Official Handbook Updates

[Loki]

Again, thanks. I like Puck, he's an interesting character, and piecing together a coherent history from him based on the various snippets of information he's dropped over the years wasn't work, it was fun.

Yeah it was great, what other etries have you done for the handbooks?

More than some, less than others, overall quite a few. In that issue, Impossible Man, Nightshade, Diamondback, Hammer, Human Robot, Hunter in Darkness, Mark Hazzard, Nextwave, Speedfreek, and of course Puck.

No problem. I should point out that the Master Edition, which is the Handbook you've mentioned, didn't strictly say he could move at 111-115 mph. What it said was that he was in the speed bracket whose top speed was that (and above the speed bracket whose top speed was 65mph). So again we have a range, though a tighter one than the current grids give us. From what we've seen in the comics, I wouldn't place him at the 115 mph end the scale.

Anyway, now gone back and rechecked the issues of Alpha Flight to respond to your other comments. Proviso here, I haven't re-read all his guest appearances, as they are scattered all through my collection, so if you have a counter-example from there, feel free to bring it up. I freely admit there is always the chance I can miss something.

He didn't have to many speed feats that I can think of, only one I can think of is easily dodging Savage Hulk (that was classic Puck) and speedblitzing a terrorist from 20-30 feet away before he could even pull the trigger.

I'm compiling the scans right now, and most of his durability feats did take place in Alpha Flight. I will post them later in the day as I'm heading to work shortly.

Actually, strictly speaking, it was the Plodex copy of him. Would that copy have a reason to lie over such a minor thing? No, I can't think of one. Could he get it wrong? Yes, in theory. Ever seen the original Star Trek "What are little girls made of?". Someone copies Kirk, but he has enough will power to place a clue, a response which is atypical of the real Kirk and will alert others to this being a fake.

Earlier Handbooks confirmed what I think John Byrne explained in interviews but never got round to saying in the actual pages of the comics, which is that Puck chose his name after the character in Shakespeare's play.

Okay, I'm going to have to eat some crow here. After writing this, I subsequently double checked the earlier Handbooks, and I couldn't find mention of the Shakespeare link. Moreover, while I still am sure I recall something along that line being mentioned in an interview (Marvel Age #1?), another Handbook writer has pointed out that John Byrne's FAQ says otherwise. So, I'll admit I'm at a loss as to where I got it from now. Keep in mind I wrote that entry around four or five months ago, and have written dozens since, so recalling all the details isn't easy. Normally I'm extremely careful only to add in things from the issues themselves, and while I vaguely recall that interview mentioned above, I wouldn't have included information from that in an entry without further corroboration "on camera". Only two options I can see - (1) it was said in an issue, but I foolishly failed to include in my notes I made while reading Puck's appearances as to which one, and now I'm going to have to go back through them all to check; or (2) I suffered some sort of brain infarction while writing, mis-read the ersatz Puck vs. femPuck fight, and put in something completely wrong. Annoying, but if I've made a mistake, I'll admit it. I'll just have to re-read every appearance again, so don't expect a final judgement anytime soon (if I didn't get it wrong, I could be back quickly with the place it was said; if I did get it wrong, then it'll definitely take a while to confirm it by going back through everything).

Normally a statement in the pages of the comic would overrule the Handbook (and the original creator's intentions), but it's coming from a potentially unreliable source. I'll admit, when I was writing Puck, I missed that, because I wasn't paying attention to what the ersatz Puck said (I had a couple hundred issues to go through for Puck, and by the end I wasn't paying as tight attention to those around him, because the profile was about Puck, not them).

So, we've got definitive statement in earlier Handbooks based on creator's intentions contradicted by definitive statement from an unreliable source. I'm not going to just dismiss the evidence which suggests I got it wrong, because that would be biased of me, ignoring the bits which don't support "my side" of the debate. But equally, if Alpha Flight vol.1 had confirmed the Shakespeare connection, no one would argue that vol.3 simply got it wrong, and Handbooks are also canonical sources (Gruenwald used them to add in backstory the comics provided by the writers that the regular titles hadn't had space to include, and in that respect they are the same as if the writer had introduced the info in a text story). Plus, it didn't come from the real Puck which does allow for a level of doubt. So what we have here is two conflicting canonical sources. In hindsight, if I had noticed the ersatz Puck's comment, I would simply have left out the comment about where Puck got his name, because rather than confirming the origin of his codename, Plodex Puck's statement has left introduced a level of doubt. We are no longer sure which version is accurate.

Well apparently the Plodex copies had all their powers, abilities, and memories downloaded into the computer from the original members. So technically he shouldn't have made a mistake, but you may be right. Personally I hope so as Eugene naming himself after the Shakespeare's Puck makes far more sense than Puck II doing it. Also haha nice Star Trek reference.

Which handbooks? I don't recall which one it could have said it. It wasn't The Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe #1 (Vol.1) & Master Edition #1 (Vol.3). I also remember Bryne saying: "He's called Puck because of his tendency to do cartwheels and spin around rooms, and crash into things. He wears a black costume with a "P" on the chest." I believe you, I bet it is said somewhere I just havn't read most of the old handbook entries and interview for years. Meh! It's a moot point, and makes perfect sense though.

It would, and what I said would still stand, if I hadn't been wrong about what the earlier Handbooks said. That's why for writing the profiles, we never rely on memory, because it can cheat. My memory said that the comment in the profile came from a Handbook, but that's not the case. However I didn't rely on memory while writing the profile, so if I have added in that Shakespeare reference without finding it first in an issue, I'm at a loss as to why I would have done so.