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Laos

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Laos. An armpit, you said, right?

—Hawkeye[1]
Flag of Laos

Flag of Laos

Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in the heart of the Indochinese peninsula of Mainland Southeast Asia. Its capital city is Vientiane.

History

The territory now known as Laos has been inhabited for millennia.[1] The country includes significant areas covered by jungle and difficult to navigate.[2][1] The Mekong River, which runs through Laos, has served as the basis for important commercial trading routes for at least several centuries, as well as allowing the construction, on the riverbanks, of dozens of temples of different religions,[3] including one of an important Abrahamic religion whose Messiah apparently visited Laos in person to spread his message, and which was not discovered for two millennia.[1] This mystical temple in Nam Theum[1] only opened when the sunlight hit it in a specific way, which happened every forty years,[1][4][5] to allow the locals around it[1] to enter for a limited time to worship a relic.[1]

From the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century,[6] the territory now consisting of Laos and its neighboring countries Cambodia and Vietnam was known as Indochina, and was under the political and colonial control of France,[6][7][8][9] except for part of World War II, when the Axis Powers succeeded in partially occupying Laos.[10] During the Cold War, communist interests forcibly recruited Congolese tribes that had been shipped to Indochina, perceived to be primitive, to indoctrinate them with propaganda and train them in sabotage and terrorism tactics to harass Belgian, British, French, and Portuguese plantation colonies and provoke revolts. These tribals were purchased as slaves from their chieftains and flown to China; however, these Congolese people maintained their traditions and rituals, and a witch doctor in the group convinced them that they had been betrayed by their leaders. When the communists killed the doctor, the tribal gods were offended and appeared in the form of monsters, who killed the communist strategists.[6]

Indochina disintegrated during the Cold War, and its constituent countries, including Laos, gained their independence; but in the case of Laos, this was not consolidated for decades, with instability and internal conflict. Simultaneously with the Vietnam War, Laos was plunged into its own civil war; and due to the long border that Laos shares with Vietnam, it was impossible for Laos to remain neutral in that conflict. American military forces attacked Laos at that time,[1] theoretically because North Vietnamese forces were taking American prisoners of war to Laos. American officer Frank Castle, later called the Punisher, served in Laos in the jungle south of the Plain of Jars searching for such people with his 5th CIDG (Civilian Irregular Defense Groups), which included his loyal friend Junior. This unit found human skulls on stakes, and then three armed North Vietnamese soldiers who, affected by LSD, were attacking each other. Following their trail, they found a cave that the enemy was using as a base and in which all the other North Vietnamese were already dead. Castle and his unit took the opportunity to fill their canteens and resupply with rice, not realizing that the water supply and/or the rice were affected by the drugs. Two kilometers later, they found two of the three escaped North Vietnamese dead, and the last survivor attacked them. During the night, however, the Americans woke up, affected by LSD, and attacked each other. Castle managed to remain calm and disciplined enough to calm Junior down, until the effect wore off; although at least three of the soldiers killed each other.[2]

Several American soldiers (including Bailey Mathius[11][1] and Alex Kreiter)[12] on a military operation discovered the Nam Theum temple described above,[1][4][5] which was opened during their visit. The Laotians told them that they were not worthy to enter, but the Americans did so anyway[1] and discovered the religious artifact, which they estimated to be of immeasurable value.[1][4][5] The villagers, still unarmed, attempted to protect the temple, but the soldiers opened fire on them. However, the temple automatically closed, and the Laotians explained to the Americans that if they tried to blow up the door, the relic would be destroyed (which may or may not be true). Determined to recover the relic in the future,[1] the soldiers massacred all the Laotian people present,[1][4][5] including the elderly, women and children, to be the only ones who would know the secret[1] and swore a "Unity Pact" to keep it,[1][4][5] tattooing themselves with the Mark of Savvuam Kham, the mark on the temple door,[12][1] a Laotian symbol of a collective cultural spirit that translated as "unity."[11] One of the soldiers involved, Bailey Mathius, who made a fortune,[1][4][5] later added his wife Belinda to the Unity Pact,[1]and Belinda, who aspired to obtain the relic to use it to cause a religious shift, [13] involved[1][13] Hong Kong-based Shing Fu Xue,[1][14] who intended to monopolize this secret and was willing to kill for it,[14] to dedicate trained men and advanced weapons to protect the temple.[1]

