Category Archives: 90s Marvel

90s Comics, 90s Marvel, Uncategorized

Worthy of the Webs (part 2 of 4)

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Hello, my dear Unspokenites. I bring you this article now as I brave severe tooth pain. (AKA Feel sorry for me.) But as I love you guys and my job at the Unspoken Decade, I will brave this mind-blowing agony and give you what you’ve been desperately waiting for. (AKA Feel really sorry for me yet excited for my impending excessive droning on and on and dumb jokes.) I present now my look back at the Scarlet Spider’s first battle in this exciting second part of the story. It was originally presented in “Spider-Man” #53. Enjoy…..Sigh. No-one has ever suffered as I now suffer. (AKA I’m a big wussy.)

Kenneth Ellis sat at his desk at the Daily Bugle, still impressed with his recent first page story that presented exclusive knowledge of Venom’s recent visit in New York. That’s when his phone rang. He picked it up with haste. The man on the other end began negotiating price before he gave up his bit of knowledge on Venom’s recent whereabouts. Ellis replied that the contact would be paid handsomely if the tip paid off. Satisfied, the man told Ellis where Venom was right this very moment. Excited, the reporter burst through the double glass doors to the famous newspaper building. As he speed walked, he spoke out loud of his hopes and dreams to become top reporter in this city, even though he did hate it here. A voice spoke nearby. It said it was disappointed that Ken didn’t have any pride in his home. Looking up, Ellis saw a man hanging from a building’s wall in a Spider-Man-like fashion! In fact, his costume even somewhat resembled the infamous wall-crawler’s! (Man, does Iron Man ever stop upgrading his armor? This set of duds doesn’t even slightly resemble his usual work. There’s a spider emblem on the chest too. What the hell? I want answers!)

The clone had read Ellis’ recent article. He noticed how he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time with Venom. And if that truly was the case, Reilly would need his help in locating the Lethal Protector before anyone else got hurt. After a moment of consideration, Ken replied that he would tell this costumed mystery man what he knew if he agreed to an exclusive interview after the fight was over. (Yeah. Lets negotiate with a masked guy that’s literally hanging from an alleyway wall in a city full of superpowered killers. Smart move, dude.) Ben didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no either. That was enough for Ellis. He told the spider-clone that Venom was currently at the Roosevelt Island Trans Terminal! Ben swung away on a webline quickly, readying himself for battle! Meanwhile, Venom mused at the number of police waiting for them below the building they currently perched atop. Didn’t these law-bringers know that Venom was now one of the good guys? Fools. Venom then looks back at the pile of pummeled, bloody bodies of muggers and killers stacked close by and stops talking. They don’t seem to be talking back much anyway.

Just then, the police look up at a swinging form coming their way and instantly relax. Venom follows their gaze. Could that be Spider-Man? The police chief orders his men back. No need to get caught up in this fight between two super-beings. Venom questions “Spider-Man’s” change in costume aloud. His answer is a swinging kick to the ribs! (Oh it’s on now! Bring on the blood! Bring on the pain! Bring on the toothache gel! I’m still in agony here!) Venom begins to fall, but instead of dropping alone, the symbiotic duo grab Ben’s leg on the way down, dragging him with them! Ben shoots a webline to a building top and slows their decent! But Venom turns so that Reilly takes the brunt of the impact! Venom then lunges at Ben, claws ready to tear flesh! Ben barely dodges the attack! Venom states that this can’t be Spider-Man that they’re dealing with. Spider-Man and Venom made a deal to stay out of one another’s business. That means that this man is a fake. And Venom hates fakes! Venom then tears through Ben’s abdominal area with their razor-sharp claws as they finish their sentence!

