The Pitt (Marvel Comics)
Encyclopedia
The Pitt is a 1987
one-shot comic book
written by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald
, and illustrated by Sal Buscema
and Stan Drake
. It was published by Marvel Comics
under its New Universe
imprint. The story depicts the total destruction of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
due to the careless actions of the wielder of the Star Brand
, and the immediate 12-hour aftermath.
and dissipating nearly all its energy. However, as he begins the flight he has second thoughts about possibly being stranded so far from medical aid if anything should go wrong, and instead sheds the brand ten miles (16 km) above the Earth. The issue ends with a massive ball of light erupting from Ken Connell.
on December 22, 1987. The spontaneous release of energy caused by the Star Brand instantly and silently disintegrates all matter in a massive spherical volume of space, fifty miles in diameter, centered ten miles (16 km) above ground level. Where the sphere intersects the ground, a perfectly symmetrical concave void in the Earth's crust
fifteen miles (24 km) deep (far enough to expose the hot mantle
) is made. The city of Pittsburgh and its immediate suburbs lie within this region, thus these settlements and nearly half a million people are destroyed instantly. Thousands more are killed in neighboring areas by violent winds several times greater than hurricane strength, as the atmosphere rushes into the sudden vacuum.
The abrupt silent flash of white light can be seen for hundreds of miles, but with the immediate cessation of communication from the area no one knows what has actually happened. The federal government sends in a military reconnaissance team led by Colonel Browning to assess the situation, assisted by Jenny Swensen and her Spitfire robot suit. Faced with the enormity of the disaster and the possibility of it being a Soviet strike, Browning institutes a severe security lockdown, ordering Swensen to abandon attempts to rescue survivors and shooting down a news helicopter that tries to investigate. Swensen ignores Browning's orders to make no contact with civilians and retrieves a car holding a family of survivors who were pulled into the crater by the winds and are slowly sinking into the mire of debris and liquid accumulating in its depths. She rescues the family, but some of the "Pitt Juice" seeps through her armor and impairs her systems. When she returns, Jenny learns how severely Browning has sealed up the area and his increasingly paranoid attempts to cover-up the truth of the event. She abandons Browning in order to try and help as many people as she can, and is threatened with summary execution for doing so. However, the search proves fruitless, and Browning allows her to return without incident after conceding that the tragedy is beyond the military's ability to cover-up, or indeed human society's ability to comprehend.
Parallel to the main storyline, the Witness observes the unfolding of events, from Ken Connell's initial cause (which he mourns being unable to prevent) and a possibly hallucinated encounter with the vengeful souls of all those who died in the Pitt. At one point, Jenny Swensen sees and attempts to communicate with him, one of the few times a living person has been able to do so.
The crater itself is referred to as The Pitt, as is the event that created it. Within the fictional universe
, it is occasionally also referred to as The Black Event (in contrast to the earlier White Event).
The destruction of Pittsburgh (and the unsolved mystery of its cause) lead to a dramatic rise in international tension and a vast militarization of American society, including the suspension of some civil rights
. Many cities suffer dramatic drop in population as residents fear becoming victims of another "Pitt". New York
and surrounding areas in particular suffer severe economic downturn as, in addition to general depopulation, ash and smoke drifting Eastward from the Pitt have a negative environmental impact
.
The Pitt lead into the following mini-series The Draft
and then The War
, and ultimately the conclusion of the entire New Universe.
and Monongahela River
s (all presumably affected by exposure to the energies of the Star Brand) accumulates in the Pitt and combines into a sludgy liquid that comes to be known as "Pitt Juice". Able to seep through even the tightest of seals, it has mutagen
ic properties that can affect people and animals who come in contact with it, often grotesquely so. In particular, those exposed to the Juice often meld with other nearby lifeforms or materials, creating mineral-organic hybrids and chimaerical
monstrosities. Pitt Juice eventually seeped into the area surrounding the Pitt, turning it into a dangerous wasteland stalked by hostile mutants.
The following characters were exposed and changed:
1987 in comics
- Year overall :* Independent publishers continue to enter the comics arena, including Amazing, CFW Enterprises, Imperial Comics, Matrix Graphic Series, New Comics Group, and Rebel Studios...
one-shot comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
written by John Byrne and Mark Gruenwald
Mark Gruenwald
Mark E. Gruenwald was an American comic book writer, editor, and occasional penciler. Gruenwald got his start in comics fandom, publishing his own fanzine, Omniverse, which explored the concept of continuity...
, and illustrated by Sal Buscema
Sal Buscema
Silvio "Sal" Buscema is an American comic book artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he enjoyed a ten-year run as artist of The Incredible Hulk...
and Stan Drake
Stan Drake
Stanley Albert Drake was an American cartoonist best known as the founding artist of the comic strip The Heart of Juliet Jones....
