The Order (comics)
The Order is the name of two fictional comic book superhero teams in the Marvel Comics universe. The first team was a brief offshoot of the team Defenders, and the second is part of an initiative to place a superhero team in each of the United States.
Defenders offshoot
Publication history
The original incarnation of The Order starred in the six-issue limited series The Order (April-Sept. 2002), consisting of the original Defenders, Doctor Strange, The Incredible Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Silver Surfer.
Fictional team history
Their fellow Defenders Hellcat, Nighthawk, Valkyrie and Clea team up with other heroes (including Ardina, a cosmic-powered woman they mystically create from a portion of the Silver Surfer's energy) to oppose the Order and return them to their senses, just in time to prevent the curse from rendering a demon named Yandroth omnipotent.
The Initiative
| The Order | |
|---|---|
 Cover art for The Order vol. 2, #1 (Sept. 2007) Art by Barry Kitson. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| Schedule | Ongoing |
| Format | Monthly |
| Main character(s) | Anthem Aralune Calamity Heavy Mulholland Supernaut Veda See Members section |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Matt Fraction Barry Kitson |
| Written by | Matt Fraction |
| Penciller(s) | Barry Kitson |
Publication history
A second Marvel Comics superhero team called The Order debuted in The Order vol. 2, #1 (Sept. 2007), created by writer Matt Fraction and penciler Barry Kitson. Following the fallout of Marvel Comics' Civil War crossover event, The Order was dubbed the First Super Hero Team of Tomorrow™[1] being the official superhero team for California as part of the Fifty States Initiative.
The group was originally intended to be named The Champions[2], before it was revealed that the trademark was owned by Heroic Publishing[3], and were first seen during the end of the Civil War with many of its members going unnamed during their first appearances. However, most would be apart of the new series though the designs of the characters were slightly altered.
As the cast of The Order is composed almost entirely of new characters, Fraction looked to a popular TV drama for ideas on how to acquaint readers with his protagonists.
I kind of went with the same kind of format they use on Lost. Each issue, I wanted readers to spend a little time with one character more than any other.
Fraction framed each issue around a flashback sequence depicting an interview with each character explaining their past and why they joined the Order to give each character a detailed introduction.[4]
In late January 2008, Fraction revealed on Newsarama's podcast "Word Balloon" that The Order would end at issue 10[5]. Though at first it was believed that Marvel had canceled the series, Fraction later stated on a later Newsarama interview that
That the book wasn't cancelled: I chose to end it. Marvel allowed me to choose to leave the stage, rather than to continue on in a state in which I felt was compromised and decidedly unawesome. I don't think I was too clear about that on Word Balloon: it wasn't cancelled. I killed it. And if you're looking for the man that killed The Order, it was me.[6]
Fictional team history
The team is comprised largely of celebrities known for making a difference through charitable work, and through a process involving a viral genomech payload developed by Hank Pym each one is given superpowers modeled on the pantheon of Greek gods and trained at a S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Arizona.[2] However, this process causes great strain on human bodies allowing the users limited time as superhuman (roughly a year).[7]
The group, then known as the champions, were first put to use in the final battle of the superhuman Civil War[8]. Though unnamed, the group that went into the fight consisted of people that closely resembled Hercules, Pierce, Maul, a black Avona, Bannerman Brown & Green, Corona along with several others displaying a variety of different powers.
As the Californian initiative team, slightly changed versions of many the first seen team face and defeat Infernal Man. After the battle, some members failed to follow the morals clause in their contract by going out drinking, and were subsequently fired and had their powers removed.[9]. Their replacements, Milo Fields, Mulholland Black, Magdalena Marie, and Becky Ryan were given different powers.[10]
The team would come into conflict with various villains, most with a connection to General Softly[11] and the mysterious "M.A.N. from S.H.A.D.O.W." military group, including hordes of Zobos (mechanized zombie hobos), Cold War supervillians, Gamma monsters, Namor, and an all girl gang called the Black Dahlias who have been given superpowers via the same process as The Order by M.A.N. from S.H.A.D.O.W. as well as deal with a murder case involving a former Order member.
The team is later evicted from its Bradbury, California headquarters[4] and the M.A.N. from S.H.A.D.O.W. is revealed to be a collection of General Softly Androids first devised by the Super Human Development and Operation (S.H.D.O.) fifty year before; around the time of the real General Samuel Softly's death, and now part of a collection of villains (including Black Dahlias and Maul) led by Ezekiel Stane, the son of Iron Man enemy Obadiah Stane.[12]
Current members
Anthem
Henry Hellrung is the team's field leader and representation of Apollo with the powers of a living supercell thunderstorm[13].
Hellrung was an actor who played Tony Stark on TV, he soon became good friends with Stark before becoming an alcoholic. Hellrung recovered and went on to give speeches at AA meetings. [7]
Aralune
Becky Ryan a former two-time Little Ms. America, multiple time Teenager of the Year, and platinum selling pop star, Ryan now has the ability to shape-shift. Depicted as a pop-starlet akin to Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson,[citation needed] Ryan has faced various troubles in her successful career including bulimia and sex tape scandal, which was successfully covered up by Kate Kildare. Ryan has been portrayed as a dedicated, hard-worker, but also as a people pleaser to her own detriment. Her powers are designed so she "can be whatever she wants."[14] Which means she is an excellent shapeshifter, can alter her size and was even able to "swallow" a nuclear bomb and absorb the blast.
