Marvel Team-Up #24 (spoilers)

[garin]

Well, it's the penultimate issue of the series, and Kirkman seems to be in a rush to get things wrapped up in time. This book contains the end of the previous arc, as well as the beginning of the next.

(SPOILERS)









Wow, this didn't turn out at all the way I expected.

The fight with the Iron Maniac continues from last issue, with Freedom Ring and the Skrull Crusader arriving to face him. Things are not going especially well when the New Avengers (Cap, Spider-Woman, Cage) arrive. Evil Tony proceeds to beat all of them down, too.

Freedom Ring comes up with a new plan, and manages to immobilize Tony and save the Avengers' bacon. Unfortunately, he forgot to immobilize the armor as well, and he is gruesomely dismembered(!!) on-panel. Cap uses this opportunity to knock the Iron Maniac out. Cap holds the fallen hero and remarks that he saved them all, and yet they never even knew his name.

There's a short denouement where we see Curtis' funeral, and the final fate of the ring. It ends up with Crusader, who seems content to use it to generate a Skrullish harem for himself. I guess he realized the hero biz was a sucker's game.

The backup story is the beginning of the title's final arc, 'Titannus Lives'. Some Japanese scientists have managed to revive Titannus and transport him to the US, where he goes on a rampage. They plan to use him as their implement of revenge for perceived American involvement in Titannus' earlier attack on Japan. Dr. Strange seems to detect his presence, and then the issue ends.

As I already said, I was really surprised by the ending to Curtis' story. This was no heart-warming tale of an everyman learning to be a hero, it was the tragedy of a man who tries to do good but has the crap kicked out of him at every turn until his grisly death. Which is pretty interesting actually.

[Haunt]

Well, it's the penultimate issue of the series, and Kirkman seems to be in a rush to get things wrapped up in time. This book contains the end of the previous arc, as well as the beginning of the next.

(SPOILERS)









Wow, this didn't turn out at all the way I expected.

The fight with the Iron Maniac continues from last issue, with Freedom Ring and the Skrull 'Champion' arriving to face him. Things are not going especially well when the New Avengers (Cap, Spider-Woman, Cage) arrive. Evil Tony proceeds to beat all of them down, too.

Freedom Ring comes up with a new plan, and manages to immobilize Tony and save the Avengers' bacon. Unfortunately, he forgot to immobilize the armor as well, and he is gruesomely dismembered(!!) on-panel. Cap uses this opportunity to knock the Iron Maniac out. Cap holds the fallen hero and remarks that he saved them all, and yet they never even knew his name.

There's a short denouement where we see Curtis' funeral, and the final fate of the ring. It ends up with Champion, who seems content to use it to generate a Skrullish harem for himself. I guess he realized the hero biz was a sucker's game.

The backup story is the beginning of the title's final arc, 'Titannus Lives'. Some Japanese scientists have managed to revive Titannus and transport him to the US, where he goes on a rampage. They plan to use him as their implement of revenge for perceived American involvement in Titannus' earlier attack on Japan. Dr. Strange seems to detect his presence, and then the issue ends.

As I already said, I was really surprised by the ending to Curtis' story. This was no heart-warming tale of an everyman learning to be a hero, it was the tragedy of a man who tries to do good but has the crap kicked out of him at every turn until his grisly death. Which is pretty interesting actually.


i've been waiting a week to discuss this. i can't believe he did it! i liked Curtis. oh well, at least he went out a hero. but that image of his Skrull friend at the end was pretty creepy. i wonder what he'll do with the power ring. his moral compass seems to be...off, a little.

[shaunyc56]

i've been waiting a week to discuss this. i can't believe he did it! i liked Curtis. oh well, at least he went out a hero. but that image of his Skrull friend at the end was pretty creepy. i wonder what he'll do with the power ring. his moral compass seems to be...off, a little.


You know, I was pulling for Curtis too. I thought the crippling would have been enough of a wake up, but, wow, thats.... heart breaking. That being said it does make the ending more satisfying in a morbid kind of way. I want to see Champion more now than ever, seeing someone w/ almost limitless power that is so self serving, but not evil (you know, like the average person) would really appeal to me.

[Steven F.]

I was shocked by this issue. The Freedom Ring story ended....so sad.

[Alan2099]

I really thought the character had a lot of potential, and his supporting cast was already intresting.

