An amnesiac Toa of Air, Artek struggles to find who he is and where he came from. He joined the Order after they rescued him from the hands of Skakdi and hopes to find his past while working within the Order.

 

He belongs to Artek206 on the CBW.

we ride tonight

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 447. Photo: Universal International.

 

English gentleman-actor Ronald Colman (1891 - 1958) was a top box office draw in Hollywood films throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. ‘The Man with the velvet voice’ was nominated for four Academy Awards. In 1948 he finally won the Oscar for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947).

 

Ronald Charles Colman was born in 1891 in Richmond, England. He was the fifth of six children of silk importer Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. Ronald was educated at a boarding school in Littlehampton, where he discovered he enjoyed acting. When Ronald was 16 his father died of pneumonia, putting an end to the boy's plans to attend Cambridge and become an engineer. He went to work as a shipping clerk at the British Steamship Company. He also became a well-known amateur actor and was a member of the West Middlesex Dramatic Society (1908-1909). In 1909, he joined the London Scottish Regiment, a territorial army force, and he was sent to France at the outbreak of World War I. Colman took part in the First Battle of Ypres and was severely wounded at the battle at Messines in Belgium. The shrapnel wounds he took to his legs invalided him out of active service. In May 1915, decorated, discharged and depressed, he returned home with a limp that he would attempt to hide throughout the rest of his acting career. He tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in the London play The Maharanee of Arakan (1916). He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre. Producers soon noted the young actor with his striking good looks, rich voice and rare dignity, and Colman was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He worked with stage greats Gladys Cooper and Gerald du Maurier. He made extra money appearing in films like the two-reel silent comedy The Live Wire (Cecil Hepworth, 1917). The set was an old house with a negligible budget, and Colman doubled as the leading character and prop man. The film was never released though. Other silent British films were The Snow of the Desert (Walter West, 1919) with Violet Hopson and Stewart Rome, and The Black Spider (William Humphrey, 1920) with Mary Clare. The negatives of all of Colman's early British films have probably been destroyed during the 1941 London Blitz. After a brief courtship, he married actress Thelma Raye in 1919. The marriage was in trouble almost from the beginning. The two separated in 1923 but were not divorced until 1934.

 

In 1920 Ronald Colman set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. His American film debut was in the tawdry melodrama Handcuffs or Kisses? (George Archainbaud, 1920). He toured with Robert Warwick in 'The Dauntless Three', and subsequently toured with Fay Bainter in 'East is West'. After two years of impoverishment, he was cast in the Broadway hit play 'La Tendresse' (1922). Director Henry King spotted him and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (Henry King, 1923), filmed in Italy. The romantic tear-jerker was wildly popular and Colman was quickly proclaimed a new film star. This success led to a contract with prominent independent film producer Samuel Goldwyn, and in the following ten years, he became a very popular silent film star in both romantic and adventure films. Among his most successful films for Goldwyn were The Dark Angel (George Fitzmaurice, 1925) with Hungarian actress Vilma Bánky, Stella Dallas (Henry King, 1926), the Oscar Wilde adaptation Lady Windermere's Fan (Ernst Lubitsch, 1925) and The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926) with Gary Cooper. Colman's dark hair and eyes and his athletic and riding ability led reviewers to describe him as a ‘Valentino type’. He was often cast in similar, exotic roles. The film that cemented this position as a top star was Beau Geste (Herbert Brenon, 1926), Paramount's biggest hit of 1926. It was the rousing tale of three brothers (Colman, Neil Hamilton and Ralph Forbes), who join the Foreign Legion to escape the law. Beau Geste was full of mystery, desert action, intrigue and above all, brotherly loyalty. Colman's gentlemanly courage and quiet strength were showcased to perfection in the role of the oldest brother, Beau. The film is still referred to as possibly the greatest Foreign Legion film ever produced. Towards the end of the silent era, Colman was teamed again with Vilma Bánky under Samuel Goldwyn. The two would make a total of five films together and their popularity rivalled that of Greta Garbo and John Gilbert.

 

Although Ronald Colman was a huge success in silent films, with the coming of sound, his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice made him even more important to the film industry. His first major talkie success was in 1930 when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two roles - Condemned (Wesley Ruggles, 1929) with Lily Damita, and Bulldog Drummond (F. Richard Jones, 1929) with Joan Bennett. Thereafter he played a number of sophisticated, noble characters with enormous aplomb such as Clive of India (Richard Boleslawski, 1935) with Colin Clive, but he also swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (John Cromwell, 1937) with Madeleine Carroll. A falling out with Goldwyn in 1934 prompted Colman to avoid long-term contracts for the rest of his career. He became one of just a handful of top stars to successfully freelance, picking and choosing his assignments and studios. His notable films included the Charles Dickens adaptation A Tale of Two Cities (Jack Conway, 1935), the poetic classic Lost Horizon (Frank Capra, 1937), and If I Were King (Frank Lloyd, 1938) with Basil Rathbone as vagabond poet Francois Villon. During the war, he made two of his very best films - Talk of the Town (George Stevens, 1942) with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and the romantic tearjerker Random Harvest (Mervyn LeRoy, 1942), as an amnesiac victim, co-starring with the luminous Greer Garson. For his role in A Double Life (George Cukor, 1947), an actor playing Othello who comes to identify with the character, he won both the Golden Globe for Best Actor in 1947 and the Best Actor Oscar in 1948. Colman made many guest appearances on The Jack Benny Program on the radio, alongside his second wife, British stage and screen actress Benita Hume. Their comedy work as Benny's next-door neighbours led to their own radio comedy The Halls of Ivy from 1950 to 1952, and then on television from 1954 to 1955. Incidentally, he appeared in films, such as the romantic comedy Champagne for Caesar (Richard Whorf, 1950), and his final film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957) with Hedy Lamarr. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "a laughably wretched extravaganza from which Colman managed to emerge with his dignity and reputation intact." Ronald Colman died in 1958, aged 67, from a lung infection in Santa Barbara, California. He was survived by Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman (1944). In 1975, Juliet published the biography 'Ronald Colman: A Very Private Person'.

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Jim Beaver (IMDb), Julie Stowe (The Ronald Colman Pages), Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

The Amnesiacs are a mythical biker gang who appear in some of Mike Nelson's works. The beach fires have flames made of plastic.

Character Creation

 

The Sandman (William Baker, a.k.a. Flint Marko) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A shapeshifter endowed through an accident with the ability to turn himself into sand, he started out as a recurring adversary to the superhero Spider-Man, but has redeemed himself over time, eventually becoming an antihero.

 

The Sandman has also been an enemy of the Fantastic Four and is a founding member of the supervillain teams the Sinister Six and the Frightful Four.

 

The character has been adapted into various other media incarnations of Spider-Man, including films, television series, and video games. In live-action, he was portrayed by Thomas Haden Church in Spider-Man 3 (2007) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).

 

An illusionary creature based on the Sandman appeared in the MCU film Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019). In 2009, the Sandman was ranked as IGN's 72nd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.

 

The Sandman first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (Sept. 1963), created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko as an adversary of Spider-Man.[3][4][5] The character returned in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and The Amazing Spider-Man #18-19, and was soon depicted in other comics, such as The Incredible Hulk and The Fantastic Four.

 

The Sandman served as the villain of the first issue of the Spider-Man spin-off series Marvel Team-Up (March 1972), which gave him a more morally ambiguous depiction.

 

Writer Roy Thomas later commented, "I've been pleased to see Sandman's gradual redemption, whose seeds perhaps I helped plant in that story. He just seemed to me like a character who might have that in him ..."

 

Subsequent stories stuck with the character's original depiction, but a decade later the more sympathetic portrayal of the Sandman returned, starting with Marvel Two-in-One #86 (April 1982), in which the Sandman is given co-star billing with his nemesis the Thing. The Sandman was later an ally of Spider-Man, as well as a reserve member of the Avengers and a member of Silver Sable's "Wild Pack" team of mercenaries.

 

Besides being most notable as a Spider-Man supervillain, he has also been depicted as a Fantastic Four antagonist in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic books (mostly due to being introduced as a founding member of the original Frightful Four) along with being on the heroic side (being an Avengers reserve member) until being introduced as a tragic supervillain in the Spider-Man comics once again.

 

Fictional character biography

 

William Baker was born in Queens, New York. At three years old his father abandoned him and his mother, a cleaning lady. In these early years she took her son to Coney Island beach. He lost himself happily in sand sculptures, a craft he would use in secondary school under the encouragement of his teacher (and first crush), Miss Flint.

 

In preparatory school, a boy named Vic and his two pals bullied William until he learned to fight using opponents' motions against themselves, a technique he performed as if he "slipped through their fingers like sand." Vic and his buddies posed no match to William, who wore them down and who they even befriended throughout high school. At this time, William, a football player on his school's team, used football to channel his anger to apply it to what he sensed as a nascent change in himself. While playing football he adopted the moniker "Flint", the last name of his affection, Miss Flint.

 

Vic incurred a large debt to a mob. In desperation, he begged Flint to fix a football game he bet on to pay off his debt. Flint did, but found himself kicked off the team after the coach discovered his involvement in this corruption. The coach vituperated the young, tenderfoot trickster by saying that he will accomplish nothing of importance in his life. Flint roughed up his ex-coach, resulting in his expulsion from school and segue into a life of crime.

 

His illegal activity increased in depth and scope, turning him into a violent, bitter man. Eventually he ended up in prison on Ryker's Island where he met his father, Floyd Baker. He was friendly to his father but did not tell him who he was. He told Floyd his nickname, Flint, and a false surname, Marko, inspired by his former coach’s taunts about not "making a mark" on the world. He would use the alias Flint Marko from that point on (He changed his name also to prevent his mother from discovering he's a criminal). His father's presence ameliorated him. After Floyd is released from prison, Marko escaped.

 

Immediately, William fled to a nuclear testing site on a beach near Savannah, Georgia where he came into contact with sand that had been irradiated by an experimental reactor. His body and the radioactive sand bonded and changed Marko's molecular structure into sand. Impressed, he named himself the Sandman after his new powers.

 

Marko clashed with Peter Parker/Spider-Man for the first time at Midtown High School. He escaped Spider-Man in his first battle, but later Spider-Man found the Sandman hiding in his school. He sucked Marko into a vacuum cleaner and handed it over to the police. The Sandman escaped by getting through his jail cell window after turning himself to sand, but was recaptured by the Human Torch after the Torch lured the Sandman to a building by disguising himself as Spider-Man, then activating the sprinkler systems. After a while he resurfaced as a member of the Sinister Six, led by Doctor Octopus. He battled Spider-Man inside an airtight metal box, but the Sandman was defeated due to Spider-Man having stronger lungs than him. Alongside the Enforcers, he captured the Human Torch but later succumbed to Spider-Man and the Human Torch. After Spider-Man defeated Flint numerous times, Flint diverted his attention to other super heroes. He teams with the Wizard, Paste Pot Pete and Medusa to form the Frightful Four to combat the Fantastic Four, which attacked during Reed and Sue's engagement party. The Fantastic Four with the help of a few other super heroes pounded this fledgling group. In another battle he lost against the Four, he donned a diamond-patterned green costume with a purple cap and was joined by Blastaar. Later he and the Hulk dueled for the first time. Mandarin joined him in his next conflict against the Hulk.

 

In time Sandman discovered—starting with his hands—that his body can transform into glass and that he can reverse that effect. He contracted cancer and overtook a medical research center. He battled Wonder Man but was cured of cancer by radiation. Afterward, he allied himself with Hydro-Man to battle their mutual enemy, Spider-Man. An accident merged the two villains into a muddle-headed mud monster whose rampage was cut short when Spider-Man and the police dehydrated the monstrosity. Months later, the supervillains managed to separate their masses and went their separate ways.

 

Depression sank into Baker in an episode where he had second thoughts about evil. The Thing of the Fantastic Four saw Baker's angst and urged him to straighten himself out and use his ability to do good. He began boarding with the Cassadas and teamed with Spider-Man against the Enforcers. Sandman then made sporadic appearances in Spider-Man comics assisting his former enemy. The first such appearance had him coming to the rescue of Spider-Man and Silver Sable, who were outnumbered and surrounded by the Sinister Syndicate. Silver Sable was impressed by Sandman's performance and recruited him as a freelance operative. Doctor Octopus coerced him into rejoining the Sinister Six, but he turned against the clan, so Doctor Octopus (the leader) turned him into glass for his treason. Spider-Man, however, saved the Sandman. Sandman also appeared as part of The Outlaws, a group of reformed Spider-Man enemies, such as Prowler, Rocket Racer, Puma and Will o' the Wisp, that would occasionally aid Spider-Man.

 

Later he received a presidential pardon and briefly joined the Avengers as a reserve member. Later, he became a full-time mercenary in the employ of Silver Sable, as a member of her Wild Pack, serving alongside heroes such as Paladin and Battlestar. Sandman was one of the few heroes temporarily overwhelmed by his evil doubles during the Infinity War. This double almost kills them all.

 

In The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #4, Marko turned against Spider-Man and his sometimes ally Thing and declared his allegiance to evil and his former employer, the villainous Wizard. This change proved egregiously incompatible to what many Sandman fans had thought Sandman had become: a hero. This outcry caused Marvel to rush out a story, inPeter Parker: Spider-Man vol. 2 #12, which retconned The Amazing Spider-Man #4 in which the Wizard kidnapped Sandman and used his mind control machine, the Id Machine, to control the sandy monstrosity.

 

The machine worked too well and Sandman went about re-forming the Sinister Six to destroy both Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus, only to be double-crossed by Venom, whom Sandman recruited as the sixth member of the team. During Venom's brawl against Sandman, the vicious black symbiote's mouth ripped a chunk of sand from Sandman. That missing sand destabilized Sandman, causing him to lose his ability to maintain his human form. Before falling into the sewer (as a nod to fans who rejected Marvel's attempt to re-villainize the character), Sandman admitted that part of the reason for his fall from grace was the trouble he had coping with life on the good guys' side, and asked Spider-Man to tell his mother he's sorry he didn't fulfull his promise to her, to be a force for good. Sandman washed away and slid down a sewer, from which he mixes into Jones Beach, New York and is thought dead.

 

Sandman's body and mind became scattered throughout the beach. This separation lasted too long for him, causing his mind to split into good and its opposite, evil, which when dominant created sand vortexes to ensnare beach combers. Spider-Man arrived to confront Sandman, using Sandman's mental instability to free his captives and causing him to explode.

 

His sand wafted throughout New York and touched down into piles forming beings that personify him: the good, the bad, the gentle and the innocent. Spider-Man located these sandmen in an attempt to convince them to unify. Sandman's evil persona merged with his innocent and gentle personas, but Sandman's good one rebuffed the evil one. Because Sandman's mind can only handle his separated personalities for a limited time, he lost his ability to retain himself, crumbling and blowing away, leaving Spider-Man to ponder the nature of his scuddled foe.

 

Sandman was later one of the villains recruited to recover the Identity Disc, but during its recovery he was seemingly killed in a mutiny. At the series' end Sandman was found alive and working with Vulture to manipulate the other villains.

 

Sandman returned in Spider-Man: The Gauntlet storyline, which redefined the character and his powers/mental state. While investigating a series of murders and a missing girl named Keemia, whose mother was one of the victims, Spider-Man traced the murders and the abduction to the Sandman, the girl's father, who was hiding on Governor's Island with Keemia. Sandman's powers had evolved to where he could create duplicates of himself who had their own personalities and, to Marko's shock, claim they committed the murders.

 

Spider-Man snuck away and used a fan to obliterate the sandmen. Originally Spider-Man believed Keemia would be handed to her grandmother, but instead she was sent to a foster home by Child Protective Services. Carlie Cooper, one of Spider-Man's friends, was under police suspicion for tampering with evidence from the murders committed by Sandman's duplicates. She was exonerated, but Sandman was still at large.

 

During the Origin of the Species storyline, Sandman was among the supervillains invited by Doctor Octopus to join his villains' team where he became involved in a plot to receive a reward and secure some specific items for himself. Sandman went after Spider-Man for Menace's infant baby, but ended up colliding with Electro. Spider-Man went on a rampage against the villains after the infant was stolen from him by the Chameleon. Sandman hid with Shocker and the Enforcers in the dock. However, Spider-Man collapsed the floor of a building, which falls into the water. Sandman attempted to rise to attack, but Spider-Man shot him using Shocker's vibrational air blasts.

 

In Big Time, he was part of the new Sinister Six, along with Mysterio, Rhino, Doctor Octopus, Chameleon, and Electro. He rose up against Doctor Octopus' plan to detonate New York, saying that his daughter Keemia is still there. He was later angered when, during a confrontation between the Sinister Six and the Intelligencia, Doctor Octopus teleported the Wizard into the upper atmosphere with the Intelligencia's equipment. Sandman was talking with his former Frightful Four teammate and old friend at the time, prompting Sandman to violently attack the Mad Thinker when he was going after Electro because he claimed that he did not want to lose any more friends.

 

When Doctor Octopus put his plan into action, Sandman was satisfied with the job because of the planned two billion dollar "compensation fee", which, he reasoned, would help him gain custody of his daughter. Although he was sent to guard a facility in the Sahara Desert (giving him complete control of the largest body of sand in the world), he was defeated by Spider-Man, Black Widow and Silver Sable when Spider-Man identified and isolated the one grain of sand that contained his conscious mind. Spider-Man and Silver Sable then violently interrogated Sandman to reveal all of Doctor Octopus' secrets.

 

Character Evolution

 

Although he pulled many schemes to earn cash, Spider-Man stopped him every time. He grew to hate Spidey and want cash. Joining the Sinister Six, he became a frequent enemy of Spider-Man, the Hulk, and Daredevil. At one point early in his career he joined the Frightful Four alongside Trapster, Wizard and Medusa in their battles with the Fantastic Four. In a fight with Hydro-Man, he was mixed with him into a mud monster. This gave him a new sense of worth and outlook on life and changed him to the side of good. He was even recruited to be a reserve member of the Avengers, but has had trouble fitting in with them. Later, he was recruited and joined Silver Sable's Wild Pack. While in the Wild Pack he would become romantically involved with Silver Sable and would lead an offshoot team of Sable's Wild Pack called the Intruders.

 

Major Story Arcs

 

Nothing Can Stop... the Sandman!

 

Still in pursuit of the authorities, Sandman continued his crime spree within New York City. Making daring robberies and successfully robbing banks thanks to his newly acquired abilities, Sandman would capture the attention of the city’s newest costumed hero, Spiderman. Unaware of Sandman’s powers and abilities, Spiderman was bested by the boastful Sandman as the two fought on the rooftops. Almost exposing Spiderman’s identity when tearing his mask after the hero fell from the rooftops, Sandman continued on with his mindless crime spree.

 

Eventually Sandman would encounter Spiderman again when the villain broke into Peter Parker’s school while fleeing from the police. Bullying Principal Davis into giving him a high school degree while holding several classmates hostage, Spiderman would attack Sandman in another fight. Managing to avoid Sandman’s display of powers, Spiderman would defeat the villain with an industrial vacuum cleaner. Trapped in an container and in sand form, Sandman was finally captured and imprisoned by the authorities.

 

Revenge of The Sandman

 

Sandman would later escape custody and encounter Fantastic Fours Human Torch. Much like Sandman’s fight against Spiderman (who was secretly watching the incident), Sandman would also prove himself to be a difficult enemy for the Torch as well. Managing to defeat Sandman with a water sprinkler, Sandman was recaptured once more only to successfully escape again. Still wanting vengeance against Spiderman, Sandman would accept Doctor Octopus’s offer to join other vengeful Spiderman villains in an attempt to take out Spiderman once and for all as the Sinister Six.

 

As Spiderman fought each villain individually, Sandman would be one of the last villains to be defeated by the web-slinger before successfully taking down the entire Sinister Six. Managing to elude the authorities, Sandman would encounter Spiderman once more when he managed to chase the hero into hiding. After this event, Sandman would form an alliance with the Enforcers and make his attempt to gain revenge against the Human Torch. Successfully capturing him by surprise, Sandman and the Enforcers would find themselves against the confident Spiderman. With Torch being released and the Enforcers defeated, the exhausted Sandman found himself easily taken down and pinned by two patrol officers, facing the most humiliating defeat in the hands of both enemies.

 

The Frightful Four

 

After Sandman freed himself from custody with the assistance of another costumed criminal known as Paste Pot Pete, both would share strong similarities on their goals and enemies to where they decided to form an alliance. It would be of luck that they would discover another villain, the Wizard who was incapacitated in the sky after his recent fight with the Human Torch. Rescuing him, Wizard offered his services in a partnership and all three men formed an alliance to gain their vengeance against the Human Torch. Realizing that the Human Torch was now more involved with his team, Wizard would recruit the amnesiac Inhuman known as Medusa to act as their female member. With a group of four members that wore matching colors of purple and pink, Wizard acted as leader of the group and dubbed themselves as the Frightful Four.

 

With the Frightful Four, Sandman almost successfully defeated the Fantastic Four twice. First time when they interrupted Reed Richards and Susan Storms engagement party and entrapping them. Next by almost blowing up the Fantastic Four while they were trapped on a secluded island. Their next attempt would prove to their greatest when Wizard managed to have the Thing turn against his own teammates. However this caught the Fantastic Fours attention as Sandman was defeated and captured alongside with his team, besides Medusa who managed to escape. Sandman’s stint with the Frightful Four did manage to gain some confidence and benefits with Wizards aid of technology support.

 

As Paste Pot Pete changed his name to Trapster, Sandman would wear a costume designed by Wizard to help increase Sandman’s powers and manipulation. Because of this, Sandman felt confident enough to take on the Fantastic Four alone. Managing to stand his ground against the team of heroes, Sandman accidentally activated Richards Negative Zone portal which caused the alien Blastaar to enter the scene. With both Sandman and Blastaar sharing the same goals of defeating the Fantastic Four, both villains would form an alliance that proved unsuccessful as Sandman fell into a river and dispersed.

 

Managing to reform himself, Sandman desperately tried to obtain a space warp machine to retrieve Blastaar from the Negative Zone. This plan found Sandman battling a new and much more powerful enemy known as the Hulk. Later forced into allying with the Mandarin, Sandman fought the Hulk once more and was ultimately defeated when the green monster threw Sandman into a high-pressure vat that caused him to turn into glass. Found and cured by the Wizard, Sandman would rejoin the Frightful Four on their attempt to kidnap Franklin Richards who was currently being cared for by the sorceress Agatha Harkness.

 

This plan ultimately backfired against the team when Agatha quickly defeated the entire team and caused Sandman to slowly revert back into glass. Desperately trying to find a cure, Sandman would break into a clinic and force a blood specialist to complete a transfusion with the only person in the hospital who had the same blood type as the Sandman’s, which was Betty Ross. After the transfusion, Sandman was restored to normal while Betty Ross was temporarily turned into glass. This caused another encounter with Hulk, who defeated Sandman by throwing him into a body of water.

 

Finally reforming himself together again, Sandman decided to step away from his criminal rampage and visit his mother on Christmas Eve. However, trouble would still follow Sandman as both Spiderman and Human Torch came across Sandman and attempted to capture the villain. While trying to fight off both heroes, Sandman was captured and released by Spiderman after realizing Sandman’s true intentions on visiting his mother.

 

Sandman still continued his connections with the Frightful Four as the team found themselves struggling to replace Medusa, who was actually the most valuable member of the team. Even though his stay within the Frightful Four proved no better, Sandman would also continue on making several attempts on pursuing a solo criminal career. Hired by Crime-Master and Kingpin, he would later find himself recaptured by Spiderman and placed within a special designed containment bubble designed by Reed Richards.

 

Sandman managed to free himself with the assistance of Baron Brimstone as both villains found themselves battling both Spiderman and Machine Man. After both men were defeated by the heroes, Sandman would later find himself allying with another villain with somewhat similar powers, who was known as Hydro Man. This alliance eventually found itself short-lived and ending with both villains fighting each other until they accidentally merged into monstrous being known as Mud-Thing. After Spiderman successfully halted Mud-Things path of destruction, both Hydro Man and Sandman were still merged until finally being separated after a long period of dormancy.

 

The Heroic Pursuit

 

After being fully reformed, the recent event managed to not only cause Sandman to be traumatized, but unsure of his goals as being a criminal. Sandman would have an ironic encounter with one of his enemies in a local bar. Rather than fighting against the Thing, Sandman befriended the hero as he helped influence Sandman into reforming from being a criminal. This not only had Sandman gain a new friend and trusting friend, but also steered his future goals on redeeming himself for his past crimes. Starting with his first enemy, Sandman helped Spiderman on defeating his old allies the Enforcers. Even though Sandman was trying to make good attentions with the public and their heroes, Sandman was still a wanted man and was forced into changing his name to Sylvester Mann.

 

Sandman's heroic pursuit would turn for the better when he not only helped Spiderman against the Sinister Syndicate, but also the notorious mercenary Silver Sable. Impressed with Sandman, Silver Sable would hire Sandman to help and assist her against future threats. Alongside with Silver Sable and other heroes, Sandman defended European nations against Dr Octopus and the Sinister Syndicate, captured the communist criminal Albert Malik A.K.A The Red Skull, and disrupted an illegal arms deal between Madame Menace and Dr Octopus. As Sandman continued his career as an employee with Silver Sable, luck would turn for the worst when Dr Octopus forced Sandman into joining his newest incarnation of the Sinister Six. Doing so, Sandman played along with Dr Octopus’s unknown goals until he grew fed up with his stay in the Sinister Six that ended with Dr Octopus turning Sandman into glass. Later returning to normal, Sandman continued his heroic career and continued assisting Spiderman.

 

Return to Villainy

 

The Wizard would later capture and alter the mind of the Sandman to revive his evil persona. Back to his evil ways he would rejoin the Sinister Six. While a member of the Sinister Six , he and Venom clashed over who would be allowed kill to Spider-Man, and was severely injured. Being bitten by the murderous villain caused Sandman to slow lose control over his molecular structure. In his worsening condition, he blamed and attacked Spider-Man, but before completely degrading into pure sand, he asked Spidey tell his mother that he tried to be good. Luckily for both, Sandman's grains merged into a beach and he eventually returned.

 

Sandman was one of the villains recruited to recover the Identity Disc, but after questioning their would-be leader, is apparently killed by a compound that makes him fall apart. It is revealed that he and Vulture manipulated the other villains for the quest, and that Sandman informed the actual leader who they thought they were working for.

 

During the period of time in which Spider-Man's identity was public, Sandman went to him asking for his help. His biological father, an offender named Floyd Baker, was accused and falsely convicted of murdering a man that looked suspiciously like Uncle Ben; Sandman had tried and failed once before to rescue him, and saw the unmasked vigilante as his only option. Peter did not believe him at first, but after some honest words and looking at the evidence, he agreed to save his father. With the help of an emo kid who had witnessed the murderer, the two learned that the real murderer was Chameleon 2211, who had taken Uncle Ben's form after murdering Spider-Man 2211. Battling him at Midtown High, Spider-Man use the future Spider-man's helmet to switch Chameleon with Sandman's father right as he was in the electric chair, saving his life and giving them time to know each other as they made a break for it.

 

Sandman later developed the power to make sand clones of himself each slightly different. One of the clones got into a relationship with a young woman Alma but a rogue clone ended up killing her. Now deranged he takes her daughter Keemia believing she is his daughter and she also believes he is her father. Spider-Man attempts to rescue Keemia and tells Marko the truth. He is able to defeat Sandman but Keemia is sadly put into foster care. Upon defeat Sandman vowed that he would get revenge and always be his enemy from now on.

 

Ends of the Earth

 

He was later seen alongside the resurfaced Sinister Six as one of the six members. He aids Doctor Octopus and his fellow villains in taking over the world, defeating the Avengers, and working with the end goal of getting his daughter out of a foster home. When he is placed in charge of the Sahara Desert, Spider-Man, Black Widow, and Silver Sable confront him. Spidey uses advanced tech to pinpoint his Soul Grain - the one grain his body that controls himself - to defeat him.

 

Superior Six

 

Sandman, along with other villains who had classically been members of the Sinister Six, were defeated, abducted, and mind-controlled by Spider-Man (whose body is possessed by Doctor Octopus) as part of his Superior Six. The newly-dubbed "heroes" stop an attack by the Wrecking Crew, all the while it being clear that Spider-Man is forcibly making them save lives with mind-control technology. After a battle with Lightmaster and his Masters of Evil, the technology wears off, and the vengeful villains decide to have their revenge. Spider-Man narrowly defeats them, but Sandman spitefully reveals that the hope Spider-Man used to inspire in him is now dead.

 

When all of the world's heroes and villains are inverted into acting the opposite way they normally do, Sandman is inspired by his past as a hero to rescue an unjustly imprisoned small-time crook. He breaks into his jail and does so, but is dismayed when the news still reports him as a villain.

 

Sandman later appears inside the new super villain prison outside of New York called the Power House. When the Thing is placed there under false charges of murdering the Puppet Master, he becomes one of his few friends on the inside and protects him discreetly a couple times. He reveals that he is helping the hero because someone is sending care packages to his daughter (obviously the Thing),and he's grateful for it. In return for this help, Ben let him in on his plan to escape the Power House. They narrowly get out with the help of the Fantastic Four's allies. Sandman returns the favor by acting as part of the Wizard's new Frightful Four to fight the Quiet Man's army.

 

Human No More

 

Sandman's ability to hold his sandy form together begins to wane, so he visits two criminal doctors, The Wizard and the Mad Thinker, They do no small part to help. He also started getting odd visions about what looked to be another life and his past. After collapsing in broad daylight, Sandman was found by Spider-Man. Although dismayed to be unable to help his former enemy, Spidey gave him one last relief by taking him to the beach his mother brought him to as a kid. He then turned to grains and was blown into the wind, apparently gone.

 

However, it was later revealed that because of a rift between dimensions, a parallel and more powerful version of Sandman had actually taken over his body, intent on continuing his lifespan. Together with Spider-Man, Sandman took control of his new completely-sand body and sent the parallel version of himself packing to his own dead world. The two then bid goodbye, Sandman hopeful and scared about his much tougher and grainier form.

 

Sinister War

 

Having returned to the beach to continue to collect himself, Sandman was tracked down by Doctor Octopus, under the influence of Kindred, to put the Sinister Six back together. Flint followed his new team to the premiere of Mysterio's movie to recruit him but found Mysterio being attacked by the Savage Six, angry about their portrayal of themselves in his movie.

 

They are able to get away with Mysterio in their ranks. With his illusion tech, they get close to Spider-Man during a brawl in a graveyard with the other supervillain teams. Eventually, Doc Ock uses a piece of Black Ant's helmet to knock everyone, including Flint, out through the ear centipedes Kindred was using to control them.

 

Sinister Adaptoid

 

After going their separate ways, The Living Brain kidnapped Sandman and five other foes of Spider-Man's. He was using them to program a new Super Adaptoid to hunt down and defeat Spider-Man so that the Living Brain could fulfill its original purpose, answer the question "Who is Spider-Man?"

 

In a fight with this Sinister Adaptoid in the Living Brain's lab, Spider-Man uncovered his villains in shackles. Against his better judgment, he decided to release them so that they would aid him in defeating both the Super Adaptoid and the Living Brain. When they found the Living Brain's control center, the Sinister Six wanted to kill it.

 

Believing it to be alive, Spider-Man defended the Living Brain's life. Seeing Spider-Man put his life on the line for an enemy whose life Spider-Man considered equally valuable satisfied the "Who is Spider-Man?" question. Thus, the Living Brain trapped the Sinister Six and agreed to Spider-Man's demands that it be temporarily taken offline and given to proper authorities.

 

Ravencroft

 

Flint would eventually turn himself into Ravencroft, trying to reclaim his life as William Baker. Being made up of many particles makes it difficult for his mind not to splinter, so they outfitted Sandman with a sonic disruptor, which would activate anytime the Flint identity tried to use his powers. Eventually he runs into Peter Parker, visiting another patient. Peter checks on his well-being, pretending to be a friend of Spider-Man, who cares about William's rehabilitation. William tries to get a message to Spidey through Peter that he was recently invited back to the Sinister Six, who were teaming up yet again to take on Spider-Man.

 

Eventually, Sinister Six member, Electro, would volunteer to break Sandman out of Ravencroft, but Spider-Man was there to stop him. Unfortunately, Sandman's sonic distruptor was disabled long enough for the sand particle with the Flint Marko identity to escape Ravencroft in a flower pot carried by one of the inmates on their last day. This allowed him to finally reunite with the Sinister Six, while the William Baker Sandman eventually became unstable and fell apart.

 

Spider-Goblin

 

Doctor Octopus reunited the Sinister Six so that they may have their vengeance on the Living Brain. Unfortunately, Osborn, who had been using the Brain for his own science, was on to them. Now being overwhelmed by the Goblin identity yet again, Osborn used Hobgoblin's Winkler Device to alter Spider-Man's brain into having his own goblin identity. He then released this Spider-Goblin on the Sinister Six. With Osborn's ingenuity, Spider-Goblin was able to overpower Electro and throw him into Sandman. Electro's lightning turned Flint into a glass prison.

 

Powers

 

As an accidental victim from the affects of radiation, Sandman’s body is now entirely made of sand. With the radiation blast causing his organic body to be fused with the elemental sand, his astral form only holds his own entire body structure together. Unlike Dr Strange who can control his astral form at will and leave his physical form, Sandman’s astral form is forever bonded with any sand he comes in contact with and cannot be separated, despite how far his sand body is separated or scattered. A unique feature that Sandman has is that he displays the ability to become organic and display human physiology at will. Displaying human features such as eating, breathing, bleeding, fatigue, and capable of feeling pain (depending on his current form or mental stress).

 

Sandman also has control over every sand particle that composes his body, because of this Sandman can travel more quickly followed by a trail of sand. Usually he’s traveling like this with both feet, as a sand mound, or a thin long trail. Aside from traveling, Sandman could also project his body into growing taller or by exerting his body outwards at high speeds, in other words he could throw his own body against unexpected opponents.

 

Once Sandman’s body is scattered or dispersed despite the distance, he could quickly reform himself back together again. Because of himself being made of sand materials, Sandman possesses a high increase in strength that could increase more as his body intakes more sand or sand materials. It’s unclear of the highest amount of strength the Sandman can possess or how big his body can grow, what is known is that at his highest strength level Sandman can stand his ground against individuals with massive strength such as the Hulk and the Thing. If Sandman does manage to lose a certain amount of sand within his body, he could easily restore the lost amount with any other found sand materials.

 

Having creative skills in sculpting and molding prior to his accident, Sandman is capable of transforming his body into any solid object he desires. Such as transforming his hands into weapons like mallets, clubs, maces, transforming his entire body into complex machinery, objects, and even impersonating people and animals as well. However each form Sandman chooses to change into doesn’t cause Sandman to gain the abilities or memory of that chosen form, and also the form is entirely made of sand as well. For example, if he were to transform his hand into a gun, he wouldn’t be able to shoot any live rounds. Or if he were to change into Spiderman, he wouldn’t display any of his powers or abilities. Recently Sandman’s level of creativity and display of powers have caused him to take more advanced forms such as becoming a fully furnished castle.

 

Most of the time Sandman is seen wearing the same basic clothing that consisted of a striped green long sleeve shirt and dark brown khaki trousers, the same clothing he worn in the radiation blast that granted his abilities. Transformed alongside with him, the clothing has also bonded and shared the same results of Sandman’s abilities. Even though Sandman has been seen wearing other clothing or costumes, most/ or all of his clothing is made up from his own mutated physiology. Much like the symbiotes ability to alter different styles of clothing, Sandman can also do the same but mostly restricted to the colors brown or green, the same type of colors from the clothing his body bonded with. Even though Sandman was once seen bearing the colors of purple and pink when he first Recently Sandman has displayed a new and unique form of abilities with his powers by multiplying himself into an army. Almost resembling the original Sandman, each form consists of Sandman’s emotions. Each form is equally powerful as the original and does carry the same basic abilities as the original.

 

Limitations

 

Even though Sandman displays unique and powerful set of powers and abilities, there also follows limitations. First is the fact that Sandman’s body retains the same reactions that material-like sand has with other elements, such as water and fire. Much like bodies of sand itself, Sandman could easily absorb water into his body causing him to lose control of his physique at a certain amount. Sandman’s body also reacts towards fire at the degrees of 3,400 Fahrenheit; this would cause Sandman’s entire body into glass, which immobilizes him until he’s restored to normal. Even though he’s still capable of retaining his conscious if shattered into glass pieces, Sandman is still trapped within his own body.

 

Possibly the most weirdest and awkward weakness Sandman has is with the villain known as Hydro Man, who also views Sandman the same way. Both men whose bodies each consist of a different elemental controlled by their conscious were to accidentally bond by fighting would most likely form into a single monstrous like being consisted of mud. With both men sharing no conscious or control, the after effects of being separated would cause both Sandman and Hydro Man a lengthy and traumatizing reaction.

 

Possibly kept secret and rarely seen is that Sandman does retain human form and does retain full functions and weaknesses. During his career as the Sandman, he has successfully contracted physiology sicknesses and even cancer. Even though he’s capable of reverting his body into sand at will, Sandman still carries any type of contracted sickness, cancer, or obtained diseases.

 

The greatest flaw in Sandman’s powers is the amount of mental stress his powers can cause. It’s a fact that Sandman can easily survive if his head is separated from his from his body and that he would still retain full conscious, but it also reacts towards his mental state. Over the years of mastering his abilities, the amount of creativity, and time he’s spent as a being made of entirely sand has taken a great amount stress on his mental health. Even though Sandman was an honored member of the Avengers and lived a career as a respectful hero, his mind was kept at a balanced state to where it was easy for the Wizard to change back to it’s original criminal mindset. After managing to separate himself into multiple beings, Sandman wouldn’t realize that he also separated parts of his conscious that each being developed on their own. This caused Sandman to perform actions without his full knowledge and capable of causing a conflict with himself in a mental confrontation.

 

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

_____________________________

 

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: William Baker

 

Publisher: Marvel

 

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (September 1963)

 

Created by: Stan Lee (writer)

Steve Ditko (artist)

 

Sandman last seen in BP 2022 Day 73!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51937724912/

*Photo by Cinchel

 

Flickr won't let me post it all in this section so the rest (#11-75) is added as comments unfortunately.

 

1. PJ Harvey White Chalk (England), Stories from the sea

 

I know I’ll probably be the only one doing a decade long list that places PJ Harvey’s White Chalk as the number one album of the last ten years but that’s ok. I don’t write for Rolling Stone or NME or Spin and, if I did, those publications would probably talk a lot more about bands like The High Dials and less about Coldplay, U2, and Oasis.

 

White Chalk is a challenging album and one that is far from accessible. It doesn’t have any pop songs or rock rifts anywhere on it and yet it creeps distinctly into your thoughts both lyrically and in terms of it’s seemingly innocent melodies. It’s abstract like something you’ll never be able to reach out and touch and yet you’ll want to touch it with every fiber of your being. It’s powerful like some strange postmodern myth and the eerie way Polly sings the songs is transforming and will haunt you to your core.

 

In some ways, it’s utterly feminine and shows you every contour and metaphor of the female mind. In another aspect, it’s simply as intimate as an album could prove capable of. If it was translated into body language, it might be a fetal position. The songs are striking and alive even if they don’t bash you over the head with a steady beat. Incidentally, while I have great awe and respect for PJ’s well know guitar goddestry, I don’t connect with very many of her well known songs emotionally despite their rawness and power. White Chalk strikes at a different nerve and it can be just as ethereal as it is jarring. It also proves that even if you don’t have the most complex piano compositions in the world, it’s more rewarding to play with feeling and to turn your own self inside out onto the keys, which is something Polly proves apt at here.

 

Best of all, there is probably no other album like this nor will there ever be…it’s nonconforming and real. It doesn’t aim to spare any of us. If you don’t understand it now at this point in your life, come back to it. Chances are, if you live long enough and are a deep feeling person, you’ll need this most in your apartment and in every desert island on the face of this Earth.

 

Live photos of PJ Harvey: www.flickr.com/photos/kirstiecat/sets/72157620825415550/

 

Myspace page: www.myspace.com/pjharvey

 

2. Arcade Fire (Canadian, American): Neon Bible (2007)

 

Right. You’re all thinking what about Funeral?!?! Well, I have a confession to make…I didn’t really get into Funeral until very recently. In fact, I passed up my chance to see Arcade Fire at smaller places like the Empty Bottle in Chicago because I pretty much rejected their sound at first. Yes, blasphemy! Maybe I just wasn’t ready for it or perhaps I wasn’t exposed to the album’s songs at the right moment.

 

Whatever the case, I didn’t come around until Neon Bible. I was visiting Austin, Texas at the time of its release and I remember visiting Waterloo Records and seeing copies lining the shelves everywhere I looked. I was still quite skeptical and I probably still wouldn’t have bought the album if it hadn’t been on sale. In any case, I figured I’d give it a try.

 

The only way I can ever describe the effect this record has had on me to other people is to reference Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. When I was at university getting a minor in English literature, I had this Major British Authors professor I adored who was right about nearly everything. When we came to the part of the syllabus where we had to read this novella, he told us the story of these bizarre people who had been trapped by it. Instead of leading functional lives with families and jobs, they’d given it all up to live in dark damp spaces and read Heart of Darkness over and over again. They couldn’t really be productive members of society. They had lost complete control of any meaning outside of those words.

 

Neon Bible is a lot like that for me and there was a month-two months when I listened to nothing else. There’s a certain mental state you go into when you listen to songs like “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” on repeat for whole days. That said, this album should be listened to with caution but also respected for it’s worth and powerful ability to influence the human psyche. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to photograph Arcade Fire but I can tell you if I don’t, I won’t die in peace.

