CosBlog – Cosmic Blog By Ryan Read

She’s a killer queen that Medusa but as many new fans think that Medusa has been driven over the edge to become colder and more pro-active since the lost of Black Bolt twice in the last two yeas, I have to be honest folks, Medusa has done this before after all you know what they say about red heads…

During Medusa’s brief days on the Frightful Four, Medusa was not known for her holding back with her whip like hair. If you read her original debut, Medusa almost beat the Thing and the Human Torch to death with her long lashes. Only a hint of compassion was shown when the Wizard left the Fantastic Four to die from a nuclear bomb on that remote island that robbed them of their powers for a brief time. Medusa even said early on that the Wizard had similar impulses like hers when they first were together (there was even a hint of romance between the two). Sure, Medusa came to her senses, betrayed her team and became very compassionate with the Fantastic Four, even a temporary team member but she had a fiery attitude for a while.

During the early 90s and Paul Jenkins classic Marvel Knights Inhumans maxi series, we saw more of Medusa’s darker side start to emerge. Her anger towards the United Nations was shown as Maximus was able to convince them to wage war with Attilan. While Medusa along with Black Bolt did try to find a more diplomatic solution, it came to one point where Medusa was ready to push back and hard if Maximus wouldn’t have taken her prisoner first. She recoiled for a while after Ronan and the Kree Empire tried to use them as natural weapons, as the Kree Empire had first created the Inhumans to be until they were forced out and back to Earth, allowing Medusa to cool down for a bit as they rebuilt their city on the Blue Area of the Moon. Medusa had her darker side emerge once again when it was believed that Spider-man had been killed by Venom on Battle World during the Beyond! Series. Personally, I think Mac Gargan deserved it, after all they all believed Spider-man to be dead and Medusa and Spider-man really early in his career had a small romance going on early on (those red heads, always trouble for old Peter). After that, Medusa kind of went back to being mellow again for a while.

Of course, tensions didn’t stay cool long when the super hero Civil War almost brought the Inhumans into the war and then the Hulk showed up and Black Bolt was revealed to be a Skrull. Then Medusa and her people went to war and with Black Bolt returned, the Inhumans had had enough. Now, since the lost of Black Bolt, Medusa has been shown to be very cold and hard stricken with everyone. Attacking her own sister and longest friends to prove her rule is just and anyone in the way should beware. It will be interesting to see if Medusa can keep things together with the war with the Many-angle ones or if she will truly meet her death and the hands of the upcoming “Shadow War” as shown in the pages of Nova. Either way, we know that who ever ends up on her bad side, will feel the death lashes of her long locks.

Since I have a final paper coming up in the next week, I thought I would give a quick history lesson for those who really don’t know who are the villains for the upcoming Chaos War in October. The more cosmic the better.

Mikaboshi

The Japanese god of evil. Mikaboshi for years sought the legendary Grasscutter sword to aid him in his war with the Kami. In recent times he obtained the sword and was able to through the Shinto pantheon into a civil war with him emerging the victor. He later attacked Olympus, he kidnapped Ares’s son Alex and brainwashed him for years, making him a new god of war rivaling his father. His goal was to destroy Zeus and cow the other pantheons into submission.
He maimed Achilles, fatally wounded Zeus and would have killed Hercules, Apollo, Ares and Athena, had Zeus not helped them with the last remnants of his power.
When Zeus removed Alexander’s brainwashing, Alexander quickly used the Grasscutter blade (ironically given to him by Mikaboshi), to defeat the malicious deity.
Though presumed slain, Mikaboshi had survived, but was captured by the Kami and imprisoned in the underworld.
Later on when Athena held a meeting to build a strike force against the Skrulls, Mikaboshi was chosen as the representative of the Amatsu-kami. A chance at redemption. During the event Mikaboshi used his powers to obtain a map to the realm of the Skrull gods from the demon Nightmare. He battled the Skrull god Sl’gur’et in a shape-shifting contest. At first he was thought to have been killed, but it was revealed at the end he had killed Sl’gur’et and replaced the Skrull gods as the leader of their slave-army all under the watchful eye of Athena who approved this turn of events.

Kly’bn

Millions of years ago when the Skrulls were still primitive, the alien Celestials visited Skrullos, the Skrull homeworld, and through genetic experimentation created three different races from the dominant Skrull lifeform. A race of deviants with shape-shifting abilities. A race of near-immortals with formidable powers called Eternals. A a third race with the possibility for benevolent genetic mutations. Eventually, the Deviants used their shape-shifting abilities to wipe out the other two races leaving themselves the sole race.
According to Skrull mythology, Kly’bn is the last of the Skrull Eternals. Before the Deviant Skrulls could kill him Kly’bn convinced them that to kill him would be to kill themselves. According to him he was the embodiment of what it meant to be a Skrull. Constant and unchanging and it was his destiny to lead the Skrulls into transforming other worlds with their truth. Sl’gur’t, the leader of the Deviant Skrulls, embraced this truth and pledged herself to him. This truth supposedly transformed the two of them into gods where they ascended to a heavenly dimension.
For millions of years they have been worshiped by Skrulls and became the emperor and empress of the Skrull pantheon of gods.

