Sub-Mariner #14Issue(s): Sub-Mariner #14 Review/plot: He is under the control of the Mad Thinker, and this is all part of the master plot that the Thinker, the Puppet Master, and Egghead (they are referred to as the Evil Alliance in a footnote here, and for convenience i'm using that as their team name and the name of this unofficial crossover) are working on, although i can't see exactly how attacking Namor furthers their goals. While the Evil Alliance test their satellite, Namor frees the Torch from the Thinker's control. We get one of those sequences i love, where all the heroes get to react to the Alliance's shutting down of all power in the country. Namor and the Torch defeat the Thinker, but it turns out that the Torch in question is actually a grown up Toro. Toro and the Thinker seemingly die as Toro forces the Thinker's ship to crash. A fun continuation of the Evil Alliance crossover. Quality Rating: C Chronological Placement Considerations: The Evil Alliance still has control of their space station, and Hawkeye is still missing from the Avengers, placing this before Avengers #64. Takes place directly before Iron Man's appearance in Captain Marvel #14, which also deals with the Evil Alliance. References:
Crossover: Evil Alliance Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: Tales To Astonish #14 Inbound References (10): show 1969 / Box 5 / Silver Age CommentsThis issue caused numerous continuity headaches later on because of something it DIDN'T show. The Thinker nabs Toro after he leaves funeral services for the Golden Age Torch--but we don't actually see the services. Steve Englehart decided they were symbolic services and the Torch's body was left in the Thinker's lab where Ultron grabbed it; John Byrne decided it was a real ceremony and the Torch's body was buried in the graveyard, making the Vision constructed out of Torch "spare parts". Posted by: Mark Drummond | August 7, 2011 12:26 AM And what was the recon on AVENGERS FOREVER? That time travel mojo somehow split the Torch into two bodies while he was in the Thinker's lab? How does that cross with the Torch being found in a grave in AWC? Posted by: JP | May 13, 2015 1:34 AM Simple- one of the bodies was grabbed by Ultron, the other was used in the funeral. Posted by: Michael | May 13, 2015 7:43 AM How long was that body left in the lab before someone (WHO?) Went back and grabbed it for the funeral? Had to be a while, long enough for Utron to show up. Seems like the FF would have either recovered the body immediately or left it in its final resting place. Seems odd for them to wipe their hands and leave, and then decide a month later, "You know what? Let's go back and find him." And what was the specific time boo-boo responsible for the split again? Something Immortus related? I can't remember. Did Ultron grab a body, look down at the slab, and see another one still lying there? Posted by: JP | May 13, 2015 8:16 AM It was Immortus. Ultron busted into the Thinker's lab, demanded the Torch, grabbed him and fled. Then Immortus placed the second Torch back where the first one was, and the Thinker went in there and saw him still there. He was confused as to why Ultron would seemingly abandon the thing he broke in to take. Posted by: Thanos6 | May 13, 2015 8:27 AM So Ultron stole him BEFORE the Thinker reactivated him and sent him against the Fantastic Four? Posted by: JP | May 13, 2015 8:29 AM It changes Byrne's timeline of when the Ultron made his raid, though. Not that that matters. The whole situation involves so many writers peeing in each other's soup that it doesn't matter what anybody intended at any given time. Posted by: JP | May 13, 2015 8:35 AM Yeah; I haven't read Avengers Forever in a while, but I think it said that that was what gave the Thinker the idea in the first place. "You know, this reminds me, I DO have this Human Torch laying around. May as well use him for something, I guess." Posted by: Thanos6 | May 13, 2015 8:35 AM Byrne's retcon always had a pretty big howler in it as it was. It hinges on Phineas Horton sayignt hatt he Vision isn't his work, but that doesn't make sense if the Vision is made of spare parts from Horton's creation, the android Torch. Posted by: Omar Karindu | October 9, 2015 3:03 PM Did Byrne's story specifically say that those "spare parts" belonged to Horton? Posted by: JP | March 25, 2016 1:47 AM Yeah, he said that Ultron discovered "Horton's molds and chemicals". Posted by: Michael | March 25, 2016 7:30 AM The little flashback of Toro's postwar life reveals that he got married and gives us a glimpse of his wife; his widow, Ann Raymond, turns up as a supporting character in Byrne's West Coast Avengers. It's interesting just how little has been made of the fact that the Thinker effectively managed to kill a superhero in this story. Posted by: Omar Karindu | May 31, 2017 6:30 AM Comments are now closed. |
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