Return of the Storyteller

Ms. Marvel continues to search for Gavin, a young boy who was experimented upon by Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) who could make his thoughts reality.[1] She has tracked down the hideout of an AIM splinter cell that has records of Gavin. She quickly nabs this group’s Scientist Supreme and demands to know what they have done with the boy.

With the information she gets from him, Carol is able to track down Gavin. He is currently playing out one of his fantasies with his best friend Rich. They are playing pirates where Gavin commands a crew of superheroes, while Rich is in charge of a boat full of villains. Things go overboard, when Gavin blows a whistle that summons a massive Kraken to smash Rich’s sailing ship. Luckily, Ms. Marvel arrives in time to save him.

When she flies both boys to the imagined shore, Gavin is upset that Danvers has come to meddle in his fun. He is about to send her away when she tells him that Advanced Idea Mechanics have figured out where he is. This stops Gavin dead in his tracks, he is upset that the mad scientists found a way to circumvent his attempts at hiding from them. He tells Rich to go wait in a nearby mansion while he and Carol talk things out. He thanks Carol for warning him that AIM is on his trail again and offers to use his powers to give her he greatest desire: To be a famous hero. However, Ms. Marvel turns this offer down because she wants to earn that distinction through her own merit. He then tells Carol that he will handle AIM when they come and sends her away.

When she rematerializes in Times Square, she notices that her likeness is on all the billboards, a sign that Gavin altered reality despite her refusal. She is about to head back to the island, but spots Rich spying her from a nearby apartment window. When she goes to him, she discovers that Rich has been forced to continue playing with Gavin, as Gavin needs somebody else’s imagination to use his storyteller powers. Other than one trip home to New York to see his family, he has been kept as a prisoner while Gavin cheats at all his games.

That’s when they become aware of a huge shadow now looming over the building they are in and look outside. There they see Gavin — astride Fin Fang Foom — charging toward them with an army of pirate themed superheroes. Suddenly, Carol’s costume changes to match the pirate esthetic of Gavin’s latest imaginary story. She then flies outside to confront him and make him stop. He admits that they were never in New York — that they are still on the island — since he cannot alter reality on such a scale as to affect the entire island of Manhattan. With the jig up, he uses his powers to revert the island back to its previous state.

When Gavin hears how Rich just wants to go home, it hurts him. When Carol asks if his parents miss him as well, Gav reveals that his parents — and the parents of all the children in the Storyteller program — were members of AIM and that they only cared about their experiments. Gavin was the only survivor and all he wants to do is have fun and accuses Carol of spoiling it by making Rich sad. However, Rich confirms that all he wants to do now is go home and be with his family again. He also admits that Gavin’s powers have started to frighten him.

Finally accepting the reality of the matter, Gavin sends both Ms. Marvel and Rich back to the real New York City. Carol quickly brings Rich back home to his parents and then flies back to the island. However, when she gets there it — and Gavin — are long gone. This is because Gavin has relocated himself to the Moon. There, he was able to use his powers to create oxygen there for him to breath and figures he can do more to reshape this new environment once he gets more practice in.[2]

Recurring Characters

Ms. Marvel, Rich, Gavin, AIM

Continuity Notes

1. Carol first met Gavin in Ms. Marvel Special #1. Here, she mentions the House of M reality warp (which primarily took place in House of M #1-8) and how she was a hero in that reality, as seen in Giant-Size Ms. Marvel #1. She previously went after AIM in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #15-17.

2. As of this writing (June, 2024), this is the last we see of Gavin, his ultimate fate is unknown.

Topical References

• One of the digital billboards in Times Square features an advertisement where a woman is holding a “flip” style cell phone. While these were quite common when this comic was published in 2009, they have since fallen out of popular use thanks to the advent of smart phones. As such their depiction here should be considered topical.