Showing posts with label Doctor Doom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doctor Doom. Show all posts

Friday 22 December 2023

Christmas in Latveria

 

‘Tis the season! Once again, we near the end of the year, the time of decking halls, panic buying gifts and general chaos. To mark the festive season I wanted to take a look at the time the MC2’s Avengers went to Latveria for Christmas and found…Doom!

 


Our story opens with a prologue set in the ruins of Doomstadt, the former capital of the Balkan nation of Latveria. Two S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents discuss the destruction wrought by the long-ago war between Namor the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom as they search for a lost little girl. The pair are forced to cut their search short when they are attacked by Killer Robot’s. As they flee, they catch a glimpse of a distant figure on a rampart. Has Doctor Doom returned? (A-Next #5)

 


A few days later at the Avengers Headquarters in New York, J2 aka Zane Yama finds Thunderstrike aka Kevin Masterson reviewing old files about his father Eric Masterson, the original Thunderstrike. Meanwhile, a frustrated Stinger (Cassie Lang) brushes off American Dream (Shannon Carter) before confronting Mainframe about the unconfirmed reports of the return of Doctor Doom. While the Fantastic Five have been tasked with investigating, Cassie and her father Scott Lang (the former Ant-Man) convince them to let a team of Avengers go instead. However, Cassie is surprised to learn from Mainframe she’ll be accompanied by the new additions to the team American Dream and her fellow Dream Team members Bluestreak, Freebooter and Crimson Curse (A-Next #5).

 









Attempting to patch things up with her new team mates, Cassie tells them her real reason for wishing to travel to Latveria so much; Kristoff Vernard, a young boy and ward of Doctor Doom who she met and befriended when they all lived in the Baxter Building with the Fantastic Four. The pair grew close over the years until Kristoff returned to his home country Latveria when he heard a war was brewing between Doom and Namor. With Latveria devastated in the ensuing conflict, Doctor Doom was missing in action and believed dead, while Cassie lost all contact with Kristoff Vernard (A-Next #5).


 

As Thunderstrike, Kevin Masterson visits his father Eric’s grave, thinking about how he is trying to make him proud. A nearby awkward J2, unsure of what to do eventually puts his hand on Kevin’s shoulder to show his support before unintentionally reverting back into Zane Yama. Kevin invites Zane to join him for pizza (A-Next #5).


 

Arriving in the city of Doomstadt, the Avengers team plan to search Castle Doom for the missing girl, but are attacked by the Killer Robots. The Avengers make short work of them, especially once Crimson Curse demonstrates her abilities. Uncovering underground tunnels, Stinger ditches the others, shrinking to make her way through a blocked passage (A-Next #5).

 


Back in New York, Zane is impressed by Kevin’s apartment, including his Stunt Master poster. While Kevin feeds his cat Alex, Zane noticed a bunch of unopened letters from Kevin’s stepfather, Bobby Steele. Kevin reveals the two aren’t on the best of terms and that his mother would often have to play peacemaker between them. Zane responds that he dreams about having a father in his life and that Kevin is lucky to have had two and encourages him to call Bobby for Christmas (A-Next #5).

 


Hearing a child’s voice, Stinger eventually finds the missing girl Greta is not alone and appears to be talking with Doctor Doom. Listening to the pair talk, Stinger hears the girl ask Doom about his scary mask but before she can get a look beneath, the rest of the Avengers bust into the room. Stinger flies between them, demanding they stop their attack. With American Dream trusting her, Stinger explains the masked figure isn’t the real Doctor Doom. Cassie removes her helmet as Doom removes his mask to reveal himself as Kristoff Vernard and the pair embrace (A-Next #5).

 





Kristoff reveals that he returned home to ensure that Doctor Doom’s vast arsenal of advanced weapons of mass destruction never fell into the wrong hands. As Doctor Doom’s heir, Kristoff alone was given full access to all of Doom’s creations and ideas and therefore he concealed his own existence to ensure they could not be exploited. Kristoff Vernard bids Cassie a sad farewell and disappears (A-Next #5).

 


Returning to the outer perimeter with young Greta, the Avengers tell S.H.I.E.L.D. they saw no one else within the area just as Castle Doom is destroyed in an enormous flash of green light. As snow begins to fall, Greta tells the disbelieving S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that Father Christmas destroyed the castle as a gift to the world. With the Avengers coming together as a team, American Dream backs up the girl’s story as Stinger wishes her a Merry Christmas (A-Next #5).

 


I hope everyone has a wonderful time over the holidays and lets hope the New Year brings us all something positive.

 

Until I stop believing, I remain

 

frogoat

 

Tuesday 22 November 2022

Namor in the MC2

 

The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in cinemas and with it we mark the big screen debut of Namor the Sub-Mariner. As has now become a tradition for this blog, today we will be taking a look at his MC2 counterpart. This is Namor the Sub-Mariner in the MC2.  

 


The Main Marvel Universe’s Namor McKenzie was created by comics Bill Everett for Motion Picture Funnies Weekly but the character went unpublished until 1939’s Marvel Comics #1. The Sub-Mariner made his MC2 debut in A-Next #3 where we first learn that his Kingdom of Atlantis was long ago destroyed by Doctor Doom and (most of) his people killed. Namor’s actions left him an ‘international criminal after what he did to Latveria’ following the war with Doctor Doom. Found on a small islet off the coast of Molokai, Hawaii, Namor was recruited by Doctor Strange alongside the Incredible Hulk as part of a re-formed Defenders team.

