A+X #5

Issue Date: 
March 2013
Story Title: 
Iron Fist + Doop / Epic Matryoshka
Staff: 

Kathryn Immonen (writer/artist), David Lafuente (artist), Jim Campbell (color artist) VC’s Clayton Cowles (letterer)
Jordan D. White (assistant editor), Nick Lowe (editor), Axel Alonso (editor in chief), Joe Quesada (chief creative officer), Dan Buckley (publisher), Alan Fine (executive producer)

Brief Description: 

Iron Fist helps Doop save an old friend from being used as stakes in a seedy poker game in the backroom of a pizzeria. When Iron Fist swallows the golden ball containing Doop’s monster friend and the current owner of the monster ball sets off a grenade, Doop saves his partner by swallowing him into the strange recesses of his body. They make it back to Avengers Tower using the borrowed bag of Shaman from Alpha Flight, leaving Doop happily reunited with his old monster friend and proud of another successful mission with Iron Fist.

Full Summary: 

“Holy *%&^!” Iron Fist shouts as he lights a match, igniting Doop’s burp, setting an orange monster ablaze!

Lets back up a hair.

A Zippy Pie delivery boy rings the bell at Avengers Tower, claiming to have a pizza for Iron Fist. Wolverine answers the intercom and tells the boy that no one ordered a pizza. When asked whether or not he’s going to pay, Wolverine asks him for the time on the receipt. The delivery boy claims that you can’t take Zippy Pies advertising slogan, “Thirty Minutes or It’s Free,” seriously and that traffic and horses with guns held him up. Wolverine tells him to leave the pizza by the door and hangs up. Furious that he didn’t even get a tip, the delivery boy smashes the light above the entrance before leaving.

Let’s back up maybe a little bit more.

Thirty minutes ago, Doop stands in a phone booth, ordering a pizza. While he tries to decide between thin crust or stuffed and the size of the pie, Iron Fist stands outside, eyeing a Zippy Pie restaurant across the street.

Doop hangs up the phone and tells him that arrangements are set and they’re ready to go. Iron Fist is hesitant and questions Doop’s “sources.” Doop assumes that Iron Fist is still upset over a failed operation back in Rangoon. Iron Fist corrects him, saying that it was in Laos, and admits that he hasn’t forgot about how that incident that involved girls pretending to be fraternal quadruplets turned out.

Doop pulls out a giant machine gun from his “purse,” which turns out to be the bag of Shaman of Alpha Flight. Iron Fist is shocked that Doop has borrowed an object of such cultural significance but Doop assures him that it’s all for the arrangement.

The two burst into the empty pizza place and the lone employee tells them the shop is closed. Seeing with whom he’s dealing, the Zippy Pie employee pulls out a shark-adorned gun on them but is quickly subdued by Iron Fist, using a kick known as the “Mary Lou Retton.” Iron Fist grabs some free matches as Doop throws the worker out the window. Despite Iron Fist’s warnings, Doop downs a jar of pickles before the duo head towards the backroom.

Breaking down the door with a “Pilated Woodpecker” kick, Iron Fist discovers a poker game being played by a large guy in a suit, a man dressed as a pirate and a girl with metal legs, also in pirate attire. Iron Fist takes down the armed men with moves such as “The La Paz Handshake” and the “Number 6 Extra Chicken.”

Meanwhile, Doop finds a glowing gold ball that was being included in the stakes of the poker game and greets it as his friend. Before he is able to do anything with it, Doop is attacked from behind and tosses the ball to Iron Fist, where it gets lodged in his throat.

Choking on the ball, Iron Fist finishes off the big-armed guy with a “Grade 9 Physics Club” to the neck. After Iron Fist swallows the ball, the “pirate man” holds a grenade and demands that the “monster ball” be returned to him in two seconds or he sets it off. Iron Fist reaches for the grenade but before he catches it, Doop swallows him whole.

Donning a wig and a dress, Iron Fist lands in the strange recesses of Doop’s infinite body space. He tosses the grenade out of Doop’s body as his outfit changes into a traditional matador’s costume. He is confronted by a monkey in knight’s armor and a bear in Russian garb, who shout at him, telling him about “perfect nonsense.” Dolls fall from the sky and a giant blimp passes by with the words Iron Fist says to Doop, “You’re going to regret this!” plastered on it. His surroundings seem to crumble and Nikolai Gogoli warms him that there is no escape as Iron Fist calls out to Doop for help.

Back at Zippys, the place is destroyed from the grenade blast. Unsure of what to do, Doop hops into Shaman’s bag and slides it into a pizza box. The delivery boy seen earlier, comes into the shop and picks the box up, unphased by the shop’s destruction. He reads the destination, Avengers Tower, checks his watch, and leaves.

Back to when the pizza guy left.

A raccoon curiously inspects the pizza box left at Avengers Tower until Doop pops out of Shaman’s bag and scares him off. Plagued by an upset stomach, he throws up Iron Fist and then pats him on the back, causing Iron Fist to cough up the gold monster ball and send it flying into the trees. With the lights out, Iron Fist whips out matches to help them find the gold ball, just as Doop lets out a huge burp.

