Greatest Swerve/Surprise In A Marvel Comic

[Monty_Cristo]

which scene/event caught you by surprise the most?

[It Is Inevitable]

Amazing Spider-Man #121 "The Night Gwen Stacy Died"

The death of Gwen Stacy shocked the comic book community. Previously, it had been unthinkable to kill off such an important character -- the girlfriend of the main character and a character with a large fanbase.

This story arc is considered one of the markers of the end of the Silver Age of Comic Books, and the beginning of the Bronze Age.

[Monty_Cristo]

Amazing Spider-Man #121 "The Night Gwen Stacy Died"

The death of Gwen Stacy shocked the comic book community. Previously, it had been unthinkable to kill off such an important character -- the girlfriend of the main character and a character with a large fanbase.

This story arc is considered one of the markers of the end of the Silver Age of Comic Books, and the beginning of the Bronze Age.

wouldn't the death count as inevitable; therefore, not being much of a surprise? i would think that bad stuff happening to a protagonist's supporting cast is expected. kind of falls under **** happens, whereas not many people could have seen it coming when Citizen V removed his mask to reveal Helmut Zemo. just playing devil's advocate.

[It Is Inevitable]

wouldn't the death count as inevitable; therefore, not being much of a surprise? i would think that bad stuff happening to a protagonist's supporting cast is expected. kind of falls under **** happens, whereas not many people could have seen it coming when Citizen V removed his mask to reveal Helmut Zemo. just playing devil's advocate.

Yeah it would be now.

But considering the time when it originally happened it was actually quite shocking.

[StoneGold]

I have to agree with Inevitable, in that it wasn't. You're looking at it too much from the perspective of history. But I can think of a few more shockers.

- Jeanne DeWolffe dying on the... I forget, was it second or third page?

- The then-dead Red Skull being behind Steve Rogers being fired as Cap and the appointment of John Walker. There were clues everywhere, but my pre-pubescent self was caught completely flatfooted.

- Bullseye's Greatest Hits being possibly a fabrication so he could murder his father.

[Scott Evil]

Drax ventilating Thanos' chest by punching his heart out, making it so Drax's purpose in life is met.

[StoneGold]

Drax ventilating Thanos' chest by punching his heart out, making it so Drax's purpose in life is met.

I don't know if that was really a swerve. I mean, the entire issue was Drax trying to kill Thanos. The only real shock was how violently depicted it was.

[Scott Evil]

I don't know if that was really a swerve. I mean, the entire issue was Drax trying to kill Thanos. The only real shock was how violently depicted it was.

Agreed w/ the graphic nature of how they pulled it off, but the whole "Drax will kill Thanos!" prophecy felt pretty neutered at that point (IIRC). Nobody took it seriously, most of forum boards didn't think it'd ever happen, and didn't give Marvel the credit that they'd pull it off. *Technically* Drax is supposed to be able to do it, but fans didn't think the creators had the balls to pull it off. I guess we were wrong.

Kinda like Jericho becoming the first Undisputed Champ. Fans wanted it, but we knew Vince & Co. wouldn't let it happen. But alas; here we are.

BTW: The title asks for 'Greatest Swerve/Surprise...', so although not a 'swerve', Thanos' most recent death (to me, at least) would definitely fall under the 'surprise' category.

[worstblogever]

Thunderbolts #1 when they were revealed as the Masters of Evil. There was nothing in the previews to indicate that's what the series would be about, and people couldn't stop talking about Zemo's plan.

[StoneGold]

I'm just saying, the death itself was less surprising to me than the graphic nature of it. I guess you could kind of label that a surprise... but it's pushing it.

Hey, you know what was a pretty big surprise? The old-school Squadron Supreme showing up in the last issue of Ultimate Power. Granted, I have no idea if the payoff will be worth it, but damned if I didn't swallow my gum.

[Expletive Deleted]

I think part of the surprise of the Thanos/Drax situation was the lack of a twist. We're conditioned to expect last-minute escapes from our mastermind types.

[Scott Evil]

I think part of the surprise of the Thanos/Drax situation was the lack of a twist. We're conditioned to expect last-minute escapes from our mastermind types.

Thank you. That's the other thing I just realized helped create the "OH, $NAP!" moment for me. I was already assuming Thanos would teleport out of there, a clone would reveal himself, Annihilus would stop Drax, deus ex machina du jour - anything. What I got instead was awesome.


Back to topic; Loved the reveal of "Xorn" as "Magneto" (good Lord that's alot of '""''"). I don't like how it panned out eventually, but that reveal and the subsequent explanation - I was FLOORED. That, and the Phil Jimenez art didn't hurt either.

