WOMEN OF MARVEL (in comics and behind the scenes) Appreciation 2019

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Storm representing Winter!

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Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 Dec 1984
"Invasion!"
Second appearance of Spider-Woman aka Julia Carpenter
With She-Hulk in danger at Doombase, the heroes gathered on Battleworld rush to her aid.
Their attack attracts the attention of the Enchantress who has been drinking since she thought Thor was
slain by Doom's minions, but sees that he is actually alive and well. However she is too drunk to join the fight.
Also hearing the commotion is Volcana who is still caring for the Molecule Man
after he was seriously wounded by Wolverine in an earlier battle. She refuses to leave his side.
While down below in the dungeon the deranged Klaw frees the Lizard from his cell.
Elsewhere still, the rest of the villains are still pounding on the She-Hulk when they hear the attack and rush off to stop it.

Before leaving, Doctor Octopus lands one more blow in the hopes of killing She-Hulk.
While in his quarters, Doctor Doom continues to try and recover after being
expelled from the Worldship of Galactus as his bodyguard Ultron guards the door.

The heroes are ambushed by the villains and during the fight Iron Man's armor is damaged by the Wrecker.
The Thing tries to tackle the Absorbing Man but suddenly reverts back to human form,

forcing Spider-Woman to come to his aid. While Thor ties up Doctor Octopus,

Pile Driver tries to square off against Hawkeye, but cowers away when the bowman manages to strike him with an arrow.
The Hulk comes crashing in on the Enchantress but is knocked out by her enchanted charms.
When she tries the same thing on Captain America, he resists her long enough to knock her out with his shield.
While Spider-Man squares off against Titania, Hawkeye and Ben Grimm run into Klaw and the Lizard and are concerned that they are outmatched.
Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Thor and Spider-Woman later locate Volcana and Molecule Man and try to attack.
Molecule Man responds by erecting an indestructible screen around them and Volcana unleashes large
fire blasts that fries Iron Man's armor, but Captain Marvel manages to pass through in her light form,
and the heroes cease their hostilities when they find out that Owen has been seriously injured.
While not far away, Spider-Man manages to get the best of Titania,
delivering her a humiliating defeat and knocking her out of the fortress.

Meanwhile, Captain America and the Human Torch are squaring off against Ultron.
Ultimately the Torch defeats the robot by unleashing his nova flame, overheating his circuits and rendering the killer robot inert.
Captain America then storms into Doom's quarters and seeing the state that Doctor Doom is in, considers Doom no threat and leaves.
With the battle over, Mister Fantastic and the others find Hawkeye and Ben Grimm playing patty-cake, thanks to the limited intellect of their foes.
Soon She-Hulk is found and is placed in the medical bay along with the defeated members of the Wrecking Crew, while the rest of the villains are locked up.
While back in the alien village, Colossus rushes the unconscious Zsaji to her room.
There he finds the bottle of mind melding gas and uses it to learn what ails her.
He discovers that the constant use of her powers to heal the various heroes have taxed her system and threaten to kill her.
Colossus then professes his love to Zsaji.
Elsewhere, Hawkeye and Captain Marvel return to discover that Zsaji pushed her powers to the limit so she could revive the Wasp.
While from their look out, the members of the X-Men notice that Galactus is getting dangerously close to completing his world devouring device.

Back at Doombase, Iron Man is impressed that Mister Fantastic seems unsurprised that an African-American is wearing the Iron Man armor.
While elsewhere Spider-Man notices that Thor got a new helmet and cape.
When Hulk tells Spider-Man that there is a device that creates costumes by thought,
he goes to check it out for himself since his own uniform is in tatters.
Finding what he believes to be the machine the Hulk was talking about,
Spider-Man thinks into it and a strange black ball comes out and lands in his hand.
Spider-Man is surprised when the blackness begins to spread up his arm and envelops his body in a new black and white costume.
As Spider-Man begins to wonder why it doesn't look like his old costume suddenly the ground begins to quake.
This is followed by a telepathic distress from Professor Xavier warning the heroes that Galactus is about to consume Battleworld.

NOTE: First in continuity appearance of Spider-Man's black costume.
This costume turns out to be an alien symbiote that will later bond with Eddie Brock and become the tenacious Spidey villain known as Venom.

Story by Jim Shooter. Art by Mike Zeck, John Beatty, Jack Abel and Mike Esposito.

[Electricmastro]

From Spidey Super Stories #11 (August, 1975). Art by Win Mortimer.

