Just like the Marvel movies, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. enjoys adding references to the more obscure details of the Marvel Universe as tiny presents for longtime readers of the comic books. Depending on how you look at such things, last night’s episode either had very few Marvel Comics Easter eggs, or one really giant one, in the form of a B-grade villain who may return to pester Agent Coulson and his -- what do we call these Scoobies, anyway? Merry band of tricksters? Howlingly Nerdy Commandoes? Usual gang of idiots?
In any case, not too many spoilers here even if you haven’t seen the episode, because the comics connections were pretty oblique. If I missed any, let me know in the comments.
Franklin Hall
So far Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has avoided the traditionally garish costumes of the four-color world, which is kind of a pity because Graviton -- that’s the name scientist Franklin Hall eventually took in the comics -- had a doozy (see below). He was all blue and white with a flowing cape, as well as one of the rare characters with facial hair. (Tony Stark notwithstanding, beards are more common among villains like Graviton and rare in general. Must be hard to draw.) Graviton could control, well, gravitons, the theoretical particles that carry the force of gravity.
I admit, I didn’t remember Graviton’s real name; I picked up that connection from some of the pre-show web chatter. As a comics villain, he was an enemy of the short-lived Avengers spin-off team, the West Coast Avengers, headed by Hawkeye (the bow-and-arrow dude who is not Green Arrow — that’s DC Comics or, depending on your predilections, the CW Network). The West Coast Avengers were based in Los Angeles, a city that for some reason has never been kind to superhero comics — maybe it’s the relative lack of tall, densely clustered rooftops from which heroes like to jump. Like so many easterners, the West Coast Avengers eventually packed up and headed back to New York.
Gravitonium
Marvel comics have a few different fictional minerals with magical properties. Thor’s hammer is made of uru, and the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak is what makes the Juggernaut unstoppable and invulnerable. You’ve got your magical lifestones, including the bloodgem once worn by Ulysses Bloodstone -- unrelated, of course, to the soulgem worn by Adam Warlock (and sometimes a piece of Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet). Wolverine’s bones and claws are made of adamantium, the strongest metal known.
But gravitonium is, I suspect, a nod to my favorite fictional Marvel mineral: vibranium. The biggest deposit of the stuff is found under the equally fictional country of Wakanda, ruled by the sometimes-Avenger called Black Panther. (Nice subtle 1970s Blaxploitation hero name there, huh?) The metal absorbs energy, making it a frequent Marvel MacGuffin (and a reason for villains and heroes alike to visit beautiful Wakanda).
For a while Marvel writers used vibranium to explain the frankly anti-physics properties of Captain America’s shield. (Why does Cap sometimes get blown backward when something really powerful hits the shield, but sometimes not? How does the shield bounce off of walls in what look like perfectly elastic collisions?) It was supposed to be a magical alloy of vibranium and adamantium, created by the Asgardian trickster Loki when adamantium’s inventor wasn’t looking. But I think that story is out-of-continuity now? The shield is pure adamantium, its properties mysterious, and vibranium is out of the game.
As for gravitonium? Well, that’s new. Unless the comics pick it up.
Previous Comic Book Easter Egg recaps:
