Thoughts

Normally comics are lightweight fun. Yes, they can be great and entertaining – but even if they’re not they can be a nice distraction. It’s very rare that comics provoke a visceral reaction of anger, but when they do its amazing how palpable that feels.

I mentioned before how gutted I feel that they never revealed that Nightcrawler’s parents were Mystique and Destiny. Similarly when Claremont came off the X-franchise, one of the key moments that meant I stopped buying the title was Callisto’s suicide. That angered me so much. It seemed like such a betrayel of the character. I could read silly, even slightly boring comics and shrug it off. But treating a character I was invested in in this horrible way was just infuriating.

Whenever I came across these moments in comics I can’t shrug off, I really, really wish I was in a position to correct them. To have a job at Marvel and dole out an editorial decree that what folk thought they saw wasn’t. That the character I liked deserved better than what the comic gave us.

I say this because one of the strengths of Claremont’s Avengers annual is that it clearly comes from the same place. The anger at what was done to a character burns through, radiating from key pages. Not only does it address and fix a terrible storyline, it takes seriously just how dreadful the original handling was. Claremont cares about Carol Danvers, and is furious about what happened to the character.

This issue also has a couple of other key developments. The first is the debut of Rogue, the second the fact she acquired Carol Danvers’ powers permanently through prolonged contact.

The latter is a pivotal moment for both characters so it’s surprising that it occurs off-panel before the issue starts. Except it wasn’t meant to. Claremont had intended Rogue’s debut and her absorbtion of Carol’s powers and memory to occur in issues of Ms Marvel, and indeed scripted both issues. Only for the title to get cancelled before that story could be published.

In 1992, though, Marvel was to finish and publish the storyline in a title called “Marvel Super Heroes. The reprints (I guess technically first prints) are in issues 10 and 11 and it’s definitely worth a read.

Not just to see Rogue absorb Danvers’ powers on panel, but also to see the build-up work with Destiny, Rogue and Mystique. They make for a fascinating trio of villains that go on to feel like a coherent team within the pages of Avengers Annual 10. Rogue and Mystique possessing a strikingly similar mother/daughter wickedness.

The transfer, and it’s effect on both their lives, is also built up to in these pages. Destiny predicts that Rogue and Danvers future is linked together, potentially to Rogue’s detriment. A prophecy that becomes self-fulfilling in that story.

I’ll never say ‘no’ to more Mystique, and these appearances don’t disappoint. To such an extent that it’s a shame that Claremont’s Ms Marvel didn’t have a longer run so that the story of Mystique/Rogue and Danvers wasn’t explored for longer there.

Fun Panel

Claremont drops in a nice little reference to one of his favourite artists. With hindsight it feels like an odd hint to epic plans.

Any Googling

Its striking that the issue being “fixed” here isn’t referenced in the comic at all. Almost as if it feels too embarassing to actually mention it. A quick Google revealed the surprising revelation that the offending story took place in Avengers 200, all part of a big milestone issue.

Further Google research reveals that this story was controversial even at the time. You have to go some on the misogyny front to stand out in comics back then. Avengers 200 led to an excellent essay from Carol Strickland that seems to have been an influence on Claremont when writing this issue. It is definitely an article worth a read.

None More Claremont

Sometimes Claremont indulges his most melodramatic writing and absolutely delivers with it.

“There’s more – there has to be more — to being Heroes than simply defeating villains. You have a role, a purpose. Far greater than yourselves, you have to set an example, lead the way. You represent what we should be. What we dream of becoming, not what we are”

You screwed up Avengers. That’s human. What is also human is the ability to learn from those mistakes. To Grow. To Mature.

If you do that — even a little — then perhaps what I went through will have a positive meaning.

It’s Your Choice.”