 

I should probably let all of you know I have since listened to Funeral and I agree with many this album may actually be the more groundbreaking one in many ways. As it was the first full length debut, it helped define the band’s complex and engaging sound but I still can’t help but find Neon Bible more emotionally mature and fully realized. You’re welcome to disagree with me but that’s why it’s my list ;)

 

Myspace: www.myspace.com/arcadefireofficial

 

3. Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Canadian): Yanqui U.X.O (2002)

 

Somewhere between the essence of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart and Guy Maddin’s The Saddest Music in the World is the cinematic Yanqui U.X.O. It’s builds, it thumps, it surrounds you in tumult with no relief offered. It’s the soundtrack for the end of the world, when you’re wandering around and realizing that you’re the only one left…when you’re trying to comprehend all the suffering that has taken place and questioning whether you are really still alive. It’s what will go through your mind when the disaster enters your head and you go through all the stages of loss. It is a brilliant record but it’s more than that. Before Efrim Menuck ever began singing, you could tell his heart was in it when you heard these songs. One can easily come up with all the visceral gut wrenching words without any syllables uttered. In fact, the only words that do appear are a loop of a female voice asking “Why am I here and what can I do to make it better?” crossed and looped with static-y George Bush soundbites. It’s hard to fathom exactly what Efrim is getting at except that Bush is filled with a terrifying nonsense and nothing in the world will ever be right again.

 

Myspace: www.myspace.com/gybeconstellation

  

4. Low (American): Things We Lost in the Fire (2001)

 

Can you put a sense of despair to music? Surely you can if you are Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. Now, I have to say that I love pretty much every Low album out there and they all have amazing songs I play on repeat for hours. However, no album seems as consistent and rich as this one. It almost seems as if this broke the ground for the rest of the gems to be released to make one heavenly career for fans of devastation. Whenever I think of this title, I think of all the things you’d never get back if your whole life burned down. The concept is not as concrete as all that and there are a range of metaphors within the depths of this one but throughout it the feeling is there that something has been painfully and utterly lost. We’ll never quite get it back again, will we?

 

Live photos of Low: www.flickr.com/photos/kirstiecat/sets/72157622149796303/

Myspace: www.myspace.com/low

 

5. Elliot Smith (American): From a Basement on the Hill (2004)

 

I believe in the collective consciousness of the world. What I mean is that, even though we all have a distinct identity, all of our hopes and ideas and creative output factors into an overall understanding of reality and hopefulness for the future of humanity. It elevates our struggles and makes the suffering worthwhile. The decade before this one lost Jeff Buckley and Kurt Cobain. This last ten years, we lost Elliot Smith and the world will forever be altered because of it.

 

But let’s move on…this album isn’t fantastic because Elliot Smith passed away. That’s far from the case. It would definitely be this high on my list if Elliot were alive and kicking, putting out an album every year since that perilous day in 2003. Smith’s previous releases were far from dull but this one in particular captures the essence of why I love Elliot with songs like “Let’s Get Lost,” “Pretty (Ugly Before)” and “King’s Crossing.” Sometimes, the most beautiful creatures on Earth are the ones that are the most melancholy. In Elliot’s case, there was none more flawless.

 

Myspace: www.myspace.com/elliottsmithnewmoon

  

6. The Dears (Montréal): No Cities Left (2003)

 

You know that eerie feeling you get when you listen to an album frantic with genuine genius and you realize that this is probably the best the band is going to ever do? I get that exact feeling every time I hear this album. It’s Murray Lightburn at his absolute best and what’s more, it’s the best incarnation or lineup of the band to date with Patrick Krief’s guitar parts working brilliantly and Valérie Jodoin-Keaton’s lovely feminine vocals mixing so well with those of still existing member Natalia Yanchak. What’s more the album is so fully alive. It’s like a living breathing entity challenging everything around it. Many of the songs such as “22/The Death of All the Romance” have an epic and anthemic quality that could break a person down with all their might. Lightburn soars like a desperate indie rock angel with this venture.

 

The band has put out a couple of decent releases since with 2006’s Gang of Losers and 2008’s Missiles but let’s not kid ourselves…these two don’t even come close to touching the greatness of No Cities Left. It hopefully won’t be the absolute height of their career but it’s really starting to look that way.

 

Live shot of Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak: www.flickr.com/photos/kirstiecat/2979530756/in/set-721576...

 

Myspace: www.myspace.com/thedears

 

7. Radiohead (England): Amnesiac (2001)

 

I’m somewhat hesitant to put Radiohead on this list, mainly because everyone’s already heard of them and I’m not exposing anyone to anything new by listing them. Still, to be fair, I think they deserve to be in my top of the decade, mainly because I find their music creative and vital. Over the last 15 years, their albums have played an instrumental and autobiographical role in my life. For this decade, I prefer Amnesiac though Kid A is a very close second. I remember being a poor college student on the verge of joining the working class and making drives from Buffalo, NY to Chicago listening to this album especially. It’s impossible for me to not sing along to “You and Whose Army” or even “Knives Out” and “Like Spinning Plates.” If we were talking about the previous decade, Ok Computer would be #1 for me and The Bends would surely be in the top ten as well. As Radiohead has progressed as a band, they’ve delved into increasingly more cerebral mind states. I know some have rejected this but I personally view both Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke as geniuses and I don’t use that term loosely.

 

Live shots of Radiohead: www.flickr.com/photos/kirstiecat/sets/72157609827711425/

Myspace: www.myspace.com/radiohead

 

8. Super Furry Animals (Wales): MWNG (2000)

 

I was elated when I found this came out just at the beginning of the decade, making it eligible for this list. Make sure you look for the first pressing so you get all of the songs. Sung in Welsh and with a sense of super melodic psychedelic folk, the album is definitely one of a kind and one can’t help but be sentimental about it. Also, it’s strange to say but even though I don’t understand Welsh, I had a feeling I understood exactly what lead singer Gruff Rhys was singing about without even trying.

 

On an related note, Gruff Rhys is probably the nicest lead singer I’ve ever met in real life. I’ve been a nervous wreck around him both times I’ve met him and he’s always been the one to make the best conversation, last time mentioning how he liked to bicycle in Cardiff once he saw my bike helmet. I can’t really express how much I adore him but my love for him is quite immense, I must say.

 

Gruff at the Stop Smiling Studio in Chicago: www.flickr.com/photos/kirstiecat/sets/72157603959332214/

 

Super Furry Animals at the Metro: www.flickr.com/photos/kirstiecat/sets/72157603932053676/

 

Myspace: www.myspace.com/superfurry

 

9. Françoiz Breut (France): Vingt à Trente Mille Jours (2000)

 

She has a voice that just purrs. I’m convinced some women and men have the awe inspiring ability to capture every single human emotion and tell you by virtue of the way they sing their words. Breut’s four albums are all amazing and worth acquiring, even if it means import prices but this second album appeared like a sort of revelation and makes melancholy, above all things, a wonderful thing.

Myspace: www.myspace.com/francoizbreut

 

10. Eels (America): Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005)

 

I haven’t heard the newest one, Hombre Lobo, by the Eels yet but I doubt any of their records will ever impact me as much as this one..the double album is exceptionally bitter sweet. In addition, Eels with Strings: Live at the Town Hall featuring songs from this album would be in my top ten live albums of all time easily. I think Mark Everett (or E) has always had this ability to take all the pain in his life (and he has had his heartaches) and transform them into songs that at some times are catchy…at other times filled with despair. At further times, they are catchy AND filled with despair..that’s when it gets really weird. I’m convinced there’s no one quite like E (who is the farthest thing from MDMA as humanly possible)…perhaps it’s strange genetics crossed with odd life circumstances but he’s proved himself incredibly intelligent in the way he constructs songs, reminding me at times of a postmodern Tom Waits. I’ve listened to many of these songs for days on end and I’d like to think they’ve taught me a little about life…but probably my favorite track out of the two discs is “I’m Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn’t Break Your Heart.”

 

Myspace: www.myspace.com/eels

 

Italian postcard, no. 69. Photo: Bragaglia.

 

Luisa Ferida (1914-1945) was an Italian stage and screen film, who was a popular leading actress in the late 1930s and 1940s Italian sound film. She was married to actor Osvaldo Valenti. Because of his close links with the fascist regime, the couple was shot by partisans in April 1945.

 

Luisa Ferida was born Luigia Manfrini Frané in Castel San Pietro Terme, near Bologna, in 1914. Her father Luigi, a rich lander owner, died when she was a child. She was then sent to a convent school. Ferida started her career as a stage actress. In 1935 she made her first film appearance with a supporting role in the crime film La Freccia d'oro/Golden Arrow (Piero Ballerini, Corrado D'Errico, 1935). Because of her photogenic looks and talent as an actress, she soon graduated to leading roles in such films as the historical comedy Il re Burlone/The Joker King (Enrico Guazzoni, 1935) with Armando Falconi. The following year, she appeared in the comedy Lo smemorato/The Amnesiac (Gennaro Righelli, 1936) starring Angelo Musco, the screwball comedy Amazzoni bianche/White Amazons (Gennaro Righelli, 1936) starring Paola Barbara, and the historical comedy L'ambasciatore/The Ambassador (Baldassarre Negroni, 1936) starring Leda Gloria. She starred opposite Antonio Centa in the romantic comedy I tre desideri/The Three Wishes (Giorgio Ferroni, Kurt Gerron, 1937) of which also a Dutch-language version was made - without Ferida. Next, she appeared opposite Amedeo Nazzari in the drama La fossa degli angeli/Tomb of the Angels (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1937). Roberto Rossellini co-wrote the screenplay and served as assistant director. It was shot on location in the Apuan Alps in Liguria and is set amidst the marble quarries of the area. It marked an early attempt at realism in Italian cinema, anticipating neorealism of the postwar era, and it celebrated Italy's industrial strength in line with the propaganda of the Mussolini regime. She co-starred with Totò in the comedy Animali pazzi/Mad Animals (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1939). In 1939, while working on the Swashbuckler Un Avventura di Salvator Rosa/An Adventure of Salvator Rosa (Alessandro Blasetti, 1940), Luisa Ferida met the actor Osvaldo Valenti. The pair became romantically involved and had a son, Kim, who died 4 days after his birth. Valenti had been linked with many Fascist officials and personalities for years and he eventually joined the Italian Social Republic, and for these reasons, he was on the partisans' hit list.

 

In the first half of the 1940s, Luisa Ferida's career was at its zenith, and she played memorable roles in such films as La fanciulla di Portici/The girl from Portici (Mario Bonnard, 1940), La corona di ferro/The Iron Crown (Alessandro Blasetti, 1941), and the drama Gelosia/Jealousy (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1942). She had a supporting role in the drama Nozze di sangue/Blood Wedding (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1941) starring Beatrice Mancini, and Fosco Giachetti. The film about an arranged marriage in 19th century South America, is based on the Spanish play by Federico Garcia Lorca. She played the lead in the historical drama Fedora (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1942) opposite Amedeo Nazzari and Osvaldo Valenti. Opposite Fosco Giacchetti, she starred in the drama Fari nella nebbia/Headlights in the Fog (Gianni Franciolini, 1942). The film about a group of truck drivers is considered to be part of the development of Neorealism, which emerged around this time. She starred with Osvaldo Valenti in the adventure film I cavalieri del deserto/Knights of the Desert (Gino Talamo, Osvaldo Valenti, 1942) with a screenplay by Federico Fellini and Vittorio Mussolini, the son of Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini. It was produced by the Rome-based ACI which was run by Vittorio Mussolini and shot on location in Libya before the North African Campaign turned decisively against Italy and its Allies. Fellini may have directed some of the Libyan scenes after Gino Talamo was injured in a car accident. The film was ultimately never released due to the defeats suffered in Libya, which meant its plot was now a potential embarrassment to the regime. She appeared again with Valenti in the extremely popular historical film La cena delle beffe/The Jester's Supper (Alessandro Blasetti, 1942), also starring Amedeo Nazzari, and Clara Calamai. The film is set in the 15th century Florence of Lorenzo the Magnificent and portrays a rivalry that leads to a series of increasingly violent jokes. She again co-starred with Valenti and Nazzari in the drama Sleeping Beauty (Luigi Chiarini, 1942), which belongs to the films of the Calligrafismo style. Calligrafismo is in sharp contrast to the Telefoni Bianchi-American style comedies and is rather artistic, highly formalistic, expressive in complexity, and deals mainly with contemporary literary material. In 1942 she won the Best Italian Actress award. In the historical comedy La locandiera/The Innkeeper (Luigi Chiarini, 1944), she co-starred again with Armando Falconi and Osvaldo Valenti. During the last stages of completion, Mussolini was overthrown. The final editing was done in Venice, the film capital of the Italian Social Republic, but without the presence of Chiarini. At the end of 1943, the fascist government of the Republic of Salo decided to create an Italian cinematographic center in the north of the country.

Ferida and Valenti agreed to go there. They made Un fatto di cronaca/A Chronicle (Piero Ballerini, 1945), which was released in February 1945. Two months later, Valenti was finally arrested in Milan, alongside a pregnant Ferida. They were both sentenced to be executed and shot immediately in the street, without a proper trial. Opinions are divided as to whether the couple deserved this fatal fate. The pregnant Ferida had a blue shoe of her deceased son Kim in her hand when she was killed. The twelve suitcases of the couple, full of clothes, furs, money, and jewels were stolen that day. Her Milanese house was burglarised a few days later. The partisan chief who organised the execution, Giuseppe 'Vero' Marozin, declared years later that one of the partisan leaders that ordered the two actors to be executed was Sandro Pertini, who decades later became president of the Italian republic. No other source, however, supports Marozin's version of the incident. Her mother Lucia asked for support from the Italian government since her daughter was her only support. After the actress was cleared of charges during the 1950s, Lucia received a small monthly pension. She died in poverty. Both lovers' graves are side to side in Cimitero Maggiore di Musocco in Milan. The film Sanguepazzo/Wild Blood (Marco Tullio Giordana, 2008) starring Monica Bellucci and Luca Zingaretti, discusses Luisa Ferida's relationship with Osvaldo Valenti.

 

Sources: Marlene Pilaete (La collectionneuse - French), Hugo Bartoli (IMDb), Find-A-Grave, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

"I got this... memory thing. I pick up anyone's moves just by seein' 'em. That's a lotta data. More'n my brain's got room for, I guess. So I... forget things. Things that ain't about combat, about survival. People, places... I can't remember what I did last week. By Monday, I probably won't remember this conversation. I wanted ta fight you 'cause... I thought if I remembered your moves, I might remember you. But all your moves... are somebody else's. Just like mine."

—Taskmaster

 

Character Publication History

 

Taskmaster (Anthony "Tony" Masters) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist George Pérez, the character made his debut in The Avengers #195 (May 1980). Possessing photographic reflexes that allow him to mimic any fighting style at the cost of his long and short-term memory, he has served as an adversary of Marvel Universe superheroes such as Captain America, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man. He is usually depicted as a mercenary hired by criminal organizations to act as a training instructor. He is the biological father of Finesse.

 

The character has been adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including several animated television series and video games. A female version of Taskmaster named Antonia Dreykov appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Widow (2021), portrayed by Olga Kurylenko. Kurylenko will reprise the role in the 2025 film Thunderbolts.

 

The Taskmaster first appeared briefly in The Avengers #195 (May 1980), created by writer David Michelinie and artist George Pérez. making his full debut in Avengers #196 (June 1980).

 

The Taskmaster appeared in his own limited series Taskmaster #1–4 (2002), which was followed by a supporting role in Agent X #1–15 (2002–2003). The character went on to feature prominently in Avengers: The Initiative as a supporting character in #8–19 (2008–2009) and Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1 (2008) then later as a central character in #20–35 (2009–2010) during the Dark Reign and Siege storylines. Age of Heroes #3 (2010) provided the prologue for the Taskmaster's second limited series Taskmaster vol. 2 #1–4 (2010–2011). In 2011 Taskmaster got his first solo graphic novel collecting a four-issue story—Taskmaster: Unthinkable.

 

Fictional character biography

 

Anthony Masters is one of the best agents S.H.I.E.L.D. has to offer. After being sent on a mission to take down Horst-Gorscht and ODESSA, a neo-nazi organization hidden in Bolma that was working with Baron Von Strucker's HYDRA by developing Super-Soldier Serums for them using Adolph Hitler's blood. When Tony arrived to Gorstch, he was already hit by a bullet and was delusional, he told Tony about a perfected serum he developed which would not only boost people to peak levels of what was humanly possible, but also include assimilating knowledge instantly. However the ODESSA structure began to collapse, this in combination with Gorstch's death would mean all his notes and knowledge would have been lost forever and the serum wouldn't have been able to be replicated. In the heat of the moment, Tony injected himself with the newly-developed Soldier Serum for him to memorize Gorstch's notes and escape from the structure quickly. As a side-effect of the Serum, Tony developed a degree of amnesia and created an alter-ego called "Taskmaster" which worked as a mercenary for criminal organizations and whatnot. That said, he subconsciously still worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

Watching broadcasts of superhuman activity, he executed several successful grand larcenies but underestimated the dangers involved in such work. He thus used his profits to start up academies where he trained aspiring super-villains, including Crossbones, to become professionals in their chosen field. He designed a costume and took the name Taskmaster. He remained undetected until the activities of one head of an academy caused the Avengers to become aware of these facilities. Taskmaster battled Captain America and Iron Man, and was forced to flee; during his confrontation with Jocasta he was unable to predict her future movements because of her lack of body language.

 

Taskmaster was soon noticed by the terrorist organization Hydra and was hired to train their new recruit, Spider-Woman. Taskmaster had several run-ins with superheroes, especially Spider-Man and Scott Lang as Ant-Man. Each time he was defeated, he managed to escape. Taskmaster also teamed up with Wizard, Deadpool, and Constrictor to form a new incarnation of the Frightful Four, though this association didn't last long. Taskmaster continued his training business. He even had a hand in training John Walker to become the next Captain America in a scheme run by the Red Skull to disgrace his image. He also began to train henchmen and servants for Red Skull himself. Taskmaster is very good at training others. Among those he has trained are: Agent-X, Crossbones, Cutthroat, Diamondback, Hauptmann Deutschland, Spider-Woman, Spymaster and U.S.Agent. Taskmaster specially trained the Scarlet Spiders by having his mind connected to theirs and relaying recordings of Spider-Man's moves collected by SHIELD.

 

Mercenary

 

At one point, Taskmaster became a mercenary. Doing work for both Agency X, the Committee and Triune Understanding, failing most of his missions. Such missions included being hired to kill Moon Knight. This mission failed however, as he was misled with bad information. Moon Knight scared Taskmaster when he appeared immune to pain and humiliated him, but let him live. Also, in an attempt to discredit the Avengers, he failed to deceive them but the overall mission succeeded.

 

Civil War

 

Deadpool freed Taskmaster from his imprisonment to show his own potential as a mercenary and bested Taskmaster with his hands and feet bound. When Deadpool thanked him for letting him win, Taskmaster replied, "The truth is... you're that good. You've always been that good. Which won't get you a cup of coffee until you figure out how to be a professional..." After the Super-Human Registration Act and the Fifty State Initiative, Taskmaster reluctantly joined the Thunderbolts in hunting heroes and villains that refused to register. He attempted to shoot Invisible Woman but Mr. Fantastic took the bullet for her and, in outrage, Susan crushed him, knocking Taskmaster unconscious.

 

For his efforts to help the government, he was given a full presidential pardon for when he tested the defenses of the SHIELD helicarrier, which he was able to break in and place Deputy Director Maria Hill in his sights. Though he was allowed to leave, a threatening message left in Hill's private bathroom revealed that if he ever desired, SHIELD is no difficult feat. Taskmaster also became the replacement of Gauntlet as the Drill Instructor at Camp Hammond. When KIA went on a rampage around Camp Hammond, Taskmaster decided to sit the battle out with one of his charges, Ant-Man.

 

Dark Reign

 

Taskmaster is appointed field leader of Camp HAMMER (formerly Camp Hammond) by Norman Osborn, and assigned to train super-villains in among other things to pose as heroes should the need arise. Taskmaster once again aligned himself with Deadpool to help him against the Thunderbolts, now the personal Black Ops of Norman Osborn. Despite being enemies in the past, they worked together to escape them, all the while hitting on their leader, Black Widow.

 

Norman Osborn, unaware that Taskmaster had aided Deadpool (who was trying to kill Osborn), made Taskmaster head of the Initiative (with Hood there to help him). First, he got Constrictor to give Osborn good press by Constrictor showcasing his cyborg arms and saying he could never pet his dog (which was made up) and that everyone should give Osborn a chance. Then, Hood and Taskmaster presented a new Initiative with members like the U-Foes, the Psionex, Razor Blade, a Brother Grimm, Cutthroat, Vampiro, and Mandrill, as well as old members like Diamondback and Sunstreaker. Taskmaster stood by and watched apparently unphased as Hood devoured recruit Vampiro for eating people, which Hood thought could reveal the Initiative's nefarious actions.

 

Hood then explained to Taskmaster and Baron von Blitzlag that the Negative Zone prison created during Civil War had been overrun by aliens, and was a portal to Earth. Hood suggested that instead of using up the major Initiative members in an attack, washed-out recruits, ex-cons with a chance of freedom, and people reluctant to serving Osborn, be promised success and get tricked into being cannon fodder in an attack to wear down the enemy before the real soldiers came in. Taskmaster agreed, and created a new Shadow Initiative with many members to do the task. The Hood left the initiative and left Taskmaster in charge, which caused Norman Osborn to take him more seriously and invite him to join the Cabal.

 

Siege

 

Taskmaster's first day in the organization did not go well as Doctor Doom decided to leave the group and attacked them to make his point. He severely burned Taskmaster with an energy attack, and as Osborn had him repaired in the hospital he realized just how in over his head he was. He took part in the Siege on Asgard, where he was convinced he was going to die, but he knew that if somehow he survived he would be known as the guy who faced down Thor and brought down the gods. He was about to be attacked by Thor when the Sentry intercepted the attack and Taskmaster joined in a group of villains as they each attacked the downed thunder god. However when the Sentry started to go insane and lose control, Taskmaster knew it was time to head out. Doing as he always did he found a way to escape, this time by stealing one of Osborn's goblin gliders, and made off with Constrictor who he convinced to join the bad guys again.

 

Heroic Age

 

The new Taskmaster mini-series starts in Age of Heroes #3 in a short scene where Taskmaster finds himself surrounded by the Yakuza who are mentioning his new bounty. This is followed in Taskmaster #1 with the Taskmaster meeting a waitress at a diner named Mercedes. The two have a conversation where it's revealed that Taskmaster has a memory condition. It seems that the more skills the Taskmaster learns, or recalls for use in combat, the more of his memories he loses. In order to keep his most treasured memories from being overwritten he has created a "memory palace" within his mind that he fills with familiar objects or places that are connected to specific memories. In order to recall these memories he has to go to these certain places or do certain things in the real world to recall his own past experiences.

 

When Mercedes leaves the table he is confronted by a Hydra agent who reveals that a rather large bounty has been placed on the Taskmaster's head. A large $1,000,000,000 dollar bounty. Not only that but the Hydra agent reveals that Hydra aren't the only ones that are after him, everyone is. It seems that an organization referred to as "The Org" are the ones that put out the bounty and that this organization has connections to every major terrorist organization on the planet. This is the agency that Taskmaster has apparently been getting his orders from on the quiet since the beginning of his career as a criminal. In the middle of the conversation, Taskmaster disarms the agent just as the diner is overrun with terrorists from several different factions, whom are all after the bounty. In a show of skill, he manages to subdue all of his would be attackers while blowing the diner up in the process to send a message to those coming after him. During the fight, Mercedes manages to escape and even made her way back home. When she gets there, there are men waiting for her. It seems she was followed by others that were after Taskmaster's bounty who say they saw him slip her a note at the diner. They assumed it was something important even though it was just a recipe. Taskmaster shows up and rescues Mercedes and then reveals that the Org is now after her as well. She has no alternative but to leave with Taskmaster in order to stay alive. It is later revealed that she is Taskmaster's wife who he does not remember because of his memory condition, and that she's been staying involved in his life in order to push him toward being a good person.

 

Finesse

 

Following a battle with Avengers Academy trainee Finesse, who has photographic reflexes just like Taskmaster's, he admits that, while he can't be certain about it, he is more than likely Finesse's father as she suspects. He confides in her that the way his abilities work, each time he picks up a new technique, it pushes non-combat-oriented data out of his mind forever; so he can't remember much about his own personal life. This is both an explanation for how he could forget having a daughter and a warning for her to heed. This follows through on new aspects of Taskmaster's character introduced recently; establishing his near-amnesiac state as canon continuity.

 

Powers and Abilities

 

Photographic Reflexes

 

Taskmaster has what he calls "photographic reflexes". After seeing someone perform an action once, he can perfectly copy the action. He has used this ability to copy the fighting styles and skills of many heroes and villains, mixing them up and turning them into his own style. The people he has copied styles/skills from include: Beast, Black Knight, Black Widow, Bullseye, Captain America, Cat, Daredevil, Deadpool, Elektra, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Fist, Mister X, Ms. Marvel, Porcupine, Photon (Genis-Vell), Puma, Punisher, Quicksilver, Razorfist, Scarlet Witch, Shang Chi, Silver Samurai, Spider-Man, Swordsman, Thing, Thor, Tigra, Toad, Vision, Wolverine, Zaran, Blazing Skull, Luke Cage, Ant-Man (Lang), Boomerang, Cable, Justice, Machete, Oddball, and Libra. (In crossovers he has learned the skills of Batman and Huntress but it is unknown if he retains them in the normal Marvel Universe). This is just a short list, but it is impressive.

 

He can only mimic actions to the extent that his body will allow. For example, he can copy the way Spider-Man fights, but can't copy his super strength. He can copy the way Daredevil moves to avoid danger, but he can't copy his radar. He can copy the fighting style of Deadpool but can't copy his unpredictability and healing factor. Copying skills doesn't give him an understanding of what is needed to do them either. He could copy a famous pianist's performance, but wouldn't be able to read sheet music. In a flashback he demonstrated something like this: when he was a child, he almost drowned after perfectly duplicating a swimmer's dive, forgetting that he couldn't swim.

 

Taskmaster has said that he finds Moon Knight's style of fighting annoying, as Moon Knight would rather take a punch than avoid it. To add to his abilities when he can't find someone to watch, Taskmaster uses the television. He watches movies and TV to study super-humans, athletes, stunt-men, archers, soldiers, wrestlers, etc. In this way, he has gained a wide range of combat as well as acrobatic skills including aerial acrobatics, gymnastics, boxing, martial arts (all the ones presently used and some historical ones), wrestling, swordsmanship, marksmanship, archery, car-jacking, and sleight of hand. By watching a video in fast forward, Taskmaster picked up the ability to move in "double time", giving him super speed for short periods of time. He also learned how to catch bullets during his mini-series.

 

Voice Mimicker

 

Another skill Taskmaster has that is unconnected to his photographic reflexes is his ability to mimic voices. With just a couple hours of practice, Taskmaster can fully mimic another person's voice and speech patterns, a tool he uses for impersonation and breaking voice-activated locks.

 

Equipment

 

Taskmaster carries a wide variety of weaponry he uses to mimic the fighting styles he managed to copy along his publication. Within his most consistent and visible gear we can see: Captain America's shield, Black Knight's Sword, Daredevil's Billy Clubs and Hawkeye's Bow and Trick Arrows. All this gear along with less known objects were carried manually by Taskmaster until his first solo series in 2002 introducing a new gear, commonly known as UDON suit. He changed his outfit and devices, but most importantly, he stole a S.H.I.E.L.D. device which allowed him to create his weaponry by solidifying energy. This change proved to be very practical since he could move faster, avoid possible disarmament and utilize more weaponry in an easier way. Within the added weapons and gadgets: Wolverine's Claws and Spider-Man's Webshooters as well as a very advanced image-inducer that allows him to take on the physical appearance of whomever he sees, this last one is currently visible in Secret Avengers, used by Mockingbird.

 

The last time he was seen with this suit was in Avengers and Power Pack Assemble! #1 in 2006. Later on he turned back to his classic outfit once again, however, there is no concrete reason as to why this happened.

  

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

_____________________________

 

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: Anthony "Tony" Masters

 

Publisher: Marvel

 

First Appearance: The Avengers #195 (May 1980)

 

Created by: David Michelinie (Writer)

George Pérez (Artist)

 

This is Taskmaster's first real sighting in Bijou Planks though he was seen cruising in his car in BP 2024 Day 139... 😁

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53730556429/

 

Also, we wish we had Taskmaster's HeroClix in his very cool costume, not this silly "UDON suit". But, we do have him in 1:12 so we're happy!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51011047956/

look into my eyes

it's the only way you'll know I'm telling the truth.

 

View On Black

we're bad things to talk about

be constructive

there are weapons we can use

be constructive with your blues.

 

View On Black

eh oui, pendant 24h, un jour de septembre 2005, tous les panneaux d'information de la Ville affichaient Tous la même chose...

Originally directed by Michel Gondry.

COMMUNAL MEMORY

 

We collect memories

 

Memories

That pile

On top of one another

Forming, apparently separate,

Pyramidal aggregates

 

And we

The dwellers of cities

And of towns, large and small

We who have stopped living on trees

We who have stopped being hunters and gatherers,

We, as our ancestral tree dwellers,

We ARE those pyramidal memories

  

Piles

That at the bottom

Diffuse and dissolve

Into the surrounding

Warm amnesiac fluid

 

And there

At that indiscernible edge

Where the past is as veiled as the future

You and I

And those tree dwellers

Who hunted with their bare hands

And ate their meat raw and bloody,

There, in that amnesiac womb

You and I

Are the one and the same memory.

 

Character Publication History

 

Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in the comic book The Uncanny X-Men #4 (March 1964) and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The character has since starred in two self-titled limited series and has historically been depicted as a regular team member in the superhero title The Avengers.

 

Quicksilver has the superhuman ability to move at great speeds. In most depictions, he is a mutant, a human born with innate superhuman powers. In comic book stories beginning in 2015, he is the product of genetic experimentation by the High Evolutionary.

 

Quicksilver most commonly appears in fiction associated with the X-Men, having been introduced as an adversary for the superhero team. In later stories, he became a superhero himself. He is the twin brother of the Scarlet Witch and, in most depictions, the son of Magneto and a Sinti woman Magda, and the older half-brother of Polaris.

 

Debuting in the Silver Age of comic books, Quicksilver has featured in several decades of Marvel continuity, starring in the self-titled series Quicksilver and as a regular team member in superhero title the Avengers.

 

The character has also appeared in a range of movie, television, and video game adaptations. Two separate live-action versions of Quicksilver have been adapted by two different film studios: Aaron Taylor-Johnson portrayed the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise, appearing in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) as a cameo and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) while Evan Peters portrayed him in the 20th Century Fox films X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and Dark Phoenix (2019), as well as a cameo in Deadpool 2 (2018). Peters later appeared as an imposter Pietro in the MCU television series WandaVision (2021), as a nod to his past role.

 

Publication history

 

Quicksilver first appears in X-Men #4 (March 1964) and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby. The character initially appears as an antagonist to the X-Men, although before long he becomes a member of the Avengers and appears as a regular character in that title beginning with The Avengers #16 in May 1965.

 

He has made numerous other appearances in that title, and other related titles, sometimes as a member of the team, sometimes as an ally, and sometimes as an antagonist.

 

From 1991 to 1993 Quicksilver was a regular character in the first volume of X-Factor. The series emphasized the character's irritability and arrogance, which writer Peter David felt were a natural consequence of his powers, explaining:

 

Have you ever stood in the post office behind a woman with 20 packages who wants to know every single way she can send them to Africa? It drives you nuts! You think to yourself, "Why do I have to put up with this? These people are so slow, they're costing me time, and it's so irritating. I wish I didn't have to put up with this."

 

Now—imagine that the entire world was like that... except for you. ... to Quicksilver, as he said in an issue of Amazing Spider-Man many, many moons ago, the rest of the world is moving in slow motion. That must really, really get on your nerves.

 

Quicksilver lives in a world filled with people who don't know how to use cash machines, and want to know all the ways to send packages to Africa, and can never get your order right in a Burger King unless you repeat it several times. That would tend to make you feel very superior to everyone and very impatient with everyone.

 

Quicksilver also starred in Quicksilver, a regular ongoing eponymous series that began in November 1997 and ran for 13 issues.

 

The character also played a pivotal role in the House of M and Avengers: The Children's Crusade.

 

Quicksilver appeared as a supporting character in Avengers Academy from issue #1 (August 2010) through its final issue #39 (January 2013).

 

He appears as one of the members of All-New X-Factor, which was launched in 2014 as part of the second Marvel NOW! wave. Writer Peter David's handling of the character in that book earned the character a 2014 @ssie award from Ain't It Cool News. AICN's Matt Adler commented that David writes the character best and that the "arrogant, impatient speedster" made the title worth following.

 

Fictional Character Biography and Major Story Arcs

 

Origin

 

Pietro and his twin sister Wanda (Scarlet Witch)* always assumed that they were the children of the gypsy couple that raised them, Django and Marya Maximoff. They did not know that they had been adopted. In fact, they were born on Wundagore Mountain to a woman only known as Magda, a woman on the run from her husband who had "become a monster".

 

She appeared at the house of Bova, the midwife to the High Evolutionary, heavily pregnant and stayed for a few weeks until she gave birth. She then immediately fled into a raging blizzard and was never seen or heard from again. Given her weakened state following delivery, it is assumed that she perished. Whilst at Wundagore Mountain, they were also offered for adoption to the Whizzer when his wife died. He did not accept them, but thought that they were his children.

 

Poor but loved, the twins enjoyed a relatively happy childhood until their family was killed by local villagers angered at Django for stealing food. Using his new found powers, Pietro was able to rescue Wanda. Orphaned, the twins wandered Eastern Europe, constantly on the move as Wanda’s uncontrollable hex powers would draw suspicion from the people around them. One day Wanda accidentally set a house on fire, spurring the locals to attack the twins. Despite his best efforts, Wanda and Pietro were trapped until rescued by Magneto.

 

Feeling that they owed him a debt, they reluctantly joined the Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants. Magneto played on their fear of outsiders and Wanda’s gratitude, but neither twin was comfortable as a terrorist. Pietro always made his disapproval known and repeatedly stated that he stayed only for his sister’s sake. Wanda was more compliant, feeling indebted to Magneto, but was deeply unhappy and often shocked by Magneto’s callous behavior.

 

Whilst in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, both Toad and Mastermind would often play for Scarlet Witch's feelings, and so Quicksilver would stand between her and them. Unconsciously however, both twins absorbed Magneto’s attitude of mutant superiority, which would occasionally surface form time to time in their lives. When Magneto was taken from Earth by the Stranger, Pietro and Wanda ended their association with the Brotherhood and returned to Europe.

 

New Beginnings

 

When they heard that the Avengers were accepting applicants, they rushed to join, wanting to atone for their past crimes. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch served honorably with the Avengers for years, though Pietro’s arrogant and distrusting demeanor often made him an outsider in the group, and he would often clash with Hawkeye over which one of them should replace Captain America as a leader.

 

Return to Wundagore Mountain

 

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch had to leave the Avengers when they lost their powers for a short while, and return to their birthplace. Whilst at Wundagore Mountain, they were telepathically asked by Professor X to join the X-Men so that they could help fight against Factor Three, but the two mutants declared that should they return to America, it would be as Avengers. Upon their return, Quicksilver's powers had somehow increased, as he could now fly for short distances by vibrating his feet at high speeds.

 

Shortly after their return, Quicksilver willingly joined the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants after Scarlet Witch was hit by a bullet, shot by a "mere human". Unknown to Pietro and Wanda, the bullet was being controlled by Magneto. Eventually he calmed down and left the Brotherhood, but instead of rejoining the Avengers he, Wanda and Toad became traveling companions for a while.

 

Since the bullet had erased Wanda's power somehow, the three companions went to Europe, and found a book of spells which they believed could restore Wanda's powers. Instead, the spell summoned Arkon, who wished for Wanda to be his bride. With the help of the Avengers, Wanda was saved, and as her powers had been restored by the dimensional jump between Earth and Arkon's planet, the twins rejoined the Avengers. During this stint with the Avengers, Pietro played a role in the Kree/ Skrull War, and help against Ares. When Wanda fell in love with the android Vision, Pietro protested loudly, refusing to attend their wedding.

 

In the interim, Pietro persued a romantic relationship of his own. After battling Sentinels, Quicksilver was gravely wounded. He was nursed back to health by Crystal, one of the Inhumans. He fell deeply in love with her and the two were married.

 

Korvac Saga

 

During the Korvac saga, Pietro still protested against Wanda's marriage until Moondragon telepathically erased Pietro's prejudice against the android that he accepted the relationship. In an encounter with Django Maximoff, he revealed that Pietro and Wanda were adopted. They traveled to Wundagore Mountain to search for their roots. To their surprise they found Bova, who told them about their birth mother. Their father’s identity, however, remained a mystery, for though Magda was obviously terrified of him, she had never spoken his name.

 

Pietro left the Avengers to live with his wife’s family on the moon in the Inhuman city of Attilan. He served as an officer in their militia. Crystal and Pietro soon had a daughter, Luna, who turned out to be a normal human child. While the Scarlet Witch and the Vision were visiting the happy family on Attilan shortly after Luna’s birth, Magneto arrived.

 

Turned from his path of terrorism, he too had been on a quest to his past trying to retrace the last steps of his missing wife. Thinking him nothing more than an innocent traveler, Bova had also told Magneto Magda’s story and unwittingly informed him that he was the father of the very youths he had manipulated and browbeaten in the Brotherhood. He had immediately rushed to Attilan to inform the twins who were shocked. While Wanda was confused and unsure, Pietro was appalled. He rejected Magneto outright. While Magneto was in his reform period, he earned Pietro’s tentative respect, but not his acceptance. When Magneto returned to terrorism, Pietro hated him all the more.

 

The First Fall

 

Naturally arrogant, impatient, and of a jealous temperament, Pietro left Attilan when he discovered that Crystal had had an affair. He soon began behaving very irrationally, going insane to the point he tried to frame the Avengers for treason and proclaimed himself King of all the Mutants. When X-Factor finally captured him and returned him to Attilan, it was discovered that Pietro’s insanity had been caused by the Inhuman Maximus The Mad.

 

When Magneto attempted to manipulate the Scarlet Witch in her grief over the loss of her husband, Pietro was able to use this period of insanity as a cover to stay close by his sister’s side. After helping to rescue her from both Magneto and Immortus, Pietro remained on earth.

 

Hero Once Again and X-Factor

 

Quicksilver would spend time working with the government sponsored mutant group X-Factor. Luna was kidnapped by Fabian Cortez, who wanted to use Luna as a symbol of Magneto’s sovereignty and as a human shield. Rushing to her rescue, Pietro encountered Crystal and the Avengers. They were successful in rescuing their daughter, though Pietro almost sacrificed his life in a fight with Exodus in the process.

 

Pietro left X-Factor and remained in close contact with the Avengers, though he refused to officially join until his romantic rival for Crystal’s affection, The Black Knight, left. Pietro strove to reconcile with Crystal and the two were beginning to create a family again when Crystal was lost with many other heroes in a pocket universe in the events of Onslaught. Pietro remained in loose association with the X-Men for a time, his main concern to care for his daughter.

 

Upon hearing that Exodus and the Acolytes were planning an assault on the High Evolutionary’s citadel, Pietro joined the Knights of Wundagore and he and Luna lived there for a time. While he was there, Pietro was exposed to Isotope E, a material with enhanced his powers of speed to a great degree.

 

Genosha

 

Sending Luna to Crystal, Pietro joined Magneto’s cabinet when the U.N. granted him rule over Genosha following the events of the Magneto War. Pietro still resented and distrusted Magneto a great deal, but felt he had to stay in order to ensure Magneto’s policies did not become too tyrannical. Eventually, he rebelled and Magneto threw him out of the country. He snuck back in with Polaris to help the human underground, but was eventually caught and deported again.

 

House of M

 

Pietro was vacationing, “reading a book”, when the Scarlet Witch went insane and attacked the Avengers, killing three of them including her husband. While the Avengers and X-Men met with Professor X and Doctor Strange to discuss Wanda’s fate. Pietro became convinced that the assembled group was going to kill her and rushed to Genosha and begged for Magneto’s aid. Defeated and out of options, Magneto could not think of what to do.

 

Pietro then convinced the Scarlet Witch to remake the world into the House of M reality in which everyone had their fondest wishes granted. Most importantly their father, who received the global power he had long desired over a world in which the mutant population was the ascending majority. Pietro served his father as a loyal prince. When the deception was revealed, Magneto went into a terrible rage, beating Pietro to death. Wanda restored her brother to life, but then took his power away with 99% of the mutant population when she uttered the fatal phrase “No more mutants.”

 

Son of M and X-Factor

 

Depowered and suicidal, Crystal brought Pietro to Attilan to recover. After he did, Pietro snuck into the Terrigen Mists chamber to regain his powers. Instead, he received the ability to travel in time. He stole pieces of the Terrigen crystals and he exposed Luna to them repeatedly, granting her empathic abilities. He then proclaimed himself a “Savior” of mutant kind, setting up shop in Mutant Town and promising to restore the powers of the mutants who had lost theirs on M-Day.

 

What he did not inform his clients however, was that the crystals did not restore mutant powers safely and many people died as a result of Pietro’s “treatments”. The Inhumans visited Quicksilver in order to reclaim the crystals, but Pietro revealed that he had worked with the crystals so much, they became embedded in his skin.

 

At that time, Crystal told Quicksilver that their marriage was annulled. After several deaths, Rictor used his temporarily restored powers to eject the crystals from Pietro body, depowering him once again. Pietro later saved Layla Miller from drowning, because he planned on killing her himself, for being the cause of the their downfall in the House of M. Layla later escaped when Pietro became hesitant about killing her.

 

After his fight with Layla Miller, Pietro was found unconscious in Central Park. Not knowing who he was, the police threw Pietro in general lock up where he experienced a series of hallucinations: His sister, his father, his wife and child, and Layla Miller who explained that Pietro had hit rock bottom and hinted that he was still a mutant.

 

From the windows of the prison Pietro observed a woman in the process of being pushed off a roof by her boyfriend. Using his super speed, broke out of prison and saved her, coming to terms with the his past villainous acts and looking forward to a better future.

 

The Rise of Chthon

 

After being taken prisoner by Modred the Mystic, Quicksilver's body was offered up as a vessel to the demonic Elder God Chthon and was completely overtaken by him. Thanks to the Scarlet Witch who was really Loki in disguise, and Hank Pym's Mighty Avengers, Chthon was exorcised from Quicksilver's body.