As Ben Reilly tries to hold his insides in. He admits that he is a fake. Venom replies then that he must now die for this outrage! A female voice interrupts Venom from delivering the finishing blow! Venom looks towards it’s source and sees their female “child”, the symbiote called Scream! Scream warns that soon armored men will come for them should they not flee the area now and that she will help them escape! Venom roars that they will never accept help from their spawn! They are all like Carnage and must therefore die! Venom lunges at Scream with murderous intent! As the two symbiotes fight, Ben sees the amount of blood he’s losing. He should run and save himself. At that moment, reporter, Ken Ellis bursts through the crowd and begins taking notes of the battle! Scream backhands Venom a good distance away from her! They smash into a parked car with a terrified woman trapped within! Venom ignores her and springs back at the female symbiote! However, Ben does notice her. He pulls himself to his feet, ignoring his extreme pain. Hobbling over to the demolished vehicle, he tears off the car door, freeing the sobbing woman! (Does anyone else hear Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For a Hero” in their heads as this scene takes place?)

A man loses his balance from up high during this titanic scuffle and begins to fall towards the asphalt! Quickly Ben fires a web at the man, webbing him safely to a wall! Above, Scream roars that she and the other symbiotes just want Venom’s help. They want to learn from them. Venom dismisses this plea with a death threat! They slam into the tram, snapping it’s cable! Without even stopping to think, Ben Reilly swings toward the battle, straight at Venom with both feet in the creature’s spine! Venom tumbles as Scream roars in outrage! But Venom grabs the female’s tendrils and pulls her with them as they both plummet into the icy water below! Ignoring this, Ben enters the tram car and scoops up the operator. He then swings them both to safety. He carefully sets the man down in the crowd. The people cheer at this new superhero that has saved the day. But Ben is too deep in thought to notice. He must leave the city tonight. What did he think he was doing playing the part of a hero? (I seriously don’t remember Scream being in this story. Guys, you can tell me. I won’t get mad. Am I perhaps getting a bit old? I humbly accept your criticisms…..sob……sniff.)

Ken Ellis breaks through the crowd, demanding an interview with this new superhero. Ben declines as he swings away. He replies as he leaves that he’s no hero. Ken thinks to himself that the people here would disagree. And he’ll write his story about this…..Scarlet Spider anyway. Scarlet Spider. Yeah. He likes the ring of that.

To be continued…..

90s Comics, 90s Marvel, Uncategorized

Worthy of the Webs (part 1 of 4)

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I came across the original Scarlet Spider completely by accident. As many of you Unspokenites already know, I’m a Marvel symbiote nut! And the grandaddy of the symbiote family is of course Venom. This means that every time Venom appears in or just walks by (Hell, every time he passes gas!) in a 90’s comic book, chances are I have the issue. That’s why I originally picked up “Web of Spider-Man” #118. The cover boasted a Venom appearance within. But as I first read my copy, I became more and more enthralled by the new character appearing inside those pages. That’s the beginning of my love for the Scarlet Spider character. Like I said, completely by accident.

Ben Reilly was a man torn between responsibility and a desperate desire to escape. You see, Ben wasn’t technically a man at all. No. He was a clone. He was created by a madman, known as the Jackal, to be a perfect duplicate of Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man! It had taken him quite some time come to terms with that fact. Now the question was what to do next? First, he had to get out of New York City. This was Peter’s home after all and Ben needed to let him live his life without complicating his already-complicated existence. So, first a stop at the Museum of Natural History to clear his head. Ben found himself drawn to the spider exhibit. (No surprise there. Maybe he was looking for a date amongst the creepy crawlies? What? A man can’t have a specific taste?) The museum security walked over moments later and warned Ben that the museum would soon be closing. Nodding, the clone lowered the rim of his cap to somewhat hide his features and headed towards the exit.

