138-510: Dark Avengers is a 2009–2013 American comic book series published by Marvel Comics . It is part of a series of titles that features various iterations of the superhero team the Avengers , with this version of the team - unbeknownst to the public in its stories - having several members who are actually supervillains and anti-heroes disguised as the established superheroes. The series debuted with issue #1, dated January 2009, as part of
276-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with
414-498: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought
552-498: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,
690-735: A collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published the first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring
828-511: A confrontation at the Pentagon ends with Mystique being defeated and turned over to the authorities by a powerless Ms. Marvel. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants eventually escape, and battle against Dazzler . In an act of revenge against Mystique, Mastermind unbalances Rogue's psyche with the one she absorbed from Ms. Marvel, which prompts her to defect to the X-Men. Because Rogue left without
966-597: A demonic force, targets Mystique after finding out she was responsible for sending his soul there at the behest of The Red Right Hand. Mystique is shot by a hit-man named Lord Deathstrike. Badly wounded, Mystique patches herself and escapes on a motorcycle. Wolverine and Lord Deathstrike are in hot pursuit of Mystique throughout the San Francisco streets simultaneously. Mystique ultimately confronts Wolverine, who stabs her with his claws, killing her. Lord Deathstrike collects Mystique's body and auctions it off. Her corpse
1104-431: A distance. Raven keeps track of his activities until he reaches adolescence. Despite being the child of two mutants, Graydon is not a mutant himself. Mystique is disappointed and soon abandons him. Graydon grows to hate his parents, and eventually extends his hatred to all mutants. He becomes leader of the mutant-hating organization Friends of Humanity , and then a politician. At the height of his political ascension, Graydon
1242-513: A failed attempt to kill Legion for his murdering of Destiny. Mystique has an implant put in her skull by Forge in order for the government to be able to keep track of her. She is then forced to become a member of the government-sponsored team X-Factor after being arrested for trying to blow up a dam. In truth, Mystique had been trying to save the dam, which the U.S. Government wanted to destroy so that they could blame it on mutants. Her membership leads to tension with her teammates when Sabretooth
1380-458: A foe of the X-Men , Mystique has been both a supervillain and an antiheroine , founding her own Brotherhood of Mutants and assassinating several important people involved in mutant affairs; she has been stated to be over 100 years old. Commonly living under the assumed name Raven Darkhölme , and previously as Sherlock Holmes , Mystique is the wife of Destiny / Irene Adler , the mother of
1518-480: A formula that resets the symbiote to the size it was when it possessed Spider-Man), Bullseye (portraying Hawkeye ) and Wolverine 's disgruntled son Daken taking on the Wolverine mantle. Osborn also takes on the identity of Iron Patriot , wearing a red, white, and blue-themed Iron Man armor. The team goes to Latveria to rescue Doctor Doom from Morgan Le Fay . Upon returning from Latveria, Osborn deals with
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#17327803131961656-405: A lover. His infertility adds to their marital problems. Mystique starts using her shapeshifting powers to secretly have sexual encounters with others. From early on, Irene Adler also joined the household as a common housekeeper, secretly Mystique's true lover. Mystique begins an affair with fellow mutant Azazel , pretending to be seduced. Azazel states that he is ruler of "an island nation off
1794-565: A male body for the act of conception), but Marvel didn't agree, because at that time the Comics Code Authority prohibited the explicit portrayal of gay or bisexual characters. This storyline would then be made canon in November 2023. Mystique's origins remain unknown: her shapeshifting powers mean that her true age remains enigmatic. Her earliest attested appearance dates back to the years around 1900, when she lived in
1932-406: A male guise as a "consulting detective" who established a romantic relationship with her reality's version of Irene Adler , biographical details which imply she is in fact Sherlock Holmes , an implication confirmed by 2022. While in her Raven persona, Mystique adopts the identity of deceased German secret agent Leni Zauber. Both Leni and Victor Creed, A.K.A. Sabretooth , had been assigned with
2070-459: A man in a busy office workplace. Mystique is arrested. The U.S. Government acts on their intelligence regarding Mystique, and destroys all of the alternate identities that she established over the years and confiscate the money she and Destiny had hidden away. The loss of her powers and her freedom causes her to lash out at everyone around her. Rogue has no sympathy for Mystique's plight. The relationship sours when Rogue refuses to tell Mystique that
2208-603: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as
2346-426: A multi-series story arc entitled " Dark Reign ." In the premiere, writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mike Deodato (working from a continuity begun in a previous, company-wide story arc, " Secret Invasion ," involving an infiltration of Earth by the shape-shifting alien Skrulls and that race's eventual defeat) chronicled the aftermath of the U.S. government's disbanding of the federally sanctioned superhero team,