Something tells me that if the series wasn't in a hurry to wrap up, we would have gotten more time to get attached to him before he was killed out. I think that would have made it worse.

I'm really hoping that Iron Maniac manages to stick around after the series ends. He makes a good villian.

[Haunt]

You know, I was pulling for Curtis too. I thought the crippling would have been enough of a wake up, but, wow, thats.... heart breaking. That being said it does make the ending more satisfying in a morbid kind of way. I want to see Champion more now than ever, seeing someone w/ almost limitless power that is so self serving, but not evil (you know, like the average person) would really appeal to me.


there's definately the potential for trouble now that the skrull has the ring. this is a guy who admitted to spying on everyone in the apartment complex. he doesn't know his boundaries, at all. i'm just going to miss Curtis. his costume was goofy but he was refreshingly upbeat; personality-wise. i halfway expected Crusader to betray him, since he was doing the training. oh well. sucks to be Curtis' friend as well. he's got a whole lot of guilt to deal with now.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/89/Freedomring.png

[Kevinroc]

I really thought the character had a lot of potential, and his supporting cast was already intresting.

Something tells me that if the series wasn't in a hurry to wrap up, we would have gotten more time to get attached to him before he was killed out. I think that would have made it worse.

I'm really hoping that Iron Maniac manages to stick around after the series ends. He makes a good villian.

I don't know about FR surviving. IIRC, Kirkman said he was planning to leave at #24 and when he heard #25 was the last issue, he decided to write that final issue.

[Haunt]

I don't know about FR surviving. IIRC, Kirkman said he was planning to leave at #24 and when he heard #25 was the last issue, he decided to write that final issue.


yeah, but eventually Marvel will realize that too many of it's happen-to-be-gay characters are aliens (Lucy in the Sky, Hulkling, Moondragon, Phyla). they'll have to bring Curtis back to balance things out. :)

[Michael P]

i halfway expected Crusader to betray him, since he was doing the training.
I'm not entirely sure Crusader didn't set Curtis up so he could take the ring for himself.

[garin]

Huh, the Skrull is called Crusader, isn't he. I kept calling him Champion for some reason. I'll edit the issue summary.

It seems like there will be some interesting loose ends left at the end of the series. Crusader, Iron Maniac, the League of Losers, and possibly Titannus. I wonder if anyone at Marvel will run with them in the near future. I guess the Irredeemable Ant-Man is the best bet.

[Nyssane]

Freedom Ring dies? Aw, lame. I read, like, one of the issues with him in it, and he seemed interesting enough. :o!

Poor little homo, he would've made Northstar such a happy canuck.

[Haunt]

Freedom Ring dies? Aw, lame. I read, like, one of the issues with him in it, and he seemed interesting enough. :o!

Poor little homo, he would've made Northstar such a happy canuck.


i'm going to pour out a little syrup for my homey, Freedom Ring. :(

Huh, the Skrull is called Crusader, isn't he. I kept calling him Champion for some reason. I'll edit the issue summary.

It seems like there will be some interesting loose ends left at the end of the series. Crusader, Iron Maniac, the League of Losers, and possibly Titannus. I wonder if anyone at Marvel will run with them in the near future. I guess the Irredeemable Ant-Man is the best bet.

i can't believe that no one has spotted the unintentional joke of Titannus. say his name very slowly and then think of Freedom Ring.

[Nyssane]

i can't believe that no one has spotted the unintentional joke of Titannus. say his name very slowly and then think of Freedom Ring.

LMAO It took me like ten minutes to get this.

[Atom_basher]

He died, frikkin lame

[Will.S]

I was pretty surprised to see FR die too, it's such a shame since it looked like Kirkman was really building him up to be a brand new hero in training to be used by future writers.

Ah hell Kirkman writes good zombies right? Here's a perfect chance to write a zombie hero (aside from Deathlok).

[Haunt]

my prediction: Curtis' essence is still inside of the ring. it will possess Crusader and he'll use the shape-shifting abilities to look like his old self.

[Will.S]

my prediction: Curtis' essence is still inside of the ring. it will possess Crusader and he'll use the shape-shifting abilities to look like his old self.
I could see it.

[Sentinel K]

I was surprise when FR died. I didn't see THAT coming.

But I kinda like the idea. It rings true with what is going on in Civil War.

If you don't have the right training, not only could you get other people killed but yourself too.

This is exactly what happened to FR. A nice guy who wanted to help people, but didn't have the training and so tradgedy ensued.

