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Marvel 616 Review – Strange Tales #110 [A Story]

Strange Tales #110 Photo Credit: Marvel, Writers: Stan Lee, Ernie Hart, Artist: Dick Ayers

Strange Tales #110 is a landmark issue in the history of Marvel 616. It establishes repeat villains teaming up against one of our heroes and contains the introduction of a new hero to the universe. Because there are two important stories here, I will be splitting my review of the issue up into two parts. This time I will be going over the A story, which features Johnny Storm in his most intense battle to date against not one but two of his mortal foes.

Villain team ups are pretty standard these days. They show up in comics constantly and there have even been a few movies and television shows where we’ve seen this happen. DC had perfected this type of story long before the Marvel 616 universe started to do it. But, it is always interesting when a hero we know has to go up against a new combination of evil characters. Johnny Storm, aka, The Human Torch has had his share of enemies both on his own and with his family The Fantastic Four. Two of the most dangerous for him were The Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete. The Wizard uses all kinds of gadgets and tricks to trap the hero while Paste-Pot Pete has a special glue gun that proves surprisingly adept at trapping Johnny. Ridiculous names aside, these guys are dangerous.

The issue starts with a teaser page, like most of the early 616 universe does but this one has my favorite pre-read warning so far where we are told to be cautious if we have a heart condition before we read on.

The story then gets going with a few panels showing Johnny Storm making his way as The Human Torch through an obstacle course he has set up for himself. He is compared to a trained athlete but it is noted that if Johnny makes a mistake, he doesn’t lose a game, he could lose his life.

Johnny next hits his school books which at one point mentions wizards. This gets Johnny’s mind drifting and he starts to remember The Wizard who he faced off against in the past. He takes a look at his scrapbook and we get a flashback scene reminding us of the last time Johnny faced The Wizard. This is a pretty common technique in the earlier Marvel 616 stories because they could reuse old art and fill up pages at the same time with adding just a bit of narration.

And, of course, it’s not just The Wizard who gets this treatment. We next see Johnny reminisce about ol’ Paste-Pot Pete himself. For a guy with a paste gun he sure got close to getting rid of Johnny. He had The Human Torch strapped to a missile and everything.

At the end of his reminiscing, Johnny wonders where both The Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete are now and what they are doing. It’s no surprise to the modern reader that we then find out, and it’s not good.

Paste-Pot Pete has returned to the country and he is clearly looking for revenge against The Human Torch. Pete realizes he alone is not enough to go against the super hero and he remembers how The Wizard nearly took Johnny out. The only problem? The Wizard is in solitary confinement at a place called Cortraz Penitentiary. And The Wizard still holds just as much of a grudge as Pete does.

Luckily for The Wizard, Paste-Pot Pete has some truly incredible paste. It’s so good, it can be used to make powerful binocular lenses.

Pete figures out the delivery schedule for the food supply trucks and hijacks it. Paste-Pot Pete makes his way into the jail and he is apparently a quick draw with the paste gun because none of the guards are fast enough to stop him. He then uses the same gun to glue onto The Wizard’s cell door and uses the, “reverse suction switch” on his gun to pull the door off.

Needless to say, The Wizard is all in on the plan to get our favorite hothead. The Wizard even has a little gas pellet he cooked up in prison that blows the gates open so the pair can make their escape.

But, like any good super villain team up, there is tension almost from the start. The Wizard basically starts giving Pete orders which he doesn’t take too kindly to. The plan is to first discredit and humiliate The Human Torch and then defeat him permanently.

Immediately they frame Johnny for being a spy. Reed and the rest of the FF call Johnny up to make sure he is okay. Johnny basically takes this the wrong way thinking his team thinks he can’t handle himself.

Johnny is ridiculed at school for being a traitor although some kids defend him. Not being one to take this sort of thing lightly, Johnny has a plan.

We switch perspectives back to the villains who read in the newspaper that one of the world’s richest men is going to arrive in town. The Wizard plans to wait until the man takes his nightly walk and then rob him. He’s also going to frame Johnny for this by wearing his asbestos suit, making it look like it’s Johnny in the dark.

Rest assured The Human Torch has this well in hand as it’s him who was walking down the street. He was just disguised.

The villains run back into their house where The Wizard has laid several traps for our hero. They get Johnny into a room which is basically a hall of mirrors. The Human Torch flounders for a bit as he tries to find a way out.

Johnny gives up momentarily and asks the bad guys what is next. They tell him they are going to flood the room with a fire extinguishing liquid The Wizard has invented. But first, Paste-Pot Pete pastes The Torch to the floor.

The villains then make the classic villain mistake of leaving the hero. Johnny thinks fast and makes a flame version of himself. He then burns the paste off of his feet to free himself. He then uses as much heat as he can to burn his way out through the ceiling of the room.

In another part of the house, the bad guys put their little contraption to work and watch what they think will be Johnny’s demise. But they soon notice that the figure disappears. This does give Johnny just enough time to recharge his power and come after the bad guys. Pete and The Wizard aren’t exactly friends but they both basically vow their revenge on Johnny as they are taken away by the police.

The kids at school are once again fans of The Human Torch and Johnny complains he missed so much schoolwork because of needing to fight the bad guys. And this is where the story ends.

While this may not have been overly groundbreaking it was a fun story and it showcased how even minor villains teaming up against a Marvel hero could make things much more difficult. Over the years, The Fantastic Four and The Human Torch alone will be dealing with plenty of villains getting together.

If this was the only story in this issue relevant to Marvel 616 it might only be mildly interesting. Yet this issue has something else worth noting.

Next up on the reading list we’ll be reading about the introduction of the sorcerer supreme himself as we see Dr. Strange in Strange Tales #110 [C story]!

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Marvel 616 Review – Tales of Suspense #42

Tales of Suspense 42 Photo Credit: Marvel Writers: Stan Lee, Robert Bernstein Artist: Don Heck

One of the harsh realities of reading all of Marvel 616 in order is you can come across a really engaging and landmark issue, as with the introduction of The Wasp in Tales to Astonish #44, only to have it be followed up with a rather bland and boring story the next issue. This is the case with Tales of Suspense #42. It stars Tony Stark aka Iron Man doing what Iron Man does. Fighting communists. Over and over and over again. That’s not to say I am not interested in reading those stories but at this point they are getting repetitive and at times seem designed just to fill pages. To be fair, they had to come up with a lot of content at the time on multiple comics so there is no way all of the stories are going to be great.

This issue starts with a page promising we’ll have a shocking surprise coming to us, “as the knight in shining armor walks straight into this, the greatest danger he has ever faced!” It shows Iron Man walking into the lair of someone named The Red Barbarian.

The action begins on a boat where a group of spies is proud of themselves for stealing the latest American atomic bomb. They figure they will be well rewarded by this Red Barbarian but to make sure everything is looking good, they decide to open the crate with the bomb.

But to their surprise, Iron Man is waiting in the crate. Turns out the whole thing was a setup by the F.B.I. Iron Man stops the crooks with the use of some of his patented transistor technology and uses magnets to cause their guns to fire away from him. The overhead magnet is so strong, in fact, that it pulls the bad guys up with the guns. Not sure why they didn’t think to let go of their weapons but we’ll just figure they panicked. Iron Man also explains his armor contains alloys that reject magnetic attraction so he is not affected by the magnet. Glad we got that cleared up!

The F.B.I. do show up to collect their prize but Tony warns them that the Red Barbarian is probably planning some new kind of mischief. This person seems to be news to the F.B.I. and all Tony really knows is the bad guy is known for his brutality and lives somewhere behind the iron curtain. So, not a lot to go on.

We next see Tony changing out of his Iron Man suit and going back to his lab. He is now storing his suit in a suitcase and he is working on what he calls a, “pocket-size disintegrator ray.”

We see his heavily guarded lab as Tony takes comfort in the fact that no spy can get inside. Tony then demonstrates his ray to the U.S. Military. He is able to disintegrate tanks and walls and tells the men how it could be adapted to destroy whole enemy fleets. He does warn them that it is not yet perfected. The military is suitably impressed and everyone realizes how devastating it would be if the technology got into enemy hands.

The scene then shifts to The Red Barbarian’s headquarters where his men tell him of Tony’s new weapon. He demands the plans but his men say Stark’s compound is impenetrable, after which The Red Barbarian throws a ham at the messenger and threatens to shoot his incompetent staff.

