The Unofficial Handbook of the History of Earth-Amalgam.
by Carycomic
Disclaimer ( re: characters and concepts): If you recognize them, I don't own or profit from them.
Foreword: In 1996, Marvel Comics and their Distinguished Competition finally had the long awaited intercompany crossover to end all such crossovers (up to that point in time): DC VS. MARVEL. It was a four-issue mini-series that resulted in a series of one-shot comic books showing what life would be like if these two literary universes were ever amalgamated! And, needless to say, it was such a success, there were two sequel mini-series. Both of them built around the (ultimately under-used) character, Axel Asher.
Better known as "Access."
This story is my thoughts on how history might have gone in the pocket dimension created at the end of ALL ACCESS #4 (final issue of the first sequel series). A pocket dimension that is currently within a container similar to the blue rubber ball used by Franklin Richards for the post-Onslaught version of Counter-Earth. Or, for the more cinematic-minded, the jeweled cat collar from the original MEN IN BLACK!
That being said, let us proceed. Or, as Stan Lee might put it, more succinctly: "Excelsior! ! !"
1900: In order to spy on the progress of the genetically engineered, Earth-based Kree offshoot known as the Inhumans, Skrull shapeshifter Roh-Kar infiltrates the Manhunters of Tibet by posing as a cross-trainee from the planet Quist. His first assignment for them, in that capacity is to slay the infamous Count Dracula himself on behalf of a Transylvanian viscount named Crowler! Unfortunately for Roh-Kar, he underestimates the Lord of Vampires, who ambushes and drains him, leaving him for dead. Yet, the germs in Dracula's saliva have an unexpected side-effect on the alien's DNA. Not only does he come back to life. But, his shapeshifting ability mutates into the power to physically merge his body with somebody else's (with his own mind dominant)! Thus, does he finally learn the truth: Crowler is an alchemist who simply wanted Dracula's blood as the main ingredient for an elixir of immortality. And, intrigued by all the new possibilities, Roh-Kar abandons his original mission in order to continue posing as Crowler.
1910: Master Khan of Kun-Lun hires an expatriate Japanese ninja of the Hand to assassinate Crown Prince Kai (newborn heir to the throne of Kun-Lun). But, the attempt is thwarted by the visiting mage, Nabu the Ancient One! The latter teleporting the infant to safety in neighboring India. There, he is ultimately found, adopted, and christened "David," by missionary couple John and Constance Rand.
1920: Constance learns that her father, the elderly Lord Plunder, is dying. So John charters a plane in which he can fly the whole family (including ten year-old David's adopted pet tiger cub, Zar, whom he refused to leave behind) back to England. Unfortunately, while halfway between Capetown and Cairo, the plane is driven off-course, by a freak storm, and forced to crash-land in the West African jungle. David and Zar are the only survivors. But, almost instantly, they are sensed and found by M'staka: mighty wizard-king of nearby Kor (a so-called "lost city"). And, upon psychometrically learning the boy's circumstances (plus his true origin), he feels guilty. For the "freak storm" was actually the side-effect of a recent battle of magicks between himself and a would-be usurper named Felix Faust! Thus, the wizard-king decides to raise the boy as his own. Renaming him "Janu Lo-Zar" (which, in the language of Kor, means "Janu, Son of Zar"). Although, the youngster becomes better known as "Janu of the Jungle!"
1930: "Viscount Crowler" usurps the body of his own grandson, so he can journey to the Himalayas...and study wizardry under the Ancient One. At the same time, in the West African Kingdom of Wakanda, a rebellious plotter named M'Baku re-establishes the forbidden Golden Gorilla cult.
1940: Dr. Ulysses Klawicki (a pro-Communist scientist from Nazi-occupied Poland) is ordered by Stalin, himself, to help a German military expedition invade and occupy Wakanda. Janu of the Jungle subsequently witnesses the murder of King T'Chaka. After which, he and Zar personally rescue young Prince T'Challa from summary execution! In fleeing to neighboring Kor, however, they are pursued by the Golden Gorilla, itself. And, with the transposed mind of M'Baku governing its actions, it kills Zar (loyally acting as rear guard for his master) with relative ease. Fortunately, for all concerned, though, M'staka is currently entertaining two visitors: veteran great white hunter and explorer, "Congo Bill" O'Hara; and American occultist Jason Bloodstone. And, upon learning what has transpired, the two men agree to help with the counter-attack. Bloodstone does so by turning into Etrigan the Demon. . .
. . .and strangling the Golden Gorilla with his bare hands!
Meanwhile, Congo Bill snipes a Luger from Klawicki's right hand. Not only shattering every major bone in it. But, also, leaving it a perfect target for amputation through T'Challa's use of his father's vibranium-bladed battle axe! A formerly ceremonial weapon that the young prince uses to rally the rest of his people into wiping out the German military force to the last man. And, when Hitler eventually learns of this debacle, he blames it all on Stalin. Thereby rationalizing the former's violation of the non-aggression treaty between them, the following year.
1941: In March of this year, American war correspondent Mark Todd takes shelter from an artillery barrage (in Japanese-occupied China) in a cave that turns out to be an entrance to the underground retreat of the "Skull Men." These quasi-Buddhist mystics have developed the ability to make their heads so transparent, outsiders can see right through to their skulls! They do this (while projecting an aura of flickering flame where their hair should be) to show that all people are the same underneath. And they tell Mark that he has been led to them because he is pre-destined to champion the oppressed using their gifts. By the time he returns to the United States, shortly after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, he has learned enough to become the costumed crime-fighter eventually known as...the Blazing Skull.
1942: Exiled Latverian Victor Von Doom begins his own studies with a Tibetan-based sect of the Skull Men. Meanwhile, his American cousin, Dr. Wilfrid Doome, invents a time-travel machine with the help of his colleague, Professor Zee, and their research assistant...Per Degaton.
1944: Captain America, the U.S. Army's one-and-only "super-soldier," disappears somewhere over the North Sea, after diverting the trajectory of a Nazi doomsday missile initially aimed at London.
1945: The Allies win World War II.
1946: Janu Lo-Zar leaves Kor in order to journey to England as "David Rand." There, he meets his mother's cousin, Lord Robert Plunder. The latter inherited the title from his uncle, the late Lord Reginald Plunder, back in 1921. And David learns that Congo Bill's visit to Kor, five years earlier, was a desperate last attempt-by the Plunder family solicitor-to find either him...or incontrovertible proof of his death. Meanwhile, Sir Justin the Shining Knight (formerly with the 7 Soldiers of Victory) is recruited by the High Evolutionary of Wundagore to organize his so-called "New Men" along the lines of the Arthurian royal court. And, in Tibet, Karel Amadeus Mordo finally realizes that he has not been fooling Nabu (so much as vice-versa) over the last fifteen years. Thus, he returns to the outside world in order to conquer it...as Baron Wotan!
1947: Wotan uses what wizardry he did learn, from the Ancient One, to transfer a curse of lycanthropy from Grigori Russoff to Alan "the Green Lantern" Scott. He then sends GL (re-dubbed "the Man-Beast") to attack the New Men, as part of a master plan to summon the Elder God Chthon to Earth via blood sacrifices. The New Men are therefore aided by the JSA, including Dr. Fate (Wotan's predecessor as star pupil of Nabu) and the Spectre. The latter grapples with Chthon, personally, while the former restores GL's free will. Or, at least, just long enough to let the reluctant werewolf use his power ring to boost the output of the High Evolutionary's genetic accelerator! Consequently, Alan Scott becomes "the Green Knight". And, with his hyper-evolved emerald energy, he aids the Spectre in pushing Chthon back through the interdimensional portal. But, the victory is a Pyrrhic one, as both of these veteran JSA-ers go through it, too (in order to insure that the portal remains closed for all eternity).
[Note: To avoid capture at the hands of Dr. Fate, Wotan usurps the body of small-time-but-sticky-fingered stage magician William Azard. The latter subsequently becomes co-founder of the Injustice Society of the World.]