[Monty_Cristo]

Agreed w/ the graphic nature of how they pulled it off, but the whole "Drax will kill Thanos!" prophecy felt pretty neutered at that point (IIRC). Nobody took it seriously, most of forum boards didn't think it'd ever happen, and didn't give Marvel the credit that they'd pull it off. *Technically* Drax is supposed to be able to do it, but fans didn't think the creators had the balls to pull it off. I guess we were wrong.

Kinda like Jericho becoming the first Undisputed Champ. Fans wanted it, but we knew Vince & Co. wouldn't let it happen. But alas; here we are.

BTW: The title asks for 'Greatest Swerve/Surprise...', so although not a 'swerve', Thanos' most recent death (to me, at least) would definitely fall under the 'surprise' category.

maybe but i can think of 'better' surprises that were telegraphed ex. Dell Rusk being the Red Skull and shooting Falcon during Geoff Johns Avengers run. i think it was more of a payoff than "villain gets his just desserts via a hero prophecied to kill him."

Thunderbolts #1 when they were revealed as the Masters of Evil. There was nothing in the previews to indicate that's what the series would be about, and people couldn't stop talking about Zemo's plan.

it was definately was my favorite. i was a huge Masters of Evil/Beetle fan back then. and i still didn't guess what was going to happen until it did.

[Babylon23]

Thunderbolts #1 was definitely the biggest swerve for me. I didn't see it coming at all.

However, I'm sure the death of Gwen Stacey was a huge surprise back in the day (it was a little before my time). I know most of us don't remember it, but there was a time when the death of a major character was a surprise in comics.

[1WEBHEAD]

Annihilus being behind Annihilation.

A big kick in the pants for me.

[Siddon]

Layla becoming a murderer is not something I saw coming.

Hank and Janet making it out of AD alive was a big surprise, they were really setting a Hank death up.

And of course the lameness of Penance (Generation X).

[Monty_Cristo]

Layla becoming a murderer is not something I saw coming.


when did she become a murderer? first time was self-defense. last time was a robot.

[Siddon]

when did she become a murderer? first time was self-defense. last time was a robot.

Don't forget the Quicksilver stuff.

But I guess she's not technically a murderer just a lot of people die or near die around her.

[StoneGold]

Ant-Man being green-lit in the first place.

Oh, this one is kind of obscure, but the mystery behind what Night Thrasher kept in his armored fanny pack. Turns out, it was an Uzi.

And the ID of the Winter Soldier. Which I think everyone knew by the time it actually happened, and it was still hard to believe.

Samus is a woman! Wait, no, that's not Marvel, never mind.

[Your Imaginary Pal]

Devil Dinosaur in Nextwave.
who saw that coming?

[jackolover]

JMS' Spider Clan in ASM. Biggest surprise. Then Aunt May finding out Peter is Spiderman.

[Monty_Cristo]

Devil Dinosaur in Nextwave.
who saw that coming?

i sure didn't.

[drwho]

Its not often you get any surprises these days. I was surprised to see the Phalanx show up though in the conquest prologue. One of the most recent pleasant surprises.

[Lombardo!]

elektra's a skrull?!

may not be the most liked, but the opening of a door to multiple conspiracies cant be ignored

[matthewaos]

Punisher killing the rest of the Cesare family (those that didn't kill in the previous issue) with a bazooka in the old man's funeral, in Punisher MAX #2. Could not believe there was a comic as brutal as that...

[Chiasm]

Jean Grey committing suicide in X-men #137. Its to this day the only scene in a comic where I've actually shed tears. I'm not sure if it was her death or the way it happened that got to me but I never saw it coming.

[Omega Alpha]

If i was reading then, i think Xorn being Magneto would be one of the greatest (since I only read the story after i knew the twist). And Gwen Stacy dying would probably be even more of a shock. Sure, the cover indicates someone is dying, but everyone would be on a minor character. Jean Grey dying on DPS would be a shock too.

From those I've read without knowing, Elektra being a Skrull was probably the biggest surprise. Not my favorite, but the biggest. I'm sure there are plenty of people who will say they saw it coming from day one, but, no, they didn't.

[vapinospidey]

I would say Thunderbolts as the Masters of Evil for me!

[Lombardo!]

actually, now i think about it, the biggest heart-stopping "phwoar omfg" moments for me are as follows:

- seeing my name printed in Agents of Atlas #3 (thanks to Marvel.com's Temple of Atlas blog)
- Thor's return (that final page of CW where it was Thor standing there, before revealed to be Clor next issue)
- Spidey's Unmasking (was big for a while, of course until the Thor reveal trumped it)
- Colossus' return in Astonishing X-Men
- Genoshan Genocide

[matthewaos]

Yeah, the unmasking was a big shock, I didn't believe they would actually do it. The Xorn been Magneto imo was not a OMGG!! moment, it was morison's attempt to "kill" his (great) character, and fuck the whole X Universe, just because (the rest of his run is just great though).