 

Once An Avenger

 

After aiding Hank Pym's Avengers in taking down Chthon, he helped them with a number of threats including Swarm and Titan. Pietro proceeded to write off all his recent crimes as having been committed by a Skrull impostor and officially join the team, with the ulterior motive of reuniting with his sister.

 

After helping Pym with his personal war against Reed Richards, the Mighty Avengers came into conflict with the ancient Inhuman emperor, The Unspoken. With the aid of all active avengers, they managed to put an end to the fallen king's mad scheme. Pietro used this as an opportunity to reunite with his ex-wife Crystal and his daughter, Luna, and the Inhumans officially pardon him of any crimes against their race. Unfortunately, Luna is aware that he was not, in fact replaced by a Skrull. She promises, out of love for her father, not to tell anyone, but lets him know that she can never respect him again.

 

Avengers Academy

 

After Norman Osborn’s “Dark Reign” was ended, Hank Pym founded the Avengers Academy to continue training young superhumans that Osborn had recruited under false pretenses. Quicksilver was hired as one of the mentors, since Magneto tried to mold him the same way Osborn tried to mold the Academy’s cadets. In addition to empathizing with their story, Pietro would be passing off the training he got from Captain America. Unfortunately, one of the cadets, Finesse, was able to determine that Pietro was lying about his Skrull double. She used that information to blackmail him into teaching her Magento’s training in addition to Captain America’s.

 

Children’s Crusade

 

After seeing Wiccan make a public spectacle of himself while fighting the Sons of the Serpent, Quicksilver believed Magneto would seek out the Young Avengers to aid him in locating Wanda. He fled to Transia, believing that to be their first step, and he was right. When Pietro attempted to fight his father and rescue the young heroes, they uncovered a Doombot made in Wanda’s likeness and assumed she was a prisoner of Doctor. Doom.

 

Pietro would reluctantly fall in with their plan to sneak into Latveria on a rescue mission, in part, to protect the kids from his father. However, when the Avengers tracked them down, Pietro immediately switched teams. Pietro and the Avengers were unable to stop the Young Avengers from teleporting away with the amnesiac Wanda and helping her get her memories and powers back. Happy to have his sister back, Pietro started to defend her against M-Day allegations after Doom admitted to manipulating her.

 

Serval Industries

 

After his half sister, Polaris, started acting out, Pietro kept a close eye on her. When she got a job with Serval Industries running the new X-Factor, Pietro volunteered to join the team, pretending to have a falling out with the Avengers. He was secretly keeping a close eye on her under orders from Havok, Polaris’ ex-boyfriend, who was currently leading the Avengers Unity Squad.

 

Their first mission was to save Fatale, Abyss, and Reaper from a scientist experimenting on them. They had previously been poisoned with terrigen mists by Quicksilver trying to reactivate their mutant abilities. They were not happy to see him, and Fatale later confronted him during a press conference. This inspired Pietro to admit that he lied about being impersonated by a Skrull and took responsibility for his previous actions. His daughter, Luna, was proud of him and began to rebuild their relationship.

 

Pietro’s reports back to the Avengers satisfied Havok. Believing Polaris was finally in a good head space, he invited Pietro back to the Avengers, but Pietro had found the team for him. He wanted to be there for Lorna in a way he failed for Wanda. Unfortunately, Polaris eventually found out that Pietro was originally spying on her. Their relationship never found solid ground after that and Pietro eventually left for the good of the team.

 

True Parentage

 

After a moral compass inversion spell was attempted on the Red Skull, it backfired and affected a number of Avengers, including Scarlet Witch. With Wanda acting out, Pietro reluctantly worked with Magneto to protect her until they could free her from this possession. This required them to enter Latveria where she sought vengeance on Dr. Doom.

 

Seeing her own family protect Doom, Wanda lashes out, casting a spell that targets members of her bloodline. Pietro is nearly killed, but Magneto is unscatched, proving that he had no blood relation to the Maximoff twins. His parentage was a lie, one even Magneto fell for. Soon after, the ghost of Daniel Drumm possessed Wanda to reverse the inversion spell, changing almost everyone back to normal.

 

Together, the twins visited Wundagore Mountain in search of the truth of their parentage. They used a portal to Counter-Earth, where they fell in with The Low Evolutionary, the leader of a rebellion against the High Evolutionary. While fighting alongside him, the twins were eventually brought in front of the High Evolutionary. He explained they were the true offspring of Django and Marya Maximoff, but they were not mutants. They were experimented on by The High Evolutionary, granting them their abilities.

 

They were eventually joined an Avengers Unity Squad that was sent to rescue them.

 

Avengers Unity Squad

 

In the wake of Black Bolt’s terrigen bomb, causing people worldwide with the inhuman gene to suddenly develop superpowers, Captain America rebranded the Avengers Unity Squad to be an Avenger, X-Men, and Inhuman cooperative. Quicksilver stuck with the team after returning from Counter-Earth. He aided them in fights against The Shredded Man, a Hand brainwashed Hulk, and Hank Pym, who was now bonded to Ultron.

 

Their main goal was still to hunt down Red Skull and stop him from using the telepathic abilities he stole from Pr. X's corpse. Unbeknownst to Pietro, he had a run in with Red Skull while responding to an alarm at the old Avengers Mansion. Using his telepathy, Red Skull clouded Pietro's mind from remembering him and left a mental trigger in Pietro's psyche.

 

Using that trigger, he forced Pietro to kidnap his teammates and bring them to him, so Skull could mentally control all of them. Skull forced the Squad to attack New York City. Fortunately, Pietro's teammate, Deadpool, was generally immune to telepathy. After shaking Skull's influence, he stole one of Magneto's psychic blocking helmets and put it on Rogue so that she was freed to fight Skull, saving Pietro and the rest of the Squad.

 

No Surrender

 

When Earth is stolen to be used as a game board by The Challenger and The Grandmaster, the most prominent Avengers are frozen in stasis so as not to interfere. All available Avengers are activated, including Pietro. While Wanda and Doctor Voodoo experimented with magic to release the other heroes from stasis, the release of one caused the stasis to switch to Pietro, thus keeping the same amount of heroes frozen at all times. In this new vulnerable position, Pietro was injured and forced to recover at an auxiliary Avengers HQ.

 

While recovering, Pietro noticed a small ball of light moving so fast that it was imperceptible to anyone without super-speed. Pietro attempted to catch one but failed. He convinced Wanda and Synapse to combine their powers to increase his speed. This finally allowed him to capture the ball of light which freed some of the frozen heroes when Pietro destroyed it. Unfortunately, Pietro was stuck at his advanced speed.

 

Pietro was now isolated in a gray area where time had seemingly stopped. He starts to encounter strange electrical creatures that take on his appearance and start targeting his allies. He defends his friends from these beings but comes to the realization that they were feeding off his running wild emotions. He starts to calm himself, causing most of the double to disappear. However, a final more intelligent double starts to argue and confront Pietro, but Pietro was able to defeat simply by consoling him. This also allowed him to slow down enough to reunite with the Avengers.

 

Empyre

 

When the Cotati, the plant people living on the Moon, decided to target both the Earth and the newly united Kree/Skrull Alliance, Skrull separatists decided to take out the Cotati by blowing up the Earth’s sun and destroying the entire solar system. They would do so using the Pyre, a bomb traditionally used to test the mettle of a new king, which the Kree/Skrull Alliance had in Hulkling. While the Avengers and Fantastic Four did their best to fight the various alien threats, reservists, like Pietro, were called in to deal with incidents on Earth.

 

Pietro was sent to Mexico with Wonder Man and Mockingbird where a platoon of Skrulls and Kree were fighting Cotati soldiers. They attempted to convince them all to put down their weapons and stop fighting in general. When their words didn't work, they forcibly disarmed them and destroyed their weapons.

 

Fall of X

 

Although Krakoa was no home to Pietro following the revelation that he wasn't actually a mutant nor the son of Magneto, he still came to their defense when Captain America reassembled the Avengers Unity Squad. Working out of the old Morlock Tunnels, the team would try defending the world from false flag attacks that Orchis was using to turn opinion against mutantkind, especially a new Mutant Liberation Front, being led by a mysterious villain posing as Captain Krakoa.

 

This new MLF had stolen nuclear weapons, putting the whole world on edge. After tracking the MLF to Camp Lehigh, Cap guessed that the new Captain Krakoa was his Hydra-raised clone, who was now answering to Grant. In addition to the nuke, the clone was gunning for Ben Urich who had witness testimony against Orchis from a non-mutant, Kingpin.

 

Pietro stayed with Rogue looking for the nuclear warhead at Empire State University, while Cap and the others went to protect Urich from Grant. Cap and the others bested Grant and took him into custody, but the warhead was activated. Cap ordered Rogue to get rid of it in orbit, but the ISS was due to pass by New York. Instead, she flew it out to Area 51 to blow it up in the desert, while Quicksilver ran Deadpool to her as fast as he could so she could absorb his healing factor and survive.

 

Blood Hunt

 

When the vampire cult, The Structure, cast a spell that fills the sky with darkforce energy, Pietro is recruited to a backup Avengers squad under Captain America. While the active Avengers deal with the vampire supersoliders, the Bloodcoven, Pietro and the others help on the ground against multiple vampire attacks. There, his new team are abducted by Baron Blood and his vampire Nazis.

 

On Blood's helicarrier base, Cap takes on Baron Blood one on one luring him deeper into the helicarrier while he secretly makes his way to the control room. While he does this, he orders his new Avengers to get any prisoners to the escape pods. Unfortunately, there are more prisoners than escape pods, so these Avengers were forced to continue fighting the vampires. Luckily, Cap made it to the control room and raised the helicarrier above the darkforce and into the sunlight, killing Baron's troops. With the Avengers regrouped by Cap's side, Baron jumps from the ship.

 

The Lesser Twin

 

Wanda and Pietro's relationship is tested when Wanda withholds a final message from Magneto and The Wizard starts manipulating them with the help of his magically enhanced army of drones, the Frightful Four Hundred. The Wizard was sent by The Griever at the End of All Things, which has taken special interest in Wanda. She wanted to separate Wanda from her "lesser twin" who grants her strength.

 

After Wanda's seeming demise, Darcy Lewis, Wanda's friend, walks through The Last Door, a magic portal of Wanda's that brings lost people in need of help. It teleports Darcy to Pietro, so that she can ask his help protecting their local community from The Griever. With some help from his "sister," Polaris, and current girlfriend, M, Pietro fights The Griever to avenge Wanda.

 

Powers and Abilities

 

Quicksilver was at first able to reach the speed of sound, which is about 770 mph, but exposure to the High Evolutionary's Isotope E made it possible for him to run at supersonic speeds of up to Mach 5, about 3805 mph,he once traveled 347 miles in 3.7 seconds (which is MACH 438).

 

Using his super speed, Pietro was able to achieve various effects such as "out running gravity" for short periods, such as running across water or up walls. By running in circles, he could creates whirlwind vortexes of great intensity. He could vibrate his muscles extremely fast, creating destructive effects on anything he touched.

 

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

_____________________________

 

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: Pietro Django Maximoff

 

Publisher: Marvel

 

First Appearance: The X-Men #4 (March 1964)

 

Created by: Stan Lee (writer)

Jack Kirby (artist)

 

* Scarlet Witch profiled in BP 2024 Day 348!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/54202875589/

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

Zorro Poster

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

 

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

Tatty ideas from history re-present themselves to new generations. The glue used to paste up their glorified image being a perfect symbol of their unreliable past and unreliable support.

 

Gaëtan Dussausaye is the head of 'FN jeuness' - an extreme right French youth movement. He is in his early 20's, and is charismatic and attractive on the outside. His inside thoughts includes the opinion that the people of France are not interested about the past of his political party (25.04.17) which grew out of Duprat's 'Ordre Nouveau' - a fascist movement with fingers in negationism, OAS terror and so on. This young contemporary Dussausaye studied Philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris. In one of his films, maybe 'The Jerk', Steve Martin recounted: 'I am a philosopher: my philosophy is - anything goes', and it would be all to easy to label Dussauaye a 'Jerk'. He knows that many people are not bothered about the 'hows' and 'wherefroms' of'who' is gathering their thoughts - they just want their emotional feelings presented in their name (fear of employment, 'others' and the future). The luxury of being 'not bothered' to look into something, or, not bothered to think about how your opinion may impact on the general goodwill of a community may not have been readily available in prehistory, where people were locked into the real narrative of elements, seasons, effective roles and holistic communities. In prehistory, a lazy amnesiac like Dessausaye might have had problems finding his place in society ... In 'history' he can hold a pile of books and hide behind the titles or in the whites between the words:

  

'Spengler', 'Heidegger', 'Machiavelli', 'late Plato, 'Cicéron'

  

... he can select chains of printed words from inside complex texts - (Nietzsche suffers from just such) : or indeed many other 'cut and paste' blueprints for an absolute paper and print fantasy.

 

Painted freehand after a rare (one off) aside into street photography. Real rust was used for the girder's paint.

Italian postcard by Superbrom / Alterocca, Terni, no. 2425. Photo: E.I.A. Columbia. Luisa Ferida as Princess Elisabeth of Russia in Amore imperiale/Imperial love (Alexandre Volkoff, 1941).

 

Luisa Ferida (1914-1945) was an Italian stage and screen film, who was a popular leading actress in the late 1930s and 1940s Italian sound film. She was married to actor Osvaldo Valenti. Because of his close links with the fascist regime, the couple was shot by partisans in April 1945.

 

Luisa Ferida was born Luigia Manfrini Frané in Castel San Pietro Terme, near Bologna, in 1914. Her father Luigi, a rich lander owner, died when she was a child. She was then sent to a convent school. Ferida started her career as a stage actress. In 1935 she made her first film appearance with a supporting role in the crime film La Freccia d'oro/Golden Arrow (Piero Ballerini, Corrado D'Errico, 1935). Because of her photogenic looks and talent as an actress, she soon graduated to leading roles in such films as the historical comedy Il re Burlone/The Joker King (Enrico Guazzoni, 1935) with Armando Falconi. The following year, she appeared in the comedy Lo smemorato/The Amnesiac (Gennaro Righelli, 1936) starring Angelo Musco, the screwball comedy Amazzoni bianche/White Amazons (Gennaro Righelli, 1936) starring Paola Barbara, and the historical comedy L'ambasciatore/The Ambassador (Baldassarre Negroni, 1936) starring Leda Gloria. She starred opposite Antonio Centa in the romantic comedy I tre desideri/The Three Wishes (Giorgio Ferroni, Kurt Gerron, 1937) of which also a Dutch-language version was made - without Ferida. Next, she appeared opposite Amedeo Nazzari in the drama La fossa degli angeli/Tomb of the Angels (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1937). Roberto Rossellini co-wrote the screenplay and served as assistant director. It was shot on location in the Apuan Alps in Liguria and is set amidst the marble quarries of the area. It marked an early attempt at realism in Italian cinema, anticipating neorealism of the postwar era, and it celebrated Italy's industrial strength in line with the propaganda of the Mussolini regime. She co-starred with Totò in the comedy Animali pazzi/Mad Animals (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1939). In 1939, while working on the Swashbuckler Un Avventura di Salvator Rosa/An Adventure of Salvator Rosa (Alessandro Blasetti, 1940), Luisa Ferida met the actor Osvaldo Valenti. The pair became romantically involved and had a son, Kim, who died 4 days after his birth. Valenti had been linked with many Fascist officials and personalities for years and he eventually joined the Italian Social Republic, and for these reasons, he was on the partisans' hit list.

 

In the first half of the 1940s, Luisa Ferida's career was at its zenith, and she played memorable roles in such films as La fanciulla di Portici/The girl from Portici (Mario Bonnard, 1940), La corona di ferro/The Iron Crown (Alessandro Blasetti, 1941), and the drama Gelosia/Jealousy (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1942). She had a supporting role in the drama Nozze di sangue/Blood Wedding (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1941) starring Beatrice Mancini, and Fosco Giachetti. The film about an arranged marriage in 19th century South America, is based on the Spanish play by Federico Garcia Lorca. She played the lead in the historical drama Fedora (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1942) opposite Amedeo Nazzari and Osvaldo Valenti. Opposite Fosco Giacchetti, she starred in the drama Fari nella nebbia/Headlights in the Fog (Gianni Franciolini, 1942). The film about a group of truck drivers is considered to be part of the development of Neorealism, which emerged around this time. She starred with Osvaldo Valenti in the adventure film I cavalieri del deserto/Knights of the Desert (Gino Talamo, Osvaldo Valenti, 1942) with a screenplay by Federico Fellini and Vittorio Mussolini, the son of Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini. It was produced by the Rome-based ACI which was run by Vittorio Mussolini and shot on location in Libya before the North African Campaign turned decisively against Italy and its Allies. Fellini may have directed some of the Libyan scenes after Gino Talamo was injured in a car accident. The film was ultimately never released due to the defeats suffered in Libya, which meant its plot was now a potential embarrassment to the regime. She appeared again with Valenti in the extremely popular historical film La cena delle beffe/The Jester's Supper (Alessandro Blasetti, 1942), also starring Amedeo Nazzari, and Clara Calamai. The film is set in the 15th century Florence of Lorenzo the Magnificent and portrays a rivalry that leads to a series of increasingly violent jokes. She again co-starred with Valenti and Nazzari in the drama Sleeping Beauty (Luigi Chiarini, 1942), which belongs to the films of the Calligrafismo style. Calligrafismo is in sharp contrast to the Telefoni Bianchi-American style comedies and is rather artistic, highly formalistic, expressive in complexity, and deals mainly with contemporary literary material. In 1942 she won the Best Italian Actress award. In the historical comedy La locandiera/The Innkeeper (Luigi Chiarini, 1944), she co-starred again with Armando Falconi and Osvaldo Valenti. During the last stages of completion, Mussolini was overthrown. The final editing was done in Venice, the film capital of the Italian Social Republic, but without the presence of Chiarini.

 

At the end of 1943, the fascist government of the Republic of Salo decided to create an Italian cinematographic center in the north of the country. Luisa Ferida and Valenti agreed to go there. They made Un fatto di cronaca/A Chronicle (Piero Ballerini, 1945), which was released in February 1945. Two months later, Valenti was finally arrested in Milan, alongside a pregnant Ferida. They were both sentenced to be executed and shot immediately in the street, without a proper trial. Opinions are divided as to whether the couple deserved this fatal fate. The pregnant Ferida had a blue shoe of her deceased son Kim in her hand when she was killed. The twelve suitcases of the couple, full of clothes, furs, money, and jewels were stolen that day. Her Milanese house was burglarised a few days later. The partisan chief who organised the execution, Giuseppe 'Vero' Marozin, declared years later that one of the partisan leaders that ordered the two actors to be executed was Sandro Pertini, who decades later became president of the Italian republic. No other source, however, supports Marozin's version of the incident. Her mother Lucia asked for support from the Italian government since her daughter was her only support. After the actress was cleared of charges during the 1950s, Lucia received a small monthly pension. She died in poverty. Both lovers' graves are side to side in Cimitero Maggiore di Musocco in Milan. The film Sanguepazzo/Wild Blood (Marco Tullio Giordana, 2008) starring Monica Bellucci and Luca Zingaretti, discusses Luisa Ferida's relationship with Osvaldo Valenti.

 

Sources: Marlene Pilaete (La collectionneuse - French), Hugo Bartoli (IMDb), Find-A-Grave, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

no words.

 

View On Black

© ink in the well

do you see light at the end of the tunnel?

 

View On Black

Character Creation

 

The Scarlet Witch and her twin brother Quicksilver debuted as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in X-Men #4 (March 1964). They were depicted as reluctant villains, only wanting safety from persecution and uninterested in team leader Magneto's plans for global domination.

 

The Scarlet Witch is depicted as calm and submissive, like many female comic book characters of the time. Her costume was composed of a bathing suit with straps, opera gloves, short boots, a leotard covering her body, a superhero cape, and a wimple, all of which were colored in shades of red. She was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

 

Lee and Kirby also produced the Avengers comic book, composed of Marvel's most prominent solo heroes at the time. Save for Captain America, Lee and Kirby eventually had all the Avengers leave to focus on their individual careers, replacing them with former villains from other comics who did not have a series of their own: the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver from X-Men, and Hawkeye from Iron Man's adventures in Tales of Suspense. The team was known as "Cap's Kooky Quartet".

 

Although common in later years, such a wide-scale change in the roster of a superhero group was completely unprecedented (usually, superhero teams only exchanged one or two members at a time rather than almost the entire roster at once). Lee and the following Avengers writer, Roy Thomas, hinted that other Avengers were romantically interested in the Scarlet Witch. The twins later leave the team after a crossover with the X-Men.

 

Some years later, Thomas brought Wanda and Pietro back into the team and started a long-running romantic relationship between the Scarlet Witch and the android hero Vision, thinking it would help with the series' character development.

 

He elected those characters because they were only published in the Avengers comic book and did not star in solo adventures, so relationship drama in the series would not interfere with stories in other publications.

 

Their first kiss took place during the Kree–Skrull War arc. Thomas also added Hawkeye into a love triangle with both characters, eventually having the archer realize that Vision and Wanda were truly in love.

 

A fan of Golden Age heroes, Roy Thomas often found ways to integrate the older characters into modern-day stories. In Giant-Size Avengers #1 (August 1974), Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are revealed to be the children of Golden Age superheroes Whizzer (Robert Frank) and Miss America (Madeline Joyce).

 

Steve Englehart succeeded Thomas as the writer of Avengers. He gave Wanda a more assertive personality and removed the highly-protective Quicksilver from the team.

 

In 1974, Englehart expanded Wanda's powers by having her learn witchcraft from Agatha Harkness. The Vision and the Scarlet Witch married in Giant-Size Avengers #4 (June 1975), the end of the Celestial Madonna story arc.

 

In 1979, Wanda learns Bob Frank and Madeline Joyce are not her and Pietro's parents. Wanda then stars in the 4-issue limited series The Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1982–83), by writer Bill Mantlo and penciler Rick Leonardi.

 

In this limited series, Magneto was retconned to be Wanda and Pietro's father. Englehart returned to the characters with penciler Richard Howell for a second limited series, in which the Scarlet Witch gets pregnant by magical means and delivers twin sons, William and Thomas.

 

Englehart took over as writer for the spin-off series West Coast Avengers, later adding Vision and Wanda to the team.

 

John Byrne later replaced Englehart on the series (which was renamed Avengers West Coast). He wrote and illustrated the controversial "Vision Quest" storyline, where the Vision is dismantled and turned into an emotionless being who later even refuses the chance to regain his emotions (leading to the annulment of his marriage to the Scarlet Witch).

 

Around this same time, Wanda is brainwashed twice by different villains, first to become a servant for the parasitic life form That Which Endures[ and then to be a "Bride of Set" during the crossover Atlantis Attacks.

 

Although her mind is restored both times, the repeated trauma renders her catatonic. At this time, the Vision decides he cannot help Wanda or the Avengers West Coast and returns to the NYC team.

 

Byrne's next storyline involved Wanda becoming a villain yet again, now displaying greater and more focused power than before, and rejoining Magneto.

 

Writers Roy and Dann Thomas took over Avengers West Coast. They revealed that Wanda's new personality, attacks on the Avengers and increase in power were all due to manipulations by the time villain Immortus, who had been seen watching the Avengers during some of Byrne's issues. The storyline disclosed Wanda is a "nexus being", a person who greatly affects timelines.

 

By influencing Wanda to tap into her nexus energies, Immortus caused her increase in power and the creation of the children. Immortus wishes to use her to warp reality, but Wanda comes to her senses and gives up her nexus energies.

 

Roy and Dann Thomas then revealed that a side effect of this caused Wanda to remember her children and temporarily lose her powers. The website Women in Refrigerators interviewed Englehart about these changes, who said he did not like them.

 

Multiple stories after the Immortus storyline featured Wanda remembering and mourning her children, and even judging teammate Spider-Woman for bringing her child along on an Avengers assignment.

 

Roy Thomas later wrote the short story "A Study in Scarlet", with art by Al Bigley and Mike DeCarlo, published in Avengers West Coast Annual #7 (1992). The short story featured Wanda reflecting on how she was glad Agatha's memory-blocking spell only lasted a short time, as she appreciates having had the chance to mourn her children properly.

 

She then accidentally creates a window into another timeline where she sees a version of events where she, Vision, and the children remained together. This brings her comfort and helps her feel she can cope with the loss better.

 

Following the Immortus storyline, Wanda is a more serious-minded character, wishing to atone for turning against the Avengers twice in a short amount of time and endangering reality. When she regains her powers, her hexes are initially more difficult to control and only on the power level she had when she first joined the Avengers.

 

To compensate, she practices the magic Harkness taught her. In 1994, Avengers West Coast ended, and several of its team members reformed as an independent group led by Wanda in the series Force Works. The new title ran for only a couple of years. In 1994, a Scarlet Witch four-issue limited series was written by Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett, and pencilled by John Higgins.

 

Marvel Comics was nearing bankruptcy in 1996. The Avengers and other titles were relaunched in a new continuity and line of books called Heroes Reborn, outsourced to the studios of Image Comics artists.

 

Rob Liefeld worked with the relaunched Avengers title and included the Scarlet Witch in the team, making her a sorceress with no mutant abilities (the Heroes Reborn reality did not make any reference to any people born with mutant powers). After Marvel renegotiated the terms of the deal, Liefeld was replaced with writer Walter Simonson and penciler Michael Ryan. The project was a success, boosting the sales of the titles and bringing Marvel Comics out of bankruptcy.

 

The project ended after a year, and the Avengers were returned to the mainstream Marvel reality. The Avengers series relaunched again, now under Kurt Busiek and George Pérez. Pérez designed a new, complicated design for Wanda, increasing the volume of curls in her hair and giving her a costume with Romani influences. Pérez commented he preferred this more challenging design but accepted other artists would find it irksome.

 

Later when he became the artist on Avengers, Alan Davis asked to change the design because it didn't work well with his simpler, less detailed style. During Busiek's stories, Wanda once again becomes a powerful sorceress by tapping into the energy of "chaos magic". Busiek clarifies her true mutant power is to tap into magical energy fields and manipulate them, just as Magneto taps into and manipulates electromagnetic fields.

 

Marvel decided to relaunch the Avengers series again, with a new roster, headquarters, atmosphere, and creative direction.

 

To promote the change and gain reader interest, the inciting event was depicted in the 2004 story Avengers Disassembled written by Brian Michael Bendis and with art by David Finch.

 

In the story, a remark by the Wasp causes Wanda to remember her children (how and when Wanda once again lost the memories of her children is not explained). She suddenly relives the trauma of their loss and feels betrayed by the Avengers, both for allowing Harkness to cloud her memories and for being unable to save her children from Mephisto.

 

Emotionally overwhelmed and simultaneously experiencing a drastic increase in power, Wanda kills Agatha Harkness and causes the Avengers to suffer their "worst day" by altering the minds of She-Hulk and Iron Man, and causing simulations of the villain Ultron and the alien Kree to attack.

 

This leads to the apparent deaths of different characters and the destruction of Avengers Mansion. Wanda is discovered to be the culprit and stopped, after which she falls into a coma.

 

The Avengers disband, then reform in New Avengers. To explain her sudden increase in power, the sorcerer Dr. Strange says Wanda's actual mutant power is to reshape reality, adding that her talk of tapping into "chaos magic" is a lie because such a force does not exist. This contradicted earlier comics where Dr. Strange himself uses chaos magic and "catastrophe magic", and later Marvel stories confirm chaos magic is a real force that sorcerers can access.

 

Wanda was seen again in the limited series House of M, creating an alternate version of Earth. When Earth's heroes defeat her, she causes "M-Day", removing the powers of most mutants on Earth. She then appeared in the Young Avengers follow-up series, Avengers: The Children's Crusade (2010-2012), which retconned Avengers Disassembled by revealing Wanda's extreme actions and enhanced power levels during recent stories were the result of tapping into an enormous source of energy that then corrupted her, similar to when she was possessed by Chthon, brainwashed by That Which Endures, and corrupted by Immortus.

 

This was now the explanation as to how she was able to warp reality and why she would no longer be that powerful, and partially exonerated her from her actions against the Avengers and during M-Day. Wanda was again portrayed as someone who wanted to atone for her past, accepting partial responsibility rather than completely blaming outside influences, allying herself with Doctor Doom.

 

Avengers: The Children's Crusade also now referred to the children of William and Thomas not as "pieces" of Mephisto's essence but as "lost souls" who had been taken away by Mephisto, indicating they actually had been alive and explaining how they could be reincarnated as the teenage heroes Speed and Wiccan.

 

Fictional character biography

 

The Scarlet Witch (real name Wanda Maximoff) is a human with the ability to alter probability. For a time, she was believed to be the daughter of the mutant Magneto and his late Roma wife Magda. Wanda is also the fraternal twin sister of Pietro (Quicksilver). Wanda and her brother are both Romani and Jewish. Shortly after Magda became pregnant, she witnessed her husband use his magnetic powers and realized that he was a mutant.

 

Being terrified of mutants, Magda did not tell him about her pregnancy and fled from their home at the first opportunity. Magda eventually found refuge with a benevolent cow-like humanoid named Bova, who lived on Mount Wundagore in Transia. The twins were born on Mt. Wundagore, and due to the mountain's mystical energy, it gave Wanda the ability to use magic in addition to her other powers.

 

Shortly after the birth, Magda was driven mad with fear that Magneto might come for her and discover the twins. Despite Bova's attempts to reassure her, she fled the mountain during a blizzard in order to protect the twins and apparently died of exposure soon afterward.

 

The motherless twins became the responsibility of Bova. A short time later, Bova helped a World War II heroine named Miss America give birth to a child fathered by her superhero husband, the Whizzer, but unfortunately, both child and mother died from radiation poisoning soon afterward.

 

After Whizzer arrived, Bova only told him that Miss America had died, and gave him Pietro and Wanda to care for, claiming they were his children. Whizzer initially took the twins with him, but once he discovered they were not his own, he immediately returned them to Bova on Mt. Wundagore.

 

Bova then found another set of foster parents for Wanda and Pietro named Django and Marya Maximoff, who had just lost two children of their own. Django and Marya were Roma, and unfortunately suffered from prejudice and persecution in Transia.

 

Django worked as a doll-maker, but it was hard for him to find customers due to him being Roma. Django eventually had to steal food to keep his family from starving. When Wanda grew older, she received unwanted advances by a boy her age and was forced to use her powers to keep him away from her. The villagers, however, accused Wanda of seducing the boy and attacked the Maximoffs, setting fire to the family’s wagon.

 

Marya was still inside and burned to death. They clubbed Django unconscious, but Wanda and Pietro were able to escape. Wanda and Pietro now believed that they were the only members of their family left. The two twins grew up together taking care of themselves, and Pietro grew very protective of Wanda.

 

Character Evolution: Silver Age

 

Scarlet Witch has been through some major changes in her comic book career. Wanda began her career as a mutant on the side of evil, being a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. But just over a year later in May 1965, she joined the Avengers and became a hero in Avengers #16.

 

The line between good and evil with her blurred, not because of ideals, but because the slightest misuse of her powers was a cause for concern for many.

 

Bronze Age and Modern Age

 

For many years, Wanda was a core member of the Avengers and West Coast Avengers teams. But the Avengers Disassembled, House of M and Decimation storylines radically altered her powers and her place in the Marvel Universe.

 

Her powers had initially been portrayed as a simple ability to manipulate probability and generate hexes on her opponents. But following a breakdown caused by the realization that she had lost her children, Wanda manifested an ability to alter all of reality and caused the deaths of several characters as she lashed out at her former friends.

 

The Children's Crusade storyline, involving the Young Avengers in a quest to find and confront the now amnesiac Wanda who may once again alter her place in the Marvel Universe for good.

 

Major Story Arcs

 

Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

 

Eventually, Wanda and Pietro used their powers in public again, resulting in their being attacked by a superstitious mob. Magneto arrived and saved their lives, and in return, they agreed to join his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Wanda became known as the Scarlet Witch, and Pietro, due to his power of super-speed, took the name Quicksilver. They were the first members of the Brotherhood, but neither Magneto nor the twins were actually aware that Magneto was their real father.

 

Wanda was now a beautiful young woman and two male members of the Brotherhood, Toad, and Mastermind, often tried to seduce her, but Magneto always protected her from them.

 

However, Magneto would also inflict pain on Wanda whenever she gave a thought of leaving the Brotherhood. Magneto recruited more powerful beings to aid the Brotherhood, such as Namor, after Wanda failed her objectives during certain missions.

 

Namor eventually quit the Brotherhood after witnessing Wanda being abused by Magneto for her disloyalty. After Magneto was taken from Earth by the cosmic entity called the Stranger, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants effectively disbanded. The American superhero Iron Man then asked Wanda and Pietro to join his team of heroes, the Avengers.

 

The Avengers

 

The twins briefly went back to Europe to consider the offer, but soon returned to America and joined the Avengers. They wanted to redeem themselves for their past actions when they were members of the Brotherhood. Captain America trained them as Avengers, and Hawkeye became Wanda’s closest friend on the team. During her stay with the Avengers, Wanda became attracted to the android Avenger known as the Vision and the two began dating romantically.

 

Both Pietro and Hawkeye were very vocal in their disagreement with the relationship. Pietro felt dating an android was beneath Wanda, and Hawkeye also disapproved because he had developed his own feelings for Wanda. Eventually, Hawkeye got over his jealousy and gave Wanda and Vision his blessing. Pietro, on the other hand, denounced his sister’s love. Later, during an argument with Hawkeye, a telepath named Moondragon erased Pietro’s hate for the Vision.

 

Learning Her Powers & Marriage

 

Also during her time with the Avengers, Wanda was tutored by a true witch named Agatha Harkness. Harkness helped her to understand and employ her powers more efficiently. She disciplined Wanda’s magical ability and taught her to control her mutant hex power.

 

Wanda's romance with the Vision culminated in the two getting married. This important event in her life caused her to wonder who her real father was. For a time, she believed that the Whizzer was her biological father. Wanda eventually learned that Magneto was her real father, which made her even angrier at Magneto because of his abusive behavior during her time in the Brotherhood. Later, after Agatha Harkness died, Wanda became infused with magic powers that made her pregnant with twins, whom she named Thomas and William. Wanda and Vision decided to retire as Avengers in order to raise their children.

 

West Coast Avengers

 

Vision and Wanda eventually came out of retirement and joined a depleted West Coast Avengers. The Vision was kidnapped by other countries that were still angered with his attempt to take over the world years earlier. Vision's memories were eventually wiped clean, leaving him completely robotic and logic-driven and with no emotional attachment to anything, including Wanda. She decided to find a way to restore the Vision's memories and personality.

 

Wanda sought out Wonder Man, who was considered the Vision’s 'brother,' since the android's personality and memories had originally been created from Wonder Man's own. But since they shared the same psychic template, Wonder Man also loved Wanda and had always been jealous of the Vision. He wanted Wanda to marry him instead. Wonder Man was counseled by Wasp (who could not have children of her own and questioned the existence of Wanda’s children), who convinced him to not allow anyone to use his memories to restore the Vision’s.

 

Fading Children

 

Wanda’s children began to fade in and out of existence. It was eventually revealed that Agatha Harkness was still alive, and had used mystical energies containing parts of Mephisto’s soul, turning them into Wanda’s children in order to hide them.

One of Mephisto’s minions kidnapped Wanda’s children and reabsorbed them back into Mephisto. The Avengers attempted to rescue the children but failed. Agatha erased a grief-stricken Wanda’s memories of her twins and helped the Avengers escape from Mephisto’s realm.

 

Everyone’s life went on, with Vision still having no memories and showing little concern for Wanda on the battlefield. Vision eventually decided to leave the West Coast team to join the East Coast roster. Wanda begged Vision to stay by her side, but he told her that the East Coast needed him more than she did.

 

This led to Wanda having a nervous breakdown and helping found a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, along with Magneto (who had returned to Earth) and Quicksilver. Pietro soon revealed that he only joined Magneto to take back his fragile sister. The West Coast Avengers tried to save Wanda, but she was then kidnapped by Immortus. Immortus revealed that he had manipulated Wanda’s relationship with Vision in order to destroy the android, and this process made Wanda emotionally fragile.

 

Force Works & Return to the Avengers

 

During the process, Wanda’s mutant power connected her to multiple parallel universes. She was then rescued by the West Coast Avengers and rejoined the team. Wanda stayed with the West Coast Avengers for quite some time. Hawkeye helped her deal with the loss of her husband and her twins.

 

Wanda would eventually become leader of the West Coast Avengers, but soon left to become a founding member of a new team called Force Works. The ill-fated team did not last long however, when Wonder Man died on the first mission as a member of Force Works. The group disbanded, and Wanda rejoined the Avengers.

 

Around this time, Vision began to regain his past memories and emotions for Wanda and the couple tried to reconcile. They were interrupted when they had to battle Onslaught and died alongside other heroes. They were put in an alternate universe, but were returned to their proper universe by Franklin Richards.

 

Return to Earth-616

 

After returning to their own Earth, Wanda, along with her fellow Avengers and the Fantastic Four, soon tried to settle down once more after the events of the last few months. It was however not much later that Wanda was kidnapped by the sorceress Morgan Le Fey.

 

She was able to escape and resurrected Wonder Man to ghost form in the process. Le Fey battled Vision and wounded him badly. Vision tells Wanda not to visit him because of his current status and her fragile mind. Wanda revisited Agatha Harkness where she learns that her mutant powers were still evolving. She is able to now channel Chaos Magic which is considered very dangerous by professional magicians.

 

Wanda also learns that she can resurrect the dead now. After she was rejected by Vision so much, she decided to revive Wonder Man and pursue a relationship with him. They began having an obvious affair right in front of Vision who had his entire memories restored.

 

However, their relationship would go nowhere after Wonder Man reveals that he does not want to get married and have children. Wanda dumped Wonder Man right after that. Soon Wanda and Vision would reconcile and try to rebuild their relationship. Wanda began using her Chaos Magic more often and it started to consume her with chaos energy.

 

Avengers Disassembled

 

When the Wasp began a romantic relationship with Hawkeye, she would constantly talk to Wanda about the developments of their romance. One day after Wasp had a few drinks, she revealed to Wanda that she once had children that were hidden to her.

 

This triggered something deep inside Wanda’s mind. She sought out her former teacher, Agatha Harkness to learn the truth, and murdered Agatha for the betrayal. She went on to exact her revenge on her fellow Avengers. She hit each of them unexpectedly.

 

At this point, Wanda was believed not to be in her right mind, driven mad by her immense power and the memory of the children she lost. It is highly likely that what she did to the other Avengers was unknown even to her, and their destruction was created on a subconscious level.

 

First, the corpse of Jack Of Hearts was animated and blew up the Avengers Mansion, killing Scott Lang. It is not fully known whether this was actually Scott Lang's body, if his mind was in the body at the time of the attack, or if it was simply a construct generated by Wanda's magic which was meant to resemble the former Avenger.

 

Next, during a U.N. meeting where Iron Man was speaking, the unmasked Tony Stark became overwhelmed with the sensation of drunkenness despite his long-term sobriety. He called out the Latverian ambassador, talking about how the entire country should be wiped off the map, and threatening to kill the politician where he stood.

 

Before Hank Pym was able to lecture Tony, Wanda's Avengers communicator signaled a code white, signaling that they were needed at the Mansion. As Stark flew off, the United States Chief of Staff called him and informed him that he was being forced to resign from his position within the government.

 

Back at the mansion, SHIELD had arrived at the scene to lend assistance and investigate. The Vision flew in on an Avengers Quinjet, crashing into the side of the building. An apologetic Vision emerged from the rubble and ejected several metal orbs which grew into Ultron robots.

 

The army of Ultron robots attacked the Avengers, sending She-Hulk into a blind rage. After the Ultron robots were defeated, She-Hulk ripped the body of the Vision in half, utterly destroying him. Iron Man arrived just in time to incapacitate her, but not before she had severely injured both Wasp and Lionheart.

 

At this point, Wanda had either killed or taken several of her teammates out of action, most likely still not even realizing that she was behind the attacks. The remaining Avengers had little time to try to figure out what was happening or who was attacking them before returning to the Mansion.

 

When they returned, they found Nick Fury as well as many past members who were close enough to assemble, and a few friends of the team. Fury was trying to get the superheroes who had arrived to leave so that they wouldn't mess up his investigation when a group of Kree warriors (generated by Wanda's magic) flew in to attack. During the attack on the Avengers, Hawkeye sacrificed himself to bring down the Kree warship.

 

After the destruction of the ship, the remaining Kree fled and Doctor Strange arrived to inform them that the attacks on the Avengers were magic-based. He declared Wanda to be insane due to her possession of reality-altering abilities that were beyond her comprehension or control. He was aghast that she had been allowed to live her life without checks and balances, saying anyone who had such a powerful control over probability would have lost their grasp on reality. He scolded the Avengers for not consulting with him about Wanda’s past. He also reveals that there is no such thing as “Chaos Magic.”

 

Strange led the Avengers to Wanda who had begun creating a fake reality around her composed of those she cared for. The arrival of the Avengers threatened this peace and the existence of the children that she had once again willed into being.

 

Wanda summoned new constructs of heroes and villains to battle the group of superheroes and created demons to battle Strange. She was no match for Strange's power, and she was immobilized by him. It was then that Magneto, hearing of his daughter's mental break, arrived to rescue her. Magneto took Wanda back to Genosha in hopes of healing her broken mind.

 

House of M

 

While in Genosha, Magneto asked Professor X to help Wanda but he refuses to do so. Instead, Xavier put Wanda in a coma. She was trying to restore her husband’s life and undo the harm she has caused. Xavier then calls a meeting with the Avengers and the X-Men to decide whether they should allow Wanda to live or not. A horrified Pietro immediately came to Wanda and told her of this.

 

He convinced her, while she was in this fragile mental state, to distort probability to create a new reality, called House of M. In this new reality, the mutant/human ratio was reversed, and Magneto was the supreme ruler (hence, House of M). Wanda was also not a mutant in this reality and she had children.

