Iron Fist, Shangri-La, Amazing-Man, Kung Fu and the Mighty Whitey

With the debut of Netflix's Iron Fist television show nearly upon us, many people in and about the internet have been commenting on matters of race in the Iron Fist saga - that is, that the hero is, in the comics and on the show, a white guy who gained his powers from an Asian culture.

So, let's begin our history lesson - but first, we'll have to step way back and do some pop culture history.

#1: The Fabled Lost City

There is a tradition in fiction of lost civilizations, places which are kept out of reach of modern man. These places may be hidden in a distant jungle, in an underground cavern, atop a high mountain, on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Iron Fist's homeland, K'un-Lun, is such a place; it is a city which lies within an alternate dimension and can only be accessed through a portal found in the Himalayan mountains. And so, before we can start talking about K'un-Lun as an appropriation of Asian culture, we have to acknowledge it's actually an appropriation of western culture which could be said to have been appropriated from Asian culture. Er... or something like that.

British author James Hilton wrote Lost Horizon in 1933. It tells of a fantastic city called Shangri-La which is virtually hidden in the Himalayas and unknown to the world at large. Shangri-La is a paradise of knowledge and is used in the novel (and 1937 film adaptation) as an escape from the punishing realities of contemporary times - the idea that even if western civilization perished in World War II, humanity's knowledge would be maintained in the yet-peaceful land of Shangri-La. The only truly fantastical element in the novel is that people in Shangri-La have extraordinarily-long lifespans but outside the city's borders age rapidly. And so, K'un-Lun is likewise a remote Himalayan retreat which, nevertheless, boasts a surprising understanding of the western world - Lost Horizon was an extremely popular book in its day and was remade as a (terrible) film in 1973, a year before Iron Fist's debut. Yet Hilton had himself based Shangri-La upon a pre-existing city in Asian lore: Shambhala, a Tibetan kingdom which was likewise a repository of knowledge ruled by the wise and just. But K'un-Lun owes a debt to more than simply James Hilton and Shambhala.

I suppose we also have to talk about the 1947 musical Brigadoon by the American Alan Jay Lerner. It's the story of a Scottish village which appears for only one day every 100 years. Similarly, K'un-Lun appears on Earth only once every 10 years. It feels as though one of the reasons K'un-Lun had that restriction was because the initial creators (Roy Thomas & Gil Kane) didn't believe Iron Fist would ever be returning there after his origin. Besides Brigadoon, you can see many ideas from Scottish/Irish/English folktales about fairies in the concept of a place which is sometimes there, sometimes not and where time does not necessarily pass at the same rate.

#2: The Hero Who Journeys to the East

The super hero genre owes a tremendous debt to the pulp magazine hero the Shadow, who directly inspired many of the earliest comic book heroes. In the radio version of the Shadow, he bore "the hypnotic power to cloud men's minds so that they cannot see him," which was a secret he learned "many years ago in the Orient." Well, that set off a mawkish band of imitators. According to the resources of my friend Jess Nevins, some early comic book heroes whose origins consisted of brushing up against the mysticism of "the Orient" (usually Tibet) includes: Thin Man, the Vision, Howard Thurston, the Green Lama, Wonder Man, Thun Dohr, the Human Meteor, Illuso, the Flame, Gun Master and Commando Ranger. But, most significantly, there was Amazing-Man.

Amazing-Man was created by Bill Everett and published by Centaur starting in 1939's Amazing-Man Comics #5. In that comic, we were first introduced to John Aman, an orphan who was selected for his "superb physical structure" and brought to the Council of Seven in Tibet. Said Council was comprised of men in hoods not unlike those of Iron Fist's uncle Yu-Ti (and one of the Council is a heavy, much like Yu-Ti). The Council gifted Aman with "kindness, tolerance and bravery" and set him through a barrage of tests where he had to be strong as an elephant, quick as a cobra, survive being stabbed with throwing knives and prove himself adept at various languages. Following this, one council member injected Aman with a serum which permitted him to become invisible while generating a green mist around his body (hence his other alias, "The Green Mist").

