IDAHO
Type: Region: state of Idaho, Pacific Northwest, United States of America.
Environment: Idaho possesses two major climate areas. To the south is high desert, irrigated primarily by the Snake River. To the north is the highly forested mountains of the northern Rockies. Unique features of Idaho include the nearly impassable Snake River gorge on the Oregon/Idaho border, the bleak Craters of the Moon National Monument, and beautiful forests, lakes, and rivers in the northern panhandle. Northern Idaho contains numerous mines, mostly silver and manganese, though gold used to be mined there. Idaho is bordered by Oregon, Washington, British Columbia (Columbia), Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada.
Dominant Life Form: Humans.
Significant Inhabitants: Sherriff Sheryl Howard, Officer Lance Howard (both Bone).
Affiliations: While Idaho has, or will receive, a resident team as per the 50 States Initiative, neither the name nor the membership of this team has been revealed.
Significant Locations (View Larger Map): Bone (unincorporated town); a former neo-Nazi base, located near a semi-mountainous and rivered area of Idaho.
First Marvel Appearance: Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#6, 1983 (mentioned); Captain America III#25, 2000 (pictured).
History:
(Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files#1) - Stories relate Arizona Annie as visiting the wilds of northern Idaho in the late 19th century, swimming in natural hot pools and harvesting gold nuggets.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#6) - Samuel Sterns (later the Leader) was born in Boise, ID.
(Captain America III#25) - General McAllister Groves (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs) was kidnapped by the Hate Monger and his Idaho-based neo-nazis while on a fishing trip in Idaho; his three companions were killed. After Groves ID was used to steal anthrax, SHIELD sent in Nick Fury to investigate, but soon lost contact with him (Fury was exposed and captured). Captain Maerica and the Falcon were then asked to investigate. Pretending to be fisherman, they were assualted and gassed unconscious.
(Captain America III#26) - Hate Monger planned to launch an attack on another nation and blame it on the African-American Groves, stirring up racial conflict. Captain America was imprisoned beside Fury but the two escaped, to find Groves and the Falcon strapped to anthrax-laden missiles, ready for launch.
(Captain America III#27) - Captain America and the Falcon stopped the missiles and captured the Hate Monger's men, though the Hate Monger himself escaped.
(X-Treme X-Men I#25) - In the air over the Montana/Idaho border, Lady Deathstrike attempted to rescue Reverend William Stryker from a prison transport and the plane crashed. The X-Men were accused of complicity in the attack; Cannonball, Wolverine, and Sage investigated the crash site and were attacked and defeated by mercenaries.
(X-Treme X-Men I#26) - Storm and Bishop freed Cannonball, Wolverine, and Sage.
(Avengers#487) - News reports stated that Boise, ID had suffered two million dollars in damage earlier in the week when the Hulk (Bruce Banner) rampaged there and leveled the Tablerock Bar & Grill. Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk) sought her cousin Bruce and was in the town of Bone, ID when Bruce was reported as having been seen in Idaho Falls a half-hour earlier. The Avengers (Iron Man, Captain America, Scarlet Witch) came to Bone seeking Jennifer, who then reverted into an uncontrolled "savage" She-Hulk.
(Avengers#488) - She-Hulk battled the Avengers and Hawkeye, doing major damage to Bone.
(Avengers#489) - Hawkeye led She-Hulk out of Bone, where her cousin Bruce, attracted by news reports, found her. Doc Samson and Hulk-hunting soldiers also arrived in Bone. In order to keep She-Hulk from returning to Bone, Hawkeye shot Bruce with an arrow, turning him into the Hulk.
(Avengers#490) - She-Hulk and Hulk battled on a forested mountainside above Bone, while the Avengers tried to minimize damages from their fight. Bone's Sherriff Howard and the townspeople refused to allow Samson and his soldiers to exit Bone, fearing they'd antagonize the Hulk and make matters worse. Eventually Jack of Hearts arrived, and reverted both She-Hulk and Hulk to human form. Bruce slipped away, the damage to Bone was blamed on the Hulk, and Stark Enterprises agreed to rebuild the town (which suffered untold damage and 72 injuries, but no fatalities).
(She-Hulk IV#4) - As Jennifer Walters, She-Hulk participated in disaster relief in Bone for several months (as did Gary Swanson's Green Cross organization). Jennifer eventually came clean and confessed She-Hulk's responsibility for much of the damage there.