 

However, Layla Miller used her powers to restore the memories of a few mutants, who created an assault force to try and re-establish the correct reality. This militia assumed it was Magneto who convinced Wanda to create the House of M. They attacked the House of M with a full army and in the process, Layla was able to restore Magneto’s memories. Wanda confessed it was Pietro that convinced her to warp reality.

 

No More Mutants

 

Infuriated, Magneto yelled at his son for using his name in this and nearly killed Pietro. Wanda then revived Pietro, angered that Magneto placed mutants over his own children. To remedy the problem, Wanda conjured all her powers and uttered the 3 most impacting words in all of the Marvel Universe: "No more mutants". This sent reality to where it was before with only a select few remembering what had happened, and 99% of the mutant population losing their powers. From that time onward, the events were referred to as M-Day.

 

Decimation

 

It is later revealed, that not only does Wanda not remember House of M or have her powers, she does not have any recollection of who she was, and has created a new life for herself. She currently resides in an unknown village in Europe. Later, Hawkeye was able to track Wanda down to a city near Wundagore Mountain.

 

Hawkeye saves Wanda from thieves but Wanda reveals that she has no memories of her past and believes that she has lived in the village her entire life. She thanks Hawkeye and calls him her hero. The two grow close.

 

After that Hawkeye tried to enter Aunt Agatha's room, but when he tried to grab the doorknob, it disappeared as if by magic. Hawkeye looked at Wanda but she, seemingly, was still asleep. Beast has also tried to get Wanda to undo the damage she caused the mutant race. Instead, she tells him a story about the fisherman and the mermaid, after informing Beast his watch was a fake.

 

He asks her questions about magic in the hopes it would trigger her memories, but she simply states she is waiting for her Aunt Agatha (who many suspect to be Agatha Harkness) and does not believe in magic.

 

Beast dreams of having a conversation with Wanda, who tells him "Sand is sand" and that he shouldn't mourn the passing of what passes, that she didn't invent death. When he tells her she delivered a death sentence, she reminds him that she spoke her mind and brought about change, not death. No more mutants, no more pain. However, when he brings up the valid point of asking about the mutants who were happy with their gifts, Wanda points out that he's still dreaming.

 

The Children's Crusade

 

The Young Avengers Wiccan and Speed convinced that the Scarlet Witch is their biological mother, go in search of the real Wanda. Along the way, they encounter both Magneto and Quicksilver, who are quickly drawn into a fight as Pietro attempts to kill his father Magneto. Wiccan transports the Young Avengers, Magneto, and Quicksilver to Transia to begin their search. In the midst of a fight, Wanda suddenly reappears, only to be 'killed' by Quicksilver, who had hurled some wooden stakes at Magneto but hit Wanda instead.

 

This 'Wanda' is revealed to be a Doombot, suggesting to the gathered group that Wanda is being held captive by Dr. Doom. After teleporting solo into Castle Doom, Wiccan encounters Wanda inside her private quarters. Hoping for a nice reunion with his mother, Wiccan attempts to tell her that he is her son. Unfortunately, Wanda has no knowledge of him or anything about her past life. She tells him she is set to marry Doom in a day.

 

Before Wiccan can do anything, Doom bursts into the room and knocks him out with a blast from his suit. Doom reveals to Wiccan (after healing him and removing his powers) that he didn't find Wanda, instead, Wanda found him. She has lost her powers and has no recollection of her past. He also claimed that he loves her.

 

On her wedding day, Wanda frees Wiccan from his chains and tells him that Victor wasn't acting in his usual way when he saw Wiccan and she asks Wiccan to tell her everything.

 

Wiccan tells her about Scarlet Witch up till the event when he meets Speed. He cuts off in his mid-sentence: "and I realized (that Speed and I are your lost twin sons)-" when he sees that the Avengers, as well as the Young Avengers and Magneto, have arrived in battle Doom and Wanda. Wolverine sees Wanda and attacks her and is about to kill her when he gets hit by a laser beam from Iron Lad.

 

While the rest of the Avengers and Young Avengers reunite with Iron Lad, Doom slips away to where Wanda and Wiccan are at and attempts to kill Billy.

 

Wanda begs him to stop and says she doesn't believe Wiccan's story but wonders why Doom is so concerned she might have. Magneto burst through the wall and attacks Doom, while Billy slips away with Wanda saying they have to get her somewhere safe. Iron Lad appears and says he can help by transporting all the Young Avengers and Wanda to his safe haven in the Timestream. Iron Lad says that to try and help Wanda regain her memory, they should go back to the day it started when Wanda resurrected Jack of Hearts and murdered her teammates. Everyone is worried about them (especially Cassie) changing the past but Iron Lad assures them that with his technology, they can inhabit the past without affecting it. He transports them all to the Avengers Mansion, the day of Wanda's breakdown, but she still doesn't recognize or recall anything.

 

Cassie sees her deceased father, Scott Lang, and runs to him. To everyone's surprise, she is able to touch him and he can see her. Suddenly Jack of Hearts appears and the Young Avengers (with Scott in tow) run from him. Wanda stays behind and walks up to Jack, and he pleads with her about why she's making him do this. As Speed, grabs Wanda to escape, Jack exploded. They appear in the present with Scott Lang, but in this reality, he is still dead, as he stands in front of his own memorial statue.

 

They ask Iron Lad how that is possible and how he brought them and Scott there without changing the past. He replied that he didn't and then Wanda appears behind them saying that she did it. They turn to see Wanda, in her Scarlet Witch costume, telling them that Billy was right, she is the Scarlet Witch and she remembers everything.

 

Feeling guilty about her past misdeeds, Wanda attempts to commit suicide. Billy is able to talk her out of it by revealing that he believes himself and Speed to be her reincarnated children. He then requests that she use her powers to reveal whether or not he and Thomas are her children, to which she agrees.

 

She realizes that they are in fact her children and her, Billy, and Thomas tearfully embrace each other. Beast suggests that Wanda absolve herself of her crimes by attempting to reverse the effects of M-Day. She is successfully able to restore the powers of the mutant known as Rictor, just as a team of X-Men shows up to confront her. As the X-Men try to take Wanda into their custody, both Magneto and the Avengers defend her which leads to a battle between both teams.

 

During the battle, Emma Frost uses her telepathy to influence the thoughts of both Wiccan and Speed until Wanda interferes and causes each member of both teams to fall asleep before teleporting herself and the Young Avengers to Doctor Doom's castle. There Doctor Doom and Wanda convince the Young Avengers into using a spell to separate Wanda from her powers. Combining the powers of Wanda, Wiccan and Doctor Doom they began their spell until it was interrupted by Patriot, who fired an explosive arrow at Wanda which interrupted the spell before it could be completed and thereby giving Doctor Doom all the powers that they were trying to harness.

 

Avengers vs. X-Men

 

During Avengers vs. X-Men, Wanda finds herself on the side of the Avengers, her powers being the only thing capable of hurting the Phoenix Five. As the Phoenix avatars grew stronger, however, Wanda's hex bolts became less and less effective. Tony Stark deduced that it would require the efforts of both Wanda and Hope Summers to stop the Phoenix.

 

Although she had fought with Hope at first, they successfully defeated Cyclops after he became the Dark Phoenix and rid the world of the Phoenix Force for now. The aftermath of this fight resulted in the re-emergence of the mutant race with several new powers manifesting at the very moment of the Phoenix dispersal.

 

Powers & Abilities

 

The Scarlet Witch possesses the mutant power of affecting probability fields. By a combination of gestures and mental concentration, she creates a hex-sphere, a finite pocket of reality-disrupting quasi-psionic force, which upon reaching its intended target, causes the disturbance in the molecular-level probability field surrounding the target. Thus, unlikely phenomena will occur.

 

Among the many phenomena she is able to cause are: the sudden melting of gun barrels, the spontaneous combustion of any flammable object, the rapid rust or decay of various organic and inorganic materials, the poltergeist-like deflection of an object in flight, the sudden evacuation of air from a given volume, the disruption of energy transmissions and fields, and so on. These phenomena occur practically instantaneously after the completion of her hex. Her range of hex-casting is limited by her line of sight. She cannot watch a live television broadcast and cause a hex-phenomenon to occur at its point of origin.

 

Scarlet Witch's hex-casting ability had a 20% unreliable factor and she is limited in the range of sight, although she has been able to overcome the latter limitation on occasion via extreme concentration and sorcerous enchantment.

 

Wanda is also a living focal point for the Earth's magic. Her sorcerous training with Agatha Harkness is separate from her mutant ability of probability (science). But the mixture of the two makes her considerably more powerful than just using her probability powers. She has a special affinity for the natural elements and materials that true witches utilize in their spells: the four alchemical elements, wood, organic substances, etc.

 

The reliability factor of her hex-casting ability is also limited by her physical condition: when well-rested, in good health and mentally and emotionally alert, Scarlet Witch can cast numerous hex-spheres in rapid succession and attain desirable results for almost an hour. However, certain events in House of M, have shown that her limits may have been removed altogether. And her powers actually evolved, giving her the mutant ability to alter reality on a vast scale by way of magic.

 

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

_____________________________

 

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: Wanda Maximoff

 

Publisher: Marvel

 

First Appearance: The X-Men #4 (March 1964)

 

Created by: Stan Lee (writer)

Jack Kirby (artist)

German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1795/3, 1927-1928. Photo: United Artists. Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky in The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926).

 

English gentleman-actor Ronald Colman (1891-1958) was a top box office draw in Hollywood films throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. ‘The Man with the velvet voice’ was nominated for four Academy Awards. In 1948 he finally won the Oscar for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947).

 

Ronald Charles Colman was born in 1891 in Richmond, England. He was the fifth of six children of silk importer Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. Ronald was educated at a boarding school in Littlehampton, where he discovered he enjoyed acting. When Ronald was 16 his father died of pneumonia, putting an end to the boy's plans to attend Cambridge and become an engineer. He went to work as a shipping clerk at the British Steamship Company. He also became a well-known amateur actor and was a member of the West Middlesex Dramatic Society (1908-1909). In 1909, he joined the London Scottish Regiment, a territorial army force, and he was sent to France at the outbreak of World War I. Colman took part in the First Battle of Ypres and was severely wounded at the battle at Messines in Belgium. The shrapnel wounds he took to his legs invalided him out of active service. In May 1915, decorated, discharged and depressed, he returned home with a limp that he would attempt to hide throughout the rest of his acting career. He tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in the London play The Maharanee of Arakan (1916). He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre. Producers soon noted the young actor with his striking good looks, rich voice and rare dignity, and Colman was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He worked with stage greats Gladys Cooper and Gerald du Maurier. He made extra money appearing in films like the two-reel silent comedy The Live Wire (Cecil Hepworth, 1917). The set was an old house with a negligible budget, and Colman doubled as the leading character and prop man. The film was never released though. Other silent British films were The Snow of the Desert (Walter West, 1919) with Violet Hopson and Stewart Rome, and The Black Spider (William Humphrey, 1920) with Mary Clare. The negatives of all of Colman's early British films have probably been destroyed during the 1941 London Blitz. After a brief courtship, he married actress Thelma Raye in 1919. The marriage was in trouble almost from the beginning. The two separated in 1923 but were not divorced until 1934.

 

In 1920 Ronald Colman set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. His American film debut was in the tawdry melodrama Handcuffs or Kisses? (George Archainbaud, 1920). He toured with Robert Warwick in 'The Dauntless Three', and subsequently toured with Fay Bainter in 'East is West'. After two years of impoverishment, he was cast in the Broadway hit play 'La Tendresse' (1922). Director Henry King spotted him and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (Henry King, 1923), filmed in Italy. The romantic tear-jerker was wildly popular and Colman was quickly proclaimed a new film star. This success led to a contract with prominent independent film producer Samuel Goldwyn, and in the following ten years, he became a very popular silent film star in both romantic and adventure films. Among his most successful films for Goldwyn were The Dark Angel (George Fitzmaurice, 1925) with Hungarian actress Vilma Bánky, Stella Dallas (Henry King, 1926), the Oscar Wilde adaptation Lady Windermere's Fan (Ernst Lubitsch, 1925) and The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926) with Gary Cooper. Colman's dark hair and eyes and his athletic and riding ability led reviewers to describe him as a ‘Valentino type’. He was often cast in similar, exotic roles. The film that cemented this position as a top star was Beau Geste (Herbert Brenon, 1926), Paramount's biggest hit of 1926. It was the rousing tale of three brothers (Colman, Neil Hamilton and Ralph Forbes), who join the Foreign Legion to escape the law. Beau Geste was full of mystery, desert action, intrigue and above all, brotherly loyalty. Colman's gentlemanly courage and quiet strength were showcased to perfection in the role of the oldest brother, Beau. The film is still referred to as possibly the greatest Foreign Legion film ever produced. Towards the end of the silent era, Colman was teamed again with Vilma Bánky under Samuel Goldwyn. The two would make a total of five films together and their popularity rivalled that of Greta Garbo and John Gilbert.

 

Although Ronald Colman was a huge success in silent films, with the coming of sound, his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice made him even more important to the film industry. His first major talkie success was in 1930 when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two roles - Condemned (Wesley Ruggles, 1929) with Lily Damita, and Bulldog Drummond (F. Richard Jones, 1929) with Joan Bennett. Thereafter he played a number of sophisticated, noble characters with enormous aplomb such as Clive of India (Richard Boleslawski, 1935) with Colin Clive, but he also swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (John Cromwell, 1937) with Madeleine Carroll. A falling out with Goldwyn in 1934 prompted Colman to avoid long-term contracts for the rest of his career. He became one of just a handful of top stars to successfully freelance, picking and choosing his assignments and studios. His notable films included the Charles Dickens adaptation A Tale of Two Cities (Jack Conway, 1935), the poetic classic Lost Horizon (Frank Capra, 1937), and If I Were King (Frank Lloyd, 1938) with Basil Rathbone as vagabond poet Francois Villon. During the war, he made two of his very best films - Talk of the Town (George Stevens, 1942) with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and the romantic tearjerker Random Harvest (Mervyn LeRoy, 1942), as an amnesiac victim, co-starring with the luminous Greer Garson. For his role in A Double Life (George Cukor, 1947), an actor playing Othello who comes to identify with the character, he won both the Golden Globe for Best Actor in 1947 and the Best Actor Oscar in 1948. Colman made many guest appearances on The Jack Benny Program on the radio, alongside his second wife, British stage and screen actress Benita Hume. Their comedy work as Benny's next-door neighbours led to their own radio comedy The Halls of Ivy from 1950 to 1952, and then on television from 1954 to 1955. Incidentally, he appeared in films, such as the romantic comedy Champagne for Caesar (Richard Whorf, 1950), and his final film The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957) with Hedy Lamarr. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "a laughably wretched extravaganza from which Colman managed to emerge with his dignity and reputation intact." Ronald Colman died in 1958, aged 67, from a lung infection in Santa Barbara, California. He was survived by Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman (1944). In 1975, Juliet published the biography 'Ronald Colman: A Very Private Person'.

 

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Jim Beaver (IMDb), Julie Stowe (The Ronald Colman Pages), Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Publication history

 

Marvel Comics' first Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia, first appeared in the medieval-adventure series Black Knight #1–5 (cover-dated May 1955–April 1956) from Atlas Comics, the 1950s precursor to Marvel Comics.

 

Sir Percy's descendant, Professor Nathan Garrett, debuted as the modern-day supervillain Black Knight in Tales to Astonish #52 (Feb. 1964). This villainous Black Knight appeared in The Avengers #6, #14–15 (July 1964, March–April 1965), and in the feature "Iron Man" in Tales of Suspense #73 (Jan. 1966), in which he was mortally wounded.

 

Dane Whitman, Garrett's nephew, made his first appearance in The Avengers #47 (Dec. 1967) and became a heroic version of the Black Knight in the subsequent issue. Whitman sporadically appeared with the Avengers until becoming a core member, regularly appearing in #252–300 (1985–1989) and #329–375 (1991–1994).

 

Dane Whitman

 

Dane Whitman, known as the Black Knight, embodies a legacy steeped in honor, chivalry, and a complex relationship with a cursed legacy.

 

Stemming from a long line of knights, Dane grapples with the burden of a dark family history intertwined with the mystical Ebony Blade, a weapon passed down through generations.

 

He is a descendant of Sir Percy of Scandia, Dane took on the mantle of the Black Knight to redeem his family's name tainted by his villainous uncle, Nathan Garrett.

 

As the Black Knight Dane relied on his intellect, combat skills, and the mystical powers of the Ebony Blade to battle evil and safeguard the world.

 

His journey as the Black Knight sees him navigating a world filled with both medieval lore and contemporary challenges.

 

Dane has often found himself entangled in epic conflicts, confronting magical threats, and forming alliances with various superheroes across the world.

 

Throughout his tenure, Dane has experienced personal turmoil, struggling with the temptations and consequences of wielding the Ebony Blade, which at times has led him down a darker path. He constantly seeks to balance the noble intentions behind his heroism with the potential corruption posed by the cursed weapon.

 

Dane's connections within the superhero community have expanded, fostering alliances with groups like the Avengers and relationships with individuals such as Sersi and Captain Britain.

 

Despite grappling with personal demons and the weight of his legacy, Dane Whitman's commitment to honor, bravery, and heroism remains a defining aspect of his character as the Black Knight.

 

History

 

Early Life

 

As a young man, Dane Whitman fell in love with Ashima Chopra, who developed terminal cancer. Dane planned to visit her in the hospital and propose, but lost his nerve and fell out of touch. Refusing treatment, Ashima died within a year, after secretly giving birth to a baby girl, Jackie.

 

Becoming the Black Knight

 

As an adult, Dane inherited his uncle Nathan Garrett's castle. He was unaware that his uncle had been the villainous Black Knight until finding notes and inventions. Eventually he came upon the Ebony Blade. Passing its test, Sir Percival explained the history of the blade and its curse.

 

Taking the weapon Dane decided to be a hero, joining the Masters of Evil just as his uncle did, but with the intent of infiltrating them from within. This he did to aid the Avengers, but they did not trust him until he later assisted them against Kang the Conqueror.

 

Crusades and Otherworld

 

Dane later fought alongside the Defenders against the Enchantress, but was apparently turned to stone by her. The Valkyrie took possession of the Knight's Ebony Blade and his winged horse, Aragorn, and Dr. Strange took custody of his petrified form.

 

The Defenders later attempted to restore him using the Evil Eye of Avalon. They discovered, however, that Whitman's spirit had been transported back in time to the 12th Century where it now inhabited the body of his own ancestor, Eobar Garrington.

 

Whitman declined to return to the present day with the Defenders, and Valkyrie returned his sword to him; Whitman allowed her to keep the horse.

 

Later, however, he was equipped with a new flying horse named Valinor and transported (still in Garrington's body) to the present day by the mage Merlyn, to carry out a special mission.

 

Sent to find the amnesiac hero Captain Britain, Whitman then traveled with him to Otherworld to battle the evil Mordred and his master, the demonic Necromon, and save Camelot (at some point during the course of this quest, both heroes were briefly abducted by the Grandmaster to participate in his 'Contest of Champions').

 

After this mission was concluded, Whitman was returned to the 12th Century, though he did briefly travel forward again to attend Merlyn's funeral.

 

Back in the past, he protected the mystical island of Avalon from the demonic Fomor, until Garrington's body was eventually destroyed during a battle involving the time-traveling Avengers. Whitman's spirit returned to his original body, which became flesh and blood again.

 

Avengers

 

Dane served several tours of duty with the Avengers. While a member, his scientific knowledge came to be useful, especially when such minds as Iron Man and Hank Pym were not on the roster.

 

He began his first extended membership with the team shortly after Vision stepped down as chairperson.

 

Dane participated in the siege on Avengers Mansion by the Masters of Evil (during which he was captured and beaten by Mister Hyde). Despite his injuries, Dane remained with the team after the membership shakeup that followed.

 

The curse of the Ebony Blade reasserted itself after the Avengers' associate member Marrina went insane and became the enormous Leviathan. Her husband Namor used the Ebony Blade to slay Marrina, reactivating the Knight's curse.

 

Dane began to physically transform into an extension of the blade, his body seizing up until he required an exoskeleton to move it.

 

After the Avengers disbanded, the Black Knight joined Thor in defense of Asgard from the invasion of the Egyptian Death God known as Seth, but his curse finally took hold and the Knight was trapped as an inanimate statue once again.

 

Returned to his ancestral castle, Dane's statue was tended to by Victoria Bentley. She attempted a spell to restore him to life, but inadvertently summoned the spirit of the original Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia, in his place.

 

After a series of adventures, Sir Percy abdicated Dane's body, taking the Ebony Blade's curse with him and restoring Whitman to his own body. Sir Percy had taken a squire named Sean Dolan, who Dane kept as his own.

 

The Black Knight returned to the Avengers after this, first as a reserve substitute, and later as a full member.

 

The curse of the Ebony Blade became too dangerous, and Dane eventually abandoned it choosing to use a technological weapon instead.

 

He was involved in Operation Galactic Storm, during which he was part of Captain America's team, sent to the Kree Empire. At the end of that mission, Dane was among the Avengers who followed Iron Man to execute the Kree Supreme Intelligence, and was, in fact, the one who struck the mortal blow.

 

While Dane would be away with the Avengers, Victoria Bentley retained ownership of the castle so he would not lose it. She could easily watch over the property as it neighbored hers.

 

However, Dane's former squire became possessed by the Ebony Blade and turned into the Bloodwraith. The Bloodwraith accidentally killed Victoria during a duel between the Bloodwraith, Dane, and Deadpool.

 

At this time, Dane also found himself in a love triangle with Crystal and Sersi. At first, he pursued a relationship with Sersi, as Crystal and her estranged husband, Pietro, attempted to reconcile, even becoming Sersi's "Gann Josin", establishing a powerful psychic link which was meant to help Sersi maintain control in troubled times.

 

Still, after Crystal and Pietro relationship seemingly reached the point of no return, he confessed his feelings for Crystal and the two kissed. However, Luna's kidnapping brought Pietro and Crystal closer again, so, after Proctor (an evil alternate version of Dane) was finally defeated, Sersi felt she was too dangerous and had to exile herself, and Dane went along with her, leaving Crystal behind.

 

Ultraverse

 

The two eventually ended up in the Ultraverse. Dane became a member of the local heroes known as UltraForce.

 

During a reality-shredding event known as Black September, the Avengers and UltraForce joined forces against Loki and the combined sentient power of the Infinity Gems. In the aftermath, Dane remained in the Ultraverse as the new leader of UltraForce.

 

After leading UltraForce for several months, Dane had the opportunity to return to Earth-616 after an alien invasion. He took the chance and passed through a portal leading back home.

 

At one point, Dane appeared in Crystal's mirror, telling her they needed help, but this was only witnessed by her daughter, Luna.

 

Exodus

 

While Dane was in the body of his ancestor Eobar Garrington during the Crusades, he met the knight Bennet du Paris, who became Exodus shortly after.

 

This explained why Dane felt Exodus was somehow familiar when they 'first' met in Genosha sometime earlier.

 

Heroes for Hire

 

Sersi was later able to transport herself and Dane back to the present. Their 'Gann Josin' had apparently been broken and they had gone their separate ways aside from acting as reservist Avengers. Dane joined Luke Cage's Heroes for Hire shortly after his return.

 

Not long after his return to Earth, the Lady of the Lake appeared to Dane, telling him he was destined to become Avalon's champion. She presented him with a new armor as well as the Shield of Night and the Sword of Light.

 

While working with Heroes for Hire Dane came across the High Evolutionary's Knights of Wundagore and agreed to train them. It was at this time that Dane acquired one of their "atomic steeds."

 

Excalibur and Avengers

 

Dane briefly joined an Excalibur team who helped Captain Britain to become the new monarch of Otherworld. For a time he served sporadically as a member of the Avengers and was present when they disbanded.

 

Later, Dane had returned to Garrett Castle and converted it into a museum. Dane suddenly switched bodies with the original Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia.

 

The investigating new Excalibur team found an ancient scroll in Percival's tomb showing the team as the saviors of Camelot.

 

Traveling back to the era of King Arthur, Whitman met Percy and helped his ancestor, King Arthur, and Merlin defeat the dragons plaguing the kingdom (revealing the "dragons" to be Makluans in the process) and returned to the present. After assisting Excalibur in tracking down Juggernaut in Korea and returning him to the team, Whitman left in search of his real Ebony Blade.

 

Secret Invasion

 

Recently returned to England, Whitman appeared to be wielding the original Blade again (actually a fake created by Dracula), using it to slaughter invading Skrulls during the Secret Invasion. Dane also was revealed to have a literal stone heart, given to him by Sersi to keep him "above it all" and uninvolved.

 

During the invasion, Dane made his way through London protecting innocents and in doing so saved the life of civilian doctor Faiza Hussain. Faiza fought alongside Dane against the Skrull army and their champion, Super-Skrull, until Dane was incapacitated and a newly resurrected Captain Britain came to their rescue.

 

While Captain Britain fought Super-Skrull, Faiza attempted to heal a dying Black Knight with her newfound abilities, and Dane - under the belief that he was on his deathbed - dubbed her his steward. Captain Britain was able to defeat the Super Skrull, Faiza healed Dane once magic returned to England and the Skrull Invasion in England came to an end; but not without revealing the new wielder of Excalibur to be Faiza.

 

Insanity and Euroforce

 

He slowly started to become insane because of the power of the Ebony Blade.

 

After encountering a fake Savage Steel robbing a bank, he brutally beat the criminal, even costing him an eye and leaving him in a coma.

 

After the Watcher's death and the release of the secrets buried in his eye, his attack on Savage Steel was revealed to Rebecca Stevens, a historian investigating the Blade who he previously met. She told him that the past users of the Blade had all fallen insane and offered help, but he refused. Later, he was recruited to lead the new Euroforce as a "temporal adjustment".

 

Journey on Weirdworld

 

Black Knight had fled to Weirdworld after killing Carnivore when losing control over the Ebony Blade as it increased in power.

 

There, he murdered King Zaltin Tar to establish New Avalon and built an army of Amazons, Demon Dogs, Giants, Ice Swarms, Thunder & Lightning Dragons, Tribbitites, and Underwater Apes with the help of Shield and Spear.

 

The army was formed in anticipation of the arrival of the Avengers Unity Division seeking to bring him to justice.

 

When the Avengers Unity Division arrived, they encountered Black Knight and his army, ultimately separating him from the Ebony Blade, so that he could be apprehended.

 

Later, commander Steve Rogers realized that the people of New Avalon relied upon Dane Whitman, and after defending the kingdom from the Fangs of the Serpent, Rebecca Stevens negotiated a compromise whereby Dane would remain in Weirdworld with her.

 

Hydra splinter groups started to form all over the world and several superhero teams were gathered to stop Hydra from going any further.

 

Meanwhile, Dane Whitman returned to Europe to help Euroforce battle Hydra, but he was apprehended alongside several teammates, remaining imprisoned until the Champions of Europe arrived and freed them.

 

On another occasion, Dane answered the call to join the Avengers battling the threat of the Empyre led Cotati.

 

Enter the Phoenix

 

When the cosmic force known as the Phoenix Force returned to Earth, it staged a contest to determine its next host, and Black Knight was one of many individuals summoned to the White Hot Room for it.

 

The Phoenix empowered the assembled champions and had them fight each other in trials by combat.

 

Dubbing himself the Phoenix Knight, Dane was pitted against the mysterious Red Widow in Stonehenge. However, Black Knight was quickly overpowered by his opponent and was defeated.

 

King in Black and Curse of the Ebony Blade

 

Depressed and resentful that the Avengers viewed him as a madman, Dane doubled down on his conviction that the Ebony Blade was responsible for his fits of rage.

 

When the dark god Knull assailed the Earth with his horde of symbiotes, Dane was among the Avengers-adjacent heroes contacted. En route to Manhattan he was attacked by a symbiote-dragon sent by Knull to claim the Ebony Blade, crash landing in Shanghai, China.

 

Losing his grip on the Ebony Blade, Dane encountering Aero and Swordmaster while searching for it, and was angered by their disdain towards him.

 

When Swordmaster refused to help save the civilians after learning the symbiotes were not minions of his nemesis, the dark god Chiyou, his divine weapon - the Sword of Fu Xi - forsook him for Dane.

 

Lapsing into a berserk state, Dane hacked a symbiote dragon to shreds, maniacally declaring that the Sword of Fu Xi belonged to him now.

 

As Swordmaster tried to take the divine sword back, one of the symbiotes latched onto them and connected them psychically to Knull, who revealed to Dane the truth of the Ebony Blade - that the sword's curse was not responsible for his family's history of mental instability and bloodlust, but it fed off their inner darkness and could only be wielded by a person consumed by evil.

 

Knull declared his intent to claim both the Ebony Blade and the Sword of Fu Xi for himself, manifesting an avatar in the shape of Chiyou to mock Swordmaster.

 

The Sword of Fu Xi rejected Dane as its wielder and returned to Swordmaster, leaving Dane devastated to learn his whole life had been a lie. Sensing his despair, the Ebony Blade returned to him, and Dane ultimately decided to channel his inner darkness to put a stop to Knull's invasion.

 

At some point around this time, Dane learned about the existence of his daughter, Jacks.

 

Deciding to approach the relationship slowly to "soften the blow", Dane reached out to her academically to discuss her thesis in Arthurian mythology.

 

Mordred, seeking to claim the Ebony items for himself, killed Dane and tried to take the sword before being chased away by the Avengers, and Dane was later resurrected by the Ebony Blade.

 

While Dane confronted Percy for the truth of the Ebony Blade, Elsa Bloodstone attacked him - having been tracking Mordred to obtain a Bloodstone in his possession.

 

Dane, Elsa, and Jacks tracked down the missing Ebony Chalice to the mystical realm of Listeneise, repelling Mordred when he attempted to claim the goblet and sword.

 

Drinking from the Chalice, Dane learned that Merlin had masterminded the downfall of Camelot, manipulating Arthur and Mordred, and had Percy assassinated in hopes of covering up Camelot's dark secret with the sanitized narratives that became Arthurian lore.

 

Informed of Mordred's plan to forge the Ebony Shield, Ebony Dagger, and Ebony Chalice into an Ebony Crown, Dane cast aside the Ebony Blade and let Mordred fatally wound him.

 

When Jacks took up the Ebony Blade, her connection to Dane was revealed and she used her rage to kill Mordred.

 

Resurrected by the Ebony Crown, Dane reforged it into the Ebon Siege - which gave dark portents to those who sat in it. Expecting Jacks to reject him as her father, Dane was shocked when she instead offered to lessen the burden of the Ebony Blade's curse by sharing the moniker of the Black Knight with him.

 

Abilities

 

Gifted Scientist: Whitman started out as a scientist, though specializing in physics (having earned a Master's degree in physics), he is proficient in a wide array of advanced sciences and technologies, including genetic and mechanical engineering; and continues to approach things from a scientific perspective more often than not, despite his ties to the world of magic.

 

Expert Swordsman: Whitman is an excellent swordsman whose skills have allowed him to best the Swordsman in combat.

 

Skilled Martial Artist: He is an excellent fighter, able to hold his own against such highly skilled fighters as Captain America and Wolverine.

 

Expert Horseman: He is also an expert horseman.

 

Magical Knowledge: Whitman has become somewhat familiar with magic.

 

Skilled Tactician & Strategist: He has also demonstrated good leadership skills as leader of both the Avengers and UltraForce. He has strong strategic and tactical skills.

 

Equipment

 

Dane wears protective armor, apparently of elven design. He also possesses a necklace that can contain his armor, sword, and shield and reappear whenever he says Avalon.

 

Brazier of Truth: Magical flame in Garrett Castle.

 

Weapons

 

Originally after taking up the mantle of Black Knight, Dane took to wielding his uncles Power Lance as a personal armament. Using it with the same expertise as its original creator did every now and then.

 

Dane currently wields the Ebony Blade as it has been gifted back to him by Storm.[60][43] In addition, he also owns a few replicas of the Ebony Blade that are stated to be nearly as powerful and just as dangerous.

 

He formerly used a Photon Sword and the Sword of Light and the Shield of Night, and for a time (while in the service of Merlyn) carried Excalibur after the temporary destruction of the Ebony Blade.

 

Transportation

 

Dane normally rides the white-winged horse, Strider, a gift from the Lady of the Lake. He formerly rode Valinor, whom he acquired while in the 12th century. While training the Knights of Wundagore, Dane used one of their 'atomic steeds.' His first white-winged horse was Aragorn, whom he gifted to Valkyrie.

 

While he used the Ebony Blade, Dane could be summoned to it regardless of location through the use of a ritual.

 

Notes

 

The Black Knight was one of the characters featured in Series A of the Marvel Value Stamps (#97)issued in the 1970s.

 

On the 50 state variant covers of U.S.Avengers #1, Black Knight was assigned as the Avenger of Ohio.

 

Trivia

 

Bloodwraith is his former Squire, Sean Dolan.

 

Dane Whitman was created by Roy Thomas, who was inspired by the original Black Knight.

 

Dane's telephone number in England was 01-552-8210.

 

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

_____________________________

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: Dane Whitman

 

Publisher: Marvel

 

First appearance: The Avengers #47 (December 1967)

 

Created by: Roy Thomas (Writer)

John Buscema (Artist)

  

  

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

 

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

Dorohedoro is a manga with a recent anime adaptation, about an amnesiac man with a lizard head and his bestie hunting down magicians.

Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her first appearance in Action Comics #252 (May 1959) and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.

 

Concept

 

Created as a female counterpart to Superman, Kara Zor-El shares his superpowers and vulnerability to Kryptonite. Supergirl plays a supporting role in various DC Comics publications, including Action Comics, Superman, and several comic book series unrelated to Superman.

 

In 1969, Supergirl's adventures became the lead feature in Adventure Comics, and she later starred in an eponymous comic book series which debuted in 1972 and ran until 1974, followed by a second monthly comic book series, The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, which ran from 1982 to 1984.

 

Supergirl was originally introduced in Action Comics #252 as the cousin of the publisher's flagship superhero, Superman in the story The Supergirl from Krypton. She is an alien from the planet Krypton, possessing a multitude of superhuman abilities derived from the rays of a yellow sun.

 

Other mainstream characters have taken the name Supergirl over the years, with decidedly non-extraterrestrial origins.

 

Because of changing editorial policy at DC, Supergirl was initially killed off in the year 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC Comics subsequently rebooted the continuity of the DC Comics Universe, re-establishing Superman's character as the sole survivor of Krypton's destruction.

 

Following the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths, several different characters written as having no familial relationship to Superman have assumed the role of Supergirl, including Matrix, Linda Danvers, and Cir-El. Following the cancellation of the third Supergirl comic book series (1996–2003), which starred the Matrix/Linda Danvers version of the character, a modern version of Kara Zor-El was reintroduced into the DC Comics continuity in "The Supergirl from Krypton" story within Superman/Batman #8 (February 2004). This modern Kara Zor-El stars as Supergirl in an eponymous comic book series and additionally in a supporting role in various other DC Comics publications.

 

Since her initial comic book appearances, the character later branched out into animation, film, television, and merchandising. In May 2011, Supergirl placed 94th on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time. In November 2013, the character placed 17th on IGN's list of the Top 25 Heroes of DC Comics.

 

Precursors

 

Superwoman – The first comic ever to feature a female counterpart to Superman is "Lois Lane – Superwoman", a story published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943), in which a hospitalized Lois dreams she has gained Kryptonesque superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel.

 

She begins her own career as Superwoman, complete with copycat costume. Similar stories with Lois Lane acquiring such powers and adopting the name "Superwoman" periodically appeared later. One such story is in Action Comics #156 (May 1951), in which Lois accidentally gains those powers through an invention of Superman's arch-foe, Lex Luthor. In the story, Lois wears a short blond wig in her crime-fighting identity, giving her an appearance almost identical to the later version of Supergirl after the latter's real name was specified as Kara Zor-El.

 

Supergirl – In Superboy #5 (November–December 1949) in a story titled "Superboy Meets Supergirl", Superboy meets Queen Lucy of the fictional Latin American nation of Borgonia. She is a stellar athlete and scholar. Tired of her duties and wanting to enjoy a normal life, Queen Lucy travels to Smallville, where she meets Superboy and soon wins his heart. Superboy puts on a show with her where he uses his powers to make her seem superhuman; during this contest, she is called Supergirl. As Supergirl, Queen Lucy wears a tan dress with a brown cape and Superboy's "S" symbol. Superboy later saves her from a scheming minister. She returns to her throne, leaving Superboy to wonder if she ever thinks of him.

 

Super-Sister – In the Superboy #78 story titled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superboy saves an alien woman named Shar-La from a life-threatening crash. After he ridicules her driving, Shar-La turns Superboy into a girl. In Smallville, Clark Kent (Superboy's alter ego) claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he plays Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. As a girl ridiculed and scorned by men, he wants to prove he is as good as he always was. In the end, it is revealed that the transformation is just an illusion created by Shar-La. Superboy learns not to ridicule women.

 

Super-Girl – In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and helper for Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor that a criminal has dropped towards him. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new female counterpart to Superman.

 

In the original issue, she has blond hair and her costume is blue and red like Superman's; indeed, it closely resembles the uniform that actress Helen Slater would later wear in the 1984 movie. Early reprints of this story show her with red hair and an orange and green costume to prevent readers from confusing her with the then current Supergirl character. Much later, the story was again reprinted in its original form.

 

Original character: Kara

 

Debut

After positive fan reaction to Super-Girl, the first recurring and most familiar version of Supergirl debuted in the year 1959. Kara Zor-El first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). The story that introduced the character was drawn by Al Plastino and written by Otto Binder, who had also created Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel's sister and female spinoff. Like Supergirl, Mary Marvel was a teen-age female version of an adult male superhero, wearing a costume that was identical to the older character's other than substituting a short skirt for tight trousers. (Binder also created Marvel Comics' Miss America, a superhero who shared little other than the name with her sometime co-star Captain America.)

 

Reaction to Supergirl's first appearance was tremendous, with thousands of positive letters pouring into the DC Comics offices.

 

Issue #8 of the Superman/Batman series originally published in 2004 re-introduced Kara Zor-El into the DC continuity. Like the pre-Crisis version, this Kara claims to be the daughter of Superman's uncle Zor-El and aunt Alura In-Ze. Unlike the traditional Supergirl, Kara is born before Superman; she is a teenager when he is a baby.

 

She is sent in a rocket in suspended animation to look after the infant Kal-El; however, her rocket is caught in the explosion of Krypton and becomes encased in a Kryptonite asteroid. She arrives on Earth years after Kal-El, who has grown and become known as Superman. Owing to this extended period of suspended animation, she is "younger" than her cousin. At the end of "The Supergirl from Krypton" arc, Superman officially introduces her to all the heroes of the DC Comics Universe. She adopts the Supergirl costume and accepts the name.

 

A new Supergirl series, written by Jeph Loeb, began publication in August 2005. The storyline in the first arc of Supergirl depicts a darker, evil version of Kara emerging when Lex Luthor exposes her to Black Kryptonite. The evil Supergirl implies that Kara's family sent her to Earth to kill Kal-El as revenge for a family grudge. At the time, Kara herself refuses to believe this, but later flashbacks indicate that not only is this partly true, but Kara had been physically altered by her father as a child before being involved in several murders on Krypton. However, these matters were later revealed to be delusions as a result of Kryptonite poisoning. Upon being cured, she presents a personality more like that of her Silver Age persona.

 

Biography

 

Kara Zor-El (so named because on Krypton, women take the full name of their fathers) is the last survivor of Argo City, which had survived the explosion of the planet Krypton and drifted through space. The city had been covered by a plastic dome for weather moderation, devised by Zor-El, the younger brother of Jor-El, a climatologist and engineer, the father of Superman (Kal-El).

 

The dome held together a large chunk of land mass under the city as it drifted through space in the general direction of our Solar System. However, the bottom-most layers of bedrock were affected by the explosion of the great planet's fissionable core and underwent a slow but steady chain reaction, turning into green kryptonite. Using raw deposits and refined materials at hand, the residents of Argo City laid down a ground shield of lead foil to protect them from the developing kryptonite.

 

Zor-El was also able to fashion a makeshift propulsion system to try to accelerate the city's approach to the Solar System. During the roughly 30 years Argo City traveled through space, Zor-El met and married Alura, daughter of In-Ze, who in turn bore their daughter, Kara—blond like her parents. But before the propulsion system was able to steer the city toward Earth, a deranged citizen named Jer-Em, who was suffering from survival guilt, damaged the exhaust, veering Argo toward a swarm of meteors that crashed into the underside of the land mass on which it rested.

 

As the inhabitants of the colony were being slain by the green kryptonite radiation released by meteorites shredding the lead barrier, the adolescent Kara was sent to Earth by Zor-El in a rocket, to be raised by her cousin Kal-El (a.k.a. Clark Kent). To ensure she would be recognized by Superman, Kara's parents provided her with a uniform which was closely based on the one Superman wears.

 

It later develops Zor-El and Alura survived the radiation poisoning that killed everyone else in Argo City by entering the Survival Zone, a parallel continuum akin to the Phantom Zone. They were eventually rescued by Supergirl and the couple decide to live in the bottle city of Kandor.

 

Later, Kara is reunited with her parents, but that reunion becomes bittersweet, as Reactron kills her father and her mother dies when New Krypton is destroyed by a trap in Reactron left by Lex Luthor, her own cousin Superman's greatest enemy on Earth and now her greatest enemy on Earth as well.

 

On Earth, Kara acquires powers identical to Superman's and adopts the secret identity of Linda Lee, a resident of Midvale Orphanage. She conceals her blonde hair beneath a brunette wig and functions as Supergirl only in secret, at Superman's request, until she can gain, in his opinion, sufficient control of her powers — and the wisdom to properly use them. Her debut was delayed by her powers being stolen by a Kandorian villainess; during this period, she is adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers.

 

She attends Midvale High School as Linda Lee Danvers. In later years, after graduating from Stanhope College, she changes careers several times, holding jobs in student counseling, news reporting, and acting in a TV soap opera, Secret Hearts (a play on the DC romance comic of the same name). She also attends college in Chicago. Kara has many boyfriends, including Richard (Dick) Malverne, Jerro the Merboy from Atlantis, and Brainiac 5, a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. However, she has shunned serious commitments, placing her super-career first.