2484-459: A nearby building frame Mystique for the murder of a Japanese diplomat. With help from Shadowcat and Rogue, Mystique is cleared and leaves town. Before she leaves, Shadowcat finds one of Destiny's diaries , left there by Destiny herself before she died. While gaining critical intelligence on the identity of those who were involved in her son's death and the attempt to kill her using Sabretooth, Mystique suddenly loses her powers while pretending to be
2622-403: A new wave of anti-mutant violence. Sabretooth acts on his orders to kill the members of X-Factor as "Operation Zero Tolerance" is activated. Mystique distracts Sabretooth long enough to keep him from finishing off the team. Mystique then flees the scene after arranging for X-Factor to receive medical treatment for the wounds Sabretooth inflicted. Mystique goes into hiding, taking the identity of
2760-461: A pointed tail. After showing her true form to him, the locals consider Mystique and the child to be demons and attempt to kill them. Mystique escapes but hides her son briefly, intending to help Destiny escape then return for him. Destiny had escaped on her own, however, and by the time Mystique returned for their son, he is missing. He is found and raised by Roma sorceress Margali Szardos and named Kurt Wagner . Mystique learned that conceiving Kurt
2898-604: A presidential pardon for all criminal charges, to be revoked if any member of Freedom Force is found committing a crime. Cooper agrees to convey the offer to the President on the condition that the Brotherhood arrests their founder, Magneto . The Brotherhood, now reincarnated as Freedom Force , are defeated by Magneto and the X-Men. When Magneto learns that Freedom Force are official federal agents, he voluntarily surrenders to them. Mystique leads Freedom Force in capturing
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#17327803131963036-510: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did
3174-442: A promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved a success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish
3312-474: A replacement team. In order to keep the Dark Avengers in line, they were implanted with nanites and placed under the leadership of Luke Cage. The Dark Avengers team are thrown into the alternate world of Earth-13584 with John Walker (U.S. Agent) where they are captured by that reality's version of Iron Man . It turns out that A.I.M. is behind the reality manipulation. Due to the Dark Avengers' arrival,
3450-554: A sad goodbye kiss and Mystique leaves. After Mystique is gone, Forge realizes that she had already switched his transmitter for the fake one. Mystique later infiltrates the X-Men, posing as a young girl named Foxx and joining Gambit 's training squad, the Chevaliers. She attempts to seduce Rogue's boyfriend Gambit to break them up so she can set her daughter up with a young mutant named Augustus , but Gambit resists. Mystique ultimately reveals herself to him, telling him that she
3588-419: A short leash; should she try anything, Osborn would turn her into a human bomb. After the defection of Emma Frost , Namor , and Cloak and Dagger , Mystique leads the remaining members of the team under the public guise of Jean Grey , as no one could prove Jean had actually died, but mainly to hurt those who had caused her great harm. Wolverine, having returned from hell and retrieved his possessed body from
3726-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring
3864-494: A ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934), a 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in
4002-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were
4140-599: A throne with Molecule Man seated on it, flanked by the Beyonder , Mephisto , Zarathos , and the Enchantress . However, it is revealed that these others were merely Molecule Man's creations. Molecule Man tortures Norman mentally and physically and seemingly kills his Avengers. Osborn's assistant Victoria Hand successfully stalls Molecule Man with a false surrender until the Void is able to reform and kill Molecule Man. It
4278-523: A time delay weapon, which she is about to program to kill Graydon. After some deliberation, she decides to activate the weapon to kill Graydon. Mystique's sanity is further damaged by the revelation that Destiny was one of the founding members of the anti-mutant conspiracy Mystique had dedicated countless years to fighting, and had willfully withheld medical treatment to mutant children that would have resulted in them not growing up deformed due to their mutations. This leads to Raven again going mad. She reforms
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4416-508: A true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of the Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as
4554-473: A voice of the "disenfranchised" unsatisfied with the status quo. The subsequent fight against the New Avengers proves to be relatively evenly matched. Although Osborn demonstrates a surprising new level of strength allowing him to throw Luke Cage a considerable distance and his Scarlet Witch injures Doctor Strange , the others are able to hold their own far more easily. When they attempt to teleport away,
4692-777: A way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from the McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as
