#He was introduced in spider-man 238

[ask-cloverfield]

the Hobgoblin’s identity took twenty years to be revealed

[thefinalboss387]

Roderick Kingsley Appreciation Post!

It's time for me to gush over yet another of my favorite characters ever: Roderick Kingsley, AKA the Hobgoblin! He is a Spider-Man villain that was introduced in 1983 to replace the Green Goblin, who at the time was dead. (And as we all know, everyone stays dead in comic books. Cough.)

As much as I do love Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, the Hobgoblin actually managed to quickly climb the ranks into being my favorite Marvel villain, and one of my favorite characters of all time. He is the ONLY comic book character that I've gone out of my way to collect every individual issue that he appears in, and it's the piece of my physical comic collection that I am the most proud of to be honest.

The character has a bit of a messy history behind the scenes, but I truly believe he came out all the better for it. Beneath the read-more, I'll talk a bit about that complicated history, how I think it benefited the character, the direction that more recent stories have been taking him in, and just why I think he's so great!

The Hobgoblin was created by writer Roger Stern in 1983's The Amazing Spider-Man #238. A thug stumbles across one of Norman Osborn's Green Goblin lairs accidentally as he is running away from Spider-Man. Norman Osborn was thought dead at the time - later comics would reveal he was actually alive (GASP!) and hiding away in Europe - so the thug turned to a man obscured in shadows and sold him the Green Goblin equipment. The shadowy man made his own modifications to the Green Goblin costume, altered the formula that gave the Green Goblin his powers so that it wouldn't have the unfortunate side effect of insanity, and set out to make a name for himself as New York's new supervillain, the Hobgoblin. Oh - probably worth noting that he also coldly kills the thug that sold him the equipment by blowing up his truck. Good ol' Hobby.

The Hobgoblin quickly established himself as an exciting, formidable new A-list Spider-Man villain. Very early on, he was established as a behind-the-scenes manipulator that brainwashed people to wear his costume and stand in as patsies to protect himself from prosecution or harm. In one of his earliest appearances, he brainwashes small-time crook Lefty Donovan to stand in as the Hobgoblin as a way to test and monitor his modified Goblin formula and avoid giving himself any negative side effects -- he has Lefty killed by remote-controlling his glider to smash into a building when the conditioning begins to lift. He sought to become the next Kingpin of Crime, blackmailing anyone he could and seeking out any and all of Norman Osborn's equipment and journals in his various secret lairs.

All the while, the intrigue of the Hobgoblin's true identity continued to build. Just like the Green Goblin in his early days, the Hobgoblin's identity was a juicy mystery. He was frequently shown scheming by himself in his lair, concealed by shadows. A bunch of different comic covers teased that this just might be the issue where he's finally unmasked. A TON of characters were being painted as red herrings with motive and means to be the Hobgoblin. He brainwashed and framed Flash Thompson so that the public and the authorities would believe he was the Hobgoblin -- and of course, the readers knew that Flash was being set up. The Hobgoblin's shadowy secret identity is even shown talking familiarly with Mary Jane Watson in one scene to raise the anticipation even more.

I don't want to say too much more about the Hobgoblin's big identity mystery days, because truthfully that is not why I love the character. I feel like it's hard to discuss the Hobgoblin as a character without also taking about all the behind-the-scenes drama at Marvel. So, long story short, Roger Stern left the book before he was able to reveal the Hobgoblin's identity, the character was written by a few other people that all had their own idea of who the Hobgoblin should be under the mask, tensions were high and writers were openly trying to upset each other.... which led to the Hobgoblin being revealed as Ned Leeds, an investigative reporter and close friend of Peter Parker. Worse still, the Hobgoblin was unmasked as Ned Leeds after Leeds' death in another comic. No big, personal final confrontation with the unmasked Hobgoblin. No hearing from Ned Leeds himself why he was doing this. Hobgoblin was revealed to be a man that was already dead.

Ned Leeds was killed by assassins. It turned out that the assassins were hired by Jason Macendale, AKA Jack O'Lantern, a fellow Halloween-themed Spidey villain that participated in the gang war to be the next Kingpin. Jason was quick to adopt the Hobgoblin identity for himself and stayed in that role for 10 years. He was.... fine? I guess? He took on a much more scary and demonic appearance in the costume than Ned Leeds ever did. He even gets literally possessed by a demon for a bit. At one point he gets cybernetic enhancements and gets this cool robot eye thing. Problem is, he never really got taken seriously, and fell quickly down through the ranks of villain tiers. It didn't help matters that Norman Osborn returned from the dead and took his spot as #1 Goblin villain, rendering the Hobgoblin pretty unnecessary.

But then, in 1997, 10 years after Ned Leeds' reveal as the Hobgoblin, a mini-series called "Hobgoblin Lives" came out, written by original Hobgoblin creator Roger Stern. Now, I was born in 1987 - the same year Ned was killed and revealed. I grew up with the Jason Macendale Hobgoblin. So this miniseries was THE first exposure I ever got to a Hobgoblin that wasn't Jason. Jason is arrested, he reveals to the public that Ned Leeds was the Hobgoblin before he killed him and took his costume (a fact that only a few characters were aware of before), and then a man claiming to be the REAL original Hobgoblin visits him in prison and murders him for being an embarrassment and tarnishing his brand.

Uh, I'm sorry..... what?????