As he is in his rage, The Red Barbarian is interrupted by someone who he thinks is Comrade K, a high ranking general in the communist party. This, however, is a ruse. The man is really someone who calls himself The Actor. He is able to mimic the look and manners of anyone he sees and claims to be the ultimate spy. The Actor changes his look to that of Tony Stark and claims he can steal all of Stark’s plans. The Red Barbarian hires him on the spot, promising him anything he wishes. The Red Barbarian also warns of what will happen should The Actor fail.

The Actor is quite bold in his claims as he says he can defeat both Tony Stark and Iron Man. He puts his plan into action by first impersonating a famous actor so he can get into the United States. The Actor then goes to the telegraph office in Washington D.C. and impersonates a senator. Next he finds the communist spies in the area to help him fake an entrance into Stark’s lab while Stark is away.

The Actor shows up at Stark’s lab once he knows Stark is gone. He tells the guards there, who assume he is Tony Stark, that the Pentagon meeting was cancelled and he has returned to his lab to do some work. The guards do try to stop the men with The Actor but he claims they are top men of the Pentagon and his office is open to them.

The ruse works well enough to get The Actor into the office where they go about the task of raiding Stark’s plans. While doing this, The Actor finds parts of Iron Man’s suit and puts the pieces together. He knows Stark is Iron Man. Deciding to keep the information to himself in case his life is threatened, he has the others find the plans for the disintegration ray. The Actor takes the plans and tells his men to wait for Stark and assassinate him when he returns. As Stark, The Actor dismisses all of Tony’s usual guards, telling them the Pentagon men will do the guard duty for the night.

The real Stark, realizing the invitation from the senator to the Pentagon was a fake, returns to his lab. The bad guys try to kill him but luckily he is still wearing his Iron Man chest plate under his clothes. Stark kills the lights and gets into his full armor and makes short work of the bad guys. He gets them to tell him why they are there, where to find The Red Barbarian, and when The Actor is scheduled to meet with his employer. To get there, Stark has to take a missile in order to arrive in time. The missile launch is successful and Stark arrives where he intended.

He stops The Actor who is driving on his way toward the headquarters. Iron Man basically folds up The Actor’s car as a way to keep the guy in place. He gags The Actor and walks right into The Red Barbarian’s headquarters.

Iron Man tells the bad guys he is The Actor and gives The Red Barbarian an attache case with a timed lock on it. He tells the The Red Barbarian the lock is a miniature atom bomb. Tony then leaves and goes back to let The Actor out of his trap. Tony flies away.

The Actor goes to The Red Barbarian to apologize for not giving him the disintegrator ray plans. The Red Barbarian flips out on The Actor and basically ends up shooting the guy (although we never see a body so who knows?).

Tony hears all this as he flies off and the story ends there.

While there are some mildly interesting things here, such as how close Stark is with the government, and how secure his compound is, for the most part this story is a bit of a dud. The bad guys are drawn like crude caricatures and borderline offensive. There are a couple of neat tricks like the suitcase for the Iron Man suit but we don’t learn much new here. It’s a passable story about espionage but it just doesn’t quite grab the reader and it really doesn’t help us understand Tony Stark or Iron Man more than we already do.

There are a couple of non-cannon stories in this issue of Tales of Suspense, one about a haunted house and one about a prisoner in the future who is taken to space. Both are much shorter than the Iron Man story and actually a bit more engaging in this case, although with decidedly less heroics. Those don’t count at all toward the larger story though.

Next up on the reading order we’re catching up once again with the hothead Johnny Storm as we read about him in the pages of Strange Tales #110!

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Marvel 616 Review – Tales to Astonish #44

Tales to Astonish 44, Photo Credit: Marvel Writers: Stan Lee, Ernie Hart, Artist: Jack Kirby

Up to this point in the Marvel 616 comics we’ve had plenty of stories staring Henry Pym, aka Ant-Man. For the most part these have been short stories featuring our hero taking on crime of one kind or another. Quite often he has faced off against communists. We know he is a brilliant scientist who does secretive work for the government but it would be false to say we’ve ever gotten a full understanding of his motivations. There haven’t been any stories which really dive into his background, he’s just kind of there.

This all starts to change when Henry Pym gets his partner in peril in Tales to Astonish 44. This is both his first full length story and introduces The Wasp to the 616 universe.

Technically Tales to Astonish is an anthology series and in this issue there is a backup story after the main story of Ant-Man but as far as I can tell it does not relate to the rest of the 616 continuity. But this is still the most amount of pages dedicated to Ant-Man we have seen in a single issue. And, truth be told, at this point it was Ant-Man who was selling the magazine.

The issue starts with a teaser page that looks a lot like the cover but basically acknowledges that we haven’t really had a back story for Hank Pym up to this point and promises us one here.

The story itself starts with Ant-Man coming back from some heroic mission to his lab where he tells his ants to return to nature and lets them know he will call them again when needed. Pym releases his growth gas and goes back to human size.

Ant-Man takes a break and laments how he must always be alone and can’t reveal his secret identity to anyone. And he mentions someone named Maria for the first time.

It turns out, Maria, was Henry’s wife. We see in flashback panels that Henry and Maria went to Hungary for their honeymoon where Maria and her father had once been political prisoners. Hank has some valid concerns about going there but Maria says they won’t know her since she is now Mrs. Pym rather than Maria Trovaya.

For a brief moment in time the two have a good time together and Hank wishes he could always be on vacation with Maria. She replies that he is becoming a lazy husband and tells him her father always used to say. “go to the ants, thou dullard!” I think that’s supposed to just be a way of saying don’t be lazy but it lays the groundwork for Henry’s future fascination with ants.

The bliss cannot last long as Maria is kidnapped at gunpoint. Although Hank tries to stop the men, he gets pistol whipped and goes to the American embassy. While he is there, the embassy receives a call. Maria’s body was found with a note which said, “This is what happens to those who attempt to escape from behind the iron curtain!”

Now all this communist hunting Ant-Man has done in previous issues makes a heck of a lot more sense. The dude is looking to even the score. But as if that were not bad enough, as they attacked Maria in Hungary, back in the states they also blew up the lab where Maria’s father worked.

Hank storms out of there furious and vowing revenge. But within a few days he ends up in jail,”on the verge of a mental and physical breakdown!”

Henry Pym was unable to track down and find the killers but the American embassy has arranged for him to be set free and sent back to America.

Not knowing what else to do, Hank thinks about the past and about his wife. And then he remembers what she said. The funny part of this is that he actually misquotes her from a few panels before as he quotes her as, “Go to the ants, thou sluggard!”

Henry then works tirelessly to invent his reducing gas, perfect his cybernetic helmet and become Ant-Man. It has a Batman feel to it as Henry is basically vowing to wipe out crime because someone he cared about was a victim of it. The difference though is that Henry takes a decidedly scientific approach to it.

Back in the present, Ant-Man decides doing this himself is not going to be enough. What he wants is a partner who can carry on his mission in the case of his death. But he doesn’t know anyone he can trust with his secret identity and who would have the attitude to take on the task.

Just in case he ever does meet this person, Dr. Pym studies wasps and realizes he can shrink a human and give them wasp-like wings and antennae.

At that very moment, fate steps in as his doorbell rings. A Dr. Vernon Van Dyne has come to see the famous Pym. Dr. Van Dyne is also a scientist and he has brought his daughter Janet with him. Hank lets them in and is struck by how much Janet looks like his dead wife. Although, he admits she is not much more than a child at this point. Janet, for her part thinks Henry is handsome but figures he’s a bore since he is a bookish scientist.

Interestingly, what Dr. Van Dyne wants sounds more like something that would be worked on by Dr. Bruce Banner. he is working on a gamma-ray beam to pierce space and detect signals from other planets. Henry admits he has heard of Van Dyne’s work but says his specialty is in molecular cell transition and cell specialization. Van Dyne wants the beam strengthened but leaves Dr. Pym alone.

Despite the lack of help, Dr. Van Dyne is able to get his beam to work. This turns out to be his demise. Some vast, shapeless, darkness comes at him and starts to take form. This alien thing comes into the lab and Van Dyne asks what it is.

It tells him, “I am from the planet Kosmos deep in space! We of Kosmos are a fluid form of life! I escaped down the path of your ray to this, your planet!”