It is said that at some point the two of them wrote the Book of World, the Skrull holy text, including in it three prophecies that foretold the eventually destruction of the Skrull homeworld and the promise of a new one called Earth. This prophecy was used as justification by Skrulls to turn an invasion of Earth into a holy war believing it is rightfully theirs in the comic event known as Secret Invasion.
If Earth were conquered in the name of alien gods it would cause a cosmic shift leading to the extinction of Earth’s native gods. In an attempt to prevent this the Greek goddess Athena assembled a team of Earth gods to find Kly’bn and kill him believing dead gods could not order their followers to attack Earth and it would demoralize his followers. Thus the “God Squad” was formed to hunt down Kly’bn and kill him.
Recentley: Klyn’bn Was fighting Hercules, while it was a hard fight, Hercules eventually came out on top stabbing Kly’bn and apparently killing him, which is a major set back for the Skrulls

Sl’gur’t

When the Skrulls were evolved by the Celestials the Deviant Skrulls could not allow the immortal non-Deviants Skrulls to live on and they hunted them just as they hunted the Dire Wraiths and the original Skrulls. The one leading this hunts was who was unable to eliminate the Dire Wraiths. However her army was successful in killing all Eternal Skrulls and except one who they tracked down, Kly’bn. Before her army could kill him, he deliver a very patriotic speech in which he claimed many races could not shape-shift and he too could not and those represented every Skrull in their original form while Sl’gur’t represented their ever-changing nature. As he took her as his bride they ascended to godhood. After the Skrulls conquered the empires of the gods, the survivors became the servants of Kly’bn and Sl’gur’t. With each conquest they both grew in power.

After the Skrull invasion became public, the Council of God-Heads called upon several gods to act as the resistance for them this team became the God Squad and those they hope to demoralized the Skrull army. When the God Squad arrived in their citadel the two of them were forced into an unwanted battle. Overconfident Demogorge devour Sl’gur’t only to meet his end by exploding do to not being able to resist Sl’gur’t energies as she represented each deity the Skrulls had conquered. Mikaboshi a shape-shifter himself quickly enter in battle with him and they started a battle of shapes, each other copying the last form the last one use until Sl’gur’t got a lucky strike and she tear Mikaboshi in half.
Combing their forces together the Hercules and Snowbird were finally able to bring about Kly’bn death causing the citadel to collapse. Well they fled it was revealed that in a twisted of fate Mikaboshi survive and Sl’gur’t actually die, as she die while in Mikaboshi’s form and Mikaboshi survive in Sl’gur’t form, those he took the place of the Skrull gods.

I have to tell you, after going back to school, it takes a lot of balance time between family and fun and a few other things in-between but today is that day where I get to have some fun. Today I get to talk about the very beings that were shown during the original Annihilation and will be making a return in a few short weeks in the pages of Thanos Imperative. The Proemial gods, those that Galactus once called allies and friends before he imprisoned them, only for them to be set free and bring payback on Galactus and then defeated by the Silver Surfer, or so they thought. Now, they have returned once again allied with Galactus and the United Front against the forces of the Many-angled ones. Just who are these beings and how did they give birth to the major forces of the cosmic Marvel Universe?

The Proemial Gods consist of Diableri of Chaos, Antiphon the Overseer, Brio of life, Tenebrous of the Darkness Between, and Aegis the Lady of All Sorrows. They each preformed their respective task and the more they carried out their task the less they were needed by the living universe and they slowly began to fade from existence. Diableri sought to oppose this and set out to recreate the universe under his control. He corrupted the other Proemial Gods and they deviated from their true purpose. Diableri brought his battle to Galactus. In this battle, Diableri and most of Proemial Gods were killed and the only survivors were imprisoned by Galactus at the edge of the universe. These survivors were Aegis and Tenebrous. They remained imprisoned for centuries until the Annihilation wave destroyed their prison. They escaped, fought, and defeated Galactus and the Silver Surfer leaving them to Thanos, who experimented on them and drained them of their cosmic power. Aegis and Tenebrous returned to Galactus’s prison to search for other surviving Proemial Gods. They only found the body of Antiphon the Overseer. By now the Silver Surfer and Galactus had escaped Thanos and Galactus sent Silver Surfer to find Aegis and Tenebrous. Silver Surfer found them and summoned Galactus, who was set on destroying them. Galactus arrived just in time to witness the Silver Surfer’s unlikely victory over Aegis and Tenebrous. This marked the end of the Proemial God’s existences or it was believed until recently.

