Post by dlw66 on Oct 28, 2006 16:23:18 GMT -5
I have wanted to do this “Know the Classics” (thanks to boredyesterday, who started these little synopses last year and continues the tradition today!!) for several months. I first bought the Avengers DVD-ROM in June, and then followed it up with the FF DVD-ROM in August. As I have spent most of my time on the FF disc these past months, feelings toward the love triangle of Johnny Storm, Crystal, and Quicksilver have resurfaced. I came to Avengers #127/FF #150 as a kid, buying them from the newsstand. At about the same time, I was in possession of several issues of Marvel’s Greatest Comics, which reprinted the classic Lee/Kirby FF series. Many of those issues contained Crystal, and it was obvious the youthful love she shared with the Human Torch. Imagine my consternation then when she ended up marrying Pietro! Even as a longtime Avengers fan, this made no sense to my pre-adolescent mind, and it still doesn’t 30 years later!! I would love a sit-down with Roy Thomas, who, as you look through the creative credits in the issues that follow, seems to have been the one responsible for the change. Take a walk through several years of Marvel history, and feel free to make your own reminiscences and comments after!!
FF 45: Dec. 1965. First appearance of Crystal; the Inhumans (notably Gorgon) appeared in the previous issue. Art by Jack Kirby/Joe Sinnott, story by Stan Lee (unless otherwise noted).
FF 46: Jan. 1966. Crystal professes that she doesn’t want to be separated from Johnny, “ever”.
FF 47, 48: Feb.-Mar. 1966. Crystal and Johnny become near-inseparable as the FF have to leave the Great Refuge – Stan Lee teen angst in the Spidey tradition!!
FF 61: Apr. 1967. After freeing Attilan from its dome-prison, the Inhumans allow Crystal to leave in search of Johnny, with Lockjaw as her “chaperone”.
FF 81: Dec. 1968. Crystal debuts in an FF costume, declaring that with Sue’s pregnancy, “someone has to take her place”.
FF 95: Feb. 1970. Medusa comes to take Crystal back among her people. Johnny protests loudly, to no avail.
FF 99: June 1970. Johnny storms the Great Refuge; Crystal calls him a fool, then chastises him for his behavior – she says something to the effect that love requires trust and understanding. She was needed to help heal Black Bolt in an illness. Crystal leaves with the FF.
FF 105: Dec. 1970. Crystal falls ill and Lockjaw comes to take her back home to the Inhumans. It will later be determined that the contaminants in the Western world are bothering Crystal’s immune system and she has to remain sheltered in Attilan. Art by John Romita/John Verpoorten, story by Lee.
FF 117-118: Dec. 1971-Jan. 1972. Crystal is kidnapped and brainwashed by Diablo; she believes herself a goddess over a Central American nation; at the conclusion Johnny tells her that Maximus has usurped power in the Great Refuge, necessitating her departure yet again. Art by John Buscema/Sinnott, story by Archie Goodwin.
Avengers 103-104: Sept.-Oct. 1972. Two-part story with the team (Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Vision, and Quicksilver, with an appearance by Rick Jones) versus the Sentinels. Quicksilver is on a mission to find a Sentinel stronghold in hopes that it will help him find the kidnapped Scarlet Witch. As Quicksilver, encountering and commandeering Larry Trask, gets closer, the remaining Avengers follow. They encounter the Sentinels in Australia and engage them. Trask discusses his mutant power is to see the future, and it is a future that is not bright for the Avengers. In #104, Quicksilver battles a Sentinel alone, and destroys it. On page 19 he is faced with a glow and yells, “What’s that glow… something… appearing in front of me… something huge, horrible! What is it! What?” Art by Rich Buckler/Sinnott, story by Roy Thomas (NOTE: Buckler’s art here is much more akin to Neal Adams than to the “Kirbyish” art he would display at approximately the same time in the pages of Fantastic Four).