But before he left, he spied something in a storefront window that seemed to call to him. It was a blue hooded sweatshirt that had a large, black spider printed on the chest. As he stared at it, he was suddenly interrupted by shouting nearby. Looking, he spied a frantic man pointing a gun into the face of a terrified clerk at the food court as another man played the part of lookout! Instinctively, Ben Reilly began to move towards the danger! But he halted as the police entered the shop and handled the threat with ease! (Weird! Cops actually did something productive in a comic book! Have we entered Bizarro World here, Unspokenites? No! Cuz thats a DC Comics thing, stupid-heads!) This scene got Ben to thinking. What if the police hadn’t been able to handle this situation? Could he have just stood idly by? Uncle Ben’s words came back to him as he once again stared up at the sweatshirt, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Elsewhere in the city, Venom swung high above the streets, deep in thought. They hated this city. It reminded Eddie Brock and his alien “other” of past mistakes and of personal pain. But they had discovered that Carnage had recently caused some problems at the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane and Venom decided that that was enough. They had to end the threat of their psychotic offspring once and for all! (Ugh! I hope Carnage isn’t in this story! I mean, don’t get me wrong. He’s an awesome villain. He’s just so overdone. Sorry. The nerd inside of me just felt extra catty…..meow.) Now, they searched for something to take their frustrations out on. A high-speed chase on the city streets below was just the thing they needed. Venom dropped straight onto the vehicle’s hood with a tremendous crash and punched through the glass! They turned the car’s steering wheel forcefully to send the car off of a bridge! Police arrived and fired at the symbiotic vigilante! They ignored the bullets that hit them as the symbiote simply spat the shells out! They then swung away.

Meanwhile, Ben decided that before he left the city behind for good, he had to check on Peter’s Aunt May in the hospital. His memories of her had been implanted, but he still felt as if he had to see the kind, old woman at least one more time. He clung outside of her room’s window and peered inside. He looked in lovingly and with great sadness until another visitor spied his shadow. He used his spider agility to make himself scarce quickly. (Remember when Doctor Octopus acted like he wanted to date Aunt May or something? Ugh! She looks like a living mummy! Barf! I couldn’t even fake that to get back at my worst enemy. Well…..maybe if she died her hair…..perhaps some makeup…..) Next on Ben’s trip through Peter’s memory lane was the abandoned warehouse that Spider-Man had caught his uncle’s killer so long ago. Ben relived the scene in his false memories as he continued to think about his future.

Venom was reminiscing themselves at this very moment. The symbiotic duo had swung to a church familiar to both of them. It was within that Eddie Brock had decided to take his life but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the rejected symbiote! They bonded that very day. They were reborn as Venom! Brock called the symbiote to once again cover his face as they shot a webline up into the rafters. Venom then left the church the way they had entered. Ben was now standing at the Brooklyn Bridge. It was here that Spider-Man had met his biggest failure and lost the love of his life. This was where the Green Goblin had thrown poor Gwen Stacy to her death. Ben Reilly wept. He knew these were not his actual memories, but they hurt just the same. (Anyone else sick of the characters having these meaningful flashbacks? Ugh! Feelings and stuff. Total wussies.) That’s when he noticed a woman walking along the bridge! She appeared as if she were about to jump!

Ben lept into action, firing a webline from his webshooters and swung towards the female just as she went over the edge! He caught her in the nick of time! In all of the excitement, the woman had passed out. But she lived. Ben swung through the city, holding her limp form close to him. He entered a nearby hospital, with his ball cap and sunglasses fit in place, carrying the woman in his arms. He quickly explained the situation to the doctor and nurses, but fled the scene before he could even be thanked. (That’s the sign of a true hero, folks. Me? I’d want some cash. What? I’m broke and thar be comics out thar ta read! Yarr!) Ben stood atop a rooftop and happened to hear a passing car radio. Venom had been spotted in the vicinity! That was it. He knew what to do.

(My apologies for becoming a pirate for some unknown reason in the last paragraph. ) He made a quick trip to the museum’s gift shop before returning to his apartment. He pulled a red, skintight costume from a drawer and pulled it over his muscled frame. Next, he tore the arms from the sweatshirt he’d just purchased and pulled that over the costume. He checked his webshooters for fluid and then lept from his window, swinging through the city in search of Venom and his own destiny!