Diableri of Chaos

Diableri had lived in this universe when it was young. Diableri was given the responsibility of bringing all chaos to order. As they carried out their tasks the Proemial Gods became less and less needed and they began to fade from existence. Diableri was srongly opposed to this and so he created the Chaos Mites to be his eyes and ears throughout the universe so he could find a way to survive. He then planned to kill Galactus and restart the universe with him in control. He led the other Proemial Gods in battle with Galactus. They lost and the survivors were imprisoned by Galactus. Those who were imprisoned died shortly after the events of the Annihilation wave. He is believed to be the “father” of Lord Order and Master Chaos in the current universe.

Antiphone the Overseer

Antiphon has been in this universe since it was young and he was the first to be given the responsibility of overseeing the living universe. He had always stood neutral on Diableri’s stance against Galactus and it is unknown whether or not he was present at the battle between Galactus and the Proemial Gods. When Aegis and Tenebrous returned to Galactus’s prison they found the body of Antiphon who had apparently died when the Annihilation wave destroyed the prison. He is believed to be the first Watcher and that Utah is his direct son, and why he is one of the few Watchers that gets involved with lower beings.

Brio of Life

Brio had lived in this universe since it was young. Brio was given the responsibility of protecting the living universe and the welfare of all living beings. It is unknown whether or not she participated in the battle between Galactus and the other Proemial Gods. She is presumed dead but since there is no evidence that she has died it is unknown as to whether or not she is still alive. She is believed to be the first Celestial and the sister of Lady Death.

Tenebrous

Tenebrous of Darkness is a an entity of great power. Tenebrous’ power stems from a force called the Crunch. Tenebrous was one of the Proemial Gods and existed when this universe was very young. Along with Aegis, the Lady of All Sorrows, he destroyed all of the Chaos Mites that were created by Diableri of Chaos. Tenebrous was one of few Proemial Gods to be very loyal to Diableri’s cause of remaking the universe in his own image.

This battle eventually brought them to Galactus. Tenebrous and Aegis were the only Proemial Gods that survived this battle and they were both imprisoned by Galactus at the edge of the universe. They remained there for centuries until the Annihilation Wave destroyed the prison, freeing them and other prisoners of Galactus including Fallen One, Galactus’s first herald, and Kosmos the Maker, also known as the Beyonder.

Tenebrous began draining the strength of Fallen One and with this newfound strength he and Aegis confronted and easily defeated Galactus and Silver Surfer. Thanos arrived with a Chaos Mite on his shoulder who would not reveal how she survived all this time to Aegis and Tenebrous. Thanos began to drain to cosmic powers from Galactus and Silver Surfer.
Some time later Tenebrous and Aegis returned to their old prison in hopes of finding other surviving Proemial Gods. All they could find was the body of Antiphon the Overseer. By this time the Silver Surfer and Galactus had escaped from Thanos and Silver Surfer found Tenebrous and Aegis at the ruins of the prison. Galactus soon arrived only to witness the Silver Surfer’s impossible victory over both Tenebrous and Aegis. This marked the end of the last Proemial Gods or so it was believed until his recent ressurrection at the hands of Galactus. Tenebrous is believed to be the father of Oblivion.

Lady Aegis

Aegis has lived in this universe since it was young. She was tasked with sorting out the divergences of the living universe. She destroyed all of the chaos mites that Diableri created. After the Proemial Gods lost their battle with Galactus; Aegis and Tenebrous were the only survivors and they were imprisoned by Galactus at the edge of the universe. Aegis and Tenebrous remained there for centuries until the Annihilation Wave entered the positive universe and damaged the prison. They escaped along with Fallen One, Galactus’s first herald, and Kosmos the Maker, also known as the Beyonder. Tenebrous drained the strength of Fallen One and he and Aegis confronted and easily defeated Galactus and Silver Surfer. They eventually returned to their old prison to search for any other surviving Proemial Gods but they only found the body of Antiphon the Overseer. The Silver Surfer found them here and managed to kill them both. Lady Aegis is believed to be the grandmother of Epoch.

I’ve been waiting weeks to get to this entry, I have loved the notion of the powers of the Infinities and with the Universe being torn apart by the Many-Angled ones in the Thanos Imperative. The question of whether or not these massive powerful beings will return is a big question but just who are the Infinities?

The Infinities are a group of three abstract beings who wield incalculable power. They used to travel the Multiverse realigning the energies of each Universe they traveled to in a way they considered harmonious.