 

Supergirl's secret identity is a closely held secret known only to Superman, her foster parents, and the Legion of Super-Heroes, of which she is a member for a time. Like all Kryptonians, Supergirl is vulnerable to kryptonite. Streaky the Supercat, her orange cat, acquires temporary superpowers as a result of its exposure to "X-kryptonite," a form of kryptonite Supergirl accidentally created in an unsuccessful attempt to neutralize the effects of green kryptonite. Comet the Superhorse, a former centaur, is Supergirl's equine companion.

 

One way DC demonstrated the epic nature of its 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths (April 1985 – March 1986) was through the deaths of important characters. In issue #7 (October 1985), Supergirl sacrifices her life to save her cousin and the DC Multiverse from destruction. When the Superman continuity was rebooted after Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC editors felt that Superman should be the sole survivor of Krypton, resulting in Kara being removed. Unlike a number of other characters who are shown dying in the Crisis, no one remembers Kara dying or even ever having existed.

 

After the events of Infinite Crisis, the sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, many historical events from the Multiverse are now being remembered. Donna Troy, after her rebirth and inheritance of the Harbinger's Orb, recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice.

 

A Post-Crisis Supergirl appears in Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes, in which she is transported to the 31st century and, as a result of her disorientation, for a time believes she is dreaming her surroundings into existence until finally convinced otherwise. Although her memories of her time with the Legion are erased before she returns to the present, the mental blocks break down upon encountering the Pre-Crisis versions of Legionnaires Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl (Una).

 

Supergirl exhibits new powers, manifesting sunstone crystals from her body; so far, she only does so while under great stress (for example, when Cassandra Cain tries to kill her). Supergirl's father implanted the crystals within his daughter's body to protect her from malevolent beings from the Phantom Zone. The Zone dwellers are released when Jor-El creates the Phantom Zone Projector and exploits the Zone as a prison. Kara's father, believing that Kal-El is a lure to the Zone denizens, instructs Kara to destroy him. More recent comics have cast this plotline as the result of kryptonite poisoning from the kryptonite asteroid in which she was trapped.

 

A recently completed storyline focused on her promise to a little boy that she would save him. She tries to make good on her promise, following different avenues searching for a cure for his cancer. After he died, she tracks down a villain with the ability to jump through time, but decides not to use that solution, as she would just be doing the same thing as the villain. She accepts that sometimes she cannot save everyone.

 

As part of The New 52, Kara's origin was rebooted once again. An amnesiac Kara awakens after her lifepod crashes to Earth in the midst of a meteor shower. Upon emerging, she encounters humans and the extent of her powers for the first time. When encountered by Superman, she attacks him, believing him to be an impostor as her cousin was only a baby when she last saw him and she believed it to only have been a few days since then.

 

After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving kryptonite through his heart and succumbs to kryptonite poisoning.

 

Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters and she intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by the Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, she manages to escape. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a restored H'el cannot save Krypton. She sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.

 

Back on Earth, she is attacked by the assassin Lobo and, in the ensuing battle, kills him while unleashing her rage. A Red Lantern power ring finds her and attaches itself to her, transforming her into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders through outer space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan.

 

Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, she is discharged from the Red Lantern Corps, as Guy did not want her to die needlessly fighting against Atrocitus' splinter group. On her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor.

 

He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core and she is restored to life without the power ring or any kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Gardner against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.

 

Supporting characters

 

Even though Supergirl is a Superman supporting character, she is also a Superman Family member, with her own set of supporting characters.

 

Zor-El and Alura – Kara Zor-El's biological parents. Zor-El, the younger brother of Jor-El, is a scientist who invents the dome over Argo City and oversees the placement of lead shielding over the ground of Argo City, thus enabling the city's residents to survive the explosion of Krypton. The city drifts in space for about 15 years, the residents clinging to a precarious existence. During that time, the couple have a daughter, Kara, who grows to about the age of 10 or 12, when the city is put in peril when its lead shielding is punctured by meteors, releasing deadly Kryptonite radiation.

 

At this point, Zor-El and Alura In-Ze place Kara in a rocket ship and send her to Earth, which Zor-El had observed using a powerful electronic telescope. Observing a super-powered man resembling his brother Jor-El, and wearing a uniform of Kryptonian styling, Zor-El and his wife conclude the man is probably their nephew, Kal-El, sent through space by Jor-El when Krypton exploded and now grown to adulthood.

 

In later Silver Age accounts, Zor-El and Alura survive the death of Argo City when, shortly before the radiation reached lethal levels, Zor-El projects them both into the immaterial Survival Zone, a separate dimension resembling the Phantom Zone; later they are released from the Zone and go to live in the bottle city of Kandor, preserved in microscopic size at Superman's Fortress of Solitude. In the Silver Age version of the continuity, Supergirl could regularly visit with both her adoptive parents, the Danvers (see below), and her birth parents.

 

Streaky the Supercat – Supergirl's pet cat. In the pre-Crisis continuity, he is named after a jagged horizontal stripe of lighter fur on his side, and acquires super-powers after exposure to X-Kryptonite. In post-Crisis continuity, she is a normal housecat Supergirl takes in, whose name is taken from her inability to understand the concept of a litterbox.

 

Comet the Super-Horse – Pre-Crisis Supergirl's horse is a centaur accidentally cursed by Circe into being trapped in the form of a horse. In post-Crisis continuity, Comet is a superhero who is a romantic interest of Linda Danvers.

 

Fred and Edna Danvers – The foster parents of pre-Crisis Supergirl. Shortly after they adopt Linda Lee from the Midvale orphanage, Superman reveals his cousin's identity to them, so they are aware of her powers. Later, they also learn that Superman is secretly Clark Kent.

 

Dick Malverne – An orphan at the Midvale Orphanage who is one of Pre-Crisis Supergirl's romantic interests. While living at the orphanage as Linda Lee, Supergirl meets and befriends a fellow orphan, Dick Wilson. Dick suspects that Linda is secretly Supergirl and constantly tries to prove it. Later, Dick is adopted by a couple named Malverne, and changes his name to Dick Malverne. In the post-Crisis continuity, Dick Malverne is a newly arrived resident of Leesburg who befriends Linda Danvers.

 

Jerro the Merboy – A merperson from Atlantis who is another of pre-Crisis Supergirl's romantic interests. Superman has a similar relationship with mermaid Lori Lemaris.

 

Lena Thorul – Another orphan at the Midvale Orphanage who is one of Pre-Crisis Supergirl's/Linda Lee Danvers's best friends. Lena is unaware that she is the long lost younger sister of Lex Luthor. When Lena was still a small child and Lex was a teen, Lex turned evil after the laboratory accident he blamed on Superboy turned him bald.

 

Lex's parents disowned him and told him to leave home. In order to prevent disgrace to Lena, they moved away from Smallville and told Lena that her brother had been killed in a mountain climbing accident. They changed their family name to Thorul, an anagram of Luthor. Eventually Lena's parents were killed in a car accident and Lena was sent to Midvale Orphanage. A childhood accident while playing in her brother Lex's laboratory empowered Lena with extrasensory perception.

 

Siobhan Smythe - Kara's best friend who mistook her for an enemy. They both bonded and later battled Siobhan's father, the Black Banshee.

 

Enemies

 

Black Flame – A Kandorian who takes to a life of crime and fights Supergirl. Introduced in Action Comics #304 (September 1963).

 

Blackstarr – Rachel Berkowitz discovers the secrets of the Unified Field Theory and employs it to manipulate reality as the leader of a group of neo-Nazis called the Party For Social Reform. Introduced in Supergirl vol. 2, #13 (November 1983).

 

Blithe – Earth-born angel servant of Carnivore who merges with the evil form of Matrix. She later becomes an ally. Introduced in Supergirl (vol. 4) #36 (September 1999).

 

Buzz – Gaius Marcus sells his soul to Baalzebub who goes on to become an agent for the Lords of Chaos. He would later become a shaky ally. Introduced in Supergirl (vol. 4) #1 (September 1996).

 

Carnivore – The son of Lilith and Baalzebub, Carnivean is the first vampire to walk the Earth and usurp the rule of Heaven. He was introduced in Supergirl (vol. 4) #32 (May 1999).

 

The Council – A clandestine criminal organization in Chicago that employs the Director, Matrix-Prime, and the Gang. Introduced in Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #3 (January 1983).

 

Decay – Daniel Pendergast manipulates Psi into trying to destroy Chicago only to be turned into a monstrous slime creature. Introduced in Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 (November 1982).

 

The Gang – A group of mercenaries whose members are Brains, Bulldozer, Ms. Mesmer, and Kong. Introduced in Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #4 (February 1983).

 

Lesla-Lar – A Kandorian who tries to switch places with Supergirl on several occasions. Introduced in Action Comics #279 (August 1961).

 

Lilith – The Mother of Demons, Lilith seeks revenge on Supergirl for destroying her son Carnivore. Introduced in Supergirl (vol. 4) #67 (April 2002).

 

Matrix-Prime – A powerful robot built by the Council that acts as their agent, collecting funds and eliminating threats. Introduced in Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #6 (March 1983).

 

Murmur – Demonic servant of Carnivore. Introduced in Supergirl (vol. 4) #33 (June 1999).

 

Nasthalia Luthor – Lex Luthor's niece and Supergirl's rival. Introduced in Adventure Comics #397 (September 1970).

 

Princess Tlaca – Aztec princess who seeks to triumph over Supergirl and restore the prestige of her civilization. Introduced in Superman Family #165 (June 1974).

 

Psi – Gayle Marsh is a powerful psionic manipulated by Daniel Pendergast into trying to destroy Chicago. Introduced in Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 (November 1982).

 

Reactron – The Living Reactor, Reactron seethes with radioactive energy and is able to generate concussive blasts and disintegration beams. Pre-Crisis, he is Army Sergeant Ben Krullen, who served with Tempest and developed his powers because of the hero. Post-Crisis, he is Benjamin Martin Krull and his origin is essentially the same as before. He murders Zor-El. Introduced in Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #8 (June 1983).

 

Reign – A Worldkiller, a biological weapon created on Krypton that was soon outlawed by the Kryptonian Science Council. Introduced in Supergirl (vol. 6) #5 (March 2012)

 

Siobhan McDougal/Silver Banshee – An aggressive enemy of Superman and the arch enemy of Supergirls Kara Zor-El and Linda Danvers.

 

Superwoman – Lucy Lane becomes her father's agent against the residents of New Krypton, bringing her into conflict with Supergirl. Lucy appears as Superwoman for the first time in Supergirl (vol. 5) #35 (January 2009).

 

Twilight – A New God who would curse the Presence and sees Supergirl as a means of exacting revenge. She merges with Matrix and becomes an ally. Introduced in Supergirl (vol. 4) #15 (November 1997).

 

Other notable versions

 

Several different versions of Supergirl have appeared in continuity.

 

Power Girl (Kara Zor-L) – A version of Kara Zor-El from the parallel world Earth-Two, the cousin of Superman (Kal-L). As part of the New 52, the reintroduced Power Girl is now from Earth 2, and had used the name Supergirl in that universe.

 

Laurel Gand (Andromeda) – Laurel Gand was the post-Crisis/Glorithverse replacement for the pre-Crisis Supergirl in the Legion of Super-Heroes after the latter was removed from the continuity following The Man of Steel reboot of Superman. Originally, Laurel is simply known by her given name. A younger version of Laurel takes the superhero codename "Andromeda" shortly before the Zero Hour reboot of the Legion; post-reboot, Laurel remains Andromeda.

 

Ariella Kent – Supergirl of the 853rd century, later revealed to be the daughter of post-Crisis Linda Danvers and Silver Age style Superman from the Many Happy Returns story arc.

 

Powers and Abilities

 

Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Kara possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:

 

Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Kara's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. Her biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and her bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.

 

Heat Vision: Kara can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. She can vary the heat and area affected.

 

Super-Hearing: Kara's hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, she can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.

 

Enhanced Vision: Kara's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.

This umbrella ability includes the following:

 

Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Kara can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. She can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, she can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows her to see the aura generated by living thing.

 

Telescopic Vision: This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.

 

X-Ray Vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Karas can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. She can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.

 

Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.

 

Infrared Vision: Kara can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.

 

Flight: Kara is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.

 

Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of her dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Kara is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, her extends this protection against toxins and diseases.

 

Enhanced Immunity

 

Superhuman Stamina: Kara is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This based on her body converting yellow solar radiation directly to energy, but is limited by physiological and psychological needs to eat, drink, and sleep.

 

Superhuman Strength: Kara's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of her musculature. Her strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables her to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass.

 

Superhuman Speed: Kara is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extends to her perceptions and allows for feats such as catching bullets in mid flight as well as covering vast distances in little or no time.

This also confers:

 

Superhuman Agility

Superhuman Reflexes

 

Super-Breath: Kara is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from her lungs. She can chill the air as it leaves her lungs to freeze targets. She can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into her lungs.

 

Longevity: Kara can live longer than regular humans, remaining at her prime as long as she was under the exposure of the "yellow" sun.

 

Energy Projection: Supergirl can project the solar energy she has absorbed. The energy projection is strong enough to free her from the Lasso of Truth.

 

Force Field: Supergirl can use the absorbed solar energy to cover her body in a glowing light. The force field has a protective nature. For example, it can prevent her from getting wet and allows her to breathe underwater. However, the extent of its effects is unknown.

 

Sound Manipulation: Supergirl is able to alter her voice in order to affect her surroundings as demonstrated when, in order to get out of a trap created by Cyborg Superman, Kara disrupted the frequency of the machine by screaming at a certain frequency.

 

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Kara was taught how to fight on Krypton as part of her trials, and in Crucible Academy.

 

Martial Arts: Kara is adept in several Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao.

 

Swordsmanship

 

Chi Manipulation: Supergirl learned the art of Bagua under the instruction of I-Ching. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain a better control on her powers due to them becoming supercharged after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended tutelage with I-Ching for Supergirl in the first place.

 

Multilingualism: Kara can speak fluent English and Kryptonian. She has been studying all Earth's languages, but she thinks she is bad at most of them.

 

Genius Level Intellect

 

Indomitable Will: Kara possesses an incredibly powerful will that allowed her to overcome Goldern Horn King's fear projecting power.

 

Weaknesses

 

Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Kara possesses the same potential weaknesses as an average Kryptonian. These include:

Vulnerability to Kryptonite

 

Vulnerability to Magic

 

Vulnerability to Sensory Overload: Supergirl's sensitive sense can be overpowered, such as when Lobo tossed a sonic grenade under her feet and knocked her unconscious.[41]-[91]

Solar Energy Dependency

 

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

_____________________________

 

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: Kara Zor-El, Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers

 

Publisher: DC

 

First appearance: As Super-Girl:

Superman #123 (August 1958)

As Supergirl:

Action Comics #252 (May 1959)

 

Created by: Otto Binder (Writer)

Al Plastino (Artist)

 

Supergirl has appeared in the Bijou Planks such as in BP 2021 Day 186!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51293404990/

 

She has also appeared in the 'Invasion of the Car Snatchers' with best friend Batgirl, such as this scene:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50010301737/

 

In the Paprihaven story, Supergirl has featured prominently alongside Batgirl such as in:

Paprihaven 381:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/19189449016/

 

Paprihaven 702:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/18793955144/

 

Paprihaven 1500:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/47767910451/

 

And even visiting Egolon's Ville in Paprihaven 380!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/19192181925/

 

Visit Egolon's Ville! egolon

The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Ernie Hart, and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #44 (June 1963).

 

Janet van Dyne is usually depicted as having the ability to shrink to a height of several centimeters, fly by means of insectoid wings, and fire bioelectric energy blasts. She is a founding member of the Avengers and the one who gave them their name as well as a longtime leader of the team. She is also the ex-wife of Hank Pym and the stepmother of Nadia van Dyne.

 

The Wasp has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female heroes.

 

"A hundred years from now, when we're all dead and buried, there will be only two things that we're remembered for... what we did. And what we looked like. Our uniforms are as much a part of our legacy as anything we'll ever do." — The Wasp

 

Janet Van Dyne is a fashion designer and socialite who acts as the winsome super-heroine known as the Wasp. In order to avenge the death of her father at the hands of an extradimensional creature, she was exposed to the size-altering Pym Particles and was biologically modified by Dr. Hank Pym, a.k.a. the tiny adventurer Ant-Man. As the Wasp, she became Pym's crime-fighting partner, having the ability to shrink in size, fly with synthetic wings and fire energy stings. Alongside Pym, she became a founding member of the Avengers, being responsible for suggesting the name of the group.

 

The Wasp eventually married Pym, but their relationship would turn out to be a tragic experience after she became a victim of domestic violence. Having weaponized the pain of her hurtful divorce, she has become one of the most prominent, efficient and empathetic Avengers' leaders. During the Skrull Invasion, the Wasp had her powers tampered with to serve as a final attack for the aliens in the form of a living bomb. Her apparent demise was followed by the end of the war. She was later found lost in the Microverse by the original Avengers and has resumed her superheroic career.

 

More recently, the Wasp has been part of multiple activities in the super-hero community. She was a member of the Unity Division, an initiative aimed to integrate mutant and human super-heroes, and became a secret Agent of Wakanda, working closely with the Avengers again. Additionally, since witnessing Pym's apprent death, she has acted as an inspiring and motherly mentor to her stepdaughter, the new Wasp.

 

History

 

The Winsome Wasp

 

Janet Van Dyne was born into a wealthy family. Her uncle was textile magnate Blaine Van Dyne, and his wife was talented fashion designer Amelia. Her father was world-renowned scientist Dr. Vernon Van Dyne, while her mother was a vibrant and creative woman who unfortunately sustained an incapacitating brain injury in a car accident when Janet was a child. Trapped in a vegetative state for years, Janet's mother sadly withered away and died.

 

As a young woman, Janet Van Dyne lived the life of an opulent socialite, having grown an interest in pursuing an education in fashion design. Usually accompanying her father in scientific meetings, she met Hank Pym, a young and unconventional scientist who experienced frustration by getting ridiculed for his uncanny shrinking formula. Interested in Pym, she invited him to dinner when they first met. He initially rejected her advances due to being focused on his research and on mourning his late wife, but eventually started to go to casual friendly dates with Van Dyne. Simultaneously, Pym secretly implemented his work on himself, acting as the tiny super hero Ant-Man.

 

When Dr. Van Dyne perfected a gamma-ray beam device to contact another dimension, he accidentally summoned the horrendous Creature from Kosmos. Killed by the monster's biologically-produced formic acid, his lifeless body was horribly discovered by his daughter, who called Pym for help. As Ant-Man, Pym investigated the murder and was astonished by Van Dyne's bravery in wishing to avenge her father. Pym could not help but compare Van Dyne with his strong-willed wife. Deciding to reveal his secret identity to Van Dyne, Ant-Man also shared his intentions of having a partner in his adventures. Grafting synthetic wings and antennae that would protrude from her shrunken-down body, Hank Pym transformed Janet Van Dyne into the wondrous Wasp. Together, Ant-Man and the Wasp eliminated the extradimensional alien, the first of many feats that their partnership would give them.

 

As a crime-fighting duo, Ant-Man and the Wasp fought many villains, including recurrent figures such as Egghead and the Porcupine. The Wasp, with her savvy and cheerful attitude, proved to be crucially beneficial to Ant-Man's career, as she exhibited masterful competence as a super-heroine. Additionally, in between their adventures, she constantly expressed her wishes of becoming romantically involved with Pym, but kept being rejected by the gloomy widower. With a rising reputation as a charismatic celebrity, the Wasp also frequently entertained fans, hospital patients and even Hank Pym by telling them diverse fantasy stories.

 

Avengers, Assemble!

 

On patrol duty, Ant-Man and the Wasp eventually received an intercepted transmission cast by the Teen Brigade about a conflict involving the monstrous Hulk and the God of Thunder Thor. The fight had been in fact orchestrated by Thor's trickster brother Loki. Teamed up with Iron Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp clashed with the Hulk until Thor arrived with the defeated Loki, revealing the mischievous origin of the whole ordeal. With Loki defeated, the accidentally formed group of heroes unanimously agreed to found an official team. The Wasp came up with their colorful and dramatic name: the Avengers. As Avengers, Ant-Man and the Wasp were based at Avengers Mansion in New York City, but also maintained their activities as an independent duo, living at Pym Laboratories in New Jersey.

 

Deciding to augment his powers to be more useful to the Avengers, Pym designed a growth formula, revamping himself as Giant-Man. With his new abilities, Giant-Man went into action against the high-speed robber known as the Human Top. The Wasp assisted Pym with his training, which granted him success in capturing the Human Top. A vengeful Human Top grew jealous of the relationship between Giant-Man and the Wasp, gradually becoming obsessed with her gorgeous figure. Around this period, in order to improve the Wasp's performance in the field, Pym developed a "Wasp's sting" -- a compressed air wrist gun which fired long-range blasts.

 

Having adventures both on their own and as active Avengers, Giant-Man and the Wasp faced multiple adversities, clashing with enemies such as the Masters of Evil, Kang the Conqueror and Immortus the master of time. Emotionally, the two partners struggled to deal with their affection for each other. The opposite actions of an excessively playful Van Dyne and an emotionally closed Pym constantly ruined any chances of a calm relationship. In order to make Pym jealous, Van Dyne teased him about getting married to the social register Sterling Stuyvesant.

 

She regretted her actions after the duo combated the macabre Magician. Tensions escalated after Van Dyne felt rejected for accidentally damaging some equipment for one of Pym's projects. Deciding to leave Giant-Man, the Wasp abandoned their partnership. However, she was captured by the Atlantean barbarian Attuma. As Giant-Man came to her rescue, their combined size-changing abilities tricked Attuma into believing all surface dwellers had such powers, causing him to flee and rekindling their partnership.

 

Their relationship experienced another dramatic complication when the Avengers focused on the Maggia crime syndicate. Their secret leader Count Nefaria invited the Avengers to his castle under the auspices of a charity gala. With his true intentions revealed, the Wasp was critically wounded by a gunshot. Rushed to a nearby hospital with her lung punctured, Van Dyne's only hope lied in a Norwegian surgeon named Dr. Svenson. The Avengers were shocked to learn Svenson was actually a Kallusian alien hiding from their foes, the Yirbek, on Earth. Brought to America, Svenson performed the surgery on the Wasp, successfully saving her life.

 

Not long after, the Avengers defeated their archnemesis, the Masters of Evil and discussed the future of the group. The Wasp decided to take a leave of absence alongside Pym after her recent brush with death. Although they were not Avengers anymore, they maintained their partnership as a couple of independent vigilantes.

 

The Human Top's obsession with the Wasp escalated to the point that he kidnapped her in hopes of forcing her to fall in love with him. Tracking Van Dyne through her Wasp's cybernetic relays, Giant-Man reached the Human Top's hideout. Defeated by Giant-Man with the Wasp's help, the Human Top was handed over to the authorities. The stressful situation helped Pym to profess his love for Van Dyne, and they finally embarked on a romantic relationship. After this episode, they went into their first full retirement, got engaged to each other and dedicated their lives to scientific research.

 

Pym took on a job involving a deep-sea drilling operation to assess the origins of life on Earth, having Van Dyne as his assistant. Their operation caused earthquakes in Atlantis, drawing Namor the Sub-Mariner to attack their platform. Considering the savage Atlantean marching to New York City could be a threat, the Wasp decided to seek the Avengers out. En route, she was one more time captured by Attuma, who believed her to be a spy trying to stop his most recent plans to invade the surface world. The Wasp managed to break free and alert the Avengers, but in turn was restrained by the exotic Collector. The Avengers ultimately thwarted Attuma's plans for conquest.

 

With the Wasp missing, Pym contacted the Avengers for help and rejoined the group, rebranding himself as Goliath. Unexpectedly contacted by the Collector, the Avengers were challenged to come and get him at his secret hideout, where they battled through his various weapons as well as his minion, the Beetle. A defeated Collector teleported away with the Beetle.

 

The Wasp was freed, but Goliath found himself permanently trapped in his giant-sized form, a result of a long time with no practice with his powers. Deeply depressed, the freakishly gigantic Goliath pushed the Wasp away and even left the Avengers Mansion. However, when the team was captured by the Black Widow and her employees, the Swordsman and Power Man, the Wasp and Goliath fully returned to Avengers duty, easily trouncing their foes, who succeeded in escaping though.

 

Realizing that his old university professor Dr. Franz Anton could be a solution to his problem, Goliath secretly went to South America with hopes of a cure, where he found that Anton was a prisoner of the Keeper of the Flame. The Wasp and the Avengers tracked down Goliath and escaped with Dr. Anton. When Goliath finally asked Dr. Anton for aid, he told the hero that only one man could possibly help: Dr. Henry Pym. Pym slowly overcame his depression by getting used to his condition, much to Van Dyne's delight. However, their relationship experienced another minor turmoil after Pym decided to rudely dismiss her as his assistant, hiring biochemist Bill Foster to replace her.

 

As a public figure, due to her activities both as a socialite and as an Avenger, Van Dyne became the obsession of a new villain, her friend's ex-boyfriend Arthur Parks, the Living Laser. Seeking to win the Wasp's love, the Laser attacked Goliath at his lab, but the man-mountain easily defeated his foe, who then turned over to fellow Avengers Captain America and Hawkeye. The Living Laser broke free and made the Wasp and the Avengers his prisoners. Learning that the Avengers were in trouble, Goliath tracked the Laser down to his base. However, by the time he arrived the Living Laser had already absconded with the Wasp, trying to overthrow the nation of Costa Verde. The Avengers launched an attack against the Laser's forces. During the course of the battle, Goliath allowed himself to get captured. Previously regaining his shrinking powers with Foster's help, he was able to free himself and the Wasp. The Avengers then crushed the Living Laser's invasion.

 

When examining the robot Dragon Man as part of his initial studies on artificial intelligence, Pym was approached by Dragon Man's former controller, Diablo. Wishing to have the creature restored to life, Diablo took both Goliath and the Wasp prisoners. By threatening the Wasp's life, Diablo forced Goliath to build an army of Dragon Men in a plot to take over the world. The Avengers came to help, but Goliath was forced to fight his comrades as he did not wish the Wasp to get hurt. However, the Avengers' newest ally Hercules defeated Dragon Man and saved the Wasp, taking Diablo prisoner and destroying his castle. During this crisis, Van Dyne turned 23 and, as a consequence, fully inherited her family fortune, effectively becoming a millionaire.

 

Reinventing himself as Whirlwind, the Wasp's stalker previously known as the Human Top decided to get revenge against his old enemies. Taking on the false identity of "Charles Matthews", Whirlwind worked for the now millionaire Van Dyne as her chauffeur. This allowed him to know in detail when to strike the Avengers Mansion. Whirlwind made his move by using a shrinking ray to reduce the Wasp and Goliath down to ant-size and toss them into Pym's ants' habitat. Without any control devices and having their size-changing powers negated, the couple was forced to fend for themselves against the insects.

 

Eventually, Pym got to a miniaturized cybernetic control center and created an ant-controlling headpiece which allowed them to escape their death trap. Whirlwind was forced to flee when confronted by the other Avengers, but managed to keep his secret alter ego unrevealed. In order to get their minds off of this recent drama, the couple decided to take a short vacation trip to Las Vegas.

 

After many enemies, the Wasp and the Avengers met their most formidable foe in the form of Ultron, the living automaton. Masquerading as the macabre Crimson Cowl and manipulating the Avengers' butler, Edwin Jarvis, Ultron attacked the Avengers alongside a new group of Masters of Evil, which included Whirlwind. Helped by the Black Knight, the Wasp and the Avengers were victorious against the Masters. Ultron, however, managed to escape after revealing his true identity.

 

The humanoid machine continued to plot against the Avengers by sending a creation of his own to infiltrate Avengers Mansion: a synthetic man with ethereal abilities. Shocked by the lifeless and unearthly apparition inside her quarters, the Wasp verbally expressed the terror caused by such an inhuman "vision". As the other Avengers came to her rescue, the android was incapacitated and then analyzed. Adopting the name the Vision after the Wasp's reaction, the artificial man overcame Ultron's programming and led the Avengers to his former master's hideout. Ultron was apparently destroyed, but the mystery behind his hate against the Avengers remained.

 

During their investigation, the Avengers came upon the ruins of one of Pym's former laboratories, where Pym had access to records of himself creating Ultron, a consequence of his interest in artificial intelligence for studying Dragon Man. Ultron, having a fast-evolving intelligence, rebelled against his "father". As a final act during their fight, Ultron erased Pym's memory about his existence and left the devastated site. Later, Van Dyne found her debilitated partner, but only after all traces of Ultron had vanished.

 

Ultron's attack proved to have a deep impact on Pym's psyche. This was aggravated by a combination of his emotional repression and the chemicals he had inadvertently been exposing himself to, which triggered a schizophrenic episode. His memories of Hank Pym were submerged and his inhibitions were pushed to the fore. Developing a new identity as the chauvinistic Yellowjacket in order to antagonize Goliath's insecure attitude, Pym forged himself into an assertive lover to the Wasp.

 

Using his villainous new alias, he fabricated a story in which he believed he had defeated Goliath in battle, shrinking him down to size and leaving him to die at the hands of a spider. The grieving Avengers clashed with their teammate's "murderer", which ended with the heroes defeated and Janet Van Dyne as Yellowjacket's prisoner. When the Avengers came to the Wasp's rescue, much to their shock and surprise, she informed them that she intended to marry her obnoxious captor.

 

A bizarre wedding ceremony went through, and the catering staff had been unknowingly replaced by the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime. Seeing Van Dyne in peril at the hands of the villains, Yellowjacket at first cracked under the pressure but then used Goliath's growing powers, revealing to his teammates that he was Hank Pym all along. The Circus of Crime was easily defeated by Avengers easily turned over to the authorities. With Pym's mind seemingly restored, the just-married couple was able to enjoy some happiness.

 

During their honeymoon, Pym deduced that his growing powers were partially responsible for his schizophrenic episode and decided to retire as Goliath in favor of maintaining his Yellowjacket identity, using his shrinking powers once again. With the end of their honeymoon, the Wasp and her husband accompanied the Avengers on a mission to rescue the Black Widow in the Caribbean, which turned out to be a trap set by Egghead, who continuously targeted the Avengers, seeking revenge against his old foes Hank Pym and the Wasp with no success.

 

Another ghost of the Pyms' past manifested in the form of a failed attack executed by a recovered Ultron. Following some other missions alongside his wife and the Avengers, Pym was eventually offered an assignment by the government to study in Alaska. Since he accepted the proposal, Yellowjacket and the Wasp permanently left the Avengers and resumed their activities as researchers.

 

While visiting the Avengers Mansion, the Wasp was shocked to find it occupied by the Liberators, an all-female group commanded by the warrior woman named the Valkyrie, who had managed to convince her associates to turn against their male teammates. The Wasp assisted the Liberators in interrupting a conflict between the Avengers and the Masters of Evil. With the Avengers overpowered, the Valkyrie was revealed to be the villain Amora the Enchantress and was fended off by the Liberators.

 

Later on, during one of their investigations, the Pyms lost contact with their research colleagues, being forced to become Yellowjacket and the Wasp to search for them. In the frigid Arctic, they found an atypically tropical environment. Unexplainably, Yellowjacket knocked the Wasp out and sent her back to safety. She contacted the Avengers to go to her missing husband's rescue.

 

Inside the dense jungle, the Avengers were attacked by the Kree Accuser Ronan, who had captured and devolved Pym and the other scientists into primitive beings, an experiment to facilitate his intentions of dominating Earth. Pym's affection for the Wasp prevented him from causing her any harm in his devolved state. Although Ronan would probably come out victorious by subduing all the Avengers, he was forced to abandon his plans upon learning the Kree Empire was under attack by Skrulls. With his base destroyed, Pym was restored to his former self and, alongside the Wasp, once again uttered his intentions of permanently retiring from his super-hero activities.

 

The Pyms eventually returned to New Jersey, where Hank kept on performing his studies as a chemist. Unfortunately, his experiments caused him to become permanently trapped in his ant-size form. After an arduous journey back home as the tiny Ant-Man, he learned that, in the days he was missing, Charles Matthews had taken advantage to get closer to Janet.

 

As she rejected Matthews, Pym managed to get her attention and reveal his recent and unfortunate condition. As Pym's lab assistant once again, Janet helped him to develop a cure. However, the pair was attacked by Matthews in his secret Whirlwind identity. Escaping Whirlwind, the Wasp also found herself trapped in her shrunken form from testing an antidote for her husband. The villain returned to the Pyms' house and the tiny couple had no choice but to abandon their home. With the building burned to the ground, the press assumed that the Pyms were killed in the fire.

 

Shrunken down as insects, the Pyms struggled to survive, being captured by a mad scientist called Boswell, who was a servant of his own mechanoid creation, the Para-Man. Ant-Man and the Wasp escaped, destroying Boswell's laboratory. However, in the process, Janet was mutated into a monstrous wasp-like creature as a side effect of the ineffective antidote. Behaving as a killer wasp, she attempted to murder her own husband. In order to defend himself, Ant-Man used his helmet to connect with her biology, reversing the transformation.

 

In their quest for help, the Pyms were then met by the nefarious Doctor Nemesis, who cured them only to blackmail Ant-Man into stealing technology from Avengers Mansion by holding the Wasp hostage. As Ant-Man rebelled, Nemesis was defeated, and the Pyms returned to their normal size and to their calm lives as researchers. Although retired, the couple of adventurers found themselves back in occasional super-hero activities, such as when protecting their ally Rick Jones from the Living Laser and the Lunatic Legion.

 

Pym's constant frustration as a failed scientist led to an erratic behavior that worried the Wasp, who in turn consulted a psychiatrist for help. Willing to revive their happier times, she decided to restore their super-hero careers. Claiming to have grown bored of her leave of absence, the winsome Wasp contacted the Avengers and asked to go back to active duty. Although Pym preferred to stay a mere scientist, he initially agreed to accompany his wife in the Avengers as Yellowjacket.

 

Almost immediately after their return, the Wasp was gravely wounded in an attack orchestrated by the Toad. At the hospital, she became an easy target for Whirlwind, who once again obsessively attempted to kidnap her. Failing after being met by the Avengers, Whirlwind tried to approach his victim as Charles Matthews. Finally, after years of deceit, Charles Matthews was outed as Whirlwind by Yellowjacket. With Beast's help, Whirlwind was defeated, which was followed by the Wasp's recovery.

 

The Wasp's excitement to resume her activities as an Avenger sporadically conflicted with Yellowjacket's apprehension and instability as a super-hero, although he remained with the team and the duo faced many dangers together. This led Yellowjacket to become interested in improving their super-abilities. However, before he could achieve his intentions, his instability escalated to the point that the Wasp found his laboratory in their home in Cresskill completely destroyed, with him nowhere to be found.

 

An amnesiac Hank Pym, in his Ant-Man persona, infiltrated Avengers Mansion and attacked his own teammates, being unable to recognize the newest Avengers due to his delusions. As the Wasp intervened, he was restrained and his recent mental issues exposed to the other Avengers. Returning home with the Beast, the Wasp was attacked and captured by Ultron, who in sequence apprehended Pym as well. In a Stark International's facility, Ultron set his macabre plan in motion by convincing a paranoid Pym to transfer the Wasp's consciousness into a metallic android body. Falsely alleging that the Wasp's life was at peril, Ultron in fact wished to activate a robotic bride for himself using Janet's brain patterns. The Avengers interrupted the process before its completion, but Ultron managed to flee, leaving Pym behind and completely insane.

 

Nevertheless, the Avengers succeeded in restoring Pym's psyche, and the couple took residence in a penthouse in Manhattan, where they came upon an injured Spider-Man and were subsequently attacked by the thermodynamic Equinox. During the ensuing battle, Yellowjacket was apparently slain, much to the Wasp's despair.

 

The grieving Wasp and Spider-Man were then met by Dr. Sorenson, Equinox's mother, who wished to activate a device to stop her son's rampage. In the Baxter Building, the trio was attacked both by Equinox and the malfunctioning building's defenses. Assisted by a pretty much alive Yellowjacket, the Wasp surprisingly knocked Equinox out with an upgraded version of her wrist sting. Yellowjacket revealed that he had engineered an improved Wasp serum that allowed her to convert the energy liberated during her shrinking into a powerful bio-electric blast. The process had been fully triggered by the stress of Janet witnessing her husband's apparent death.

 

Investing in her career as a fashion designer, Janet established links with New York City's posh high society. In her first exhibition, in Park Avenue, the criminal Porcupine and his lackeys attempted a robbery. Assisted by Nighthawk, the Wasp and Yellowjacket defeated the assailants. During the attack, one of the models wearing Janet's outfits, Carina Walters, simply vanished, sparking the heroes' curiosity.

 

The fate of Carina Walters was revealed only when the Avengers and their allies, the Guardians of the Galaxy, found her as a partner to the Guardians' enemy, Korvac. In between these events, the Wasp decided to move the female android created by Ultron to the Avengers Mansion as to keep it away from her house. There, the robot was activated. The Wasp and the other Avengers followed the artificial woman in an attempt to locate Ultron. Receiving the name Jocasta, Janet's robotic duplicate was influenced by her template's morality and turned against her creator, ultimately assisting the Avengers in destroying him.

 

Wishing to impress the Wasp with a birthday gift, Yellowjacket started to recraft Doctor Spectrum's Power Prism as a piece of jewelry. Before he could neutralize the artifact's dreadful properties, a curious Wasp tampered with the gem, being possessed and becoming the new Doctor Spectrum. Defeating some of the Avengers by deceiving them with the Wasp's form, Doctor Spectrum was incapacitated by the Vision. The Avengers then focused on how to separate the Power Prism from Janet Pym's body without injuring her. Their mission led to a battle against the Squadron Sinister and the former Doctor Spectrum. With the Avengers victorious, the Wasp was safe to celebrate her birthday party.

 

The Trial of Yellowjacket

 

Following Korvac's execution at the hands of the Avengers, Henry Gyrich reduced the Avengers' active roster under the National Security Council's orders. The Wasp was selected to compose the new formation, but Yellowjacket was not. For the first time in her career, the Wasp would act without Pym. Regardless, the couple dealt with the separation easily, as Yellowjacket was interested in focusing on his research. The Wasp's tenure with the Avengers was relatively tranquil for her, although she gradually grew distant from her husband. She also served with the Defenders under the Hellcat's request, a period when she was reunited with Yellowjacket in super-hero adventures.

 

When Avengers Mansion was invaded by a runaway inmate from the Solomon Institute for the Criminally Insane named Selbe, the Wasp was the one who stumbled upon him. Contrary to the other Avengers' opinions, she believed that there was something oddly unusual about the institute. With the disturbed Selbe hospitalized again, she secretly went to investigate the situation by herself.

 

Realizing the Wasp's intentions, the Avengers contacted Yellowjacket for help. In turn, Yellowjacket recruited the new Ant-Man to assist in the mission. The Wasp, trying to help Selbe escape, was captured by the institute's owner, Dr. Solomon. Yellowjacket and Ant-Man rescued the Wasp, learning the mental institution was actually a criminal academy run by the peculiar Taskmaster. The villain was defeated with the other Avengers' intervention, and the insect-themed trio was freed. As a consequence, Yellowjacket found himself closer to the Avengers again.

 

With Pym away when attending an electronics symposium in Tokyo, the Wasp was attacked at their home by one of Ultron's mechanical creations. Fleeing to Avengers Mansion, the Wasp had the Avengers' help in saving a captured Scarlet Witch and a mind-controlled Iron Man from Ultron, who was destroyed one more time. Soon after, under Captain America's decision to limit the number of active Avengers again, the team suffered with the resignation of several members. To keep the team functional, Hank Pym rejoined as Yellowjacket, once again working alongside his wife.

 

His comeback as an Avenger nurtured his wishes of thriving as a super-hero. As a nefarious consequence, he aggressively mistreated the Wasp, jealously believing himself to be diminished by her more successful career. At the same time, when the Avengers battled the Elfqueen, Yellowjacket blasted the opponent in the back during a lull in the fighting while Captain America wished to talk her down. The combat was ultimately solved by the Wasp's efficient actions. Charged by the Avengers for reckless behavior and having his credentials temporarily suspended until facing a formal court-martial, Yellowjacket experienced increased frustration, which triggered another nervous breakdown.

 

In order to prove his worth before his court-martial, Yellowjacket secretly designed a robot to attack the Avengers Mansion. His creation could only be defeated by him, and he expected to be seen as a hero in the eyes of his teammates. A few days later, the Wasp infiltrated his laboratory, feeling worried about his activities, and protested upon learning of his plan. Pym lashed out, brutally striking his own wife.

 

During his court-martial meeting, his plan went awry, since it was the Wasp who disabled the robot after Yellowjacket was overpowered by his own creation. Moreover, as the Avengers learned about his humiliating attack against the Wasp, Yellowjacket was expelled from the Avengers, leaving their headquarters in shame. Renouncing his name, Janet Van Dyne focused on her work as a fashion designer while arranging for a divorce. Pym soon approached her in their former house in Cresskill with absolutely no success in restoring their marriage.

 

After a short period of vacations in the Dominican Republic, the Wasp fully returned to the Avengers, proposing herself as the team's new chairwoman. In her first mission as the leader of the Avengers, she painfully had to confront Yellowjacket, who had been blackmailed by his nemesis Egghead into invading a Strategic Air Command base. Knocked out by the Wasp, Yellowjacket was arrested and sent to jail, being unable to link the attack to Egghead and prove his innocence.

 

Next, the Avengers were summoned to the planet Ba-Bani on Moondragon's request. As a peacemaker in Ba-Bani, Moondragon demanded their help to stop a rebellion. Soon, the Avengers learned about her elaborate deception to trick them, as the behavior in Ba-Bani had been telepathically staged by Moondragon, who in turn forced Thor to attack the Avengers. Joined by Drax the Destroyer, the Wasp effectively led the Avengers to put an end to Moondragon's irresponsible mind-controlling rule.

 

Considering the inclusion of new Avengers after the crisis with Moondragon, the Wasp invited several super-heroines to her home to discuss possible memberships, as she was interested in having more female teammates. The meeting was interrupted by Fabian Stankowicz a.k.a. the Mechano-Marauder, who was easily defeated by the Wasp and her friends. As a result, the sensational She-Hulk accepted the Wasp's offer to become an Avenger, and the two became good friends.