Dr. Van Dyne keys in on the word escaped and the creature admits it is a criminal who nearly enslaved his whole society. And he figures if he failed there, maybe he can succeed here on Earth.

The alien commands the good doctor to look into its eyes. Van Dyne tries to resist but is unable to. The creature smashes the lab and Janet returns to find an awful mist and her father dead. Not knowing what else to do, Janet calls Henry Pym because she knows her father trusted the man.

At first Henry Pym doesn’t believe Janet and thinks she is just a, “bored society playgirl” who is trying to get her kicks by making up stories. But in short order, ants confirm the situation through Pym’s cybernetic helmet.

He goes into action as Ant-Man and shows up at Dr. Van Dyne’s lab where Janet is understandably upset. Ant-Man tells her he is there to help. She thought he was a myth, which is odd, since there have been literal newspaper stories about him in the past but we’ll let that slide for now. Janet explains the situation and Hank figures out right away it had to be some kind of alien force to have done the type of damage to the lab he sees.

And in what seems to be the first instance of an Avenger wanting to avenge something, Janet Van Dyne knows what she wants to do. She wants to avenge her father.

Hank tells Janet to call the F.B.I. and ask for Lee Kearns and tell him what happened. He then instructs her to go to the lab of Henry Pym. Janet agrees.

Oddly, the ants that accompanied Ant-Man have left him alone. He catches up to them and asks why they left. They tell him that whatever was in there secrets formic acid like the ants do but it is alien and they are afraid. Henry has them take him back to his lab and spread out to look for the monster and go to the F.B.I. headquarters to see what they find out there.

Hank grows back to human size and meets Janet at the door. He asks if Janet really would do anything to avenge her father’s death and risk anything for justice. She says not only that but she wishes she could help track down all criminals.

For the first time ever, Dr. Henry Pym reveals to someone else that he is Ant-Man and tells Janet he needs a partner. It’s quite a fateful moment in the history of the 616 because here we have the foundations for what will one day become The Avengers. We’ve been introduced to Thor, Iron-Man, Ant-Man, The Hulk, and now The Wasp. It will still take some time but these are all founding members of the super group and Janet Van Dyne should not be underestimated here.

Janet agrees to become Hank’s partner and The Wasp. Moments later, Dr. Pym has injected Janet with wasp cells, shrunken her down, given her an outfit which seems to perfectly fit her, and allowed her to grow wings and antennae which is only possible for her to have while she is small.

Meanwhile, Kosmos seems to be tearing up the city. He smashes the Van Dyne lab, destroys the docks and causes a general commotion.

Hank gets word of this from his ants and tells Janet to change into her new costume. We get confirmation for the first time that Ant-Man actually lives in New York as he sees Kosmos head towards the George Washington bridge and clearing out Manhattan.

Ant-Man gives some quick instructions to Janet on how to use the reducing and enlarging gas and how she can communicate with the insect world through her antennae. They launch themselves into the air with Ant-Man’s miniature cannon and immediately Janet is hooked on adventuring.

Not only that, she tells Hank, in case they are killed, that she is falling in love with him. For his part, Hank gives a pretty hard no here, although with his background we all know he can love someone. He says, “No! You mustn’t say that, Janet! You’re only a child! Let’s get this straight… I chose you as my partner simply because I thought you had a reason, as I have to fight for mankind! I never want to love again! I– I couldn’t bear it if I had to lose a loved one– twice!”

This basically sets up the relationship dynamic we’ll see with these two for years to come. It will come to be much worse than this sort of thing but we’ll review that when we get there.

Hank’s rebuke only makes Janet more determined to make him fall in love with her. And Hank realizes if he is not careful, he will fall in love with her.

Ant-Man then introduces his ants to The Wasp and the ants tell Henry they can’t confront Kosmos.

The military comes to try to stop Kosmos but they retreat in fear. Janet decides to tackle the problem head on herself. Janet seems to be drawn to the creature but Hank saves her. He realizes he can defeat this thing through science and the pair go back to the lab. Hank whips up the antidote to formic acid, realizing the creature is mostly made of formic acid. They become Ant-Man and The Wasp once more but this time they have the ants carry shotguns filled with pellets full of the antidote.

They make it up to a rooftop and fire the shotgun at the creature and luckily for humanity this does stop Kosmos. Janet cheers and puts her arm around Hank who tells her, “Er.. we— we’d better get back to the lab! And from now on you must not display such emotion! It– it isn’t proper!”

Janet seems to just be happy she made him blush. Back at the lab Henry calls Lee Kearns at the F.B.I. and tells him everything is okay. Kearns says he wants to meet Ant-Man because they share the same goals and Ant-Man can’t keep going it alone. Looking at Janet, Hank replies, “I’m not going it alone, Kearns… not anymore… not ever again!”

In her mind, Janet vows to always be beside Hank and make him love her but until that day she will be his partner as The Wasp. The issue ends here but we know we have a lot more in store for these two.

This is absolutely a landmark issue for 616. It introduces a backstory for Henry Pym, finally gives him some motivation for what he has been doing, and provides a love interest and important character in her own right. No matter the problematic nature of the relationship between these two, this is the most fleshed out, well rounded, and best Ant-Man story so far. It also starts to feel like the pieces are coming together to tell a much larger story, although at the time readers would not have known this.

This issue also finally puts Ant-Man in the same city as The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man so our heroes are beginning to gather.

Next up on the reading list we’ll be checking in with another character who has it out for communists as we read about Iron Man in the pages of Tales of Suspense #42!

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Marvel 616 Review – Strange Tales #109

Strange Tales Issue 109, Photo Credit: Marvel, Writers: Stan Lee & Robert Bernstein, Art: Jack Kirby

What would you do if you had the power of Pandora’s box? If you’re anything like The Sorcerer in Strange Tales #109, you’ll probably run around trying to steal stuff and attacking The Human Torch. The issue gets a bit weird as it dives into magic which is a newer threat for Johnny Storm.

The issue starts with a teaser page showing our hero threatened by a giant tidal wave. A man in a green robe is telling Torch that “Flood is the evil I’ve selected to destroy you!”

So, who is this guy and why does he have it out for ol’ flame head? Basically, it’s a kids get off my lawn story but let’s take a look at it anyway.

The story starts back at the Baxter building where three of the Fantastic Four are all gathered. Johnny flies in through the window and The Thing scolds Johnny for skipping school. But, of course, Johnny has done no such thing. His teachers are just having a conference so he got out early. Johnny was basically bored and missing his family so decided to drop on by. He complains a bit about school and then notices a map in the room and rightly realizes the rest of the team are planning a mission. Johnny wants to join but is told no because it has to happen the next day when Johnny is in school.

We don’t get any real information about the mission, other than the FF plans to “…make life a little tougher for the commies!” Which, yeah sounds about right for these comics at that time. Johnny complains about how boring it is being a full time student at boring Glenville. As Johnny flies off we get a rare glimpse of how Ben Grim actually feels about Johnny. He says he loves the hot-head like a brother.

On his way out, Torch sees a fire in a building and uses his powers to suck in all the flames and saves the people in the upper floors. Then he sees a flash flood which has washed out some train tracks. Luckily for the passengers, Johnny is able to convert the flood water into steam and the train passes by safely.

Yeah, sometimes the powers of The Human Torch are kind of silly and so are the random dangers he flies by. But his powers, especially at this time, are a bit flexible anyway.

The next disturbance Torch hears is some commotion at a place where he knows an “eccentric old hermit known as The Sorcerer lives!”

So what’s the big trouble about? Well, this dude is literally trying to get kids off of his lawn. But this time, with dogs. Dogs which are leashed I should mention. As far as I can tell, this guy isn’t actually breaking any kind of law, even if he is being rather unpleasant.

Not quite sure who voted The Human Torch the head of the neighborhood watch, but he decides to take things into his own hands. He puts a leash of flames around the dogs and basically yells at The Sorcerer for scaring the kids. Johnny tells the guy to put his dogs away or Johnny will take them to the dog pound. The Sorcerer puts the dogs away and asks Johnny to tell the kids to stay away from him and give him privacy. Johnny asks if The Sorcerer knows what he’s called around the neighborhood. The dude says yes and the name is well earned because he has studied black magic for years. Johnny then tells the guy if he wants privacy so bad, he’ll give it to him with a wall of flame around his house. The Sorcerer points out he won’t be able to come and go if there is a wall of flame there. Johnny responds he can’t have it both ways, “If you want freedom of movement, others must have it as well!” The Sorcerer gives in but tells Johnny he won’t forget it.