Their coming was foretold by The Time Keepers during The Destiny War, Genis-Vell mentions to the present day Wasp after she asks him about The Infinities that they would appear in her future very soon. Several months later a Rigellian colony and The Solar System it inhabited was annihilated by a group of robotic entities called The Servitors. Thor, having heard of this atrocity and about those whom the Servitors served, led a team of “Cosmic” Avengers to the Solar System where the Servitors laying waste to other nearby inhabited worlds. After a brief fight several Celestial-like entities called Walkers appeared and began building a massive ring shaped device after destroying several of the planets. The Avengers immediately mistook The Walkers for The Infinities but when a hand larger than the entire Galaxy itself emerged from The Dimension of Manifestations and activated the ring, which in turn linked all of the Stars in that Galaxy together, The Avengers knew their foes were way beyond their league.

Remembering the time he had accidentally summoned Eternity instead of an Elder of the Universe like he had planned, Quasar suggested that Moondragon link The Avengers’ minds together so that they could reach out to Eternity and call for his help. The summoning worked and Eternity forced the hand off of the ring but ended up being pulled by it into The Dimension of Manifestations. Upon arrival The Avengers found themselves inside Eternity who was now being confronted by The Infinities themselves. Almost immediately The Infinities demanded to know who he was and why he was interfering with their work. Eternity explained that their actions had cost the lives of countless people. The Infinities were initially perplexed upon learning of the existence of Mortals, the very concept of there being life that tiny in comparison to The Infinities seemed to be absurd at first but after speaking with The Avengers (who used Eternity as a conduit through which they could communicate) The Infinities were horrified by their actions.

All this time they had been realigning the energies of each Universe they traveled to in order to make the flow more efficient but because their Galaxy-Grappling Rings only latched onto and protected the Stars, any inhabited world being pulled along with their Galaxy to a point where The Infinities were building a Wall of Galaxies would be torn apart by the unimaginable tidal forces. From that day foreward The Infinities abandoned their “experiment” and began making amends. One of them even sacrificed his lifeforce to restore the Galaxies ruined by their actions on Earth-616 but was unable to bring those who had died at the hands of The Servitors back to life. However he did promise that life would eventually return to the revived worlds. As the Infinity died he stated that he was going to the afterlife to beg for forgiveness to those The Infinities had accidentally killed during their travels. The Infinities’ current whereabouts are unknown.

You know, I was old enough to remember the classic story, The Death of Captain Marvel over twenty years ago. I’m also old enough to remember how much they tried to fill the role of Captain Marvel in that time. Since Carol Danvers better known as Ms. Marvel wasn’t enough of a draw until the last decade to fill in Mar-vel’s role. We had several replacements that Marvel Comics seemed to either give little chance to or didn’t care. Let’s not go into who owns the name “Captain Marvel” that’s something that’s going to go until the end of time with the two shared names at both DC and Marvel. Let’s look at the characters to take on the name of Captain Marvel and see just what the big problem was.

Pulsar

I’ve always loved Monica’s character; personally I don’t see what several writers had such a problem with her later taking the name: “Photon” it went with the nature of her powers. I get that when she changed her name it was over Genis-vel first coming on the scene and taking on the name “Legacy” When Genis decided to call himself “Photon” and Monica had to change the name to “Pulsar” I have to say the change in names wasn’t really that bad and Monica keeping Pulsar for her moniker has worked very well the last few years. She’s grown as a hero and is her own self now; there isn’t any need to think she ever needs to go back to being “Captain Marvel”.

Genis-vell

Where do we want to start here? I mean I have never seen such problems that came up when Genis was given the full title of “Captain Marvel” when Avengers Forever hit the stands in the late 90s. I also can’t believe the problems that the book would suffer not just from sales but other editorial problems from other creators in the offices of Marvel Comics. I know that writer Peter David made the joke when the book was finally cancelled about “Just not enough people cared” which I can understand. Let’s face it, if the readers aren’t there, the sales are poor, and than what is the point? Not jab me because this isn’t anything like Spider-Girl, that’s another story completely. However, with no choice left but to “kill” the character off just to keep some editors happy was not the way to go. There was nothing wrong with the concept, character or what he stood for. Genis was the perfect fit for the role of Captain Marvel.