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Top 10 Super Powers You Never Knew Storm Had

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Alpha Flight #17 Dec 1984
"Dreams Die Hard...!"
Guest-starring Wolverine and the X-Men (in a flashback). Includes an 8-page excerpt from Uncanny X-Men #109.
At the hospital, Logan and Heather reminisce about their past

and about how Wolverine defected to the X-Men,

forcing Mac to hunt him down as Weapon Alpha.
Judd soon arrives and meets Logan for the first time, though the two start off with
a mutual respect for their similar reputations as soldiers and adventurers.
They come to the subject of keeping Alpha Flight going after Mac's death and who should lead them.
Logan pre-emptively declines, but Judd says he had someone else in mind anyway.
Puck offers the role to Heather, who has been with the project from the start and had been the invisible glue holding the team together.

She's taken aback, but to fight for her own future as well as her husband's dream, Heather accepts.

Story by John Byrne and Chris Claremont (dialogue on pages 8-11 & 13-16). Art by John Byrne and Terry Austin (inks on pages 8-11 & 13-16).

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New Mutants #22 Dec 1984
Xavier's "private journal" notes, featuring
Wolfsbane

Mirage

Magma

Script by Chris Claremont, art by Bill Sienkiewicz

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Uncanny X-Men #188 Dec 1984
"Legacy of the Lost!"
Following their supposed victory against the Dire Wraiths, the X-Men and Forge find
themselves besieged by a manifestation of Shadowbeings that threaten to swallow them up.
As they struggle to free themselves from being assimilated, Storm uses the gun that
Forge gave her to shoot off his mechanical leg so he can get away and find some help.
As Forge calls out to Nazé, he is unaware that his tribe's shaman has been replaced by
a Dire Wraith who now is casting an evil spell in the inner sanctum of Forge's penthouse.
The Wraith-Nazé calls for a mystical being to aid the Dire Wraiths and offers the entire Earth in exchange.
This powerful nether being scans "Nazé's" body and learns the truth and mystically
strikes him down dead, finding that killing this pretender suits his purposes better.

Meanwhile, just above the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, Amanda Sefton is working her job as
an airplane stewardess when suddenly Nightcrawler appears and teleports her away onto the Blackbird.
He explains to her the X-Men's dilemma that the X-Men need her aid.
They quickly teleport into Forge's Eagles Nest and Amanda goes to work.
With one mystical blast she frees the X-Men but fails to destroy the Shadowbeings.
Rogue transforms into a Dire Wraith due to her mutant absorbing powers and battles with Colossus.
Just then, Colossus's sister Magik appears and uses her Soul Sword to change Rogue back to normal
while Amanda unleashes her full power to mystically snare the Shadowbeings so
that Illyana can destroy them with her Soul Sword. However, they prove too powerful.

Realizing that a Wraith must still be alive, Storm remembers the one she locked up on the roof.
Forge and Nightcrawler teleport there and Forge finds and terminates the last Wraith, ending the threat of the Shadowbeings inside.

With the X-Men recovering from the battle,

Forge goes looking for Nazé and finds what he believes to be his old friend’s unconscious body.
Storm enters the room and tells him that the X-Men are leaving. Forge tries to stop her but she threatens to shoot him.

She tells him that he should not worry, as they will meet again. However she tells him he might regret it, and she leaves.

Meanwhile, out in deep sea near the Bermuda Triangle, Lee Forester's fish
crew is at work when they spot a man in the water being attacked by sharks.
Lee manages to fend the creatures off with a rifle and pull the man aboard the ship.
Getting a better look at the man she saved, she is shocked to see that it is Magneto.
The master of magnetism remembers her from their previous encounter and tells her that he is indebted to her.

While at the X-Mansion, Storm and the other X-Men have returned to the mansion from Dallas.
Storm is coming out of the pool after a swim and is met by Nightcrawler.
Kurt comes to tell her that the Professor has called a meeting for the X-Men.
Storm tells Kurt that since she is no longer a mutant she doesn't feel like she is part of the X-Men and declines to join.
However Kurt manages to convince her to join.

As the X-Men are having their meeting, outside Rachel, Illyana and Sunspot try to listen in to what's going on.
The Professor detects their presence and tells his young students to go to bed.
Rachel declines to accompany the younger students and decides to stay up a while longer.
Inside the Professor's study, the X-Men vent their frustrations over the United States government being responsible for stripping
Storm of her powers and discuss what they should do about the coming Mutant Control Act that is being pushed through Congress.

Nightcrawler airs his frustrations about the current state of human and mutant affairs
and points out that anti-mutant sentiments were the reason Jean Grey died.
Hearing this from outside, Rachel lashes out telepathically, not willing to
believe that her mother had died years before she was born in the future.
The Professor manages to calm her down and Rachel explains the
story about her past, which may or may not be the X-Men's future.
She explains how when she was a young girl, anti-mutant forces gunned down most of
the students and blew up the mansion and that she witnessed Charles Xavier being shot herself.
How as an adult she was locked in a concentration camp for mutants and how the X-Men tried to save their future
while Kate Pryde was sent back in time to prevent their future from happening and how all the X-Men had died.

