For reasons I don't quite understand, my Ask Mr. Silver Age column from CBG #1681 has not been posted at the site, although Brent says he plans to do it sometime. Rather than have thousands of CapCom fans miss out on what (at least then) was a well-timed look at a great SA theme, I present it here, in its entirety. The questioning letter references the issue's theme of the CBG Fan Awards, which I try to tie into each month. Sometimes, it's tougher than others.
For such a little thing, it sure packed a wallop
The Cosmic Cube!
Dear Mr. Silver Age,
I always vote in the CBG Fan Awards, but you’re never listed in any category! Have you ever won one?
Irving F.
Earth-NBE
Mr. Silver Age says: My column used to score well when fans were asked to rate all of the columns, Irv (and there used to be more columns, too). But today, I think it would take something like the Cosmic Cube for me to win an award. While it was a powerful little piece of business, I’m not sure it would be mighty enough to make that happen.
The Cube was introduced in Tales of Suspense #79 (Jul 66), which also revealed that “The Red Skull Lives!” We learned that, during the Big One, Captain America had battled the Skull in an underground bunker that collapsed during the fight. The Skull was buried under rubble, but an experimental gas was released that put him into suspended animation. What were the chances? (In the Silver Age, pretty good).
There he remained for many, many years until a team from T.H.E.M. (aka Advanced Idea Mechanics or A.I.M.) dug him out. He agreed to work with them to defeat Cap, using their technology and his evilness. One of the weapons they had under development was the Cosmic Cube, which they kept in an ionic shell. It had to be protected because it most likely was “the most potent device in all the world,” one of the scientists explained. “It is enough to stagger the imagination of a wizard!”
That was all we saw of it then. As we learned next ish, it technically allowed anything its holder thought to come true, which would seem to offer enough safe-guards that it wouldn’t be stolen. But somehow, before the story began, the Skull learned of its existence and brainwashed the cube’s keeper into bringing it to him. Don’t ask me how, the Skull is nefarious.
The story opened with Captain America watching one of A.I.M.’s fighter jets being destroyed in mid-air while chasing the Cube’s Keeper as he flew to the Skull’s HQ. Cap saved the pilot from the briny deep after he crashed, and he spilled his guts about what was happening.
Cap used S.H.I.E.L.D. resources to catch up to the Keeper, and they battled as the plane flew to Skull’s island. But the Skull overcame Cap’s interference and gained control of the Cosmic Cube, making him darn near omnipotent. Bummer.
Skull spent awhile fantasizing about how he would first take over the world and then the universe. When you own the Cube, make no small plans.
He was interrupted by Cap reviving, so he created a sand humanoid to battle Cap for a couple pages, to get some of that all-out action we wanted from our Assembler, before the Skull made his minion vanish. He wanted to defeat the star-spangled Avenger directly, you see, at least directly through the Cube.
Cap pretended to be beaten and agreed to serve Skull, allowing him to get close enough to force the Skull’s fist from closing on the Cube, which lessened its cosmicness. What were the chances? It still had enough power to throw everyone into the briny deep, where the Skull intended to grab the Cube and obliterate Cap. Sadly for his plan, he lost sight of it as they sank in the ocean, and only Cap reappeared.
You might think that would be the end of both the Skull and the Cube, but if you do, you haven’t read many Silver Age comics. Like two bad pennies, they reappeared together at the end of Captain America #114 (Jun 69). They popped into the flophouse room where Cap was staying in disguise. (It was the only place he could rent with no identification, since Steve Rogers was dead and he was wallowing in self pity while he cut all ties with the past. Long story.)
As the unimaginative Skull tended to do when he held the most powerful weapon in the universe, he gloated for awhile and then pushed Cap around (allowing our heroic A-head to get in a few shots as well). Then the Skull explained that the Cube had washed ashore in a Mediterranean fishing village, where a local peasant had used it to make himself and his island compatriots happy. The fool!
Needless to say, this info got back to the Skull (who apparently had better spies than all of S.H.I.E.L.D., who might also have wanted to ensure the Cube—or the Skull—didn’t resurface). Sadly, the poor villager didn’t think anyone would be interested in how he became so fabulously rich and generous, so he was easy pickings for the Skull’s minions. And they were even stupid enough to turn the recovered Cube over to him rather than use it themselves. The fools!
Thus, the Cube once again came into the Skull’s possession. He quickly transported one of his minions to the edge of the universe, where I imagine things did not go well for him. That gained the loyalty of the rest, and Skully went off to gloat over Cap again.
The Skull put Cap through the wringer, making him battle lots of cute, green lizards (but with big fangs), turning him tiny, flinging him to the edge of the universe to battle a space-dragon (you had to be there) and then bringing him back in a tiny size to gloat some more. None of which, frankly, even left a bruise on our Assembler.
Then, he did the most unimaginably despicable thing (which helped make this one of my all-time favorite Cap adventures). He exchanged minds with Cap and teleported Sharon to the room, where he canoodled with her in front of the frantic Skull/Cap. The fiend!