Phyla-vell

Oy! Just like her brother, where do we want to start here? Phyla actually was a great concept when Peter David first introduced her and the development of her relationship with Moondragon was also well written the last few years. However, the use of the title “Captain Marvel” of course had to fall under copyright problems at the time. DnA then promoted her to the role of Quasar after the first Annihilation series and during Conquest she really came into her own. However, Phyla never really won over the fans that Wendell did and in this last year, Wendell had his return from the dead all the way to fully flesh form thanks to the Fault. Phyla went to fit the role of Avatar of Death but she just couldn’t cut it and was killed off by the resurrected Thanos. I think that was too far with Phyla, most writers seem to treat the Mar-vel family as Kenny from Southpark. How far can we push that their family and legacy is cursed and just kill them off. It’s just cheap no matter how good of a writer you are.

Noh-varr

Oh yes, Grant Morrison’s Marvel Boy who also showed up in the late 90s and just ran away as a cool character. Then was also put into the whole “copyrights” category section again for several years; not to mention because a lot of writers didn’t feel they could use the character right. Then bring in the Civil War and Brian Michael Bendis and Noh because the newest Captain Marvel for about 6 months. Then he finds out that Norman Osborn is a wacko and his Avengers are mostly murders and he ditches everything and becomes… “The Protector”. Wow! Major improvement in the name there folks, why not call him The Marv or Marvel Man, oh wait! Never mind.

Yes, it seems that no matter how you look at it, unless your name was Mar-vell or Billy Bastion or Freddy Freemond. There is just no way you can be Captain Marvel.

I was in good mood today for some reason or another and I was thinking. DnA have been doing such a wonderful job giving us great cosmic stories in the pages of all their books. They have also brought back old characters and story plots from the past and fit them in to the new cosmic scheme of things. However, they haven’t quite picked up on some that were big pieces to older series with their main characters. Or they just did a small explanation of what happened with what story line. I mean sometimes simple is easy but other times. We just want a good answer to a crazy question. I shall name some that have bugged me the last few years.

Dusk Protector of the Negative Zone

For a guy that was made a big deal of in the pages of Peter Parker: Spider-man and the old Slingers series about ten years ago. This guy apparently wasn’t much of a protector. I mean here is a guy that was this great defender of the Negative Zone and when he was lost between worlds. Guys like Annihilus, Blastaar and Syphon got out of control. Then when he returned, he was supposed to be able to step in to keep guys like this from getting out of control. What happens? The Annihilation Wave destroys thousands of worlds until Nova rips him from the inside out. Blastaar becomes the new ruler in his absence. Now Annihilus is at war with Blastaar in both universes and Syphon might be making a come back. Some protector

Those blasted Pilgrims and Hellscount

A cool twist that was given in the pages of Fantastic Four when Carlos Pacheco and Jeph Lobe were writing. About early breaches between Earth and the Negative Zone due to experiments in the Zone that caused a English ship of 15th century pilgrims to get stranded in the Negative Zone. Rebelled attacks by the various species there, especially Annihilus over the next 600 years. Then they have a hero rise out of their ranks in the mantle of Hellscout. What does he do? He kills Annihilus all by himself and takes his head. Of course that’s when we found out that Annihilus is able to rebirth himself through either his own means or queens. However, once again like Dusk, the Annihilation Wave happens. Where are these brave Pilgrims? Hell if I know.

You’re out of Uniform Son

Remember Jay Farber and Jamal Ingle’s run on New Warriors in the late 90s? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Well, as we know Nova apparently according to editorial had to have a new costume. Because his current one wasn’t cool anymore and all the other New Warriors were getting new costumes. Well, it got fit into a story line that never happened that Richard Rider was going to be kicked out of the Nova Corps if he didn’t go back to wearing his normal suit. When he did, we found out that something bad was coming Nova’s way. Jay Farber revealed a few months after the series ended that originally Ava was going to be revealed to Supernova’s mother and wanted to punish Richard for getting her son killed and bring him back to life. Well, we can see old Saal somehow has made a comic back during the War of Kings storyline. Where that is going we have to wait until Thanos Imperative. Still, what could have been that would have been interesting until Xandar got destroy by the Annihilation Wave.

We’re Evolved, aren’t we?

One huge recon that happened in the last couple of years is that somehow the Kree Empire returned to being stuck in their non-evolving states while Humans, Skrulls, Dire Wraiths and others were still evolving. Wait a second! Wasn’t the whole point of the end of Avengers Forever and Maximum Security to show that the Kree Supreme Intelligence used the Forever Crystal to get rid of that genetic block and they evolved into their Ruul forms? Wait wasn’t it part of several big stories during and after Kurt Busiek left Marvel Comics? Yet the Supreme Intelligence before he got killed had the High Evolutionary trying to unblock the same evolution block that was already undone? Wait huh? Yeah, I’m really confused by that one too. So much it’s been a big subplot since the Inhumans took over the Kree Empire. Was someone getting back the Forever Crystal and undoing the past? Or was someone using a retcon bomb? You tell me.