In recent times, Laos is a more stable country, thou still having border disputes with Vietnam.[15] Part of its territory, near the headwaters of the Mekong, at the confluence of the borders with Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand, is known as the Golden Triangle and has been used massively for drug trafficking.[16]

At one point, Chinese soldiers stole a 30-foot-high Golden Buddha from a temple in Laos. Some of the military involved, including Colonel Camden "Charlie" Leung, "the butcher of Ah Loc"[17] and General Li Pung, moved to New York City where they posed as civilian immigrants, set up a restaurant, and took the stolen Buddha with them.[17][18] The Savage Tigers crime clan kidnapped Leung to obtain the Buddha information. The American vigilante the Punisher (previously Frank Castle, the soldier in Laos) teamed up with the Vietnamese crime gang Royal Cobras, a rival to the Tigers, to discover that the Cobras were trying to get the Buddha. The Punisher found the Buddha, Leung was killed in a shootout, and[17] the Punisher ordered Pung to return the Buddha, and the stolen gold, to the Laotian temple from which they had taken it within a day, or the Punisher would kill him.[17][18]

When the Unity's long-awaited temple was not yet open,[1] Bailey Mathius, then a wealthy businessman in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,[11] felt guilty about massacring the Laotian people and revealed information to his mistress Peppermint Candey;[3] Bailey's wife Belinda tried to intimidate Candey by sending in thug James Scully, but accidentally implicated the superhero Hawkeye (in his identity as Clinton Barton), who began to investigate.[19][4][5] Barton noticed Bailey's[11] tattoo and found Kreiter, then head of a construction company; but when Barton interrogated Kreiter, he committed suicide before he could talk.[12] Changing tactics, Belinda offered to bring Candey into the Unity Pact to buy her silence, but she panicked and accidentally killed herself.[3][4][5] Barton teamed up with Scully and Bailey,[3][1] and they went to Laos to investigate the temple, though they were confronted by Shing Fu Xue's troops. Barton managed to cause the temple to open prematurely[1] (apparently by damaging the mechanism so that the temple would not close again),[13] but was knocked unconscious by the guardians, and Bailey was killed by the guards.[1] Scully extracted the artifact and brought it to Belinda, but Barton tracked her down and convinced her to help him retrieve the artifact. Scully collaborated with Barton to uncover Belinda's crimes,[13][4][5] and Barton damaged the artifact, leaving it unrecognizable.[13] Belinda agreed to return the artifact to Laos,[13][4][5] and she and Shing Fu Xue manually attempted to restore it.[13]

Alternate Realities[]

Earth-21194 ('Breed)[]

On Earth-21194, during the Vietnam War, the American government sent forces to Laos at least until 1970, though they publicly denied it. American soldiers sent to Laos had heard that the Laotians did not take prisoners but killed them brutally. In a secret operation in 1970, Petty Officer Second Class Raymond Stoner, Naval Intelligence, joined a unit of grunts to search for several missing soldiers, expecting to find them dead, as they did - but they were shocked to see the condition of the bodies. Stoner took photos and the soldiers tried to collect the dog tags, but the Laotians then ambushed and shot them. Only Stoner survived, running away and discarding his camera. He tried to hide, crouching under tall grass, but he knew that his enemies, with superior numbers, would find him, so, believing himself lost, he decided to try and take out as many as he could, attacking them with bayonets and ferocity. As they set upon Raymond, he unwittingly activated his half-demon powers for the first time and transformed into a massive, grey-skinned humanoid with horns and inhuman features, who slaughtered the Laotian soldiers,[20] and then lost his memory while walking toward the Vietnamese border.[20][21] He was found, alive and covered in Laotian blood, by a recon patrol shortly after being declared missing in action, and sent to a military hospital in the Philippines.[20] Only two years later, by accessing a fountain in a mystical place called Elsewhere, Stoner had a vision of that same Laotian skirmish from the outside and saw himself turn into a monster,[21] though he initially found it hard to believe.[21][22]

