70 Years of Marvel - 1997

C'mon now, did you really think I was going to spotlight any other book?

The 90s were not a golden decade for Marvel, but there was the occasional highlight, and none more than the introduction of the Thunderbolts. With apologies for spoilering 12 year old book, Kurt Busiek's concept of having Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil pose as superheroes in order to take over the world was pretty damn cool. But the idea that, having pulled off the initial deception, some of these long-standing bad guys (Goliath, Screaming Mimi and the Beetle) might decide that they actually quite like the respect that they're receiving, and might decide not to go through with the whole going bad and inevitably getting their heads handed to them element of the scheme, now that was genius.

In a time when there was a noticable decline in the quality of most of Marvel's product, Thunderbolts stood head and shoulders above the rest. For years, the original team trod the line between heroism, opportunism, and villainy, being at times, outlaws, acknowledged heroes and saviours of the world. Then Warren Ellis took over, and the whole concept of wannabe heroes was ditched, in favour of outright villains and psychopaths working for the government in return for a pardon. All well and good, but nothing we hadn't seen twenty years ago in Suicide Squad over at DC.

July '97 was notable for being Marvel's Flashback Month, in which Stan Lee (or a reasonable facsimile) showed up in pretty much every book, in order to introduce a tale from the past of the protagonists of the book: Daredevil's college days, Baron Zemo's childhood, Cable's first time-journey. A novel idea, but pretty much inconsequential in the long term,

1997 also saw Roger Stern and Ron Frenz return to Spider-Man, to give the definitive answer to the question: who is the Hobgoblin? The question had already been answered, a decade previously, but it had been an unsatisfactory conclusion, and Stern took advantage of the new, post-Clone Saga regime to write "his" ending to the mystery he'd started 15 years ago.

New blood was introduced to the X-Men, in the shape of Maggot, Cecelia Reyes and Marrow, all of whom were introduced during the latest X-Crossover, Operation Zero Tolerance. The first new members of the team introduced in nearly a decade, all three proved less than popular, and all three were gone from the team by the end of the millennium.

Outside of comics, New Labour swept to power on the UK in this year. A decade of national mourning was declared, following the ascension of Saint Diana, the People's Princess. And the world gasped at the majestic wonder that was Jim Cameron's Titanic. If any of this seems familiar, then I can only assume you are suffering from deja vu, and not that, for some reason, I looked up 1997 when writing the entry for 1996. Move along, move along.

70 Years of Marvel - 1986

In 1986, rising comics superstar Frank Miller was just finishing up his second run on Daredevil. The "Born Again" saga, by Miller and David Muzzicchelli, began with the Kingpin discovering the secret identity of his blind foe, and ended with Daredevil teaming up with Captain America to battle a deranged supersoldier. along the way, Miller took us into the hearts of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, as well as their numerous friends and associates, and set a standard that successive writers, try as they might, have never quite been able to match.

Elsewhere in 1986, Magneto was taking charge of the New Mutants. Jean Grey was back from the dead, prompting the original X-Men to reunite as the mutant-hunting X-Factor Investigations. Private investigator, Dakota North, was introduced to the Marvel Universe, as was Sharon Ventura, the new Ms. Marvel. The Scourge of the Underworld was wiping out hordes of second and third-tier villains, whilst the Marauders were wiping out hordes of Morlocks. And Baron Zemo and his Masters of Evil were doing a decent job of destroying the Avengers. But all this would pale into insignificance in the face of the coming of the New Universe titles. More on that later.

Outside of comics, 1986 was the year of the Challenger Disaster, and I don't really have anything else to say about that year.

70 Years of Marvel - 1964

Yes, Thunderbolts fans, that is the self-same Baron Zemo who would go on to become Captain America's WW2 nemesis, who would subsequently go on to found the Masters Of Evil, and whose son would in turn found his own team of Masters, start up the Thunderbolts as the biggest con in history, and eventually become an almost-good-guy. In his first appearance, though, Doctor Zemo was merely one of many Nazi stooges who took on Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos, and lost.

Famously, Sgt Fury was the result of a bet at the Marvel offices, in which Stan Lee wagered that he could make a war comic in the Marvel manner and make it a success. It worked, for at least the next couple of decades, thriving throughout any number of successes and failures at the House of Ideas.

Making a return to regular appearances in 1964 was Captain America, albeit only as a member of the Avengers. The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver made their first appearance in this year, as did Daredevil, the Black Widow, Wonder Man, and Hawkeye.

1964 also saw the US Government suggest (god forbid) that smoking cigarettes might be harmful to ones health. The Beatles were conquering America. And IBM were unleashing the S360 mainframe! Meanwhile, the war was hotting up in Vietnam.

