The Marvel Universe

Who is the speaker of the following quotes?

1. "I'm the best at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice."
   Wolverine. What he does is kill. (HINT QUOTE: "The beast ain't been born that can break my bones.")

2. "Enough. Even in his mortal state, his nobility sickens me."
   Mephisto, speaking of the Mighty Thor in his identity as Dr. Donald Blake. (HINT: Think Dante, or the Silver Surfer.)

3. "With great power comes great responsibility."
   The Amazing Spider-Man, after his Uncle Ben was murdered by a burglar Spider-Man had been too selfish to stop when he had the chance.

4. "Callow youth. I do not engage in fisticuffs."
   The noble Dr. Doom, when the X-Man Colossus tried to fight Doom one-on-one.

5. "That is the secret to power: pit your enemies one against the other."
   The Kingpin, absolute ruler of all the mobs on the East Coast. He was explaining to Daredevil the cause of the then-current battle with the Hand.

6. "I follow no one, and I let no one call me dog, dog."
   Conan the Barbarian, just before he landed a crushing punch to the face of a wanderer in "Hawks Over Shem." (HINT QUOTE: "I live by the hillman's code: if I cannot stand, it is time for me to die.") (GIVEAWAY QUOTE: "Crom never listens.")

7. "It's clobberin' time."
   The ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. (Give no hints on this one. It's too easy.)

How did the following heroes or villains die?

1. Phoenix--
   Committed "cosmic suicide." She had become Dark Phoenix for the second time, and decided that she was unable to control her near-infinite power. She decided it was better to die a human than live as a mad god.

2. Thunderbird--
   He was one of the original New X-Men. (NOTE: "Original New X-Men"?) He died when he jumped on the plane carrying an escaping Count Nefaria, and the plane blew to pieces. Prof. Charles Xavier was inside Thunderbird's mind at the time; he felt every bit of his student's death.

3. Gwen Stacy-
   Died of a broken neck when the original Green Goblin threw her off the George Washington Bridge. She was Peter (Spider-Man) Parker's girlfriend at the time.

4. The Fixer--
   Died of a heart attack as he was fleeing from an avenging Daredevil. The Fixer was a crooked boxing promoter who "owned" Matt Murdock's father. When Battlin' Murdock failed to take a dive in a championship fight, the Fixer had him shot.

5. Elektra--
   She was run through with her own sai by Bullseye. (The fact that her throat was cut by a thrown playing card is unacceptable; this particular injury did not kill her.) Elektra has since been resurrected.

6. Captain Marvel (the original)--
   Died of cancer, contracted while fighting Nitro the Exploding Man. Even a superhero can die of cancer.

What did the following people do, before they became superheroes?

1. Ben Grimm--
   He was a crackerjack pilot and a college football hero, before cosmic rays turned him into the Thing. (Must get both pilot and football hero for credit.)

2. Dr. Strange--
   The master of mystic arts was a very cocky surgeon, before he ruined the nerves in his hands when he was involved in an auto accident. He then travelled to the Tibetan retreat of the Ancient One, where he studied to become Earth's sorceror supreme.

3. Wonder Man--
   Simon Williams was manager of a steel plant in Pittsburgh before he metamorphosed into a being of pure atomic energy.

4. The Torpedo--
   Brock Jones was also a football player, when a dying scientist gave him the Torpedo armor, which was actually forged by the Dire Wraiths in an attempt to create their own spaceknights for combatting Rom.

5. Drax the Destroyer--
   (This is a good one.) He was a simple insurance salesman before he was struck and killed by a mysterious lightbolt while driving on a country road. He was reborn as an incredibly powerful being with only one mission: to destroy the mad Titan god Thanos.

6. BONUS: Who robbed Drax of his prime goal in life by slaying Thanos?
   (Jim Starlin's classic "Marvel 2-In-1 Annual #2.)

What do the following acronyms stand for?

1. S.H.I.E.L.D.
   Supreme Headquarters International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division (Nick Fury, commander.)

2. A.I.M.
   Advanced Idea Mechanics, a high-tech criminal organization with footholds almost everywhere in the Marvel Universe.

3. H.E.L.L.
   Human Engineering and Life Laboratories, Cape Canaveral, Florida, where the Micronauts encountered Prof. Prometheus and the Prometheus Pit (a portal between the macro- and microverses).

4. MODOK
   (This is another great one.) Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. Modok, a grotesque creature with a head that is three times as big as his body, was created at A.I.M. Laboratories and is one of the organization's current leaders.