UNOFFICIAL CHRONOLOGY TO
THE MARVEL UNIVERSE
CHAPTER 14: PRE-FANTASTIC
FOUR #1, PART FOUR
Circa 3 years before FF #1
Nathaniel Richards finished work on a time machine. Planning a trip into the future, Richards' machine malfunctioned and transported him instead to an alternate Earth, unable to return. Before setting off Richards had left the majority of his estate, worth almost two billion dollars, to his son Reed. Reed Richards spent the bulk of the money to further his plans to build and launch a starship capable of interstellar travel.Susan Storm moved from New York to California to pursue her acting career.
John Proudstar forged identification papers, lying about his true age, and joined the United States Marines before he was legally entitled to. Proudstar had been dissatisfied with life on the reservation and wished to join the armed forces to prove his true worth as a warrior. Proudstar served extremely well in the military, earning a number of medals and eventually rising to the rank of corporal.
Heather McNeil, wishing to support her large family, got a job at the Am-Can Petro-Chemical Company in Edmonton, Alberta. McNeil became attracted to James MacDonald Hudson, an employee of Am-Can, but a much older man than her.
James Hudson resigned from Am-Can Petro-Chemical when he learned a high tech geological exploration suit of his design was to be sold to the United States military. Hudson stole the exploration suit and abandoned it, taking the psycho-cybernetic helmet that controlled the suit, leaving the suit useless. Heather McNeil, who had resigned from Am-Can after learning that Hudson's suit was to be turned over to the American military, checked up on Hudson after his resignation and discovered that he was the one that stole the helmet. Fearing criminal proceedings against him, Hudson went to the Canadian government for aid. The Canadian government declared that Hudson had been a "retroactive" employee of theirs for years and granted him immunity from prosecution.
Richard Easton, an archaeologist's assistant working in Resolute Bay, Northwest Territories, discovered a long buried metal headband. Later that night Easton felt a compulsion to put on the headband, and when he did so a vision of Nelvanna, Hodiak, and the Seeker, three of the Eskimo gods, appeared before him. Nelvanna informed Easton that she planned to mate with him. She told Easton that she needed to give birth to a child that was half human that was not affected by the barrier which prevented the Eskimo gods from physically appearing on Earth. Overpowered by Nelvanna's beauty, Easton was mystically transported to the realm of the Eskimo gods.
Jeanne-Marie Beaubier, extremely depressed over the harsh conditions she endured at the DuPont's School for Girls, attempted suicide by jumping off a roof of one of the school's buildings. Instead of plunging to her death, Beaubier's mutant abilities emerged and she discovered that she had the ability to fly. Believing this to be a sign of divine intervention, the next day she told what had happened to the school's headmistress, Souer Anne. Believing Jeanne-Marie to be speaking blasphemy, Souer Anne had Beaubier strictly punished. The pain and anguish Beaubier experienced because of the method of punishment caused her to have a mental breakdown, triggering schizophrenia within her. The result was that Beaubier became a multiple personality, with her new aspect being much more extroverted and uninhibited than she had ever been before. Under the influence of this new personality, Beaubier left the school for three days, and upon her return she had no memory of what had happened to her. The further punishment she received for leaving the school caused Beaubier to repress the new personality, and it would not re-emerge for some years.
Jean-Paul Beaubier's mutant abilities began to emerge. Beaubier discovered that with his enhanced speed he turned from a mediocre skier into a highly successful one. Concentrating upon his skiing, Beaubier set his sights on becoming a world champion.
Zebediah Killgrave, a spy working for the Soviet Bloc, was ordered to steal a sample of experimental nerve gas from an American army ordnance depot. Killgrave was discovered in his theft attempt by an army guard and shot at. However the bullets missed Killgrave and struck the canister which contained the nerve gas. The contents of the canister spilled out and doused Killgrave, causing his skin to turn purple in color. Caught by the army guards, Killgrave offered a weak excuse and alibi as to why he was there. To his own surprise, he was believed and released. Killgrave discovered that he had the ability to command anyone to do whatever he wanted.
In a bar in Buffalo, New York, Killgrave spotted a beautiful woman named Melanie. On a whim, Killgrave decided to use his powers to make Melanie fall in love with and marry him. Eventually Killgrave did come to truly love Melanie and decided to free her from his control. Horrified at what she had undergone against her will, Melanie fled from Killgrave and moved to Toronto, Ontario. However Melanie was pregnant with Killgrave's child, and months later gave birth to a normal looking baby girl, Kara.