[Alan2099]

I guess it kinda ties in, but I doubt that was the intent. Marvel team-up has been kept pretty Civil War free, and that's how I like it.

[Kevinroc]

I guess it kinda ties in, but I doubt that was the intent. Marvel team-up has been kept pretty Civil War free, and that's how I like it.

Thematically, it kinda does. But it probably isn't anything more than actual coincidence that it came out now. The idea behind a hero not being "good enough" and dying is just one of those simple ideas that pretty much anyone could come up with pretty easily.

Matt Stone and Trey Parker talk about the concept of ideas so simple that anyone could come up with them pretty easily during one of the commentaries in the season 8 South Park dvd set. It's on the commentary for "Up the Down Steroid" (the episode where Cartman fakes a handicap to get into the Special Olympics).

[malephoenix]

I hadn't been following this series, but what a GREAT story idea. This is something that only sees print in indy books - I can't believe that Marvel printed this!

[Haunt]

I was surprise when FR died. I didn't see THAT coming.

But I kinda like the idea. It rings true with what is going on in Civil War.

If you don't have the right training, not only could you get other people killed but yourself too.

This is exactly what happened to FR. A nice guy who wanted to help people, but didn't have the training and so tradgedy ensued.

yeah, but it was so out of left-field. Kirkman creates a very likable character/responsible character with near-unlimited power at his disposal. but this guy starts out being hospitalized and paralyzed from the waste down. he rebounds only to be eviscerated by some good guy gone bad. and this is after the training (w/ Crusader), mind you. and all of this comes before Kirkman introduces his new character who 1) has the power to shrink 2) was very close to being fired from SHIELD because of incompetence and 3) is morally clueless. everything i've heard makes the Irredeemable Ant-Man sound like he would be more deserving of death than someone like Freedom Ring. Kirkman must really be into irony.

[Alan2099]

Nobody ever said the super hero game was fair.

[Doom]

I'm going to have to go against the grain here and say, frankly I'm glad he's dead.

The first two issues were good. Seeing the ring being moved around and Curtis living his life.

Then it went downhill. He got a ring that could let him do anything. And he goes into a fight with the Abomination with seemingly NO idea what his powers were and without making himself in any way durable. That annoyed me a bit, but it wasn't too bad. What really annoyed me was how he neighbour was a Skrull. That in itself wasn't too bad, but around that time a load of Skrulls had shown up in different Marvel comics. Why couldn't it have been Kree or some other alien. (Thinking back this reason is completely unreasonable, but at the time the idea that another Skrull showed up annoyed me for some reason.)

But what really annoyed me was we see this great Iron-Maniac story. Wolverine and Spidey prepare to have a kick ass fight against him, and it stops after seven pages. So we can see Freedom Ring go through a training montage with the Skrull.

Then there was the last issue, where Freedom Ring who already realised that running into fights with super strong people without training/healing factors/ super speed/ forcefield or super durability is a great way of getting crippled/killed. And what does he do? He does it again.

He really is a great argument for Super Hero Registration and the training it would provide.

*sigh* I'm coming across as mean spirited and bitter. I just for whatever reason started hating Freedom Ring more and more as the story went on and was happy to see him go. To those who liked him, I'm sorry for your lose.

[Haunt]

I'm going to have to go against the grain here and say, frankly I'm glad he's dead.

The first two issues were good. Seeing the ring being moved around and Curtis living his life.

Then it went downhill. He got a ring that could let him do anything. And he goes into a fight with the Abomination with seemingly NO idea what his powers were and without making himself in any way durable. That annoyed me a bit, but it wasn't too bad. What really annoyed me was how he neighbour was a Skrull. That in itself wasn't too bad, but around that time a load of Skrulls had shown up in different Marvel comics. Why couldn't it have been Kree or some other alien. (Thinking back this reason is completely unreasonable, but at the time the idea that another Skrull showed up annoyed me for some reason.)

But what really annoyed me was we see this great Iron-Maniac story. Wolverine and Spidey prepare to have a kick ass fight against him, and it stops after seven pages. So we can see Freedom Ring go through a training montage with the Skrull.

Then there was the last issue, where Freedom Ring who already realised that running into fights with super strong people without training/healing factors/ super speed/ forcefield or super durability is a great way of getting crippled/killed. And what does he do? He does it again.