 

Another offer was made to the new Captain Marvel, who became an Avenger-in-training on the Wasp's recommendation. As for her personal life, Janet Van Dyne caught the interest of her teammate, Iron Man, who saw in her many similarities to his lifestyle. In his Tony Stark playboy identity, Stark easily approached her, since they frequented the same upmarket spaces. Within weeks, they embarked on a vibrant relationship, without the Wasp knowing Stark was actually her long-time ally Iron Man though. Stark's scheme led Captain America and Thor to call him out. Upon learning the truth, Van Dyne disappointedly decided to interrupt their up-and-coming love story.

 

Around this period, after escaping prison, Whirlwind replaced the Wasp's chauffeur in order to get closer to her again. His failed plan attracted the attention of the Avengers not only to himself but also to the new Masters of Evil, who had been reformed by Egghead. Days later, as Pym faced his trial for treason, Egghead sent his Masters of Evil to break into the courthouse and stage a situation in which Pym would be seen as a villain.

 

The Avengers failed to prevent Pym's abduction, and a horrified Wasp witnessed her ex-husband leave with their enemies. However, the Shocker, one of the Masters, was captured by the Avengers and revealed Egghead's involvement. Pym's reputation was partially cleared, and the Wasp led the Avengers to save him from the Masters of Evil. With Egghead killed in action and the Masters of Evil apprehended, Pym was proven innocent of being a traitor. At Avengers Mansion, Van Dyne and the Avengers decided to probe into Pym's psyche with his consent in order to look for any potential mind control, but found none.

 

Finally taking responsibility for his past mistakes, Pym rejected the Yellowjacket equipment for good. Before he permanently left Avengers Mansion, Van Dyne came to terms with her ex-husband, finally completing her grieving process and being able to hope for future joy. In time, Van Dyne and Pym were able to form a friendship.

 

Following Pym's departure, the Wasp had to cope with the death of Jocasta and the resignation of Iron Man, who had succumbed to alcoholism. Fortunately, the challenge of being the Avengers' chairwoman helped her feel alive. Her competence and cheerful attitude as an empathetic and savvy leader to the Avengers made her a publicly beloved heroine and an influential figure. In addition to many successful missions, her keen social skills also proved to be highly beneficial to the Avengers, as she tactfully managed to reduce government bureaucracy by being in direct contact with the White House.

 

Comprising the group of super-humans summoned to Battleworld by the Beyonder, the Wasp and some other Avengers took part in his Secret Wars experiment. Upon arrival, the Wasp was cautious about Magneto, who was also among the abducted heroes. As the Avengers clashed with him, she was captured. Apparently seduced by Magneto, Van Dyne revealed she had played along to find out his plans. Evading Magneto and his new allies, the X-Men, she escaped in an alien aircraft and took refuge with the outcast Lizard.

 

Unfortunately, the Wasp was mortally wounded by the Wrecker when the Wrecking Crew was dispatched by Doctor Doom to retrieve the Lizard. Left in a death-like state, she was ultimately revived by the alien healer Zsaji, being then transported to Earth as the war ended with Doctor Doom's defeat.

 

On Earth, while the Wasp was part of the Beyonder's experiment, the Vision, who had been recently repaired by the Titanian intelligence I.S.A.A.C., suspiciously took control of the Avengers. Upon her return, the Wasp decided to step down as chairwoman in favor of the Vision's leadership.

 

Bored with a sudden lack of responsibilities, Van Dyne momentarily found in her teammate Starfox a good partner to enjoy frivolous parties in their free time. During one of their escapades, they found themselves in the Eternal city of Olympia by following their kidnapped party hostess, Sersi. The other Avengers tracked them down and went to their aid as the Eternals were attacked by Maelstrom.

 

Enjoying her life to the fullest, Van Dyne took another vacation period in the Caribbean, where she met her old friend Tinky Weissman and the charming Paul Denning, the latter secretly being the hitman known as Paladin. As the Wasp, she learned the identity of Paladin's target in the Caribbean: Weissman's partner, the nefarious Baron Brimstone. Although initially believing the Baron to be a victim, the Wasp realized his vile and criminal intentions and teamed up with Paladin to stop him. During the fight, Paladin revealed his true identity and occupation to the Wasp, and she decided to maintain their romance regardless.

 

Around this period, Van Dyne became a shareholder of NEVELL Industries. When a trade union leader who was against NEVELL was murdered, Joe Robertson, the editor of the Daily Bugle, sent Peter Parker to cover the story. As Spider-Man, Parker reached Van Dyne to help him investigate the case. They came to the conclusion that drug-lord Vince Granetti might be responsible for the killing. While Van Dyne bureaucratically dealt with the situation, Spider-Man came for Granetti, being attacked by his employee, Paladin. Paladin left Spider-Man under Granetti's orders to convince Van Dyne to sell her stocks. As they met, he asked her to stage a fight to protect his reputation, and she flirtatiously played along. Then, the Wasp, Paladin and Spider-Man teamed up to put an end to Granetti's criminal activities and blackmailing.

 

The Vision's tenure as the Avengers' chairman turned out to be a failure, since I.S.A.A.C.'s influence caused him to seize control of the entire world's computer systems, leading the National Security Council to revoke their security clearance.

 

After the Wasp returned from her vacation, the Avengers asked her to return to her position as chairwoman, which she gladly accepted taking into account the Vision's previous machinations to make her renounce. New teammates were now placed under her supervision, such as the Black Knight, who would develop an unrequited crush on her, and Hercules, who would chafe at being given orders by a woman.

 

After many missions with the Avengers, the Wasp tried the possibility of keeping her flight powers at almost full human size with the Black Knight's assistance. This came in handy when she found a prowler inside her house in Cresskill. The robber acquired Pym's gear, becoming the new Yellowjacket. The Wasp knocked the villain out and got her arrested. Meanwhile, Hercules gradually increased his hostile feelings against the Wasp, as a result of her commands for him during battles.

 

The most serious test to the Wasp's leadership ability came when the Masters of Evil, now under Baron Helmut Zemo's leadership, struck against the Avengers by gradually undermining their operations. As part of their plan, the Wasp was put in direct combat against Moonstone, followed by a fight against Yellowjacket, the Screaming Mimi, and the Grey Gargoyle during a prison break attempt when she was aided by her lover, Paladin.

 

The culmination of the Masters of Evil's act was Avengers Mansion being conquered. The Wasp and Captain America attempted to furtively infiltrate the under-siege mansion, but their plan was foiled by the undisciplined and disrespectful Hercules, who got beaten into a coma by the Masters after going into open conflict with them. Being the only free Avenger, the Wasp found herself hopeless. She was then contacted by Ant-Man, who learned about the crisis.

 

At the hospital where Hercules was admitted to, Ant-Man and the Wasp were unsuccessfully attacked by the powerful Masters Titania and the Absorbing Man, who had been sent to finish Hercules off. Next, it was up to the Wasp to assemble the Avengers again and mount an assault to retake the mansion. Joined by Captain Marvel and Thor, the Wasp stroke back, rescuing the trapped Avengers, who in turn put an end to Zemo and his Masters of Evil.

 

Overtaken by the pressure of the siege to the Avengers Mansion, Janet announced her resignation as the Avengers' chairwoman, going to reserve status. Her need of having time for herself was not fulfilled, though, as she was abducted by the goddess Artemis under the orders of Hercules' father Zeus, who blamed the Wasp for his son's condition. The Wasp and the rest of the Avengers stood against Zeus on Olympus until the gods saw sense and ended the hostilities. After making amends with Hercules, the Wasp returned home safe and sound and said a final goodbye to her old teammates.

 

West Coast Avengers

 

With Iron Man leaving the Avengers' West Coast branch as a result of having his technology usurped and acting erratically, the wondrous Wasp offered her support to the team. This meant to be working alongside Pym again, who had become associated with the group. Although their leader Hawkeye was initially distrustful of Janet's intentions, she was welcomed to the group after a trip to the Grand Canyon.

 

The drama of rejoining her ex-husband escalated when he was targeted by a legion of his very first enemies in Central Europe. The initial attack comprised Pym getting access to intel that his late wife was alive. During the fights, Janet closely assisted Pym, who in turn managed to restore her prosthetic antennae, allowing her to control insects.

 

As one of the masterminds behind the operation was revealed to be the traitorous Quicksilver, the Avengers were briefly captured by the new Doctor Doom in Latveria. When captive, Pym and Janet grew closer, although she was explicitly adamant about sustaining their divorce.[148] With Quicksilver and the villains defeated, Pym decided to dedicate his energy to saving his debilitated ex-wife, earning the Wasp's support and admiration for that.

 

Less involved with the Avengers compared to the past, Janet focused on being a businesswoman for Van Dyne Industries, although she would still experience astonishing adventures, such as when she recognized and disabled the Red Ronin robot in a Stane International hardware exposition.

 

In the West Coast Avengers missions, the Wasp proved, as usual, to be an efficient and reliable player, frequently being a voice of reason in the team, even advising her teammates on personal matters. Although she did well, the same could not be said about her teammates, especially the Vision and the Scarlet Witch, who had their lives ruined by the successful machinations of Immortus, costing them the lives of their twin children, a tragic event that the Avengers could not prevent.

 

The Scarlet Witch's vulnerability made her an easy prey to Immortus, as she eventually succumbed to villainy and associated herself with Magneto and Quicksilver. The Wasp was momentarily captured by Magneto, but saved by the other Avengers, who then managed to fend Magneto off. Next, the Avengers went to war against Immortus, who was defeated after the Scarlet Witch broke free from his influence. Although the Avengers returned home alive, they were forever scarred by the tragedy.

 

By chance, when dealing with a flat tire, Janet and Pym came upon a wheat farm secretly run by Ultron and found some of his robotic creations. Some of the Avengers tracked Ultron down, but were kidnapped and technologically forced by Ultron to attack their own teammates. Freed by the Scarlet Witch, the Avengers prevented Ultron from causing a massacre in the Rose's parade. Immediately after this incident, as the West Coast Avengers had their roster reformed; both Pym and Janet decided to resign from active status, each one going their separate ways.

 

In Hollywood, Janet contemplated working as a screenwriter, but it did not work out as expected. As the Wasp, she returned to the East Coast as a reserve Avenger, and, in times of need, reassembled with her former friends to combat evil. She even teamed up with Pym and the Hulk to overcome one of Loki's pawns, the mad Knut Caine.

 

Monster Wasp

 

Out of the Avengers, Janet was slightly afflicted by tormenting thoughts about Pym and their troublesome relationship. To remedy her frustration, she went into a high-society life, ostentatiously enjoying her fortune. However, no ordinary life could match her previous experiences as an Avenger. Instead, she decided to reactivate her fashion career; her comeback was celebrated with a first-class ball, which was party-crashed by a gigantic Pym.

 

Janet was subsequently introduced by Pym and Bill Foster to Project B.I.G., an orchard engineered to produce super-sized crops, which also counted with enormous insects. Sometime later, the immense bugs went berserk and attracted the attention of the military. Defeated and apprehended, Pym was sent to a mental institution run by the government, while Foster and Ant-Man worked on a solution for the mutations afflicting Pym Particle subjects. Janet herself experienced an exponential size growth and a mental breakdown during a therapy session with Dr. Rossin.

 

Pym was set free with Captain America's intervention, and the Avengers attempted to restrain the rampaging giant-sized Wasp. As Pym learned who the authors of the recent incidents were, namely creatures from Kosmos and Erik Josten, the villains were defeated. Janet recovered, rekindling her ties to Pym and the Avengers.

 

Added to her difficulties with Pym, Janet unexpectedly went bankrupt, learning days later through her lawyer that Tony Stark was responsible for sabotaging her finances. Janet openly confronted Stark for cleaning her out, and the Avengers realized, considering other incidents as well, that Stark might be an enemy.

 

This was confirmed when he attacked the team as Iron Man. In order to protect Hercules, Janet took a repulsor beam fired by Stark and was mortally wounded. Attempting to heal her injuries, Pym redundantly exposed Janet to the procedure that originally gave her super-powers. The process triggered a profound transformation, with Janet being morphed into an almost completely wasp-like form. In perfect health, the monstrous Wasp joined the Avengers in their war against Stark. Corrupted by Kang the Conqueror, Stark was replaced by a teenage version of himself from an alternate past before perishing in battle. Following this fundamental crisis, the Wasp rejoined the Avengers full-time.

 

Coping relatively well with her new form, the Wasp exhibited an outstanding performance in missions for the Avengers. However, despite her apparent comfort, Pym was worried about her condition and inadvertently tagged the Wasp with a transceiver in order to monitor her. Having learned about his intervention, an enraged Wasp called him out and expressed her desire to be the only person in her life to take care of herself. Soon after, the Avengers were contacted by Nate Grey, who alerted them about Professor X's insane transformation into Onslaught. The Wasp was among the Avengers who sacrificed themselves to absorb the energy of Onslaught, but not before making amends with Pym.

 

Heroine Reborn

 

In reality, the heroes were shunted to an alternate dimension created by the unconscious actions of Franklin Richards. In this pocket reality, the Wasp worked closely with the Avengers. Although the Avengers had not fallen in the battle, the world mourned their apparent death for months. Upon the eventual return of the heroes to their home reality, the Wasp maintained her human appearance and rekindled her romantic relationship with Pym.

 

The founding members of the Avengers soon reassembled in the Avengers Mansion to reform the team in face of bizarre mystic crises all over the globe. Their adversary was revealed to be Morgan le Fay, who cast a reality altering spell, reshaping the whole world into a medieval setting and transforming the Avengers into her personal guard, the Queen's Vengeance. In this brand old world, the Wasp was "Pixie", but was able to see through Morgan's illusion alongside a few other Avengers.

 

Forced to fight their brainwashed allies, the Avengers were successful in defeating le Fay and restoring reality back to normal. Back to the mansion, the Wasp announced her leave of absence with Pym, as she wished to rebuild her investments.

 

When the Destiny Force within Rick Jones was triggered again, Immortus schemed for his destruction. Using his abilities, Jones brought forth champions to protect him. The Wasp and Pym, who had gone back to his Goliath identity, found themselves part of a diverse team composed of Avengers from various moments in time. Annoyingly, one of their teammates was Pym himself, removed from his Yellowjacket era. The Wasp took leadership of the time-displaced Avengers, who were unusually assisted by Kang in defending Jones.

 

Travelling through the timestream, the group met different moments and possibilities of their history while counter-attacking Immortus and trying to prevent the Time-Keepers from wiping out different timelines to incapacitate the Destiny Force. In the end, by assembling dozens of Avengers, Jones ended the threat of the Time-Keepers and the heroes returned to their proper time.

 

The Wasp soon returned to full active duty as an Avenger after Pym was attacked by Ultron in his laboratory at Nugent Technologies. Coming to the Avengers in person since her communicard had been damaged, she was led to a Wakandan adamantium plant, where the Avengers fought Alkhema and learned Ultron had made a move to raze the nation of Slorenia. When searching for Pym, the Avengers were attacked by an army of Ultron replicas, who abducted those considered to be his family, including his "mother", the Wasp.

 

Ultron's scheme to create an artificial society was shattered by the Avengers as he was destroyed by Pym himself. The Wasp and Goliath stayed with the Avengers after their last conflict with Ultron. Stepping up to active status again, the Wasp was further appointed as chairwoman when a new roster of Avengers was formed, personally inviting her friend the She-Hulk to the team once more.

 

Working as a super-hero with the Avengers again, Janet soon realized the fragility of Pym's mental health since, in one of their first missions, traces of his Yellowjacket personality emerged. Unbeknownst to the Avengers, the Pym Particles in Goliath's body spawned a replica of his body, which was manifested as Yellowjacket.

 

Expanding the Avengers' operations, the Wasp led the Avengers in many different battles facing diverse threats, but none compared to a world-level invasion staged by Kang the Conqueror. As part of his first and very serious strike, the Wasp witnessed Kang destroy United Nations Headquarters.

 

Dealing with several crises around the globe, the Wasp and her Avengers had the additional preoccupation of facing the resurgence of Yellowjacket, who had kidnapped and replaced his Goliath counterpart. Unable to maintain his corporal integrity, Yellowjacket was tended by the Wasp.

 

At Avengers Mansion, he revealed the truth about Goliath and asked the Wasp to rescue him before both of them vanished. Helped by Triathlon and the Triune Understanding, Janet communed with both Goliath and Yellowjacket, assisting Pym to merge his conflictual psyche. Concurrently, Kang's actions were unstoppable and, among so much destruction, the Wasp had no other choice but to surrender to his will, formally signing Earth's submission to the conqueror. In time, the Wasp and the Avengers reassembled to assault Kang, putting an end to his invasion, though with difficulty.

 

Yellowjacket and the Wasp stayed active together as Avengers for sporadic missions. They also took opportunities to explore their romance. In Las Vegas, during one of their tours, Pym proposed to Janet, who rejected the idea of being married to him again. The couple was interrupted by a vicious Whirlwind, who was knocked out and detained. Back to the Avengers, the Wasp tried out the growth properties of the Pym Particles, occasionally going on field as Giant-Woman, although she clumsily faced difficulties in transitioning from different sizes. Additionally, her relationship with Pym struggled with her resentment for his past actions and behavior, leading her to seek comfort with her teammate Hawkeye. When Pym learned about his ex-wife's affair with Hawkeye, their relationship was gravely damaged.

 

One day, when discussing her new relationship with Hawkeye, Janet offhandedly remarked on the Scarlet Witch's lost children, igniting a mental breakdown that caused the Scarlet Witch to turn against the Avengers. Ruined from within, the Avengers experienced several deadly incidents, such as the Wasp being put out of commission by a rampaging She-Hulk. In a deep coma in her micro-sized state, she was tended by Pym.

 

Recovered and appreciating his care, Janet decided to give another opportunity to the damaged relationship with her ex-husband while the Avengers, being completely destroyed by the Scarlet Witch, disassembled permanently. In order to live a civilian life, Janet accompanied Pym to Oxford. Living in England with Pym proved to be a poor choice for Janet, as the couple realized that they led totally incompatible lifestyles. Their damaged relationship came to an end when Janet abandoned their apartment in the middle of the night. When trying to contact Pym, Janet was surprised by a young woman in their apartment, which inspired her to cut off any ties to Pym. Unbeknownst to Janet, Pym's lover was in fact a Skrull in disguise, who had just succeeded in adopting his identity.

 

Back to America, Janet refined her studio to create super-hero costumes. As the Wasp, she was summoned alongside other super-humans in a similar fashion such as the Beyonder's secret wars. One of her fellow allies was Pym, whom she still found herself unable to reconcile with. The kidnapped group, being expected to fight to the death by their mysterious kidnapper, were tactically commanded by the Wasp when coming across threats. In a dramatic turn of events, Pym seemingly disintegrated all of his peers, including the Wasp. This provided him with direct contact to their aggressor, the Stranger. Pym then revealed that he had actually shrunk the other heroes down rather than eliminating them, tricking the Stranger. With the help of the new young hero Gravity, who gave his life to ensure their escape, the group was able to return home to Earth.

 

Supporting the implementation Superhuman Registration Act as a hero who had always been open about her identity, the Wasp joined Iron Man's Pro-Registration Super-Hero Unit. Hosting a reality TV show named America's Newest Superhero, Janet used her popularity to advocate the registration. The ideological differences with Captain America and his opposing Secret Avengers led to a brutal super-hero Civil War. The Wasp was distraught when her long-time friend Bill Foster was killed in battle when opposing Iron Man's forces. At the end of the war, a victorious Iron Man reformed the Avengers under the Initiative program.

 

Iron Man and Ms. Marvel recruited the winsome Wasp to their a mighty team of Avengers. In their first operation, the Avengers retaliated against the Mole Man and his biological aberrations, who were subsequently stressed out by bizarre weather and geological phenomena. During the battle Iron Man had his armor infected, transforming himself into a cyborg version of Van Dyne. The Wasp realized the Avengers, once again, faced Ultron and, with no other choice, resorted to contacting her ex-husband for help.

 

Ultron easily outperformed the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D., causing chaos all over the globe with Starktech's weather control technology. Wearing Janet Van Dyne's appearance, he hacked broadcast systems to announce organic life's doomsday. The Avengers decided to act unpredictably by sending one of their own, the god of war Ares, to disable Ultron from within at microscopic size. The plan was successful with the Wasp rescuing Ares from a terrible fate at the last minute. Fighting Ultron did little to remedy Van Dyne's ruined friendship with Pym.

 

Still, he decided to present her with a new growth formula that would allow her to change sizes easily. This new ability came in handy when the Avengers fought a symbiote infestation in Manhattan. The gigantic Wasp was momentarily infected by the aliens but was soon cured by the Avengers, who pinpointed the source of the attack in Latveria. In retaliation, the Avengers invaded Latveria, defeated Doctor Doom and arrested him.

 

In addition to evil threats, the Avengers also clashed with the outlawed Avengers who avoided registration. The two opposing groups found, however, a common enemy when investigating a Skrull spaceship in the Savage Land, evidence that Earth had been gradually infiltrated by the aliens in the past years. As Skrull sleeper agents were activated all over the world, a invasion was set up. The Avengers were taken back to New York City by Reed Richards to confront the Skrulls in a final battle, when the Wasp learned that Pym was in fact the Skrull warrior named Criti Noll.

 

In a desperate and suicide attempt to change an imminent defeat, Criti Noll activated his contingency plan: the Wasp. The growth serum given to Van Dyne earlier had been tampered with in order to transform her into a monolithic, explosive bio-weapon on command. To minimize the damage of the Anti-Pym Particles, Thor scattered the Wasp's physical form, supposedly mercy-killing her. Her teammates avenged her death by defeating the remaining Skrulls. Following the war, the real Pym was rescued. In order to honor his late wife's memory, Pym adopted the alias of the Wasp and formed a new team of Avengers.

 

In fact, the Wasp was not dead, but actually trapped in the Microverse. For a long time she fended for herself, evading enemies with aims of calling for help. She ultimately signaled Avengers Tower using her Avengers' Priority Card. The emergency beacon was received and pinpointed by the original Avengers, who traveled to Microverse to retrieve her. There, they found the ruthless ruler of the area that the Wasp was in, the monstrous Lord Gouzar.

 

The Avengers escaped Gouzar by subduing his forces, but were followed by him to Earth. In an epic battle, the dictator was knocked out and sent back to his dimension. Returning home safe and sound, the Wasp invited the Avengers, past and present, to celebrate her comeback.

 

The Wasp's return took place shortly after the war between the Avengers and the X-Men. In order to improve the tense relations between the two groups, the Avengers assembled an uncanny team comprising human and mutant members, the Unity Division. The popular Wasp was invited to join the ranks of the new initiative, based at Avengers Mansion. She confessed to expect dramatic challenges, which were somehow proved true by Rogue's malicious attitude as a mutant Avenger. On the other hand, in team leader's Havok, Janet found a charming teammate. Attempting to improve mutant perspective and collecting funds for the team, Janet designed the "Unity" label, comprising emulating aspects of mutant fashion.

 

With the detonation of the Terrigen Bomb, latent Inhuman abilities were triggered all over Earth. As a consequence, the Wasp and the Avengers came upon an Inhuman-related incident regarding a gigantic man surrounded by a devastated area with his family and neighbors missing. Based on his explanations, Janet theorized that his Inhuman wife had the ability to transfer matter, enlarging objects by exchanging their mass with others, which would then be shrunken down. The Wasp then arduously returned to the Microverse one more time by being boosted by the Scarlet Witch. After overpowering Lord Gouzar, she rescued the distressed victims.

 

The Avengers Unity Division met one of their biggest foes in the form of the Apocalypse Twins, mutants who, after being traumatized by their caregiver Kang the Conqueror, intended to obliterate Earth and recreate it as a mutant planet. Their ideals of supremacy caused some of the Avengers, including the Wasp, to mistrust the activities of their mutant teammates, damaging the sense of unity of the group.

 

The divided team tried to stop the villains independently, facing their vile Horsemen of Death in the process. Although the Wasp performed well against the Sentry for instance, the Avengers could not prevent the Apocalypse Twins from being successful in their genocide. With Earth destroyed by the Celestial Exitar, all mutantkind resettled in Planet X being ruled by Eimin.

 

As the sole human who had survived the whole ordeal, the Wasp became a fugitive resistance warrior alongside Havok, whom she married. Having only Hank McCoy as an ally, the couple struggle to survive for years, being the only ones who knew about Eimin's true story and unable to time-travel due to a Tachyon Dam device. Moreover, Janet had a child with Havok, named Katie.

 

One day, when fighting X-Force, Janet was apprehended by Magneto, but not before destroying the Tachyon Dam. The hopeless war could change after Thor and Kang the Conqueror, alongside the latter's Chronos Corps, joined forces with Havok to depose Eimin and restore history. In order to protect Katie from being erased by alterations in the timeline, Kang caused her to be lost in time and space, out of her parents' reach. Meanwhile, the Wasp rejoined her husband in a ruse orchestrated by Eimin. After bringing the fight directly to Eimin and causing her rule to fall, Kang sent the memories of the surviving Avengers to the past in order to prevent Earth from being destroyed.

 

Back to the past with the knowledge of what would transpire, the Avengers set their plan to stop Exitar in motion. During the mission, the Wasp even managed to convince the Sentry to protect Earth. However, Kang showed his true colors by taking advantage of the situation to absorb Exitar's celestial energies and conquer Earth instead.

 

Assisted by Immortus and his Infinity Watch, the Avengers defeated Kang at tragic costs: Havok was left severely disfigured and Katie was forever lost in time. For weeks, Janet tried to come to terms with the loss of her daughter with no success. After Havok recovered, the couple was approached by a benevolent Immortus, who, wishing to ease their pain, revealed that Katie could be conceived again but also that a plagued future was coming in the horizon.

 

Immortus' predictions were confirmed when the Red Skull, after turning Genosha into a mutant concentration camp and ascending as the Red Onslaught, telepathically broadcasted hate all over the world. Avengers and X-Men alike joined forces to defeat the Red Onslaught. During the fight, a magic spell cast by the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom accidentally inverted the moral axis of numerous heroes and villains, and the Wasp and other Avengers became tyrants.

 

Alongside the other inverted Avengers, she dishonestly incapacitated many other heroes. However, she was betrayed by a villainous Captain America, who wished to use her Pym Particles to remove any opposition to his plans. She was retrieved by Havok and the inverted X-Men led by Apocalypse, who stormed the Avengers Tower.

 

The X-Men planned to detonate a gene bomb which would kill every non-mutant person on Earth. Havok tried to convince his allies to spare the Wasp's life. As the catastrophe was prevented, Havok tried to escape with the Wasp, claiming to have defused the bomb. Realizing his deceit, the Wasp turned on him and rejoined the inverted Avengers to prevent a potential reinversion of the affected heroes and villains. Nevertheless, a reinversion spell was cast, and the Wasp returned to her former self. However, Havok did not, by being shielded by Iron Man. To escape from the heroes, the evil Havok took the Wasp hostage and disappeared.

 

Somehow, the Wasp managed to break free from Havok and soon rejoined the Avengers, once again working side by side with Pym. Pym exhibited a brand-new extreme intolerance against artificial intelligence, as shown when the Avengers opposed the Descendants and Pym coldly turned them off. Matters escalated when Starfox sought for the Avengers' help since Ultron had taken control of I.S.A.A.C. and Titan, with infectious transmuting spores that carried the Ultron Virus.

 

The infected Avengers, including the Wasp, were transformed into robotic beings. During the clash, Ultron was stopped by merging with Pym into a single being that fled to space in terror after realizing his contradictory existence. At the Avengers Mansion, Janet organized a funeral for her ex-husband. Being the executor of his estate, Janet decided to treat Pym as legally dead. As part of his testament, she inherited Pym Laboratories and provided Ant-Man with one of Pym's microscopic labs, keeping his legacy of his work alive.

 

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

_____________________________

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: Sarah Rushman

 

Publisher: Marvel

 

First appearance: Tales to Astonish #44

(June 1963)

 

Created by: Stan Lee (writer)

Jack Kirby (artist)

 

This is my official submission to the Arts University Bournemouth. It's a five-minute showreel highlighting three films that I've made throughout the IB film course: "Good Riddance", "Vestige", and "Goodbye, Alex". "Good Riddance" is a seven-minute realist short film based in Hong Kong which focuses on a young teenage girl's (Lakshmi) conflicting relationship between the influences of social media and her traditional Indian family. It essentially revolves around the idea of how strangers on social media can deceive many young teenagers in this contemporary society. As a realist film, it captures a segment of Lakshmi's lifestyle up until the point in which she agrees to meet her online 'boyfriend', Ashok, and decides to run away from her family to find him. "Vestige" is a seven-minute psychological thriller about an amnesiac teenager who had just been given a confidential file containing photos that could help him remember his late friend. "Goodbye, Alex" is set in a public park where a farewell party has been organized for Alex, a friend who is going to leave Hong Kong. The short film revolves around two friends playing a game of chess. They have a final conversation with each other (one being Alex) discussing their feelings about 'going away'.

Italian postcard by Rizzoli & C., Milano, 1937. Photo: Bragaglia.

 

Luisa Ferida (1914-1945) was an Italian stage and screen film, who was a popular leading actress in the late 1930s and 1940s Italian sound film. She was married to actor Osvaldo Valenti. Because of his close links with the fascist regime, the couple was shot by partisans in April 1945.

 

Luisa Ferida was born Luigia Manfrini Frané in Castel San Pietro Terme, near Bologna, in 1914. Her father Luigi, a rich lander owner, died when she was a child. She was then sent to a convent school. Ferida started her career as a stage actress. In 1935 she made her first film appearance with a supporting role in the crime film La Freccia d'oro/Golden Arrow (Piero Ballerini, Corrado D'Errico, 1935). Because of her photogenic looks and talent as an actress, she soon graduated to leading roles in such films as the historical comedy Il re Burlone/The Joker King (Enrico Guazzoni, 1935) with Armando Falconi. The following year, she appeared in the comedy Lo smemorato/The Amnesiac (Gennaro Righelli, 1936) starring Angelo Musco, the screwball comedy Amazzoni bianche/White Amazons (Gennaro Righelli, 1936) starring Paola Barbara, and the historical comedy L'ambasciatore/The Ambassador (Baldassarre Negroni, 1936) starring Leda Gloria. She starred opposite Antonio Centa in the romantic comedy I tre desideri/The Three Wishes (Giorgio Ferroni, Kurt Gerron, 1937) of which also a Dutch-language version was made - without Ferida. Next, she appeared opposite Amedeo Nazzari in the drama La fossa degli angeli/Tomb of the Angels (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1937). Roberto Rossellini co-wrote the screenplay and served as assistant director. It was shot on location in the Apuan Alps in Liguria and is set amidst the marble quarries of the area. It marked an early attempt at realism in Italian cinema, anticipating neorealism of the postwar era, and it celebrated Italy's industrial strength in line with the propaganda of the Mussolini regime. She co-starred with Totò in the comedy Animali pazzi/Mad Animals (Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia, 1939). In 1939, while working on the Swashbuckler Un Avventura di Salvator Rosa/An Adventure of Salvator Rosa (Alessandro Blasetti, 1940), Luisa Ferida met the actor Osvaldo Valenti. The pair became romantically involved and had a son, Kim, who died 4 days after his birth. Valenti had been linked with many Fascist officials and personalities for years and he eventually joined the Italian Social Republic, and for these reasons, he was on the partisans' hit list.

 

In the first half of the 1940s, Luisa Ferida's career was at its zenith, and she played memorable roles in such films as La fanciulla di Portici/The girl from Portici (Mario Bonnard, 1940), La corona di ferro/The Iron Crown (Alessandro Blasetti, 1941), and the drama Gelosia/Jealousy (Ferdinando Maria Poggioli, 1942). She had a supporting role in the drama Nozze di sangue/Blood Wedding (Goffredo Alessandrini, 1941) starring Beatrice Mancini, and Fosco Giachetti. The film about an arranged marriage in 19th century South America, is based on the Spanish play by Federico Garcia Lorca. She played the lead in the historical drama Fedora (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1942) opposite Amedeo Nazzari and Osvaldo Valenti. Opposite Fosco Giacchetti, she starred in the drama Fari nella nebbia/Headlights in the Fog (Gianni Franciolini, 1942). The film about a group of truck drivers is considered to be part of the development of Neorealism, which emerged around this time. She starred with Osvaldo Valenti in the adventure film I cavalieri del deserto/Knights of the Desert (Gino Talamo, Osvaldo Valenti, 1942) with a screenplay by Federico Fellini and Vittorio Mussolini, the son of Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini. It was produced by the Rome-based ACI which was run by Vittorio Mussolini and shot on location in Libya before the North African Campaign turned decisively against Italy and its Allies. Fellini may have directed some of the Libyan scenes after Gino Talamo was injured in a car accident. The film was ultimately never released due to the defeats suffered in Libya, which meant its plot was now a potential embarrassment to the regime. She appeared again with Valenti in the extremely popular historical film La cena delle beffe/The Jester's Supper (Alessandro Blasetti, 1942), also starring Amedeo Nazzari, and Clara Calamai. The film is set in the 15th century Florence of Lorenzo the Magnificent and portrays a rivalry that leads to a series of increasingly violent jokes. She again co-starred with Valenti and Nazzari in the drama Sleeping Beauty (Luigi Chiarini, 1942), which belongs to the films of the Calligrafismo style. Calligrafismo is in sharp contrast to the Telefoni Bianchi-American style comedies and is rather artistic, highly formalistic, expressive in complexity, and deals mainly with contemporary literary material. In 1942 she won the Best Italian Actress award. In the historical comedy La locandiera/The Innkeeper (Luigi Chiarini, 1944), she co-starred again with Armando Falconi and Osvaldo Valenti. During the last stages of completion, Mussolini was overthrown. The final editing was done in Venice, the film capital of the Italian Social Republic, but without the presence of Chiarini. At the end of 1943, the fascist government of the Republic of Salo decided to create an Italian cinematographic center in the north of the country.

Ferida and Valenti agreed to go there. They made Un fatto di cronaca/A Chronicle (Piero Ballerini, 1945), which was released in February 1945. Two months later, Valenti was finally arrested in Milan, alongside a pregnant Ferida. They were both sentenced to be executed and shot immediately in the street, without a proper trial. Opinions are divided as to whether the couple deserved this fatal fate. The pregnant Ferida had a blue shoe of her deceased son Kim in her hand when she was killed. The twelve suitcases of the couple, full of clothes, furs, money, and jewels were stolen that day. Her Milanese house was burglarised a few days later. The partisan chief who organised the execution, Giuseppe 'Vero' Marozin, declared years later that one of the partisan leaders that ordered the two actors to be executed was Sandro Pertini, who decades later became president of the Italian republic. No other source, however, supports Marozin's version of the incident. Her mother Lucia asked for support from the Italian government since her daughter was her only support. After the actress was cleared of charges during the 1950s, Lucia received a small monthly pension. She died in poverty. Both lovers' graves are side to side in Cimitero Maggiore di Musocco in Milan. The film Sanguepazzo/Wild Blood (Marco Tullio Giordana, 2008) starring Monica Bellucci and Luca Zingaretti, discusses Luisa Ferida's relationship with Osvaldo Valenti.

 

Sources: Marlene Pilaete (La collectionneuse - French), Hugo Bartoli (IMDb), Find-A-Grave, Wikipedia, and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Koshiji Kasen Park, Nagaoka, Nigata

Hasselblad 500C + CZ Planar T* 2.8/80

Ilford PanF Plus 50 + Marumi PL

I've been listening to the new Liars album XIXIW on Gorilla Vs. Bear here:

 

www.gorillavsbear.net/2012/05/28/listen-liars-wixiw/

 

I don't know what to make of it yet but that's typical for me and Liars albums. They take awhile to grow on me over time, which I think can also be a good thing.

 

If I were a DJ, I would play this track from the new album every single night:

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcMImqAem7s

 

In any case, I went back to some old Liars photos I had never posted while listening to the new one last night and this was one I found leftover from an interview that my friend Lisa White did at Pitchfork Music Festival 2010. The photo used for the interview was this one I posted soon after it was taken here:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/kirstiecat/4809348744/

 

As you can tell, the shot I posted much earlier is quite intense and high contrast-y and very much unlike this.

 

I think, having seen Liars live so many times, I felt a little intimidated by Angus Andrew until he said in the interview that he channeled such energy by actually being terrified of performing for an audience. That really made me think of him as more human and down to earth than just the frightening pseudo Aussie rock god I had seen him as.

 

So, I've also been reading many different novels that have to do with memory-the latest one being The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes...and it's made me question the validity of my own memories a little bit. I've always been quite scared that one day I'm going to be a complete amnesiac and all I'll have left are my photographs to help me remember what kind of life I led and, therefore hopefully, what kind of person I was.

 

In my memory of that day, I was trembling a little bit even though it was summer. I was so anxious around Angus Andrew because he'd seemed so unpredictable on stage all of the times I had seen him. I was also worried I wouldn't be able to capture him with a photograph, which is a constant anxiety for me with portraits. I took the first one (the one I posted a link to) and then I actually found the courage to joke with Angus Andrew a little bit, asking him if I could have a smile.

 

I'm not sure if you can all understand, a smile can be a gift just as tangible as a talisman or a captivating human object you can actually hold. I felt that way about Angus's smile. I had seen it so rarely before...well, honestly I had never seen him smile. And he has such an intense foreboding persona I was worried I might never see it again.

 

So, if you think about Angus Andrew (and if you have seen him play live this incessant ramble of mine will doubtless mean much more to you) I want you to remember that inside that man is a really great warmth...you just have to get to it.

 

Cheers to you if you made it to the end of that!

 

**All photos are copyrighted, even the really happy ones***

Double exposure - EXIF is from the original image. Colour toning in Photoshop.

Thom Yorke of the little known underground band Radiohead.

 

:)

 

Taken at the May 6, 2008 Tampa show.

An amnesiac Toa of Air, Artek struggles to find who he is and where he came from. He joined the Order after they rescued him from the hands of Skakdi and hopes to find his past while working within the Order.

 

He belongs to Artek206 on the CBW.

   

youtu.be/syvF_cutj8w

It's 1865 and the telegraph is heading west. George Crane, wanting to keep law and order out of his territory, is out to stop the construction. The engineer on the job is Ken Mason and he is the grandson of Zorro. As Crane sends his men or Indians to stop the work, Mason repeatedly puts on the Zorro costume and rides to the rescue in this 12-chapter serial.

 

Clayton Moore

September 14th, 1914 — December 28th, 1999

 

Clayton Moore, though best remembered today as television’s Lone Ranger, had a lengthy and distinguished career in serials. Moore was a physically ideal serial lead, but his greatest strengths were his dramatic, quietly intense speaking voice and expressive face. These gifts helped Moore to convey a sincerity that could make the most unbelievable dialogue or situations seem real. The bulk of Moore’s cliffhanger work was done after World War 2, when serials’ shrinking budgets cut back on original action scenes and made the presence of skilled leading players more important than in the serial’s golden age. Moore, with his sincerity and acting skill, was just the type of actor the post-war serials needed.

Clayton Moore was born Jack Carlton Moore in Chicago. He began to train for a career as a circus acrobat at the age of eight, and joined a trapeze act called the Flying Behrs after finishing high school; as a member of the Behrs, Moore would perform for two circuses and at the 1934 World’s Fair. An injury to his left leg around 1935 forced him out of the aerialist business, and after working briefly as a male model in New York he moved to Hollywood in 1937, beginning his film career as a stuntman. He played numerous bit roles in addition to his stunt work for the next three years, among them a miniscule part in his first serial, Zorro’s Fighting Legion (Republic, 1939), as one of the members of the titular group. Edward Small, an independent producer allied with United Artists, cast Moore in his first credited parts in a pair of 1940 films, Kit Carson and The Son of Monte Cristo. The former featured Moore as a heroic young pioneer, the latter as an army officer aiding masked avenger Louis Hayward. Following these two films, Moore began to get credited speaking parts in other pictures. In 1941 he played the romantic lead in Tuxedo Junction, one of Republic Pictures’ “Weaver Brothers and Elviry” comedies, and the next year the studio signed him for his first starring serial, Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942).

Perils of Nyoka (Republic, 1942) was a vehicle for Republic’s new “Serial Queen,” Kay Aldridge, who played Nyoka Gordon, a girl seeking her missing scientist father in the deserts of North Africa. Moore was the heroic Dr. Larry Grayson, a member of an expedition searching for the “Tablets of Hippocrates,” an ancient list of medical cures sought by Nyoka’s father before he disappeared. Nyoka joined forces with Grayson and his expedition to locate Professor Gordon and the tablets–and to battle Arab ruler Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her band of desert cutthroats, who were after the Tablets and the treasure hidden with them. Perils of Nyoka was a highly exciting serial, with consistently imaginative and varied action sequences, and colorful characters and locales. Although Moore took second billing to Aldridge, his character received as much screen time as hers and his performance was a major part of the serial’s success. Moore, with his intense sincerity, made his nearly superhuman physician character believable; the audience never felt like questioning Dr. Grayson’s ability to perform emergency brain surgery on Nyoka’s amnesiac father in a desert cave, or his amazing powers of riding, wall-scaling, marksmanship, and sword-fighting, far beyond those of the average medical school graduate.

  

Moore went into the army in 1942, almost immediately after the release of Perils of Nyoka. He served throughout World War Two, and didn’t resume his film career until 1946, when he returned to Republic Pictures to appear in The Crimson Ghost. The impact of his starring turn in Perils of Nyoka was diminished by his long hiatus, and he found himself playing a supporting role in this new serial. He was cast as Ashe, the chief henchman of the mysterious Crimson Ghost, and aided that villain in his attempts to steal a counter-atomic weapon called a “Cyclotrode.” Ashe was ultimately brought to justice, along with his nefarious master, by stars Charles Quigley and Linda Stirling. The Crimson Ghost showed that Moore could play intensely mean villains as well as intensely courageous heroes. His sneering, bullying Ashe came off as thoroughly unpleasant, as he stalked through the serial doing his best to kill off hero and heroine.