At this point, let’s sum up here. I’m not one to be on the side of a wealthy property owner or anything but in the last few minutes a guy who lives on private property tried to get kids off his lawn, with pets he legally owns and properly kennels, was called an eccentric by a super powered human, nearly had his dogs burnt by said super human, had his lawn burned by fire and was then told he had to let people just come onto his property. I think rather than threaten this guy, perhaps Johnny should have looked up real estate egress laws because, yeah, now this guy is going to go full villain.

Johnny doesn’t really think the guy has black magic so feels pretty safe leaving and taking the kids back to their home. But what Johnny does not know is that The Sorcerer is about to discover Pandora’s box. You know, the one from the myth where basically all bad things were let out into the world? Yeah that one. Which seems weird because if we believe the myth, the stuff in the box couldn’t be put back so how would owning it help? The only thing left inside was supposedly hope and we already have that too so, I think Pandora’s box is just a box at this point. Also, if we believe the myth it was a jar not a box but whatever.

Ah, but see, these are comics we’re reading so they have a ready excuse. The Sorcerer explains (to himself), “But what other experts on Greek legend don’t know is the Circe, the greatest sorceress of ancient times, used her fantastic magic to force all the evils to return to the box…” Circe then seals the box with a magic incantation. So there you have it, perfectly logically explained and we’re good to continue with the story.

If we are to believe The Sorcerer he got that very box “…unwittingly sent to him in a crate full of Greek artifacts by an expert from Athens!” If it was sent unwittingly, then this expert was not much of an expert. Or maybe they were looking for a jar not a box instead?

Anyway, The Sorcerer continues studying ancient texts and vowing revenge on The Human Torch. He also points out he can unleash and recapture all of the imps which are in the box through his magic.

Two weeks later he shows up at a bank holding a box. He is not taken seriously at first when he demands money from the bank and the security guards want to take him in to have his mental health checked. They don’t put it quite that nicely.

But the Sorcerer is prepared and unleashes the evil of hatred. Before you know it, everyone in the bank is fighting with one another over trivial stuff. The Sorcerer uses the opportunity to grab as much cash as he can and strolls out of the bank. He then recalls the imp of hatred and lets out the imp of… forgetfulness. I guess that’s a kind of evil in some cases? Anyway, it causes everyone there to forget what just happened. Johnny goes to investigate and realizes the people there are not lying, they’ve been manipulated somehow.

The Sorcerer goes on a bit of a crime spree, stealing jewels with the imp of… sleepiness, stealing art from a museum with the imp of… paralysis, and furs with the imp of… cold. And he covers his tracks in the same way after each one.

One night in Glenville the police hold a meeting where Johnny is present and one of the officers says it seems like the crook is some sort of wizard which makes Johnny think of The Sorcerer. The Human Torch rushes off to find the bad guy sorting his ill gotten gains. The Torch has the advantage of surprise but The Sorcerer unleashes disease from the box to sicken Johnny. This works for a moment until Johnny heats himself up enough to burn off any germs. So, instead The Sorcerer lets out the evil of a tidal wave like we were teased in the beginning.

Sure enough, Johnny is soaked and his flame goes out. The cops show up but The Sorcerer unleashes foolishness on the cops. But there are still more cops who are not affected yet and they fire shots at The Sorcerer. Good thing for him magic can apparently ignore the rules of physics completely because The Sorcerer unleashes… laziness… to slow down the bullets. Yeah, not kidding.

Johnny stalls for time by asking about the box, hoping he can dry out enough to flame on. And, as The Sorcerer thinks he has Johnny defeated, Johnny asks if he can choose the manner of his own death. The Sorcerer agrees and unleashes fire which, of course, only powers up our hero. Johnny grabs the box from The Sorcerer and welds it shut, saying he is going to take it to the ocean so it can’t be found again.

The Sorcerer is terrified when Johnny gets back. This is because, just before Johnny left, the imp of fear poked out of the box in the direction of The Sorcerer. This guy is probably going to be permanently scared of everything.

The last panel is Johnny reuniting with the rest of the FF who seem to have heard about Johnny’s exploits and all is well again.

There are a few interesting things about this issue. One, it firmly establishes magic as being a real and regular thing in the world of 616, thus truly paving the way for Dr. Strange to show up soon. Second, it separates Johnny Storm from the FF a bit so there is the possibility of splitting this group up into different adventures at any time.

Also, while I certainly don’t condone the behavior of The Sorcerer once he has Pandora’s box, Johnny sure seems bossy to random people in the neighborhood in this issue. This certainly doesn’t mean Johnny is bad or evil in any way but it would be easy to see how a super powered person could intimidate the heck out of someone for, you know, wanting kids not to hang around their lawn or whatever.

We’ve certainly not seen the last of Johnny Storm, or of magic in the 616 but it’s a long way from being fully explored just yet.

Next time we’re getting small again with Ant-Man but he’s going to bring along a new player in the 616 as we first meet The Wasp in Tales to Astonish #44!

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Marvel 616 Review – The Amazing Spider-Man #3

The Amazing Spider-Man Issue #3 Photo Credit: Marvel Written by Stan Lee, Art by Steve Ditko

Few heroes are as defined by their villains as Spider-Man is. Outside of Batman, Spidey has the most recognizable gallery of rogues in all of super hero comics. Undeniably one of the most infamous of those rogues is the one and only Dr. Octopus. He’ll have a huge and complicated influence on the life of Peter Parker and everyone around him. But he had to appear for the first time somewhere. For him it was the third issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. While his intro establishes a good number of the baselines of what we will come to know about the scientist turned villain, much of his origins will be revised and updated to become more intricate and complicated.

Yet, even at his debut, the cover of the issue promises something special with Dr. Octopus. He seems to be the first villain who can truly claim to have more power than Spider-Man. So who is he, where did he come from, and why does he have it out for Spider-Man? Let’s find out.

The first teaser page of the comic promises Doctor Octopus is the only enemy ever to defeat Spider-Man. This is a bold claim considering Spider-Man has been down a time or two but it does turn out to be the case, as Obi-Wan Kenobi would say, from a certain point of view. And we get the promise of a special appearance by the Human Torch. He’s already wrapped up in Spider-Man’s life but I find it intriguing every time Stan Lee brings on a guest in a comic because it helps to establish the shared universe of heroes each time it happens.

The story begins with a run of the mill bank robbery. The crooks think they’ll have an easy time of it until Spider-Man flashes his Spider signal at them and proceeds to knock the bad guys out with ease.

In fact, it’s so easy it leads Spidey to wish he had an opponent who would give him a run for his money. This kind of wish is a bit of a precursor to a running theme in Peter Parker’s life. Every time he thinks things are going well, or that he’s got his job as a superhero down pat, a huge threat will appear and often times come close to destroying him. As readers, we all know, if a hero is wishing for a bigger challenge, he or she won’t need to wait long.

The scene shifts to the generically named US Atomic Research Center where someone called Doctor Octopus is about to perform an experiment. We get our first glimpse of the doctor wearing his specially designed arms that become the defining physical feature of the bad guy.

What should be a tool of science will soon become the very thing which traps a decent man into doing evil things. The guards in the room observing Dr. Otto Octavius say he is the most brilliant atomic researcher in our country today. I’m not sure, but I would bet if Dr. Bruce Banner heard that, he’d disagree. And speaking of Dr. Bruce Banner, other than being brilliant scientists, they have something else in common. Failed science experiments. There is an accident involving radiation, although this issue doesn’t go into what the cause was, or how it happened. But, the end result is an explosion. Unfortunately, Dr. Octavius is caught in the heart of the blast. He survives but apparently absorbs an immense amount of radiation.

In the real world, an accident like this would without question kill the victim. But, in the world of Marvel comics in the 1960’s? Getting hit by radiation is virtually guaranteed to give you super powers. Quite frequently they turn out to be animal based super powers.

