One Gripe And One Rave

These are two thoughts I had related to Taskmaster - Unthinkable, that didn't really fit with the review I was typing. So we can discuss them now.

There-s a point in the story when Steve Rogers shows up at the diner where Tasky and Mercedes were attacked by hordes of cannon fodder. The detective in command is some gruff old bastard named Rolling who gives Rogers a lot grief, telling Steve if he doesn't respect Rollins' crime scene or if he expects Rollins to salute, he'll get the cop's boot up his ass. Rogers, not being the sort who cares about that stuff, defers and lets Rollins lead the way. Nick Fury's there as well, waiting for Steve. Rollins is completely different around him. Deferential, respectful, calls Fury "Colonel", and doesn't seem to mind Fury's curt 'I'll take it from here Sergeant Rollins. You are dismissed.'

That whole sequence bothers me. That the cop goes out of his way to try and mark his territory when Steve Rogers shows up, but with Nick Fury it's a whole other matter. I know it shouldn't make a difference, but the idea Fury is somehow more deserving of respect than Steve Rogers grates. I have this impression that Marvel Fury's characterization has been drifting towards Ultimate Nick Fury territory for awhile. If you were reading the blog back when I still bought Ultimate Spider-Man, you may remember I rarely cared for Ultimate Nick Fury, with his manipulative ways, and tendency to view everyone as assets he could use as he saw fit, whenever he saw fit. Marvel Nick Fury might not be that far gone, but he's close enough I don't really like seeing him deferred to so strongly.

OK, so that was the thing that bugged me. Let's move to the other thing, the Legion of the Living Lightning. Or is it the Lords of the Living Lightning? The bonus material in the back refers to them both ways. They're one of the criminal groups after Taskmaster. They aren't one of the ones created for this mini-series, as they appeared previously. I thought they were related to the Lightning Lords who menaced Orson Randall in the Immortal Iron Fist Annual of 2007. Orson won a challenge with one of them (with the help of Danny Rand's father), and the loser had to drink poison, which set his brothers on a vengeance path*. Anyway, I figured these guys were devotees, or maybe just the many, many offspring of the various brothers. Mr. Xao, who was one of the enemies in the Brubaker/Fraction Iron Fist seemed to have lightning powers, so why couldn't there be enough of them to form a criminal organization all their own.

Well, until someone comes along and retcons it into place, that isn't the case. The Legion of the Living Lightning's first appearance is from 1967, which is just a little before Immortal Iron Fist. Little disappointing, though perhaps for the best. I have a feeling the Lightning Lords would be horrified to learn their descendants had such poor fashion sense. At least ditch the suspenders. If they were connected, the fact they had a device that created the Avenger Living Lightning would be interesting. Perhaps their power's diluted, because they've inherited the trait, but not the proper training. The device that enabled Miguel Santos to become pure energy was an attempt to put them on the level of their ancestors? After all, three Lightning Lords can combine to for one Super Lightning Lord, which about made Orson Randall soil himself. Imagine dozens of Super Lightning Lords, or if dozens of the group combine, an Ultra-Mega-Super Lightning Lord, towering over cities.

I guess that wouldn't fit with their goal to provide others with weapons that will destroy civilization so the Legion of the Living Lightning can become rulers of the new world. But turning into a giant electricity monster might let them destroy everyone who would oppose their taking over, so it all comes to the same end. They just cut out the middleman.

* Though they were also working for the Bride of 9 Spiders to capture Wendell so he could be executed for his crimes against the 7 Heavenly Cities.