FF 130: Jan. 1973. Johnny flies to the Great Refuge to reclaim Crystal. In a cryptic scene, Crystal says, “…I prayed I’d never see you again… I’ll stand aside… so you can see more clearly.” Art by J. Buscema/Sinnott, story by Thomas.
FF 131: Feb. 1973. As alluded to in the previous issue, something here ain’t right! We find, as Crystal steps aside (NOTE: Buscema drew here in her FF uniform, which was strange since she’d not been with that team for some time. Andru draws her here in her more common yellow outfit), that the look of horror on Johnny’s face as we left him is due in large part to the fact that Crystal has been attending to an injured Quicksilver. When Quicksilver says that she owes the Torch no explanation, and then refers to her as “Darling”, that pretty much seals the battle royale that comes next… Crystal does explain, in detail, how she and Lockjaw became lost inter-dimensionally and ended up at the very moment Quicksilver had become injured in battle with the Sentinels. As Pietro passed out, Crystal and Lockjaw teleported him to the Great Refuge. The story ends with the Torch and Quicksilver united against Omega, who has grabbed Crystal. Art by Ross Andru/Sinnott, story by Thomas.
FF 132: Mar. 1973. The Torch and Quicksilver unite to aid Crystal in a story that is really about racism between the Inhumans and the Alpha Primitives. The story is also significant, as Medusa replaces Sue in the FF and Johnny takes on a red uniform, reminiscent of the Original Human Torch. Crystal tells Johnny at the end of the story that she is staying with Pietro; Johnny remarks that he “never thought she wouldn’t.” Art by J. Buscema/Sinnott, story by Thomas.
Avengers 110: Apr. 1973. Quicksilver makes his first appearance in the Avengers since he disappeared in issue #104. He appears on a visi-screen, arm-in-arm with Crystal. He tells how he was rescued and nursed back to health by “this girl, Crystal of the Inhumans.” After Wanda tells him how happy she is, she tells that she and the Vision have declared their love for each other. Quicksilver then erupts in anger and tells Wanda that he will never speak to her again, as long as she loves “that thing”. Art by Don Heck/Frank Giacoia/Mike Esposito, story by Steve Englehart.
Avengers 127: Sept. 1974. Gorgon appears at the Avengers’ dinner table to invite them to the wedding of Quicksilver and Crystal, which takes the team (Thor, Iron Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Mantis, Swordsman) by surprise. Gorgon picks up on this immediately and gets a little peeved. He calls Pietro an “arrogant, posturing fool” and later states, “I’ve endured a great deal from Quicksilver for my cousin’s sake – endured it for many months.” Mantis tries to make peace, Wanda snipes at her for being a guest of the team for the Swordsman’s sake (in no small part due to Mantis’ romantic overtures toward the Vision), and states that the team will accompany Gorgon to attend the wedding. After arriving in the Great Refuge, the team participates in a carnival atmosphere in celebration of the royal nuptials. However, Maximus lurks in the shadows and begins to manipulate the Avengers, playing on the racism that exists between the Inhumans and the Alpha Primitives (see FF #131-132). Crystal asks Pietro to reconcile with Wanda before the wedding; he refuses, but is forced to confront her anyway when she enters the room – he says, “You may think it civilized to consort with a machine, but I do not!” Shortly after, Crystal is kidnapped by the Alpha Primitive construct Omega. The Avengers, FF, and Inhumans seek her return, and eventually Omega comes back and reveals himself (in one of the top 10 villain entrances of all time!) to truly be Ultron-7!!! Story continued in FF #150. Art by Sal Buscema/Joe Staton, story by Englehart.