I get that the Hobgoblin mystery was a messy one. I get that the different writers all laid breadcrumbs to different solutions and things got extremely tangled up. I get that the Ned Leeds reveal was disappointing and anticlimactic. But as far as first impressions go, Hobgoblin Lives is damn near PERFECT.

So, basically Roger Stern jumped in to solve the Hobgoblin mystery once and for all -- by revealing him as the character he originally intended him to be way back in 1983, Roderick Kingsley. A shady fashion designer also created by Roger Stern that first appeared in 1980's Spectacular Spider-Man #43, who was known for stealing his competitor's designs and taking credit for their work. Ned Leeds, it turns out, was just another brainwashed patsy that took the fall for Roderick Kingsley, the REAL Hobgoblin. Back in the "Ned Leeds" era of comics, there were scenes where the Hobgoblin and Kingsley were in the same room together, which was explained as Daniel Kingsley, Roderick's meek and submissive brother, posing as him for corporate meetings and whatnot that Roderick didn't want to attend.

So like..... I understand the opinion that Daniel posing as Roderick is kind of cheating the audience that was invested in the mystery and keeping track of all the different clues and red herrings. I understand that the "evil twin" angle is a bit tacky. But speaking as someone whose first glimpse into this identity mystery storyline was its long-overdue conclusion, I honestly kind of LOVE the Daniel twist. Everything given to us in Hobgoblin Lives serves to cement things we already knew about the character. Roderick Kingsley was already known for stealing fashion ideas and performing shady corporate takeovers, so it's kind of perfect that he also stole and made cosmetic changes to the Green Goblin brand? We'd seen the Hobgoblin brainwash patsies multiple times already, so it makes sense that Ned Leeds was just another name on that list. We'd seen the Hobgoblin dress those brainwashed patsies in his costume and use them as stand-ins to protect himself, which is probably an escalation of what he did to Daniel their entire lives - that was where that "man behind the curtain" stuff started for him.

So, ultimately, we were given a much more satisfactory conclusion to the mystery of the Hobgoblin's identity. He wasn't a dead guy anymore - he was a charismatic, manipulative, scheming criminal mastermind (my favorite type of villain!) with a line of mind-controlled fall guys in his wake.

I mentioned earlier that I have all of Roderick Kingsley's individual issues that he appeared in - I did NOT bother to collect Macendale's appearances. I have Ned Leeds' Hobgoblin issues, because he is acting on Kingsley's behalf and it's up in the air when it is Leeds behind the mask and when it is Kingsley. I may eventually start hunting Macendale's issues down just to say I HAVE EVERY HOBGOBLIN APPEARANCE EVER, but my love for the Hobgoblin is NOT love for Jason Macendale. Even as a kid, I found him very underwhelming and lame despite LOOKING really really cool. So the fact that Hobgoblin Lives immediately starts with his death, and the original Hobgoblin saying that Jason disgraced his legacy, was a pretty cool way for 10-year-old me to be introduced to this character.

In his next appearance after Hobgoblin Lives, Roderick Kingsley goes up against Norman Osborn. As I said, Osborn's return kind of rendered the Hobgoblin obsolete. I found this story fun because it starts to show us the difference between the two supervillains as they try to outwit and outmaneuver each other, and it starts a very long-running feud between the two. Kingsley manipulates Osborn into breaking him out of prison and attempting revenge on Daniel, falsely claiming to still have an Osborn journal that reveals he is the Green Goblin. Ultimately, it's clear that Osborn is the superior villain, as he already knows Spider-Man's secret identity, and he manages to steal control of Kingsley's businesses and holdings away from him. Kingsley is shaken by these reveals but decides to retire in the Caribbean with the money he still has left. (I also want to say, in one of his most recent appearances, HE GOT HIS BUSINESSES BACK FROM OSBORN WOOOO)

Since then, Roderick Kingsley has started taking a drastically different approach, which I do believe was needed for his character to help differentiate him from Norman Osborn. Kingsley now travels the world, creating different supervillain aliases (which are all, of course, stolen and repurposed) and rents those brands out to the highest bidder. He is arming and suiting up a small army of D-list supervillains in exchange for a cut of their profits. Again, I feel that this change is perfect, and cements things we already knew about his character. Kingsley was a fashion designer that stole ideas and made them his own brand -- even his Hobgoblin persona is stolen Green Goblin gear. Now, he is taking that to the next level with his stolen supervillain fashions. Mysterion is a blatant copy of Mysterio, Devil-Spider is extremely similar to Tarantula, etc.

When Phil Urich killed Daniel, Roderick's brother in the Hobgoblin costume (because of course it was another patsy), and stole the Hobgoblin identity for himself as Macendale had done before, Kingsley is at first furious that his brand is getting stolen again and fights Urich, but eventually sees the potential in him and allows him to continue being the Hobgoblin for a cut of his profits - until Urich switches sides and starts working for Norman Osborn and kills the Hobgoblin, which is Kingsley's mind-controlled butler as yet another patsy.

Kingsley, both in and out of costume, has always been a very shady-corporate-takeover type of villain, focusing a lot on wealth and power no matter who he inconveniences or kills along the way. This becomes especially apparent in the Axis event, where Hobgoblin is given his own miniseries. Good guys are now evil, bad guys are now good, moralities are switched..... annnnnnnd Kingsley is still an awful person despite being a "good guy". He takes on a motivational speaker type of role, selling superhero franchises and Hobgoblin merchandise to make as much money as he can. (Is it bad that I WANT the Hobgoblin merchandise he was selling??) His Axis miniseries is a VERY fun time, poking a lot of fun at his history and highlighting that the man is still very much a sociopath despite his changed morality. How GREAT is this clip??