He really is a great argument for Super Hero Registration and the training it would provide.

*sigh* I'm coming across as mean spirited and bitter. I just for whatever reason started hating Freedom Ring more and more as the story went on and was happy to see him go. To those who liked him, I'm sorry for your lose.


sounds to me (don't take this personally) that your hatred of Freedom Ring amounts to bad timing. his introduction interfered with another story that you liked better. me, i didn't care for the Iron Maniac. i was more interested in seeing Curtis' friends sit around eating pancakes and making jokes. i really love it when a writer brings new blood into the Marvel Universe. but, yeah, maybe Freedom Ring shouldn't have been thought up in a Marvel Team-Up book. maybe it should have been a new Marvel Premiere. but i'm not sure how you could hate him, just as a character. he was a nice guy who was having fun with his powers. and they were definately fun powers.

i can't be mad at him because he didn't instinctively make himself invulnerable. i wouldn't have thought to do that. heck, i wouldn't have even become a superhero. and what got him killed was his caring more about the other heroes than himself. he couldn't yet make himself invulnerable and pull that stunt where he made Iron Maniac immovable. how was he supposed to know that the armor was futuristic enough to attack on its own? his plan wasn't any worse than Spiderman and Wolverine just jumping on the bad guy. Freedom Ring was a poster boy for registration. i wish he had lived to get training. i could imagine Wonderman or Ms Marvel helping him out.

[ivesaidway2much]

sounds to me (don't take this personally) that your hatred of Freedom Ring amounts to bad timing. his introduction interfered with another story that you liked better. me, i didn't care for the Iron Maniac. i was more interested in seeing Curtis' friends sit around eating pancakes and making jokes. i really love it when a writer brings new blood into the Marvel Universe. but, yeah, maybe Freedom Ring shouldn't have been thought up in a Marvel Team-Up book. maybe it should have been a new Marvel Premiere. but i'm not sure how you could hate him, just as a character. he was a nice guy who was having fun with his powers. and they were definately fun powers.

i can't be mad at him because he didn't instinctively make himself invulnerable. i wouldn't have thought to do that. heck, i wouldn't have even become a superhero. and what got him killed was his caring more about the other heroes than himself. he couldn't yet make himself invulnerable and pull that stunt where he made Iron Maniac immovable. how was he supposed to know that the armor was futuristic enough to attack on its own? his plan wasn't any worse than Spiderman and Wolverine just jumping on the bad guy. Freedom Ring was a poster boy for registration. i wish he had lived to get training. i could imagine Wonderman or Ms Marvel helping him out.
I couldn't agree more, I absolutely loved Curtis and his friends. They were my favorite part of the entire series, and I've liked it from the beginning. But honestly, Curtis was a freaking moron when it came to superheroing. He was essentially a mini-Wanda. All Curtis had to do was walk up to the Abomination and paraphrase Wanda's "No more mutants" line and the Abomination becomes an annoying white guy with a really bad Russian accent. If he cast an illusion of Dr. Strange, he wouldn't have even had to end his date. I hope other writers are paying attention, especially those working on pro-reg characters because Curtis is a perfect example of why someon would support superhero registration.

[Doom Hammer]

sounds to me (don't take this personally) that your hatred of Freedom Ring amounts to bad timing. his introduction interfered with another story that you liked better. me, i didn't care for the Iron Maniac. i was more interested in seeing Curtis' friends sit around eating pancakes and making jokes. i really love it when a writer brings new blood into the Marvel Universe. but, yeah, maybe Freedom Ring shouldn't have been thought up in a Marvel Team-Up book. maybe it should have been a new Marvel Premiere. but i'm not sure how you could hate him, just as a character. he was a nice guy who was having fun with his powers. and they were definately fun powers.

i can't be mad at him because he didn't instinctively make himself invulnerable. i wouldn't have thought to do that. heck, i wouldn't have even become a superhero. and what got him killed was his caring more about the other heroes than himself. he couldn't yet make himself invulnerable and pull that stunt where he made Iron Maniac immovable. how was he supposed to know that the armor was futuristic enough to attack on its own? his plan wasn't any worse than Spiderman and Wolverine just jumping on the bad guy. Freedom Ring was a poster boy for registration. i wish he had lived to get training. i could imagine Wonderman or Ms Marvel helping him out.

I'm with you, man. I'm going to miss the characters. But damn, that was a good story. So very unexpected at every turn.