. It was published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
under its New Universe
New Universe
The New Universe is a comic book imprint from Marvel Comics that was published in its original incarnation from 1986 to 1989. It was created by Jim Shooter, Archie Goodwin, Eliot R. Brown, John Morelli, Mark Gruenwald, Tom DeFalco and edited by Michael Higgins.In 1986, in honor of Marvel Comics'...
imprint. The story depicts the total destruction of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
due to the careless actions of the wielder of the Star Brand
Star Brand
The Star Brand is the name of a number of similar fictional comic book objects of power all of which exist in the multiverse created by the shared universes of Marvel Comics...
, and the immediate 12-hour aftermath.
Major characters
- Starbrand (Ken Connell) - a young aspiring superheroSuperheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
and native of Pittsburgh bearing a mysterious sigil granting him potentially infinite power. Though the instigator of the Pitt, his presence in the story is limited, appearing in only a few panels without dialog or being named. - The WitnessWitness (comics)The Witness is the name of at least three fictional, American comic-book characters, the first published by Timely Comics in the 1940s and the final two by its successor company, Marvel Comics.-Timely Comics:-Publication history:...
(Nelson Kohler) - A man who went into a coma precisely when the White EventWhite EventThe White Event was a fictional occurrence which played a key role in Marvel Comics' New Universe line.-New Universe:The White Event was the name given to a mysterious blinding flash of light which bathed the Earth on July 22, 1986, at 4:22am EST...
occurred and subsequently died. His intellect reincorporating as a ghostGhostIn traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
-like psychicPsychicA psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
projection, he cannot be seen or heard, neither can he interact physically with the world in any way, but he can travel anywhere at will to observe events. He is compelled by a strange pull to witness people manifesting paranormal abilities. - MacIntyre (Mac) Browning - ColonelColonelColonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
's Defense Intelligence AgencyDefense Intelligence AgencyThe Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
called in to assess and handle the situation. - Jenny Swensen (Spitfire) - Government agent and operator of the M.A.X. ArmorSpitfire (New Universe)Spitfire and the Troubleshooters was a short-lived comic book series from Marvel Comics' New Universe line. It followed "Spitfire" and a group of brilliant but eccentric college students as they used various high-tech exoskeletons to combat crime Spitfire and the Troubleshooters (renamed to...
, which is used to investigate the scene and try to rescue survivors.
Setup to "The Pitt"
The storyline of "The Pitt" actually begins in issue #12 of Star Brand. In the previous issue, Ken Connell used his power to become the world's first costumed superhero. Now enjoying growing fame, he makes an appearance at a local Pittsburgh comic-book convention. Unfortunately, a recurring enigmatic foe known only as the Old Man ambushes Connell at the show, destroying the building and killing hundreds of by-standers. After escaping, Connell realizes that he was able to read the Old Man's mind during the encounter, and thus learned that he is a centuries old human who bears a brand like his own and was driven insane by it. Fearing the same thing may happen to him, Connell resolves to rid himself of the star brand immediately by flying to the far side of the MoonMoon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
and dissipating nearly all its energy. However, as he begins the flight he has second thoughts about possibly being stranded so far from medical aid if anything should go wrong, and instead sheds the brand ten miles (16 km) above the Earth. The issue ends with a massive ball of light erupting from Ken Connell.
Synopsis
The destruction of Pittsburgh occurs at exactly 6:06 pm Eastern Standard TimeNorth American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
on December 22, 1987. The spontaneous release of energy caused by the Star Brand instantly and silently disintegrates all matter in a massive spherical volume of space, fifty miles in diameter, centered ten miles (16 km) above ground level. Where the sphere intersects the ground, a perfectly symmetrical concave void in the Earth's crust
Crust (geology)
In geology, the crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or natural satellite, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle...
fifteen miles (24 km) deep (far enough to expose the hot mantle
Mantle (geology)
The mantle is a part of a terrestrial planet or other rocky body large enough to have differentiation by density. The interior of the Earth, similar to the other terrestrial planets, is chemically divided into layers. The mantle is a highly viscous layer between the crust and the outer core....
) is made. The city of Pittsburgh and its immediate suburbs lie within this region, thus these settlements and nearly half a million people are destroyed instantly. Thousands more are killed in neighboring areas by violent winds several times greater than hurricane strength, as the atmosphere rushes into the sudden vacuum.