Killgrave spent the next few years learning about and mastering his mind control powers before engaging in a full time criminal career.
The Tiboldt Carnival, which had been wandering America for decades, attracted such talent as Chondu the Magician, a sorcerer of minor abilities, and the fortune-teller Irene Destiny, a mutant with true precognitive powers. Destiny was accompanied in the carnival by her friend, the mutant shape-changer Raven Darkholme.
[X-Force #-1]
[Date is speculative]Birth of Hallie Takahama to Robert and Jane Takahama in Ojai, California.
[Thunderbolts #-1]Circa 2 years before FF #1
Reed Richards received additional funding to finance the construction and launching of a starship capable of interstellar travel from the United States government. Richards set up his base of operations in Central City, California.Benjamin Grimm retired from the United States Air Force. The same day he left the military his old friend Reed Richards contacted him and reminded him of his offer to pilot Richards' experimental rocket. Grimm agreed to pilot the spacecraft.
Susan Storm, learning that Reed Richards was living in California, contacted him and visited him at Central City. There the two began a romantic relationship.
Peter Parker began attending Midtown High School in Forest Hills, New York. Parker was extremely bright and became a high honors student, although his shyness and academic interests caused him to become a social outcast among the other students.
Wanda Maximoff, whom had been wandering central Europe with her brother Pietro, accidentally caused a barn to burst into flames with her uncontrollable mutant powers. Believing her to be a witch, the townspeople chased her from the village. Although Pietro used his mutant abilities of speed to defend her, the townspeople soon overwhelmed both of them. They were about to be killed when they were rescued by their natural father, Erik Lehnsherr, who had begun going by the alias Magneto. Unaware of their true relationship, Wanda agreed to serve Magneto in thanks for saving their lives. Begrudgingly, her brother Pietro also agreed to follow Magneto.
Clint Barton, using the stage-name Hawkeye the Marksman, began to perform professionally as a trick-shot archer in the travelling carnival which he worked for. Barton soon discovered his mentor the Swordsman stealing from the carnival's management in order to pay off a large gambling debt. Barton fled in panic from his trainer. Chasing Barton onto the high-wire, the Swordsman cut the rope out from under Hawkeye, who fell to the ground and was severely injured. The Swordsman was about to kill Barton when Trick Shot intervened. Discovered by his brother Barney, Hawkeye was rushed to the hospital. The Swordsman fled the scene, and made his way to Europe. During Barton's recuperation, Trick Shot continued to train him in the use of the bow and introduced him to the concept of gimmick arrows.
[Solo Avengers #2]Former Central Intelligence Agency operative Logan was wandering Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Canada. Logan had been reverted to a bestial state by experiments conducted upon him which bonded adamantium to his skeleton. The process had been so traumatic for Logan he had been rendered insane, and had been wandering western Canada for an unknown amount of time. It was winter when Logan stumbled upon the Hunter in Darkness, a large beast that haunted the region. The Hunter had been caught in a bear trap, which Logan broke and dragged away so that he could mislead those who had set it. However the hunter who had laid the trap caught up to Logan, and believing him to be the Hunter in Darkness, shot him through the chest. Logan managed to stumble away before the hunter caught up to him, and although gravely wounded, his mutant healing powers allowed him to survive the injury and flee.
[Wolverine v2 #34]James Hudson was invited by the Canadian Prime Minister to help create Department H, a top secret research and development agency within the Canadian Ministry of Defense. He and Heather McNeil became engaged. McNeil also became a member of Department H, serving as Hudson's secretary.
Heather McNeil glimpsed reports on James Hudson's desk of a process to bond adamantium to bone, translated from the Japanese. However she dismissed the reports from her mind, and did not recall them again for years.
[Alpha Flight #34]Jennifer Walters successfully completed law school with high honors. Setting up in Los Angeles, Walters eventually established a successful criminal law practice.
Daniel Rand-K'ai, training in the martial arts in the extra-dimensional city of K'un-L'un, at the age of sixteen entered the ritualistic Challenge of the Many. Rand-K'ai successfully triumphed over four foes and the mechanical Shu-Hu, and successfully earned the Crown of Fu-Hsi, king of the vipers.