4830-440: A word, Mystique assumes that Professor X , the X-Men's mentor, brainwashed her. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants accordingly launches an attempt to kill Professor X. Rogue stops Mystique, and explains that she joined the X-Men because Professor X, as the world's most powerful telepath , is her best hope of healing for her fragmented psyche. Mystique reluctantly relinquishes her guardianship of Rogue. Anti-mutant sentiment rises and
4968-461: A year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by the Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than
5106-601: Is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist David Cockrum , the character first appeared in Ms. Marvel #16 (April 1978). A member of a subspecies of humanity known as mutants who are born with superhuman abilities, Mystique is a shapeshifter who can perfectly mimic the appearance and voice of any person. Her natural appearance includes blue skin, red hair, and yellow eyes. Typically portrayed as
5244-497: Is added to the team months later as a sleeper agent , for the main purpose of killing Mystique before she can uncover the truth about the conspiracy. She slowly develops a romantic relationship with team-leader Forge (though he later thought that she was just using him). Part of the conspiracy involves Mystique's son Graydon Creed running for President, under an anti-mutant platform. At the same time, both Graydon and Mystique learn that Destiny married and had children during one of
5382-454: Is also why Destiny is unaware she gave birth to Kurt; and even Xavier is unaware of these events because he considered this a private matter and supposedly also deleted his memory of this encounter. Mystique revealed the true events to Nightcrawler after her true memories reasserted themselves some time after resisting a psychic push by Xavier and falling off a cliff at the 3rd Hellfire Gala. The experience left her mentally unstable, until she
5520-425: Is assassinated by an unknown shooter. The shooter is later revealed to be a time traveling version of Mystique as part of a convoluted time paradox involving Jean Grey , Iceman , Toad , and Juggernaut . Still masquerading as Raven, Mystique is married to Baron Christian Wagner (older sources give his name as Count Eric Wagner), an affluent German noble . He proves to be a loving husband, but disappointing as
5658-603: Is defeated, the rest of the Dark Avengers are detained. It is suggested in a conversation with Captain America that they be considered for the Thunderbolts Program. As of #175, Thunderbolts is renamed Dark Avengers with writer Jeff Parker and the art team of Kev Walker and Declan Shalvey remaining on the title. When the Thunderbolts are missing in the time stream, the Dark Avengers were recruited as
Dark Avengers - Misplaced Pages Continue
5796-514: Is his invulnerability that it doesn't work. He tires of struggling against the Void. Norman orders Bullseye to kill Lindy, blaming her for Sentry's uncertainty and weakness. When an emergency evacuation occurs, Bullseye takes Lindy on a helicopter, antagonizes her cruelly, then strangles her to death and dumps her body into the ocean. When Sentry arrives looking for Lindy, Bullseye claims that she committed suicide, out of fear of Reynolds, by jumping out of
5934-541: Is informed that she has been reassigned. Moonstone joins Luke Cage 's incarnation of the Thunderbolts. Noh-Varr is recruited into the Avengers team to help them build a time machine to save the future. Victoria Hand is assigned by Steve Rogers to be the liaison for Luke Cage's team of Avengers, dubbed the New Avengers , because he feels that she can provide an important insight to the team. Bullseye escapes custody and
6072-522: Is killed by his longtime nemesis Daredevil when he attacks his fortress of Shadowland during the storyline of the same name. Daken eludes capture at the conclusion of the Siege of Asgard and is confronted by Franken-Castle (whom he had killed during the Dark Reign). Mac Gargan's symbiote is removed and he is taken into custody. Alistair Smythe breaks Gargan out of prison who is transformed back into
6210-626: Is revealed that the Sentry and the Void have the same powers as Molecule Man. The Sentry regains control of himself and agrees to begin therapy with Moonstone, while Victoria Hand demands Norman to undergo therapy as well after being tortured. Inside his office, Loki is manipulating Norman into having a Green Goblin relapse. After declaring war on the Asgardians , Norman Osborn has the Dark Avengers and those in The Initiative prepare for
6348-615: Is sold for 5 million to group of ninjas. It is implied these are agents of The Hand . Mystique is seen alive again posing as Sabretooth at Los Angeles International Airport . In the form of Sabretooth she has agreed to assist the Hellfire Club in their destruction of the Jean Grey School. Mystique, as Sabretooth, was a faculty member of The Hellfire Academy. When the Hand revived Mystique, her powers were enhanced and she
6486-464: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined
6624-523: Is to eradicate all humans. Mystique is sent to prison, but quickly escapes. She allies herself with Martinique Jason in an attempt to wrest control of the X-Corps from its founder, Banshee . Outfitted with a device that gives her the ability to generate an electrical charge, Mystique creates the identity of a supervillain named Surge and joins the X-Corps. While Jason mind-controls the other members of
