Marvel Avengers Infinite Series 2015 Wave 2

More Marvel 3 and 3/4 goodness with the second wave of Marvel Infinite action figures (or wave 7 if you've been following since the beginning!).

Starting with a reissue of Miles Morales....the Ultimate Spider-Man; two members of the Sinister Six...Doctor Octopus and the Vulture; an armored up version of Daredevil; Thor-lite with a version of Eric Masterson as Thunderstrike and Ka-Zar's Savage Land wife...Shanna the She-Devil.

Hoping that means we'll see Ka-Zar and Zabu soon, and with the original Sinister Six finished (Electro was in the very start of Marvel's 3 and 3/4 figures, Kraven and Mysterio more recently, and Sandman in the last wave), maybe we can get more members of the Masters of Evil or Sinister Syndicate...

Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars

"Can the combined might of Earth's most powerful heroes defeat the ultimate menace?"



That was the question asked on the cover of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 from May 1984 by Jim Shooter and Michael Zeck in the start of a twelve issue mini-series that would forever change Marvel Comics....

A Gathering

With the first issue (leading out from events of April, 1984's Amazing Spider-Man #251, Avengers #242, Captain America #292, Fantastic Four #264, Incredible Hulk #294, Iron Man #181, The Thing #10 and Uncanny X-Men #180), a representation of Earth's heroes found themselves on a satellite, listening to the Beyonder (an alien with supreme powers that had been observing the Earth for a time, and now brought a group to this place)....in order to form a Battleworld in which the opposing forces of good and evil would meet and determine which was more powerful.

The members of the Fantastic Four were the Thing, the Human Torch and Mr. Fantastic, the members of the Avengers were Captain America, Iron Man (James Rhodes, as Tony Stark had been having problems at the time), Thor, Wasp, Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau, a lady with energy powers who had just recently joined the Avengers), and the X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Rouge, with Spider-Man and the Hulk as single heroes...all set to battle against villains Dr. Doom, Magneto, Galactus, Dr. Octopus, Enchantress, Kang, the Lizard, Absorbing Man, the Wrecker and his Wrecking Crew (Thunderball, Piledriver, and Bulldozer), Ultron, Klaw and the Molecule Man.

A new hero came of out this with a new Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter) in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #7 (November, 1984), as well as a few new villains (Titania and Volcana from Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #3, July, 1984).  It also gave Spider-Man his "living suit" (which eventually became Venom, in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8, December, 1984).

The heroes and villains found other cities that the Beyonder had taken and combined to form his Battleworld (where the people they encountered came from), and all the while, Galactus planned to feed...and Dr. Doom schemed to come out on top of everyone.  Won't say how it all ended with Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12 in April, 1985, but as we saw all the heroes return (more or less, other than the Thing, who stayed on the Battleworld for a time), but as there was still titles published at Marvel Comics (with changed heroes dealing what happened to themselves during the year long mini-series), the ending wasn't much of a spoiler to regular readers (and then there was another Secret Wars, Secret Wars II from July, 1985 to March, 1986 that brought the Beyonder to Earth, and directly crossed over with the Marvel titles of the time).

The Change

The change brought about by Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars involved an armor upgrade for Iron Man, a busted leg and badder attitude for the Hulk, roster changes for the Fantastic Four and the Avengers (as well as an eventual expansion of the Avengers, with Vision adding a west coast team), new costumes for the X-Men (and a new understanding of Magneto for a time), and the alien symbiote that would become Venom to menace Spider-Man (all mostly in their May, 1984 titles like Amazing Spider-Man #252, Avengers #243, Captain America #293, Fantastic Four #265, Incredible Hulk #295, Iron Man #182, The Thing #11 and Uncanny X-Men #181, and taking place between the pages of Thor #341).

But the biggest change of all was the loss of freedom that individual comics had to tell a story all their own, and a firmer editorial control and over-dependance of crossovers to drive sales of comics...taking away some of the innocence of those titles, as well as the ability to follow one comic by itself for any length of time.  This, going back to that battle of good vs. evil, and showing sadly that, in the end, it is greed and power that seems to win out, instead of the creative good.

Amazing Spider-Man's Sinister Six

True, the Sinister Six are some of the Amazing Spider-Man's most devious villains...but they also had an effect on the rest of the mighty Marvel Universe!


The Sinister Six premiered in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (January, 1964) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and included 6 of Spidey's biggest, baddest foes (at the time...all also created by Lee and Ditko!).