FF 150: Sept. 1974. Conclusion of story begun in Avengers 127. The FF, Inhumans, and Avengers unite against Ultron-7, but it is young Franklin Richards who awakens from his long coma to destroy Ultron; in fact, in what may be the first use of the encephalo beams (see the Bride of Ultron saga in Avengers #161-162 and 170-171), Ultron unwittingly revives Franklin’s latent consciousness. The book is divided in half, with the second part being the actual wedding of Quicksilver and Crystal. Thor and Iron Man muse on the subject of love, Thor pining for Jane Foster and the Lady Sif, IM for Pepper Potts. Medusa has a heart-to-heart with Johnny, who tells that he feels like he has glass breaking inside of him. The ceremony comes off, and we are shown a monitor in a hospital room where Bob Frank (the Whizzer, in uniform, no less) watches his “son” while he heals from injuries sustained in Giant-Size Avengers #1. At the end of the story Johnny is smiling, and we assume that is that… Art by Buckler/Sinnott, story by Gerry Conway.
FF 158-159: May-June 1975. Quicksilver is sent on a secret mission from the Great Refuge to find the FF. Pietro somehow gains admission to the Baxter Building and confronts the Torch in his usual gruff manner. Johnny reacts with his flame, tells Pietro that the niceness he displayed at the wedding is over, and they proceed to tear the place apart. The remaining members of the FF arrive to stop the melee, and Pietro relates a story of an attack on the Great Refuge by Xemu, Master of the Fifth Dimension (a story that hearkens back to Strange Tales #103). The tale concludes with a combined assault on Xemu’s army by the FF and the Inhumans and a romantic interlude between Johnny and Valeria, who he’d met years earlier in the 5th Dimension. Quicksilver witnesses it and comments, “Bravo for you, Johnny Storm. You’ll be happier, and so will I, when you stop thinking of Crystal as your girl when she’s now my wife!” Art by Buckler/Sinnott, story by Thomas.
Epilogue: I guess in my mind the marriage of Crystal and Quicksilver truly provided no additional plotlines. As the Avengers and the Inhumans had no real connection historically, I’m not sure where Roy was going with this. In contrast, a deepening of the romance between Johnny Storm and Crystal would have allowed for an infinite number of possibilities for the free-wheeling Torch to settle down/not settle down, certainly some in-law problems, friction between Johnny and Ben (and perhaps a storyline wherein Ben and Alicia were married or Ben was at least faced with having to deal with his self-distance from Alicia), and over on the Avengers side the presence of Pietro in the storylines that led to Wanda and the Vision’s marriage. How would Pietro have reacted with the return of Simon Williams and (in late Vol. I and certainly Vol. III) his increasing love for Wanda? How would Pietro have dealt with Byrne’s dismantling of the Vision? Formerly, the Vision’s takeover of the world’s computer systems? All of these possible plotlines never saw fruition due to Pietro’s removal from the pages of Avengers, and Crystal’s removal from the pages of FF.
As I said, I just really don’t get why, 30 years ago, Roy went the direction he did…
FF 45: Dec. 1965. First appearance of Crystal; the Inhumans (notably Gorgon) appeared in the previous issue. Art by Jack Kirby/Joe Sinnott, story by Stan Lee (unless otherwise noted).
FF 46: Jan. 1966. Crystal professes that she doesn’t want to be separated from Johnny, “ever”.
FF 47, 48: Feb.-Mar. 1966. Crystal and Johnny become near-inseparable as the FF have to leave the Great Refuge – Stan Lee teen angst in the Spidey tradition!!
FF 61: Apr. 1967. After freeing Attilan from its dome-prison, the Inhumans allow Crystal to leave in search of Johnny, with Lockjaw as her “chaperone”.
FF 81: Dec. 1968. Crystal debuts in an FF costume, declaring that with Sue’s pregnancy, “someone has to take her place”.
FF 95: Feb. 1970. Medusa comes to take Crystal back among her people. Johnny protests loudly, to no avail.
FF 99: June 1970. Johnny storms the Great Refuge; Crystal calls him a fool, then chastises him for his behavior – she says something to the effect that love requires trust and understanding. She was needed to help heal Black Bolt in an illness. Crystal leaves with the FF.
FF 105: Dec. 1970. Crystal falls ill and Lockjaw comes to take her back home to the Inhumans. It will later be determined that the contaminants in the Western world are bothering Crystal’s immune system and she has to remain sheltered in Attilan. Art by John Romita/John Verpoorten, story by Lee.