Sure enough, in the hospital the doctors know two things about Dr. Octopus. First, he is brain damaged. In other words, something has altered his mind, so even if he was a good and noble scientist at one time, there is no telling what he’ll be like now. Secondly, they cannot remove his artificial arms. It’s a bit unclear if doing so would actually kill Octavius or if they are simply fused into him and there’s not a clear way to remove them. This is something that will come up a lot in later stories involving Dr. Octopus.

When Dr. Octopus wakes up he insists to the doctor he must return to his work. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not but the doctor who is telling Octavius to stay put sure resembles one Dr. Donald Blake, and the nurse in the background looks a lot like Jane Foster. It’s never officially mentioned but it would be easy to assume Dr. Blake could have been asked to treat Dr. Octavius.

More importantly than who is in the background, this scene establishes how altered Dr. Octavius’ mind is. Rather than assume the medical doctor is acting in his best interest, Otto assumes people are jealous of him and want to keep him away from his work.

The window of the hospital room has bars on it, most likely to prevent accidents from a high floor, but Octavius thinks he is being kept prisoner. With a thought, his mechanical arms move and remove the bars for him and Dr. Otto Octavius officially becomes Dr. Octopus.

The Doc immediately uses his newfound power to intimidate others.

Meanwhile, J. Jonah Jameson wants pictures of the notable scientist at the hospital and one Peter Parker is more than happy to volunteer to be the one to get them. Peter figures that as Spider-Man, this will be as easy as taking out those bank robbers was. The hospital itself, known as Bliss Hospital seems a bit sketchy as it is fenced off and locked up when Spider-Man gets there. Spidey easily climbs the walls and wishes once again for a bit of real competition.

Be careful what you wish for, because as soon as he gets to the window, Spider-Man sees Doctor Octopus for the first time. Octavius has imprisoned the staff at the hospital and demanded they bring him equipment. He is refusing to let them go, even though they have given in to his demands.

When Dr. Octopus dangles someone out of a window, Spider-Man decides he has to launch into action and for the first time he takes on what will become one of his key villains. The artwork in this particular panel is notably exciting and I think one of the main reasons Doctor Octopus keeps coming back.

Peter doesn’t really know what he’s walking into here and Doctor Octopus wallops him with the mechanical arms hard enough to make Spider-Man think twice. Even though Spider-Man manages to web up a couple of the mechanical arms, Dr. Octopus snaps the webbing. This already puts Octavius in a stronger category than any other villain Peter has faced.

I’m not sure if this was a mistake, or a joke, or what but at one point Dr. Octopus refers to Spider-Man as Super-Man. Octavius also says his power is the energy of an atom, born of a nuclear accident. Pretty strong claims here. Dr. Octopus gets the upper hand and essentially tosses Peter right out of the window he came through.

Now, it must be said that although this only the third issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, there have been times when Spider-Man has lost a battle before. The Fantastic Four were able to subdue him, and the Vulture made a pretty good run at Peter. But, I would still say this is the first time Spider-Man was defeated. Why do I say that? Because that’s what Peter himself thinks. And Spider-Man is only truly defeated when he is doubting himself. This is the lowest point we’ve seen him anywhere so far.

Although Spider-Man was defeated here, he did win a small battle. The people who were being kept prisoner escaped during the fight, causing Dr. Octopus to realize he needed to flee.

But Octavius has a new plan and he heads right for the US Atomic Research Center. Dr. Octopus wants to destroy part of the nuclear plant to demonstrate his power and he lowers the lead shielding which was keeping the radiation at bay.

The authorities realize they are up against incredible odds and post sentries to keep anyone from going in or out of the research center.

At home, Peter is feeling pretty down after his defeat. He also has to tell J.J.J. that he can’t get the pictures of Doctor Octopus. But all is not lost. The Governor asks the Fantastic Four for help. Most of them are away on a different mission but the Human Torch has been asked to try and help out. Unfortunately the Torch is flamed out because he’s, “used my flame so much recently, I have to wait a few days to let it get strong again!”

And so, I guess, everyone thinks the best use of the Human Torch’s time is to go do an assembly at Midtown High where Peter Parker happens to be in the audience. Johnny Storm does a few fire based tricks but nothing major. Then he gives a bit of an inspirational speech where he talks about how the Fantastic Four have been discouraged before but it’s important to never give up.

Peter really takes this to heart. I find this super interesting because one of my favorite things about Spider-Man is how he refuses to give up the fight even when the odds are hopeless. Turns out, we have one of his contemporaries, Johnny Storm to thank for that.

After the speech, Peter thanks the Torch for the moving words but Johnny doesn’t seem to think much of it.

So, of course, Peter gets right back in the game and heads back to face Dr. Octopus. He’s able to use his spidey-sense to evade all the traps and security Octavius has set up.

And then, Peter does something else I love about this character. He uses his brains before his muscles. Instead of taking Dr. Octopus head on, he first makes his way to the chem lab.

We don’t know right away what he’s doing but it’s clearly risky and Peter has a plan in mind. He next goes to find Dr. Octopus and we learn that the chemicals Peter was messing around with were a chemical compound he made that would fuse Dr. Octopus’ metal arms together.

There is quite the fight but ultimately, Spider-Man prevails. Peter then decides to find The Human Torch to let him know Dr. Octopus is all taken care of and cryptically thanks him for saving Spider-Man.

The issue ends with Peter back in school watching Johnny do a demonstration in the sky as Flash Thompson tries to get under Peter’s skin.

There is a pin up page in this issue and for everyone who had an issue and cut that page out, well, ouch because this issue has at least once sold for $144,000.

This issue is a landmark issue for both Peter Parker and Dr. Otto Octavius which sets up stories for literally decades to come. It helps that the good Dr. got a full comic book length story for his debut and it sure didn’t hurt that The Human Torch showed up to help sales out a bit.

Next time we’ll be seeing more exploits of the one and only Human Torch as we catch up with him in the pages of Strange Tales #109!

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Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Core Rulebook Chapter 1 Breakdown

Marvel Multiverse Role Playing Game Core Rulebook by Matt Forbeck

Hello Marvel fans and tabletop gamers! I have with me the Core Rulebook for the new TTRPG Marvel Multiverse Role Playing Game. I wanted to take a quick look at chapter one of the book. We’ll be going through chapter by chapter on this blog so if you want to, follow along. Some chapters I will take a much deeper look at than others but my goal here is to give you the basic information of what you need to know if you are considering playing this game. When the first adventure for the game comes out, I’ll review that as well.

(Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through this post I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you)

Chapter 1 – How to Play

Coming in at just five pages, this is one of the shortest chapters in the whole book. There is still plenty of information in the chapter but how relevant it is to you is going to depend on how experienced a TTRPG player you are. If you are an experienced player, most of this chapter is going to sound familiar and a lot of it can simply be skipped. If you are brand new to TTRPG’s you’ll definitely want to read the chapter but, to be honest, there are better sources out there that summarize what a TTRPG is and what is expected in that type of setting.

The essential things to know in the chapter are what you need to play, the ways to make your table a safe setting for everyone, and the house rules section.

All you need to play is the book, a group of friends, a set of 6 sided dice, character sheets and something to write with. It’s a pretty standard list for most TTRPG’s and it’s not too hard to come up with the materials so entry into this game is pretty easy.

The section about using safety tools for your TTRPG’s has some good advice in it which applies to basically all role playing games. What it gets down to is making sure everyone is on the same page with what kind of game you want to play, being considerate of everyone at the table, and making sure you have ways to make the game friendly and fun for all involved.

One thing they do recommend, and I strongly agree with, is having a session zero. If you’re not familiar with this concept, think of it as a session where you meet with your players to go over any ground rules, make characters, decide on what kind of game they are looking to play and making sure you as the Narrator don’t cross any lines that would make the game a traumatic experience for anyone.

There is also a list of recommended safety tools which are all very helpful. For a superhero game, these may be a little less necessary than in something like a dark horror game, but they are always good to have.

The book mentions that there are an infinite number of universes in the Marvel multiverse so your game is playing in your own unique version of that idea.

Finally, the chapter lets Narrators know they are free to change rules as they see fit at their table. This is also fairly standard in most TTRPG’s but it’s always nice to see the official rulebook acknowledge that players can make the game into their own, with the permission of the publisher. I’m sure there will be plenty of rules I’ll be homebrewing in the course of my game but I do try to stick to rules as written when I can.