6762-514: Is trying to relieve the tension between him and Rogue (because of the two being unable to touch due to her ability to absorb someone's essence upon skin-to-skin contact). Mystique then metamorphoses into Rogue and tells Gambit that he would not be cheating on Rogue if he had sex with her in Rogue's form. When the telepath Emma Frost discovers who Foxx really is, the X-Men confront Mystique. Mystique tells them that she had been lonely and wants to join
6900-572: The Avengers . Bendis described the thinking behind the team: "These are bad-ass, hardcore get-it-done types. They'll close the door and take care of business and he's dressing them up to make them something that the people want." This is in contrast to the changes Norman Osborn is shown making to the Thunderbolts , where, according to writer Andy Diggle , he turns that team into "something much more covert and much more lethal: his own personal hit squad". The series ended with Dark Avengers #16, at
7038-506: The Blob , Destiny, and Pyro . The Brotherhood attempts to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly , a notoriously anti-mutant politician. The X-Men thwart the assassination attempt, and all of the Brotherhood except Mystique herself are incarcerated. Rogue is trained by Mystique and eventually joins the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Her mutant power is the ability to absorb the memories, personality, and skills or powers of whomever she touches. To free
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#17327803131967176-612: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),
7314-613: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for
7452-642: The Infinity Gems . The Dark Avengers appear in a self-titled episode of Avengers Assemble . This version of the group are reality-flipped versions of the original Avengers who operate as supervillains while the Squadron Supreme work to stop them. However, the Dark Avengers eventually discover that the Squadron used the Reality Gem to change the world in their image and use it to undo
7590-577: The Reavers on Muir Island . On this particularly disastrous mission, Freedom Force loses two of its members, Stonewall and Mystique's lover Destiny. The death of her lover leaves Mystique psychologically scarred. Mystique is later nearly killed by Dr. Valerie Cooper, who is under the Shadow King 's mental control. She then impersonates Dr. Valerie Cooper. Mystique is eventually discovered impersonating Dr. Cooper, and saves Xavier's life by killing
7728-685: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on
7866-510: The Siege of Asgard . Norman considers The Sentry, specifically his dark side, known as The Void, his secret weapon. In flashback, it is told how Robert Reynolds received his vast powers from experimental drugs, using his might as the Sentry to live the life of a superhero, while his darker emotions manifested as the Void. Osborn has manipulated Reynolds into allowing the Void to take over, to do Osborn's murderous bidding. Osborn has somehow recreated
8004-700: The Thunderbolts and who had become a public hero for his role in repelling the Skrull threat. Osborn, also given leadership of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. , reforms that agency into H.A.M.M.E.R. and creates a new Avengers team under its aegis. The initial line-up consists of former Thunderbolts members and new recruits, including the Sentry , Ares , Noh-Varr (now Captain Marvel ) as well as disguised super-villains Moonstone (portraying Ms. Marvel ), Venom ( Mac Gargan portraying Spider-Man after being given
8142-645: The Ultimate Marvel reality, an alternate version of the Dark Avengers appears under the name the Dark Ultimates . The group consists of a female Kang the Conqueror and Reed Richards as well as the former Ultimates Hulk and Quicksilver . The team is formed with the goal of forcibly saving the world by any means necessary. They first appear while attacking the Triskelion in order to steal
8280-663: The Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on the back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted
8418-426: The 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included the debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in
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#17327803131968556-535: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following
8694-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had
8832-542: The 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck ,
8970-520: The 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of the most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking
9108-598: The American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be a separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books,
9246-586: The Avengers on behalf of the federal government. She clashes with X-Factor in seeking to arrest Rusty Collins . With Freedom Force, she fights the X-Men in Dallas, and witnesses her foster daughter's apparent demise . With Freedom Force, she battles Cyclops and Marvel Girl . With Freedom Force she seeks to arrest Rusty Collins again, and battles the New Mutants . She finally succeeds in capturing Collins as well as Skids . She leads Freedom Force against
9384-480: The Avengers on trial. The Dark Avengers capture Captain America during their successful attack on both Avengers teams with the intention of executing him for his 'crimes'. Gorgon and Superia are already planning to betray the team, while Victoria Hand, apparently Norman's double agent inside the team, reveals to the New Avengers her real allegiance to Captain America and Skaar turns on his teammates after they confirm their intentions to assault Captain America, exclaiming