(Ghost Rider Annual #2) - In Mercy, Idaho (population 854, located in a mountainous and heavily forested area), a renegade angel began luring suicidal people there and murdering them, in order to grant them release and allow them to avoid the sin of suicide. After killing the local sheriff, it inhabited the body of his replacement. Johnny Blaze was drawn to Mercy and, with the help of the local deputy, exposed and killed the angel.
Comments:
I firmly expect that some appearances of this state have been missed - if you know of any, please contact us!
In putting together a map, some value judgments were made as frequently no actual placement is given for fictional places.
In the 1997 Dean Wesley Smith novel X-Men: The Jewels of Cyttorak, Idaho mountain main Albert Jonathan found a crystal in 1840 which proved to be one third of an emerald of Cyttorak. This emerald had the effect of stopping Albert's aging, and he remained in the Idaho mountains (in an isolated valley above the town of Yellow Pine), passing himself off as his own son when his lack of aging became problematic. When, in present day, businessman Robert Service found another third of this gem, Service began seeking out the other pieces. After flying in to Boise on a private jet and using that to triangulate toward Jonathan's portion, Service hired Boise-based Back Country Helicopters (piloted by "Craig") to help him locate the gem (at Jonathan's cabin) more precisely. Once there, Service shot Jonathan and stole the gem; Craig (unaware of the shooting) then flew Service to McCall, Idaho, where he met his private jet and left the state. The X-Men, with the Juggernaut, had also been following Service; they arrived in time to see Jonathan wither away into dust, and then left in pursuit of Service. ---As this is a novel it is not included in the "official" history above (nor is it included on the map, though Boise, McCall, and Yellow Pine are all real locations).
In the 1998 J. Steven York novel Generation X: Crossroads, Generation X (Chamber, Jubilee, Husk, M, Skin, Synch) and their teachers (Banshee, White Queen) drove two Winnebagos cross country west to east. Also driving cross-country were Chill (Peter B. DeMulder), Dog Pound (Willy Gillis), Recall (Scooter McCloud), three members of the group MONSTER (Mutants Only Need Sympathy Tolerance and Equal Rights). After the MONSTER students' car broke down in Northern Idaho (after they'd briefly left I-90), they were hassled by local teens until Generation X joined them and intervened. Afterwards, they drove on. ---As this is a novel it is not included in the "official" history above (nor is it on the map, though it'd pretty much have to be in the Coeur d'Alene area), but a Generation X cross-country trip was mentioned in their entry in Marvel Legacy: the 1990s. That is likely a reference to this book.
In the 2000 Michael Jan Friedman novel X-Men: Shadows of the Past, Fletch Cuppy lived east of Boise and somewhere just off I-84 by a shard of something originating from the alien Lucifer, he got in his truck and headed west, collecting other possessed people as he went (pp. 221-225). He picked up six or seven as he traveled, turning north on Highway 55 somewhere in the process, and added Billy Ray Meekin (who had once robbed a store in Horse Shoe [Horseshoe] Bend, ID) as he went. (pp. 241-246). Ultimately they totaled about a dozen people, including Henry Ballard, and attacked and were defeated by the X-Men (Charles Xavier, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl) and Jeffrey Saunders outside a secret hidden Quistalian base high on a mountain side in the Salmon River Mountains (pp. 249-299). ---As this is a novel it is not included in the "official" history above (nor is it on the map).
Profile by Mark O'English.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The state of Idaho has no known connections to
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Other Appearances:
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#6 (June 1983) -
Captain America III#25-27 (January-March 2000) - Dan Jurgens (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)
X-Treme X-Men I#25-26 (July-August 2003) - Chris Claremont (writer), Igor Kordey (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Mike Raicht (editor)
Avengers I#487-490 (November 2003-February 2004) - Geoff Johns (writer), Scott Kolins (pencils & inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files#1 (2006) - Michael Hoskin (writer), Jeff Youngquist (editor)
She-Hulk IV#4 (March 2006) - Dan Slott (writer), Scott Kolins (pencils & inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Ghost Rider Annual#2 (October 2008) - Simon Spurrier (writer), Mark A Robinson (pencils & inks), Daniel Ketchum & Aubrey Sitterson (editors)
Last updated: 08/08/08.
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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