Flashback Friday: JARVIS

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: J.A.R.V.I.S.!

Tony Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, who first appeared in Tales of Suspense #59 (September 1964)...

...was adapted for the Iron Man movie (2008) as an advanced AI that controlled the Stark Mansion (and the Iron Man suit later on) and was called J.A.R.V.I.S., which was explained in the movie novelization to stand for "Just A Rather Very Intelligent System".   

J.A.R.V.I.S. later appears, which the same acronym explanation, in Invincible Iron Man #11 (March 2009), this time based on the personality of the real Jarvis and as the controller AI of Pepper Potts's "Rescue" armor.

As a side note, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s personality being based on a real Edwin Jarvis, who presumably helped raise Tony when he was young, was a common MCU fan theory. This was later confirmed when Agent Carter had Jarvis in a major supporting role across both seasons.

Flashback Friday: Reptil

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Reptil!

Reptil is one of the very rare cases of a character being created for a toyline and then transitioning into comics. The only time I can think of that happening outside of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is DC's Nite-Lik. (Of course, there are other examples that didn't occur to me.) He was created for Marvel's "Super Hero Squad" line of figurines, but strangely, the only figurine of his I can find online is from 2010, well after all the other appearances I plan to mention. His earliest appearance that I can find is a tie-in comic book one-shot Marvel Super Hero Squad: Hero Up! #1 (January 2009).

He later appeared in The Super Hero Squad Show episode, "To Err is Superhuman" (September 2009), but in between those two appearances, he appeared in Avengers: The Initiative - Featuring Reptil #1 (March 2009).

Reptil's real name is Humberto Lopez and he possesses a magic medallion that allows him to turn any part of his body into any part of any dinosaur's body. He was a main character in Avengers Academy and has likewise appeared in other teen-hero-centric things like Avengers Arena.

Flashback Friday: Icemaster

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Icemaster!

Icemaster first appeared as a villain in the Hostess comic book ad "The Human Torch in 'The Icemaster Cometh!'" (1979). 

He first appeared in an actual comic book story as a member of the Masters of Evil in Thunderbolts #24 (January 1999).

I have seen mentioned that this Masters of Evil team - which featured 25 members for the 25th issue - was part of a contest to see who could name the most villains on the team. I can't find any proof of that, but if it's true, Icemaster was likely added because he's so obscure.

Regardless, he has continued to pop up here and there, in books as diverse as Gambit, Avengers Academy, and X-Men: Legacy. Surprisingly, he's never fought Iceman, but you never know when - or where - someone will use him next!

Flashback Friday: Ms. Lion

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Ms. Lion!

Ms. Lion first appeared as Firestar's dog in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981), but she keeps Aunt May company whenever the heroes have to go fight crime.

He first appeared in comics as a member of the Pet Avengers in Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1 (May 2009).

He also appeared with the Pet Avengers in Thor and the Warriors Four #1 (April 2010) and Tails of the Pet Avengers: Dogs of Summer #1 (July 2010), although these are considered alternate realities.

Then the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends version appeared in comics during the Spider-Verse event in Amazing Spider-Man #7 (October 2014), after Morlun has killed the heroes on this Earth.

Strangely, Ms. Lion is only yellow on Earth-1983. Every other time he's appeared, he's been white. I'm not sure why that is.

Character Spotlight: Codec

It's no longer June, but Agents of ATLAS Month continues! Greg Pak apparently doesn't mess around when he makes a series about Marvel's Asian superheroes, so there are more canon immigrants than the ones who were advertised. We'll talk about one of them today, and who knows, there might be more next week.

In April 2017, a new series called Marvel Future Avengers debuted in Shogakukan’s Bessatsu Coro Coro Comics Special. An animated series debuted in July 2017. Both follow a kid named Makoto, who was given superpowers in a Hydra experiment, then gets trained by the Avengers with two more kids with superpowers. It's a very Super Friends set-up, but there's nothing wrong with that.

One of the other kids is named Akiyadi, aka Codec. Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything more about him since information is scarce about this whole project online. Even what little I've said so far had to be pieced together from multiple sources. But Future Avengers will be receiving an English dub soon, so hopefully that'll change (ideally before this post goes up, but we'll see about that).

