Surprising Heroes

I have decided over the next little bit to make people aware of some little known heroes. So for my first entry I give you 3-D Man

The 3-D Man was a 1950's hero who came about through the unique merger of two brothers, Hal and Chuck Chandler. Chuck was a test pilot who was abducted by alien Skrulls during an important test flight. Earth was seen as a strategic location in the ongoing conflict between the alien Kree and Skrull Empires, so the Skrulls were seeking information on Earth's space program and had captured Chuck to interrogate him. Chuck resisted and escaped, accidentally causing the explosion of the Skrull spacecraft in the process. While his brother Hal watched, the radiation from the explosion seemingly disintegrated Chuck, who disappeared in a burst of light. Hal later discovered, however, that the light burst had imprinted an image of Chuck on each lens of Hal's eyeglasses. Through concentration, Hal could merge the images and cause Chuck to reappear as a three-dimensional man. Chuck become the costumed adventurer known as the 3-D Man and single-handedly subverted the Skrulls' early attempts to undermine Earthly civilization.
Hal would remain comatose whenever the 3-D Man was active but remained aware of the 3-D Man's activities through a mental link. Later, a Skrull's ray weapon altered the transformation so that Hal was the 3-D Man's dominant consciousness for some time. Both brothers' minds seemed to be present in the 3-D Man at all times, but only one of them (usually Chuck) would be in conscious control of the 3-D Man's form on any given occasion.
After a brief career as a costumed adventurer, Hal decided to retire the 3-D Man, partly because he was thinking about starting a family, and partly because he was afraid his brother's consciousness might somehow be lost during periods when Hal was the 3-D Man's dominant consciousness. Hal settled down into a career as a research scientist, got married to Chuck's former girlfriend, and raised two sons. He had only activated the 3-D Man twice in recent years, once to fight a rampaging Hulk. During this time as 3-D Man, Chuck seemed to be its dominant consciousness again.
More recently, Hal began to feel a strange impulse to travel to the Himalayan Mountains of India. Unbeknownst to him, the presence of a powerful mystical artifact was calling to him. The artifact was a pyramid-shaped shard of light, one of three such shards that were created by the universe in reaction to the presence of pure evil that was cast adrift in this dimension by the extradimensional gods known as the Trion. One of these shards was captured by the Skrulls who had abducted Chuck Chandler, and its energies had merged with Chuck in creating the 3-D Man.

Chandler also heard the call of the other shard and mounted an expedition to find it. He was betrayed, however, by Jonathan Tremont, one of the expedition's guides, who claimed the shard for himself. Hal was held captive by Tremont for many years, and Tremont used the power of his shard to create the religious organization called the Triune Understanding. Tremont had discovered the true origin of the shards and hoped to use the Understanding to end the threat of the Trion's cast-off evil, which he termed the "Triple-Evil."
Tremont also sought out alternate weapons against the Triple-Evil. He used the power of the shard that was internalized in Hal Chandler to release the powers within a new follower, Delroy Garrett Junior, creating the superhuman champion Triathlon. Triathlon unknowingly held the essence of both Hal and Chuck within himself.
Ultimately, Tremont and the hero team Avengers (which now included Triathlon among their members) fought the Triple-Evil and the aliens it had corrupted. Tremont sensed that he might overwhelm the power of the Triple-Evil, to use it for himself to become as a god, and then to reward himself with dominion over all the Earth. Instead, Triathlon found the remaining third shard and, coupling it with the power within him as personified in the 3-D Man, he wrested control of the shard used by Tremont. Using all three shards, a Triathlon/Hal Chandler/Chuck Chandler amalgamation emerged and was able to destroy the Triple-Evil.
Triathlon/3-D Man used the pyramid that once housed the Triple-Evil to return the Avengers to Earth, which had since been conquered by the time-traveling Kang. They used the power of the pyramid, channeling the energies of all those fall to its assault for millennia, to fight back and ultimately Kang was defeated.
Triathlon returned to Peggy Chandler, separating himself from Hal and Chuck and restoring both of them to physical form. Triathlon found his triple-powers had remained, although Hal and Chuck no longer possessed the power to transform into 3-D Man. Note: In at least one timeline, a team of adventurers known as the Avengers briefly formed in the 1950's before disbanding at the request of the President, who felt the public wasn't ready to learn of them and their exploits. The 3-D Man was part of that short-lived Avengers team, and their rescue of the President from Yellow Claw helped dispel the 3-D Man's reputation as a dangerous outlaw thanks to the President's influence.

STATS

UniverseMarvel Universe
Real NameHal Chandler and Chuck Chandler
AliasesNone
IdentitySecret
OccupationResearch scientist (Hal Chandler);test pilot, adventurer (Chuck Chandler)
CitizenshipU.S.A.
Place of BirthLos Angeles, California
Known RelativesPeggy Chandler (Hal’s wife)
Group AffiliationNone
EducationHigh school graduate; military training (Chuck Chandler only)
Height6'2"
Weight200 lbs.
Eyes(Hal) Brown, (Chuck) Blue, (3-D Man) Obscured by red/green goggles
Hair(Hal) Gray, (Chuck) Reddish-blonde, (3-D Man) Unrevealed
PowersThrough concentration, Hal could merge the images of his brother imprinted on his glasses and thus cause his brother Chuck to reappear as a three-dimensional man, clad in an altered version of his experimental flight suit and endowed with physical abilities roughly three times greater than those of an ordinary human. Hal would fall into a trance-like state when Chuck appeared, and Chuck could only exist in the three-dimensional world for three hours at a time, after which Hal had to revive.
As the 3-D Man, Chandler possessed roughly three times the physical abilities and sensory acuity of an ordinary human in peak condition and is capable of slightly superhuman strength and speed. His stamina, durability, agility and reflexes are also estimated to be superhuman, namely roughly triple that of a human in peak physical condition. He could also sense Skrulls no matter what form they took.
AbilitiesChuck Chandler was an accomplished U.S. Air Force officer.
WeaponsNone
ParaphernaliaNone
First AppearanceMarvel Premiere # 35 (1977)
OriginMarvel Premiere # 35
Significant IssuesMarvel Premiere #35-37; Incredible Hulk #251-252; Contest of Champions #1-3; Avengers Forever #3-6; Avengers #50, 51-55

