| First up is a very cool item which ultimately never got to play a great role in the bigger picture, despite having appeared many times over the year. It's called the Zodiac Key! Surely no one can forget this excellent cover of Avengers #72, with Scorpio weilding the Zodiac Key in combat against the Avengers! Over the years, the Zodiac Key has been used at least once (why only once?) by the Zodiac , the criminal super team who've tangled with the Avengers so many times. Of that evil group, Scorpio has the most history with it. Those of you who remember the old Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD comics will recall seeing Scorpio wielding it there as well. | |
 | The Zodiac Key has an assortment of powers, never clearly defined. For example, here in Avengers #72, Aries uses the key to disorient the Avengers. It was powerful enough to take down Goliath as well as the Vision, who is an android and also one of the toughest Marvel heroes. |
| The Zodiac Key is also capable of shooting forth tremendous bursts of power. Here we see Aries accidentally (due to the interference of Rick Jones) blasting a hole in the Avengers mansion. Not too shabby for an oversized keyring! |  |
 | Aries also uses it to create a barrier of some strange material that even the Vision with his intangibility powers seems unable to penetrate. That's pretty impressive, if you ask me! |
| Now I ask...how could ANYONE in their right mind have gone to their local pharmacy or news stand and looked at this cover and NOT been drooling in anticipation of reading this story? Why is the key so powerful? What makes it so dangerous? Why are Iron Man, Nick Fury, SHIELD, and the Zodiac all after it? Well, I'll tell ya! What, you thought I was gonna leave you hanging? |  |
 | The story starts with Nick Fury showing Iron Man the Zodiac Key while Iron Man is paying SHIELD a visit. Apparently SHIELD captured the Key sometime between the events of Avengers #72 and Iron Man #35 (not sure when exactly...if anyone can fill me in, please write me). After an accidental outburst from the Key, Iron Man and Nick Fury take the Key back to Stark Industries in order to examine it. All they can tell is that it's of alien origin. |
| Shortly after the intial exam, the Zodiac breaks in and attacks our heroes, overpowering and capturing them. They managed to capture Daredevil shortly before that, so the issue ends with the heroes immobilized and the Zodiac Key mentally communicating with the Zodiac, telling them to let Nick Fury grasp the key. The story continues into Daredevil #73... |
| The cover of Daredevil #73 shows a great battle between Iron Man, Daredevil, Nick Fury, Spymaster, and the Zodiac. The covers says "Revealed at last! The sinister secret of the Zodiac Key!", and the issue sure does deliver on that score! eventually, Nick Fury does indeed give in, grabs the Key, and in a senses-shattering burst of power, the entire group of people in the room (the Zodiac, Iron Man, Nick Fury, DD, etc) is teleported to another dimension! |  |
 | After arriving in the new dimension (never actually named), the Law Holder (aka the High Priest of the Brotherhood of Ankh) explains to the assembled characters the history of the Zodiac Key. It was fashioned long ago by the Brotherhood, who worshipped some entity or force named Ankh, whose power the Key channels. Apparently Ankh is the all powerful ruler of their dimension. Hey, that'd be cool if they'd have had him appear and fight Dormammu, huh? Anyway... |
| The Key was used by the Brotherhood to strike a balance between order and chaos, good and evil. Over time, as these forces balanced, the Key started to wane. Apparently it fed off strife and balance, some sort of struggle to maintain its power. So the Brotherhood sent it to our world, which was fresh with struggle and conflict. After explaining this, the Law Holder/high Priest orders the heroes and villains to fight in order to power the Key through their struggles. He offers a seat on the Brotherhood to the winner, and uses the power fo the Key to force them into combat. However, Daredevil's heart is not in the battle...he doesn't want to be controlled, whereas Iron Man and Nick Fury are fighting for vengeance against the Zodiac (that's another story we won't get into here), and of course the Zodiac wants to kill our heroes. Another priest eventually steps in and explains that without Daredevil's heart being in the battle, the scales will not be balanced, ie there are unequal forces of conflict in the battle. So they end the battle and send the heroes back to Earth, the priest waxing philosophical about how the pause in battle and renewal of it on earth has re-empowered the Key. Such great stuff! And people ask why I love the 70's? Sheesh! |  |