122 – Boom Boom Von Doom and the Ontology of Monsters

Also, Miles’ Gilgamesh voice sounds a lot like Othar Tryggvassen from Girl Genius. Also, Google Chrome Auto-Correct knows “Tryggvassen”.

It’s been years since I read them, but I remember the AA annuals had these ridiculous “history of Atlantis” segments that were gloriously ridiculous. As I recall one of them explained that Atlantis sank during a war when the Atlanteans used a dragon shaped cannon that fired magma drawn from below the island. I’ve always loved that for some reason.

On the sunglasses I’ve always assumed they were Scott’s. Maybe when they were going through the ruins after Inferno picking stuff up Rogue, Longshot or Dazzler saw a spare set of Cyclops’ glasses and thought they’d look cool. Or Havok kept a pair to remember his brother or something.

On Puzzle Quest I kind of love the weird teams you end up with as you pick up random characters. I got a level 40 Bullseye during the intro missions, so he’s been doing most of the fighting against Osborne and HAMMER…despite being a dark Avenger himself.

I’m strangely excited for MCP. Generally really uneven story telling from what I remember. Lots of people got their starts on the book.

My favorite thing about Colossus in Marvel Puzzle Quest is that the character you throw uses one of their powers for free when they hit the enemy, and that can get just as ridiculous as the character combinations.

Sometimes it’s perfectly logical, like Wolverine landing and using Berserker Rage. Other setups get you things like Beast slamming into the enemy and then in the confusion cooking up an experimental mutagenic chemical in his lab; She Hulk following up the throw attack with a devastating legal settlement; or — my pick for the coup de grace of absurdity — Spider-Gwen using the Fastball Special the set up a bitchin’ drum solo.

I also hate to “um, actually” but I’m pretty sure Namorita’s name is pronounced “Na-MORE-it-a” and not “Na-mor-EET-a,” with the emphasis on the “mor.”

That Doom/Magneto story was part of the whole Claremont/Byrne feud. Byrne was among the writers and editors very much against Claremont’s Magneto redemption (I believe Shooter was pro-redemption but Macchio, Gruenwald, DeFalco and Stern were opposed to it but I may be mistaken on the breakdown).

But Magneto’s origin here in the X-Factor annual was originally presented by Claremont in “Classic X-Men” I think #12 or 13, where Mags nobly attempts to save his daughter. And the story is Byrne was having none of that since a) Magneto was the X-Men’s big bad and b) Byrne was one of the ones who came up with the “Magneto was a bad husband to Magda” angle back in the ’70s Avengers issues and c) since Stan and Roy had written Magneto as an unhinged monster in the ’60 and ’70, it was gospel. And since Byrne, as current writer of both “Avengers” and “Avengers West Coast” was about to use Magneto in the evil arch enemy cabal, this story (and the story he illustrated in “New Mutants”) were used to try to undo the redemption.

Of course, Claremont undid BYRNE’S story a few months later in “Uncanny” 253, when he has Magneto tell Moira his return to villainy is an act. So basically Mags was part of a tug-of-war of animosity between Byrne and Claremont. Personally, I prefer Claremont’s Magneto.

I know a lot of people, male and female, HATE that Boom Boom story because it reduces her to “ho-hum I’m nothing without a boyfriend.” Also it is kind of creepy that she’s more sexualized than normal … I think writers forget she was 14. Clearly Niceiza forgets how young she is later on in “X-Force.”

Serpent Society…. oh man Jay and Miles, you HAVE to get on-board the Serpent Society train. If you’ve never read the first 5 years of Gruenwald’s “Captain America,” go find it now. Between Gru’s Cap and Stern’s Avengers — and yes, Claremont’s Magneto — the ’80s showed yes, villains could have personalities too. The Serpents under Gru came across as real people with distinct personalities, not just generic villains like in this annual.

The worst thing about Atlantis Attacks as a story, by the way, is the later issues after the 7 brides are established. The Avengers and FF keep saying “who’s this black woman with white hair and weather powers? It clearly can’t be Storm because she died in Dallas.” Like in three issues, when it’s clearly Storm, they comment on who could this Storm-looking woman be? It’s sort of charmingly ridiculous.

Possible no-prize explanation for the Cyclops shades: Scott never came to the outback base, but Maddie lived there. I don’t recall if she would have had any of her own clothes/luggage when rescued from the Marauders or after, but there’s a certain poignance in the idea of her keeping a pair of his glasses close, even after he left.