Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Crossover Covers: Area 52





Area 52 is a secret government storage facility in Antarctica where super-weapons, occult items, and other weird stuff are stored. Items held within Area 52 include wreckage from Roswell, the Ark of the Covenant, the Super-Soldier formula, Mjolnir, Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth, the Time Machine, and an alien power ring that shoots green energy. The Ark of the Covenant is from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, of course. Apparently the Ark was moved to Area 52 from the government warehouse where it was stored in 1936. The Super-Soldier formula turned the frail Steve Rogers into Captain America. Mjolnir is the hammer wielded by the heroic god Thor; it must have passed into Area 52’s hands millennia after Conan gave it to Crom, following the events of “What If Thor of Asgard Had Met Conan the Barbarian?” Wonder Woman’s lasso is self-explanatory. The Time Machine is from H. G. Wells’ novel of the same name. The alien power ring is the one wielded by the superhero Green Lantern. Several of Simon R. Green's novels mention an Area 52 in the Antarctic, further bolstering this series' connection to the CU.

6 comments:

  1. The Ark was in Area 51 in 1957, according to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But even more recently we saw that it's in the Library, as shown in the first Librarian tv movie. Why would the Library give it up? Also, at the end of that film we saw the main character go after Wells's time machine. Why would he give it to Area 52 rather than the Library?
    I'm also confused about Mjolnir. Warehouse 13 established that it's in the Warehouse (I think that scene also showed Wonder Woman's lasso, but I might be misremembering that). Why would the government remove it from the warehouse?

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    1. Well, given that the Area 52 miniseries was published in 2001, The Librarian: Quest for the Spear aired in 2004, and the Warehouse 13 episode "Mild Mannered" aired in 2010, the Ark, Time Machine, Mjolnir, and the Golden Lasso must have been removed from Area 52 to the Library and Warehouse 13, rather than vice versa.

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    2. Ah, I didn't realize the dating there. Thanks! It sounds like the time machine must have been stolen from Area 52, and that's why the Librarian needed to go track it down.

      I wonder how they move Mjolnir, since I presume it's hard to find someone who can pick it up. Or maybe the purple gloves warehouse agents wear neutralizes the spell on the hammer, allowing them to lift it?

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  2. Actually, the Ark of Covenant is not from Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's from you know religion. ;)
    The Ethiopian Christian Church claims that it is in their possession. There was actually a Mack Bolan novel about a cult stealing that one. (It left it open whether it was the actual ark.)

    So was there a Thor in the 20th Century. Maybe some powered down version?

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    1. I should've mentioned this, but the Ark seen in Area 52 has the same lethal effect on an alien when opened as the opening of the Ark did on the Nazis in Raiders, so I'm certain it was an intentional reference to the movie.

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