Roy Thomas, being quite the fanboy, deliberately cribbed many details from Amazing-Man's origin for Iron Fist. At the time, the old hero-goes-to-the-mysterious-east origin was mostly neglected, although the 1960s had included a few notable heroes in that mould such as Doctor Strange, Doctor Droom (later Doctor Druid) and Deadman. You might be surprised to hear that Batman was not one of these heroes at the time; it wasn't until a fill-in story written in 1989 by Christopher Priest that Batman's origin was altered to include a trip to Tibet - a detail which would subsequently become quite visible in the 2005 film Batman Begins.

#3: The Martial Arts

Next up, we have to talk about the martial arts film phenomenon. By 1974 it was a big business, coming one year after Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, which became a major point of reference for martial arts films in popular culture. More than that, there was the television program Kung Fu starring the not-at-all-Asian actor David Carradine. Kung Fu brought the martial arts craze into living rooms across the USA, including those of Marvel Comics' creators. Steve Englehart & Jim Starlin lobbied Roy Thomas to obtain the license for Kung Fu but Thomas noted the series was owned by Warner Bros., owners of their rivals DC Comics; instead, in late 1973 they debuted the new Marvel series Master of Kung Fu featuring as protagonist Shang-Chi, whose personality and ethos were roughly based on that of Kung Fu's Kwai Chang Caine.

Gil Kane said that Iron Fist came about after he saw his first kung fu movie. He was instantly jazzed about creating a kung fu comic book series himself and this led to him joining with Roy Thomas. Therefore, we can trace the lineage of Iron Fist thusly: Kung fu movies -> Amazing-Man -> Lost Horizon -> Shambhala.

However, Iron Fist faltered somewhat shortly out of the gate. Kane was interested enough in the martial arts to draw the first issue, then he jumped off. Larry Hama stepped in for four issues as the new artist, while Len Wein and Doug Moench became the writers. Tony Isabella & Arvell Jones covered only three issues, then after two issues by Chris Claremont & Pat Broderick, John Byrne took Broderick's place and the Claremont-Byrne team became the longest-lasting Iron Fist creative by a country mile.

Due to the immense upheaval, Iron Fist didn't quite gel as a series until the Claremont-Byrne days. The initial storyline dealt with Iron Fist's origin, then his quest for vengeance against his father's killer. Isabella & Jones shook up the concept a little by introducing the idea that K'un-Lun could be reached at other intervals through magic, setting the stage for many of Iron Fist's return visits to the extent that K'un-Lun's supposed disconnection from Earth would become largely forgotten.

#4: Iron Fist's Race

"But Mike," you say, "this is all very interesting and well-researched but you're dancing around the real issue: Iron Fist is just another Mighty Whitey." I appreciate the compliment, but I do prefer "Michael." I won't argue the point of Iron Fist being a Mighty Whitey; like many of those to whom the trope applies, he's a white guy who travels to some remote place inhabited by non-whites, then proceeds to be better at whatever it is the locals specialize in than any of them. Sure enough, Daniel Rand is raised in K'un-Lun from approximately ages 9-19 and succeeds at every trial placed before him (just like Amazing-Man), claiming the power of Iron Fist.

Yet if you had asked me about Danny's race 10 years ago, I would have told you he's half-Asian. And 10 years ago I wrote for The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, so that would have been a rather authoritative declaration.

Here, let's go back to Danny's origin again; what is often overlooked in the origin story is that Danny's father originated in K'un-Lun. As narration in Marvel Premiere #15 puts it: " Even as a child, you knew your father had always been an enigma to everyone! Appearing out of nowhere, nearly a decade before -- becoming an instant entrepreneur, with mysterious funds" Then in Marvel Premiere #16, K'un-Lun's ruler Yu-Ti, the August Personage of Jade, reveals Danny's father Wendell was his brother - making Yu-Ti Danny's uncle. Therefore, Danny's lineage is half-K'un-Lun! That seems pretty conclusive, huh? Danny's 50% Asian, which mitigates all that 'Mighty Whitey' stuff. Danny's full name would even be given as "Daniel Rand-K'ai" on occcasion (usually in the OHOTMU). It seems as though Iron Fist's creators intended for Danny Rand to be half-Asian!