The abrupt silent flash of white light can be seen for hundreds of miles, but with the immediate cessation of communication from the area no one knows what has actually happened. The federal government sends in a military reconnaissance team led by Colonel Browning to assess the situation, assisted by Jenny Swensen and her Spitfire robot suit. Faced with the enormity of the disaster and the possibility of it being a Soviet strike, Browning institutes a severe security lockdown, ordering Swensen to abandon attempts to rescue survivors and shooting down a news helicopter that tries to investigate. Swensen ignores Browning's orders to make no contact with civilians and retrieves a car holding a family of survivors who were pulled into the crater by the winds and are slowly sinking into the mire of debris and liquid accumulating in its depths. She rescues the family, but some of the "Pitt Juice" seeps through her armor and impairs her systems. When she returns, Jenny learns how severely Browning has sealed up the area and his increasingly paranoid attempts to cover-up the truth of the event. She abandons Browning in order to try and help as many people as she can, and is threatened with summary execution for doing so. However, the search proves fruitless, and Browning allows her to return without incident after conceding that the tragedy is beyond the military's ability to cover-up, or indeed human society's ability to comprehend.
Parallel to the main storyline, the Witness observes the unfolding of events, from Ken Connell's initial cause (which he mourns being unable to prevent) and a possibly hallucinated encounter with the vengeful souls of all those who died in the Pitt. At one point, Jenny Swensen sees and attempts to communicate with him, one of the few times a living person has been able to do so.
The crater itself is referred to as The Pitt, as is the event that created it. Within the fictional universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
, it is occasionally also referred to as The Black Event (in contrast to the earlier White Event).
The destruction of Pittsburgh (and the unsolved mystery of its cause) lead to a dramatic rise in international tension and a vast militarization of American society, including the suspension of some civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
. Many cities suffer dramatic drop in population as residents fear becoming victims of another "Pitt". New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and surrounding areas in particular suffer severe economic downturn as, in addition to general depopulation, ash and smoke drifting Eastward from the Pitt have a negative environmental impact
Environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife...
.
The Pitt lead into the following mini-series The Draft
The Draft (comics)
The Draft was a comic book in Marvel's New Universe imprint, detailing the aftermath of the reintroduction of the draft following the destruction of Pittsburgh. The Draft was put into effect on January 28, 1988, and its unstated purpose was to establish a fighting force of soldiers with paranormal...
and then The War
The War (comics)
The War was a four-issue comic book mini-series, published by Marvel Comics. The final publication in Marvel's New Universe line, it resolved a number of unfinished plotlines and radically changed the New Universe setting.-The Platoon:...
, and ultimately the conclusion of the entire New Universe.
Pitt statistics
- Volume of sphere of effect: 65,313 cubic miles
- Area of land eradicated at ground level: 1,590 square miles
- Volume of earth eradicated: 14888 cubic miles (62,055.9 km³).
- Population of Greater Pittsburgh Region: 430,000
Pitt timeline
- December 22, 1987:
- 6:06 pm: Pitt created, as all matter within a sphere of approximately 25 miles radius, centered approximately 10 miles above the city is annihilated or converted into a strange form of matter at the bottom. A vortex of air begins to rush in from all directions.
- 6:17pm: Griffis Air Force Base in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
detects the Pitt. - 10:00pm (approximately): Tornado force winds begin to subside.
- December 23, 1987:
- 1:43 am: The president authorizes a complete lockdown of the area.
- 4:27 am: News airs the first images of the Pitt to the nation.
- April 1988 (approximately): volcanic deposit begins forming a mound in the bottom of the Pitt.
- July 1988 (approximately): "Mt. Pittsburgh" volcanoVolcano2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
in the Pitt's center reaches 7 miles (11.3 km) from the bottom, and approximately 1 miles (1.6 km) below the top. Volcanic ash begins to blanket the region.
Pitt Juice
The disintegrated matter of the Pittsburgh area, mixed with sucked in debris (much of it organic), water from the severed AlleghenyAllegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
and Monongahela River
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...
s (all presumably affected by exposure to the energies of the Star Brand) accumulates in the Pitt and combines into a sludgy liquid that comes to be known as "Pitt Juice". Able to seep through even the tightest of seals, it has mutagen
Mutagen
In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic material, usually DNA, of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations cause cancer, mutagens are therefore also likely to be carcinogens...
ic properties that can affect people and animals who come in contact with it, often grotesquely so. In particular, those exposed to the Juice often meld with other nearby lifeforms or materials, creating mineral-organic hybrids and chimaerical
Chimera (mythology)
The Chimera or Chimaera was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of multiple animals: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that ended in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her...
monstrosities. Pitt Juice eventually seeped into the area surrounding the Pitt, turning it into a dangerous wasteland stalked by hostile mutants.
The following characters were exposed and changed:
- A family of four was huddled together in a car while exposed, and eventually merged into a collective monster that hungered for new flesh, the so-called "Famileech."
- Jenny Swensen was exposed to the substance while inside her Spitfire armor, causing her skin to later transform into living metal.
- Randy O'Brien (DP7DP7 (comics)D.P. 7 was a 32-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics as a part their New Universe imprint. It ran from 1986 to 1989. Along with Justice and Psi-Force, it was one of the few New Universe titles to last for 32 issues....
) was exposed while inside the "skin" of his antibodies and was later unable to absorb the antibody inside himself and effect a normal appearance.