Regardless, Codec appears in War of the Realms: New Agents of ATLAS #3 (June 2019), and he's mentioned as being a part of the Future Avengers, so we know that team exists as well in some capacity.

Character Spotlight: Sword Master

Last month, as a lead-in to a new event called "War of Realms", Marvel released a book called New Agents of Atlas that featured a team of all-Asian superheroes. Several of those superheroes were canon immigrants, and there just so happened to be four of them. So this month is Agents of Atlas month!

This week: Sword Master!

Last year, Marvel teamed up with a Chinese telecommunications company called NetEase to create its first fully Chinese superheroes (meaning Chinese characters made in China; it has other Chinese superheroes, such as the People's Defense Force). The goal was to increase their brand awareness in the East. Sword Master debuted in the first issue of an online manhua called Warriors of Three Sovereigns in May 2010, which can be found at 163.com.

Unlike Cyclone's more modern bent, Warriors of Three Sovereigns has a more antique flair. Sword Master is a college student named Lin Lie who takes up an ancient sword discovered by his archaeologist father to battle Chiyou, a reincarnated villain from the Imperial era. The sword belonged to one of the three emperors that reigned during that time.

Sword Master debuts in War of the Realms: New Agents of ATLAS #2 (May 2019) fighting fire goblins in Shanghai. He joins the New Agents of ATLAS at the end of the issue, despite being against the idea because he has his own stuff going on - a sentiment shared by several of the new members.

Two other superheroes feature in Cyclone. Will we see them in future issues of New Agents of ATLAS? Only time will tell!

Character Spotlight: Aero

Last month, as a lead-in to a new event called "War of Realms", Marvel released a book called New Agents of Atlas that featured a team of all-Asian superheroes. Several of those superheroes were canon immigrants, and there just so happened to be four of them. So this month is Agents of Atlas month!

This week: Aero!

Last year, Marvel teamed up with a Chinese telecommunications company called NetEase to create its first fully Chinese superheroes (meaning Chinese characters made in China; it has other Chinese superheroes, such as the People's Defense Force). The goal was to increase their brand awareness in the East. Aero debuted in the first issue of an online manhua called Cyclone in May 2010, which can be found at 163.com.

Unlike Warriors of Three Sovereigns's more old-fashioned flair, Cyclone has a more modern bent. In her original comic, Aero is an architect that has control over the air and protects Shanghai after a resettlement project goes awry.

In New Agents of ATLAS #1 (May 2019), Aero debuts on the first page in a jurisdiction dispute with a new character, Wave. They get attacked and we don't see them for the rest of the issue, but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of them.

Two other superheroes feature in Cyclone. Will we see them in future issues of New Agents of ATLAS? Only time will tell!

Character Spotlight: Crescent and Io

Last month, as a lead-in to a new event called "War of Realms", Marvel released a book called New Agents of Atlas that featured a team of all-Asian superheroes. Several of those superheroes were canon immigrants, and there just so happened to be four of them. So June is going to be Agents of Atlas month!

This week: Crescent (and Io)!

Marvel Future Fight is a mobile fighting game that pits Marvel characters from different dimensions against each other. Occasionally, that means creating original characters from the multiverse we've never seen before. The first example of this was a new version of Captain America (Steve's daughter from a world where he was never frozen), and the second example we saw last week: Luna Snow.

Crescent's story is that she's a kid from Korea whose antique dealer father disappears one night. She finds a red bear mask in his room, and when she puts it on, it summons Io, a moon bear spirit. Together, they track down her father and rescue him from the clutches of Morgan le Fey. Crescent and Io joined Marvel Future Fight in November 2018.

In New Agents of Atlas #1 (May 2019), Crescent and Io debut fighting alongside Luna Snow and White Fox to protect Korea from an invasion by Fire Demons.

Character Spotlight: Luna Snow

Last month, as a lead-in to a new event called "War of Realms", Marvel released a book called New Agents of Atlas that featured a team of all-Asian superheroes. Several of those superheroes were canon immigrants, and there just so happened to be four of them. So June is going to be Agents of Atlas month!