Although he's always #2 to Norman Osborn - and that is a constant source of frustration to him - Kingsley is a GREAT villain. He is always scheming, always hiding behind yet another mind-controlled patsy, always ready to profit off of his next stolen idea, and I think the convoluted mess that was his initial mystery arc only helped to cement his legacy as a behind-the-scenes mastermind who is always one step ahead, and always willing to throw other people into harm's way to save his own butt. The Hobgoblin Lives miniseries, and everything that's come since with the character, has only built on what we already knew and loved about him, and pushed him out of Norman Osborn's shadow despite having literally stolen his franchise.

The chaos and drama behind the scenes at Marvel will always be an unfortunate part of this character's history, but I still love him SO MUCH. I think everything in the story that came from it has helped form a formidable, manipulative, cold-hearted villain that will always be one of my favorite characters of all time. More than once now, he has retired to some tropical, beautiful corner of the world, comfortably sipping drinks as some poor fool dies in his place. No matter what happens, no matter how dead he seems to be, you CANNOT convince me that his canon ending will be anything less than that.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #239: Late Night of the Super-Stars!

January, 1984

1984! Can’t wait to make a bunch of Orwell jokes that are poorly thought out and land poorly!

But I guess it’ll have to wait since we’re on Late Night with David Letterman in this issue.

This sure is an interesting turn of events. Although the team we see on the cover doesn’t seem to be the actually active roster. They’re over in the corner box turned away - either from shame or because they’re off doing their own thing.

Because its Assistant Editors’ Month!

A fun-sounding non-event. Although, looking it up, very few books that were considered part of the event actually did anything with it beyond a slightly goofy issue box on the cover.

So we’re going to see some Avengers go on a talk show today.

Superheroes as celebrities! What a novel idea.

Anyway, I learned an interesting detail about the cover that would have totally missed me. The checkerboard strip at the top was a hallmark of DC comics around this time. And the round MC logo in the top right is an obvious spoof of the DC logo from this time.

It’s not much more than a goof for this book but the Captain America book released for Assistant Editors’ Month also had the checkerboard and logo and was a style parody of DC comics.

Last times: Vision went into a robo-coma from walking into an invisible dome created by Annihilus and only recently recovered the ability to talk. New Avenger Starfox hooked Vision up to ISAAC the Titan computer and overclocked Vision’s robot brain so now he can project himself as a hologram and has an even faster computer brain. At the end of Avengers #238, the Avengers got a call from Tigra about some nonsense going on in San Francisco involving Spider-Woman.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye got a whole miniseries all to himself where he met Mockingbird, lost his job at Cross Technological, his girlfriend revealed that she was paid to date him and also hated him, he teamed up with Mockingbird to uncover an evil scheme by Crossfire to kill all superheroes, Hawkeye lost his hearing by putting an ultrasonic arrowhead in his mouth but foiled the scheme plot, and married Mockingbird. He’s had a very busy week or so!

This time: Hawkeye comes back to the Avengers Mansion to show off his cool new wife.

Hawkeye: “Hey, everybody -- your wanderin’ boy Hawkeye has come home... And you’ll never guess what I’ve gone and done!”

I can just imagine Mockingbird replying “Me” with the biggest shit-eating grin. She feels the sort to do that.

When Hawkeye and Mockingbird arrive there’s no one to greet them except the floating disembodied hologram head of the Wizard of Vizh.

Hawkeye has also made the decision, for some reason, to not wear the hearing aid that Mockingbird got him so he can’t hear what Vision is saying when he compliments his new costume.

Mockingbird introduces herself for Hawkeye and Vision tells the two to join him in the medical labs so they can catch up.

When they arrive, Vision raises his volume so Hawkeye can hear and recaps everything that’s happened to lead up to him becoming a robot in a tube who can hologram around.

Vision: “[Starfox] set up a direct link between ISAAC, the world-computer of Titan, to better diagnose my condition. But, instead, my brain became overloaded with ISAAC’s energy-information matrix --!”

Hawkeye: “And you became several with the universe, right?”

Vision: “‘Several with the’ --? Oh -- hah-ha! Very witty!”

Overclocking his brain seems to have done wonders for Vision’s sense of humor.

He even finds Hawkeye funny now.

Vision also explains where the dickens everyone else is (because Hawkeye asks him where the dickens they are. Its so weird for Hawkeye to say dickens).

Jarvis was given the day off to visit his mother, Captain America and Thor are both busy with nonsense in their own books, and the rest of the Avengers are off to San Francisco because of that call from Tigra.

Hawkeye offers to fly out and give them a hand, which Vision declines since they’ll call if they need help.

Instead he asks Hawkeye how he met Mockingbird and Hawkeye recaps the miniseries in only five panels.

He’s better at this than I am...

Hawkeye: “Anyway, Mockingbird and I had made a pretty good team -- so when it was all over, we ran off and got married!”

Mockingbird: “What can I say? The big lug needed somebody to keep him out of trouble!”

That’s the task of a lifetime, Bobbi. But good for you two! Cute couple is what I say.