Lego Star wars News

DK Plans Out-of-This-World LEGO Star Wars Event
This article originally appeared in PW's Children's Bookshelf. Sign up now!
By Karen Raugust -- Publishers Weekly, 6/18/2009
Should we be worried? A Storm Trooper takes a break in DK's booth at BEA with a copy of Planet Earth (hopefully not in preparation for a surprise visit from the Death Star).DK Publishing, along with Lucasfilm and LEGO, is planning a one-day in-store launch event for its October release LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary by Simon Beecroft. The book is based on LEGO’s 10-year-old line of toys tied to George Lucas’s Star Wars saga; the characters also have been featured in a series of videogames.
DK is offering participating stores an activity kit with game and trivia contests; giveaways including posters, pins, and tote bags; raffle prizes in the form of limited-edition LEGO Star Wars Chrome Darth Vader figures; and appearances from members of a volunteer group of Star Wars costume enthusiasts called the 501st Legion. DK also plans to donate books in the name of the 501st, which is involved in many charitable activities.
“We’ve never done anything on this scale at all, and neither has the 501st,” says Rachel Kempster, DK’s associate director of publicity. “We didn’t plan this along with the marketing of the book, but when we saw some of the spreads, we realized this needs to be an event.”
According to Kempster, the LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary, which will have a 125,000-copy printing, was DK’s hottest title at BEA. When she mentioned the event opportunity to booksellers at the show, it received a very positive reception; she expected 20 to 30 stores to participate, but 64 stores signed on in just three weeks and she predicts the total will be close to 100. Most will be bookstores, but other outlets, including LEGO stores, toy stores and gift shops, also plan to host events. Publicity for the launch will kick in at Comic Con in July, where DK also will reveal the identity of the exclusive minifigure to be embedded in the book’s jacket, as well as introduce its LEGO Star Wars mini-site.
This is DK’s first LEGO Star Wars title, although it has been a longtime partner on Star Wars, and published LEGO books years ago. This fall it is introducing a new range of LEGO-branded formats, in addition to the Visual Dictionary.


The LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary: From Bricks to BooksJuly 23, 2009
Hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Lucasfilm and LEGO entered into a partnership to feed the world’s astonishing appetite for Star Wars-themed LEGO bricks. When that deal, brokered around the release of The Phantom Menace, came to light, it felt like a natural to many — a match made in collector and kid heaven. But it’s doubtful anyone would have predicted a future filled with smash hit video games, animated shorts and now, a book dedicated to LEGO Star Wars, due out from DK Publishing on October 10, 2009.
Due out in October, the LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary may seem like an odd venture at first, given that previous Star Wars Visual Dictionaries have explored the in-universe details of the saga, applying names and histories to the various bit players, widgets, greeblies and what-have-yous of the visually dense props and costumes. This LEGO edition serves a visually rich guide to the fantastic sets and figures produced by LEGO, a sort of plussed out collector’s bible of the past ten years.
On-hand to discuss it at Comic-Con International were Jonathan Rinzler, Executive Editor at LucasBooks; Rob Johnson, Art Director for the LEGO Group, and Simon Beecroft, author of the book and Publishing Manager for DK Publishing.
“I’ve been championing some kind of LEGO book for years,” said Rinzler. “And finally it all came together… Putting it all together was in many ways a puzzle piece.”
Beecroft clarified that the book is not merely a catalog of LEGO products, though every set to date is indeed included. “It does follow along the lines of our Visual Dictionaries, in that it attempts to explain things from the universe it occupies. So this takes the point of view from within the LEGO Star Wars universe of sorts.” This is best expressed through themed spreads within the book that often explore a character or faction and its evolution across multiple LEGO sets.
Rinzler explained the narrative voice does switch gears from in-universe, to our universe, occasionally breaking the wall to explain the history of a set or its features as a product. The book includes a timeline of LEGO works, a look behind-the-scenes on the development of sets and mini-figs, as well as a look at LEGO fans. In fact, it was through the generous contributions of one fan, Jeremy Beckett, that the book ended up being as well illustrated as it is.
“We did get a lot of photos. Many from LEGO, but Jeremy also provided so many as well,” said Beecroft.
Johnson, from LEGO, fielded questions from fans eager to pry any details of future sets, though he remained tight-lipped on specifics. He did say that more Expanded Universe sets — like the Rogue Shadow from The Force Unleashed – were a possibility. He stated that sets dedicated simply to mini-figs were not a possibility due to licensing restrictions — the license to produce Star Wars figures is owned by Hasbro, while LEGO focuses on construction sets. “But, that said, we look to include as many figures as we can in our sets,” he said.


This entry was posted on July 23, 2009 at 1:46 pm and is filed under Comic-Con, LEGO, Publishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.