This was the original gathering of this bunch, and certainly a tough task for Peter Parker to face...


Let's break the six down, one by one...

One of Six: Electro

Max Dillon was an electrical lineman who, due to a freak accident gained electrical powers and set about on a life of crime, starting with Amazing Spider-Man #9 (February, 1964).


Electro quickly branched out as well, fighting Daredevil (even founding his own group of villains, the Emissaries of Evil with Leap-Frog, the Stilt-Man, the Matador and the Gladiator) and he later joined the Frightful Four (a group of villains that gathered together to fight the Fantastic Four including the Wizard and Trapster, as well as some later on this list) as well as battling against Captain America's partner, the high-flying Falcon!

Two of Six: Vulture

Adrian Toomes was an electronics engineer who was cheated out of a fortune by his business partner, and then took his own flying harness to become the Vulture (in Amazing Spider-Man #2, May, 1963)  and avenge the wrongs felt done to him.

The Vulture was a more elderly villain, set in his ways, and stayed in New York to face Spider-Man mostly, though occasionally he fought others like Daredevil and the Punisher, and even facing off against the Beyonder in Secret Wars II and Rusty Collins of the New Mutants!

Three of Six: Mysterio

Quentin Black was a master of misdirection, he worked with special effects and was a stuntman on the side, and started his individual battles with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #13 (June, 1964).

Mysterio worked as an unnamed assistant to the Tinkerer (a foe Spidey first fought in Amazing Spider-Man #2), but continued to bedevil Spider-Man over the years using tricks like a fog that nullified Spider-Man's Spider-Sense and other tricks to make Peter Parker doubt himself.  Like most Spider-Man villains, he also ended up facing Daredevil...and the one and only X-Man as well!

Four of Six: Sandman

Flint Marko was his name and he was a thug...or just a good little mama's boy named William Baker, until, while trying to escape the police, he came into contact with sand irradiated from a local nuclear plant, and left his normal problems on the beach (with Amazing Spider-Man #4, September, 1963).

Sandman started his career menacing Spider-Man, but soon branched out, facing the Human Torch alone in Strange Tales, joining the Sinister Six, then being a founder of the Frightful Four (along with the Wizard, Trapster and Medusa).  Sandman even battled the Hulk, and then became friends with the Thing...trying to turn good for a time (even ending up as a provisional member of the Avengers) before going back to crime.

Five of Six: Kraven the Hunter

Sergei Kravinoff was a big game hunter and member of a family of Russian aristocrats who had to flee the country after the Communists took it over, and crossed paths with the amazing arachnid in Amazing Spider-Man #15 (August, 1964).

Kraven the Hunter fought Spider-Man with mucho gusto, and also battled with Iron Man, jungle lord Ka-Zar, Daredevil and the Black Widow, Spider-Man's foe the Man-Wolf, Tigra the were-woman and more, considering most heroes as big game, and it was later revealed Kraven was a member of a 1950s version of the Avengers!  Kraven even took on a nobility in facing Spider-Man in Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt by J. M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck.

Six of Six: Dr. Octopus 

Otto Octavius was a young kid, bullied by those around him, including his father, so turned his attention to science, becoming a respected nuclear physicist, engineer and researcher... ....and while using a creation of his own (mechanical tentacles) to control a reaction, it went wrong in Amazing Spider-Man #3 (July, 1963).

Dr. Octopus became one of Spider-Man deadliest villains, founding the Sinister Six to defeat Spider-Man.  For the most part, the doctor faced Spider-Man, but occasionally fought against other members of the Marvel Universe, like Daredevil (in a pre-Elektra story with plot and art by Frank Miller), Captain America (to get his shield and improve his tentacles) and Mr. Fantastic (of the Fantastic Four, for the life of Sue's baby).  Doc Ock even got recruited for the bad guys team for the original Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars, working with Dr. Doom, the Wrecking Crew, Absorbing Man, the Enchantress, Klaw, Ultron and more!   Dr. Octopus reformed the Sinister Six (having Hobgoblin replace Kraven, who had committed suicide...Chameleon has also been a replacement as well...). 

Doc Ock continues to menace Spider-Man to this very day, having replaced Peter Parker's mind in Spider-Man's body, and lives on as the Superior Spider-Man.

Still, all these villains will come back and face Spidey again, but they have proved their reach expands through the entire Marvel Universe and beyond!