer or artist wasn't going to get their work in by deadline, the editor would slip in a filler story prepared in advance. Some of them were good, others not so much.
I'll let you decide which one this is. Six pages of eighteen, plus a treat.
Okay, so Marv Wolfman isn't a Brian Bendis when it comes to banter. Fortunately, Chandler's Law comes into effect as a man in green power armor bursts in through the window.
The intruder has the strength to toss Captain America around, and concussion missiles that actually worry Iron Man. Also, the heat coils in his armor are intense enough to burn the gloves on Black Panther's hands. The Avengers resort to using teamwork, and the intruder is pleased, asking them to strike him down with all their power.
The man inside the armor turns out to be one Jason Beere, a wealthy industrialist and one of Tony Stark's competitors. Turns out that Beere has been diagnosed with a lethal heart condition, and being a megalomaniac, wants the whole world to die when he does. (Why he built power armor and attacked the Avengers when there were plenty of other ways to die is never addressed.) Iron Man gets him to the Flushing campus of Stack Industries and hooks Beere into his old chestplate to keep the other man's heart beating.
By the time the others arrive, Iron Man has found Beere's diary and notes, and learned that the dying man has placed four neutron bombs around the world, set to go off when his heart stops. Each of these bombs is powerful enough to destroy all life on Earth. The locations of the first three bombs are known.
Captain America takes a quinjet to a temple in Peru, the location of the first bomb. We learn that Beere's wife left him last year and took the kids, and at least part of Beere's motivation is revenge on them. Cap lands, heads for the not at all hidden bomb, and is promptly attacked by the local bird worshipping cult. This is Captain America we're talking about, so he handles the cultists easily, pulling one of them into the part of a poison dart.
Due to timey-wimey stuff, this version of Captain America has somehow never killed anyone in World War II. Thank you, Comics Code. He uses a beehive to distract the eagles, kinocks the remaining cultists for a loop, and escapes with the bomb.
Up in the Arctic Circle, Black Panther ponders his dual loyalties to the Avengers and his homeland of Wakanda. This may cause a conflict of interest later, but right now both compel him to find the second bomb. It's in an ice cave, which is inhabited by a polar bear. It attacks, and in the ensuing melee, they both plunge into the ocean.
At 3:13 A.M. local time, Iron Man flies into Moscow for the third bomb, knowing it's been placed in a Kremlin museum. Despite his efforts at stealth, the Commies are waiting for him with anti-aircraft guns. Seems they got a secret message telling them an Avenger would be dropping by.
The room is pumped full of knockout gas, which doesn't do much to a guy with built-in breathing equipment, and he busts down a wall. On his way out with the device, Iron Man decides now would be a good time to negotiate with the Soviets, rather than risk bloodshed.
Back in America, Cap and T'Challa are getting a bit worried that Iron Man isn't back yet. When he appears, Iron Man reveals that the three devices they've collected are meant to fit together--into a message device. Beere's voice reveals that these are not bombs at all, but only decoys to run out the clock until his heart fails and the real bomb explodes. "My doctors say I will die within the month. That is not fair for a man who is worth two hundred million dollars. Therefore I decided when I go--the world will go with me!" He gloats about outsmarting the Avengers.
Beere was mentioned a couple of times over the years as a long-term project Tony Stark was working on. Eventually the bomb was somehow removed, probably off-camera when one of the writers noticed that the destruction of Stark Industries would have caused it to go off.
And now a treat, an ad for some of the very first Star Wars merchandise from 1977, before anyone realized how big this movie was going to get.
Your thoughts and comments?
May the Force be with you,
SKJAM!
http://www.skjam.com
Back in the day, Marvel Comics had a "no late shipping" rule. If it looked like a writer or artist wasn't going to get their work in by deadline, the editor would slip in a filler story prepared in advance. Some of them were good, others not so much.
I'll let you decide which one this is. Six pages of eighteen, plus a treat.
Okay, so Marv Wolfman isn't a Brian Bendis when it comes to banter. Fortunately, Chandler's Law comes into effect as a man in green power armor bursts in through the window.
The intruder has the strength to toss Captain America around, and concussion missiles that actually worry Iron Man. Also, the heat coils in his armor are intense enough to burn the gloves on Black Panther's hands. The Avengers resort to using teamwork, and the intruder is pleased, asking them to strike him down with all their power.
The man inside the armor turns out to be one Jason Beere, a wealthy industrialist and one of Tony Stark's competitors. Turns out that Beere has been diagnosed with a lethal heart condition, and being a megalomaniac, wants the whole world to die when he does. (Why he built power armor and attacked the Avengers when there were plenty of other ways to die is never addressed.) Iron Man gets him to the Flushing campus of Stack Industries and hooks Beere into his old chestplate to keep the other man's heart beating.
By the time the others arrive, Iron Man has found Beere's diary and notes, and learned that the dying man has placed four neutron bombs around the world, set to go off when his heart stops. Each of these bombs is powerful enough to destroy all life on Earth. The locations of the first three bombs are known.
Captain America takes a quinjet to a temple in Peru, the location of the first bomb. We learn that Beere's wife left him last year and took the kids, and at least part of Beere's motivation is revenge on them. Cap lands, heads for the not at all hidden bomb, and is promptly attacked by the local bird worshipping cult. This is Captain America we're talking about, so he handles the cultists easily, pulling one of them into the part of a poison dart.
Due to timey-wimey stuff, this version of Captain America has somehow never killed anyone in World War II. Thank you, Comics Code. He uses a beehive to distract the eagles, kinocks the remaining cultists for a loop, and escapes with the bomb.
Up in the Arctic Circle, Black Panther ponders his dual loyalties to the Avengers and his homeland of Wakanda. This may cause a conflict of interest later, but right now both compel him to find the second bomb. It's in an ice cave, which is inhabited by a polar bear. It attacks, and in the ensuing melee, they both plunge into the ocean.
At 3:13 A.M. local time, Iron Man flies into Moscow for the third bomb, knowing it's been placed in a Kremlin museum. Despite his efforts at stealth, the Commies are waiting for him with anti-aircraft guns. Seems they got a secret message telling them an Avenger would be dropping by.
The room is pumped full of knockout gas, which doesn't do much to a guy with built-in breathing equipment, and he busts down a wall. On his way out with the device, Iron Man decides now would be a good time to negotiate with the Soviets, rather than risk bloodshed.
Back in America, Cap and T'Challa are getting a bit worried that Iron Man isn't back yet. When he appears, Iron Man reveals that the three devices they've collected are meant to fit together--into a message device. Beere's voice reveals that these are not bombs at all, but only decoys to run out the clock until his heart fails and the real bomb explodes. "My doctors say I will die within the month. That is not fair for a man who is worth two hundred million dollars. Therefore I decided when I go--the world will go with me!" He gloats about outsmarting the Avengers.
Beere was mentioned a couple of times over the years as a long-term project Tony Stark was working on. Eventually the bomb was somehow removed, probably off-camera when one of the writers noticed that the destruction of Stark Industries would have caused it to go off.
And now a treat, an ad for some of the very first Star Wars merchandise from 1977, before anyone realized how big this movie was going to get.
Your thoughts and comments?
May the Force be with you,
SKJAM!
http://www.skjam.com