Quicksilver #9
… Escape from the Savage Land!
Seeking the mysterious Isotope E, Exodus’ Acolytes have tracked its creator the High Evolutionary to the Savage Land. A group of Acolytes — Scanner, Decay, Gargoullie, and Projector — have now traveled to the time lost domain along with a group of mutants —Pyro, Avalanche, the Fenris twins, Feral, Omega Red, and Random — who are seeking a cure for the Legacy Virus.[1]
On the ground below, Quicksilver and the Knights of Wundagore have also come looking for the High Evolutionary. Uncovering his secret underground facility, Pietro and his charges are shocked to discover that the High Evolutionary has de-evolved into an ape. Telling them to stay back, the Evolutionary then exposes himself to Isotope E which causes him to change back to his ordinary human form.
When Quicksilver asks what’s going on, the High Evolutionary tells him that to understand this he has to go back to the very beginning. The Evolutionary was once an ordinary man named Herbert Edgar Wyndham. A graduate student, he was studying evolution and travelling the world following the end of World War I he became obsessed with harnessing evolution to prevent the horrors of war. While in Alexandrea, Egypt, he ran into a mysterious individual. Although he never learned who this man was, they revealed to him the secrets of human DNA and other scientific information that would help him in his quest.[2] Armed with this new knowledge, Wyndham returned home and created Isotope A. This new material allowed him to create the first of his New Men by crossing human and animal DNA. He did this to his pet dalmatian, but the animal was quickly killed by hunters.[3]
Deciding that he needed to go somewhere secluded to work on his research, he and his partners bought land on secluded Mount Wundagore in Transia. It was here that they began work building the Citadel of Science.[4] That’s when his mysterious benefactor returned and showed Herbert the Moloids, an underground race of creatures that he could exploit for labor.[5] As World War II loomed, the High Evolutionary developed Isotope B, which he used to create his next New Man, Bova his most loyal and constant servant.[6]
In more recent times, the High Evolutionary had an entire society of New Men. He dubbed them the Knights of Wundagore they were to be the defenders of the Citadel of Science. However, they required an education so they could learn the nobility of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table of which they were named after. To this end, he hired the American nurse Jane Foster to be their teacher. Around this time, the Evolutionary had developed and was experimenting with Isotope C. He first used it to evolve a wolf, creating the deadly Man-Beast who rebelled against his creator and threatened to destroy everything he worked for. Luckily, the thunder god Thor arrived looking for the Foster woman and helped defeat the Man-Beast. After this disaster, the High Evolutionary decided to leave Earth so his New Men could find their destiny in the stars.[7]
While the High Evolutionary found a world for his New Men to live on, they soon turned against their master and began revolving. Luckily, the Hulk ended up on this world and quelled the insurrection. However, the High Evolutionary was mortally wounded as a result. In order to save his own life, Herbert used his new Isotope D to hyper-evolved himself, briefly becoming a god-like entity.[8] With this knowledge, the Evolutionary created Counter-Earth, a duplicate world so he could better study evolution. However, the spirit of the Man-Beast returned and tainted this world requiring the cosmic being known as Adam Warlock to liberate the world. Although Counter-Earth was saved, it was later taken by being that were more powerful than he was, proving that he wasn’t really a god after all.[9] Falling into a deep depression, the High Evolutionary then sought out the Hulk and goaded the creature into beating him to death. However, Isotope D prevent him from dying as it had cancelled out his aging process and he was resurrected shortly thereafter.[10]
After this, the High Evolutionary returned to Wundagore Mountain where he resumed his work.[11] It was then that he discovered that his own personal evolution had grown unstable and he was finding himself sliding up and down the evolutionary ladder. In order to try and stabilize himself, he and Sir Delphis worked to develop Isotope E. While this had a stabilizing effect, it only proved temporary requiring repeat exposures. However, the length of stability has grown shorter with each exposure.