Vision: “Marvelous! I hope you two will be as happy together as Wanda and I have been!"

Vision and Scarlet Witch probably are the healthiest superhero marriage of this time.

Vision asks if Hawkeye and Mockingbird intend to stay in the mansion, which they do. But it’s cool because Mockingbird has security clearance from working with SHIELD so they won’t need to bother Mr. Sikorsky and agitate his hatred of living in the superhero genre.

After Hawkeye takes Mockingbird off on a tour of the mansion, Vision receives a call from his brain brother, Wonder Man.

Who, very reluctantly, is coming to the Avengers with hat in hand. So to speak.

Wonder Man: “Okay. Here’s the situation -- my acting career hasn’t been going anywhere lately! So my agent, without my approval -- used the fact that I’m a reserve Avenger to get me a booking on David Letterman’s show, and now, they want me to bring other Avengers along with me! My agent really put me in a tight spot on this one. I hate to impose, but -- !”

Vision: “It’s no imposition at all, Simon! I’ll personally call the network and confirm the Avengers’ appearance!”

Wonder Man: “You’re sure it’s no trouble?”

Vision: “None whatsoever! After all, we have many Avengers -- !”

You sure do! Not as many as you’ll have by the No Surrender days. But still.

Also, I love this can-do attitude from you, Vision!

This is a pretty low priority in terms of fighting crime and whatnot but Vision is like THIS IS EXTREMELY DOABLE, I AM THE INTERNET.

Although imagine how sad it is from Wonder Man’s perspective. His agent put him on the spot pulling sorta-rank to get Simon some media attention but the media is like ‘ok but do you have something better?’

This man is trying to improve his career and the David Letterman show looked at him and said ‘ok but what else have you got?’

Oof!

Anyway, Vision uses the superpower of being wired into the phone system to call up some extra Avengers who aren’t very busy right now.

He calls Black Panther, Beast, and Black Widow.

Their varied responses are pretty funny.

But Black Panther’s is probably the best. He interrupts a meeting with his advisers to take the call and then he’s like ‘yeah sure I can drop everything I’m doing to appear on David Letterman!’

T’Challa really would rather be doing anything but kinging.

Beast initially protests that he’s too busy with the Defenders to just jump on some Avengers business but...

Beast: “The Letterman show? Hey, why didn’t you say so?”

And Black Widow is unbusy sunbathing at the Waldorf Towers while between missions. She doesn’t really want to make a television appearance (it’s kinda counterproductive for a spy, I would guess) but Vision mentions something that has Natasha agree to be there.

Based on what happens later, I guess Vision mentions that Hawkeye will be there.

A couple hours later, ELSEWHERE, well if it isn’t our ol’ friend and punchline Fabian Stankowicz!

Remember this goofus? He attacked the Avengers right when everyone was feeling bad about Hank Pym? Iron Man easily beat him up while the rest of the Avengers breezed on by. Or when he attacked Wasp’s cool superheroine brunch? Which was a hilariously terrible idea because he got between She-Hulk and breakfast foods. Also, nobody took him very seriously there either.

I guess the Avengers didn’t bother to press charges either time because he’s not in jail. He’s at his home working on some machines while his dad criticizes how he spends his time.

Dads, amirite?

Granted, what he’s criticizing is Fabian’s tendency to pick fights with superheroes. And... granted. Not a great use of his time.

But apparently Fabian can afford all the robot suits he keeps attacking the Avengers with because he won the lottery.

So he has a pretty good position to shoot down his dad’s protests, really.

Dad Stankowicz: “Fabian, I’m glad your poor mother didn’t live to see what’s become of you... It would’ve broken her heart!”

Fabian Stankowicz: “Aw, gimme a break, old man!”

Dad Stankowicz: “‘Old man’? This is the way you talk to your father?”

Fabian Stankowicz: “What do you want, egg in your beer? Was it you who won the state lottery and got us out of the Bronx? No, it was me! I won the money, and I’ll say how it’s spent! And I’m gonna use it to make a name for myself! Me... Fabian Stankowicz!”

And when Fabian sees an ad saying that the Avengers will be on Late Night with David Letterman, he has an idea. A wonderful, awful idea.

Also, who the heck puts egg in beer?

I’ve looked it up and I get that it’s a saying but apparently the saying is based on people actually doing that! Why??

The next afternoon, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where the show 30 Rock and this issue of Avengers both happen, this issue of Avengers is happening.

A CBS page shows Black Widow to the green room where the other Avengers are already waiting.

Also: I know that it’s all the Avengers who weren’t busy (even though T’Challa really should have been?) but this is a fun roster.

Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Beast, Black Widow and Panther?

Heck, I could imagine this being the Marvel equivalent of the Justice League International team, one more geared for some light-hearted comedy?

Except we’re in 1984 so this predates that.

But you have Beast and Wonder Man, your comedy duo best buds. You have Black Panther and Widow being varying levels of straight man to the nonsense. And you have Hawkeye who can be very serious or very ridiculous depending on how hot-headed he’s being at the time.

This team could be hilarious!

(Avengers International. Think about it, Marvel.)

Outside the green room, our ol’ buddy ol’ punching bag, Fabian Stankowicz is in disguise as a repairman with a mustache as cover for installing some devices in the studio. Then he puts on a beard to disguise himself as Perfectly Normal Bearded Audience Member.