This week: Luna Snow!

Marvel Future Fight is a mobile fighting game that pits Marvel characters from different dimensions against each other. Occasionally, that means creating original characters from the multiverse we've never seen before. The first example of this was a new version of Captain America (Steve's daughter from a world where he was never frozen), and another example we'll see next week: Crescent.

Luna Snow was added to Marvel Future Fight in January 2018. What's interesting is that, since she's a K-pop idol, she's also had a few singles: "Tonight" (July 2018) and "I Really Wanna (feat. Krysta Youngs)" (December 2018).

Luna Snow's story is a little wild. She was a K-pop singer who was performing at a Stark Industries event when AIM attacked and locked her in an experimental cold storage container, where the exposure to new cold fusion technology gave her ice powers. Notably, as you'll see again next week, all of Marvel Future Fight's original characters are Korean; this even includes the first - Captain America, aka Sharon Rogers - who was born in South Korean while Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter were stationed there. This is because the creators of Future Fight, NetMarble Games, is a Korean company.

In New Agents of ATLAS #1 (May 2019), Luna Snow debuts fighting alongside Crescent and Io and White Fox to protect Korea against an invasion of Dark Elves.

Character Spotlight: Luis

I feel a little uneasy about this one, but I think there's enough evidence for it to count. (And, if we're being honest, I have a gap to fill and I'll take what I can get.)

2015's Ant-Man was a surprise hit for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although all their movies do well, people weren't expecting much from this one, and on top of that, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the movie thanks to Edgar Wright's departure.

I'm going to get on my soapbox for a second to say that I'm completely on Marvel's side for this one. I respect his decision to leave if he was being asked to make changes to his script he didn't want to make, but also...come on, dude. He knew what he was getting into when he signed up for it back in 2006. And if he didn't then, he certainly knew by the time they started production if he had paid attention to the 11 other movies (and multiple shows) made in the meantime. Marvel allowed him to delay Ant-Man until he was ready to make it - almost ten years, if you're keeping track - and agreed to his request to cut all references to the Ant-Man franchise until the movie was released, yet he still couldn't bring himself to play ball. But that's ok; by all accounts, we received a better movie for it.

Anyway, one of the most breakout parts of the movie was Luis, Scott Lang's cellmate/friend/literal partner-in-crime. Played by Michael Pena, he elevated the fun energy of a movie that already had quite a bit of it, and his storytelling became a trademark that people still talk about today.

Thanks to the movie, Ant-Man received a new comic called The Astonishing Ant-Man, which premiered in October 2015 (three months after the movie came out). The series finds Scott back in prison, with the first arc an extended flashback to how he got there. And his cellmate, true to form, is Luis.

Here's the thing, though: he's never called Luis. He never speaks so I don't know his personality. In fact, I can't even tell you if the person I've pictured is, in fact, Scott's cellmate because his face is never shown when they're in the cell. But this character, who looks a lot like Luis, is seen near Scott twice.

Normally, that wouldn't be enough for me. Even if the internet has decided this is Luis, I usually need some hard proof. If not actual in-comic evidence, then a quote from the writer or something. However, taking the rest of the book into account, I'm willing to go ahead with this one. After all, the series is meant to benefit from the heat of the movie. It uses the movie's logo. It puts Scott back in prison (just like the movie), has Cross Technologies as the villain (just like the movie), and focuses on Scott's relationship with Cassie (just like the movie). So I think it's safe to say that, just like the movie, Scott's cellmate is Luis.

Character Spotlight: Ding-A-Ling Family

Shout-out to Thomas Parks for suggesting this one!

Last week we featured a character who originated in an ad, and this week we have some other ones. If you're not aware, in the 60s and 70s, it was common for ads to feature comic book and comic strip characters and be done in the same style as the real stories featuring those characters. Although the ads were often made by the real comics creators - because ads had a higher pay rate - they were designed by the ad teams who often put no thought into the world these stories are taking place in, meaning they often used original villains. This phenomenon is no stranger to this blog.

These particular characters are the Ding-A-Ling Family, and they appeared in a Hostess Fruit Pies ad from 1977 that featured Thor.

