Who: Electro
What: Breaking 42 Supervillains out of the Raft.
When: January 2005
Where: The New Avengers #1
Why its a great moment: The Raft was a maximum-maximum security prison made for supervillains. The place was swarming with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including a few super-powered ones. The inmates were kept in solitary behind steel and adamantium cells under water with their powers neutralized. Plus, they were drugged for shits and giggles.
Despite the billions of dollars in technology and the presence of sixty-seven S.H.I.E.L.D. officers, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage and Daredevil, Electro managed to bust in and release everyone. He does so looking oh so fabulous, too. I never understood why he wears that green and yellow eyesore of a costume, but now I know its because its the only outfit loose enough to comfortably fit his enormous balls.
He came for one prisoner in particular, but frees them all. He says they owe him huge but doesn't really collect, which is kind of the villain equivolent of saying "pay it forward, bitches!" The breakout is such a pain in the ass that The Avengers have no choice but to reform after disbanding six months previously. Catching the 42 escapees becomes the major plots for the next few months, in every Marvel title.
But wait, there's more.
Some of those convicts hide out in Stamford, CT next to a school. New Warriors try to catch them, and 600 people are killed in a firey explosion by Nitro in the process. This leads to superhero registration, which leads to the Civil War, which leads to the death of Captain America.
But that's not all.
The guy Electro sprung from the Raft was a Skrull. The people who hired him, were Skrulls. A number of those prisoners, Skrulls. What did all these Skrulls do when they got together on the outside? Secret Invasion of the Earth.
One more thing. The Civil War gave Norman Osborn, The Green Goblin, control of The Thunderbolts. The Secret Invasion put Osborn in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. With this power shift Osborn controls the Dark Avengers, Dark X-Men, Thunderbolts and H.A.M.M.E.R. a time known as Dark Reign.
Electro's costume may look like something Elton John turned down, but in a way he's responsible for most of the major events in the Marvel Universe over the last five years.
And for that, we salute him
Magnolia is about how it's not going to stop/ it's not going to stop/ it's not going to stop/ 'til you wisFROGS.
