More Time For Marvel Trivia Quiz

Answer: Henry Pym

Henry Pym has had more aliases than a member of the Weather Underground! First he was one of Marvel's first wave of heroes, Ant Man, Marvel's answer to the DC character, "The Atom", and a founding member of "The Avengers". Then he was "Goliath", "Giant-Man" and "Yellowjacket". Yellowjacket is, by far, the identity he has used the longest, and is essentially a juiced-up version of his old "Ant Man" persona.

Pym has had numerous breakdowns/mental problems during his tenure as a Marvel character. He has become abusive to his long-time life partner, The Wasp, aka Janet Van Dyne, turned into an outlaw for a while and returned to normal after a complicated running storyline involving the Avengers where it was revealed that his old nemesis "Egghead" was behind everything.

Never let it be said that Marvel doesn't take major license with its characters!

Answer: The Planet Poppup

The Impossible Man is Marvel's answer to the Superman pest "Mr. Mxyzptlk", something DC has made numerous references to in its various recent Superman titles and crossovers. He himself, unlike Mxyzptlk, is a shape shifter only, rather than a prestidigitator as well, like the Superman's pest is.

His race has been wiped out by Galactus, this actually being spurred on by his own people because "they were bored", if you can believe that, leaving Impy as the last of his kind. And how did he resolve the massive loneliness that this brought on? He split in two, making an "Impossible Woman" and creating a family, which soon rebelled against him!

Impy first appeared in "Fantastic Four" Vol. 1, #11, and has been gassing the four friends ever since, though there was an Avengers issue that he appeared in. Since all he ever really wanted was attention, to defeat or discourage him, all the FF had to do was ignore him. And it worked!

Answer: Benjamin Jacob Grimm - The Thing

It's been a badly kept secret that Ben Grimm was a roman a clef character based on Jack Kirby, who co-created him with Stan Lee. His Jewish background, his older brother being killed, his Aunt Petunia...all touchstones of Kirby's own life. Though all this was never openly revealed in earlier issues, specifically during the Fantastic Four's early days, it was in the Fantastic Four issue, "Remembrance of Things Past" in 2002.

The Thing was, and still 'is', one of the most original and enjoyable fictional characters in all of comicdom.

Answer: Brother and sister

Yes, during the first David Cockrum run of "The Uncanny X-men", (when the second character lineup was introduced,) in 1975, Illyana Rasputin was shown being saved from a runaway tractor by her brother, Piotr (Colossus). Eventually, this peripheral character developed into Magik, after being dragged down into limbo by Belasco, a demon who lorded over the realm. She aged visibly while down there, and acquired magical powers that she used to aid her teammates in the various X-groups that she has been a part of. She was one of the original members of "The New Mutants", a training program at Professor Xavier's School For Gifted Students where younger teens are prepared to join the X-men in the battle for truth, justice and...you know.

Unfortunately, Illyana contracted the pandemic "Legacy" virus and died after being returned to her true age and was divested of her Soulsword, which ended up in the hands of Kitty Pryde, aka "Shadowcat".

Answer: Himself

One of those characters at Marvel that is reincarnated endlessly, either due to fan pressure or creative team boredom, Warlock started out life as a genetically engineered humanoid creature created by a cabal known as "The Enclave". Not birthed by woman, he was bred in a cocoon, that he often retreated back to after being injured or when he wanted to evolve one step higher.He was originally known as "Him", a complete tabula rasa with only his innate programming to keep him warm. He soon developed, through various initial incarnations, brought about by Roy Thomas, Gil Kane and Jim Starlin, into "Adam Warlock", a messianic being that sought to right wrongs, help humanity and make some kind of dent in the cosmos. He eventually possessed something called a "soul gem" which could draw in and contain the lifeforce of enemies and friends alike.

"The Magus" was actually a future incarnation of Warlock, driven mad by one of Marvel's all-powerful characters called "The In-Betweener", who sets him up to counter another all-powerful named "Thanos", a creature who is obsessed with death.

There was, indeed, another "Warlock" that was a member of "the New Mutants", brought in during Bill Sinkiewicsz's tenure as artist on the title. This "Warlock" was, though highly modified, obviously based loosely on "Him" as well, complete with a "Magus" as an enemy. However, this edition was a shapeshifter with a very primitive mental capacity and a childish sense of humor. Wha' hoppen?

Answer: The Guardian, Northstar, Aurora, Puck, Sasquatch, Shaman, Snowbird and Marina

Alpha Flight was the Canadian equivalent of the X-Men, all being mutants, except for The Guardian, but with the difference that all the team was brought into being by the Canadian government, rather than a private citizen with a mission. Northstar and Aurora, brother and sister, were speed demons who emitted a blinding flash of light when they touched. Puck was a super-acrobat. Sasquatch was a Hulk-wannabe who turned out to be an incarnation of a fairly malevolent northern monster-spirit. Marina was a genetically engineered, amphibious humanoid. Shaman was a "First Nations" medicine man, and a skilled sorcerer and physician. Snowbird was also an ancient spirit-being and changeling, ages old, who communed with the environment of the Tundra.

The Vindicator was James McDonald Hudson, originally called Weapon Alpha, then the Guardian. Essentially "Captain Canuck" making it to the big time, he was the acknowledged leader of the group and the scientist who created the very suit that gave him his powers, essentially super-strength and the power of flight, not to mention the inimitable Marvel "bolts of energy emitted by the hands".

