This podcast is devoted to the deepest dives into Marvel’s X-Men comics and related lore. I was first a guest in February to discuss Marvel’s subterranean species The Lava Men; occasional antagonists to Thor, The Avengers and The X-Men. Having deep roots both in Marvel Comics and New York’s own cultural underground, I felt I could speak with some form authority (Ha!). Recording the episode was a delight and you can now find it here – Graymalkin Lane: August 8
I recently, returned to the show where I met cosplay model Justin Kosmachuk – Over the course of the episode he gradually transformed into the character we were discussing; delightful & amazing. Our host, Chad Anderson had us over to discuss the obscure Marvel bad-guy Warhawk.
Mitchell Tanner was a career soldier during the Vietnam war. He was badly injured but transformed into the deadly super-soldier for hire known as Warhawk.
After our first episode together Chad and I got to talking. “What other characters could we talk about” we wondered. My extensive background within the martial arts community had me wanting to cover characters of that sort. Maybe The Silver Samurai, The Hand (Marvel’s cult of often undead Ninja, famous for tussles with Daredevil) or some of Marvel’s other martial characters like Shang Chi or Iron Fist. Iron Fist had hidden potential as legendary comic writer Chris Claremont was writing both titles at the same time. It was Iron Fist who first fought the iconic Wolverine foe Sabertooth.
We settled on Warhawk who also first faced Iron Fist before moving on to tangle with the X-Men. He just never reached Saberetooth & Wolverine’s height of notoriety. Maybe a lost opportunity considering the character’s potential parallels with Captain America, The Punisher as well as Wolverine.