I appreciate his intiative although I doubt any of the present Avengers are gonna recognize this guy on sight even if he wore a t-shirt that said “I’m Fabian Stankowicz.”

Fabian Stankowicz: Boy, this is gonna be so sweet, especially after the way the Avengers made me look like a chump those last two times! This time, it’s gonna be different! This time, I’m going to have a ringside seat for the defeat of the Avengers!

Or at least the Avengers that were available to show up on the Tonight Show with David Letterman.

Y’know, I like Fabian Stankowicz. He’s just smart enough to be dangerous and dumb enough to be entertaining. I think there’s a place for an ineffectual doofus with delusions of grandeur in the foe Rolodex of any superhero team.

Meanwhile, back with said Whoever Was Availables, Black Widow and Mockingbird are meeting for the first time.

And luckily, they’re both mature adults who don’t act like you’d usually see in media when the missus meets the ex.

So with a fight to the death NOT happening in the green room, Hawkeye gets to asking Mockingbird about the errand he sent her on which was why she wasn’t in the room when Black Widow first showed up.

Presumably using every bit of skill in espionage at her disposal, Mockingbird got a copy of the questions Letterman will be asking during the show.

Because Hawkeye will be fielding the questions and he has made the decision not to wear his hearing aid. And has also made the follow-up decision that not only will he not be hearing anything tonight, he’s also definitely going to be fielding all the questions.

Mockingbird: “Why won’t you wear a hearing aid?”

Hawkeye: “No can do, sweetheart! The fewer people who know I’m half-deaf, the safer it’ll be for all of us!”

(I don’t really get this reasoning but okay, man)

Mockingbird: “Then why not let someone else be spokesman? This is supposed to be Wonder Man’s big night!”

Hawkeye: “Sure... but I’m the only active Avenger here! Give me a kiss for luck!”

Not for nothing does Mockingbird think that he can be impossible sometimes. And she’s only known him a couple weeks! She’s already come to the correct read on him in that short a time.

David Letterman starts the show with an opening monologue.

David Letterman: “Tonight... What can I say? Tonight is something really special! In fact, it’s probably the most special show we’ve had since our 'camping with Barry White’ program! Yes... hard to believe, isn’t it? But with all due respect to Mr. White -- I think that this show may be our greatest ever. But, as they say, ‘that’s for history to decide!’”

Imagine being a talk show host and getting to introduce the Avengers. Pretty neat.

I like that bandleader Paul Shaffer is wearing a Captain America jersey. Although that makes me wonder once again what merchandising is like for Marvel superheroes. 

Clearly it exists but did Cap sign off on a jersey mimicking his costume? Does he see any money from that? Or at least did he get to say that all profit goes to such and such charity?

Letterman introduces the Avengers for the audience.

(Fun how you can get a sense of their personality just by how they’re sitting. It’s the little touches that make a comic fun.)

Hm, I wonder how well the marvel public follows superhero roster changes.

I know that sometimes new Avengers rosters have gotten attention with press conferences and everything. And sometimes they just swap in and out members as personal business comes up.

Some of the people in the audience may not even recognize Black Widow as an Avenger. Becaaaaause, wait I don’t think she ever was one. She’s assisted on some missions and they were ready to vote her in when she vanished to go do a SHIELD mission.

Okay, better example, does anyone remember that Wonder Man- oh wait, he very publicly burst out of a crate in front of Avengers Mansion during press furor over a roster change. Also, he’s a pre-successful actor.

Black Pan- no, no. He was framed for killing the Avengers his very first day on the team. There was a manhunt.

And of course, everyone knows Beast was on the Avengers. He got around. Romantically.

David Letterman mentions that this group isn’t even all the Avengers because some couldn’t make it (read: were busy with more important things).

Which leads to a funny cut to audience where Beard Fabian is annoyed that this group is who got caught in his revenge scheme.

Fabian Stankowicz: Blast it, where’s Captain America? Where’s that &#%$ She-Hulk?

You better wash your brain out with soap before She-Hulk finds out you thought  that about her. She’s dunked people into the garbage for lesser offenses.

Beast decides that this Late Night interview is the best time to reveal that he’s quitting as a reservist Avenger to focus on his version of the Defenders.

Letterman: “Wow, that was some bombshell the Beast just dropped, Hawkeye! You’re group spokesman... What do you think of that?”

Hawkeye: First question -- ! “Well, David, the Avengers is a non-profit organization, fully sanctioned as a peace-keeping force by just about ever international organization you could think of!”

Letterman: “Eh-heh-heh! You don’t say!”

Oh god, Beast’s bombshell messed up the order of questions and Hawkeye is firmly sticking to script because he can’t hear.

My god, Hawkeye.

Letterman: “You know, I was just about to ask you something along those lines. You wouldn’t be psychic by any chance -- ?”

Hawkeye: “No, of the founding members, only the Wasp and Thor remain as active Avengers.”

Letterman: “You little dickens! You’ve been peeking at my question sheet, haven’t you? All right, I might as well as my next question which is... ‘I hear you were recently married! Is that true?’”

Hawkeye: “Yes, Dave... just a few weeks ago!”

Letterman: “How about that!”

Did Hawkeye just think they were going to blaze through the questions? Even if Beast hadn’t preempted the first question, did Hawkeye think that there would be no follow-up questions? No discussion?