Shaman's civilian identity had the odd sobriquet of "Michael Twoyoungmen".

Answer: The original Phoenix

In the landmark X-Men issue #137, Jean Grey/Phoenix was put on trial for the casual devouring of an entire star system by what had become Dark Phoenix, a vicious persona that had grown out of Jean Grey's ultra-powerful transformation in the mid-70s. Lilandra, empress of the Shi'ar star empire and paramour of Charles Xavier, brought what everyone thought was Jean to trial and eventually had her Imperial Guard hunt down Phoenix/Jean as her teammates defended her.

As it turns out, this wasn't Jean Grey at all, but an energy being that had taken her form. The real Jean was discovered by the X-men and the Avengers, lying dormant at the bottom of the sea off the coast of New York in the cockpit of one of the X-men's own Blackbirds.

Answer: Ariel

Before becoming Shadowcat, Kitty's first superhero name was Ariel, a name she objected to because she thought it sounded childish. Prof. Xavier had given it to her. Her 'second' name was about as bad: "Sprite".

Answer: true

In issue #100 of the original "The Amazing Spiderman", after the death of Gwen Stacy's father, George, which he was partially responsible for, Peter Parker made a promise to himself out of his own guilt. Trying to find an antidote to actually 'being' Spiderman, Peter instead turned himself into a six-armed freak, revealed in the very last panel of this issue.

Answer: Colossus and Shadowcat

Ever since she joined the X-Men, Kitty had had her eye on the stoic, salt-of-the-earth Russian. He also had feelings for her, but the relationship never developed much beyond puppy love. Things were further complicated by the Marvel "Secret Wars" series, when Colossus met an alien girl, who he couldn't even understand, that captured his heart on the alien world the Beyonder yanked half of Marvel's heroes and villains to. When he got back to Earth, Piotr, (Colossus' civilian ID,) was racked with guilt over his "infidelity".

Wolverine/Logan also had somewhat of a crush on Jean Grey/Marvel Girl/Phoenix, but this never developed much beyond a covetous level, and it wasn't truly reciprocated.

Answer: A bad heart and alcoholism

Poor Tony, first he loses his wealthy parents in a car accident, a la Bruce Wayne, then while investigating how some of his military devices work in combat situations in Vietnam, his heart is injured to the point where he needs a pacemaker and eventually an artificial heart at a very young age. 'Then' he develops a dependence on alcohol after all his troubles and back story come back to haunt him. Would you believe he even turns into a vagrant, losing control of his company, Stark International? Not to mention having to give up being Iron Man! This 'has' to make Spiderman feel better about himself!

Answer: A blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner

Jennifer Walters, a cousin of Bruce Banner, aka, "The Hulk", was injured by an attack on her and her father by agents of the nefarious Nicholas Trask. Her cuz just happened to be in town when she was taken to the hospital and offered his own blood for a much-needed transfusion.

As a result of obtaining Banner's radioactive blood, she acquired the muted powers of his alter ego, and a long career of canceled solo titles and replacement stints in established teams was started. She Hulk has been a member of The Avengers almost since her inception, and her tenure in The Fantastic Four to replace an absent Ben Grimm were among some of the best adventures that magazine has ever seen.

Answer: Excalibur

Captain Britain, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, and new people Meggan and Widget comprised the late 80's/90's team that was created after various knots of the second generation X-Men thought the others had died in one of the first of Marvel's universal reboot-cataclysms.

The book was written by Chris Claremont for the first 34 issues and drawn by Alan Davis, an artist very similar to James Sherman in style, for the first 24. Personnel changes have taken place within the group over the course of its 125 issue initial run, with Kitty (Shadowcat) and Nightcrawler usually always there.

This was a very enjoyable book that has been revived twice in the last decade and a half, full of wit and whimsy, especially when drawn by Davis.

Answer: Karma, Wolfsbane, Sunspot, Cannonball and Psyche

"The New Mutants" started out as a training ground for younger teens to work their way up to being Xmen-caliber. Karma took possession of her victims to control them and find out how they thought, Wolfsbane was a young female werewolf, Sunspot was a young strongman who needed the sun for his super strength, Cannonball was a young Appalachian who could rocket through the air like a missile and Psyche could pull the worst fears out of a person's mind to scare them. Their real names were: Xian Coy Manh, (Vietnamese), Rahne Sinclair, (Scottish), Robert De Costa, (Brazilian), Sam Guthrie (Appalachian American), and Danielle Moonstar, (Native American), respectively.

These people later went on to comprise "X-Factor", one of many splinter groups from Xavier's school for gifted youngsters.

Answer: Margali of the Winding Road

"Margali's real name was Margali Szardos. She was the biological mother of Amanda Sefton, (real name: Jimaine Szardos,) and the adoptive mother of Kurt Wagner, (Mightcrawler, of the X-Men,) whose real mother was one of the X-Men's worst enemies, Mystique.

Margali has also been an adversary of Dr. Strange, but has allied herself with him more than once to save either herself or her daughter from some mystic dilemna. Her "winding road" was a discipline of magic she was taught when she was younger. Her origins are a mystery.