This vision from the future shocks all of the X-Men and the Professor is the most visibly shaken of them all.
Rachel explains that when the X-Men failed to stop the Sentinels in her time she
attempted to travel back in time, but found herself in a past that she does not remember.
She pleads to Nightcrawler not to give up their struggle and to continue to fight for human mutant peace.
Nightcrawler takes this to heart and agrees to keep on fighting.

At a New York shipping yard, a man named Jaime Rodriguez is hard at work hauling
crates of fish when one crate accidentally falls to the ground and breaks open.
Examining the spilled fish he notices that one of them has a strange golden amulet stuffed inside it.
Removing it, Rodriquez marvels at how much money he could get selling it when the amulet
suddenly speaks, telling him that if he dons the amulet he will have the power to rule the world.

Story by Chris Claremont. Art by John Romita, Jr. and Dan Green.

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Top 10 Super Powers You Never Knew Shadowcat Had

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Star Wars Comics: The Saga You Don't Know About - Behind the Panel

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X-Factor #48 Dec 1989
Judgement War Part 5 of 7 "Common Ground!"
Continued from last issue... The Rejects and Chosen have come to meet on the common ground for one of their many prisoner exchanges.
The Rejects have come bearing Marvel Girl whom they have had subdued since her Madelyne Pryor personality has taken full control.

When the Chosen order MG released, they are surprised to find that the woman has great power

and once more subdue her. The Rejects ask to exchange Jean for both Archangel and the warrior Agrom.
Rask, needing Archangel for his arena battle against Iceman refuses the winged mutant but agrees to turn over the Reject known as Agrom.
Rask, having never seen MG before, begins to wonder where she might have come from.

While in the Chosen's city, a scientist goes to check on Princess Seera so that she can accept Rask's offer of alliance.
She awakens and uses her jamming powers to knock him out and makes a break for it, jamming the minds of all opposition.
When her once loyal robot Zee-Zee attempts to raise the alarm, Seera flees, unable to bring herself to destroy her life long minder.
While outside the city, Cyclops and a team of the Beginagains approach an entrance into the city
when Dykon notices that yet another one of the Celestials has arrived on the planet's surface outside
the Chosen's city and they all begin to believe that the final judgement of their world is coming soon.

Having jammed the guard who holds the prisons, Seera steals the keys
and uses them to access the room where Archangel is being held prisoner.
She tells Archangel that his friend Iceman and young Christopher are also in the city, and they also free Agrom and try to escape.
However, Lord Rask comes upon them and he easily subdues Agrom. When Archangel tries to fly away with Seera,
Rask uses his powers to destroy Zee-Zee causing Seera to slow Warren up enough for them both to be captured.
As they are being taken away, Rask suggests to Lord Palik that an example must be
made with Seera otherwise they will undermine the very foundations of their society.
He suggests that Seera should be put in the middle of the arena battle between Archangel and Iceman
and that should the Iceman win she will be put to death. If Archangel wins then she will live.
Palik agrees to the terms and comes to realize that Rask is attempting to buy his way to the
highest position among the Chosen and begins contemplating a plan to stop this from happening.

When Agrom is returned to the Rejects there is a giant party among their numbers.
Beast uses this as a means to escape when his guard becomes drunk from the celebration and knocks him out.
Stealing the key, he breaks out of his cell and tries to make an escape when he is stopped by Agrom.
When Agrom hears that the Beast is a friend of Archangel, he lets Beast go
and tells Zharkah that Beast isn't a Chosen spy but a visitor from another world.
While back in the city of the Chosen, the scientists all wonder where young Christopher has come from and after scanning the boy
and Marvel Girl's DNA they begin to wonder if Archangel's assertions that he was among people from another world may be true.
They allow the Madelyne Pryor possessed MG to approach her child, but they are shocked when
young Christopher displays his mutant powers and rejects his "mother's" attempt at affection.

While outside, Iceman and Lev prepare for the battle, knowing that the Chosen's
opinions on Duelers would change should Bobby win the bout against Iceman.
The two then take note that there are now more Celestials standing over the city now.

At the Reject's camp, Beast finally explains the truth about his origins to Zharkah and she accepts the tale with Agrom substantiating it
and she agrees to help him in freeing his friends that within the Chosen's city and bring their decadent civilization crashing down.
While out in deep space, Ship manages to break free from the tractor-beam that has kept it locked in space.
As it witnesses many more Celestials are descending down on the alien world, the sentient ship decides that it must
go down to the planet itself and try to save X-Factor from the possibility of destruction at the hands of its own creators.

Story by Louise Simonson. Art by Paul Smith and Al Milgrom.