I’ve been on the fence on whether the jokes about Hawkeye not hearing the questions are poking fun at deaf people or at Hawkeye and yeah, Hawkeye is definitely the butt of this joke.

Fabian Stankowicz loses patience for this very dry question and answer session and decides to start his attack nnnnow.

One of the studio cameras is secretly A GIANT LASER. Because. And it blasts the stage.

Mockingbird is watching this on a tiny screen in the Green Room and goes out to help only to run afoul of some kind of mechanized steamrolling dumpster.

Back in the studio, Wonder Man has found his new nemesis.

Move over, Grim Reaper. You’re one-dimensional and everyone especially me hates you. Hello, laser blasting camera.

Wonder Man: “Let me at that thing, Beast! It’s ruining my guest-shot!”

Beast: “You’ll have to wait your turn, Wondy! It just shredded my favorite shirt!”

Priorities!

You know, this was supposed to be about Wonder Man and he only got to say two words during the interview portion.

Dangit, Hawkeye.

Apppppparently, the audience is just assuming that this is all part of the show. A cliche, sure. But it makes sense.

Would you really have the Avengers on a talk show and just have them talk? That’s a waste of perfectly good superheroes.

Also.... apparently? David Letterman used to run things over with a steamroller a lot? So a steamroller looking contraption crashing through the wall to attack the Avengers does seem like something that might happen?

Also, Paul Shaffer decides to just roll with it so as not to panic the audience.

The show must go on, after all.

The steamroller also starts firing missiles at Beast, as ya do.

Beast: “Hunter missiles? I don’t believe this is happening on network tv!”

Wonder Man tries punching the steamroller to no avail but which does give Black Panther a chance to pull out the tried and true “Wonder Man’s fists carry as much bludgeoning power as Thor’s hammer!”

Y’know, originally, that was a flex that set Wonder Man as a threat to the team but after he joined, that never really seemed to actually be the case.

Imagine if Wonder Man always hit as hard as Thor’s hammer? Like, he’s minding his own business and then the Gorr the God Butcher arc happens and Wonder Man is like ‘huh, why do I suddenly feel like my punches could destroy planets light years away? That’s a very specific feeling!’

Fabian Stankowicz takes advantage of the spectacle chaos to walk out of the audience, plunk himself down into one of the interview chairs, remove his entirely convincing beard, and introduce himself to David Letterman as the guy who is definitely to blame for all the action setpieces going on.

Letterman, like Paul Shaffer, just decides to roll with it. Humor the guy. Ask him why he’s doing this.

Fabian Stankowicz: “Why? To prove it could be done! To show what one incredibly gifted individual can accomplish...”

Letterman: “... To get your name in the papers?”

Fabian Stankowicz: “That too! After all, the Avengers have battled Zodiac... the Masters of Evil... Doctor Doom! I want to make as big a name for myself as those guys!”

Letterman: “Seems to me that ‘Stankowicz’ is already a pretty big name!”

Badum pish?

He asks Fabian to explain all of his devices and Fabian is happy too.

I mean, he’s being a supervillain for the notoriety and supervillains already love to hear themselves talk so he’s double dipping into the ‘I will exposit everything at the drop of a hat’ well.

And imagine, Fabian built all this stuff in his garage with lottery winnings.

The steamroller thing isn’t just a steamroller, it’s also got a gravity generator. Which, I guess, makes sense if you’re expecting to go against a She-Hulk or a Thor. A regular steamroller isn’t going to do more than annoy.

Wonder Man fighting so hard against the roller makes it increase gravity so much that Simon and steamroller just fall through the floor.

Hm. I wonder what’s filmed in the studios the floor down. They’re about to have an exciting guest star in that steamroller.

Black Widow (still tangling with the laser camera) points Hawkeye towards Fabian. Although she has to shout and Hawkeye still doesn’t really get it but is happy to shoot an arrow at someone that Black Widow is vigorously gesturing at.

Alas, Fabian is one of those prepared villains we’ve been hearing so much about.

He built a force field too, and the arrow just bounces right off.

(Hey, uh, Hawkeye? What kind of arrow was that? Because it looks technological and you just shot it at this guy’s head)

Truly, can nothing stop this insidious yet not very menacing criminal genius?

Oh, I guess David Letterman can.

Knocks him out with a big knob.

It’s just plain big.

Prop comedy, amirite?

The audience seems to love it anyway. I looked up a clip of the big doorknob and it didn’t meet with this much applause. Maybe its because it was used to do violence this time?

Was the giant door knob a beloved part of Late Show lore?

David Letterman: “I guess that’ll teach you not to mess with David Letterman!”

That’s a line with weird energy to it.

Anyway, it would be a sad day for this random assemblage of backup Avengers if they were upstaged completely by David Letterman and his big knob.

Black Widow and Hawkeye finally manage to blow up the laser camera.

I’m not sure why it took them this long. Sure, the camera could apparently move, based on motion lines in previous panels. But the world’s best marksman couldn’t nail it sooner?

But the important thing is that eventually, they did do it.

The floor starts rumbling as well as Wonder Man flies back up with his belt-jets with the trashed roller and a shit-eating grin.

Wonder Man: “Sorry this took so long -- But I guess I’m a little rusty at tackling big hunks of tin like this!”

Fabian Stankowicz: Rusty? It took me a month to design that, and he totaled it in less than five minutes!

But since everyone’s focus is on Wonder Man (for once), Fabian tries to sneak away.

