When
Superheroes aren't looking for trouble, trouble is looking for
them!
June 27, 2004
By Avi Green
For some crimefighters, even a vacation can be a lot of hard work.
Cases in point: During 1971, shortly before the groundbreaking
commentary on the problem of drug addiciton in society, Amazing Spider-Man had Peter
Parker taking a trip to London in hopes of meeting Gwen Stacy, who
was staying there in an apartment owned by the Stacy family, but his
search was interrupted when a gang of mafia thugs struck in the
city, forcing him to change into his Spidey costume, and dealing
with crimefighting all the way over in London. Because of this, he
decided to go back to New York without even having met with Gwen in
London, because he worried that she could put two and two together
and figure out that he was really Spider-Man. Luckily, she returned
to NYC herself a few issues afterwards, and they were reunited for
the next two years, until that tragic incident that marks one of the
saddest times for Spidey in Marvel history.
In the early 1980's, Tony Stark was taking a cruise at sea with the
droolingly sexy Bethany Cabe, when along comes Justin Hammer in a
giant submarine to abduct seafarers as hostages, Bethany included,
and Tony's got to suit up as Iron Man to rescue both her and the
other hostages from Hammer and his gang, which includes another
crook in a metallic suit, Arsenal. Finally, he reaches the sub, and
rescues everybody, but Hammer, cunning fiend he is, gets away again.
Then, in the late 1990's in Birds
of Prey's early issues, Dinah Lance is vacationing in
Minnesota at Lake Macachitahoo, little knowing that the Kobra
terrorist organization is planning to look for a Russkie sattelite
with time devices inside, with the no longer-partners in crime
Ravens there to work the signal, and two Kobra spies, who recognize
her as the Black Canary, burst into her cabin to try and shoot her,
but, cool and fearless as always, she outwits them, and she's so
skilled that she can best two crooks or more at the same time. Then,
she heads out to the lake to look for the rest, and bests the
Ravens, who, along with a couple of other Kobra terrorists, take a
wrong turn at the crossroads in their stunned state and end up
stranded in the past, and then, when Cheshire figured out how to
return to the present correctly, she abandoned her two cohorts,
Vicious and Pistolera, in the past, and when they managed to return
as well, they swore revenge on her, ending their partnership.
But there are also those who can still find rest and relaxation when
on vacation. In 2001, Scott Summers/Cyclops was on a camping trip
with his father in the mountains of upstate New York, in an issue of
X-Men, where they were
trying to sort out their lives together. And, while it was the
premise of the issue, this was still one very noteworthy time when a
superhero found time to rest between the action scenes.
Like I said, for some crimefighters, even a vacation can be
something to keep their hands full, and on their toes. Not to worry
though, they're used to it, and after they've finished investigating
the case, they will be able at last to rest. And some can even find
the time to relax within the instant.
Copyright 2004 Avi Green. All rights reserved.
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