9522-421: The Brotherhood and forces the team to flee. Mystique flees to Europe. While taking the form of a blonde haired woman, Mystique is confronted by a famous photographer who proposes to make her a big fashion model. Amused, Mystique accepts and quickly becomes the fashion industry's newest top model. Using her money, Mystique moves back to New York and into an expensive penthouse apartment. There, Skrulls staying in
9660-612: The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants for another assassination attempt on Senator Kelly, and kidnaps Moira MacTaggert and impersonates her to access her research on the Legacy Virus . Mystique uses samples of the Legacy Virus to create a biological weapon that would infect humans and not mutants, and develops a cure for the Legacy Virus. The assassination attempt on Kelly ends in failure when Pyro betrays his teammates. Mystique blows up MacTaggert's research facility, fatally injuring
9798-678: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In
9936-596: The Golden Gate bridge threatening to blow it up. Iceman arrives and discovers the reason for Mystique doing this is Wolverine telling her that she will die alone. After a heated conversation, Iceman freezes the bomb. Mystique jumps off the bridge into the water. Iceman tells Cyclops and Hank McCoy that he knows that she is not dead and thanks her for what she did for him. Mystique joins Norman Osborn 's Dark X-Men , posing as Professor Charles Xavier for P.R. purposes. Osborn has her injected with nanites and kept on
10074-585: The Middle East and then into Afghanistan. It is hinted at that Mystique's recent betrayal is not the only reason Logan is out to kill her, as they have a common history of friendship, love, and ultimately, betrayal. After a heated fight, Wolverine wounds Mystique, but denies her the Coup de grâce . Mystique shows up again, posing as Bobby Drake's ex-girlfriend Opal Tanaka . She sets off a bomb inside of Bobby's Blackbird before shooting him and kicking him out of
10212-609: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in
10350-425: The New Avengers end up facing Ragnarok. Spider-Man and Iron Fist are able to defeat Ragnarok, but the Dark Avengers' actions have still damaged the New Avengers' reputations by tricking them into provoking a fight with a team who just helped the civilians, Osborn's other forces attacking the main team to charge them with various war crimes, ordering the President to declare Osborn the new head of world security and put
10488-656: The Scorpion. A new Dark Avengers team is formed by Norman Osborn and H.A.M.M.E.R. The roster includes Skaar , Gorgon , Ai Apaec , Dr. June Covington , Superia , and Trickshot . The team is backed up by HYDRA and A.I.M. Norman Osborn also has A.I.M. rebuild Ragnarok so that he can join the Dark Avengers. Although Osborn claims to be certain that his new team is superior to their "templates," he appears unaware that Madame Hydra and Gorgon are already planning to kill him once he proves himself to be too dangerous as leader, intending to use his team to sow discord by serving as
10626-471: The Shadow King's human host, Jacob Reisz. She finally reconciles with Rogue. In time, she comes to terms with Destiny's death. She teams with Spiral and Wolverine in thwarting Mojo 's near-destruction of the universe. Mystique later briefly stays as a guest at Xavier's mansion . She begins going insane, and leaves the mansion under the care of Forge. Mystique resurfaces several months later, in
10764-559: The Squadron's changes. The series is being collected into individual volumes : All the issues (Except the Utopia crossover) are being collected into one hardback book: As were the spin-offs: American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after
10902-516: The Sub-Mariner, Daken , Weapon Omega and Mystique (posing as Professor X ) much to the chagrin of his Avengers. After Emma Frost, Namor, and Cloak and Dagger betray the team, Norman swears vengeance on the X-Men. A series of disappearances throughout Colorado causes Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers (except for Venom) to visit the small town of Dinosaur, Colorado . Everyone except Norman is teleported away, while Osborn finds himself in front of
11040-545: The X-Men are going to fight the High Evolutionary , who was responsible for depowering all mutants, to restore everyone's powers. The X-Men defeat the High Evolutionary and restore everyone's powers, allowing Mystique to escape jail. Mystique is sent back in time by the original X-Factor's sentient ship . Raven finds that she is destined to be part of a great time paradox, where she finds herself with
11178-446: The X-Men for help erasing their memories of Kurt. Mystique opted to maintain knowledge that she had a son somewhere out there, against Xavier's advice. He warned that unlike a fully removed memory, the mind would weave stories to fill the gaps of a perforated one, and the resulting false memories could be uglier than the truth. This turns out to be the reason Mystique herself believed a different sequence of events, believing Azazel to be
11316-418: The X-Men. Mystique uses Rogue's doubts about what happened between her and Gambit to sow further discord in Rogue's relationship with Gambit, but he still refuses. The X-Men vote and decide to have Mystique join them on a probationary status (though Rogue is one of the ones who vote against her joining). Nightcrawler asks her to leave for a while regardless of the vote, saying that he needs more time adjusting to
