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Marvel Comics Presents #97 (Bar)Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #97 (Bar With No Name story only) Review/plot: It starts with everyone just hanging out. ![]() ![]() But trouble starts when it seems like Ringmaster is trying to cheat at cards. ![]() That kicks off a bar-wide fight. ![]() ![]() Rocket Racer has been hanging around the bar waiting for an opportunity like this to nab some easy bounties, but it doesn't work out for him. ![]() Angar the Screamer is working as the bar's bouncer, so he's able to shut the fight down. ![]() And as for who really caused all the trouble: ![]() Fun stuff! Quality Rating: B Historical Significance Rating: 1 Chronological Placement Considerations: A lot of villains to keep track of in this story. As noted in the comments, Cyclone is among the villains appearing here. He was killed in Captain America #319 (Jul 86). Fans on various web pages have suggested that this is therefore the second Cyclone before his official published debut in Silver Sable & the Wild Pack #21, despite that Cyclone having a totally different look. Additionally, Chondu of the Headsmen appears in a panel with his monster body, which was removed in She-Hulk #2-3 (Jun-Jul 89). So this story definitely should be pushed back prior to that. And if i'm going to push this back in publication time, i might as well go far enough back so that it can be the original Cyclone. The biggest problem i see with pushing this back beyond the death of the original Cyclone is Rocket Racer, who is here collecting bounties/rewards. That isn't something that we see him do prior to meeting Silver Sable (Web of Spider-Man #50, May 89). That isn't to say that he couldn't have tried collecting bounties on his own prior to that, though. This could have been a failed attempt at making ends meet prior to deciding to go to school. It's worth noting that this places Cobra and Princess Python here during an interesting moment for the original Serpent Society. Princess Python wasn't with the Circus of Crime; she had just quit the Serpent Society after not wanting to get into a fight with MODOK in Captain America #313. I actually like seeing Princess Python meeting Ringmaster at the bar here, like she's catching up with an old friend. But as Kveto notes in the comments, she'll be taken prisoner by the Serpent Society in Captain America #315. So you might even say that Cobra is here staking her out in preparation for that capture. References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A
Commentsfnord, gasp! that's the Impossible man! Shock and dismay! Posted by: kveto | December 2, 2015 3:36 PM Don Hudson's inks, which look more like finishes than mere inks, really change Bagley's penciles. And Scholly Fisch is a helluva writer; I wish he'd get an ongoing title, but he's always been relegated to backup features and licensing tie-in books. (Though one wonders if that's not more lucrative.) Posted by: Omar Karindu | December 3, 2015 11:00 AM These types of things, while fun in concept, invariably find a way to irritate me, mainly because they homogenize all villains regardless of their individual natures and motivations. There always seems to be somebody in the scene who just doesn't belong there as if all villains go to the same bad guy high school. Not only is it reductive to the stature of some of these villains but it also ends up feeling pretty Saturday morning. Posted by: JP | December 12, 2015 5:03 PM Very fair point, @JP. I think DC frustrates me a bit more in that regard, having villainous organizations that include environmental activists, cat-burglars and genocidal psychopaths. But Marvel definitely isn't exempt, and i agree that the flattening of "good" and "evil" in the service of cheap plot-movement is an annoyance... and also often contradictory, as some people who have undoubtedly committed worse atrocities than Stilt-Man somehow get summoned in "hero" round-ups. Posted by: cullen | December 12, 2015 7:43 PM Oh, but how can you go wrong when Gorilla Man has a plan that involves the S&L Crisis? Posted by: Erik Beck | February 15, 2016 8:19 AM FNORD - Wiki lists the second Cyclone as appearing in this issue - Gregory Stevens - for the first time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_(Marvel_Comics)#Andr.C3.A9_Gerard "Cyclone Publication information
First appearance Created by In-story information
Species Team affiliations Abilities The second Cyclone appeared in Marvel Comics Presents #97/4 (December 1992). Gregory Stevens acquired the Cyclone costume. At the "Bar with No Name," Cyclone participated in a bar fight initiated by the Impossible Man posing as the Ace of Spades in a poker game.[9] He later assisted various agents of Justin Hammer (consisting of Afterburner, Beetle, Blacklash, a substitute Blizard, Boomerang and Spymaster) in attacking Silver Sable and her Wild Pack.[10] Cyclone used his cyclone-producing gloves to throw rubble at Silver Sable's group. Cyclone and Beetle retreated when Larry Arnold started shooting at them.[11] Never saying a word in all of his appearances, Stevens was reported killed in a skiing accident.[12]" Posted by: clyde | June 15, 2017 8:30 PM Clyde, i don't see anyone in a Cyclone costume in that story, and everyone i do see has been accounted for. Maybe whoever made that Wiki entry confused him with Whirlwind? Posted by: fnord12 | June 28, 2017 9:19 PM He's in that second image from the bottom. Next to the biggest "A". Posted by: Andrew Burke | December 2, 2017 4:37 PM Going back to JP's and Cullen's comments, I'd prefer if the Bars With No Name were used only by a certain kind of criminal element. It exists for easy networking and find new capers and jobs to pull. It is not a place the Headmen would hang out. And I think Batroc both has too much class and international intrigue going on that he would hang out with common criminals. There are different kinds of villains, and they shouldn't be mixed without thought. Posted by: Chris | December 2, 2017 6:42 PM Added Cyclone. Thanks Andrew and Clyde. Posted by: fnord12 | December 4, 2017 2:46 PM That Cyclone appearance is stupid. He looks nothing like the one in Silver Sable, and in fact in that issue he's said to be debutting. Of course the original is supposed to be dead, killed by Scourge, so the one in this story can't be him, but still I believe he was intended to be the original, and the creators just forgot his death. I mean yeah the best solution, since a second (albeit completely different) Cyclone conveniently appear later, is to just say that this is him, so I guess what really aggravates me is how Wikipedia and Marvel Wiki and other sites just give info on characters expecting us to take them for granted like that. No, they should have mentioned that the second one was created for Silver Sable and retroactively made an appearance here! (btw this is one of the reasons why I love this site, you always give every information explaining why you count characters appearing and all the considerations for chronological placement, unlike other such sites). Posted by: KombatGod | December 24, 2017 2:17 PM Wait, now I'm starting to think, what if we wanted to say that this is the original Cyclone? That this is the original incarnation of the Bar With no Name, before the Scourge attack, could it be possible? It's probably not worth the headache, but I mean, all these villain appearances seem context free to me, so it might just work... Posted by: KombatGod | December 24, 2017 2:22 PM Another problem- why is Chondu back on his monstrous body? His last appearances in She-Hulk 3 and Spider-Man involved him trying to find a body and his next appearances in Defenders and Heroes for Hire involve him trying to find a body. Posted by: Michael | December 24, 2017 2:37 PM The Chondu situation definitely needed to be addressed, so i took KombatGod's suggestion and moved this back prior to the death of the original Cyclone. See my updated Considerations. This doesn't seem to have caused any conflicts for other characters. Posted by: fnord12 | January 4, 2018 11:10 AM I know this is a comedy issue so we shouldn't worry about it but Princess Python appears in the next issue you have placed chronologically,cap 318, as an unconcious prisoner of Death Adder after Sidewinder mind-wiped her circa 315. Doesn't make much sense for her to appear here between cap 315 and 318. Posted by: kveto | April 22, 2018 3:27 PM Thanks kveto. I've pushed this even further back in publication time and updated the notes in the Considerations. Posted by: fnord12 | April 23, 2018 12:07 PM Comments are now closed. |
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