In Conclusion

There’s really not a lot to go over in this chapter. If you are experienced with TTRPG’s feel free to sail right past this one. If this is your first game, read it but just remember this is a pretty short resource to get you started. In fact, some of the safety tools mentioned in this chapter have a larger, and in some cases better, breakdown of what a TTRPG really is and how to make sure everyone has a good time.

Next time, we’ll also be looking at a short chapter but there will be a lot more of a breakdown as we get into the core mechanics. In the meantime, if you are interested enough to buy the book, check out how to do that below. Otherwise, see you next time!

How to Buy the book

If you have read enough to realize this is a game you want to try out there are a few things you can do to get it. The different methods have some pros and cons so I’ll go into that a bit as well.

And, I’m not trying to make the hard sell here but if you want to help out this blog, buying through the links below goes a long way and it won’t cost you any extra.

  1. You can pick up a copy at your local friendly gaming store. The books should run around $50-60 bucks and not only do you get to support a local business, you get to walk away with a copy in your hot little hands that day, no muss, no fuss.
  2. You can buy a hardcover copy on Amazon for $53.99. This is a great way to get the core book, although it does come with a hefty price tag and of course you will need to wait for it to be shipped to you. If you want to help this blog out buy your copy here.
  3. You can get a copy for Roll20 for $49.99 on drivethrurpg. However, a couple of warnings here. First off, you’re not getting a physical version of the book this way. Also, you need to have an account on the Roll20 Virtual Table Top in order to access the content. (This is a free account and there’s a link in the purchase description on the Drivethrurpg site if you don’t already have one) Finally, and this is my biggest complaint about this purchase method, if you buy this through Drivethrurpg you are not getting a PDF of the book. As far as I can tell, there is no way to get a PDF of this book at this point. If you do want to buy this version and use it on Roll20 it’s a great option. And if you want to help this blog out you can buy your copy here.
  4. If you happen to have Marvel Unlimited, you can get the test version of the book by typing in Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game: Playtest Rulebook. This will be an earlier edition and some of the rules have changed but it’s got the basics.
  5. If you don’t have Marvel Unlimited and you are willing to shell out $10 to get the Playtest book, you can get it on Amazon. If you want to help out this blog buy it here. Again, it’s not the full current book but it does cover the basics and it gets you started at a much lower price point.

Special Bundles

If you are all in on the game and have cash to spare you could really go all out in a couple of ways.

  1. You could buy the Core Rulebook and pre-order the upcoming adventure module MARVEL MULTIVERSE ROLE PLAYING GAME: THE CATACLYSM OF KANG and the upcoming MARVEL MULTIVERSE ROLE PLAYING GAME: X-MEN EXPANSION books. Getting all three at once will run you around $135. If you’d like to help out this blog just make your purchase through one of the linked titles above.
  2. If you are already big time into Roll20 anyway, the best value through drivethrurpg is to get the Marvel Multiverse RPG Roll20 Mega Bundle. This will give you the core rulebook, a short module made for the Roll20 system called Revenge of the Super-Skrull, and the preoder for The Cataclysm of Kang. Just remember this is only for Roll20 and does not include PDF’s. To help out this blog, buy it here.
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Marvel 616 Review – Journey Into Mystery #93

Journey Into Mystery #93 Written by Stan Lee and Robert Bernstein Art by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers

It’s Thor vs the Radio-active Man! No, not the one you’re thinking of. In The Simpsons it’s Radioactive Man, not Radio-active Man. Totally different characters. Both do have the power of… radiation… though.

There’s a lot to unpack in this issue and, believe it or not, a dude walking around with radioactive powers is probably the least problematic thing in this issue.

For the most part, I absolutely love reading old Marvel comics. They seem to revel in the ridiculousness of super powered beings and they tend to be just trying out a lot of things to see what sticks to the wall. Some of it works, like a teenager with spider powers, and some of it works for a while, like a man in an asbestos suit fighting The Human Torch, but there is some of it that just doesn’t work at all.

The premise of this issue is Dr. Donald Blake is helping out in a skirmish between India and China by attending to the needs of the injured. And since he is also secretly Thor, he can help India win the skirmish which in turn helps America and slows down the threat of communism.

This would all be fine if not for a few things that can’t be denied about this issue. First, having Thor fight communists just seems out of step with what Thor can do. It’s essentially beneath him. To be fair, this was during the cold war and the threat of communism was on everyone’s mind so it makes sense from that context. But, it just seems silly looking at it all these years later.

More problematic is how both the Chinese and Indian people are portrayed in the issue. From the Chinese being constantly referred to as the “Red Chinese” or China as “Red China” to the fact that these characters are given a yellow skin coloring in the issue, it feels quite out of step and fairly racist. Compound this with the habit the writers here have of interchanging the words Indians and Hindus as one and the same, it certainly feels like this issue would never fly in modern times and for good reason. The issues from the 1960’s tend to consistently have this problem, along with a heavy dose of sexism sprinkled here and there. It’s unfortunate this shows up, but then again, those were different times. That doesn’t make it okay, it just makes it more understandable that it happened.

Aside from these issues, the story almost works. The Chinese army realizes Thor can basically beat their army if he chooses to so they ask their scientists to come up with someone who can take on Thor. There is a guy who has been secretly tinkering with radiation for years and has been “immunizing” himself to radiation slowly. Pretty sure that would just kill him but we’ll let that go for the issue. Anyway, he can infuse himself with an infinite amount of radiation which seems to make him bullet proof and no one can touch him because, you know, radiation is deadly. He goes to New York, declares he wants to fight Thor and waits for the god of thunder to show.

It takes a while because Dr. Blake is busy performing life saving surgery on someone. When Thor finally does show up, Radio-active Man is able to deflect Thor’s hammer and lightning bolts, and Thor can’t hit him because Radio-active man’s body would hit critical mass and kill everyone in the city.

As nuts as that all is, this guy seems to also be able to hypnotize Thor. Again because of… radiation? He makes Thor toss his hammer and it goes pretty far. Radio-active man goes to find the hammer but that takes long enough for Thor to turn back into an un-hypnotized Dr. Blake. Blake goes back to his office and Jane Foster thinks he’s cowardly because he’s ignoring the menace in the city. I don’t know what she thinks he can do though.

Anyway, Blake invents a device to help him find Mjolnir. Unfortunately for Blake, it’s eighty feet below in the waters of the Hudson river. He dives in and gets it just in time. Thor goes back to Radio-active man and makes a tornado that will carry the villain across the sea to “Red China.” Nevermind the fact that if he lands, the dude will blow up whoever is near him, including innocent civilians. Thor doesn’t seem to think that’s his problem. Radio-active man does end up in China and appears to blow up a mountain. Jane Foster is still pretty disappointed in Dr. Blake though.

Overall, this was not one of the best issues of Journey Into Mystery and it’s really one of the worst Thor stories so far. I’m sure it worked well enough at the time but looking back on it now, it’s totally skippable.

Next up on the reading list we’ll be taking a 180 and getting into one of the best origin stories in Marvel comics as we read about Otto Octavius in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #3!

Posted on by slickdungeon · 1 Comment

Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game Core Rulebook Review

Marvel Multiverse Role Playing Game Core Rulebook by Matt Forbeck

Hello Marvel fans! Hello tabletop gamers! If you’re like me these interests are not mutually exclusive and I’ve gotten my hot little hands on a copy of the Core Rulebook for the new Marvel Multiverse Roleplaying game by Matt Forbeck. I did a post about this book earlier where I compared the system to a few others you might want to play which you can read here. But now that I have had a chance to read and fully digest the book, I want to give a review of the content itself. In future posts I will go through the book chapter by chapter to let you know what parts I think are exceptionally good, which ones are tragically bad, and where I think improvements can be made for use at your home table. This post is just my overall impressions and initial takeaways. I’ll lightly touch on a few topics to let you know what I think but be on the look out for more in-depth content on this game in the future.

(Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through this post I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you)

First Impressions

On the first page of the book there is a dedication to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. To me, this is a nearly perfect dedication. If you could somehow throw George Lucas in there it would be the ultimate book for me. But it’s pretty darn close. If you’re a comic book nerd and a Dungeons & Dragons nerd, this book has you covered. And upon reading it’s also clear the book was made by someone who loves both Marvel comics and tabletop roleplaying games. It doesn’t feel like just fan service, although it’s obviously for fans of Marvel and D&D.