Hungry

When Jim Starlin did the short but great Thanos series about 5 years ago, he introduced the character of Hunger. A being that consumes complete universes by latching on to dead space and then spreading like a virus. Well, Thanos couldn’t have that because he wanted to kill everything around him. After a brief battle with Galactus, it was revealed that a small bit of Hunger had survived and was loose in the 616 to rebuild and grow and then consume known space. You get Annihilation Waves, Phalanx and Faults to Cancerveres and Hunger apparently doesn’t care or takes advantage of it.

Reckon This
When Dan Slott ended his run on She-hulk and even started his work on Mighty Avengers he kept setting up the Reckoning War. About a robotic warlord that was pissed at the Universe and was set to wipe out worlds and races and in the end the Watchers were going to bitch slap She-hulk. Well, what is taking so damn long? This was supposed to start right away and be a massive battle that would put the Annihilation Wars to shame. Yeah, I reckon we’ll never know.

I think that’s enough for now. Other wise I come off looking like some 32 year old comic fan that lives in a basement of his in-laws home. Wait, never mind.

Everyone was probably expecting me to get to this as soon as the cover showed up. To hear both my opinions and what ever defense or rant I might make. First of all, I will be truth and say that is one beautiful cover. The way it expresses Steve Rogers putting on the Nova Prime helmet with such a look of despair and yet pride is very breath taking. However, does this mean the end of Richard Rider yet again? We know this story is taking place after Thanos Imperative is over and while Nova my both be a popular and fan favorite. Doesn’t mean that he’s safe from being killed off and Steve being the Super Soldier Nova of the Secret Avengers.
I will make a point though; it still doesn’t mean anything until we read the story. Let’s face it; Marvel Comics and Ed Brubaker have us talking about what this cover could possibly mean. Even people going as far as saying they won’t pick up the title because they won’t read a comic where Nova is going to be talked down to in anyway. Let’s get a grip people; we really don’t know what this cover means. We don’t know what’s really going to happen in this issue outside of revealing who the main villain of the piece is. Which is promised to be more of a shocker than anything, so in the mean time. Take a deep breath, relax and let’s wait until issue #1 comes out and then we’ll judge.

With The Thanos Imperative only a few weeks away. It’s time I start talking about the beings that are involved in this large story. Now, I’ll get to Nova and the rest of the gang but lets look at what truly lies in the Cosmic Marvel Universe and what what it might mean for the upcoming cosmic war.

Eternity

Eternity is an abstract entity of immeasurable power. It can warp surrounding space and matter into a manifestation that can be perceived by lesser beings. The character can also manipulate the universe to achieve essentially any effect desired, exists everywhere simultaneously, and as its name suggests, is immortal and unaffected by the passage of time. Eternity can also form avatars from another plane of existence known as the Dimension of Manifestations and on occasion, by possessing the body of exceptionally strong mortal beings.

Eternity is the true force that the Many-angle Ones just take full possession of in the long run. However, that will only happen once all life in the 616 Universe has been taken over by the Cancer Verse.

Epoch

Epoch was hatched shortly after her parent; Eon was killed during Quasar’s battle with the Cosmic Assassin, Maelstrom. Despite being born premature as a result of Thanos’ action of turning Eon’s corpse inside-out, luckily, by that time she had absorbed the basic knowledge required of her to assume her parent’s cosmic station whose duty it was to nurture the evolution of sentient life of the universe and to maintain conditions favorable to life in the universe. (One might surmise that Epoch would have stayed within Eon’s body and therefore the Eonverse for several more centuries until she was powerful enough to protect herself had her parent not died) Quasar protected her as he did her parent; she was still quite weak and still had a wealth of information to absorb to fuel her budding cosmic awareness.

Later, Epoch chose to explore the Crab Nebula without Quasar’s protection, and on several occasions after that was either unable to receive or was unwilling to answer more than one emergency communication from Quasar. (though this shouldn’t be see as some sort of snub towards Quasar as writers in question probably did not want to deal with a cosmic entity solving the hero’s problems for him). With the death of Quasar during Annihilation, Epoch, instead of resurrecting her deceased Protector, she chose to resurrect Gravity instead, making him (temporarily) the new Protector of the Universe when Epoch was threatened by Galactus and his Heralds: Silver Surfer and Stardust. After successfully protecting Epoch, Gravity declined to remain a Protector. Since then it is assumed that Epoch is continuing her duties and searching the universe for a new Protector.

A large player in the cosmic scheme of things. Epoch has selected Wendal, Phyla and Gravity to be the Protector of the Universe over the last few years. Will Epoch once again keep Quasar as the Protector or will he move Quasar back to Eternity to move him towards the Avatar of Life to counter against Thanos and the Magus.