Erik Josten was a former soldier and mercenary who wandered aimlessly from job to job until he was discovered by Baron Heinrich Zemo, who recruited Josten into his personal army in the jungles of the Amazon rain forest. Under Zemo, Josten finally found the order and discipline that had been lacking in his life.
[Thunderbolts #-1]Birth of Jubilation Lee in Beverly Hills, California.
Circa 1 years before FF #1
Gormuu, an alien conqueror from the planet Kraalo, arrived on Earth and attempted to conquer it. Reed Richards used his scientific knowledge to defeat the alien. The experience further inspired Richards to attain his goal of interstellar space travel at any cost.
[Fantastic Four #271]Reed Richards and Sue Storm became engaged to be married.
Bruce Banner's reputation for brilliance attracted the attention of the military. General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross was sent to listen to Banner's theories about construction of a new nuclear weapon of his design called the gamma bomb. It was Banner's theory that the bomb would destroy property while sparing lives. The military was interested in it enough to fund his project and research.
Brian Banner was being released from the mental institution which he had been imprisoned in and contacted his son Bruce. Despite Bruce's suppressed feelings of rage and hatred towards his father, he allowed him to move in after his release. Despite Brian's claims that he was now mentally sound, he began acting more and more irrational around his son. The two confronted each other at Rebecca Banner's grave, and Brian began beating Bruce, believing him to be an inhuman mutant monster. Bruce lashed out at his father, and Brian Banner fell back onto Rebecca's gravestone, crushing his skull and dying instantly.
Bruce Banner mentally suppressed the memory of his father's death. The next day he reported his father missing. The police, aware of Brian's record, did not investigate his death and labeled it the result of a random mugging.
Bruce Banner accepted the job with the United States Defense Department, and began working at the research station at Desert Base, New Mexico. There he continued his research and design of the gamma bomb.
[Incredible Hulk #-1]Doctor Stephen Strange returned from Asia after being tutored in the mystical arts by the Ancient One. Strange purchased a house in Greenwich Village, New York and set up residence there.
Shortly after Doctor Stephen Strange's return to America, Wong reached adulthood and was ready to serve a powerful sorcerer. The Ancient One arranged for Wong to go to America to serve his disciple Doctor Strange.
Doctor Henry Pym, a noted biochemist, married Maria Trovaya, a Hungarian political dissident who had defected to America with her father, Hungary's leading geneticist. For their honeymoon Henry and Maria traveled back to Hungary, believing that her marriage to an American would keep her safe from any government sanction. However Hungarian secret police agents arrested Maria, hoping to use her to force her father to return. When Pym protested Maria's arrest he was struck from behind and knocked out. In America communist agents informed Maria's father of what they had done, but he refused to return with them, committing suicide rather than return to his native country.
When Pym went to the American embassy for aid in freeing Maria he was told that she had been killed as a warning to other potential defectors. Furious, Pym vowed to hunt down his wife's killers and make them pay. Becoming obsessed with vengeance, Pym went berserk and was arrested. Placed in jail, Pym was on the verge of a mental breakdown when the American embassy intervened and had him freed and sent back to America. Back home Pym decided to devote himself to science, looking for a way to successfully combat injustice and tyranny.
In actuality Maria Pym had not been killed. The communists decided to force her to reveal any of the knowledge she had learned from her father. The communists used an experimental ray on Maria that greatly increased her intelligence and mutated and enlarged her brain and head. Learning all they could from her, the communists decided to keep Maria alive as a super-intelligent living computer but, realizing that she was now too powerful to truly control, kept her continuously drugged. The communists eventually did use Maria as an aid in the creation of their super-soldiers and armored warriors.
[Marvel Saga #1, West Coast Avengers #36]HYDRA agents heard rumors of a super-strong individual living in the bowery of New York city. A squad of HYDRA agents were ordered to investigate these reports and if proven true, to force this individual to join HYDRA. The agents eventually discovered the super-strong individual, who was actually Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner, still wandering New York city in a amnesiac state since the 1950's. The HYDRA agents attempted to seize Namor, but he easily managed to overcome them. Realizing that Namor could not be taken by force, one of the HYDRA agents was about to kill him when he was interrupted by the appearance of Paul Norbert Ebersol, who had been secretly monitoring HYDRA radio transmissions. Ebersol, using his exo-skeletal body armor, blasted Namor into submission, but convinced the HYDRA agents that he himself was a more worthy prize than Namor. After meeting with HYDRA leaders, Ebersol, in his guise of the Fixer, became a HYDRA operative, performing missions for the subversive terrorist group to help further his own goals.