Earth-85101 (The 'Nam)[]

On Earth-85101, Laos is seen on a map accessible by the American soldiers sent to the Vietnam War.[23]

Earth-Unknown[]

In an unknown universe, Laos was still considered a part of Indochina by 1965. At that point, the Soviet Union expanded its borders to incorporate Indochina and other nations. The Western countries opposed first with diplomacy and then with an ultimatum, which was supported by the Martians.[24]

Points of Interest

Notes

  • Several events related to Laos that are linked to the Vietnam War are considered Topical References according to the Sliding Timescale. The Vietnam War took place from 1955-1975, simultaneous to the Laotian Civil War (or "Secret War", unrelated to any comic saga with the same name), and Laos was related to the conflict due to its long border with Vietnam. However, several characters who were originally involved in Vietnam War had that part of their story retconned to participate in other, more recent conflicts, most notably Frank Castle - meaning that the Punisher's memories of Laos, possibly intended to be linked to his Vietnam War service, may have taken place elsewhere. The events in Hawkeye (Vol. 3) are related to older Vietnam veterans who found a relic in Laos during their service in the Vietnam War decades before; these events may or may not have been retconned. The events related to Earth-21194 do not need to be retconned because that saga is a standalone story not linked to any other universe, taking place in publication dates (1994-2011), and the protagonist is stated to have longevity superpowers.
  • Punisher Back to School Special #3 describes how Frank Castle operated in Laos with a CIDG, described as "Civilian Indigenous Defense Groups". Historically the acronym CIDG was used in the Vietnam War for a Civilian Irregular (not Indigenous) Defense Group. This must have been a typo in the original comic.
  • Laos appears just in maps in Iron Man #67, showing a plane flying over South East Asia; in Savage Tales (Vol. 2) #1, in a story taking place on Earth-85101 and depicting the Vietnam War; and in Force Works #17 where Moonraker highlights how Vietnam is missing, and the map shows only Cambodia, Laos and the ocean.
  • Laos is of relevance on Earth-21194, which covers the author-owned saga 'Breed by Jim Starlin, published by Marvel in 'Breed and 'Breed II (1994-1995), then by Image in 'Breed III (2011); the protagonist discovers his powers while in Laos in the first issue of 'Breed. The important Laos scene is mentioned in Bravura Preview Book #1 in a summary of the opening of the story; and some pages 'Breed #1, including those of Laos, are reprinted in Bravura #½. When the protagonist tells his origin story in 'Breed III #1, he explains how his powers emerged "while I was in the 'Nam"; he was really in Laos, not in Vietnam, but he may be referring to the Vietnam War, and considering his Laos mission to be part of that conflict.

See Also

Links and References

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 Hawkeye (Vol. 3) #5
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Punisher Back to School Special #3
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Hawkeye (Vol. 3) #4
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #9 ; James Scully's profile
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #10 ; James Scully's profile
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Uncanny Tales #9 ; Propaganda
  7. ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #4 ; Madripoor's profile
  8. ↑ Marvel Atlas #1 ; Madripoor's profile
  9. ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #6 ; Madripoor's profile
  10. ↑ Blockbusters of the Marvel Universe #1 ; World War II's profile
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Hawkeye (Vol. 3) #2
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Hawkeye (Vol. 3) #3
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 Hawkeye (Vol. 3) #6
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Marvel Atlas #1 ; China's profile
  15. ↑ Marvel Atlas #1 ; Vietnam's profile
  16. ↑ Wolverine (Vol. 2) #5
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Punisher (Vol. 2) #51
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Marvel Encyclopedia #Marvel Knights ; Appendix
  19. ↑ Hawkeye (Vol. 3) #1
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 'Breed #1
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 'Breed #2
  22. ↑ 'Breed #3
  23. ↑ Savage Tales (Vol. 2) #1 ; 5th to the 1st
  24. ↑ Mystery Tales #25 ; The Time Is Now
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