Entropy

At the beginning of time, when Eternity first manifested itself, Entropy was created. Entropy is an avatar of Eternity, and his entire purpose is to destroy, Making him Eternity’s opposite.

When first seen it was revealed that Entropy caused Captain Marvel’s cosmic awareness to go out of control and drove him insane. When Genis refused to change places with him, and leaving him trapped in the Microverse , Rick Jones sought out a spiritual healer and prophet called Shingo Doon to help him in riding Captain Marvel of his insanity. Before Shingo Doon could help him, he was destroyed by Entropy, who’s voice then called to Rick and told him there was nothing he could do and that Marvel’s fate was sealed.

After this even Rick tried for 28 days to escape the cabin in which Shingo Doon had lived, which was on top of a mountain. Every time Rick tried to escape, Entropy would stop him by somehow causing an earthquake or avalanche.

Escaping the Mountain with no prior knowledge of how, Rick awoke in a room with a woman called Epiphany. Investigating the unknown surrounding he heard Epiphany talking to Entropy in the bathroom, and wrapping himself in a blanket, he went to confront Entropy. As with most cosmic beings Rick saw a cosmic looking figure facing him wrapped in an identical blanket, mirroring his own stance and visage. Entropy revealed that its appearance had mirrored Rick’s since Entropy normally only appeared to people in a form they could understand. Around that time Captain Marvel tried to kill himself, and due to their symbiotic relationship, Rick collapsed on the floor.

Entropy met with Captain Marvel and revealed to him that he was the one that had made Marvel go insane. Entropy continued and showed Marvel a series of different situations in which a man tried to please his father. Entropy then went on to reveal: he was the offspring of Eternity, and that he was out to destroy the universe and wanted Marvel’s help, which was why he had driven him insane. Marvel gladly accepted.

Entropy, Epiphany, Marvel, and Rick stood in pure, white, nothing. Entropy and Marvel had apparently been successful in destroying the universe and they had killed Eternity. After an argument over whether or not Marvel was God with Rick, Marvel asked Entropy on that fact. Entropy didn’t answer. Entropy said that he had achieved the purpose for which he was created. Now that he had destroyed everything in the universe, there was nothing left for him, he was pointless and didn’t know what he would do next or what he could do.

It was Rick who suggested he create something. Creating something was the first new idea Entropy had ever had and decided to do it. However, he had ever thought of or experienced creation and didn’t know how to begin. Rick told him just to go with what he knew. Given that all he knew was what and how his father was, he created a big bang, recreating the entire universe, and becomes the new Eternity. Everything returned to normal, excluding the fact that Genis was still insane.

Entropy is destine to repeat his father and becoming Eternity over and over again each time the Universe “dies”. However, is Entropy a key is losing that cycle or continuing if the good guys lose in the end.

Well, that’s all I got for tonight folks. Stay tune as I take a deeper look into the players and their possible involvements during the Thanos Imperative.

As recently shown in the pages of Fantastic Four #578, the Annihilation War is made on the splash page, even furthered by the off-panel news that Annihilus is back, he and Blastaar are at each other’s throats anew (perhaps the reason for Big B’s assassination attempt in Guardians of the Galaxy?) and the Annihilation Wave has built its power back. With the whole “War of the 4 Cities” coming up in FF. It seems that we are seeing the return of Annihilus and his forces in the pages of The Thanos Imperative in the next few months. Originally Annihilus had became aware that the Positive Zone universe was starting to over take the Negative Zone. With is army, the Annihilation Wave, Annihilus has travelled to the Positive Zone and began a purge of all life that his wave has come upon. He sent out seekers to capture the Heralds of Galactus. He made a deal with Thanos that saw the capture of Galactus himself possible. The Annihilation Wave destroyed countless worlds before it was stopped Nova and his United Front. During the Ascension storyline, the Negative Zone wass invaded by Darkhawk and his ally and fellow Raptor, Talon. They discover that the infant Annihilus and his Cosmic Control Rod had been placed under the care of a lesser lord of the Negative Zone, Catastrophus. Catastrophus had been using the Cosmic Control Rod to stunt the development of the infant Annihilus, hoping to prolong his own rule. Talon slew Catastrophus and seized the Control Rod, before calling out to the infant Annihilus and asking it to remember in the future that he had spared the creature’s life, which lead to his current status in Fantastic Four and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Since everything from the “Cancerverse” is where Life won and there is no death, the Annihilation Wave represents “death” and since Thanos had access to most of Annihilus’s forces and tech. You have more in the way of military armies against the various forces from The Fault. Something that Blastaar has large control over as well. With all this mind, the Annihilation Wave will be used in a large portion for both books and will have a large impact on how both the mainstream and cosmic Marvel Universes blend back together.