Of course, Gil Kane didn't drawn Wendell Rand to look Asian. You could chalk that up to an art error if you really wanted to. Later, in Power Man & Iron Fist #75 (1981), Jo Duffy suggested Wendell had been adopted into Yu-Ti's family but it didn't catch on, nor did it make sense based on anything previously established about Yu-Ti. But, unfortunately, Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction's Immortal Iron Fist undid these little-explored fine details. Immortal Iron Fist kinda makes the 'Mighty Whitey' thing even worse by introducing Orson Randall, the previous Iron Fist, who was also a white guy who wound up in K'un-Lun. For a character who died within six issues he's actually got a backstory which is just as convoluted as Danny's. Brubaker & Fraction did at least introduce the idea of K'un-Lun possessing various sister cities which each had their own champion or "immortal weapon;" most of those immortal weapons were Asian guys (one of them was Amazing-Man, who had fallen into the public domain).

So it was that in Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1 (2007), Brubaker & Fraction established Wendell Rand as an All-American orphan kid who met Orson Randall and through him, eventually went to K'un-Lun and became a citizen. So, there was a perfectly acceptable means to firmly establish Iron Fist as one of Marvel's most prominent Asian heroes, but they went the opposite direction. Thanks for ruining it, white guys.

Ten Great Princess Leia Moments from the Comics

With the passing of Carrie Fisher, I wanted to memorialize not only her but the character she portrayed - Princess Leia. To me, the Leia who appeared in the Marvel Comics at the time of the original films' release was nearly as legitimate as Fisher's. I previously listed ten great moments from Star Wars #51-52, my favourite story from the Marvel run and it included a pretty great Leia scene; here are ten other memorable moments from the comics:

#1: Leia takes Luke swimming (Star Wars #15, 1978, by Archie Goodwin & Carmine Infantino)

At about the same time as this early comic the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye asserted Leia couldn't swim - yet Luke, improbably, could! Here, Archie Goodwin demonstrated a better sense of who the characters were as Leia was quite adept at swimming (plenty of water visible on Alderaan) while Luke was not (not many oceans on Tatooine). This moment brought back the sense of Leia's superior skill during the cell block rescue in Star Wars and was an early indicator that the comic series would be all right under Goodwin's guidance.

#2: Leia the commando (Star Wars #30, 1979, by Archie Goodwin & Carmine Infantino)

In a later issue, Goodwin sent Leia on a commando mission to an Imperial world. Considering Han and Luke were not (at this point in the series) going on such missions, it said a lot about Leia's uber-competency. She was the Snake-Eyes of Star Wars! It's a pretty great story as Leia fails to achieve her mission's stated goals but considers it a success because her actions have inspired other citizens to resist the Empire.

#3: Leia outwits Darth Vader (Star Wars #48, 1981, by Larry Hama & Carmine Infantino)

Speaking of Snake-Eyes, Larry Hama wrote some Star Wars! In this tale, Leia is playing a very clever con game against Darth Vader himself. She does succeed at everything she sets after this time - although at the last moment Vader is able to claim a minor victory. Take note also that this issue demonstrates that, prequels notwithstanding, it is possible to derive drama from economics in the Star Wars universe.

#4: Leia compromises (Star Wars #55, 1982, by David Michelinie & Walter Simonson)

Leia was helping to establish a Rebel presence on the planet Arbra, an ideal new base of operations. However, the native inhabitants, the Hoojibs, objected to the Rebels walking in and displacing them from their home. While some of the Rebels are willing to go against the Hoojibs' wishes, Leia notes they lost their own homes to the Empire and shouldn't repeat the Imperials' mistakes. That willingness to withdraw is what finally changes the Hoojibs' minds as they invite the Rebels to remain as their guests (Hoojibs remained a constant presence in the series from then on).

#5: Leia takes out an Imperial base (Star Wars #65, 1982, by David Michelinie & Walter Simonson)

On another commando mission, Leia intended to sabotage an Imperial base's reactor. An Imperial officer who had recently suffered a demotion due to a previous failure against the Rebels succeeded in trapping Leia inside the base. The exits were seealed and the officer set the base's reactor into an overload, believing it best to ensure Leia's death as a crippling blow against the Rebellion. Unfortunately for that officer, even with all the doors sealed and the base about to explode, he underestimated Leia's skill as she effortlessly knocked him aside and escaped (this issue also has a great scene where Leia takes out a hapless Stormtrooper).

