Marvel Comics Presents #40 (Overmind)

Most of the stories in these MCP issues are throw-aways—even the longer, multi-part ones.  But I do like how we get to check in with all those freaks from The Defenders that I never thought I’d see again.  In this case, it’s Overmind.

When we last saw the character, a bunch of telepaths took over his body.  I guess he’s just been wandering around since then, and in this story he finds a town that has been devasted by toxic waste (bad corporations!) and Overmind tricks the sick townspeople into seeing their town as still being green and vibrant.  It turns out that this “power of positive thinking” is actually keeping the townspeople alive.  But this poses a problem when the clean-up crew arrives, because they can’t see the waste.  So he is forced to drop the illusion and we see the townspeople immediately turn green and die.

This is quite a bleak story.

I’m disappointed that there wasn’t more here—this is more of a “scene” than a story.  Lots of potential here.  But Marvel just gave Overmind 8 pages.  Oh well.

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