The book is well organized, giving chapters on everything from general advice for Game Masters to character creation to an extremely brief but helpful summary of the Marvel Multiverse. And, of course, it covers the basic rules of the game, including tons of cool powers and character sheets you can copy for use at home.

This being a Marvel book, I would be remiss not to talk about the artwork. It would have been easy for Marvel to phone this in with just a bit of old artwork and call it good. But they went the extra mile. There are some iconic images you’ll recognize from your favorite comics. And there is a ton of artwork in here, all dynamic and exciting, making it really easy to get in the mood to play a superhero game.

I should also mention there are a whole lot of premade characters you can use in your own game. Most TTRPGs give you five to ten characters that are ready to go but Marvel was smart about this. They knew if you were playing in a Marvel game, you might very well want to play one of your favorite superheroes (or villains). They did a lot of heavy lifting and you can find over a hundred Marvel characters to play, ranging from an A.I.M. Agent to Dormammu and beyond. One notable character missing is Silver Surfer but I guess you can’t win ’em all. You can also use several of these characters as NPC’s making it easy to find inspiration as a Game Master (in this case called a Narrator).

One thing I would say is lacking here is an introductory adventure. While having the rules laid out and tons of characters is awesome, it helps the Narrator to conceptualize how the game is played if there is at least one short adventure. There will be a full adventure coming out in November but it would have been nice to have something to start with. You can get an introductory adventure on Roll20 if you really want but it’s not a PDF and if you are like me and mostly play in person, that’s not a ton of help.

Say Hello to the D616 System

The system in this book can best be described as 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons converted into three six sided dice. There are a few more bells and whistles to it, and definitely some things targeted to working well with superheroes rather than fantasy characters. It does require a bit of math, both addition and multiplication, and it gets more complex in the higher Ranks (what you would think of as levels in D&D). However, the system is simple enough that anyone who has played a TTRPG will pick it up, and even if you haven’t, it shouldn’t take a great deal of time to learn.

There are some really fun mechanics in the system, especially when it comes to what they call the Marvel die. And the powers are a blast in the way they play around with the mechanics, allowing you to do everything from rolling your body up into a ball like Mr. Fantastic, swinging on webs like Spider-Man, or being tossed like Colossus tosses Wolverine in a fastball special.

I’ll be writing a lot more about the system in the weeks to come but overall, it’s great because it’s accessible, it’s quick to learn, and you need a minimal amount of materials to play it.

Future Potential for the Game

I’ve mentioned there is an adventure coming in November but there is also an X-Men expansion and a Spider-Verse expansion due out next year. To me this is a good signal because it means Marvel must think the game has some staying power. I hope this turns out to be the case, although Marvel does have some stiff competition in the TTRPG space, even from other superhero games.

I’m an advocate for more people to play TTRPG’s of any kind and I’m always looking for something that would be interesting to a large amount of people, be appropriate for most age groups, and lead them on to other games. Because of the sheer popularity of the Marvel name, and because you really do only need three six sided dice to play, I feel like this could be that game. Even if you’re not a Marvel fan, you’ve heard of it. And the rules are not so complicated it feels like homework rather than a game.

Most importantly, for a TTRPG to continually succeed, it needs new players. Well, a kid who is in a comic shop to buy the latest issue of Spider-Man and is somewhat curious about a table top role playing game but isn’t really into all that dragon stuff could do a lot worse than this book. In other words, I see this as having the potential to be a gateway TTRPG which expands the hobby.

For that to happen, people will need to buy, and play this game. I’m hoping we’ll see evolving editions, rules errata, and all of the usual stuff that goes with a big TTRPG here. The Core Rulebook is a good start but it will need some attention to flourish. This depends on Marvel as much as it does the community. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the future.

Experienced Game Masters Needed

While the book does have some sections on how to be a Narrator, this feels much more like a player’s guide than a Narrator’s guide. This means to effectively run the game, you’ll likely want at least one person in your group to be an experienced GM. This is further complicated by the fact there is not a starting adventure to show you the ropes.

It’s certainly not going to be impossible for someone to learn to GM from this book but it will be a much bigger learning curve than in some other games. There are some rules that seems contradictory or that could easily be abused by players. When those kinds of things crop up, it’s certainly better to have someone who has run a few TTRPGs before to handle it.

While I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from buying or playing the game, I do think having someone experienced at the table is going to make things easier.

Reasons Not to Buy the Book

This is not a game that is going to be for everyone. If you are not into superheroes, this isn’t for you. I’m not judging at all, everyone has their own taste, but if what you love is high fantasy, this game isn’t going to scratch that itch.

Also, if you’re a D&D rules purist who only wants to look back on the good old days and play some OSR style games, I suspect this will not be your cup of tea as it’s not as complicated as a lot of other systems.

There will definitely be things you may want to homebrew or make house rules for here if you do buy the book but it by no means needs a complete rules overhaul. I’ve seen a few people online already complain about the system and want to make a ton of changes without even having played the game. I say, if you’re going to do that, maybe try another system instead.

There are tons of TTRPG’s out there and if this one isn’t for you, just find one that is.

Reasons to Buy the Book

If you do love superheroes and you love TTRPG’s this should be right up your alley. You’re not limited to just existing Marvel characters either. You can make up your own whacky superhero or villain, give them your own Marvel style origin and twist and be off to the races playing as your character against someone like Dr. Doom.

If you haven’t played TTRPGs before and are looking to get into one, this might be the perfect book at the perfect time. While there is a lot of comic book history with Marvel, this game doesn’t have the same kind of version history as something like Dungeons & Dragons. You won’t find rules here that have been in existence for thirty years just because it was in the original version. And, as it’s a newer game, Marvel has a lot of support for it right now which should make it an easier entry point.

There will also be more to come so getting into the game now might be just a bit more fun as you can play yourself and then onboard people who you know might be interested. You don’t even need to convince them to buy all those oddly shaped dice you see everywhere.

How to Buy the book

If you have read enough to realize this is a game you want to try out there are a few things you can do to get it. The different methods have some pros and cons so I’ll go into that a bit as well.

And, I’m not trying to make the hard sell here but if you want to help out this blog, buying through the links below goes a long way and it won’t cost you any extra.

  1. You can pick up a copy at your local friendly gaming store. The books should run around $50-60 bucks and not only do you get to support a local business, you get to walk away with a copy in your hot little hands that day, no muss, no fuss.
  2. You can buy a hardcover copy on Amazon for $53.99. This is a great way to get the core book, although it does come with a hefty price tag and of course you will need to wait for it to be shipped to you. If you want to help this blog out buy your copy here.
  3. You can get a copy for Roll20 for $49.99 on drivethrurpg. However, a couple of warnings here. First off, you’re not getting a physical version of the book this way. Also, you need to have an account on the Roll20 Virtual Table Top in order to access the content. (This is a free account and there’s a link in the purchase description on the Drivethrurpg site if you don’t already have one) Finally, and this is my biggest complaint about this purchase method, if you buy this through Drivethrurpg you are not getting a PDF of the book. As far as I can tell, there is no way to get a PDF of this book at this point. If you do want to buy this version and use it on Roll20 it’s a great option. And if you want to help this blog out you can buy your copy here.
  4. If you happen to have Marvel Unlimited, you can get the test version of the book by typing in Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game: Playtest Rulebook. This will be an earlier edition and some of the rules have changed but it’s got the basics.
  5. If you don’t have Marvel Unlimited and you are willing to shell out $10 to get the Playtest book, you can get it on Amazon. If you want to help out this blog buy it here. Again, it’s not the full current book but it does cover the basics and it gets you started at a much lower price point.

Special Bundles

If you are all in on the game and have cash to spare you could really go all out here in a couple of ways.

  1. You could buy the Core Rulebook and pre-order the upcoming adventure module MARVEL MULTIVERSE ROLE PLAYING GAME: THE CATACLYSM OF KANG and the upcoming MARVEL MULTIVERSE ROLE PLAYING GAME: X-MEN EXPANSION books. Getting all three at once will run you around $135. If you’d like to help out this blog just make your purchase through one of the linked titles above.
  2. If you are already big time into Roll20 anyway, the best value through drivethrurpg is to get the Marvel Multiverse RPG Roll20 Mega Bundle. This will give you the core rulebook, a short module made for the Roll20 system called Revenge of the Super-Skrull, and the preoder for The Cataclysm of Kang. Just remember this is only for Roll20 and does not include PDF’s. To help out this blog, buy it here.