1948: Following their successful capture of fugitive Nazi war criminal Baron von Zemo in South America, the Tibetan Manhunters are hired by the Symkarian government to do the same thing, with regard to Wolfgang von Strucker. But, the latter now resides in post-war Japan as the new Dragon King of the Hand! And his would-be captors prove no match for his ninja bodyguards. Thus begins a blood-feud between the two secret societies.
1949: Le Deauxieme Bureau-French army intelligence-recruits David Rand to rescue their top agent, WWII resistance veteran Marie Remarque, from the Cambodian jungle stronghold of the Dragon's Breadth cult. The rescue attempt is successful. . .and the two begin seeing each other socially, after their respective debriefings back in Paris.
1950: The Skull Men of China are massacred by Deviant mercenaries from Subterranean Lemuria under the leadership of Warlord Kro. They were hired to do so by Druig; a renegade Eternal posing as a Russian military advisor to the new Communist Chinese government. For Druig is seeking the same thing Marie Remarque was: the long-lost Serpent Crown of Lemuria!
An antediluvian artifact of great psionic power, it was stolen from Hitler's personal collection of occult talismans at war's end by Paul Destine of the Clan Destine. And Druig is not the only one who covets it. So do four others: Kano the Shadowmaster (a mysterious ninja); his American ally of convenience, the Blazing Skull; Baron Wotan (alias the Wizard); and, last but not least, Victor Von Doom. The latter now clad in a magical suit of battle armor forged by the vengeful members of the Tibetan Skull Men!
1951: Paul Destine uses the Serpent Crower's power to have the JSA brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The latter are accused of becoming inefficient risks to national security, as they had recently been fooled by a criminal master of disguise known as the Key. A criminal who could have been a Communist spy masquerading as an American government official, just as easily as he impersonated a Scotland Yard detective inspector!
The JSA reluctantly acquiesce on the latter point. But, when they cite how loyally they stood by America during WWII, the chairman of the investigative committee demands they prove that loyalty by publicly revealing their true identities, right then and there. Refusing to do so on the grounds of potential retaliation against their loved ones, they disband. Dr. Fate using his wizardry to teleport them out of Washington, en masse! This, in turn, leads to a unanimously approved act of Congress known as the HUAC Ban on Superheroics.
1952: Destine uses the Serpent Crown's power to have Josef Stalin appear to die of a cerebral hemorrhage. After which, he is unanimously "elected" as the new premier of the Soviet Union! At the celebratory gala that follows, one of the visiting heads-of-state in attendance is the new sovereign of Latveria: Victor Von Doom. Covering the event for the American press: foreign correspondent Mark Todd. And, posing as a Eurasian waiter from Vladivostok: Kano the Shadowmaster.
In between courses of the dinner, Kano slips away to don his ninja garb. His part of the master plan? To plunge the entire banquet room into darkness. Whereupon, Mark will become the Blazing Skull and yell "Death to Destine!" in order to attract the attention of the new premier's bodyguard: the Soviet super-solder code-named "Stalnoivolk." And, in that regard, he is _too_ successful. As, after leading the Russian on a not-so-merry chase, the Blazing Skull is caught and, then, beaten to death! But, the victory is a Pyrrhic one, as Kano uses the legendary katana Soultaker to first impale Stalnoivolk. . . and then behead him.
In the meantime, Von Doom draws a broom-handle Mauser (from a holster that had been magically rendered invisible as well as electronically undetectable), and fires several bullets at Destine. These bullets, however, are made of ice! More specifically; frozen water mixed with a shrinking potion first developed by a German-American bundist scientist named Decker. The bullets find their mark and Destine's corpse shrinks down to nothing. Though, the Serpent Crown remains the same size as it drops off his head!
Yet, even as the new ruler of Latveria bends down to hurriedly pick it up, Baron Wotan suddenly makes an appearance (still passing himself off as "the Wizard" of the Injustice Society). He then uses a spell, placed on his top hat, to suck up the armor-plated usurper like dust into a vacuum cleaner! Following which, the Wizard disappears...Serpent Crown and all.
