The Drink Tank 344 That’s a Kurt Erichsen civer! It’s been a while since we’ve had him in these pages! Also, you’ll be seeing that there Gallifreyan symbol (a ha’penny to the first person who can tell me what it means!) from the wonderful Jesi Pershing a bunch! It’s awesome, no? Plus, Teddy Harvia, and words from good folks, including Hugo-nominee (and Future Supremem Court Justice!) Steve Stiles. But mostly, this issue is about Chuck Serface’s piece leading in to our MASSIVELY AWESOME Marvel Comics edition of Nerdvana Podcast (JC Arkham and JoshBot do a GREAT job with it! You can listen to it at http://nerdvanapodcast.com/ and it’s all over the place and a lot of fun (start with the Batman episode at http:// www.nerdvanapodcast.com/Episodes/Nerdvana-S01E03a.mp3) and keep on going! I’ve got a lot of thoughts about Marvel, it’s a comic line I’ve only been into at times, but largely I’m not a fan. I love The Flash, Batman, Plastic Man, Elongated Man, Johnny Thunder, Wildcat, and especially The Justice Soci- ety. Always my favorite. Marvel had The Hulk, who was awesome at times, and Daredevil. When I was growing up, there was the X-Men, at the time the biggest thing in comics. I liked the X-Men to a degree, but always into the DC stuff far more. On the plus side, there were stories back in the day that were awesome. There was a X-Men issue where it was Kitty telling a bedtime story about Pirates! But mostly, it passed over me while I was reading about Barry Allen and Crisis On Infinite Earths. Of course, there is stuff where the creators were so good, the material so awesome, that you have to love it. Frank Miller on Daredevil is one of my all-time favorites. I read it on the same flight that I read Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing, which it held up very well against. The Hulk was written by Greg Pak for a while, and it was Awesome! There was Secret Wars, which was so prevalent when I was at the exact right age! And then, there are the movies. You can’t argue that they haven’t been so powerful, so well-done. There have been some dogs, Elektra, Daredevil (though not completely), the Fantastic Four (again, there were moments) and even the third Spider-man movie wasn’t that great. I HATE the Blade movies, which some argue is not a Marvel film, but it is. I liked the Ang Lee Hulk movie, though The Incredible Hulk was much more watchable, and Captain America was slightly better than decent. I loved all the Iron Man movies, and The Avengers, and especially Thor.. I may be the only person who thinks Thor was better than The Avengers, but that’s what I’ve thought from as soon as I’d seen them both. Marvel TV has been hit-or-miss. In the before times, there was Spider-Man at the time there was also Wonder Woman (from DC), and there have been some great, and terrible cartoon. In fact, the X-Men cartoons were bad, and at the same time you had the brilliant Batman cartoons to contrast. There was also a 70s Spider- man-Man was was pretty good, and a really good Secret Wars cartoon series. So it’s hit or miss, though I really want to see what Joss Whedon does with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. next season. So, I’m not much of a Marvel guy, though I’ve certain read a fair bit of Marvel along the road, but I’ll prob- ably always be a DC guy. Marvel’s never really had anything to compare with the Vertigo line, which makes me think that Marvel knows what audience pays its rent! So, this issue is Marvel Comics and I hope you enjoy it! Art from Steve Stiles on pages 11 and 12. Cover from Kurt Erichsen. Gallifreyan Drink Tank Logo by Jesi Pershing. Five Episodes from the History of Marvel Comics You Might Not Remember by Chuck Serface On Saturday, June 8, 2013, the insane crew of the Nerdvana Podcast will undertake the daunting task of outlining the entire history of the Marvel Universe, from the very beginnings of Timely Comics, to the horror stories of the Atlas Era, to the rise of heroes during the Silver Age, to the current multimedia subsidiary of Disney known as Marvel Entertainment. We could go in any number of directions, and I suspect that upon meeting that symbolic fork in the road we’ll take both directions. Nonetheless, I decided to review back issues and critical commentary to discern those episodes that shine most brightly in the firmament of Marvel. Marvel has given us an impressive number of memorable occurrences. Roy Thomas, for example, penned the “Kree-Skrull War” arc that ran in Avengers (Volume 1) #89 -97, a groundbreaking epic that forever altered the course of all superhero comics. An adaptation of another industry changer, Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s “Days of Future Past” that first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #141 and 142 will soon grace the silver screen. Many are the blockbusters, the moneymakers that inspire creative projects in various media, commentary, spin-offs, and which never will be forgotten, especially now that reprinted trade compilations have become so widely available. As a longtime reader, I remember passages from Marvel that might not but should survive the ages, passages that entertained, caused me to reflect, or both. I’ve chosen five such cases in point for discussion. Each presents an element that reveals some aspect of character or circumstance that, whether one realizes it or not, potentially changes the path of continuity, and I say only “potentially,” because, damn it, we’re in danger of overlooking their importance. Captain America Lifts Mjolnir Odin’s enchantment inscribed on to the face Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor, resonates throughout the history of Marvel Comics and reads like Excalibur defining Arthur as the One True King: “Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.” Over the decades, a handful of characters have taken turns at swinging the hammer while the rest of us couldn’t dream of even nudging it along the ground. These honored few include Beta Ray Bill, Jane Foster, Eric Masterson, Rogue, Storm, Conan the Barbarian, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Odin himself. And so I wonder: just what does it mean to be “worthy?” What does it take to lift that mystic mallet, something the Hulk couldn’t do even after a good night’s sleep and a heaping bowl of Wheaties? In 1988, the answer came from Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, the writer and the artist of The Mighty Thor #390, at a moment when Thor gets dog-piled beneath a horde of demon soldiers and separated from Mjolnir. Suddenly Captain America, at that time operating as “The Captain,” scoops up the weapon in question and swats away the invading forces before returning it to Thor. The story ends with Thor noting the importance of the occasion and how the two heroes now are linked as those with Why shouldn’t Captain America be worthy? Since his reappearance in Avengers (Volume 1) #4, writers such as Stan Lee and Steve Englehart successfully had evolved him from the Golden-Age soldier sticking it to Adolf into the solid moral core of the Marvel Universe, the man who twice walked away from his heroic identity when retaining it would have meant betraying his ideals. We’re in the presence of no government tool or callow patriot here, my friends. Beyond doubt, Steve Rogers is the real deal, who even during a period when he foreswore his red, white, and blue costume and shield still had what it took to raise Mjolnir from the ground. Years later, he temporarily would rebel against the injustices depicted in the Civil War, leading to his temporary death. Most likely, fans don’t much discuss this event, because it occupies a few pages in a so-so story with nothing-special art. Regardless, let us not forget that these few pages delivered an important instance in the history of Thor and Captain America, teaching me at least what it means to be worthy. The Death of the Ancient One We’re familiar with Stephen Strange, the venal surgeon whose hands were damaged irreparably in an auto accident. Destitute, he travels to the Himalayan retreat of the Ancient One, rumored to possess the power to cure his condition. But what condition does the master cure? After determining his worthiness, the Ancient One puts Strange through a course of training that leads him toward becoming a master of the mystic arts and eventually the Sorcerer Supreme, he who protects the Earth dimension from magical danger. Doctor Strange first appeared in Strange Tales #110, dated July 1963. Ten years later, after endlessly battling supernatural threats of infinite variety, finally he obtains the title Sorcerer Supreme. Readers learn that Strange achieved in decades what had taken the Ancient One centuries to obtain, beginning back when he was just Yao from the village of Kamar-Taj. Even with an enviable aptitude it still took decades. Surely Batman would nod in appreciation of such discipline and patience. What finally happened to bring the good doctor to the point of graduation? Co-written by Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner with art by Frank Brunner, Marvel Premiere #10 from September 1973 stands as one of my favorite comics ever and tells how nothing less than the death of the Ancient One, brought about by Strange himself, will stop the demon Shuma-Gorath from invading Earth through the Ancient One’s mind.