Welcome back to the Strong Guy Watch! I thought this would just be a funny little zinger during Inhumans vs. X-Men, but then friend of the site josta59 pointed out that Strong Guy has made his epic return in the pages of the new Inhumans series Secret Warriors! And so I thought, why not make this an ongoing feature? I do love me some Strong Guy!

And hot damn he looks good with a beard!

Old Man Strong Guy

That’s his only appearance in Secret Wars #2. It’s the final page cliffhanger. Will he have a bigger role in Secret Wars #3? We can only hope! Tune in to the next Strong Guy Watch to find out!

If you’re unfamiliar with Strong Guy Watch, let me get you up to speed. Strong Guy is one of my favorite comic book characters, in large part because he’s the best friend of my all-time favorite comic book character, Multiple Man. A year ago, in the series Death of X, Marvel up and killed Multiple Man for shock value and cannon fodder. I hate that sort of thing. Ugh.

But then a funny little thing happened: Strong Guy showed up for Multiple Man’s impromptu funeral. Makes sense. They’re best friends, right? But Strong Guy wasn’t in any ongoing X-Men comics at the time and hadn’t been seen in years. So someone somewhere at the X-Men editorial office had the forethought to have Strong Guy show up at the funeral.

Then that forethought continued into Inhumans vs. X-Men, when Strong Guy showed up in the background of fight scenes. When the X-Men went after the Inhumans, Strong Guy clearly wanted some. But he didn’t have any lines. He didn’t play any sort of important role. He was just there — for about half the series. Then he disappeared as quietly as he came.

You can read more on this in my first Strong Guy Watch post.

Now he’s back, with a beard. And Strong Guy Watch is dedicated to whichever Marvel staffer has taken it upon themselves to insist that Strong Guy show up. It’s a Marvelous little thing. I know I’m having fun.

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