Marvelous May – Storm vs Gamora

Welcome back to Marvelous May, and today, it’s X-Men vs Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s Ororo Munroe, aka Storm, vs Gamora!

Storm

Descended from a line of African priestesses, Ororo Munroe lost her parents at a young age when a plane crashed into their home in Cairo. Afterward, she was trained by street urchins to be a master pickpocket. Wouldn’t you know it, she one day picked the pocket of one Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men, who kept an eye on her over the years, as he sensed she was a Mutant. Eventually, her powers manifested to allow her to save the life of a young Wakandan Prince, who would later become Black Panther. She was then taken to Kenya to be trained to use her powers responsibly, and was believed to be and worshiped as a Goddess. This is where, during a time period where the X-Men needed new members, Ororo was found and recruited, taking on the name Storm. She possesses atmokinesis, allowing her to manipulate the weather to her liking. Wind, rain, lightning, and snow all bend to her command, as she can create or control storms, and use the wind currents to fly. Unfortunately, the events that resulted in her parents’ death left her with a horrible case of claustrophobia, and her emotional state ultimately effects how well she can control her powers. That said, when she’s in full control, few can hope to stop the sheer force and power of Storm.

Gamora

So, right off the bat, two things that people might not know about Gamora: She’s originally from an alternate universe, meaning she’s not actually native to Earth-616, and her full name is Gamora Zen Whoberi Ben Titan… … …Yeah, if it’s all the same with her, I’mma just call her Gamora. 😛 She’s the sole survivor of a race from her universe and someone brought her over to the mainstream Marvel Universe to save her. Problem? Her savior was Thanos, who molded her into a weapon, and a damned efficient one at that. She is considered the most dangerous woman in the universe, being trained to be an expert markswoman, a weapons expert, and a skilled martial artist, and all of that is on top of her natural abilities as a Zen Whoberis, which makes her super strong, super fast, and so on. Luckily for Gamora, she one day learned of Thanos’ ultimate plan: To kill the entire universe in a bid to impress Death…because Death is an actual person in the Marvel Universe, AND a woman, and he is trying to woo her by killing EVERYONE. Yeah, clearly, he’s not all there, but really, what would you expect from someone called the Mad Titan? She’s since switched over to the side of good, working with a few different heroes from time to time, until she eventually found her home with a rag-tag group calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a decision that seems to be working out for her, and has led to her being empowered by the Black Vortex, which gave her the ability fly, survive the vacuum of space, and basically access hammerspace. And hey, who wouldn’t wanna ride with an anthropomorphic raccoon with guns, a Captain Kirk wannabe, a giant tree with a three-word-long vocabulary, and the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion?

Anyway, be sure to vote on who you think should win this match by May 12th, at which point the winner will move on to take on the winner of the next bout. And be sure to check out the links below to read more about these two, as well as come back for the final match of the first round: Rogue vs Jean Grey. Ja né!

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Ororo_Munroe_(Earth-616)

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Gamora_Zen_Whoberi_Ben_Titan_(Earth-7528)

What I Bought Today – Nightwing #24, Red Sonja #4, Fearless Defenders #10 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

So, other than Batman #24, I did get some other comics, so let’s once again check out…

So, to start with, let’s talk about The Fearless Defenders #10!

Before I start, I should note that this is technically a tie-in to an event going on in Marvel entitled Infinity. And I’m just gonna say this right now: I know precisely jack squat about what’s going on in Infinity. I know it has to do with an invasion by Thanos, and that the Avengers are otherwise occupied, and that tons of characters are involved so we see the various perspectives as the invasion occurs, but I honestly don’t know much else. In fact, this is the second time this has happened recently, as Adjectiveless X-Men is currently involved in a crossover with the other X-Men books. Maybe I’ll pick up the trade if it turns out to be any good, but for now, I have no idea. Otherwise, I just wanna say, DC and Marvel really need to hold back on major crossover events until a comic has at least hit 12 issues. Seriously, this keeps happening. You need to actually have a status quo BEFORE you can shake it up. lol