*1943: Dr. Wilfrid Doome and Professor Zee test their newly-completed time machine by trying to bring something to their lab from the near-future. They succeed all too well. They materialize the Key (who was snatched out of mid-air during his 1951 suicide attempt to avoid capture by the JSA)! And, upon being told who they are and what has happened, the latter shows his gratitude by using his skeleton key-shaped BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) to kill them in cold blood! He then does the same thing to their research assistant, Per Degaton. But, only _after_ Degaton first explains to him how to use the time machine. Following which, the Key gets rid of the bodies... and then begins impersonating Degaton.
1953: David Rand marries Marie Remarque. Their son Wendell is born, nine months later.
1954: Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President of the United States.
1955: Baron Wotan makes his biggest bid for power, yet. He uses the Serpent Crown to mind-control the Atlanteans ruled by Namor the Sub-mariner. He then has them invade Washington, D.C. (along with every other major city along the Delmarva Peninsula)! Luckily, however, FBI Agent Jimmy Woo received an anonymous tip about this plot, well in advance of it, and had begun gathering an elite group of individuals. Including (among others) "Congo Bill" O'Hara and the son of the original Golden Gorilla; Venus, self-styled Roman goddess of love; and an expatriate Martian named J'onn J'onzz! Yet, even with the latter's exceptional super-powers, they are still outnumbered. The invaders are driven off only by the rallying of U.S. Armed Forces under the last-second leadership of...CAPTAIN AMERICA!
And, it's only after the last elements of the Atlantean army retreat back into the ocean that this small group of defenders learns the truth. This "Capt. America" is actually Terry Sloane (ex-Mr. Terrific of the JSA). He then informs them that Namor's attempted invasion was merely an elaborate ruse. Misdirection for an attempt, by the Wizard, to kidnap President Eisenhower, himself! Fortunately, however, Terry Sloane had been alerted to the scheme by the same anonymous source that had contacted Jimmy Woo and one other- Kent Nelson of Salem, Massachusetts. The latter had then teleported to Terry Sloane's side, and magically garbed him in a duplicate of Capt. America's old costume, before heading to the White House to confront the Wizard... as Doctor Fate. Yet, even with his considerable power, the good doctor was on the verge of being defeated when a new combatant arrived on the scene: Kano the Shadowmaster.
The latter had used the Wizard's fixation on Dr. Fate to throw a shuriken at the former's left temple from behind. Grazing him just enough to both stun him... and knock his top hat off. Revealing the Serpent Crown concealed beneath it! Whereupon the mysterious ninja knocked the Wizard out with a shuto karate chop to the back of the neck, while the good doctor disposed of the Serpent Crown by teleporting it to another dimension: Limbo.
1956: The Wizard-who was rendered permanently amnesiac with regard to casting spells, due to neurotoxins on the shuriken-is tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Meanwhile, the HUAC Ban on Superheroics is gratefully repealed by President Eisenhower. And his rescuers (sans Dr. Fate) covertly go to work for him as...the Secret Defenders.
1957: With no directly-descended claimants to the throne (usurped, five years earlier, by Von Doom) Latveria's House of Markov becomes the new ruling family. Subsequently renaming the country, "Markovia!"
1958: Denied a chance to usurp rulership of the Eternals, with the loss of the Serpent Crown, Druig forms a new secret alliance with Maelstrom of the Deviants and Maximus of the Inhumans! The latter has been told about the ritual that Eternals call "the Uni-mind. And, with Maelstrom's help, he seeks to duplicate it through experimentation on Alpha Primitives (the genetically engineered servant class of the Inhumans). The two of them ultimately succeed with three certain specimens, who consequently gain the power to become one sentient energy being: the Trikon. And, on Maximus' orders, they use their newfound powers to abduct, and mind-wipe, his prospective sister-in-law, Medusa!
1959: The notorious European jewel thief, known only as the Fox, gains a protégé'. A beautiful amnesiac redhead.
1960: Dr. Stephen Strange attends a medical conference in Gotham City. There, he loses out on a prestigious award to a local physician named Thomas Wayne. Strange drowns his sorrows in the hotel bar, for two hours, before deciding to further vent his frustration with a nice high-speed drive. Unfortunately, he goes a little _too_ fast and is, therefore, unable to stop at a certain crosswalk in time. Thereby killing the couple who were right in the middle of it: Dr. Wayne and his wife Martha!