#6: Leia hunts the bounty hunters (Star Wars #68, 1983, by David Michelinie & Gene Day)

Simply seeing Leia in a pilot's uniform is a treat, but this tale, told in the year leading up to Return of the Jedi had Leia and C-3PO tracking the bounty hunter Dengar, which brought them up against Fenn Shysa, a Mandalorian warrior garbed exactly like Boba Fett, yet quite well-disposed towards the Rebellion. In issues after Jedi, Fenn would become a regular member of the series supporting cast and a new rival for Han to contend with over Leia's affections.

#7: Leia's best frenemy (Star Wars #73, 1983, by Jo Duffy & Ron Frenz)

There certainly aren't many women in the Star Wars universe, but Jo Duffy put a lot of effort into building up her character Dani the Zeltron, a man-chasing smuggler. By 80s comics standards, Dani was the Yukio to Leia's Storm. It made a difference to have Leia interact with another woman and this was the first of many instances where Leia would chaffe at Dani's over-enthusiastic friendship and questionable moral code. In this story, Leia and Dani wound up joining forces in an effort to retrieve the tapes of a missing Rebel pilot (a running sub-plot which ultimately led directly into Return of the Jedi).

#8: Alderaan, remembered (Star Wars #86, 1984, by Randy Stradley & Bob McLeod)

In this tale, Leia met a Stormtrooper who originally came from Alderaan and wore a piece of his homeworld's remains around his neck. Leia is disgusted with him for betraying their people's memory and much of the issue was comprised of Leia delivering pointed takedowns of the Stormtrooper's justifications.

#9: Leia brings down a Sith lord (Star Wars #88, 1984, by Jo Duffy & Bob McLeod)

The post-Return of the Jedi comics had to find a number of new enemies for the protagonists to face. Looming largest among them was Lumiya, a female apprentice of Vader's who assumed her former master's role and began exerting control over the Empire's remnants. But to Leia, Lumiya was just another punk and she won this first confrontation with a blaster shot to Lumiya's chest!

#10: Leia's dress (Star Wars #95, 1985, by Jo Duffy & Cynthia Martin)

Leia's distate for Zeltrons came up constantly and she wound up having four male Zeltrons assigned to her staff. The quartet were very well-meaning but rather vapid; here, they decided to help Leia's appearance at a formal function by altering her dress - under the apparent mistaken belief Leia was a cabaret singer. In spite of it all, Leia did her best to maintain her dignity.

I hope you enjoyed this list!

Unearthed: The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior#9

We children of the 1980s grew up amongst a great wave of attempted multimedia franchises - products marketed to us not only as toys, television programs or activity books but also comic books. The comic book tie-in seemed ubiquitous for animated/toy products of the 1980s, be they as high-profile as Masters of the Universe or quickly-forgotten as Animax. Everyone wanted to seize the next Transformers or Star Wars and they left behind a vast sea of pop culture detritus which haunts my generation to this day, still reaching out with their clammy tendrils to suggest, "Are you really sure you outgrew the Thundercats?"

Marvel Comics certainly held a prime position amongst the adapted works in comics; they took a gamble on Conan the Barbarian back in the late 60s which not only proved an adapted title could be successful and profitable year-in, year-out, but that other licensees would come to their doorstep seeking the Conan treatment for their product; George Lucas sought out Marvel to tie-in with his Star Wars; Hasbro left much of the character naming and backgrounds to their G.I. Joe and Transformers franchises to Marvel's staff. Even if they did occasionally wind up with a fumble such as Man From Atlantis or Starriors, when Marvel made a hit, they hit big.

Perhaps that's why they decided to fashion their own multimedia franchise, developing a set of action figures who would also appear in colouring books (such as the one above), activity books, story books and - oh yes - comic books, their bread and butter. Like similar products of the time, this franchise would assume the trappings of fantasy-adventure, with a two-sided conflict between good and evil. I speak of the Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior.

Although I received the above colouring book as a child, I never owned the toys - I don't even recall seeing them in stores! The Crystar line proved to be a flash-in-the-pan, a very quickly forgotten franchise like so many of the 80s action figure lines. Why did it fail? I've certainly never asked; it's like Marvel's old shame. While working on the Official Handbooks back in the day, our staff had to convince Marvel's lawyers that, no, they really did own Crystar. This from the company who swiped the "Captain Marvel" name!