Moments later, Iron Fist is holding a big, orange monster back as he tries to attack Doop for setting him on fire. After the monster calms down, Doop embraces his old friend, saying they have not seen each other since they worked for Fury together in Saigon.

Doop is proud of another successful mission but Iron Fist is less than amused and claims he’s hungry. Doop offers him some pickles, to which Iron Fist firmly says no, after seeing what they did to him.

Characters Involved: 

Doop
Iron Fist

Fangu (orange monster)

Zippy Pie Delivery Boy
Zippy Pie Pizza Maker
Poker Players

(in Doop’s body)

Monkey in Armor
Russian Bear
Nikolai Gogol

Story Notes: 

This is the first story that establishes that Doop and Iron Fist have a history of working together.

Shaman is a member of Alpha Flight and possesses a magical bag that can summon just about anything.

Nikolai Gogal was a Russian novelist, known for his surrealist work.

Mary Lou Retton is a famous gymnast, who won five gold medals in the 1984 Summer Olympics.

The unamed orange monster in the issue is actually Fangu who made his debut in Marvel Comics Presents (1st series) #90.

Story Title: 
Loki + Mister Sinister
Staff: 

Kieron Gillen (writer), Joe Bennett (penciler), Mark Morales (inker), Jim Charalampidis (colorist), VC’s Clayton Cowles (letterer)
Jordan D. White (assistant editor), Nick Lowe (editor), Axel Alonso (editor in chief), Joe Quesada (chief creative officer), Dan Buckley (publisher), Alan Fine (executive producer)

Brief Description: 

In Latveria, Mister Sinister sneaks into one of Doctor Doom’s labs to steal a lock of Loki’s hair. Before he makes his escape, Loki shows up, thanks him and attempts to leave with the genetic sample himself. A battle ensues which causes Doom’s unfinished work from his labs to come after them. The two manage to trust each other enough to escape before Doom himself comes. Loki ends up letting Mr. Sinister have his sample because he has less of a chance of cloning him than Doom did because, while Doom is a sorcerer, Mister Sinister is a man of science and can’t hope to understand what Loki is made of.

Full Summary: 

On a rainy night in Latveria, Mister Sinister stands outside one of Doctor Doom’s castles, preparing some equipment. A letter, written by Sinister for his subsequent clone in case he dies, apologizes for having possibly made a terrible enemy in Victor Von Doom, whom he refuses to address as a “doctor.” He is going to attempt to infiltrate one of Doom’s castles to retrieve a genetic sample that appeals to him. After all, he has retrieved a sample of all the finest current samples of mutantkind and figures he should wait a year for their stock to increase before resuming harvest.

Sinister’s activates the equipment which teleports him inside of Doom’s castle in a pink flash. He makes his way to a lab filled with vats of strange deformed creatures and picks up a vial containing a lock of black hair before teleporting back outside.

Before he escapes completely, a voice from behind thanks him and an umbrella-carrying Loki appears. He claims that he couldn’t have done the deed himself because of magical rites that surround Doom’s castles. He takes the vial, containing the remains of his past life and promises to friend Sinister on Facebook. Sinister says that he didn’t do it for him and tags him with a pink diamond. It turns out to be made from a sample of Dazzler’s mutant ability and so turns sound to light, rendering Loki mute and unable to use spells. “Return my property, you artless dodger,” Sinister says as with his laser-cane at Loki’s throat.

Loki reaches into his pocket and tosses green energies into the air, causing a huge and bright explosion. Sinister panics, worried that Doom will send Doombots but, instead, the unfinished work from his labs arrive. Half form, multifaced, demented creatures chase the duo into the woods.

Before Loki escapes, Sinister throws one of his inventions at him, a bear trap that crackles with energy. Sinister demands they work together and tosses Loki a small bag and whips out a rifle. He tells Loki to toss him ammo and not to be squeamish, because as it turns out the ammo are actually cloned eyeballs of Scott Summers. Using his optic blast rifle, Sinister destroys the lab experiments but knows that Doom himself will soon arrive.

Loki holds up a small card that says, “Trust Me.” Sinister threatens to detonate the “mantrap” on Loki’s arm if he doesn’t cast his spell swiftly enough. Sinister turns off the muting device and the two teleport away to the nearby country of Symkaria.

Safe from Doom, Sinister once again threatens Loki for the sample. Loki questions why he would want it, since Doom had no luck and he’s the smartest man alive with the exception of Reed Richards. Sinister denies such an opinion and claims to the greatest geneticist in all of natural history, a creature of pure science. If anyone is up to the task of achieving anything with Loki’s genetic sample, it is he.

Loki smiles and says that, in that case, the sample is his. He hands it over and teleports away before Sinister can even question his action.

Loki looks down at Sinister as he admires his treasured sample. He tells himself that after Reed cloned Thor, Doom wished to match the feat and clone him. Given time, Doom would have succeeded using his sorcery. However, since Sinister is a man of science, he can never comprehend the things that Loki, god of chaos, is made of and thus the sample is safer with him.

Characters Involved: 

Mister Sinister
Loki

Creatures from Doom’s Labs

Story Notes: 

Reed Richards cloned Thor during the Civil War crossover, with disastrous results.