1961: Strange is subsequently sentenced to twenty years in prison for vehicular manslaughter. With his medical background getting him assigned as an orderly in the hospital ward. There, he meets a convict named "William Azard." The latter (as a delayed-action side-effect of the neurotoxins that robbed him of the ability to cast spells) has had a crippling stroke. Yet, for all his inability to move or speak properly, now, the Wizard still has one power he can use, effectively. And, one evening, half an hour before Strange has to report back to his cell for lights-out, Azard calls him over to his bedside. Asking for a privacy screen to be drawn about them! Strange complies...and becomes Baron Wotan's new host body.
It's around this same time that Barry "the Flash" Allen, of Central City, captures four trespassers trying to steal an experimental rocket ship from a local USAF base. With half of the quartet turning out to be the son and daughter of WWII naval hero, Capt. Wm. Storm!
1963: FBI Special Agent Fred Duncan meets Professor Charles Xavier; geneticist, biophysicist, criminologist, ex-army medic...and telepathic mutant.
1965: The two of them capture the Fox and his allegedly mutant accomplice. But, Professor X's psionic scan of her mind reveals the truth about "Madame Medusa."
1966: Through King M'staka, David Rand arranges for Dr. Fate to teleport him, his wife and son, Prof. X, and Medusa to the Himalayan abode of the Ancient One. There, Nabu will use his own wizardry to open a portal to Kun-Lun so David can at long last meet (and introduce his family to) his biological grandfather, the August Personage in Jade. Meanwhile, Medusa (accompanied by the scientifically curious Xavier) will be reunited with the rest of the Inhumans' Royal Family. Unfortunately, Baron Wotan chooses that particular moment to attack the Tower of Fate! For he seeks revenge against all those who have ever thwarted him. That was why he used his new body to escape from prison, three years ago. So he could reclaim his Quistian Manhunter garb, and begin to plot, accordingly.
Using the stolen Wand of Watoomb, he banishes Kent Nelson to the anti-matter universe of the Negative Zone. He then burns Inza Nelson to a crisp (followed by David and Marie Rand) using the Flames of the Faltine! When he tries to do the same to thirteen year-old Wendell, Xavier tries to stun him unconscious with a telepathic "mental bolt." But, the latter shakes it off and retaliates. . .by telekinetically breaking the former's back. The distraction, however, is just long enough to let Medusa use her own telekinetically-lengthened hair to snatch the Wand of Watoomb away from him! This, in turn, allows Nabu to imprison Wotan within the unbreakable Crimson Bands of Cyttorak (which he subsequently banishes to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy).
Feeling responsible for what happened to Wendell's parents, Medusa persuades her long-lost fiancé' (Blackbolt, King of the Inhumans) to let the Ancient One marry them, right then and there. So they can adopt the grief-stricken boy and raise him as their own. Wendell, himself, agrees to this proposal. And, thus, it is under the tutelage of Medusa's martial artist cousin, Karnak, that he will grow up to become known as "Thunderbolt; the Living Weapon."
As for Charles Xavier? In gratitude for having been healed by Nabu, he agrees to become the Ancient One's newest acolyte. Eventually becoming better known to the world that he protects from supernatural evil, as. . .Dr. Strangefate!
THE END. . .OF VOLUME 1.
"Jason Bloodstone" is, of course, an amalgam of Jason Blood and Ulysses Bloodstone. The same way "Dr. Strangefate" is an amalgam of the two better known doctors. And "Baron Wotan" is likewise an amalgam of Baron Mordo (Dr. Strange's arch-enemy), Wotan (Golden Age foe of Dr. Fate) and the alien mad scientist who called himself "Lucifer" when he first crippled Charles Xavier.
"Janu Lo-Zar" is an amalgam of four jungle heroes from the Golden Age (when Marvel was officially called "Timely Comics") and DC's Silver Age. David Rand, the original Ka-Zar; Janu of the Jungle (Congo Bill's loin-clothed version of Robin); Lo-Zar (a.k.a. "Tharn"); and Trojak the Tiger Man.