11454-409: The addictive serum that gave Reynolds his powers, making him dependent on Osborn and his approval. Meanwhile, Reynolds's wife Lindy has been a virtual prisoner in the Sentry's Watchtower, has even attempted to kill him, and begs Reynolds to either kill her or let her go. Reynolds's warring personalities, however, have stalemated. The Sentry even attempts suicide, flying into the heart of the sun, but such
11592-444: The aftermath of Hawkeye's appearance on live TV, under his " Ronin " alias, reminding the public of Osborn's murderous past and that he should not be trusted. Due to this action, Osborn is forced to "get rid of" this problem. The Dark Avengers arrive in San Francisco to set up martial law and to quell the anti-mutant riots. In doing so, Norman sets up his own team of X-Men consisting of Cloak and Dagger , Mimic , Emma Frost , Namor
11730-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This
11868-457: The area. Only after Lady Mastermind drops her illusions do the X-Men realize that it is an all-out attack, and that both Lady Mastermind and Omega Sentinel (the latter being possessed by Malice ) have defected sides. During the Marauders' initial ambush, Mystique prevents Scalphunter from shooting Rogue. She then reveals herself as a traitor as well, shoots her adopted daughter, and orders
12006-408: The art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with a script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have
12144-521: The assassination of a scientist in East Berlin . Mystique completes the mission in place of Leni, and then she and Victor have to hide in a safe location for a while. They become lovers, but she soon fakes her death to leave him. The result of this short-lived affair is reportedly the birth of Graydon Creed . A number of stories report that soon after his birth, Mystique gives him up for adoption. Others depict Mystique making arrangements for him from
12282-471: The authorities, who are out to execute her. One of Xavier's enemies, the Quiet Man, who is actually Prudence Leighton inhabiting the body of her assassin, contacts Mystique and offers to give her an interference transmitter which would keep her safe from the authorities if she kills Xavier. Creating a plan that would free her from both men, Mystique pretends to try killing Xavier while secretly working with
12420-478: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated
12558-538: The character "Mystique", and, with Cockrum's permission, set her in Ms. Marvel #16 (May 1978). The character's true appearance was revealed in Ms. Marvel #18 (June 1978) and first cover appearance in The Avengers Annual #10 (1981). In July 2006, Claremont, a former X-Men writer, has said that he intended Mystique and Destiny to be Nightcrawler 's biological parents (with Mystique having morphed into
12696-493: The coast of Bermuda : La Isla des Demonas", The Island of Demons . He is later revealed to be immortal and the father of an ancient race of mutants known as the Neyaphem , active since at least 2000 BC. Mystique appears to become pregnant, but her husband becomes suspicious and his own father suggests a blood test to verify whether the child is his. Mystique uses a dagger to murder him and then buries him after he discovered
12834-540: The comatose Rogue, Mystique shoves Sinister onto Rogue, killing him through fatal skin-to-skin contact. Then, in keeping with the words of the Destiny Diaries, she touches the baby's face to Rogue's. The baby's touch purges her of the Strain 88 virus and all the residual psyches she had absorbed over her life, including Hecatomb. Rogue is sickened by Mystique's manipulations, and leaves. Wolverine tracks Mystique to
12972-501: The comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of the three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically,
13110-534: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled
13248-432: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote
13386-464: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,
13524-560: The couple's separations. Destiny/Irene's children are now adults with their own children, one of which is a mutant. Graydon has the mutant teen savagely beaten by members of the Friends of Humanity, as a warning towards his mother. Mystique is furious and wants to kill her son, but stops when she is given a message that Graydon's backers want her to kill him and turn her son into a martyr. Mystique then seeks to save her son from being betrayed by his backers, but fails. Graydon's death ushers in
13662-475: The culmination of the Siege storyline. The Thunderbolts comic book was renamed Dark Avengers beginning with issue #175, but the creative team remained unchanged. Dark Avengers ended with issue #190. The government assigned the team's redevelopment to Norman Osborn (the reformed supervillain now calling himself the Iron Patriot ) whom the government had previously assigned to head the superhero team
13800-575: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of
13938-415: The doctor. Mystique then shoots Moira's foster daughter Wolfsbane with a prototype of Forge's neutralizer gun, depowering her. The X-Men confront Mystique and she is seriously wounded. She tells the X-Men that Destiny had predicted a dark future for mutant-kind, and that the future Destiny foretold kept on unfolding despite all that Mystique had done to prevent it. She believes that the only way to save them