[escapegoat]

The death of Guardian in Alpha Flight #12. From a setup standpoint, it looked like it would be either Snowbird or NorthStar/Aurora. To have taken out the leader of the team in such a brutal way was something that had never been done before to a superteam.

Then there was Guardian's return in #25, with a plausible story that turned out to be a ruse in #26(?) as a part of Omega Flight's revenge (the original villaiinous version) - that also threw me for a swerve.

It weas too bad that they wound up using that same swerve story to actually bring him back so much later on in the series (in the mid-80's). He was better off dead than turning into the messed-up character that he became.

[Karl H]

Thunderbolts.

And, at the time, Mags pulling out Wolverine's adamantium, way back in Fatal Attractions.

And Darth Vader being luke's dad.

[mattbib]

The Thunderbolts reveal was definitely the biggest swerve.

However, the biggest surprise to me was probably the death of Captain America. Biggest uproar I ever remember in response to a single issue.

[StoneGold]

The Thunderbolts reveal was definitely the biggest swerve.

However, the biggest surprise to me was probably the death of Captain America. Biggest uproar I ever remember in response to a single issue.

The biggest part of that swerve was finding out over Cheerios before I could get to the comic shop.

[Shellhead]

The Thunderbolts reveal was definitely the biggest swerve.

However, the biggest surprise to me was probably the death of Captain America. Biggest uproar I ever remember in response to a single issue.

Cap has died many times before. I think this time had more impact because of the quality of Brubaker's writing and the publicity campaign, but "death" of a major comic character shouldn't be particularly shocking to anybody who has been reading comics in the last decade or so.

[matthewaos]

Oh yeah, fatal atraction! I think that Osborn's return was also a shocker.

[StoneGold]

Oh yeah, fatal atraction! I think that Osborn's return was also a shocker.

It really, really was at the time. Capping off the clone nonsense, Ben melts, proving Pete was the real deal all along, and Norman was behind the whole thing all along. That was some head twister stuff.

[CapnCaveman]

Amazing Spider-Man #121 "The Night Gwen Stacy Died"

The death of Gwen Stacy shocked the comic book community. Previously, it had been unthinkable to kill off such an important character -- the girlfriend of the main character and a character with a large fanbase.

This story arc is considered one of the markers of the end of the Silver Age of Comic Books, and the beginning of the Bronze Age.

I agree with this. It was an incredible issue and while the cover gave away the fact trhat there would be a death, they did not reveal the title "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" until the final panel. How often did major characters like Gwen die in those days? It was huge and I doubt many people saw it coming.

Other sweres that stand out to me are:

- The three mentioned in this post's poll

- the Death of Guardian in Alpha Flight #12. I re-read that about 20 times trying to figure it out because I could not phathom them killing the leader of the group and probably most popular member.

- Dr. Doom beating the Beyonder in Secret War #10

- Beta Ray Bill gaining the Thor power in Thor #337

- The Angel getting his wings impaled by the Marauders, then later committing suicide (at lease before Apocalypse saved him).

[DDM]

Storm's death in Uncanny X-Men #248:

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/97792366288.248.GIF

I did not take the cover seriously, at first, because I believed it to be hyperbole. However, following the issue in Uncanny X-Men #249, the remaining X-Men buried her. Months later, in Uncanny X-Men #253, a young child who looks like Ororo appears, although she is amnesiac. I was hooked. And doubted this girl could be Storm until she got her memories back in Uncanny X-Men #265-267 with a second encounter with Nanny & the Orphan Maker plus the Shadow King & his Hounds!

[Alan2099]

The "mysterious stranger" that kept appearing in the Spider-man books turned out to BE Spider-man ... or at least his clone.

Who saw that one coming?

[RangerNec]

Guardian's death in Alpha Flight 12
Elektra's a Skrull

Not Marvel but my all-time biggest wtf surprise was Terra in Teen Titans working with the Terminator.

[matthewaos]

The "mysterious stranger" that kept appearing in the Spider-man books turned out to BE Spider-man ... or at least his clone.

Who saw that one coming?

Agreed. Also, angel "crucified" by tthe Marauders, that was mentioned was one great moment.

Oh, I found it!!!

Kraven shooting Spidey in Kraven's last hunt. I would not say Kraven committing suicide, because it felt as the most suitable ending.