Why not a Ding Dong ad, you may ask? Those kinds of questions are beyond the scope of this blog, but I'm wondering right along with you.

At any rate, they briefly appeared in Silver Surfer #7 (November 2014) in a flashback where they had abducted the Silver Surfer's companion, Dawn, and they even have Fruit Pies!

The book doesn't explain how the hillbillies got out into space, but I guess the original ad doesn't either. Silver Surfer was a great book where anything could happen, and this is just one small example of that!

Character Spotlight: Del Frye

I'm a big fan of The Immortal Hulk. I've never read it, I don't know much about it, but I still dig it. Why? Because after 40 years, there's a series that's finally introducing things from The Incredible Hulk television show into the comics.

This is crazy to me, and here's why: until, say, 2012's The Avengers, if you mentioned the Hulk, the average person would assume you were talking about the tv show (Yes, I'm aware The Avengers comes after two solo movies, and no, I didn't misspeak). The Hulk was Lou Ferrigno, his alter ego was David Banner, his catchphrase was "Don't make me angry...", and he was always on the run. End of story. The Incredible Hulk movie even arguably drew more inspiration from the show than the comics, going so far as to recreate the original experiment as shown in the show's opening credits each week. Yet, despite being a cultural touchstone and one of the most well-known comic book adaptations, it never made an impact on the comics...until now.

The first issue of Immortal Hulk, if you recall, introduced Jackie McGee, and in issue #2 (July 2018), the series brings over a much more minor character: Del Frye.

Del is the son of Dr. Frye, a scientist who was overcome with grief when his wife died. Seeing the Hulk as someone who couldn't die, he became intent on using gamma radiation to create a serum to prevent death. He tested the serum on Del, a football player and therefore prone to injury, but the serum didn't work and Del died. Del's body irradiated anyone who visited his grave and anyone they came into contact with, creating what came to be known as "the Chain of Grief". In addition, Dr. Frye became irradiated as well, and he turned into a creature not dissimilar to Batman Beyond's Blight.

This isn't quite how it happened on tv. Dell Frye - this version has two L's - first appeared in the Incredible Hulk episode "The First", a 2-part episode that aired during the show's fourth season in March 1981.

This version was the assistant of a doctor named Jeffrey Clive. He was dying from a rare blood disease, so Dr. Clive built a gamma ray chamber to try to cure him. As you can see in the picture above, it did not go according to plan. Dr. Clive managed to cure him, but Dell was still dying and getting worse, so in a strange turn of events, he kept trying to find a way to turn back into the creature - quite the opposite from the Hulk! Once Banner learns about a creature like himself who's been around longer than him, he goes to investigate and they agree to help each other: Banner will help Frye become the creature and Frye will help cure Banner. It doesn't work out, however, as Frye gets shot by police by the end of the episode and the Hulk has to escape.

Thanks to friend of the blog Thomas Parks for telling me about this one!

Flashback Friday: Serpentino

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Serpentino!

This is going to be a quick one, but sometimes you gotta take what you can get.

Back in the 70s, ads in comic books would sometimes be presented as a comics page itself. The most famous of these were Hostess, and you can check out a . . . host . . . of examples at seanbaby.com. Here's just one.

But they were created for other products, too, and one such ad for a Rubik's Cube kind of puzzle called the Magic Snake appeared in Marvel Team-Up #126 (December 1982). In the ad, Hulk fights a new villain named Serpentino, who is then distracted from the fight by a Magic Snake puzzle.

Serpentino WAS included in the Marvel Universe eventually, but don't be surprised if you've never heard of him. His only appearance was in a text feature in New Avengers Most Wanted Files (October 2005) that said he's remained in prison since his initial capture.

But hey, it still counts!

Flashback Friday: HERBIE

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: H.E.R.B.I.E.!

Back in the 60s, Marvel was kind of a big deal. So it made sense that they would start branching out into toys, tv shows, and movies. They made several cartoon versions of their comics, one of which was Fantastic Four (1967). But there was a problem. Marvel had licensed Human Torch to Universal to get a solo cartoon that never happened, which means that when it came time to make Fantastic Four, they couldn't use him. You can't have a team called "Fantastic Four" with only three characters, so they introduced HERBIE, a robot created by Reed Richards.