And runs smack dab into Mockingbird who has a lot of justified anger over almost getting run over by the roller earlier. But she just throws him over to some police that have finally shown up.

Letterman tells the audience not to try any of this at home, just in case any of them have gravity-generator osmium steel steamrollers lying around? And cuts to commercial, presumably so that some basic tidying can happen.

Hours after the filming of the show concludes, the Avengers TV Squad have returned to the mansion, with Vision wishing he could have taken part of this assistant editors month special issue.

Vision: “What became of Stankowicz?”

Black Panther: “Well, with all the charges NBC is leveling against him, the only machinery he’ll be dealing with for some time will be in the New York State Prison library!”

So, he attacked Avengers Mansion. He attacked Wasp’s superheroine brunch at the Van Dyne residence. That’s all well and good. He attacks the Avengers again in the NBC studio and the man is going to jail forever.

I guess the Avengers really haven’t been bothering to press charges on Fabian. But a massive media corporation isn’t so kind.

Since Hawkeye is technically the active Avenger (even though Vision’s hologram head is RIGHT there) he has to follow up on the thing Beast said about quitting the Avengers reservists.

Beast says its not right for him to be an Avengers reservist if he’s also trying to turn “the Defenders into a for-real group!”

Uh, Defenders fans? Wasn’t the appeal of the Defenders them being the not-team team? How did people feel about Beast going ‘ok but what if they were more like other teams instead?’

Meanwhile, Wonder Man is pacing, waiting for the Late Show to come on so he can see how he did when WOMP WOMP the show is interrupted by a special news bulletin.

Wonder Man is aghast that his big break isn’t even airing but when the special news bulletin is about a burning chemical barge, his hero instincts that he has suddenly swell up.

Wonder Man: “This... This is awful! What’re we standing around for? Let’s do something! We’re Avengers, aren’t we?”

Black Panther: “That we are, Simon! Let’s go!”

Beast also decides, hey, one more time won’t hurt and accepts his Avengers ID card back from Hawkeye.

And as they’re headed off to the Quinjet, Beast has a hopeful note for Wonder Man.

Beast: “Hey, Wondy -- remember, there’s a three-hour time difference between the coasts! If we can get this mess cleaned up in time, maybe some folks in California will still see you get your big break!”

Wonder Man: “And if we don’t -- ?”

Beast: “Well, that’s show biz!”

Pretty enjoyable issue! Like, sure, its a good for Assistant Editor’s Month. But if you’re going to do a goof, then you can do worse than bringing back Fabian Stankowicz for a third time’s not the charm.

Speaking of charm, having the Avengers appear on a talk show is a charming concept. Not a whole lot was done with it except the joke about Hawkeye answering the wrong questions but its still a fun idea.

And having the Avengers off busy lets us brush off some Also Avengers that haven’t been in play for a bit. That’s a fun idea that I wouldn’t mind seeing some more.

Have the reservists called in because of a situation happening when the Avengers are already busy.

Heck, I’d like to see a situation where the silliest and least regarded Avengers are the only ones available to respond to an emergency. Have them bounce off each other as a group. Maybe they’re mutually aware of their bad reputations.

Anyway, I expected this issue would be ridiculous but it was also enjoyable. Didn’t mind it at all. And (though by a different writer) the Hawkeye miniseries was very enjoyable too.

This is just feeling like a good era for the Avengers team.

Next time, apparently The Ghost of Jessica Drew. So she’s some kind of ghost spider? Nobody tell Carol Danvers.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because I typed this post partially while a cat was lying on my wrist. That’s dedication. Which you can’t spell without cat. Also, like and reblog if you think its likeable and rebloggable.

[studentsofshield]

Monday Recs for December 5, 2016 - Daredevil

More Details:

Daredevil has actually been one of Marvel’s characters and titles with incredibly consistent quality for much of its history. There are a lot of great stories starring Matt Murdock. So there will likely eventually be another Daredevil recs list or two. Watch out for those. 

In the meantime, here’s a not so abridged breakdown of Matt’s publishing history since this is the primary/first list of his.

Stan Lee’s early Daredevil is often teased about being a substandard Spider-Man clone. Somewhat similar costumes and physiques. Both swing through the city with acrobatics and special equipment. Both also have special senses to help them in combat. Outside of a short stint by Wally Wood on DD 5-11, it isn’t very notable. 

Roy Thomas picked up the reigns from Stan and wrote 50-71. The book still didn’t quite hit its stride yet. Though Matt reveals his identity to Karen Page in #57. An at the time barely adult Gerry Conway took over following Thomas but failed to make an impression.

It is worth noting though that Gene Colan drew the book from 20-100 and established a classic aesthetic on the Man Without Fear that is fondly remembered to this day. 

Steve Gerber wrote the book from 97-117. By this point, Black Widow had become a costarring character and the title was informally Daredevil and the Black Widow on the covers. Gerber was known for his wild writing on books like Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Defenders, etc. He brought some of that to DD with the pair going to space for a bit. Most fans of the character laugh at Gerber’s stint, but at least it was something unique. Maybe worth checking out.

The book returned to mediocrity following Gerber’s departure. Roger McKenzie began writing it with 152. Which is still not noteworthy, except for the fact that a half year later a soon to be all-star artist joined the book. 