Concluding his story, Herbert is glad Quicksilver has came because Sir Delphis can return to assisting him in this endavor. That's when Pietro explains that Sir Delphis isn’t present as he in the dimension of Polemachus helping to save that world.[12] That’s when the Acolytes and their allies launch an ambush. In the ensuing fight, the High Evolutionary grabs Isotope E and flees as his body continues to de-evolve. Quicksilver follows after him, leaving the Knights of Wundagore to fend for themselves. Topside, Pyro and Avalanche manage to catch the High Evolutionary and hold him hostage. Having nabbed Isotop E in the chase, Quicksilver is ordered to hand it over. When Pietro tosses the sample to Avalanche, it creates a distraction long enough for Quicksilver to use his super-speed to knock them all out.
Meanwhile, Lord Anon’s armor is damaged in the battle below, allowing Lord Churchill to pick up his scent. He is horrified to learn who Lord Anon really is. When Anon goes up to the surface, Churchill confronts him and is killed to keep his discovery a secret.[13] Meanwhile, Quicksilver pulls the other Knights out of battle so they can make an escape. Keeping their attackers at bay with hyper-evolved insects, Quicksilver, the High Evolutionary, and the Knights load up into the Quinjet. When asked about Lord Churchill, Lord Anon tells the others that he was slain by their pursuers. After they escape, Scanner deems the mission a bust and, having no more use for Pyro and his crew, the Acolytes teleport away stranding him and the others in the Savage Land. As Pyro worries about how they’ll get back to civilization, Random tells him they have other problems as a bunch of dinosaurs begin closing in on them.[14]
Recurring Characters
Quicksilver, High Evolutionary, Knights of Wundagore (Sir Ram, Lord Anon, Lord Gator, Lord Churchill, Lord Tyger, Lady Ursula, Lady Vermin), Acolytes (Decay, Gargoullie, Projector, Scanner), Legacy Virus Strikeforce (Pyro, Avalanche, Andrea and Andres Von Strucker, Feral, Omega Red, Random)
Continuity Notes
The Legacy Virus is an illness that directly targets mutants that was unleashed on Earth by the terrorist known as Stryfe in X-Force #18. Some facts about the virus and those seeking a cure:
Exodus, the Acolyte’s leader, has considered those infected with the virus as impure starting in X-Men Unlimited #2. Regardless of this, he has been deceiving Pyro’s crew into thinking Isotope E is a possible cure when in reality, he has been trying to destroy it since Quicksilver #1. Pyro and his group have been tricked into serving Exodus’ cause since Quicksilver #6.
Pyro: Although Exodus detected the illness in him in X-Men Unlimited #2, he won’t learn the truth until X-Men Annual (vol. 2) #1. He will die of the illness in Cable #87 before a cure can be found. He will be resurrected years later in X-Necrosha #1.
Feral: Discovered that she was infected with the virus in X-Force #90. She will survive until the cure is found.
Random: Is not infected with the Legacy Virus, but has been caring for people infected with a variant of the virus that can spread to ordinary humans. See X-Factor #143-144.
A cure won’t be found until Uncanny X-Men #390.
This mystery man was Phaeder a geneticist who was an Inhuman/Deviant hybrid. This was revealed in X-Factor Annual #3.
The transformation of Herbert’s dalmatian into the first New Man was originally told in Thor #135. Punisher Annual #1 reveals that the pet’s name was Dempsey.
Herbert’s business partners go unnamed here but are depicted as a man and woman with a young child. These are Jonathan and Miriam Drew and their daughter Jessica, who would later go on to become Spider-Woman. The Drew’s involvement with the High Evolutionary was first referenced in Spider-Woman #1. The tale about them purchasing Wundagore Mountain and starting construction of the Citadel of Science was first told in Silver Surfer Annual #1. This part of the story puts it at odds with the tale told in Spider-Woman: Origin #1-5 that, as of this writing (December, 2022) have yet to be reconciled. My theory is that the events in Spider-Woman: Origin were false memories.