FF 117-118: Dec. 1971-Jan. 1972. Crystal is kidnapped and brainwashed by Diablo; she believes herself a goddess over a Central American nation; at the conclusion Johnny tells her that Maximus has usurped power in the Great Refuge, necessitating her departure yet again. Art by John Buscema/Sinnott, story by Archie Goodwin.
Avengers 103-104: Sept.-Oct. 1972. Two-part story with the team (Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Vision, and Quicksilver, with an appearance by Rick Jones) versus the Sentinels. Quicksilver is on a mission to find a Sentinel stronghold in hopes that it will help him find the kidnapped Scarlet Witch. As Quicksilver, encountering and commandeering Larry Trask, gets closer, the remaining Avengers follow. They encounter the Sentinels in Australia and engage them. Trask discusses his mutant power is to see the future, and it is a future that is not bright for the Avengers. In #104, Quicksilver battles a Sentinel alone, and destroys it. On page 19 he is faced with a glow and yells, “What’s that glow… something… appearing in front of me… something huge, horrible! What is it! What?” Art by Rich Buckler/Sinnott, story by Roy Thomas (NOTE: Buckler’s art here is much more akin to Neal Adams than to the “Kirbyish” art he would display at approximately the same time in the pages of Fantastic Four).
FF 130: Jan. 1973. Johnny flies to the Great Refuge to reclaim Crystal. In a cryptic scene, Crystal says, “…I prayed I’d never see you again… I’ll stand aside… so you can see more clearly.” Art by J. Buscema/Sinnott, story by Thomas.
FF 131: Feb. 1973. As alluded to in the previous issue, something here ain’t right! We find, as Crystal steps aside (NOTE: Buscema drew here in her FF uniform, which was strange since she’d not been with that team for some time. Andru draws her here in her more common yellow outfit), that the look of horror on Johnny’s face as we left him is due in large part to the fact that Crystal has been attending to an injured Quicksilver. When Quicksilver says that she owes the Torch no explanation, and then refers to her as “Darling”, that pretty much seals the battle royale that comes next… Crystal does explain, in detail, how she and Lockjaw became lost inter-dimensionally and ended up at the very moment Quicksilver had become injured in battle with the Sentinels. As Pietro passed out, Crystal and Lockjaw teleported him to the Great Refuge. The story ends with the Torch and Quicksilver united against Omega, who has grabbed Crystal. Art by Ross Andru/Sinnott, story by Thomas.
FF 132: Mar. 1973. The Torch and Quicksilver unite to aid Crystal in a story that is really about racism between the Inhumans and the Alpha Primitives. The story is also significant, as Medusa replaces Sue in the FF and Johnny takes on a red uniform, reminiscent of the Original Human Torch. Crystal tells Johnny at the end of the story that she is staying with Pietro; Johnny remarks that he “never thought she wouldn’t.” Art by J. Buscema/Sinnott, story by Thomas.
Avengers 110: Apr. 1973. Quicksilver makes his first appearance in the Avengers since he disappeared in issue #104. He appears on a visi-screen, arm-in-arm with Crystal. He tells how he was rescued and nursed back to health by “this girl, Crystal of the Inhumans.” After Wanda tells him how happy she is, she tells that she and the Vision have declared their love for each other. Quicksilver then erupts in anger and tells Wanda that he will never speak to her again, as long as she loves “that thing”. Art by Don Heck/Frank Giacoia/Mike Esposito, story by Steve Englehart.