Thus, #116 (Aug 69) opened with Sharon and “Cap” embracing as “Cap” explained that he’d beaten “the Skull” once and for all. Meanwhile, “the Skull” blithered away in a very un-Skull-like way about how he wasn’t really the Skull. It’s not a ploy that would really have much chance of working, unless it was true.
Frankly, such identity-switches never made much sense to me. Rather than yelling, “You’re giving your heart, your trust, to the deadliest menace on Earth!” (which, actually, the Skull might believe in any event), Cap should’ve yelled out a few things only he and Sharon could know. There had to be any number of conversations and events available. Granted, they might have been written off as information the Skull gained with the Cube, but they were a lot better option than just shouting, “You don’t know what you’re doing!”
Bizarrely, “Cap” and Sharon strolled out of the room triumphant, leaving “the Skull” behind, which it’s hard to believe an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. would really do with the Skull, big, hulking boyfriend at the ready or not. He’s the Red Skull! After saying bye-bye to Shar outside, “Cap” used the cube to transport “the Skull” to a government testing lab. There, the security guards were a bit more interested in capturing the Red Skull than Sharon had been. He escaped and headed to Avengers Mansion, planning to convince them of his real identity.
Again, rather than pull out personal details from all their missions to convince them, “the Skull” blathered about they should use their gut rather than their eyes to determine if he was who he said he was as he battled them. Their gut, as always, told them to punch first and question later.
They imprisoned him, and “Cap” willed Sharon to visit the Avengers and kill the captured “Skull.” But the brainwashed Sharon, without even realizing it, sensed who he was and couldn’t shoot Cap. How sweet.
The next issue began with the frustrated “Cap” transporting “the Skull” to a tropical island, where a bunch of his former minions had been marooned. Needless to say, they hated the Skull, so “Cap” intended to allow them to get revenge on “the Skull.” Fortunately, that wasn’t easy, thanks in part to the intervention of a soon-to-be-famous falcon (and Falcon).
After actually realizing he could remove the red skull mask he wore and disguise his identity—something he admitted could’ve made the previous few hours a bit easier—he met a local black man (and his earlier savior, Redwing), who’d been battling the Skull’s minions. Cap convinced the man to help him in the guise of The Falcon, and a legendary comics team was born.
The new partners battled and defeated the minions in #118 (Oct 69), which didn’t please the Skull. So he transported himself and the heroes to his German castle to face them directly. Again. When they all arrived, he switched identities back and prepared for the final battle.
Surprisingly, for a guy who controlled the universe’s most powerful weapon, the Skull seemed to mostly enjoy knocking Cap off his feet and yakking about how powerful he was. He fought this fairly unimaginative battle against two guys with no real super-powers for quite a few pages before Cap managed to knock the cube out of the Skull’s hand by flinging his shield at it. Let’s not linger over that incredibly ingenious strategy.
While they scrambled around for the Cube, A.I.M. (under the direction of a returned Modok) transported it back to their safe keeping, leaving the Skull just enough time to make it transport him out of Cap’s clutches.
Amazingly enough, that was the last we saw of the Cube during the Silver Age. Most likely, Cap battling the universe’s most powerful weapon—heck, almost anyone taking it on—was such an unfair fight that it made it difficult to suspend disbelief to see it not obliterate the hero immediately (or make the villain look like a total fool for not doing it).
When it did return, it came back in a story with combatants more worthy of its power. It became the driving force behind the epic Captain Marvel vs. Thanos war that kicked off in Captain Marvel #25 (Mar 72).
It didn’t become clear what Thanos was seeking until CM #27, and its connection to A.I.M. was long gone. Instead, we learned that in the finale of the Kree-Skrull war in Avengers #97 (Mar 72), the Supreme Intelligence, through a bunch of mumbo-jumbo and for “unknown” reasons, had implanted the secret location of the Cosmic Cube into Rick Jones’ subconscious. Thanos learned this and intended to pry it loose when Jones wasn’t being Captain Marvel (as he was thanks to the aforementioned Avengers issue, long—but good—story).
Thanos gained possession of the cube in the next issue and embarked on an elaborate, albeit truly cosmic, master plan that involved even more yakking about it and his greatness than the Red Skull had ever imagined.
To make a long, cosmic story short, Thanos used the Cube to twist reality. Cap caught up to it in #33 (Jul 74), fought his way through the mind-warping universe Thanos was creating and fought off the aging, withering effects thrown at him. He karate-chopped that sucker right down the middle and it blew itself apart, destroying it forever. That destruction obliterated Thanos, stopping his universe-conquering schemes for good.
I’m just kidding about that last part, of course. But I’m not kidding about the second-to-last part. Cap really did destroy the Cube for good, and it never put itself back together again. Honest.
That’s not to say that was the end of all Cosmic Cubes, of course. This is still Marvel Comics. Another was created by our old buddy the Red Skull in Super-Villain Team-Up #16 (May 79), which he powered with the mind of Adolph Hitler (aka the Hate Monger). You had to be there.
Things got way more complicated after that, as thing that originated in the Silver Age are wont to do. Various Cubes and fragments have been popping up ever since. It’s hard to keep a good weapon down, even if nobody ever really seems to know how to successfully wield the Cosmic Cube.
-- MSA
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