The use of Moloids to construct the Citadel of Science was documented in Silver Surfer Annual #1 and New Mutants Annual #4. The creatures eventually fled back below the surface when the region of Wundagore Mountain was terrorized by the werewolf Gregory Russoff, as seen in Fantastic Four Annual #21.
Bova’s creation was originally told in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22, which states that Bova was the 12th successful creation of the High Evolutionary. Avengers #381 refers to her as his “first and finest creation”, while this story states that she is the second.
The High Evolutionary’s war with the Man-Beast, his encounter with Jane Foster and Thor, and his decision to leave Earth were originally chronicled in Thor #134-135. It was expanded upon in West Coast Avengers Annual #3. The High Evolutionary’s accounting here makes it seem like the Man-Wolf was created before Thor arrived. However, in the original tale, the Man-Beast was being created as Thor was attacking the Citadel of Science to get to Jane Foster. It was Herbert’s inattention to his experiment while dealing with Thor that led to the Man-Beast being evolved unattended and becoming evil. One could assume that Wyndham is amending his accounting of events so he comes off in a better light.
The planet of New Men, dubbed Wundagore II, the Hulk quashing the insurrection, and Herbert’s evolution into a god was originally told in Tales to Astonish #94-96 and expanded upon in West Coast Avengers Annual #3. His time as a god-like being was better documented in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #8.
The creation of Counter-Earth, it being tainted by the Man-Beast, and its liberation were chronicled in Marvel Premiere #1-2, Warlock #1-8, and Incredible Hulk #176-178. It was later taken by an alien called Sphinox who was working for the enigmatic Beyonders, as seen in Marvel Two-In-One #63. These events are also expanded upon in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #8. In Warlock and the Infinity Watch #4, it was reported that Counter-Earth was destroyed by Thanos during the Infinity Gauntlet event. However, the planet will turn up again in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #1. Although this puzzles the contrigutors of a certain garbage database, Counter-Earth was clearly restored along with everything else Thanos destroyed when he was defeated in Infinity Gauntlet.
The High Evolutionary’s attempt at suicide-by-Hulk happened in Incredible Hulk #266. How he ultimately survived that encounter was later touched upon in Avengers Annual #17.
This is really glossing over a bunch of since forgotten High Evolutionary plotlines. Namely his investigation into the Celestials and his two failed attempts at creating a new race of gods. See Thor #406-408, 417-425, 448-450, and 472-489.
Polemachus was going through another one of its life-ending cataclysms in Quicksilver #2-3. Sir Delphis remained behind to help the people there save their world from destruction.
The High Evolutionary created Lord Anon by evolving another wolf even though the other New Men would not trust it due to their past experiences with the Man-Beast. In order to hide Anon’s true identity, the wolf was put in a suit of armor that hid its true animal nature from the others. As we’ll learn in Quicksilver #11, the Man-Beast eventually killed this other wolf and took its place.
Pyro and his crew will make it out of the Savage Land eventually but they’ll go their separate ways. Pyro turns up again in Uncanny X-Men #326, Avalanche in X-Men (vol. 2) #106, Feral in X-Force #88, Omega Red in X-Men: Liberators #2, the Fenris twins in Gambit (vol. 3) #10, and Random in X-Men (vol. 2) #112.
Topical References
When the High Evolutionary is recounting his origins, many of the events happen in the early 20th Century: Namely his encounter with Phaeder, the evolution of Dempsy, the creation of his Citadel of Science, and the creation of Bova. The dates referenced or implied here should all be considered factual. Due to his masterly of evolution, the High Evolutionary has either slowed or completely stopped his aging process.
That said, the only thing topical about the High Evolutionary’s ties to the 20th century has to do with the length of time between then and the start of the Modern Age. The gulf of time between will continue to get longer as the Sliding Timescale pushes the Modern Age forward. If you want to figure out the math, click here.