HERBIE makes his first appearance in the comics in Fantastic Four #209 (June 1979), which even explains that the Human Torch didn't appear in the cartoon because he wasn't in town to sign the contract. If you're not aware, a strange quirk of the Marvel Universe is that Marvel Comics exists within it and publishes comics about the heroes, to varying degrees of accuracy. This mainly shows up in Fantastic Four, because they have public identities and license their likenesses for merchandising, and She-Hulk, because she frequently breaks the fourth wall. So it stands to reason that, if the comics exist, the comics adaptations can exist as well.

He sacrificed himself a few issues later because he was possessed by Doctor Sun, but you can't keep a good robot down. He has continued to appear in comics in a variety of roles, usually either performing security functions in the Baxter Building or being a companion for Franklin Richards.

Probably the most notable later appearance is in 1998 when Reed Richards becomes HERBIE! See, in What If...? #105 (December 1997) and the MC2 Universe that that issue spawned, it's about twenty years in the future and the marvel heroes have mostly been replaced by the next generation. In this world, the Fantastic Four is now the Fantastic Five, comprising an adult Franklin Richards, The Thing, the Human Torch, Lyja the Skrull, and Reed Richards...who's now just a brain in a HERBIE body.

HERBIE's latest appearance is in the pages of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, where it was revealed Reed first built to HERBIE to monitor for Galactus. No one can say for sure why a small robot from a 50-year-old one-season cartoon has managed to have the staying power that it has, but I think it's safe to say that cuteness goes a long way!

Character Spotlight: Dante Cruz

When I was researching my post for Red Widow, I discovered that she's not the only character from Black Widow: Forever Red that has appeared in comics! I love it when that happens.

First, some backstory: Black Widow: Forever Red is a 2015 young adult novel by Margaret Stohl about Black Widow investigating the possible resurgence of the Red Room, the Russian spy program that trained her. Along the way, she teams up with Red Widow, a teenager she saved years ago and who grew up in SHIELD custody but is now on her own.

During her time on the streets, Red Widow meets a boy named Alex Manor, who has a friend named Dante Cruz. Alex lived with Dante and they were on the fencing team together, and considering that Alex is really Black Widow's brother, Dante's family was considered (but not chosen, as far as I know) for surveillance on him.

In Mighty Captain Marvel #5 (May 2018), Captain Marvel meets the first three members of her Alpha Cadets program. Dante Cruz is one of them. Each cadet was recommended by one of Captain Marvel's colleagues, and it should be no surprise to you that Dante was vouched for by Black Widow.

If you're wondering why a minor character from a YA novel made it into the comics and so quickly, it's because Margaret Stohl also wrote Mighty Captain Marvel (at least this arc of it). Sometimes the easiest way to get your original characters into the comics is to take them there yourself!

Character Spotlight: Red Widow

Red Widow, aka Ava Orlova, is a character created for the novel Black Widow: Forever Red (2015) by Margaret Stohl. We first meet her, however, in the aptly named "Red Widow: First Strike", a backup story in Mockingbird: SHIELD 50th Anniversary #1 (September 2015). This story introduces us to Ava and gives us her backstory: Black Widow saved her from the Russian mob in the Ukraine, and she was brought to the US and raised in Brooklyn under SHIELD custody. She eventually ran away and lived on the streets, where she met a girl named Oksana; when Oksana went missing, Ava created the persona Red Widow to save her. She has a complicated relationship with Black Widow, simultaneously being disappointed in her and inspired by her. The story's main point to compare and contrast the two characters.

Black Widow: Forever Red then forces the two characters to team up, their individual stories intertwining as the investigate the possible resurgence of the Red Room, the Russian spy training program that Black Widow (and possibly Red Widow) went through as children. There's some debate over where this story takes place. Margaret Stohl originally said the MCU, but later said it's "comics canon, but follows the continuity of the MCU"...whatever that means. I have decided to treat this series as its own thing which takes inspiration from both universes but isn't a part of either.