  

Moore returned to heroic parts in his next cliffhanger, Jesse James Rides Again (Republic, 1947). The serial’s plot had Jesse, retired from outlawry, forced to go on the run because of new crimes committed in his name. Jesse and his pal Steve (John Compton) wound up in Tennessee, where, under the alias of “Mr. Howard,” Jesse came to the aid of a group of farmers victimized by an outlaw gang called the Black Raiders. The Raiders, secretly bossed by local businessman Jim Clark (Tristram Coffin), were after oil reserves beneath the local farmland, but Mr. Howard ultimately outgunned them. James’ own identity was exposed in the process, but he was allowed to escape arrest by a sympathetic marshal. Jesse James Rides Again was Republic’s best post-war Western serial, thanks in part to the unusual plot device of an ex-badman hero. Moore was able to give Jesse James a dangerous edge that most other serial leads couldn’t have pulled off; his cold, steely-eyed glare when gunning down villains seemed very much in keeping with dialogue references to Jesse’s outlaw past.

 

G-Men Never Forget (Republic, 1947), Moore’s next serial, cast him as Ted O’Hara, an FBI agent battling a racketeer boss named Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft). O’Hara broke up various protection rackets organized by Murkland, but his efforts were hampered by Murkland’s impersonation of a kidnaped police commissioner (also played by Barcroft). G-Men Never Forget possessed a tough and realistic atmosphere not typical of gang-busting serials, and Moore delivered a grimly determined performance well-fitted to the serial’s mood. Moore’s acting, good supporting performances, skilled direction, and a well-written script made G-Men Never Forget a superior serial, one that could hold its own against earlier gang-busting chapterplays like the Dick Tracy outings.

 

Moore’s next serial was Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (Republic, 1948), in which he reprised his Jesse James role. Joined this time by Steve Darrell as Frank James, Moore tried to help a former gang member named John Powell (Stanley Andrews) develop a silver mine. Part of the mine’s proceeds were to be used to pay back victims of James Gang robberies, but the plan was derailed by a crooked mining engineer (John Crawford), who discovered the mine contained gold instead of silver and murdered Powell to keep this find secret. Crawford then used every trick in the book to keep Moore, Darrell, and Noel Neill (as Powell’s daughter) from developing the mine, but the James Boys unmasked his treachery by the end. Frank and Jesse James drew heavily on stock footage and plot elements from Republic’s earlier Adventures of Red Ryder, and was thus more predictable than its predecessor, but it was still an entertaining and well-made serial. Moore again made Jesse seem both sympathetic and (when fighting the bad guys) somewhat frightening.

 

By now, Moore was established as Republic’s premiere serial hero; however, his next cliffhanger would lead to his departure from the studio and change the course of his career. The last in a long line of Republic Zorro serials, Ghost of Zorro (1949) starred Moore as Ken Mason, the original Zorro’s grandson, who donned his ancestor’s mask to help a telegraph company establish a line in the wild West in the face of outlaw sabotage. Like Adventures of Frank and Jesse James, the serial was somewhat derivative of earlier outings (particularly Son of Zorro), but smoothly and professionally done. Moore delivered another strong performance, but for some odd reason Republic chose to have his voice dubbed by another actor in scenes where he was masked as Zorro. This strange production decision did not diminish Moore’s potential as a masked hero in the eyes of a group of television producers who were trying to find an actor to play the Lone Ranger on a soon-to-be-launched TV show; Moore’s turn in Ghost of Zorro landed him the part. Moore debuted as the Ranger in 1949, and played the part for two seasons on TV. During this period, he did make one apparent serial appearance in Flying Disc Man From Mars (Republic, 1950), but all his footage actually came from The Crimson Ghost.

 

In 1952, Moore was dropped from The Lone Ranger without any explanation from the producers, who apparently feared that Moore was becoming too identified as the Lone Ranger, and that he might become so sure of his position that he’d ask for a bigger salary. John Hart replaced Moore as the Ranger for the show’s third season, and Moore returned to freelance acting. He played numerous small roles in feature films, made multiple guest appearances (usually as a heavy) on TV shows like Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show, and also found time to make four more serials.

The first of these was Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952), which featured Moore as a gangster named Graber, who was working with lunar invaders to bring the Earth under the dominion of Retik, Emperor of the Moon (Roy Barcroft). Scientist “Commando” Cody (George Wallace) opposed the planned conquest with the aid of his flying rocket suit and other handy gadgets. Moore met a fiery demise when his car plummeted off a cliff in the last chapter, and Retik came to a similarly sticky end shortly thereafter. Moore’s characterization in Radar Men from the Moon was reminiscent of his performance as “Ashe;” once again he performed deeds of villainy with swaggering relish.

 

Moore’s next serial, Columbia’s Son of Geronimo (1952), was his first non-Republic cliffhanger. He returned to playing a hero in this outing, an undercover cavalry officer named Jim Scott out to quell an Indian uprising led by Rodd Redwing as Porico, son of Geronimo. The uprising was being encouraged by outlaws John Crawford and Marshall Reed to serve their own ends, and Scott and Porico ultimately joined forces to defeat them. Son of Geronimo remains one of the few popular late Columbia serials, due to its strong and unusually violent action scenes and the forceful performances of Moore and his co-stars, particularly Reed and Redwing.

 

Moore’s last Republic serial was Jungle Drums of Africa (1952), in which he played Alan King, an American mining engineer developing a valuable uranium deposit in the African jungles. Moore was assisted by lady doctor Phyllis Coates and fellow engineer Johnny Sands and opposed by a group of Communist spies (Henry Rowland, John Cason) and their witch-doctor accomplice (Roy Glenn). While Drums drew extensively on stock shots of African animals to augment its jungle atmosphere, it relied to an unusually large extent on original footage for its action scenes and chapter endings, and the result was a modestly-budgeted but enjoyable serial that served as a good finish to Moore’s career at Republic.

 

Gunfighters of the Northwest (Columbia, 1953), Moore’s final serial, cast him as the second lead, a Mountie named Bram Nevin who backed up RCMP Sergeant Jock Mahoney. Moore, in his first and only “sidekick” role, played well off Mahoney; while the latter’s character was the focus of the serial’s action, Moore’s role was really more that of co-hero than of a traditional sidekick. The serial pitted the two leads against the “White Horse Rebels,” a gang of outlaws trying to overthrow the Canadian government. Though thinly-plotted, Gunfighters, with its nice location photography and good acting, was the last really interesting Columbia serial; it was also Moore’s last serial. In 1954, he returned to the Lone Ranger series, its producers having been forced to realize that Moore was firmly established as the Ranger and that audiences wouldn’t warm up to his substitute John Hart. The fourth and fifth seasons of the show featured Moore in his familiar place as the “daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains.”

 

After the Lone Ranger series ended in 1956, Moore reprised the role in two big-screen movies and then retired from acting. He remained in the public view, however, making personal appearances throughout the country in his Lone Ranger garb. Publicly and privately, he upheld the ideals that the Lone Ranger–and his serial heroes–had upheld on the screen: courage, charity, and a sense of justice. In 1979, he was barred by court order from making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger because the property’s owners worried that Moore’s close identification with the character would undercut a new Lone Ranger film. Moore nevertheless maintained his status as the “real” Lone Ranger in the eyes of fans, and, after the failure of the new Ranger feature, he was allowed to resume his mask in 1984. Moore died in Los Angeles in 1999, leaving behind several generations of fans that honored him not only for his TV persona, but for the kindess that characterized the off-screen man behind the mask.

Part of Clayton Moore’s success as the Lone Ranger was due to his respectful attitude towards the character. While some actors would have had a hard time taking a masked cowboy from a children’s radio show seriously, Moore’s performance was as heartfelt as if he had been playing a Shakespearian role; he gave the part all the benefit of his considerable acting talent. Moore played his cliffhanger roles, heroic and villainous, with the same respect and the same wholeheartedness. It’s no wonder that serial fans hold him in the same high regard that the Lone Ranger’s fans do.

  

Aquaman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941).

 

Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo comic book series. During the late 1950s and 1960s superhero-revival period known as the Silver Age, he was a founding member of the Justice League.

 

In the 1990s Modern Age, writers interpreted Aquaman's character more seriously, with storylines depicting the weight of his role as king of Atlantis.

 

The son of a human lighthouse-keeper and the queen of Atlantis, Aquaman is the alias of Arthur Curry, who also goes by the Atlantean name Orin.

 

Others to use the title of Aquaman include a short-lived human successor, Joseph Curry; his protégé Jackson Hyde; and the mysterious Adam Waterman, who was briefly active during World War II.

 

Aquaman's comic books are filled with colourful undersea characters and a rich supporting cast, including his mentor Vulko, his powerful wife Mera, and various sidekicks such as Aqualad, Aquagirl, and Dolphin.

 

Aquaman stories tend to blend high fantasy and science fiction. His villains include his archenemy Black Manta and his own half-brother Ocean Master, among others.

 

The character's original 1960s animated appearances left a lasting impression, making Aquaman widely recognized in popular culture and one of the world's most recognized superheroes.

 

Jokes about his wholesome, weak portrayal in Super Friends and perceived feeble powers and abilities have been staples of comedy programs and stand-up routines, leading DC at several times to attempt to make the character edgier or more powerful in the comic books.

 

Modern comic book depictions have attempted to reconcile these various aspects of his public perception, with many versions often casting Aquaman as serious and brooding, weighed down by his public reputation, his responsibilities as king, and the complex world of Atlantean politics.

 

Aquaman has been featured in several adaptations, first appearing in animated form in the 1967 The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure and then in the related Super Friends program.

 

Since then he has appeared in various animated productions, including prominent roles in the 2000s series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Brave and the Bold, as well as several DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

 

Actor Alan Ritchson also portrayed the character in the live action television show Smallville.

 

In the DC Extended Universe, actor Jason Momoa portrays the character in the films Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League and its director's cut Zack Snyder's Justice League, Aquaman, the HBO Max series Peacemaker, The Flash, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.]

 

Publication history

 

Aquaman's appearances began in More Fun Comics #73 in 1941 and continued until issue #107, after which all superhero stories were replaced with humor features. At this time, in 1946, Aquaman was transferred to Adventure Comics with issue #103 along with the other superhero features from More Fun Comics.

 

Aquaman would continue to feature in Adventure Comics for the next 15 years, being one of the few DC superheroes to appear continuously throughout the 1950s.

 

In 1961, Aquaman starred in a four-issue run in the anthology series Showcase in issues #30–33. These Showcase issues are notable as Aquaman's first cover appearances in any comic.

 

Simultaneously, the Aquaman backup feature ended in Adventure Comics with issue #284 and was transferred to Detective Comics with issue #293.

 

Soon thereafter, the first Aquaman solo series began, with the first issue cover-dated February 1962. The same month, the backup feature in Detective Comics ended with issue #300.

 

Simultaneously with the solo series, an Aquaman backup feature was also published in World's Finest #125–139 (cover-dated May 1962 to February 1964). The solo series Aquaman would last 56 issues in its initial run until 1971.

 

After a three-year hiatus, Aquaman returned as a backup feature in Adventure Comics for issues #435–437 before becoming the main feature in issues #441–452.

 

This run transitioned into a revival of the Aquaman solo series in 1977, resuming the initial run's numbering at #57; however, the series ended after just seven issues with #63 in 1978.

 

Aquaman once again returned to Adventure Comics as part of the Dollar Comics revamp of the series, appearing in issues #460–466 over 1978–1979.

 

When this ended, Aquaman appeared in three issues of World's Finest Comics (#262–264) and then returned to Adventure Comics as the first feature for four more issues (#475–#478) and as a back up in issues #491-500.

 

The feature found a new home as a backup in Action Comics for 14 issues (#517–521; #527–530; #536–540), which would be the end of Aquaman's Pre-Crisis solo appearances.

 

Aquaman's first Post-Crisis appearance was in the four-issue miniseries Aquaman (vol. 2) in 1986, which gave the character a new blue costume which did not reappear in any later series.

 

In 1988 the character starred in the one-shot Aquaman #1, followed by the Legend of Aquaman Special one-shot issue in 1989.

 

This was followed by the five-issue miniseries Aquaman (vol. 3). A new ongoing series, Aquaman (vol. 4), began in 1991, but was cancelled after 13 issues.

 

The character was reinvented in the 1993–1994 miniseries Aquaman: Time and Tide, which provided a revamped origin for Aquaman. This was followed by a new ongoing series, Aquaman (vol. 5), which lasted until 2001 with 75 issues altogether, making it the longest-running Aquaman solo series to date.

 

Aquaman (vol. 6) was launched in 2003, following on from the Obsidian Age storyline in JLA. In the wake of the DC event miniseries Infinite Crisis and DC's "One Year Later" relaunch, the series was renamed Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis with issue #40 until the final issue (#57); these 18 issues starred a brand new, younger Aquaman named Arthur Joseph Curry.

 

There were no more solo Aquaman publications in Post-Crisis continuity, although the original Aquaman did feature as a main character in the limited series Brightest Day.

 

The New 52 continuity reboot in September 2011 saw the beginning of the ongoing series Aquaman (vol. 7). A spin-off team title, Aquaman and the Others, also ran for 11 issues from 2014 to 2015.

 

Aquaman vol. 7 lasted for the entirety of the New 52 era of DC, ending with issue #52 in 2016 as part of the line-wide relaunch DC Rebirth.

 

The New 52 volume was immediately followed by the one-shot issue Aquaman: Rebirth, preceding the launch of the current ongoing series Aquaman (vol. 8), which ended with issue #66.

 

Upon cancellation of Aquaman vol. 8, Aquaman did not have titled release until a digital only series titled Aquaman: Deep Dives released in 2020.

 

Throughout 2022 Aquaman appeared in both Aquaman: The Becoming, and Aquamen which saw Aquaman train Jackson Hyde/Aqualad to take over his mantle.

 

However by the end of 2022 it seemed DC was moving away from this decision as they began publishing regular Aquaman team-up stories again. These included the seven issue series Aquaman/Green Arrow: Deep Target and the three issue Aquaman/The Flash: Voidsong.

 

In August 2022, Aquaman received a three issue mini-series called Aquaman: Andromeda under DC’s adult audience comic series DC Black Label. This was the last Aquaman titled publication until the upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Special #1 one-shot in October of 2023.

 

Fictional character biography

 

Golden Age

 

Aquaman's first origin story was presented in flashback from his debut in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941), narrated by the character himself:

 

"The story must start with my father, a famous undersea explorer—if I spoke his name, you would recognize it. My mother died when I was a baby, and he turned to his work of solving the ocean's secrets. His greatest discovery was an ancient city, in the depths where no other diver had ever penetrated.

 

My father believed it was the lost kingdom of Atlantis. He made himself a water-tight home in one of the palaces and lived there, studying the records and devices of the race's marvelous wisdom. From the books and records, he learned ways of teaching me to live under the ocean, drawing oxygen from the water and using all the power of the sea to make me wonderfully strong and swift.

 

By training and a hundred scientific secrets, I became what you see—a human being who lives and thrives under the water."

 

In his early Golden Age appearances, Aquaman can breathe underwater and control fish and other underwater life for up to an hour.

 

Initially, he was depicted as speaking to sea creatures "in their own language" rather than telepathically and only when they were close enough to hear him (within a 20 yards (18 m) radius).

 

Aquaman's adventures took place all across the world and his base was "a wrecked fishing boat kept underwater," in which he also lived.

 

During his wartime adventures, most of Aquaman's foes were Nazi U-boat commanders and various Axis villains from when he once worked with the All-Star Squadron.

 

The rest of his adventures in the 1940s and 1950s had him dealing with several sea-based criminals, including modern-day pirates such as his longtime archenemy Black Jack, as well as various threats to aquatic life, shipping lanes, and sailors.

 

Aquaman's last appearance in More Fun Comics was in issue #106, before being moved along with Superboy and Green Arrow to Adventure Comics, starting with issue #103 in 1946.

 

In "The New Golden Age" #1 (2022), writer Geoff Johns restores a variation of the Golden Age Aquaman to DC continuity.

 

This version's profile tells the story of an Aquaman who was the predecessor of Arthur Curry. This Aquaman was the unnamed son of two well-respected scientists who studied what they believed to be the underwater ruins of Atlantis (in reality an abandoned Atlantean scientific outpost), where they lived in an underwater lab.

 

This unique environment seemed to slowly alter their young son's physiology. The boy learned how to breathe in the water, developed incredible strength, and formed a bond with sea life while training some of them to aid him in his underwater heroic activities.

 

In 1941, he first appeared to the surface world as Aquaman. While he turned down the offer to join the Justice Society of America when he encountered Green Lantern, he was briefly a member of the All-Star Squadron.

 

In 1947, Aquaman left the sea where he sought to live on the land using the alias of "Adam Waterman". He retreated back to the ocean soon after for reasons unknown. This Aquaman disappeared from the public eye in the 1950s.

 

At the end of the "Flashpoint Beyond" limited series, this version of Aquaman was among "The Thirteen" characters "removed from time" seen in the custody of the Time Masters.

 

The capsules containing this Aquaman and those with him were found to have failed and they have been pulled back to the 1940s, restoring them to DC's history in modern-day stories.

 

Silver Age

 

Aquaman's adventures continued to be published in Adventure Comics through the 1940s and 1950s, as one of the few superheroes to last through the 1950s in continuous publication.

 

Starting in the late 1950s new elements to Aquaman's backstory were introduced, with various new supporting characters added and several adjustments made to the character, his origins, his power and persona.

 

The first of these elements was the story "Aquaman's Undersea Partner" in Adventure Comics #229 (October 1956), where his octopus sidekick Topo was first introduced.

 

This and subsequent elements were later removed or altered from the Aquaman character after the establishment of DC's multiverse in the 1960s, attributed to the Aquaman of Earth-One.

 

The Silver Age Aquaman made his first appearance in Adventure Comics #260 (May 1959). In it and subsequent Silver Age comics, it was revealed that this Aquaman was Arthur Curry, the son of lighthouse keeper Tom Curry and Atlanna, a water-breathing outcast from the lost underwater city of Atlantis.

 

Due to his heritage, Aquaman discovered as a youth that he possessed various superhuman abilities, including the powers of surviving underwater, communication with sea life and tremendous swimming prowess.

 

Eventually, Arthur decided to use his talents to become the defender of the Earth's oceans. It was later revealed that in his youth Arthur had adventured as Aquaboy and, on one occasion, met Superboy, Earth's only other publicly active superpowered hero at the time. When Arthur grew up, he called himself "Aquaman".

 

It was later revealed that after Atlanna's death, Tom Curry met and married an ordinary human woman and had a son named Orm Curry,

 

Aquaman's half-brother. Orm grew up as a troubled youth in the shadow of his brother, who constantly bailed him out of trouble with the law. He grew to hate Aquaman not only for the powers that he could never possess, but also because he believed that their father would always favor Aquaman.

 

Orm disappeared after becoming an amnesiac and would resurface years later as Aquaman's nemesis the Ocean Master.

 

Aquaman's ability to talk with fish eventually expanded to full-fledged telepathic communication with sea creatures even from great distances.

 

He also retroactively developed a specific weakness akin to Superman's vulnerability to kryptonite or Green Lantern's vulnerability to the color yellow: Aquaman had to come into contact with water at least once per hour or he would die. Prior to this, Aquaman could exist both in and out of water indefinitely.

 

In Aquaman #18 (December 1964), Aquaman married Mera in the first superhero wedding depicted in a comic book.

 

Aquaman was included in the Justice League of America comic book series, appearing with the team in their very first adventure, and was also a founding member of the team. Aquaman took part in most of the 1960s adventures of the superhero team.

 

Aquaman's supporting cast and rogues gallery soon began to grow with the addition of Aqualad, an outcast, orphaned youth from an Atlantean colony whom Aquaman took in and began to mentor. Aquaman later discovered the submerged fictional city of New Venice, which became Aquaman's base of operations for a time.

 

Aquaman is recognized as the son of Atlanna and is later voted to be the King after the death of the former regent, who had no heirs. By this time, Aquaman had met Mera, a queen from a water-based dimension, and married her shortly after he became king.[24] They soon have a son, Arthur, Jr. (nicknamed "Aquababy").

 

The 1960s series introduced other such archenemies as the Ocean Master (Aquaman's amnesiac half-brother Orm), Black Manta, the Fisherman, the Scavenger, and the terrorist organization known as O.G.R.E.

 

Other recurring members of the Aquaman cast introduced in this series include the well-meaning but annoying Qwsp (a water sprite); Dr. Vulko, a trustworthy Atlantean scientist who became Aquaman's royal advisor and whom Aquaman eventually appoints to be king after leaving the throne himself; and Tula (known as "Aquagirl"), an Atlantean princess who was Aqualad's primary love interest.

 

In the mid-1980s, after his own feature's demise, Aquaman is briefly made the leader of the Justice League of America.

 

In a storyline in Justice League of America #228–230, an invasion of Earth by a race of Martians occurs at a time when the core members are missing.

 

Aquaman is thus forced to defend Earth with a League much depleted in power and capability, and he takes it upon himself to disband the Justice League altogether in Justice League of America Annual #2 (1984), thereafter reforming it with new bylaws requiring members to give full participation to the League's cases.

 

With the help of veteran Justice League members the Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, and the Elongated Man, Aquaman recruits and trains four new and untried members: Gypsy, Vibe, Vixen, and Steel. Arthur also relocates the team's headquarters to a reinforced bunker in Detroit, Michigan after the destruction of the JLA's satellite headquarters during the Martian invasion.

 

Aquaman's participation in this new version of the Justice League ended in #243 (October 1985), when he resigned to work on his marriage with Mera.

 

Modern Age

 

After the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, several short miniseries were produced in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, beginning with 1986's four-issue miniseries Aquaman (February–May 1986), written by Neal Pozner and featuring Aquaman in a new, largely deep-sea blue "camouflage" costume.

 

The series was well received and a follow-up limited series was in the works, but was eventually cancelled due to creative problems.

 

This series also expanded on several details of the Silver Age Aquaman's origin as well as Aquaman's relationship with his half-brother, the Ocean Master, whose origin was retold in more complete detail.

 

The series also added mystical elements to Aquaman's mythology and reinvented the Ocean Master as a sorcerer. Aquaman reappeared in his blue costume in Aquaman Special #1 (1988).

 

In late 1988, the character appeared in the Invasion! storyline, guest-starring with the Doom Patrol and once again wearing his trademark orange and green costume.

 

In 1989, the Legend of Aquaman Special (officially titled as Aquaman Special #1 in the comic's legal indicia, the second Special in back-to-back years) rewrote Aquaman's mythos and origin while still keeping most of his Silver Age history intact. The special was written by writer Robert Loren Fleming with plots/breakdown art by Keith Giffen and full pencil art by artist Curt Swan.

 

This origin story of the Modern Age recounts that Aquaman is born as Orin to Queen Atlanna and the mysterious wizard Atlan in the sunken Atlantean city of Poseidonis.

 

As a baby, Orin was abandoned to die on Mercy Reef (which is above sea level at low tide, causing fatal air exposure to Atlanteans) because of his blond hair, which was seen by the superstitious Atlanteans as a sign of a curse they called "the Mark of Kordax."

 

The only individual who spoke up on Orin's behalf was Vulko, a scientist who had no patience for myth or superstition. While his pleas fell on deaf ears, Vulko would later become a close friend and advisor to the young Orin.

 

As a feral child who raised himself in the wilds of the ocean with only sea creatures to keep him company, Orin was found and taken in by a lighthouse keeper named Arthur Curry who named Orin "Arthur Curry" after himself.

 

One day, a young Arthur returns home and finds that his adoptive father has disappeared, so he sets off on his own. In his early teens, Orin ventures to Alaska, where he meets and falls in love with an Inupiaq girl named Kako.

 

It is also here that he first earned the hatred of Orm, the future Ocean Master, who was later revealed to be Arthur's half-brother by Atlan and an Inupiaq woman.

 

As detailed in the five-issue miniseries Aquaman (June–October 1989) (by the same creative team of the 1989 special of Robert Loren Fleming, Keith Giffen, and Curt Swan), which continued a few of the themes from the Legend of Aquaman Special, Mera is eventually driven insane by grief over the death of her son, Arthur, Jr., and is committed to an asylum in Poseidonis.

 

Shortly afterwards, a jellyfish-esque alien force conquers Atlantis. Arthur is forced to save the city, but is hampered by an escaped Mera, who personally blames Arthur for the death of their son. In a fit of rage, Mera leaves Earth for her homeworld of Xebel in another dimension.

 

The publication of writer Peter David's The Atlantis Chronicles #1–7 (March–September 1990), which tells the story of Atlantis from antediluvian times to Aquaman's birth, introduced the ancient Atlantean characters Orin (after whom Aquaman was named) and Atlan (who was revealed to be Aquaman's father).

 

Another Aquaman ongoing series with creative team Shaun McLaughlin and Ken Hooper (#1–13) thereafter ran from December 1991 to December 1992, which portrayed Aquaman reluctantly deciding to remain in Poseidonis as its protector once again.

 

For a time, Arthur served as Atlantis' representative to the United Nations, but always found himself thrust back into the superhero role.

 

Becoming more and more of a workaholic and solitary figure, Aquaman eventually returned to the oceans and soon becomes tangled up in another attempt by Black Manta to destroy Atlantis by dragging it into a war with a surface nation.

 

Peter David returned to the character in another miniseries, Aquaman: Time and Tide, a 1993–1994 four-issue miniseries which further explained Aquaman's origins, as he finally learns all about the history of his people through the Atlantis Chronicles, which are presented as historical texts passed down and updated through the centuries.

 

Aquaman learns that his birth name was Orin and that he and his enemy the Ocean Master share the same father, "an ancient Atlantean wizard" named Atlan.

 

This revelation sends Orin into a bout of rage and depression, setting the stage for later confrontations between the two, as it is said in the Chronicles that "two brothers will also battle for control of Atlantis".

 

This is in contrast to the Silver Age Aquaman, who had always known that the Ocean Master was his half-brother Orm, although Orm's amnesia prevented him from remembering this fact for some time.

 

This series is credited by Kevin Melrose of Comic Book Resources with helping the character reach the height of his modern-era popularity.

 

Aquaman starred in his own series again with the publication of Aquaman (vol. 5) #1 (August 1994), initially scripted by Peter David, following up on his 1993 Time and Tide miniseries.

 

This series was the longest-running for the character, lasting until its 75th issue. David left the series after issue #46 (July 1998) after working on it for nearly four years.

 

David began by giving Aquaman an entirely new look, forsaking his former clean-cut appearance.

 

Following his discoveries reading the Atlantis Chronicles during Time and Tide, Aquaman withdraws from the world for a time. Garth finds him weeks later, with his hair and beard grown long, brooding in his cave.

 

Aquaman loses his left hand when the madman Charybdis, attempting to force Arthur to show him how he can harness Arthur's ability to communicate with sea life, sticks Arthur's hand into a piranha-infested pool.

 

This loss causes Aquaman to become somewhat unhinged and he begins having prophetic dreams, and then, feeling in need of a "symbol", attaches a harpoon spearhead to his left arm in place of his missing hand.

 

His classic orange shirt is shredded in a battle with Lobo, but rather than replace it, he instead goes shirtless for a while before donning a gladiatorial manica.

 

After the destruction of the harpoon, Aquaman has it replaced by a cybernetic prosthetic harpoon from S.T.A.R. Labs with a retractable reel that he can fully control.

 

A major storyline, culminating in #25, concerns the Five Lost Cities of Atlantis.

 

Facing an unearthly invading species linked to the origin of the Atlanteans, Aquaman has to search out and unite the lost cities.

 

This storyline established Arthur as a Warrior King and a major political power, ruling largely undisputed over all the Atlantean cities.

 

The remainder of Peter David's run focused on Orin coming to terms with his genetic heritage and his role as king. During this time he discovers the remnants of a sentient alien ship beneath Poseidonis and is able to take control of it, returning Poseidonis to the surface and bringing Atlantis into greater contact with the outside world.

 

The cultural changes this brings about, including increased tourism, as well as his conflicting duties as superhero and king, bring him into increasing tension with the political powers in his city.

 

After a brief stint by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, David was replaced as writer by Erik Larsen with issue #50 (Dec. 1998) and again by Dan Jurgens in issue #63 (January 2000). The series ended with issue #75 (January 2001).

 

During this time Aquaman's wife Mera returns, once again sane, from the otherworldly dimension where she had been trapped and Aquaman narrowly averts a coup d'état orchestrated by his son Koryak and his advisor Vulko.

 

Arthur's second harpoon is also destroyed, this time in a battle with Noble, King of the Lurkers.

 

Aquaman replaces it with a golden prosthetic hand developed by Atlantean scientists which can change shape at his command, thus retaining the powers of the former harpoon while also being more all-purpose.

 

After a brief war with an island nation, Aquaman expands Atlantis' surface influence by annexing the country to Atlantis.

 

Aquaman had no regular series of his own from 2001 to 2003, but his plot went through several developments via his cameo appearances in multiple other titles.

 

Aquaman was a founding member of the reformed JLA and remained an active, if sometimes reluctant member of that team, until the "Our Worlds at War" storyline in 2001 (shortly after the cancellation of Aquaman vol. 5), during which Aquaman and the city of Poseidonis disappear during a battle between Aquaman and an Imperiex probe.

 

The Justice League eventually found out that the city was still there, just magically shielded, but in ruins and apparently uninhabited.

 

These Atlanteans were trapped in the ancient past, sent there by Tempest (Aqualad) as a last measure when it appeared that the city would be destroyed by the probe.

 

There, however, they were enslaved by their own Atlantean ancestors, led by a powerful sorceress named Gamemnae, and Aquaman himself was transformed into living water and imprisoned in an ornamental pool.

 

Over time, this civilization had collapsed until only Gamemnae herself, now immensely powerful, inhabited the ruins.

 

After a few months of their own time, but fully 15 years for the Atlanteans, the JLA free Aquaman in "The Obsidian Age" storyline in JLA. Although the original League is killed by Gamemnae, their souls are contained by the magician Manitou Raven to use in a spell to contain Gamemnae in Atlantis until the present day, when he is able to revive them.

 

Aquaman is freed from his imprisonment in the pool and Zatanna enhances his abilities so that he can now control the entire ocean as a powerful water wraith.

 

With this power, Aquaman is able to sever Gamemnae's connection to the city by sinking it under the sea again.

 

While he fights Gamemnae, the League members return the modern Atlanteans to the present, where they begin rebuilding the city, which is once again at the bottom of the sea.

 

A sixth Aquaman series began shortly afterward, initially written by Rick Veitch, who sought to take Aquaman in a more mystical direction. Subsequent writers who contributed to the series include John Ostrander, Will Pfeifer, Tad Williams, and John Arcudi.

 

This series ran 57 issues, starting in December 2002 (cover-dated February 2003). Initially focusing on Aquaman's efforts to survive after he was exiled from Atlantis and the ocean, the theme of the storyline changed when Aquaman became involved after a sizeable portion of San Diego sunk into the ocean.

 

Over the next few months, it was discovered that the sinking was the work of a scientist who had acquired a sample of Aquaman's DNA.

 

Believing that the human race as it currently existed would destroy Earth, he had sunk the city while also using the DNA sample he took from Aquaman to convert most of the residents into water-breathers.

 

Aquaman goes on to establish himself as the protector of 'Sub Diego', aided by new Aquagirl Lorena Marquez, despite such problems as the human residents' poor reaction to being trapped underwater and the Ocean Master's attempt to rewrite history so that he is Aquaman while Orin is the Ocean Master.

 

Starting with #40 (May 2006), following the events of the Infinite Crisis storyline, the series was renamed Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis which ended with issue #57 (October 2007). These issues featured a new, younger Aquaman named Arthur Joseph Curry.

 

Following the "One Year Later" storyline (starting with Aquaman (vol. 6) #40 (May 2006)), the series was renamed Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis and taken in an entirely different direction by writer Kurt Busiek.

 

In this version, Aquaman is missing and presumed dead following the events of Infinite Crisis. A young man with aquatic powers by the name of Arthur Joseph Curry is summoned by the mysterious Dweller in the Depths to take up the mantle of Aquaman, but it gradually emerges that the Dweller himself is Aquaman, having lost much of his memory and been strangely mutated, while gaining magical powers.

 

These changes were explained later during the "missing year" between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later depicted in the weekly series 52, where Aquaman makes a brief appearance at the memorial for Superboy.

 

Sometime later Ralph Dibny, seemingly accompanied by Doctor Fate's helmet, meets a bearded, long-haired and amnesic Orin in the ruins of Atlantis. The helmet portends that "if he lives... if he lives... it is as a victim of the magicks of legend and the power of the sea."

 

During Infinite Crisis, Orin makes a deal with the gods of the sea in a desperate bid to gain the power to save the lives of several Sub Diego inhabitants who had lost the ability to live in water.

 

Using the bones of his severed left hand in a magical ritual, the sea gods give Orin the power to raise Sub Diego onto dry land. However, as a side effect of this, Orin mutates into the "Dweller of the Depths" and loses his memories.

 

The fate the Dweller foresees for Arthur Joseph Curry once they meet is revealed to really only be a confused memory of the Dweller's own past as Aquaman.

 

In the midst of trying to help his successor, Arthur Joseph, the Dweller (Orin) is murdered by Narwhal.

 

Upon the receipt of Orin's body, members of the Justice League of America, including Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash, examine the body in Atlantis and wish the best for Mera and the new Aquaman.

 

Orin seemingly reappears in Atlantis during the 2008 Final Crisis storyline to fend off the forces of Darkseid, but this Aquaman is revealed to be from another Earth in the multiverse.

 

The appearance of this Aquaman is later perceived by Hal Jordan and Barry Allen to be an unsubstantiated rumor, however, since this person was never seen nor heard from again.

 

Sometime between his death and the beginning of the 2008–09 Blackest Night storyline, Orin's body is moved and buried on land at Mercy Reef alongside Tom Curry in accordance with his final wishes.

 

In Blackest Night #1 (July 2009), Garth returns to Atlantis and tells Orin's wife Mera that he is angry at the notion of Aquaman's body being buried on land.

 

Mera relays to Tempest that Orin felt safe on land and that this is indeed what Arthur wanted. Sometime later, a black power ring is seen entering Orin's grave, bidding him to rise from the dead.

 

Aquaman's corpse rises, along with those of Tula and the Dolphin as revenant members of the Black Lantern Corps, and demands that Mera reunite with him in death, offering her a chance to see her son again.

 

Garth is killed and joins the Black Lanterns himself. Mera rejects Aquaman's corpse before fleeing. In the climax of the miniseries, Aquaman is among those resurrected by The White Lantern Entity and is reunited with Mera.

 

The Black Lantern Ring helps reconstruct Orin's body and when he is resurrected, his hand is restored as well.

 

During the "Brightest Day" storyline, Aquaman and Mera spend the night together in the lighthouse of Amnesty Bay, but in the morning Mera finds Arthur on the dock looking at the sea and wondering why he was revived. They later intercept a pirate vessel, but Aquaman finds that he can now only call on dead sea life to help him.

 

While cleaning up an oil spill, Aquaman and Mera are attacked by soldiers from Mera's homeworld, led by the Siren, and Mera reveals that the Siren was sent to kill him.

 

Mera also hints that, despite the long-lasting exile of her people, Xebel's soldiers had been enemies of Black Manta himself from a distant time, even preceding the first public appearance of Aquaman.

 

She also states that, despite Mera's original mission being a solo one, the Siren is now backed by an entire Death Squad of elite Xebel soldiers acting at the orders of the acting princess and also later reveals that the Siren is her younger sister.

 

Aquaman is instructed by the White Lantern Entity to find Jackson Hyde before a second, unidentified group does.

 

Mera states that she knows who Hyde is and after she tells Aquaman, he leaves and rescues Jackson from a Xebel attack.

 

It is revealed that Aquaman's Silver Age origin has been re-established and he is once again the half-human son of Tom Curry and an Atlantean queen.

 

The Entity subsequently reduces Aquaman to what appears to be white water. Aquaman is revealed to be one of the Elementals, transformed by the Entity to become the element of water and protect the Star City forest from the Dark Avatar, the Black Lantern version of the Swamp Thing.

 

After the Dark Avatar is defeated, the Swamp Thing returns Aquaman to normal. Afterward, Aquaman is reunited with Mera, at which point he discovers that the Xebels' weapons were made of Atlantean technology.

 

Powers and abilities

 

Marine Telepathy

 

Aquaman's most widely recognized power is the ability to communicate with marine life, which he can summon from great distances. This was originally described in the stories as an ability to actually speak with fish (in a similar manner to Dr. Dolittle's ability to speak to animals).

 

This portrayal of his powers was later retconned into the ability to communicate with them telepathically. He once stated that this power more relied on encouraging and compelling the subject rather than full control, citing piranha as a species he has trouble commanding under any circumstances due to their ruthlessness and hunger.

 

In the New 52 onwards, Aquaman's telepathy abilities changed; acknowledging that most marine life does not possess enough intelligence to carry on a meaningful telepathic communication, Aquaman is now stated to simply add compulsions and needs in the mindset of aquatic life, compelling them to do his bidding by a subtle altering of their cerebellum.

 

It is later revealed during Drowned Earth event that Arthur's ability to speak with the ocean comes from a metaphysical energy known as the Life Force, a vast ocean of genesistic power which enables him to connect with any and all forms of sentience within the cosmos, even from across realities.

 

Through it, Arthur could also use its power to revert lost forms and assert varying consciousnesses within, like making the human shell of Mother Salt's monster daughter, the Cailleach, subservient to her human host's will; even restoring the true forms and divine powers of long-forgotten ocean gods while calling out to them through his aquatelepathy.

 

Physical abilities

 

The character has a number of other superhuman powers, most of which derive from the fact that he is adapted to live and thrive in the harshest of underwater environments.

 

He has the ability to breathe underwater and possesses a superhuman physique strong enough to withstand attacks from superhuman opponents and resist machine gun fire.

 

Aquaman frequently displays feats of super-Atlantean (the average Atlantean can lift/press approximately two tons) and superhuman strength. While not on par with Superman and Wonder Woman, he has proven capable of leaps up to six miles.

 

He can swim at extremely high speeds, capable of reaching speeds of 3,000 meters per second (10,800 km [roughly 6,700 miles] per hour) and can swim up Niagara Falls. He can see in near total darkness and has enhanced hearing, granting limited sonar.

 

Although Aquaman can remain underwater indefinitely without suffering any ill effects, he grows weak if he remains on land for extended periods.

 

Originally, when Batman invented Aquaman's water suit, he was able to walk on land for an indefinite amount of time and was no longer vulnerable to a "dehumidifier".

 

This weakness was later removed from continuity in 2011, establishing that he grew up on land before learning of his Atlantean heritage, but he still runs the risk of dying by dehydration within incredibly hostile environments, such as deserts.

 

Aquaman had also been bestowed an ability he never showcased before, given to him by an old Sea Monarch, granting him the ability of unaided flight using his own power.

 

Other powers and abilities

 

While typically able to mostly telepathically commune with marine animals, Aquaman has at times demonstrated the ability to affect any being that lives upon the sea (e.g., sea eagles), or even any being evolved from marine life (e.g., humans and some aliens).

 

Pre-Flashpoint Aquaman has had an ill-defined level of telekinetic capability he would use every so often. It's very, very rarely touched upon and the only times he ever used it few and far between; often applying these abilities as a focus for team battles to strengthen combo attacks with other supers.

 

At various times in his life, Aquaman has been transformed into a purely oceanic entity with power over all the seas of the world; this was usually temporary, as he would often revert to normal afterwards.

 

Weapons and equipment

 

Trident of Neptune

 

Before The New 52, the Trident, granted by Poseidon to the rightful ruler and protector of the seas, was indestructible and a very powerful melee weapon, which Aquaman wielded with unmatched skill.

 

Apart from its power as a melee weapon, the Trident also had the power to manipulate water, fire bolts of powerful energy and act as a focus to amplify the magical power of others, most notably Tempest.

 

In the New 52, the Trident of Neptune (also called Atlan's Trident or the Trident of Atlan) is a weapon in which is part of a collection of seven very powerful Atlantean magical items, forged by the first king of Atlantis who calls himself 'The Dead King'.

 

Initially thought to be the most powerful weapon of the set, with the possible exception of the recently discovered seventh item, the Trident is completely indestructible and able to hurt even the most powerful of opponents, such as the evil New God Darkseid.

 

In one instance, the Trident was shown glowing with magical power when Black Manta used the rest of the items to discover the hidden seventh one. Sometimes when Arthur utilizes the Trident of Neptune's supernatural powers, his eyes glow with arcane power and this further strengthens his abilities as well as giving him various arcane energy-based capabilities.

 

Trident of Poseidon

 

In the New 52 onwards, the trident in which is usually the favored weapon of Poseidon was given to Aquaman by the sea god. Poseidon's trident has displayed the power to summon tsunamis and deluges, and call down thunder and lightning, project and control ice, move landmasses, and grant the ability for Aquaman to teleport himself across global and even interplanetary distances using water as a medium. It can also transform into a gladius (a type of sword used by ancient Roman gladiators) and back into a trident at will.

 

Prosthetic hand

 

After the loss of his left hand, Aquaman initially replaced it with a cybernetic retractable hook, then a liquid metal hand. The mechanical hand was replaced by a magical hand made out of water. His biological hand was restored when the character was resurrected in Blackest Night #8.

 

Waterbearer Hand

 

A magical hand made out of water, it was given to him by the Lady of the Lake, which granted Aquaman numerous abilities. These included: the ability to instantly dehydrate to death anyone he touched, shoot jets of scalding or freezing water from it, healing abilities, the ability to create portals into mystical dimensions that could act as spontaneous transport, control and negate magic, manipulate almost any body of water he sets his focus on and the capability to communicate with the Lady of the Lake.

 

⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽

_____________________________

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

 

Secret Identity: Arthur Curry

 

Publisher: DC

 

First appearance: More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941)

 

Created by: Mort Weisinger

(writer)

Paul Norris

(artist)

 

Aquaman has been spotted once on the Bijou Planks:

 

BP 2021 Day 32!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50899831182/

 

And also at The Booth:

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/29521983198/

 

And also in the Paprihaven story!

www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50826857451/

  

A suicide surviving pregnant amnesiac woman is admitted to psychiatric hospital, meanwhile the suspected father is on a Tuna boat, before falling off and being left for dead.