14076-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In
14214-481: The famous rallying cry , "Avengers Assemble!" as he does so. Skaar reveals that he is a double agent for Captain America, allowing the New Avengers to defeat the rest of the team. Norman Osborn is shown to have developed the abilities of the Super-Adaptoid , enabling him to copy the abilities of the other Avengers. The Avengers find a way to overload this power, which puts Norman Osborn into a coma. After Osborn
14352-400: The father, her to be the mother, and that she had either abandoned Kurt to save herself or dropped him off a cliff to spite Azazel who was just interested in her for childbearing. Those beliefs apparently also drove her continued coldness towards Kurt despite being reunited for a significant amount of time, fully aware he was her lost son. It may have also had other effects on her psyche. This
14490-504: The federal government launches its own covert anti-mutant program, Project Wideawake . Believing that the times have become too dangerous for the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to continue, Mystique goes to Doctor Valerie Cooper , special assistant to the head of the National Security Council , and offers the Brotherhood's services to the government. In return for entering government service, Mystique and her team receive
14628-444: The final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors , the largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of
14766-722: The girl, and Mystique grows to be very protective of her. Mystique, as Raven Darkhölme, rises rapidly through the United States Civil Service to the trusted position of Deputy Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the United States Department of Defense . This position gives her access to military secrets and advanced weaponry, both of which she uses for her own criminal and subversive purposes. In this position, she attempts
14904-441: The hands of Johny Kitano, Special Magistrate for Homo Superior crimes against humanity, and a mutant himself. At this time, Mystique claims that there is an imposter out to frame her, taking control over the Brotherhood and sending them on their recent missions (the assassination of Moira and the infiltration of X-Corps). As long as Mystique completes the missions without killing anybody, Xavier, working with Forge, keeps her safe from
15042-569: The helicopter in the countryside. Sentry leaves to look for her body. From this point on, it could be said that the murderous Void was in full control of Reynolds and his unprecedented power. Following the events of Siege, Norman Osborn is incarcerated in The Raft penitentiary. Moonstone, Bullseye and Venom are captured by the heroes, while Daken manages to escape capture by military personnel. After being interrogated by Captain Rogers , Victoria Hand
15180-473: The house and going through the window, changing her form to shield her fall. Mystique goes to the Quiet Man, who is planning on having her killed. After a battle, Mystique kills the Quiet Man, saves her former field-handler Shortpack , and discovers the Quiet Man's interference transmitter was a fake. She tries to steal Forge's interference transmitter but is caught. After some angry words, he smashes it and tells her he never wants to see her again. The two share
15318-579: The idea of her being a member. Mystique agrees and leaves. After M-Day , she joins the X-Men and brings Augustus ( Pulse ) along with her. Both have been crucial in the downfall of Apocalypse . After the Hecatomb battle on Providence, Rogue's team returns to Rogue's childhood home in Caldecott County, Mississippi, which Mystique owns, for some downtime. Mystique alerts the X-Men, who come to treat Rogue's illness, that there are intruders in
15456-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there
15594-628: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across
15732-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed
15870-402: The mutant thief Fantomex , after alerting Forge to stop her at the last moment. Her plan is to have the Quiet Man see this and believe that she really has attempted to kill Xavier and is still working for him. The other X-Men believe that Mystique has tried killing Xavier and seek her out. Rogue tracks her down. Distraught with rage, she attacks her foster mother. Mystique escapes by blowing up
16008-458: The organization, Mystique brings Banshee's organization down and slits his throat, leaving him in critical condition. Professor X is forced to make Mystique his secret agent, as his previous one, Prudence Leighton, has died and Mystique is the only one suitable to complete the missions. Xavier poses as Magneto to rescue Mystique from the Department of Homeland Security and from execution at
16146-408: The other members of the Brotherhood, Mystique concocts a plan involving Rogue absorbing the powers of Ms. Marvel and the Avengers . Though the plan is successful, the Avengers ultimately defeat the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, capturing all of them except Rogue and Mystique. Moreover, Rogue finds that she has absorbed Ms. Marvel's memories, personality, and powers permanently. In a further humiliation,
16284-526: The plane. Later, she follows Iceman to the hospital and injects him with a fatal dose of a toxin created by Mister Sinister . Hospital staff try to get to Iceman, but they are held back by Mystique while Iceman expels the toxin from his system. Afterward, Mystique attacks Iceman in a truck and sets the truck ablaze with Iceman in it. Iceman steps out of the fire unharmed and disarms and immobilizes Mystique, but she escapes after turning her body into her child form. Mystique impersonates Iceman and stands on top of