Thankfully, you don’t really need to know too many details of Infinity, as the opening narration gives just enough that you get the jist of what’s going on in this issue at least: During Thanos’ invasion, Attilan, home of the Inhumans, has blown up in the skies over Manhattan, and now people are turning into cocoons. One such individual is a girl named Ren Kimura, a young girl who has issues with her parents over her love of dance and lesbian lifestyle. Hatching from the cocoon, however, she finds her hands being covered in razor-sharp ribbons that are as strong as steel. Long story short, she gets attacked by one of the Wardogs of Thanos while his buddies are Caroline LeFay’s Doom Maidens, but is saved by the Defenders. LeFay wants the people in the cocoons for herself and tries to take Ren by force, but apparently she can launch out more ribbons at long-range, and using her various dance techniques, she’s able to defeat Scorpia and Shriek, while the Defenders send the rest packing too. Thus, the comic ends with Valkyrie becoming Annabelle, who convinces Ren to join the team, and it seems the two may be somewhat smitten with each other. Overall, fun comic as always, and Ren is a very welcome addition to the team.

Nightwing #24 picks up where the last one ended, with Tony Zucco offering to help. Apparently, Prankster‘s father, Harold Loomis, was the electrical engineer of a train line project the now-Mayor and his brother convinced City Hall to go through with, but Loomis died on Halloween in an accident, and Cole’s brother, William, took the fall for it. Wallace Cole never actually stole any money, and Prankster killing criminals was to make it so that when he told the people of Chicago that Mayor Cole stole $52,000,000.00, they believed him. All he’s really after is revenge for the death of his father. Prankster’s also planted enough explosives in Pilsen Station to cause Chicago’s entire south end to collapse in on itself. Luckily, with a little help from Zucco, Nightwing is able to save the Mayor, send the bombs into the lake to explode harmlessly, and bring Prankster in, Zucco deciding to let himself be apprehended as well. He doesn’t want to run anymore, and wants his son to know he took responsibility for his actions, but it seems it’s too little, too late: Zucco’s wife and son have left him, leaving him with the choice of beating the charges against him and going back to his old life, or going to jail and being a martyr for a life that doesn’t exist anymore…Also, that guy Maxwell is a super-villain.

Red Sonja #4…Seriously, if you love Gail Simone‘s writing but are not getting this book, there’s something wrong with you. We see that Annisia is kinda completely butt-fucking INSANE, as a farmer who tries to break quarantine insists that no one has died of the plague since the king was killed and Sonja was sent away, but Annisia talks to her invisible friends, I-I mean the souls of the dead, if she should offer him mercy, and then proceeds to cut his head off. Ayla and Nias, the twins assigned by King Dimath to be Sonja’s bodyguards, give her some of the elixer created by the king’s son, Timath, and tell her that if they can get her home, Timath can cure her…and Sonja, being Sonja, is more concerned with whether or not they brought alcohol. XD

Anyway, they begin their trek back to the quarantined kingdom as Sonja has flashbacks to her time with Annisia in the colosseum, where the two fought as sisters for their survival. However, along the way, Ayla and Nias are attacked by men of the deep (basically fishmen), led by Toda the Tormentor, a slave-driver. Toda’s men are about to kill Ayla, but Sonja recovers enough of her strength to take them all down, despite having to be blindfolded earlier to keep her eyes from being harmed by the sun. And so, the comic ends with Sonja removing the blindfold and declaring that she’s coming for Annisia. Again, GREAT issue. 🙂

So, that’s it for this week’s comics. Now, as you all know, I have a certain purchase to make this weekend. However, instead of a What I Bought Today, I will instead be giving updates on my Twitter, as well as talking about information officially unveiled upon the game’s release, and giving an overview after I’ve defeated the Elite Four. I might do day-end updates on my progress in the game on here, too, haven’t decided yet. In the meantime, though, check in next week when I look at Batman and Robin #24 and Supergirl #24. Ja né!

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