I’m going to start things off on an interesting note today. This weekend marks 6 months since my beautiful wife, Melissa and I have been married. Hard to believe half a year has gone by but I love her more each day, cliché right but it’s true. So, I decided before the weekend gets here, I could take a look at the most love distraught Inhuman of them all, Crystal. Crystallia Amaquelin (more commonly known as Crystal) was the second child born to the Inhuman couple Quelin and Ambur. Her father Quelin was the brother of Ryden, who was the queen of Inhumans, and therefore Crystal is considered to be a member of the royal family. Like other Inhumans, Crystal was exposed to the Terrigen Mists at a young age, which in her case gave her limited power over the four classical elements of fire, earth, air, and water.

When Crystal was a young child, war broke out among Inhuman factions and she and her helpers fled from Attilan. Crystal grew to adulthood while searching for her older sister, Medusa. They finally found each other, but Medusa had mistaken Crystal’s helpers as enemies. Crystal then met Johnny Storm (aka Human Torch) of the Fantastic Four and began a relationship with him.
Crystal would later leave Attilan for a brief career with the Fantastic Four. Soon after joining, she battled the Wizard, and helped defeat Maximus. She also fought Doctor Doom alongside the Fantastic Four. She was temporarily blinded by the Mole Man, but still managed to help the Fantastic Four defeat him. She was then abducted by her sister Medusa and reunited with the Torch in Atillan. She revealed how she had used her powers to save Black Bolt’s life, and then rejoined the Fantastic Four. She fell under the mental control of Diablo, but soon regained her free will and returned to the Great Refuge.

On her way back, she became a part of Diablo’s plan and then crossed paths with the mutant known as Quicksilver, who had been wounded. She brought him back to Attilan and nursed him back to health, which kindled a romance between the two. When the Human Torch learned of this, he fought with Quicksilver and then ended his relationship with Crystal.
Crystal and Quicksilver eventually married, marking the first-ever human and Inhuman marriage, and had a child named Luna. When the Kree attacked the Inhumans Crystal was with the Quicksilver. She come to the Himalayas to find the city gone. She asks
Lockjaw to teleport but she finds it out of his reach. As time went by, their marriage deteriorated, due to Quicksilver’s temper and Crystal’s affair with a civilian neighbor of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch. Crystal left Quicksilver with Luna and Maya (Luna’s nanny) and returned to the Fantastic Four. Crystal wanted to start a new relationship with Johnny once again, but by then, he was already married. Crystal returned to Attilan to deal with a problem that Medusa and Black Bolt were having with their child and that is where she and Quicksilver re-established their relationship. She also developed feelings for Dane Whitman, the Black Knight but nothing physical came from it. These reasons have caused them to separate several times, egged on by Maximus the Mad taking credit for Pietro’s descent into madness. One such reconciliation attempt occurred in a small town, in a rented cabin, where Crystal had to urge Quicksilver to ‘go slow’. Unfortunately, even this was affected by outside forces.

Crystal and her sister Medusa are called upon by Iron Man to a meeting where he reveals Black Bolt has been replaced by a Skrull. When the Skrulls invade Attilan, Crystal uses her abilities to defeat a Skrull who possesses the powers of Colossus, Cyclops, and Wolverine and a Skrull who is an amalgam of Captain America and Spider-Man. After an attack on Attilan by the Skrulls, the Royal Family travel into Kree space, seeking an alliance against the invading Skrulls. Ronan the Accuser welcomes this alliance, but only on the condition that Crystal becomes his bride. Medusa agrees, much to Crystal’s chagrin.
In an attempt to crack the Skrull communication network, the Inhumans split up. Crystal and Medusa infiltrate Thundra’s tribe as fellow tribewomen. However, when they argue, per the tribe’s laws, their squabble moved to the arena. In their fight, Crystal gets Medusa to treat her more like an adult and allow her to speak to Thundra. She negotiates the release of a captured Skrull communications officer, enabling them to track down Black Bolt’s prison.
Crystal’s marriage to Ronan proceeds, even following Black Bolt’s decision to usurp the throne of the Kree. She comes to accept the idea of the marriage, defending it to her sister-in-law Polaris as a matter of statecraft (though there are indications that Ronan wishes for more). The wedding proceedings are interrupted by the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, who attack as part of Emperor Vulcan’s invasion of the Kree Imperium. Ronan is beaten nearly to death in this attack. While visiting Ronan in recuperation, Crystal inadvertently helps rally the Kree people when she shows compassion towards a ward filled with injured Kree commoners; acts which (thanks to her sister in law Polaris) were eventually broadcast over the Kree networks. This has led to her being referred to as the “people’s princess” among some of the Kree people.