The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior was written by Jo Duffy (aka Mary Jo Duffy), best-remembered for her work on Power Man and Iron Fist and Marvel's Star Wars comics (in fact, she began writing Star Wars and Crystar at almost the same time). It lasted for a triumphant eleven issues before being shuttered up and completely forgotten (except by us Handbook folk), yet somehow during its brief existence, I wound up with issue #9 (September, 1984) - one of the first comic books I purchased with my own money. Let's go back and unearth this comic together, for if nostalgia is truly the pain of returning to the past, then I'm not going in there alone.

Above you can see the entire reason I bought this comic - the incredible painted cover by Michael Golden. Had I seen any of the previous or subsequent issues on the stands, I would have likely snapped them up as well - I mean, that's simply gorgeous! Golden painted almost all of the covers for this series and they're all terrific - although, strangely, he would always paint Crystar on-model, using the same character design found in the toys and other tie-in materials, yet the interior artists didn't seem to like putting Crystar in his familiar helmet or exposing the emblem on his chest. The other characters were drawn to match their toys, but not the titular figure! Strange, that.

The name of the story is "Another War" and Duffy is joined by artists Ricardo Villamonte & Dave Simons (Villamonte being a collaborator with Duffy on Power Man and Iron Fist). Helpfully, the story opens with the good wizard Ogeode confronting the Council of Order (a group he belonged to) with the entire team of heroes (dubbed "the Crystal Companions," which sounds quite cuddly) and Ogeode takes the time to introduce each of the Companions and explain the conflict which exists between he and the evil chaos wizard Zardeth and how Crystar's brother Moltar is leading an army of Magma Men on Zardeth's behalf (with names like Crystar & Moltar, I suppose it was only a matter of time before they were transformed into crystal and magma, respectively).

Also amidst this exposition is mention of a warrior called Malachon, of the Green Hill Men. Malachon is supposed to be green-skinned, yet the image Ogeode casts depicts him with pink skin; this confused me as a child - I thought this was a picture of Zardeth with a funny wig on. Anyway, Ogeode has returned to his people to enlist their help in this war with chaos, cautioning them that Malachon may have joined Zardeth's forces.

However, the Council of Order (a bunch of mooks in yellow robes) seem terribly passive and not too willing to join the war even though, as Crystar observes, as this is a struggle against chaos and order it's really their fight more than the Crystal Companions'. At this point, the Companions' ally Shen begins reading the council the riot act, ashamed of them for hesitating to become involved. And who is Shen? Well, she's been standing next to Ogeode this entire time, yet he neglected to introduce her along with the other characters. Outside of her being a champion to the Council of Order (yet she doesn't seem to like them), Shen isn't well-defined in this issue - she seems to be a recent addition to the heroes' ranks; because of some upcoming dialogue, I found her kind of baffling as a child.

The Council refuses to use their powers to wipe out chaos; Ogeode counters that he never wanted them to - he wants to maintain the balance between chaos & order, but Zardeth would rather eliminate order entirely. Even after this well-tempered arguement, Ogeode still finds the council reluctant to act and he testily storms off.

Amongst the Crystal Companions, the only female crystal warrior is Ika (she didn't have an action figure, but at least with Crystar's lover Ambara and the presence of Shen, she's not the token female), Ogeode's daughter. One of the councilmen, Bekk, confronts Ika and from their dialogue we can piece together that Bekk was in love with Ika but thinks her father and Crystar forced her to become a crystal warrior; Ika politely rejects Bekk upon hearing this, noting she's proud to be one of Crystar's allies and her father is "worth your whole rotten council put together. At least he knows how to get things done!'

Gilligan cut: Ogeode is asleep in his chair. wah-waaah Crystal warriors Koth and Kalibar, joined with Shen, drop in on Ogeode, but seeing he's asleep Kalibar vote they let "the old fellow" rest. Shen takes umbrage with Kalibar's words stating, "Kalibar, why do you say that he is old?" and "But he is not old. He is Ogeode." I found this line truly baffling as a child, as though it were an in-joke I wasn't privy to (in fact, it wouldn't be explained until a later issue). That line of dialogue from Shen really threw me off - like, she doesn't understand what the word "old" means? She thinks Kalibar meant to say "Ogeode?" Ah, well.