To be continued…..

90s Comics, 90s Marvel, Uncategorized

“Okay, Axis, here we come!” (Part 4 of 4)

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Here we are, folks! The epic finale of the 4-part “Invaders” miniseries! And boy, this series of articles has been a real treat for me to write! I’ve been fascinated by Golden Age superheroes and villains for years and this was an awesome opportunity. Talk about an amazing time to be alive! So many real life heroes and the emergence of real evil in that time period. So, before we begin this story, take a moment to remember your loved ones that fought in this horrific war and be proud of the bravery that they possessed. For they truly were the greatest generation. (Now, as the great sage, Forrest Gump, would say, “That’s all I have to say about that.”)

The villainous Battle-Axis gloat over the mighty Invaders as they are all encased within giant transparent prison cells! Dr. Death muses how America will soon be out of the second World War permanently! The Blazing Skull threatens the Nazi but Captain America calms him. Right now, the bad guys hold all of the cards. The Human Torch demands answers from the Vision. Why would he turn his back on humanity? Did he not realize that if the Nazis win the war, that’ll be the end of life on Earth as they know it? Evil will triumph! Vision merely states that he just wants to return to his home dimension and that life will continue on this planet regardless of his intervention. Cap interrupts. He can almost understand Vision’s point. He isn’t even from here. But the Golem! He’s a Jew! How could he betray his people in such a way? Golem answers that he knows that Dr. Death will most likely not release his brother after he has served him, but he must cling on to this small shred of hope. (Sad. I really feel for the guy. Mostly because he now has to now live in a body constructed of friggin’ clay permanently. I mean, why not adamantium? This is the Marvel Universe for cripes sake! Get inventive, people!)

The Silver Scorpion asks Dr. Death more about his fiendish plan to cause massive earthquakes with the oscillotron that will separate America’s west coast from the rest of the country. He continues though, caught up in his impending victory, and states that this part of the plan is only a trigger for the actual attack! The earthquakes will release poison gas from countless cannisters that were buried near the end of the last World War! This gas will cover thousands of square miles and claim countless lives! The Axis Powers will then be free to destroy Russia without the United States’ interference! To say that the Invaders are appalled and disgusted would be an understatement! But they aren’t alone. Dr. Death’s own men question this next phase of the plan! Surely he isn’t serious! (Man, you know you’re evil when even your minions question if you’re really sure about enacting your sinister scheme!) The Invaders try to escape their individual prisons, but are gassed for this escape attempt. As they sink into slumber, the android hero, the Human Torch, remains conscious! He begins to melt through his cell walls!

He doesn’t get far, however. Sadly, he’s caught by Volton and pummeled until he too is unconscious. Vision then freezes him as he is commanded. Dr. Death continues by ordering Strongman to carry the large doomsday device with them as Volton and Golem remain behind to guard the prisoners. Later, the villains enter a different subterranean chamber. Strongman positions the oscillotron as instructed as Dr. Death checks on Golem’s brother’s work. Johann pleads with the Nazi to not go through with this plan. Of course, this falls upon deaf ears. Dr. Death even adds insult to injury by telling the Jewish scientist that his brother is serving him as the Golem and it’s for his continued safety! Johann is shocked beyond reason! This obvious internal agony pleases the evil Doctor. (I wonder how many years of college are required to become an evil doctor? Asking for a friend…..) Meanwhile, as Volton taunts the awakening heroes, Captain America reveals to the Nazi what he suspects. Volton is in fact an android! Volton is amused and asks for proof. Cap asks why he isn’t burnt from his scuffle with the Human Torch? Why is he the only one who can’t remember his past? Also, remember that this Dr. Death once helped create the robotic Human Torch. He could easily have done so again!