16422-559: The process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in the mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in
16560-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in
16698-650: The red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch a new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as
16836-400: The remaining Marauders to kill the X-Men. Mystique remains with the Marauders during the hunt for the first new mutant baby, but is revealed to have murdered Mister Sinister in a plot involving the baby and Rogue's killing touch. She also appears to be working with Gambit, who, like her, has ulterior motives to want to betray Mister Sinister. When Sinister approaches Mystique as she is with
16974-629: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash
17112-520: The senator's wife Mallory Brickman, using her husband's influence to set the FBI on Sabretooth. She prevents Rogue from giving up her mutant powers and continues her investigation of the U.S. Government over her son's death, leading to her aiding Toad and his most recent incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants on a mission to raid a government base. The mission fails thanks to Machine Man , who fights
17250-408: The size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that the page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of
17388-399: The solar system is starting to disappear. The Dark Avengers enter the A.I.M. base and accelerate the sliver's destruction. The Dark Avengers arrive back in their world. Skaar hops away, but the rest of the team ponders what to do as most of them are still criminals. June Covington bewitches U.S. Agent into believing they could still work as a team and steps on a still miniaturized Ai Apaec. In
17526-701: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half
17664-477: The theft of the Centurion weaponry from S.H.I.E.L.D. As Destiny had predicted that Ms. Marvel was a danger to Rogue, she spied on Carol Danvers and Ms. Marvel for some time prior to beating her lover Michael Barnett to death, and sought to kill Ms. Marvel. To help her in her criminal activities, Mystique organizes her own incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants , consisting of herself, Avalanche ,
17802-417: The tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from the limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in
17940-484: The truth. It is revealed that she was using her mutant abilities to simulate a pregnancy in sympathy with Destiny, who was actually the one pregnant. Mystique had in fact, as a deeper function of her powers, replicated the genetics of Azazel and Christian, as well as possibly other men, in order to become functionally male and impregnate Destiny (after the pair discussed wanting to start a family). Destiny gives birth to their baby with black hair, yellow eyes, blue skin, and
18078-457: The various X-Men books led to storylines involving the genocide of superpowered "mutants" in allegorical stories about religious and ethnic persecution. In addition, published formats like the graphic novel and the related trade paperback enabled the comic book to gain some respectability as literature. As a result, these formats are now common in book retail and the collections of US public libraries . Mystique (comics) Mystique
18216-463: The villain Graydon Creed , adoptive mother of the X-Men heroine Rogue , and the biological father of the X-Men hero Nightcrawler ; conceived with her wife Destiny while in one of her male forms. Mystique has been described as one of Marvel's most notable and powerful female antiheroes. In live-action, Mystique appears in seven of 20th Century Fox 's X-Men films . The character
18354-468: The wake of television and the impact of the Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into the 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect
18492-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in
18630-481: Was aided by Nightcrawler's 'Hopesword', which undid Xavier's modifications. Mystique becomes the adoptive mother of the fourteen-year-old girl Rogue . Rogue had run away from her home in rural Caldecott County, Mississippi . The girl was living alone in a wooded area, brandishing a shotgun and trusting no one, when Mystique found her. Destiny foresees that Rogue will be important to them and Mystique seeks her out, gains her trust, and takes her in. She and Destiny raise
18768-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of
18906-414: Was in part a manipulation by Destiny to produce a child Azazel would assume was his own. Destiny foresaw that Kurt would sabotage Azazel's attempt for world domination, which involved gathering several of his children. This would have been successful and catastrophic otherwise. The pain of loss and the stress to their relationship prompted them to seek Professor Charles Xavier some time before his formation of
19044-626: Was played by Rebecca Romijn in X-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003), and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), while Jennifer Lawrence played a younger version in X-Men: First Class (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019). Romijn also cameod as Mystique in First Class . Mystique was created by David Cockrum . Chris Claremont saw Cockrum's design, dubbed
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