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X-Factor #49 Dec 1989
Judgement War Part 6 of 7 "Power Struggle!"
Continued from last issue... Lord Rask offers Princess Seera one final chance at accepting his offer of an alliance.
However the defiant princess refuses and attempts to use her jamming powers on him,
but the power dampeners that she is hooked into cause feedback that puts her in a catatonic state
and Rask orders her to be placed in the arena to determine if she lives or dies,
depending on the outcome of the battle between Archangel and Iceman.
As more Celestials begin to descend to the planets surface, the people of the Chosen enter the arena uneasily for the coming bout.
After Lev collects bets among the Duelers, she goes to see Iceman before the big fight, and wishes him luck in the battle,
telling him that his victory will have an impact on the Chosen's opinions on Duelers. He surprises Lev by giving her a kiss.

While deep below the city in the sewers, Beast leads a group of Rejects on a mission to not only save his friends who are among the Chosen,
but to also shut down their power supply so that the Rejects can invade their city and bring their decadent society crashing down.
When they go to the surface with the intention of jumping some of the Chosen and stealing their clothing, Beast is surprised to find
that the people they jump are none other than Cyclops and the band of Beginagains that have rallied with him on the same cause.

While elsewhere in the city, Lord Palik has Archangel brought before him.
Not wishing Warren to win the arena battle for it would give Lord Rask the financial wealth to take over the Chosen,
he uses his powers to partially blind Archangel hoping that this will give Iceman the edge he needs to kill Warren in the arena.
Unknown to both, a size changing Dueler had been spying on the situation the whole time,
planted by Lev to insure that Archangel wasn't enhanced before the battle.
He tells Lev this and that Iceman and Archangel both come from another world.
This comes too late as Iceman goes into the arena to face Archangel.
As Warren tries to get Iceman to remember who he is, Lev wonders what to do about the situation.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Apocalypse is monitoring the world from his secret hideout in the Himalayan mountains and has taken note of the fact that
the world's super-villains have taken up unforeseen alliances and battling irregular foes and begins to suspect that some force is using them as pawns.

Back on the alien world, with the gathered Rejects and Beginagains agreeing to work together they split up into two groups:
Beast and the Rejects will go to disrupt the arena and collect Iceman and Archangel,
while Scott and the Beginagains cut the power in the city and rescue Marvel Girl and Christopher.

While in space above the planet, X-Factor's ship watches as the last of the Celestials descend on the planet below

and it decides that now is the time to travel down to the planet and try what it can to protect it's friends from destruction.

While in the Arena, the battle rages on while Seera tries to talk sense into Lord Rask and Palik,
Archangel's attempts to convince Iceman of who he really is fails to work.
Just then, the ground begins to quake and the group of Beginagains and Rejects led by Beast burst through the ground and join the battle.
This interruption causes all the bets to go forfeit and end up going to the science council, financially ruining Lord Rask.
He goes down to the arena and attempts to kill Seera to at least get that satisfaction, but instead gets knocked off the platform by Lev.

Removing the power restraints from Seera, Lev convinces the princess to use her jamming powers to restore Iceman's memories.

Unsure if she can do it, Seera surprises herself when she proves able to do so.
With Bobby's memories restored, the battle ends and the combined members of X-Factor, the Rejects
and Beginagains turn their attention to Lord Rask who is just then ordering the Chosen guards to destroy them all.

While back on Earth, Apocalypse's findings link all the super-villain activity to one man
who appears to be a servant but is really the mastermind behind the while ordeal.
Realizing that his true nature has been divined by Apocalypse, this man appears
before the eternal mutant and offers him a position in his Acts of Vengeance conspiracy.

Story by Louise Simonson. Art by Paul Smith and Al Milgrom.

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X-Men Unlimited #7 Dec 1994
"Memories"
Storm, Marvel Girl and Gambit travel to Cairo so Storm can have one final visit with her dying mentor, Achmed El-Gibar.
While there, they meet some of Achmed’s current protégés, as well as members of the Street Urchins, Jamil and Karima.
Achmed worries that Jamil may be traveling a dark path,

and as his dying wish, asks Storm to ensure Jamil follows a righteous destiny.
Also vying for the loyalty of Jamil is Candra of the Externals and her servant Bond.
They succeed in seducing Jamil to their side, and also capturing the young thief Karima.
Storm, making due on her promise, challenges Candra to a duel.
Candra agrees, and the women battle. While they are equally matched in terms of power,

Storm manages to use her street experience as an advantage, and sucker-punches Candra, winning the duel.
Jamil, however, decides he wants to go with Candra anyway, and leaves with his new mistress.
Storm and the X-Men return to Achmed with Karima.
Achmed assures Storm that by rescuing Karima, she has succeeded in her mission.
As Achmed dies, he indicates that Karima will be the new leader of his gang of the Street Urchins.

Script by Howard Mackie, pencils by John Romita, Jr., inks by Joe Rubinstein