The following year, Red Widow got another appearance in "Red Widow: The Last O.P.U.S.", a backup story in Ms. Marvel #12 (October 2016), which leads into the sequel novel, Black Widow: Red Vengeance (2016).

Two years later, Marvel used Avengers #700 (November 2018) to establish several counterparts/competitors to the Avengers around the world, including the Black Panther's Agents of Wakanda, Namor's Defenders of the Deep, and Thunderbolt Ross's Squadron Supreme of America. The one important for this entry is Russia's Winter Guard, a pre-existing team that was re-established in this issue. And as part of that re-establishment, they get a new team member: Red Widow!

Not much is known about this version of the character yet, except that she's from the Eastern Bloc and was trained by the Red Room. Is she Ava Orlova? Is she someone new? Either way, I don't believe it's a coincidence.

Flashback Friday: Firestar

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Firestar!

Comic book adaptations in the past were much more willing to create original characters than they are today. If you take a look at a show like Young Justice, it has an enormous cast but all of them  - perhaps with one or two exceptions - are characters from the comics, even if they're very minor ones that only made a couple of appearances. Compare that to something like Batman: The Animated Series, where it seems like half the characters are original to the show. It's that mindset that gave us Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, a show where 1/3 of the main characters was somebody kids had never seen before.

There are many rumors about Firestar's appearance on the show. One is that she was originally meant to be the Human Torch, which makes sense because Spider-Man often hangs out with the Human Torch (and Iceman to a lesser extent) in the comics. There are a few reasons why people say the change happened, but the fact is that the Human Torch's rights were tied up in a solo animated series that never got made, so he would've never been considered for this show. The most likely explanation is that they knew they couldn't use him so created someone similar to him, and then decided that since they were creating an original character anyway, they may as well diversify and make her female.

Similarly, there's a popular rumor that her secret identity was originally going to be Mary Jane Watson instead of Angelica Jones. Other than the two characters having similar looks, this rumor has no grounding. Regardless, she first appeared in the first episode of the show ("Triumph of the Green Goblin", September 1981), and we eventually learn that she is a former member of the X-Men and one of their earliest recruits.

Her first comics appearance was in the tie-in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends #1 (October 1981), an adaptation of the first episode...

...but her first appearance that counts was a few years later in Uncanny X-Men #193 (March 1985), although surprisingly not as an X-Man or even a potential X-Men recruit. Instead, she was part of the Hellions, a team of rivals to the New Mutants led by Emma Frost.

Her next appearance was the following year (January 1986), when she received a mini-series called Firestar that told how she ended up at the Massachusetts Academy and joined the Hellions, then left and became a solo hero. Notably, she was kept in the dark about their true intentions, so she didn't realize they were bad guys.

Since then, she's had a steady career as a B-list superhero. She was a main member of the New Warriors...

...and the Avengers...

...and the Young Allies...

...and finally the X-Men.

She also appeared in Spider-Man Family: Amazing Friends #1 (August 2006), a one-shot to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show, in which she, Spider-Man, and Iceman team up for a story.

They also teamed up in Amazing X-Men #7 (May 2014) and Iceman #3 (November 2018).

I'll finish up by talking about a strange quirk of Firestar: no one really knows who owns the rights to her!

As you might know, in the 90s Marvel sold off the rights to nearly all of its characters to various production companies, but for the past ten years or so, there have only been three groups worth talking about: Fox, which owns X-Men and Fantastic Four; Sony, which owns Spider-Man; and Disney, which owns everything else.

So does Firestar fall within the X-Men rights because she's a mutant who's been a Hellion and an X-Man? Or does she fall within the everything else rights because she is mainly known as an Avenger and New Warrior? But maybe she falls under the Spider-Man rights because she was created for a Spider-Man show and was a Spider-Man supporting character in Ultimate Marvel. If any of these companies know, they're not saying. But I'm pretty sure nobody really knows and that's why nobody's used her in adaptations in any substantial way. Luckily, it soon won't matter now that Disney is buying Fox and has a deal to use Spider-Man characters in the MCU, but it's interesting to think about nonetheless.