At the movies, Clint Eastwood was scowling his way through A Fistful of Dollars, while Santa Claus was Conquering the Martians. Meanwhile, on the telly, Top of the Pops was not yet tragically unhip. The Munsters and the Addams Family were both tearing up the airwaves, as was the Man From UNCLE. And a generation of kids were thrilling to the adventures of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The Old Order Changeth!

Avengers #16, May 1965.
(By Lee, Kirby & Ayers)
Well, here we are then, the first in what will become a very regular event in the Avengers, the "changing of the guard" issue. Common as muck now, back in the day this must have been a bit of a puzzler for the readership, who'd got used to the adventures of Marvel's Mightiest Heroes, and the Wasp. Off we go.

Our story picks up where the last one left off, with the Avengers polishing off the battered remains of the Masters Of Evil. Here they are.


That there, folks, is the Melter (with the stripy tights), the Black Knight (with the horse), the Executioner (with the skirt), and the Enchantress (with the Executioner). They are unaware that the reason Captain America is missing, is because he's in South America, dropping a large number of rocks on the bad guys' leader, Baron Zemo.

So confident are the Masters of their ability to win the day, that they stand around while Thor twirls his magic hammer; never a good idea.


With the Masters of Evil beaten, and with Cap stranded in South America, the remaining Avengers (Thor having shot off to take care of some private business) meet to decide what to do next. Go rescue Cap, you say? Guess again.


What, just like that? Where's your gumption? Your fighting spirit? Or has Tony Stark had a meeting with his accountants, and found out just how much it's costing to keep his Superfriends on the payroll?

Before the Avengers can make good on their plan to abandon Captain America in the Amazon and retire, they receive a mystery visitor. A visitor who leaves only one clue: an arrow. Wonder if Iron Man can work out who it is...


Hawkeye then spins a sob story about how he's just been misunderstood this whole time, a pawn of the Black Widow and her commie masters. Then he does a trick shot with his arrow. And then the Avengers hire him on the spot. Somehow, I'd have expected the interview process to be more formal. At my work, it takes three months of credit checks, police checks, and god knows what other checks, to even get in the door, and these guys are giving Hawkeye the keys to Avengers Mansion with barely a twenty-second chinwag? Some might say they're being indecently hasty in their rush to retire.

Having hired a two-bit hood to replace them, they next move onto a would-be world conquerer.


I mean, what?!? At this point, the Avengers have only fought Namor a couple of times, but he's gone toe-to-toe with everyone from Daredevil to Spider-Man, and recently led an invasion of New York! Sixties superheroes presumably didn't worry so much about public relations. Ah well, perhaps after he's conquered the surface world, he'll be ready to join up.

Who's next?


Yes, it's everyones' favourite members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, taking a relaxing time after the dissolution of their gang of villains (in this month's X-Men #11) I don't know what I like more, Quicksilver's sensible yet stripy jumper, or that they feel the need to get changed into their super-togs before deciding to try for membership in the Avengers.

Odd though, wouldn't you really expect them, if they've finally gotten the oppoortunity to join the forces of good, to hang out with their old pals, the X-Men. Or is that speciesist, to think that way. In fact, it's odd to see them contemplating signing up at all, given this exchange, less than a month ago, in that self-same X-Men #11:


Anyway, let's move back to New York, where the Avengers are announcing their latest recruit:


On the one hand, it's comforting that the team actually have some sort of official screening process. On the other hand, it's a bit disconcerting that the Feds didn't pick up on Hawkeye having spent the last few months working with a commie spy. Not to mention that the assembled ladies and gentlemen of the press don't have anything
to say about it. Perhaps part of the American Dream is the crimes of supervillains and mutant terrorists are just never mentioned again, once they've apologised. Like so:


Quicksilver, the fastest man alive, proceeds to race Tony Stark's chauffeur through the streets of New York, and perhaps unsurprisingly, he wins. Which is enough for both him and his sister to get a seat at the big table.

No sooner have the new members settled in, then Captain America finally gets back from South America. Without so much as a "where the hell was my lift home?", Cap welcomes the chaps who'll be joining the team.


Ever get the feeling you've been shafted, Cap? Rick's worked it out, he's smart enough to realise that Paste-Pot Pete and the Vulture would have got a job, if they could pass the qualifying test: showing up.

Anyway, with the new team assembled, it's time to meet the people...


Good question, Hawkeye, although I can't but notice that you don't even mention the Wasp. It was tough being a woman in the sixties, huh?

So there we have them: Cap's Kooky Quartet. As anti-establishment as their predecessors were Republican, things are going to be a mite different round Avengers Mansion from now on...