In Conclusion

Overall, I really think this book has potential and I want to see it succeed as a game. As with any game, there will be issues and there will be the need to make some changes here and there. But, if you want to have a good time with a superhero game. this seems like a fantastic success.

Next time I’ll dive into Chapter 1 of the book How to Play. Until then, have fun out there and make mine Marvel!

Posted on by slickdungeon · 1 Comment

Marvel 616 Review – Tales of Suspense #41

Tales of Suspense Issue 41 Written by Stan Lee, Robert Bernstein,

Nope, not that Doctor Strange! The forty-first issue of Tales of Suspense pits Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, against an evil villain named… Dr. Strange. But it’s not the master of the mystic arts you are thinking of. The Dr. Strange in this issue has a vague ability to control electricity, more from being smart (I think) than anything else.

The issue starts out with Tony on one of his many famous dates, at a charity auction dinner where he has just donated enough money to build a hospital for orphans. Tony’s date (who is never named in the issue) wants to know why he won’t settle down. In response, we get a bunch of flahsback style panels showing Tony working on various scientific projects. In essence, his answer is no wife would want to be married to such a busy guy. And, of course, he also thinks to himself about how he’s not telling her about what he does as Iron Man.

Not only does Tony offer to build a hospital, he also says he can get Iron Man to show up and perform for the kids at the hospital. We see a bunch of panels of Iron Man doing neat tricks with his resistors, juggling cars, catching canon balls and generally doing fun stuff the kids like.

But, as this is happening, a sinister evil we have never encountered before is watching. This is our evil Dr. Strange. This dude seems to be in jail for… reasons? And he was hit by lightning! To fool the guards this guy has been faking that he has fainting spells caused by the lightning that hit him. He can sort of control electricity, I guess. It didn’t seem real clear in the issue.

Anyway, this guy seems to be expecting Iron Man and is able to send out some kind of electrical signal that basically hypnotizes Tony. And soon, Iron Man is busting a bad guy out of prison. Interestingly, when cops and guards see Iron Man, they somehow instantly assume he’s under a spell of some sort, not just turned to the dark side.

We find out that Dr. Strange is essentially trying to take over the world to prove his love for his daughter. Of course, his daughter just wants like a decent person for a dad. Anyway, Dr. Strange demonstrates a bomb and says he’ll blow up the world if he doesn’t get to be ruler. The military tries to bomb the heck out of the guy but he’s got a force field so it’s no good.

Lucky for us, Iron Man is out of his spell. He’s able to figure out a plan to go after Dr. Strange. He gets onto a submarine and launches himself, as Iron man of course, through a torpedo tube at Dr. Strange’s compound. Turns out the force field didn’t go under water.

Iron Man breaks into the compound and there’s a bit of a tussle. Dr. Strange does whatever it is he is able to do to turn off electricity and figures that will kill Iron Man. He almost succeeds but Dr. Strange’s daughter passes Iron Man a flashlight which has some batteries in it. Apparently that’s enough to run the whole Iron Man suit.

And, of course, in the end Iron Man is victorious.

It will still be a couple months before we see the appearance of a Dr. Strange that actually matters but I wonder if the writers here were just testing out the name.

This story is not largely notable in the context of Marvel 616. It does however contrast how Iron Man is perceived by the public with someone like Peter Parker. Tony seems to have everything he could want, including an adoring public, except for a steady girlfriend. The most notable thing here is there is an appearance of J.F.K. and Nikita Kruschev for a very brief cameo.

Still, even though the bad guy’s powers are not well defined, and the story is kind of silly overall, it’s a fairly fun read. It is odd to read about someone called Dr. Strange and not have him be the character we know so well.

Next time we’ll be catching up with the golden haired god of thunder himself as we read about Thor in Journey Into Mystery #93!

Posted on by slickdungeon · 1 Comment

Marvel 616 Review – Tales to Astonish #43

Tales to Astonish Issue 43 Artwork by Don Heck, Written by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber

Tales to Astonish is full of short stories of all kinds of science fiction and fantasy. But no character in this comic was more popular than Henry (Hank) Pym, also known as Ant-Man. He was the leading story in Tales to Astonish virtually since his first appearance. And, not only that, even in the world of Marvel 616, Ant-Man is popular at this time.

This issue starts out with Ant-Man quietly trying to make his way home in a crowd. He gets trapped under a telegram and when the delivery boy who picks it up realizes Ant-Man is there, the crowd goes wild. People ask for Hank’s autograph and try to interview him for their magazines. Unlike heroes such as the Fantastic Four or Spider-Man who have a more complicated relationship with the public, Henry Pym is celebrated almost everywhere he goes. Eventually this will change, but for now, he, along with Tony Stark is one of the most popular heroes in the public eye.

The issue still does not place Ant-Man in New York, it refers to where he is living as Center City. Yet, from the backgrounds and the fact that most of the other heroes in 616 have already been placed in New York, it’s a safe assumption that this is really where Ant-Man is active.

After Hank makes his escape, we see where the telegram goes. It heads to an older gentleman named Elias Weems. His grandson is coming to visit him and as Weems is a scientist he’s excited to show his grandson where he works and all the science he does. But Weems is confronted with a horrible problem. Ageism. He’s 65 and apparently the company Weems works for has decided anyone that age or older is not capable of good ideas anymore so he’s fired. It would be nice if this was an issue we didn’t have to face anymore in the real world but there you have it.

As any smart scientist who is 65 years or older would do, Weems decides to make a ray which will accelerate the age of any living thing and get his revenge. He tests his ray on a sapling and it grows into a tree. Then he heads to the zoo to test it on larger animals. And it just so happens Henry Pym is there looking at elephants and thinking about being able to control them with his cybernetic helmet.

As Henry is lost in thought, the baby elephant grows up right before his eyes in a matter of moments. Weems then reverses the ray to make the elephant younger again. In his final experiment, Weems makes a woman turn older then turns her back to her rightful age. Why Weems didn’t just use his ray to make himself younger, I can’t tell ya.

Weems then dubs himself the Master of Time and writes a letter to the police telling them to give him rulership over the city or he’ll age everyone. Thankfully there are ants around the place to relay this message to our hero.

Ant-Man hops into his catapult and shoots himself towards an alley where a bunch of ants are ready to catch him. Hank then runs around town talking to scientists and discovers there was a scientist recently fired for being too old. Ant-Man rushes over to Weems’ house where he’s mad because the police didn’t answer his threat in the newspapers.

Before Ant-Man can do much, Weems uses his ray to make Henry older. Ant-Man asks why Weems didn’t just age him to death. Weems just wanted to slow Henry down but didn’t actually wish any harm upon him. The Master of Time is smart enough to know to take Ant-Man’s helmet so he can’t call the ants. But he doesn’t realize Pym can change back to normal size. Weems leaves the room and Hank sizes up and grabs his helmet, although he is still elderly.

Meanwhile, Weems goes to city hall to try and seek his vengeance. He is able to age up a few folks but he doesn’t know Ant-Man is in the crowd and can once again control ants. Before Weems gets too far, his grandson shows up and recognizes him. Weems realizes his grandson is now aging so he tries to reverse the ray but he drops it. Ant-Man gets his ants together to go and attack Weems but as he sees the ray drop, Henry commands the ants to catch the ray gun instead. Henry reverses the controls on the gun and de-ages everyone, including himself, as fast as he can.

Weems is arrested but in court, Ant-Man sticks up for him, saying Weems did everything because he was afraid of losing his grandson’s affection. Weems’ old employer also wises up and realizes this old guy was able to invent a pretty nifty ray so he hires Weems once more.

For once the story ends pretty happily and no one goes to prison. No one was really hurt and I guess we all learned not to discriminate against 65 year olds? Glad that got solved. But anyway, this was a kind of silly story but nice to see it end without the usual bad guy in jail but still a threat later kind of thing.

One of the more interesting things about this issue is this is one of the last stories where Ant-Man doesn’t have a partner. His whole dynamic is about to change, and not necessarily for the better.

Next time we’ll be checking in with the man in the armored suit as we read about Tony Stark in Tales of Suspense #41!