Calamity
James Wa was an aspiring athlete known for his raw speed, but after a car accident that cost him both his legs went into an engineering career. Already nicknamed Calamity, Wa designed Calamity-brand Cheetah prosthetic limbs.[15] He is the representation of Hermes and has the power of super speed, reaching speeds of Mach 3 and changed outfits between Civil War #7 and The Order vol. 2, #1.
Heavy
Sergeant Major Dennis Michael Murray[16] was a warrant officer who was injured during Tony Stark's V.I.P. visit to the front lines, leaving him paralyzed and in a tube in V.A. hospital.
As part of The Order, he was submerged in a kind of super colloidal fluid[16] contained within a suit becoming the team's trainer and tactician, and representation of Poseidon with the power of super strength measured on a seismic scale.
Mulholland
Mulholland Black is the orphaned mutant daughter of two dead junkie grunge musicians. Black's mutant power was to convert dormant energies lying just below the surface of Los Angeles into electricity but after M-Day she lost this ability.[12] While living on the streets, she joined the all-girl gang Black Dahlias but was later kicked out after cheating on one of its members[11].
As part of The Order, Mulholland, who opted to not to use a code name[14], was given a power similar to her former ability, this power gave her a psycho-kinetic connection to LA itself through the people of the city.[17] She also wields a power hammer, charged by her psycho-kinetic energy, which grants her flight. The Black Dahlias, who all gained superpowers, inject Black with Stark's S.P.I.N. Tech to remove her powers[11] but somehow allowed her true mutant powers to resurface.[12]
Supernaut
Sergeant Milo Fields is a former soldier who, along with his platoon, was held hostage for eleven days while serving in the Somali Civil War; four of his men were killed and the rest were abandoned and later found by some Military Police officers on leave. A greatly exaggerated version of the capture and rescue was turned into a Hollywood movie by the US government. Fields, not liking how the government had portrayed his life story, became quite active in the Anti-war movement and was shot in the spine by someone who thought Fields was being unpatriotic, leaving him wheel-chair bound[11].
His neural networks have been hardwired into Stark's satellite network. He now pilots an Omega-level[17] mechanized battle-suit, Supernaut, using his neural networks and is considered the team's artillery.[15] After mixing together with the shape shifter Aralune, Milo regained the ability to walk.[12]
Veda
Magdelena "Maggie" Marie was an actress known for her martial arts background and work with orphans, she has the power to summon humanoid golem soldiers out of organic materials that surround her. However, she feels pain anytime one is destroyed.[18]
Associates
- Pepper uses external technology to tap into Stark technology, including satellites, and acts as the team's logistical coordinator.
- Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and founder of the team.[19]
- Kate Kildare
- Public relations
Former members
- Aphrodite
- A former supermodel.[2] - (unknown)
- Avona - representation of Athena
- Used a talking sword called "Bluetooth". - (fired, then murdered) - Another Avona of a different race was seen at the end of the Civil War.
- Bannerman Brown & Green
- Two Stark Enterprise's androids. - (destroyed)
- Corona - representation of Helios
- Carlos Araújo Carvalho[17] was a living conduit of the Sun, he had an exo-suit providing an amount of control over its energy. - (fired, then murdered)
- Hercules
- Maul - representation of Hephaestus.
- Jamal Peoples used an energy hammer, which provided flight and an energy covering his entire body - (fired, then hired by M.A.N. from S.H.A.D.O.W.)[18]
- Pierce - representation of Artemis
- Pam won an Archery Gold medal in Sydney. She used bow and titanium tipped arrows and also changed outfit and hair color between Civil War #7 and The Order vol. 2, #1 - (fired)
- Poseidon
Footnotes
- ^ "Marvel's The Champions becomes The Order". Marvel.com. 6 June 2007. Retrieved 2008-29-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ a b c d Civil War #6
- ^ "Marvel's The Champions becomes The Order". Newsarama. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-05.
- ^ a b "comicbookresources Article". Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ^ "WORD BALLOON: MATT FRACTION". Newsarama. 07 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "MATT FRACTION ON THOR: AGES OF THUNDER". Newsarama. 22 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
NRAMA: Do you have anything you'd like to say about the book's cancellation or future plans for the characters?
MF: That the book wasn't cancelled: I chose to end it. Marvel allowed me to choose to leave the stage, rather than to continue on in a state in which I felt was compromised and decidedly unawesome.
I don't think I was too clear about that on Word Balloon: it wasn't cancelled. I killed it. And if you're looking for the man that killed The Order, it was me.
Now watch, nobody's gonna read that and nobody's gonna care, because it's way more fun the other way. Oh well. - ^ a b The Order vol. 2, #1 (Sept. 2007)
- ^ a b Civil War #7
- ^ Majorspoilers.com: "Marvel's Champions Become The Order"
- ^ "Newsarama Article". Retrieved 2007-06-29.
- ^ a b c d The Order vol. 2, #6 (Feb 2008)
- ^ a b c d The Order vol. 2, #8 (April 2008)
- ^ "Wizard Article". Retrieved 2007-06-05.
- ^ a b The Order vol. 2, #2 (Oct. 2007)
- ^ a b The Order vol. 2, #3 (Nov,. 2007)
- ^ a b The Order vol 2 #09
- ^ a b c The Order vol. 2, #5 (Jan 2008)
- ^ a b The Order vol. 2, #4 (Dec. 2007)
- ^ NYCC '07: FRACTION & KITSON LAUNCH MARVEL's THE CHAMPIONS by Chris Arrant, newsarama.com
Tony Stark will remain in an oversight capacity of the team he founded under the moniker of 'ZEUS'