Avengers 127: Sept. 1974. Gorgon appears at the Avengers’ dinner table to invite them to the wedding of Quicksilver and Crystal, which takes the team (Thor, Iron Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Mantis, Swordsman) by surprise. Gorgon picks up on this immediately and gets a little peeved. He calls Pietro an “arrogant, posturing fool” and later states, “I’ve endured a great deal from Quicksilver for my cousin’s sake – endured it for many months.” Mantis tries to make peace, Wanda snipes at her for being a guest of the team for the Swordsman’s sake (in no small part due to Mantis’ romantic overtures toward the Vision), and states that the team will accompany Gorgon to attend the wedding. After arriving in the Great Refuge, the team participates in a carnival atmosphere in celebration of the royal nuptials. However, Maximus lurks in the shadows and begins to manipulate the Avengers, playing on the racism that exists between the Inhumans and the Alpha Primitives (see FF #131-132). Crystal asks Pietro to reconcile with Wanda before the wedding; he refuses, but is forced to confront her anyway when she enters the room – he says, “You may think it civilized to consort with a machine, but I do not!” Shortly after, Crystal is kidnapped by the Alpha Primitive construct Omega. The Avengers, FF, and Inhumans seek her return, and eventually Omega comes back and reveals himself (in one of the top 10 villain entrances of all time!) to truly be Ultron-7!!! Story continued in FF #150. Art by Sal Buscema/Joe Staton, story by Englehart.
FF 150: Sept. 1974. Conclusion of story begun in Avengers 127. The FF, Inhumans, and Avengers unite against Ultron-7, but it is young Franklin Richards who awakens from his long coma to destroy Ultron; in fact, in what may be the first use of the encephalo beams (see the Bride of Ultron saga in Avengers #161-162 and 170-171), Ultron unwittingly revives Franklin’s latent consciousness. The book is divided in half, with the second part being the actual wedding of Quicksilver and Crystal. Thor and Iron Man muse on the subject of love, Thor pining for Jane Foster and the Lady Sif, IM for Pepper Potts. Medusa has a heart-to-heart with Johnny, who tells that he feels like he has glass breaking inside of him. The ceremony comes off, and we are shown a monitor in a hospital room where Bob Frank (the Whizzer, in uniform, no less) watches his “son” while he heals from injuries sustained in Giant-Size Avengers #1. At the end of the story Johnny is smiling, and we assume that is that… Art by Buckler/Sinnott, story by Gerry Conway.
FF 158-159: May-June 1975. Quicksilver is sent on a secret mission from the Great Refuge to find the FF. Pietro somehow gains admission to the Baxter Building and confronts the Torch in his usual gruff manner. Johnny reacts with his flame, tells Pietro that the niceness he displayed at the wedding is over, and they proceed to tear the place apart. The remaining members of the FF arrive to stop the melee, and Pietro relates a story of an attack on the Great Refuge by Xemu, Master of the Fifth Dimension (a story that hearkens back to Strange Tales #103). The tale concludes with a combined assault on Xemu’s army by the FF and the Inhumans and a romantic interlude between Johnny and Valeria, who he’d met years earlier in the 5th Dimension. Quicksilver witnesses it and comments, “Bravo for you, Johnny Storm. You’ll be happier, and so will I, when you stop thinking of Crystal as your girl when she’s now my wife!” Art by Buckler/Sinnott, story by Thomas.
Epilogue: I guess in my mind the marriage of Crystal and Quicksilver truly provided no additional plotlines. As the Avengers and the Inhumans had no real connection historically, I’m not sure where Roy was going with this. In contrast, a deepening of the romance between Johnny Storm and Crystal would have allowed for an infinite number of possibilities for the free-wheeling Torch to settle down/not settle down, certainly some in-law problems, friction between Johnny and Ben (and perhaps a storyline wherein Ben and Alicia were married or Ben was at least faced with having to deal with his self-distance from Alicia), and over on the Avengers side the presence of Pietro in the storylines that led to Wanda and the Vision’s marriage. How would Pietro have reacted with the return of Simon Williams and (in late Vol. I and certainly Vol. III) his increasing love for Wanda? How would Pietro have dealt with Byrne’s dismantling of the Vision? Formerly, the Vision’s takeover of the world’s computer systems? All of these possible plotlines never saw fruition due to Pietro’s removal from the pages of Avengers, and Crystal’s removal from the pages of FF.
As I said, I just really don’t get why, 30 years ago, Roy went the direction he did…
