Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Where I Envision An Edison Super-Villain Team-Up

We know the current Ms. Marvel's first arch-foe, the Inventor, is a clone of Thomas Edison unfortunately crossed with a cockatiel. At some point in the future, after his initial investigations into controlling other beings are either thwarted or at least set back, I want to see a team-up with Ghost Edison from Atomic Robo.

OK, Robo would probably say "Ghost Edison" is non-scientific hooey phrasing, but I didn't think any of you would know what I was talking about if I said, "Partially Quantum Displaced, Largely Non-Reactive, Odinic Energy Skeleton Edison," which is the closest I can get to a more accurate recitation of how they described him in the comic, without actually having the comic on hand. Which I don't.

Ghost Edison's form was disrupted and he vanished after his abrupt reappearance and subsequent attempt to kill Robo. No one was certain where he went (or even what he was), so why can't he reappear in the Marvel Universe? There's all sorts of super-science for him to try and steal or otherwise wreak havoc on. He'd probably torment Iron Man for weeks just because he assumes he's another mechanical man. I see him apologizing profusely when he figures out there's actually a boozy millionaire inside the tin can.

Or better yet, speaking of booze and mechanical men, Ghost Edison fights Aaron Stack, the Machine Man, who is quite proud of his robot parts, and isn't going to take kindly to some grumpy, undead, bigot scientist trying to destroy him. Plus, Aaron ran into some version of Tesla in Jeff Parker's Red She-Hulk, so if he lets that slip it could really set Ghost Edison off.

Anyway, eventually the Inventor tracks down his spectral counterpart, because the ghost almost certainly hasn't been shy about proclaiming his identity, and suggests a partnership, since neither is having much success solo (we're assuming Kamala's at least holding her own up to this point). Of course there's mistrust. Ghost Edison is too prejudiced to do well hiding his contempt for some talking bird that claims to be him, but she's him as a source of information about the world he's in (also a pair of tangible hands, since Ghost Edison's ability to interact non-destructively with the physical world appeared limited).

The Inventor figures the ghost is the damaged partial recording of his universe's Edison's brainwaves, taken by one of the other evil super-scientists on some time travel jaunt, then carelessly stored or misplaced. The ghost's ranting about "robot men" would make Doom a likely suspect, but the carelessness suggests a Doombot, or maybe the Wizard. At any rate, he's unstable and frequently single-minded, but also possessed of a unique energy source the Inventor sees as having great potential. As his bent towards destruction can be useful as a diversion, or possibly a way to eliminate other obstacles. So outward smiles and handshakes concealing future backstabbing all around.

This is quite a lot for Kamala to handle, but she's making a go of it, and Ghost Edison is careless and distracted enough she manages to follow him back to the secret hideout. There's a big battle, the Inventor tries turning on the ghost because he's wrecking critical projects, and Ghost Edison overloads, zipping himself, plus Kamala and Bird Edison, back to Robo's world. The Inventor figures a world with fewer superhumans might be easier to manipulate, Ghost Edison's back on his "kill Atomic Robo" kick, Kamala's freaking out at what her parents will say, Robo is. . . maybe not even there at the start. He might not appear until partway through if he's time lost (or they may show up in his past). When he does arrive, he'll be confused and exasperated.

And since we'll have a bird super-scientist, ghost super-scientist, and robot super-scientist, it might not be bad for Doctor Dinosaur to show up. He can be furious his "Time Bomb" plan failed, assuming that works with whenever the story is set.

Also, Jenkins will be there trying to shoot everything, except Kamala, who will probably manage to charm him into working with her in about 5 minutes.

By any chance, did Bob Haney ever use Edison in one of his stories? Possibly as a robot duplicate from future? Or even normal, human Edison? Because if so, I would be perfectly OK with throwing him in there, as friend or foe.

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