The other Crystal Companions Crystar, Stalax, warbow and non-crystal person Ambara go for a walk around the council's land; a pair of female council people take note of the crystal warriors and remark, "Handsome group, aren't they?" "It's the crystal. So pretty." They're a little like Duffy's Zeltrons in Star Wars, come to think of it. Meanwhile, a flock of dragons come to land on the council's property; amongst them is Feldspar, regent of Crystar's kingdom Galax. It seems that while Feldspar's nephews became men of crystal and magma, Feldspar chose the middle-road alternative, rendering his upper half crystal with his lower half molten. Feldspar lies somewhere in the middle, but because he won't take sides against either Crystar or Moltar, he recently wound up banishing the Crystal Companions from their own land (which is why they've come to the council for help). In effect, by attempting to render himself neutral, Feldspar has instead hindered the forces of order and aided the forces of chaos. In Feldspar's version of events, the entire conflict rests on Crystar's shoulders and the council hopes now that Crystar has come to them stating he wants peace, perhaps they can keep the war between he and Moltar from escalating; they invite Feldspar to a meeting with the entire council, but don't send an invite to Ogeode.

Stalax takes a moment to examine the dragons which bore Feldspar and his entourage to the council and suddenly realizes the creatures aren't nearly tired enough to have flown from Galax; he speeds off to inform Crystar. Elsewhere, Ika, Koth, Kalibar and Shen finally wake up Ogeode, who flies into a rage upon hearing Feldspar has come to see the council.

In fact, Stalax's suspicions about the dragons prove well-founded as, within the council's chambers, Feldspar changes his form into Zardeth! His entourage includes Malachon (now coloured green) and various Green Hill Men and Magma Men. The council are totally unprepared for a fight, although Bekk begins to try grappling against their foes, noting Zardeth intends to kill them all.

Fortunately, Stalax has roused Crystar and Warbow and retrieved their weapons (apparently the council wouldn't allow them to bear arms); they quickly meet up with Ogeode and the rest then enter the fray to save the council. In amongst the fighting, Ogeode and Zardeth engage in a duel of sorcery, with Ogeode quipping "If there's anything I can't stand, Zardeth, it's a name-caller and a sneak." I like that Ogeode isn't a cookie-cutter "wise old mentor" type (an Obi-Wannabe, that is) - that he's allowed to be short-tempered and quip at his foes.

During the fight, one of the Magma Men stabs Ika with a dagger, but it breaks against her skin. Geez! The Magma Men are hardly worthy adversaries for the Crystal Companions if their weapons can't harm them, are they?

As the battle turns against them, Zardeth orders a strategic retreat, meaning the war between and order and chaos will not be resolved this issue (lest the series end here). With the battle over, Ambara takes charge of tending to the wounded, proving that while she isn't a fighter, she's not useless.

Meanwhile, Bekk confronts Ogeode to make a request of him; we soon learn what that is - he has Ogeode transform him into a crystal warrior. The revelation of Bekk's transformation comes in the final panel as a seemingly shocking moment - as though this is a bad omen. And yet, we saw over the course of this issue how Bekk went from standing on the sidelines, to realizing the Crystal Companions were right about the danger of Zardeth, to willingly joining their ranks. This is a good thing... right?

Analyzing this story now, it's bothersome to note the antagonists are the same villains the Crystal Companions fight every issue - Zardeth and his minions. True, Moltar isn't present, but the Magma Men are. Although Malachon had been introduced to increase the villains' ranks, he's really only another flunky of Zardeth's. Like many 80s struggles between the good guys and the bad guys, it can be dull to see the same forces against each other all the time. It might have served the series' continued existence better to have Malachon as a separate threat - but with only two issues remaining after this, I doubt Duffy had much hope for the future (from comments on the letters page you can tell the creators already knew the axe would fall soon).

Duffy's script is lively enough even now, thanks to a few sharp comments from Ogeode and strong characterization for Ika (though most of the cast are an amorphous blob of crystal people). As a child, I thrilled to seeing the beautiful crystal people beat up on the ugly magma people and what more did I need? Although this series didn't last, Duffy continued on spearheading Star Wars through a few more years of my childhood with her deft touch of humour and fantastic adventure. Ah, nostalgia. That's the trap - when you get to thinking about how pleasant that one issue of Crystar was, so what would it take to collect a whole set? Almost nothing! Oh, and how about those activity books and story books, those wouldn't run for too much? And the toys would only cost a small fortune... oh, sweet Stalax! Away from me, nostalgia, flee!