[Thunderbolts #-1]Magneto, using his mutant magnetic powers, began construction of Asteroid M, a fully functional and self-sustaining space station. Magneto planed on Asteroid M to be his home and a sanctuary for other mutants. Once the station was habitable, Magneto and his two followers Wanda and Pietro Maximoff made their residence there.
[X-Men #-1]Scott Summers, experiencing extreme headaches and eyestrain, was taken to an eye expert in Washington D.C. The optometrist, suspecting something extraordinary about Summers, contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Walking through the city, Summer's mutant powers re-emerged for the first time since he was a child. Unintentionally destroying a large crane with his optic force blasts, Summers put the crowd in danger when the remains of the crane began falling towards them. Saving the crowd by destroying the wreckage with his optic blasts, Summers frightened and enraged the onlookers. Summers hopped aboard a freight train and escaped. This incident spurred the F.B.I. to launch an investigation into mutant activity. The public emergence of a mutant brought Charles Xavier out of his self-imposed seclusion, and he journeyed to Washington D.C. to meet with agent Fred Duncan, head of the investigation. Xavier proposed that he himself track down and train young mutants in the safe use of their abilities, so that they would not be a danger to others. Duncan agreed to Xavier's proposal, and the two developed a plan whereby Xavier would report on known mutant activity and the progress of his students if Duncan kept Xavier's role secret.
Scott Summers, afraid to return to his orphanage, was discovered by a mutant criminal Jack Winters, who went by the alias Jack O'Diamonds. Winters decided to use Summers as an aide for his crimes. Charles Xavier wanted Summers to be the first recruit to his school for mutants, and used Cyberno, an invention of his which scanned for mutant brain activity, searched for and located the boy. Xavier then tracked Scott down and rescued him from the evil mutant. Summers accepted Xavier's request to enroll in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngster's in Westchester County, and became the School's first student.
[Uncanny Origins #1]Amelia Voight became extremely upset that Xavier was now actively seeking out mutants to be trained in the use of their powers. Voight didn't believe that mutants should actively come together, instead believing that they should remain in hiding and not publicly reveal their powers. Upset with Xavier's decision, Voight left him. Panicking, Xavier used his mental powers to freeze Voight in her tracks. Realizing the mistake he had made Xavier released her from his control. Feeling incredibly betrayed and hurt, Voight struck Xavier, then left him. The two would not see each other again for years.
[Uncanny X-Men #309]Over the next few years Xavier continued his search for young mutants, persuading their parents to enroll their children in his school. Xavier nicknamed his students the X-Men, due to their extra powers. Xavier planned to use the young mutants to defend humanity against evil mutants and other threats such as the alien Lucifer.
Matthew Murdock completed his university education and opened a law office with his partner Franklin Nelson.
James Hudson married Heather McNeil. On their honeymoon in Wood Buffalo National Park they were attacked by former C.I.A. agent Logan, who was still suffering from insanity and a "berserker rage." They managed to overcome Logan by shooting him and confined him in their cabin. Hudson decided to hike back to the nearest town to look for medical help, leaving Heather alone with the savage. Confined to the bed, Logan instinctively unsheathed adamantium claws contained in his forearms, slashing his bonds. However this was apparently the first time the wild man had seen these claws and he was driven almost into a state of shock. Heather finally managed to calm Logan down. After returning to civilization, James and Heather took care of the wild man, nursing him back to health. They eventually learned his name from him and spent day and night rehabilitating him to a state of relative sanity. They also discovered Logan was a mutant. Eventually Logan became an agent of Department H, which code-named him Wolverine.
Clint Barton was released from hospital. Anxious to rejoin the carnival and continue performing, Barton was instead cajoled into a racketeering job by his mentor Trick Shot. When Barton was shot at, he instinctively fired an arrow at his attacker, only to discover that the gunman was his brother Barney. Trick Shot wanted Clint to abandon his wounded brother, but Barton refused. Trick Shot then fired his arrows at Barton, pinning him to a tree. Trick Shot warned Barton that he had just spared his life, and told him that one day he would collect. Trick Shot then fled the scene. Clint managed to unpin himself from the tree and brought his brother to a hospital. Clint then returned to the carnival and resumed performing under the name Hawkeye the Marksman.