Suddenly enraged, Volton smashes his fist through the Captain’s tube! Cap nods towards Volton’s fist. No blood from the glass! The Blazing Skull chimes in by asking if Volton remembers ever bleeding? Now furious and determined to prove these “fools” wrong, the Nazi takes a large shard of broken glass from the floor and rams it straight through the hand in question! Not one drop of blood! (I knew it from the very beginning! Okay, maybe I didn’t know positively that he was an android, but I suspected he was at least colorblind. I mean, look at his costume! Ugh!). As he marvels at this, Captain America strikes from the hole in his prison wall and connects with a mighty punch! As the villain staggers, Cap emerges, free from his translucent prison! But the Nazi uses his powers over electricity to shock the hero again and again as he stumbles towards his nearby shield! He throws the weapon but Volton dodges easily! The shield sails through the air, smashing through the rest of the Invaders’ cells! Captain America then jumps and kicks the distracted Nazi in the head, knocking him down! When the villain shakes off the stars he’s seeing, he beholds all of the Invaders standing over him! He tries to rise and attack, but Silver Scorpion’s stinger blasts put Volton down for the count! Now for the treacherous Golem…..

But the Golem raises a dismissive hand. He wishes not to fight the heroes. In fact, he’s pondered their words and decided that he will fight at their side! He leads them to where the lab is. At that moment, Golem’s brother has also had a change of heart it seems! Roaring that he will not work for Hitler, no matter the peril, he strikes at the Nazi scientists near him with his bare fists! He then flees the room! Unfortunately for him though, several shots ring out! Nearby, in another room, Dr. Death and his Battle-Axis have heard the gunfire and decided to ignore it. Dr. Death reaches for the lever to activate the oscillotron, but a sudden blast of flame stops him! In flies the Human Torch, followed by the rest of the Invaders! Dr. Death orders his team to attack and Captain America let’s the heroes’ battle cry sound! Both sides clash! In the mighty scuffle, the evil Doctor slips free and runs towards the device to start it! But a wounded Johann lunges at him to stop him! The scientist is shot dead by Sky Shark’s pistol! (Murdered by a dude with a damn fin on his head. No-one deserves to go out like that. Nobody. Sniff…..sob…..)

The Golem sees this through the titanic battle and roars as he tears through the Nazi soldiers in the room as if they’re no more than flimsy rag dolls! Vision hovers over all of this chaos, unmoving, but in deep thought. Dr. Death makes a run for the oscillotron once again and, though Captain America drops him with his thrown shield to the back, manages to start the machine! The madman turns to gloat, but is electrocuted by the flying Volton as he enters the room! Dr. Death is no more! The android then turns his attention to Cap, but the Torch intervenes with a strike in mid-flight! Elsewhere, Silver Scorpion uses her armor’s augmented strength to uppercut Strongman, knocking him stumbling to the floor! Namor flies over the others towards Cap. The Captain asks if even the Sub-Mariner could survive the backlash from destroying the oscillotron. Only one way to find out! The Avenging Son crashes through the enormous machine, creating a large explosion that rocks all involved to their very core! Silence fills the smoke-filled laboratory. (Damn! That was heroic as hell! Cheers to Namor for saving the day as he became no more than stinky, burnt chum. Too soon?)

But the Sub-Mariner did survive! He walked through the smoke, ready to continue the fight against the Battle-Axis! Too late. The villains quickly surrendered. That now taken care of, the heroes wonder if any of the poisonous gas was released in the tremors. Vision answers this question. It was! He points toward a large, leaking pipe! But before anyone can act, the Vision orders everyone to stay back. The smoke from the exploded machine has made it possible for him to create a portal home. He quickly flys in, taking the deadly gas with him! He then seals the mystical door behind himself! (Where’s he when I eat dairy? Hiding I bet. Coward!) Later, the Invaders crawl from a hidden passageway beneath the desert sands, emerging into the clear air. They had won this day not only for America, but for the world.

End.