063/366

 

The Creationist Lie ―The Myth of Intelligent Design

 

www.buzzfeed.com/frederickmckindra/nothingscarierthanbein...

 

“Horror films constantly reinforced the concept of the white body’s vulnerability, and subtly advised their audiences to treat only those bodies with concern. Meanwhile, for black characters, and by extension, black people, if no one ever saw you scream, tremble, or bleed, they never learned to see you as human. In the aughts, black characters in horror films were either disposable, not worth depicting at all, or rendered racial amnesiacs when it came to issues that would concern any black person in real life — a contrast to the progressiveness of Night of the Living Dead decades before. In this way, black characters have appeared in horror films, yes, but rarely as black people. Black female singers like Brandy (1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer) or Kelly Rowland (2003’s Freddy vs. Jason) settled into the role of the final girl’s best friend. Black men like LL Cool J (1998’s Halloween H20) and Ving Rhames (2004’s Dawn of the Dead) were often cast as security guards, and so exploited a muscular physique, an aggressive disposition, a misguided hero complex, and a handgun. But a fully realized black person — connected to a black family, in possession of black friends, or written into a narrative that gave some attention to black concerns — was nonexistent.” ―Frederick McKindra

Sakai Higashi Machi, Nagaoka, Nigata

Ricohflex Model Ⅶ

Lucky SHD 100

"Don't Drink Poison"

We learned this lesson five times fine: fake left, go right, back-stabs read minds!

Tail-lights shine beautiful, they make halos on the road.

Don't give our keys to the city, to shark-suits, b-sides, free-things-please!

I left the code at the coat-check pointed to the word on my neck.

That's me, all night on stand-by.

Three words, three things...oh please please!

Don't, don't drink poison!

Wolf Girl, poolside, I'm in the lobby.

Gay concierge-spy high fives me.

It's all cool enemy style, smile at the tv while you download her file.

Watch for the quick slip, money shot, vid clip.

Walk past slowly, pass me the nurse kit.

Don't be fooled by the sister vocab...keep it light, put it on her tab.

Heads up for this tonight...it's some you'll recognize.

Looks like lips and feels like teeth, always waving to the people from the magazine.

There's one thing they love to see...it's tear jearks for charity and blank smirks all the way

to the airport.

There's one drink, on ice, oh I think it's ...

They say trouble comes in threes, I say Chicken Ceasar grows on trees.

It could be lucky to be out of luck.

I mean, better than to take the test where amnesiacs must write on napkins.

Prepare for what might happen.

In a trance from polished talk we think...coat throat, lemon lime, hot choc, oh! ...

Fem Exec is right behind me.

Almost there, through the glass doors, against the wall, on the third floor.

We found a robot hand hidden in a potted plant.

And we're not too nice to notice when white wine stinks and we're misquoted.

 

-- Le Tigre

Wall to commemorate 10 years of Amnesiac, Radiohead's album.

(Inspired by Piramyd song)

Pontevedra Square (1981)

 

xoanpinon.blogspot.com/2009/10/praza-de-pontevedra-coruna...

xoanpinon.blogspot.com comentarios en galego

 

Comment by Xosé Lois Martínez

"Civilization and Barbarism in Galicia"

 

"It is not a picture for pleasing.

 

A small and composed apartment building of the 19th century Galician petit bourgeoisie is immured between the skeletal structure of two giants of the real estate speculation of the policy of economic development.

 

Light bounces off the wrought pieces, concrete beams and pillars, still devoid of the skin clothing of the façade, drawing squares in empty black that contrast with the fragility and transparency of the delicate wooden and glazed balconies that, white and tidy curtains, show signs of domestic life in apparent tranquillity.

 

On the ground floor the sign of Bar Benito, partially covered by the scaffolding, hides itself aware of the impossibility of its survival in the new stage that is about to be built.

 

Above the small building, a disturbing emptiness stands out against a transforming urban landscape.

 

Xoan Piñón's photographic look is a critical look. The dimension of the emptiness measures the intensity of the violence with which a Historical Centre, initially anonymous, is transformed into the uneven battle that has been waged for the defence of heritage in the past forty years.

 

Culture versus barbarism.

 

The architecture of the city understood as value of use and sign of excellence and urban identity, versus architecture in its adjective status at the service of a real estate product primarily conceived as value of change, as merchandise.

 

A picture in which a critical stage in the building of the contemporary city is visualised.

 

The frontal approach places the fringe of the emptiness between buildings at the centre of the picture.

 

It turns it into the protagonist, with a level of abstraction that opens up the possibility of the identification of the picture with a fragment of any town or city in the country: The new suburbs of Corunna or of Santiago? Viveiro or Betanzos? Sarria or Monforte? The new suburbs of Vigo or of Pontevedra? Linares Rivas Street or Pontevedra Square? Verín or Malpica? The district of A Magdalena in Ferrol?

 

Among multiple meanings, the picture takes us to a time (the last quarter of the 20th century), and to some colliding urban shapes (with the extraordinary shift in the scale of the new buildings that treble the number of floors of the preceding one).

 

At a given point, at the core of the main Galician cities, the rules to be followed are being enunciated, the models to be imitated in the construction of urban space in the late years of the 20th century.

 

From the very heart of urban planning, the cancer spread out quickly like a metastasis all over the country's body.

 

But it's the possibility to perceive the intensity of violence that shows us that it was in the urban landscapes of the Historical Centres and in the bourgeois new suburbs where the new barbarians first put in an appearance: that is where they built the new references.

 

Recognised in the mass media as the symptom par excellence of "progress" and "modernity", boosted by the financial sector through new credit methods, the floodgates of the ignorance of some and of the boundless ambition of others, who felt legitimised to radically transform the setting that serves as a backdrop to the drama where the building of contemporary Galicia is taking place, destroying the memorable pages of the book of the city, were opened up.

 

In the historical centres or in the small new suburbs of every town (Betanzos, Sada, Verín, Noia, Sarria, Baiona…) and even in the then small villages (Santa Cruz, Mera, O Burgo, A Pasaxe, Cabanas,…), each one interpreted the message emitted from the city in their own style.

 

A message that entailed the inability of the new urban players to create a singular urban alternative without denying the cultural values of the preceding city, of the "city as a work of art".

 

In 1969, twelve years before the picture was taken, in Bologna, the Special Plan of Protection of the Historical Centre had been passed and the need for its Integral Planning was enunciated.

 

Six years earlier, in 1975, the Declaration of Amsterdam on European Architectural Heritage was written.

 

The picture, in its photographic status, goes beyond the concrete time and place of its making, giving way to its "temporal and physical decontextualisation".

 

A small fragment of Corunna's Pontevedra Square shows us the conflict between the typologies of the historical city and the speculative alternatives of "progress".

 

A conflict that the emptiness makes visible in the great piece of stage machinery of the buildings under construction, before the sweet and amnesiac mask of the skin "architecture of façade" of modernity hides, more or less successfully, the excesses of a barbaric and voracious real estate sector that, ignoring the cultural and historical dimension of the city, violently claims the leading role in the drama of the construction of urban Galicia".

 

Xosé Lois Martínez

 

www.xoanpinon.com

  

So, here we are in the fine city of Norwich, with hundreds of beers to try, with not enough time and just the two hands.

 

In the end I went to just one session, as there were festivals at both The Birdcage and The Muderders.

 

Moultons Mild was very nice, as was The Fat Cat Brewery'd Porter.

 

---------------------------------------------------------

 

Acorn, Wombwell, South Yorkshire

Barnsley Bitter 3.8%

Well rounded, with a rich flavour, it retains a lasting bitter finish.

Old Moor Porter 4.8%

A full bodied victorian style porter with hints of liquorice. The initial bitterness gives way

to a smooth, mellow finish.

Adnams, Southwold, Suffolk

Prop Hop 4%

A delicious bitter with malt, biscuit and bready flavours, accompanied by subtle notes of

orange peel.

Extra 4.3%

Copper coloured ale with hoppy, floral and herbal aromas which follow through on the

palate.

Broadside Extra 6.5%

The bottled version but in cask, full malt flavour and a hint of marmite.

Tally Ho 7.2%

Tally Ho is dark Mahogany red in colour with a rich, fruity aroma and a heart warming

sweet raisin and biscuit palate.

Allendale, Hexham, Northumberland

Wagtail 3.8%

A floral aroma, hints of seville orange and spiced dried fruit, with biscuit and toffee

notes.

Pennine Pale 4%

Golden ale, brewed with a trio of American hops giving a full fruity aroma and flavour,

with a refreshing citrus finish

Ashover, Ashover, Derbyshire

Liquorice Alesort 4.5%

A rich black stout made with black malt and crystal rye, has root liquorice added in the

boil.

Rainbows End 4.5%

Rainbows End was the name of the café at the terminus of Ashover light railway, the

beer is pale and hopped with Cascade.

B & T, Shefford, Bedfordshire

Edwin Taylor's Extra Stout 4.5%

A stout with a strong roast flavour along with a hinr of coffee and red wine.

Shefford Plum Porter 4.5%

Fruity on the nose but a little smokiness to the flavour.

Page 1 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Backyard, Walsall, West Midlands

Premium 4.5%

Premium bitter with a toffee, herbal nose and bitter-sweet nutty flavours.

Hell Bound 5.4%

Dark, rich brew. Full of bitter chocolate and fruit malt character.

Barrell&Sellers, South Elmham, Suffolk

Bitter 3.8%

Classic English ‘Best’ brewed with crystal malt and punchy hops to give a bitter fiinish.

Brown Ale 4.7%

Brewed with caramel & chocolate malt & 'blackcurrant' hops.

IPA 5.8%

Robust, amber, well hopped beer is brewed with pale & caramel malt.

Batemans, Wainfleet, Lincolnshire

XB 3.7%

Classic amber bitter brewed with English hops, very quaffable.

Gold 3.9%

A golden coloued refreshing beer brewed with lager malt and hinook and Cascade hops.

Salem Porter 4.7%

Full of fruit, hazelnuts, almonds, liquorice and spicy hops.

Beeston, Beeston, Norfolk

Afternoon Delight 3.7%

An easy drinking blonde ale with a slightly dry feel and hint of lemon.

Worth The Wait 4.2%

A golden beer, with a balance of hops to give a gentle bitterness & a refreshing citrus

hint.

Village Life 4.8%

Toasted malt flavours with plenty of body and a hint of orange rind and biscuit.

Old Stoatwobbler 6%

Strong, dark, luscious & notorious and mostly mine.. (Manic laugh)

Bexar County, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

Poquito Pequeno 3.5%

Gentle fruity bittersweet base with a surprisingly bitter/sour finish.

Timanfaya 3.8%

Rausch Beer. Soured Brown ale.

Cambridge Common 4.1%

?

Page 2 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Blindmans, Leighton, Somerset

Backstreet 4.2%

A mid brown smooth rounded ale, full of subtle toffee flavours.

Boudicca, Hoveton, Norfolk

Spiral Stout 4.6%

A spectrum of autumnal berries, coffee, dark chocolate, and a gentle, lingering dry roast

finish with a hint of smoke.

Brandon, Brandon, Suffolk

Dragonfire 4.5%

Pioneer hops and caramel malt makes this an easy session beer with a bit of a kick.

Oakenshield 5%

Strong and dark with a smooth smoky aftertaste.

Brass Castle, Malton, North Yorkshire

Bad Kitty 5.5%

Chocolate vanilla porter , what's not to like..

Burnout 5.8%

A complex dark ale with sweet roasted notes alongside coffee and liquorice.

Brentwood, Brentwood, Essex

Chestnut Stout 4%

A smooth, rounded, easy drinking stout, brewed with local chestnuts.

Shackleton 'The Boss' 4.5%

A full-bodied red premium bitter, well balanced and with rich malt flavours. Brewed by

Brentwood for Shackleton brewery.

Buffy's, Tivetshall St Mary, Norfolk

Norfolk Terrier 3.8%

Slightly malty and smooth.

Beagle 4%

A Beagle is really quite a delightful beast. Loyal to the end. Golden and with

exceptionally good citrus notes courtesy of First Gold hops.

9X 9%

Robust ale with plenty of malty fruityness by not over powering.

Cairngorm, Aviemore, Highlands & Islands

Black Gold 4.2%

A Scottish stout with a wonderful rich dark colour and subtle bitterness giving way to

late sweetness and underlying roast barley hints.

Witches Cauldron 4.9%

A dark ruby red coloured ale with a hint of roast malt flavours and a pleasant sweet

aftertaste

Page 3 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Caveman, Swanscombe, Kent

Citra 4.1%

A hoppy pale ale with a straightforward malt character but plenty of citrus flavours.

Cavedweller 5.8%

Chocolate and coffee notes come through in the malt and dark berry flavours from the

hops.

Celt Experience, Caerphilly, Mid Glamorgan

Iron Age 3.5%

A ruby coloured fruity beer full of robust and unique fruity hop characteristics and hints

of berry fruit.

Silures 4.6%

The beer is named after a powerful and warlike tribe of ancient Britain, occupying

approximately the counties of Monmouthshire & Breconshire.

Church End, Nuneaton, Warwickshire

Grave Diggers 3.8%

Dark black and red in colour, with a complex mixture of chocolate and roast flavours.

Stout Coffin 4.6%

Notes of roasted malts creamy vanilla chocolate.

Colchester, Wakes Colne, Essex

Brazilian 4.6%

Coffee and vanilla porter. A firm favourite in the range.

Dancing Men, Happisburgh, Norfolk

Famous Norfolk Broads 3.8%

Quaffing bitter named after three regulars at the Hillhouse Inn.

Knight's Noggin 4.8%

Rich, heavily-malted porter-style beer packed with toasted toffee and chocolate notes.

Dark Star, Horsham, West Sussex

Hophead 3.8%

An extremely clean-drinking pale golden ale with a strong floral aroma.

Festival 5%

A chestnut bronze coloured bitter which is full of freshness and smooth mouthfeel.

East London, Lea Bridge, Gt London

Nightwatchman 4.5%

Chestnut brown coloured al with a smooth well hopped flavour.

Cowcatcher 4.8%

An American Pale Ale, generously hopped with Amarillo, Chinook, Simcoe and Citra.

Page 4 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Elgood's, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

Which Witch is Which 4.3%

Try saying that after a couple.

Plum Porter 4.4%

A distinctive black beer, it has an enticing fruit aroma, leading to a full-bodied, rich and

fruity flavour.

Winter Warmer(Oak Aged) 7.5%

Deep rich brown and has a very full fruity body. Oak aged.

Elmtree, Snetterton, Norfolk

80/- 4.5%

Restrained hops with full flavours of grain and malts coming through in a near perfect

balance.

Winter Solstice 4.6%

Winter Solstice is a dark Porter with delicate additions of Vanilla pods and Cinammon

bark.

Dark Horse 5%

Rich coffee and classic hops dominate the nose. Dark ripe fruit in the mouth and a

velvet smoothness compliment the strength in the body.

Fallen, Kippen, Stirlingshire

Chew Chew 6%

Salted caramel milk stout, brewed with dark belgian candi syrup, lactose and Hebridean

sea salt.

Platform C 6.3%

New world IPA bursting with hops from the Pacific North West, not overl bitter or sweet.

Page 5 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Fat Cat, Norwich, Norfolk

Hell Cat 4.1%

A light, fruity beer, with plenty of body. The kick comes from New World hops, packed

with bright, citrus flavours.

Curly Cat 4.2%

A single hop variety, added at three stages of brewing and also in cask, a little fruity

hint of orange and, not too bitter.

Stout Cat 4.6%

A deep, dark beer. The characteristic sweet, rich flavour of roast malt and molasses is

well balanced with the pronounced hop flavour.

Cougar 4.7%

American hops and lager malt are usesd to produce this eminently quaffable beer.

Porter 4.9%

An old-fashioned Porter, rich brown, rather than Black malt lends a biscuit flavour, with

deep smooth dark-chocolate notes.

Marmalade 5.5%

A classic mid-brown coloured strong bitter, with a markedly bitter finish from the

generous use of Styrian hops, plus a hint of orange marmalde.

Felinfoel, Felinfoel, West Wales

Dragon Stout 4.1%

Double Dragon 4.2%

A full drinking premium Welsh ale, malty and subtly hopped with a rich colour and

smooth balanced character.

Felstar, Crix Green, Essex

Old Essex 3.9%

Deep amber traditional old ale with a rich malty taste.

In The Pink 5%

A natural fermented ale matured for 6 years with a very generous helping of cherries

and a few raspberries added for good measure then blended with a new fresh beer.

Five Points, Hackney, Gt London

Pale 4.4%

A fresh, zesty, aromatic pale ale brewed with malted barley, a little wheat, and Amarillo,

Centennial and Citra hops.

Railway Porter 4.8%

A Porter in the classic London style with our own twist. Aromas of chocolate and coffee

with hints of caramel.

Page 6 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Fox, Heacham, Norfolk

Heacham Gold 3.9%

A pale yellow beer with a surprisingly malty nose. The sweetish taste is also malty yet

quickly becomes crisp and lightly citrus.

Grizzly Bear 4.8%

Pale golden ale with a citrusy fruit aroma and th a distinctly sweetish background.

Heacham Kriek 5.1%

Amber beer made with black cherries and four different hops. Floral aroma leads to a

bitter taste.

Fuller's, Chiswick, London

Olivers Island 3.8%

Delicate floral and citrus aromas with distinctive biscuity, grapefruit flavour, tropical

notes and refreshing zesty qualities.

1845 6.3%

A sweet, fruit cake aroma, a dark tawny colour and a dry finish that sings of spices and

raisin

Vintage 8.5%

Vintage Ale 2015 sees the balance of malt and hops deliver well-rounded, complex

flavours, with a fruitful aroma and a bitter finish.

Goddards, Ryde, Isle of Wight

Wight Squirrel 4.3%

A rich, russet-coloured full-flavoured, easy drinking Best Bitter. Brewed with a host of

Crystal Malts giving a smooth caramel taste.

Ducks Folly 5.2%

Amber coloured, traditionally brewed English ale.

Golden Triangle, Barford, Norfolk

Mosaic City 3.8%

A full tropical fruit taste with peach flavours abundant.

Simcoe City 3.8%

Very similar to the mosaic city but brewed with Simcoe hops.

Drink More Beer 3.9%

Amber coloured bitter with surprising depth, brewed to comemerate the life of the late

Wolfe Witham.

Page 7 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Grain, Harleston, Norfolk

316 3.9%

Brewed with lager malt and ludicrously light on the palate, well balanced with a slight

hint of grapefruit.

Redwood 4.3%

A rich red premium bitter that beautifully balances roasted malts with sherbert

grapefruit hoppiness.

Pale 5%

IPA with a grassy hop aroma, balanced with a lingering bitterness.

Slate 6%

A deep, dark and rich smoked porter, brewed with a complex blend of malts.

Great Heck, Great Heck, North Yorkshire

Chopper 3.5%

Golden session ale with a surprisingly full body and a decent amount of hops giving rise

a mango/melon fruitiness.

Dave 3.8%

A smooth, very dark, velvety bitter with aslight burnt coffee taste.

Voodoo 4.3%

Chocolate and weetabix with smooth coffee flavours,

Amish Mash Wheat 4.7%

Golden coloured wheat beer with a multitiude of flavours and peppery hop bitterness.

Washington Red 4.7%

Amber coloured beer with a zesty mouthfeel and slighty dry mouthfeel.

Black Jesus 6.5%

Black Jesus is a black IPA brewed with American hops and special dehusked German

roasted malt.

Great Newsome, Winestead, East Yorkshire

Holderness Dark 3.4%

Light coffee feel with a hint of fruitiness and a bittersweet finish.

Ploughmans Pride 4.2%

Dark rich malty ale, brown ale like but with liquorice tones.

Green Dragon, Bungay, Suffolk

Gold 4.4%

Zesty golden ale with a slight lager feel.

Bridge St. Bitter 4.5%

Malty and juicy with bitter orange peel in the finish.

Page 8 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Green Jack, Lowestoft, Suffolk

Canary 3.8%

Straw-coloured pale ale with a big flowery hop character.

Fruit Bat 5.5%

A distinct taste of plums and fruit cake gives way to a slight piney bitterness.

Baltic Trader 10.5%

Extra Strong Imperial Stout with smooth rich roasted coffee & vanilla flavours.

Harveys, Lewes, East Sussex

Old 4.5%

A dark, full-bodied beer combining sweetness and strength to produce a exceptionally

smooth palate.

Bonfire Boy 5.8%

A dark amber beer with a full malty palate and a slightly burnt, bitter aftertaste. A small

quantity of black malt is used to impart the suggestion of smoke.

Prince of Denmark 7.5%

A complex beer with aromas of leather, chocolate and liquorice, with a lingering taste,

based on traditional recipes from the 18th Century.

Harwich Town, Harwich, Essex

EPA 3.8%

Good hoppy flavour, with hints of pineapple and grapefruit.

Tyrwhitts Tipple 4.5%

Pale malt, dark crystal and caramalt and then Columbus hops brwed especially for us.

Hexhamshire, Hexham, Northumberland

Devils Elbow 3.6%

Named after a waterfall on the West Dipton Burn, Devil’s Elbow is a smooth ale with a

rounded malty taste.

Devils Water 4.2%

A malty dark ale with a fruity range of flavours, named after a local burn.

Page 9 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Humpty Dumpty, Reedham, Norfolk

Little Sharpie 3.8%

A delicate hop aroma leads to a light clean tasting finish.

Swallowtail 4%

A refreshing pale amber thirst quenching ale with a lively hop finish.

Hop Harvest Gold 4.5%

A golden ale brewed with fresh new hops every time.

Black Mill IPA 5%

A Cascadian style black beer brewed with 4 different American Hop varieties

Railway Sleeper 5%

A sweet plummy fruitiness blankets an underlying malty bitterness. Full and rich in

flavour.

Hydes, Manchester, Gt Manchester

Spicer Santium 4.5%

Brewed using American farmed hop ‘SANTIAM’ which gives a definite Herbal and floral

overtone.

Munchen 5%

Bavrian straw blonde ’Helles’ style beer, crafted from Pilsen malt and the noble

Hallertau, Mittlefruh and Hersbrucher hops.

Ilkley, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

Ruby Jane 4%

Complex biscuit layers of flavour and a soft bitterness from the hops.

Scary Spice 5.5%

Influenced by flavours and spices from the East, a pumpkin beer with a difference.

Jo C's, Barsham, Norfolk

Norfolk Kiwi 3.8%

Easy-drinking session bitter with distinct kiwi flavour and aroma

Bitter Old Bustard 4.3%

Russet coloured ale carries warm nutty biscuit flavours coming through a smooth malt

body.

Knot another IPA 5%

A golden, hoppy, true-to-style IPA, brewed using Norfolk-grown Maris Otter barley with

a good blast of British Bodicea hops to provide a flavoursome finish.

Kelham Island, Sheffield, South Yorkshire

25th Anniversary 6.8%

An IPA using a blend of 5 of the finest American hop varieties, which gives an l aroma

and flavour of Tropical fruits and spices.

Page 10 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Lacons, Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk

Encore 3.8%

Pale amber hued beer, with delicate fruit aromas, comfortably balancing a dry pine and

citrus flavour.

Festival Special 3.8%

Burnished amber, this full bodied session ale carries dominant tropical fruit/berries in

aroma, followed by tart citrus on the palate. Pleasing nutty flavours are finished by a

dusting of bitterness

Pale 3.9%

An aroma of crisp fruitiness with distinct flavours of melon and grapefruit.

Extra Stout 4.5%

Valiant stone fruits are balanced by blackcurrant and a hint of citrus. The finish is both

smooth and dry.

Lancaster, Lancaster, Lancashire

Elderflower Twist 3.8%

A light coloured beer brewed using elderflowers and elderberries and the very delicate

Kallertauer Hop.

Red 4.8%

Robust, spicy & fruity, culminating in a very moreish finish.

Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire

Pale 3.8%

Light and hoppy with delicate floral notes and a well balanced finish.

Midnight Bell 4.8%

Roast and chocolate malts combine to give a full bodied, complex character to this rich

and robust ale

Leighton Buzzard, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire

Borrowers Bitter 3.6%

Named after the classic series of children’s book written by Mary Norton.This is a midbrown,

easy drinking session ale brewed with five different English hops

Smoking Angel 4.5%

German Rauchmaltz smoked over beech wood in the Bamberg area of Germany is used

inthis dark porter style beer.

Long Man, Polegate, East Sussex

Old Man 4.3%

Soft malt notes of coffee and chocolate that combine with a pleasant light hoppiness to

create a rich, full tasting Old Ale.

APA 4.8%

A triple-hopped APA has a pleasant citrus fruit aroma and characteristic robust

bitterness.

Page 11 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Magpie, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

Dark Potion 5.8%

Apothecary inspired, botanically infused Black IPA. Dandelion and Burdock ..

Mauldons, Sudbury, Suffolk

Micawbers Mild 3.5%

This traditional beer has a full round flavour with a slight but distinctive bitter finish.

Mid Autumn Gold 4.2%

An amber coloured beer with a fine balance of malt and hops for a full bodied flavour.

Black Adder 5.3%

A dark bitter stout. Roast and nut aromas with a fruity balance of hops and dark malt

provide an excellent, lingering finish.

Maxim, Houghton le Spring, Tyne & Wear

Wards Best Bitter 4%

Classic ale from the past with a distinctive malty aftertaste that lingers on the palate.

Maximus 6%

Easy to drink, dark ruby in colour, smooth, sweet, with a hint of liquorice.

Mile Tree, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

Crescent 4%

Mid-brown with a red hue to the body, malty and fruity, with a slight bitter finish

Larksong 4.5%

Light malty aroma with the slightest suggestion of oak and berry.

Festival Special 5.4%

Spicy aroma, with cinnamon, clove, bramble and liquorice. Sweet taste, very fruity, like

a beer version of a mulled wine.

Milestone, Newark, Nottinghamshire

Classic Mild 4.1%

Light sweet flavour with ripe berries, toasty bread, burnt caramel, and plum notes.

Olde English 4.9%

Full bodied winter warmer with a pleasing nutty finish.

Moonshine, Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire

Harvest Moon Mild 3.9%

Slightly sweet with plenty of character. Smooth fruit notes combining with coffee and

chocolate flavours.

Raspberry Porter 4.5%

Night Watch Porter infused with locally grown rapberries to give it a nice mellow fruity

finish.

Raspberry Wheat 4.5%

Part of the 13 moons series of monthly specials.

Page 12 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Moor, Bridgwater, Somerset

Envy 4.2%

A green hopped beer omfined wih a natural haze with subtle hints of vanilla and herbs.

Illusion 4.4%

Imperial Black Ale as it is known in the USA, very flavoursome for its strength, peppery

and earthy with citrus overtones leading to a mellow finish.

Stout 5%

Not as roasty as some stouts with hints of chocolate and balckberry.

So' hop 5.7%

A pronounced floral and tropical quality to the beer, with honey and elderflower in the

nose.

Nethergate, Pentlow, Essex

Black Shadow 3.5%

A typical old fashioned dark mild, but with a surprisingly fresh bitterness.

Suffolk County 4%

A biscuity malt dominates the warm well rounded roasted background, with a punching

bitterness.

Umbel Magna 5%

The addition of coriander to the Old Growler wort completes the original 1750s recipe

for this distinctive dark beer.

Nobby's, Guilsborough, Northamptonshire

Best 3.8%

A session bitter with good hop character.

Festival Special 4.7%

A dark ale with hints of Christmas pudding spice and warming seasonal cheer.

Norfolk Brewhouse, Hindringham, Norfolk

Golden 4%

A fresh citrus aroma and fruity hop character leads into the refreshing, crisp, dry finish.

Dark Mild 4.5%

This dark mild has a subtle blackcurrant aroma, full-bodied with a rich, fruity, sweet

finish.

Gold IPA 5%

A well hopped IPA combining USA and UK hops to deliver a fruity IPA which builds in

bitterness leading to a crisp, dry finish.

Cellar Bration Ale 6%

A ruby red ale brewed in collaboration with leading food and drink writer Melissa Cole.

Fresh cherries, Norfolk honey and mint are added to the brew, as well as sweet and

bitter orange peel.

Page 13 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Nottingham, Radford, Nottinghamshire

Rock Mild 3.8%

Smooth and dark with a biscuity flavour.

EPA 4.2%

Well balanced smooth ale with a light fragrant hop finish

Oakleaf, Gosport, Hampshire

Quercus Folium 4%

Quercus Folium is Latin for oakleaf, a traditional hoppy bitter with a malty aftertaste and

slight sweetness.

I Can't Believe It's Not Bitter 4.9%

Clean and crisp with a fruity aftertaste. The use of Saaz hops gives this lager a citrus

finish that lingers on.

Old Chimneys, Market Weston, Suffolk

Amber Porter 4.8%

This beer, unusually pale for a porter, is based on a Tolly Cobbold recipe that was

availble from 1785 to 1827.

Good King Henry 9.6%

Chocolate coffee flavours abound with a hint of liquorice and black berry fruit, deep and

awesome.

Red Admiral 11.4%

Red Admiral is an oak aged barley wine with added liqueur whisky. As well as wood

and whisky, there are hints of honey, vanilla, orange marmalade, walnut and raisins.

Classic.

Opa Hay's, Aldeby, Norfolk

Engel's Best 4%

A triple hopped aromatic beer, a very old fashioned traditional ale.

Meister Pils 4.8%

A Pilsner style beer made with continental style yeast, light in colour and a hoppy aroma.

Liquid Bread 5.2%

Bavarian Style wheat beer with a distinct aroma of cloves and banana.

Otley, Pontypridd, Glamorgan

Thai Bo 4.6%

Infused with Lemongrass, lime leaf and galangal it has been described as having the

aromas of a Thai green curry in a glass.

O9 4.8%

Honey and wheat aroma. Flavours of fresh herb, honey and some notes of citrus.

Page 14 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Palmers, Bridport, Dorset

Copper Ale 3.7%

Copper-coloured session ale, good citrus fruit with a hoppy aroma.

Tally Ho 5.5%

First brewed in the 1940s. A rich fruit cake flavour dominates in this dark strong old ale.

Panther, Reepham, Norfolk

Ginger 3.7%

This ginger wheat beer is fiery with a distinct ginger flavour and with subtle lemon

flavour notes.

Honey 4%

A full bodied ale with a floral honey flavour nicely balnced between the sweetness of the

honey and the malt finish.

Black 4.5%

A roasted malty chocolate and caramel aroma goes to nice earthy finish with a hint of

liquorice.

Pheasantry, East Markham, Nottinghamshire

BB 3.8%

A smooth tasting copper coloured beer, with medium bitterness and a light spicy aroma.

Smoking Rauch 4.8%

Reddish amber beer which starts sweet and then follows a lingering spicy smokiness.

Pictish, Rochdale, Lancashire

Alchemists 4.3%

A refreshing, straw coloured ale with crisp malt flavours and a robust hoppy finish.

Chinook 4.9%

Single hopped beer, pale and clean malt dominated by orange peel and fruity, bitter

hops.

Quartz, Kings Bromley, Staffordshire

MO50 5%

Brewed for the Maris Otter 50 years celebration, pale and very smmoth, with a slight

fizz in the mouthfeel.

Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Kent

No. 7 3.8%

Easy drinking pale session bitter with good balance.

Gadds No. 5 4.4%

A traditional Kentish Best bitter, the aroma is toffee malt and a red berry flavoured

finish.

Page 15 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Raw, Staveley, Derbyshire

Dark Peak 4.5%

Award winning stout smooth with slight bitterness.

Edge 4.5%

Pale ale brewed using pale and Munich malt, balanced bitterness and a citrus aroma.

Red Squirrel, Hertford, Hertfordshire

Milk Stout 4%

Complex flavours reminiscent of dark chocolate and coffee, balanced by a hoppy

bitterness and a dry smooth silky finish.

APA 4.3%

Fairly bitter pale ale with aromas of grapefruit and pine and slighty sweet finish.

Redemption, Enfield, Gt London

Trinity 3%

Brewed with three malts and three hops. Generous late hopping provides Seville orange

aromas and the initial malt sweetness is dominated by citrus flavours.

Pale Ale 3.8%

Light and well ballanced in the mouth with grain feel along with cirus hop notes.

Fellowship Porter 5.1%

A dark brown coloured London Porter with chocolate, coffee, liquorice and dry roasted

malt flavours complimented with hints of dark fruit.

Redwillow, Macclesfield, Cheshire

Headless 3.9%

Aromas of light lemon barley water with a clean citrus finish. Easy drinking.

Smokeless 5.7%

Asmooth smoked porter, with a robust malt backbone. This is infused with Chipotles to

give even more smokiness and a subtle hint of heat.

Robinsons, Stockport, Cheshire

Unicorn 4.2%

Complex with a long dry finish and citrus fruit notes.

Old Tom 8.5%

Old Tom is dark, rich and warming with a cherry brandy like colour and character

named after the brewery cat in 1899.

Page 16 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

S&P, Horsford, Norfolk

Topaz Blonde 3.7%

Topaz hops provide this golden beer with a fruity citrus aroma, grapefruit taste and a

crisp, dry finish.

Afterglow 3.9%

Amber ale with a distinctive flavour of chalenger hops.

Between the Posts 3.9%

A new golden ale, flavoured with NZ Dr Rudi hops.

Saffron, Bishop Storford, Essex

Saffron Blonde 4.3%

Good balance of citrus and smooth malty flavours with a crisp finish, and a lingering

strawberry nose.

Henham Honey 4.6%

Delicate balance of bitterness, malt, spicy fruit and honey aromas.

Silent Night 5.2%

Ruby Port and pure red grape juice along with Fuggles and Bramling Cross hops create

a soft fruity and spice finish.

Saltaire, Shipley, West Yorkshire

Elderflower Blonde 4%

A refreshing blonde ale infused with the delicate flavour of elderflower.

Hazelnut Coffee Porter 4%

Like Cadburys fruit and nut but with more nuts and fruitiness.

Siren, Finchampstead, Berkshire

Half Mast 2.8%

Quarter IPA, Heavily hopped but with low bitterness and notes of mango and grapefruit.

Undercurrent 4.5%

Spicy, grassy aromas and a taste of grapefruit and apricot an nice nutty maltiness.

St Peter's, South Elmham, Suffolk

Best Bitter 3.7%

A full-bodied ale with distinctive fruity caramel notes.

Ruby Red Ale 4.3%

A rich, red ale with subtle malt undertones and a distinctive spicy hop aroma.

Boo 5.3%

Cream Stout 6.5%

Aromatic, strong, dark chocolate cream stout with a satisfying bittersweet aftertaste.

Page 17 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Stumptail, Great Dunham, Norfolk

Amber 4.8%

Based on a Victorian recipe, rich roast grain balanced with Goldngs hops.

Pale 4.9%

Traditional pale ale spiced with Goldings and a sprinkling of new world hops for extra

zest.

Summer Wine, Honley, West Yorkshire

Resistance 3.7%

tbc

Teleporter 5%

A Rich Dark Porter brewed with 10 different malts giving a sweet roast richness that is

balanced with just enough hop character.

Taylor's, Attleborough, Norfolk

No1 3.8%

A copper-coloured ale made with a blend of two traditional hops.

Dog Tooth 4%

?

Dropped Stitched 4.5%

?

Ticketybrew, Stalybridge, Gt Manchester

Munchner 4.5%

Amber lager, well rounded with a rich malty nose and dry pithy finish.

Rose Wheat 4.5%

Unique aroma of roses leading to a floral mouthfeel then a kick of spicy ginger.

Tipples, Acle, Norfolk

Hanged Monk 3.8%

Roasted malt, dry coffee & smoke aromas, some dark fruit with ahint of bitterness.

Longshore 3.8%

A light bitter with a good pale amber colour, a nice balanced malty flavour.

Lady Evelyn 4.1%

Pale, straw coloured ale with a long dryish finish and a floral hop aroma.

Page 18 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Tombstone, Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk

Arizona 3.9%

Light amber ale, malty, hoppy with a touch of citrus.

Texas Jack 4%

Chestnut red ruby coloured ale with a good flavour and a twist of plums.

Gunslinger 4.3%

?

Cherokee 4.5%

?

Triple FFF, Four Marks, Hampshire

Rock Lobster 4.5%

A chestnut-brown best bitter with a mellow hop aroma, smooth malt and subtle fruit

flavours. No matching towels though.

Jabberwocky 5%

Subtle hints of dark chocolate and liquorice but with a fresh pine aroma in this black IPA.

Turpin's, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

Meditation 4.3%

A pale ale with citrus aromas and a low-medium hop and biscuit flavour.

Cambridge Black 4.6%

A combination of coffee, coca and dark chocolate can be found in this quaffable stout.

Two Rivers, Denver, Norfolk

Kiwi Kick 4%

A dry, biscuity malt flavour is followed by a tart citrusy hop flavour, grapefruit, lime and

a hint of spice.

Porters Pride 5.2%

Dark almost black beer with a bittersweet malt taste, chocolate and coffee, nutty and a

touch of woodiness.

Tydd Steam, Tydd St. Giles, Cambridgeshire

Barn Ale 3.9%

Zesty bitterness and a lingering citrus finish.

Piston Bitter 4.4%

Hints of caramel and slight fruitness from a English style bitter.

Amnesiac 4.9%

Hopped with unique Nelson Sauvin hops giving a soft white wine background and

crushed gooseberry aroma.

Page 19 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Wantsum, Canterbury, Kent

Black Prince 3.9%

A rich, full bodied Kent mild slightly bitter in the finish.

Imperium 4%

A deep amber best bitter, smooth biscuit malts and rich hoppy nose.

Waveney, Earsham, Norfolk

Lightweight 3.9%

Some hints of toffee, bread, mild earth. Light in body very drinkable.

Welterweight 4.2%

Golden amber coloured bitter with ahint of pears and berries.

Rocky Myrobalan 4.6%

Hedgerow plums ( yellow Myrobalan ) are added to this beer to produce a unique ale.

Welbeck Abbey, Welbeck, Nottinghamshire

Red Feather 3.9%

Good malty bitter with a touch of fruit and caramel.

Kaiser 4.1%

Crisp, dry, biscuity lager malt flavours are perfectly balanced with sweet, honey like

floral hops.

Wharfe Bank, Otley, West Yorkshire

Washburn 3.7%

Copper-coloured Yorkshire Bitter with a subtle fruit aroma.

Camfell Flame 4.4%

Copper ruby colour bitter with roasted coffee notes.

Whim, Hartington, Derbyshire

Arbor Light 3.6%

Brewed using German lager hops. Light in colour, sharp and very clean.

Hartington Bitter 4%

Pale golden beer with not to much citrus nose, but hints of apple and pear in the

mouthfeel.

White Horse, Stanford In The Vale, Oxfordshire

Black Beauty 3.9%

Dark brown almost ruby coloured mild with toasty toffe undertones.

Oxford Blue 4.3%

Malty, raisiny, spicy aroma, with a hint of figs and cinnamon in the taste.

Page 20 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Williams, Alloa, Central Scotland

Black 4.2%

Smooth coffee and chocolate undertones are complemented by the addition of late

harvest cone hops, giving a lovely blackcurrant aroma.

March of the Penguins 4.9%

Rich roasty coffee taste with dark maltiness.

Winter's, Norwich, Norfolk

Cloudburst 3.7%

A full flavoured easy drinking session beer with slight soft summer fruit taste.

Geniuss 4.1%

Deep ruby red coloured beer with a dark fruit and malty molasses backdrop.

Golden 4.1%

A refreshing yellow golden ale with nicely balanced malt, hop and light tangy citrus

flavours.

On The Beer City! 4.4%

Pale golden yellow coloured beer with plenty of citrus fruit and grassy with a mild

background malt flavour.

Wolf, Attleborough, Norfolk

Edith Cavell 3.7%

Tastes stronger than it is , with a malty toast aroma and a slight fruity zing to the

mouthfeel.

Golden Jackal 3.7%

Citrusy hops reign over this Golden Ale building a leafy and fruity hop finish to balance

out the malt.

Lupus Lupus 4.2%

Slight mango and zest through a mostly malt nose and a biscuit finish.

Granny Wouldn't Like It 4.8%

A rich, malty beer. It has masses of flavor and a slightly sweet finish.

Page 21 Please Note, limited quantities of some beers

Norwich Beer Festival 2015

Woodforde's, Woodbastwick, Norfolk

Wherry 3.8%

A slight floral and hoppy nose but the taste is milder and has a biscuity sweetness.

Sundew 4.1%

Subtle golden beer - pale in colour and light on the palate with the distinctive hoppy

finish.

Nelsons Revenge 4.5%

A full-bodied pale amber beer with the rich flavour of Dundee cake. Sultana fruitiness is

balanced by a hoppy bitterness.

Tap and Go 5%

Copper-coloured beer has been brewed to celebrate the Rugby World Cup, in the style

of a classic IPA, yet with a powerful hoppy twist, characterised by citrus notes and hints

of herbs, pepper and pine.

Redcracker 7%

A special version of Headcracker infused with raspberries. Strong full-bodied pale barley

wine. Warm raspberry and apricot notes.

XT, Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire

4 3.8%

An amber beer with a special Belgian malt and a fruity mix of American and European

hops

XPA 5.9%

An IPA brewed with crisp, clean extra pale malts and numerous North American

flavouring and aromatic hop additions.

Yetman's, Bayfield, Norfolk

Amber 4.2%

A light, crisp beer with a fruity hoppy nose and amber colour.

Green 4.8%

Strongish, with a fruity sweetness and dark colour.

 

www.norwichcamra.org.uk/festival/caskbeer15a.pdf

I decided to visit a favorite spot of mine and build a fort.

Elsewhere is such an amazing book that I discovered. Gabrielle Zevin is a fantastic writer. I took it upon myself to read one of her other books as well (Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac), which was also a great experience. I highly recommend either one - I cried so hard at the end of Elsewhere, that is all I will say.

  

[April 2nd, 2010]

 

-----------------

Website | lookbook | deviantArt | Twitter | Tumblr | blog