[Solo Avengers #2]Doctor Edwin Martynec, a geneticist who examined the effects of concentrated radiation on human tissue, had established an identity as the medical doctor to the Apache reservation at Camp Verde, Arizona. Martynec, whose own genetic structure had been altered by radiation to give him the ability to shape-change into a bestial form, told many of his patients that they had cancer so that he could take samples of their tissue under the facade of having to have them studied. Martynec learned that Maria Proudstar, mother to John and James Proudstar, had been exposed to radiation when she was young from fallout from an American nuclear test. Believing that such exposure may have effected her offspring, Martynec attempted to abduct young James. However James fled from him, and Martynec broke off his pursuit when John Proudstar, recently discharged from the Marines, appeared to greet his brother.
Maria Proudstar told her son John that she had been diagnosed with leukemia. John later learned that many Apache Indians had been diagnosed with cancer as well, and that their lab work had been conducted at Arroyo Laboratories, a nearby medical lab. Breaking into the lab, John, his friend Michael Whitecloud, and his younger brother James discovered evidence of genetic experiments on human tissue and also that many of the diagnosis of cancer to their people were false. Martynec discovered the intruders and was about to kill them when John attacked him. Martynec changed to his bestial form, and Whitecloud fled, taking James with him. John remained to block their escape. However Martynec, realizing that no evidence of his crimes or experiments could be uncovered, set off an explosion that destroyed his lab. John Proudstar barely escaped with his life. Martynec's body was not recovered from the wreckage.
[X-Force #-1]Dwayne Taylor's parents were killed in front of his eyes by his godfather Andrew Chord. Chord was forced to commit the murders by the Cambodian witch Tai, who wanted to manipulate young Dwayne for her own needs. Tai used her mystical powers to cause Dwayne to forget who the murderer was and for his mind to be clouded about the actual events of the crime. Chord was not suspected of the murders, and he was granted custody of Dwayne. Dwayne became dedicated to training himself to combat injustice and seek revenge on criminals for the death of his parents, training which Tai encouraged, planning for the day when Dwayne would gather together super-powered individuals to use as her pawns to control the Well of All Things.
[New Warriors #25]Shortly after the death of his mother, Helmut Zemo was contacted by his father, the Nazi war criminal Baron Heinrich Zemo, who invited his son to his secret fortress in the Amazon rain forest. Baron Zemo had managed to keep himself alive and healthy throughout the years by exposing himself to a chemical formula which he had dubbed Compound X, and decided to share that chemical with his son. It was also Zemo's plan to tutor his son in the ways of ruling. After spending time with his father Helmut Zemo returned to the United States and to his job as an engineer.
[Thunderbolts #-1]Abner Jenkins, fed up that his ideas and patents were constantly rejected by his managers and supervisors at Precision Aircraft Parts, began designing a battle suit that incorporated many of his inventions and ideas. It was Jenkins' plan to construct the suit and use it for adventure to gain wealth and fame.
[Thunderbolts #-1]Karla Sofen graduated from university with a psychiatric degree. Starting up a small practice, Sofen quickly learned that by manipulating her patients she could retain them as clients.
[Thunderbolts #-1]Melissa "Mimi" Gold, while still a young girl, ran away from home after her mother was sent to prison. After his wife's arrest, Melissa's father began becoming abusive towards her. Melissa, not believing that her mother was truly in jail, decided to run away to search for the mother that had abandoned her.
[Thunderbolts #-1]
CHAPTER 3: DAWN OF MODERN HUMAN CIVILIZATION
CHAPTER 7: BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR II
CHAPTER 8: END OF WORLD WAR II
CHAPTER 9: POST WORLD WAR II - 1956
CHAPTER 11: PRE-FANTASTIC FOUR #1, PART I
CHAPTER 12: PRE-FANTASTIC FOUR #1, PART II
CHAPTER 13: PRE-FANTASTIC FOUR #1, PART III
CHAPTER 14: PRE-FANTASTIC FOUR #1, PART IV