Frank Miller is the forever-definitive creator for Daredevil. His writing and especially his art are indefinitely tied to the character. He began drawing the book with 158, and then eventually taking over writing as well with 168. His whole era from 158-191 is a must read.

Dennis O’Neil directly follows Miller, writing 194-225. O’Neil had previously served as editor during Miller’s run, even kicking McKenzie off the book so that the young superstar could flex his abilities more. So O’Neil carried on much of the tone and tradition of the preceding classic. 

Miller then returned to write 226-233. This is Born Again, considered with minimal debate the greatest Daredevil story of all time. Up there as one of the greatest Marvel stories, or superhero tales in general. Miller would even later come back again for the Man Without Fear miniseries to tell a definitive origin story for Matt, joined by John Romita Jr. on art.

Ann Nocenti then wrote the book from 238-291. She was notably joined by Romita Jr. for the span of 250-282. The pair continued Miller’s general look and feel of the book, while crafting some innovative and controversial arcs. Nocenti touched on issues of homelessness, drugs, sexism, racism, and even nuclear proliferation. While he tackled these societal issues, he also dealt with more supernatural elements such as a classic Inferno tie-in and the introduction of Mephisto’s demon son Blackheart. They also introduced Typhoid Mary as an alternative take on the Elektra dynamic. And Matt fought Ultron.

D.G. Chichester then kicked off the first half of the 1990s. His run is considered a little more uneven than the previous three. The Fall From Grace story is lauded by some, but also features a Venom guest appearance and Matt getting a new armored costume. It was a mild microcosm of 1990s comic tropes, but there are still highlights to find within it. 

The book then briefly returned to its legacy of mediocrity outside of a brief hidden gem run by Karl Kesel and Cary Nord in 348-365. The book was canceled with 380 in October, 1998. 

In practical terms it wasn’t canceled though. Daredevil Vol 2 1 followed the next month. The first eight issues were by the show stopping creative team of filmmaker Kevin Smith and future Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada. The book was the flagship of the outsourced Marvel Knights line that would bring Marvel back from the financial and creative depths of the mid/late-1990s.

Similar to Miller’s skyrocket to fame, another up and coming writer named Brian Michael Bendis was handed Daredevil. His run from 16-19, 26-50, 56-81 was the next major force to shake up the title. Joined by the unique noir-like artist Alex Maleev, the pair created what is considered the second best run on the character. Some will even fight for it over Miller’s. Every issue of this run is an absolute must for DD and Marvel fans. 

Bendis controversially ended his run with Matt in prison. Another noir inspired writer, Ed Brubaker, took the challenge alongside Michael Lark and continued pumping out perfect comics. Brubaker wrote the book from 82-119 and the renumbered 500. It is a fitting continuation of Bendis’ era and the two are best read side by side in order. 

A controversial stint by Andy Diggle followed to wrap up Vol 2 (or I guess the renumbering made it Vol 1?). The street level “event” Shadowland drew lots of critics for its characterization of Matt Murdock, supernatural elements, and overblown scope with pointless tie-ins. 

Master comics writer Mark Waid then brought a new tone to the book while writing Vol 3 1-36 and Vol 4 1-18. He moved Matt to San Francisco and brought more emotional levity to a character who had been in a constant mode of suffering since the 1980s. Artists like Paolo Rivera and Chris Samnee continued to make the book one of the best looking on the stands. 

Charles Soule has now been writing DD since after Secret Wars. The verdict is still out on his run as a whole, but there have been some enjoyable moments.

And...that gets us caught up with the entire publication history of Daredevil. 

Collection Information:

Pretty much everything about the history and recommendations is covered above. So here is a quick rundown of where to get this stuff. 

Early DD: -The Man Without Fear Epic Collection (1-21) -Brother, Take My Hand Epic Collection (42-63)

Frank Miller: -Volume 1 (158-172) -Volume 2 (173-184) -Volume 3 (185-191, 219) -Born Again -Man Without Fear  -Omnibus (158-191) -Companion Omnibus (219, 226-233, Man Without Fear 1-5, Marvel Graphic Novel 24, etc.)

Ann Nocenti: -Typhoid Mary Epic Collection (253-270) -Heart of Darkness Epic Collection (271-282)

Chichester and End of Vol 1: -Fall From Grace Epic Collection (319-332) -Widow’s Kiss Epic Collection (365-380)

Brian Michael Bendis: -Volume 1 (16-19, 26-40) -Volume 2 (41-50, 56-60) -Volume 3 (66-81) Bendis’ run was also collected in a two volume omnibus set, but they are pretty out of print. May be reprinted as Netflix continues using DD in their corner of the MCU.

Ed Brubaker: -Volume 1 (82-93) -Volume 2 (94-105) -Volume 3 (106-119, 500) -Omnibus Volume 1 (82-105) -Omnibus Volume 2 (106-119, 500)

Andy Diggle: -The Devil’s Hand (501-507) -Shadowland (508-512) -Shadowland (1-5) -Reborn (1-4)

Mark Waid: -Volume 1 (Vol 3 1-10) -Volume 2 (11-21) -Volume 3 (22-36) -Volume 4 (Vol 4 1-10) -Volume 5 (11-18) -Omnibus Volume 1 (Vol 3 1-27)

There are older, smaller trades for Bendis, Brubaker, and Waid’s runs. They’re not listed here because they’re not as ideal as the bigger collections that are typically better value. It would also be a hassle and this post is long enough as is.