 


Having apparently foreseen a world-threatening tragedy that will unfold in the near future, Doctor Strange takes matters into his own hands in an apparent attempt to save the day using extreme measures. Doc Magus attempts to warn off Strange and when this fails, he takes his mentor Deacon’s advice and approaches the newly formed Avengers team for help. Soon enough the two teams clash in Arizona until Dormagus uses the Eye of Agamotto to uncover Doctor Strange’s true motives were three-fold: to ensure the Hulk is able to fulfill his destiny, provide the team a ‘baptism by fire’ and to make Namor proactive once more (A-Next #3, J2 #3).

 








We next catch glimpses of the war between Namor the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom in both A-Next #5 and later Fantastic Five #5 and learn a few details of the events that transpire. More on this later.



The Sub-Mariner appears again when Doc Magus summons Zane Yama aka J2 and informs him he has found his father being held in a small, unexplored pocket dimension for years. Ignoring a warning from Doctor Strange to wait for reinforcements, Dormagus and Zane make their way to the pocket dimension to rescue Cain Marko aka Juggernaut. Despite reuniting Zane with his father, the villainous Nemesus appears and reveals Doc Magus had fallen into his trap and closed the heroes gateway home, trapping them. Fortunately, Doctor Strange appears alongside his fellow Defenders the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner and aid in escaping from Nemesus’ dimension before they are all swarmed by legions of Darklings (J2 #12).

 



Namor does not appear for quite some time, only making a cameo appearance on a screen in Avengers Headquarters which provides a perhaps curious ‘STATUS: UNKNOWN’ (Spider-Girl #71). Following this, the Sub-Mariner is again teamed with the Incredible Hulk against Apox the Omega Skrull, but does not fare well (Spider-Girl #86).



Shortly afterwards, the Sub-Mariner is again glimpsed with the Incredible Hulk, however this time it they are opponents thanks to the latter’s mind-control by the Asgardian Loki (Last Hero Standing #5).

 


Finally, we learn the truth of the end of the war between Namor and Doctor Doom; the latter was not killed but instead held prisoner deep beneath the Mid-Atlantic Ocean within the Great Atlantis Trench. There, Namor makes his monthly journey to the grotto wherein he kept Doom captive, only to this time learn that the dictator has escaped. The Sub-Mariner is knocked out and taken captive by Doctor Doom (Fantastic Five Vol. 2 #1).






 

Having imbued himself with the power cosmic, capturing members of the Fantastic Five and declaring himself Emperor of the Earth, Victor Von Doom continues his torture of Namor the Sub-Mariner (Fantastic Five Vol. 2 #4). When fellow captive Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic challenges Doctor Doom to a mind-duel via the Infinity Device which will send the loser’s mind to the Crossroads of Infinity, Namor warns Reed not to accept the challenge. After Reed and Victor are left apparently comatose, Namor attempts to relay what occurred and comfort Sue Richards aka the Invisible Woman (Fantastic Five Vol. 2 #5).

 



That is the last we see of Namor the Savage Sub-Mariner in the MC2. Who knows, maybe the on-screen attention for the character will mean we see a return of his MC2 counterpart…but I am not exactly hopeful. Still, stranger things have happened. Either way, I may compile all we know about the war with Doctor Doom someday, as it is one of the most interesting elements of the MC2’s history.

 

Until I grow a beard and ponytail as part of my depressive exile, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday 25 October 2020

President of the United States of America in the MC2

 

In my part of the world there is an election on the horizon, which inspired me to finally cover the most non-controversial aspect of the MC2: Politicians! Today I’m going to introduce you all to the President of the United States of America in the MC2.

 


The President of the United States of America during the present-day era of the MC2 is none other than George Washington Bridge. For those unfamiliar, G.W. Bridge first appeared in X-Force #1 and was a high-ranking member of the spy organisation S.H.I.E.L.D. and a long-time member of the time-travelling Cable’s mercenary team Six Pack. While he’s a solid existing Marvel character to draw on when selecting a fictional President, I suspect he was chosen as much for his name which has a nice ring to it as any other reason.

 

The MC2’s G.W. Bridge made his first appearance in Spider-Girl #31, glimpsed on a video call with Tony Stark which gets interrupted by a depowered Spider-Girl who comes crashing into Stark’s office riding a Goblin Glider. Naturally President Bridge offers to call S.H.I.E.L.D. but is dissuaded by Stark. This issue was released in early 2001, so it’s kind of forward thinking (or predictive) of the creative team to feature an African American as President.

 


While President Bridge doesn’t technically appear, we do hear from his Special Advisor (and former Avenger) the Vision in Last Hero Standing #3. Vision reports that the President is concerned about the recent rash of super hero disappearances present a possible security threat to the nation.

 


In the follow up mini-series Last Planet Standing, President Bridge does make a few on-panel appearances, starting with #1 when he discusses the missing Fantastic Five (led by Reed Richards) and the current team of Avengers with Vision. The President is not filled with confidence by the present line up of heroes defending the world.

 


 In Last Planet Standing #2 Vision informs the assembled Avengers that he has been sent by President Bridge to coordinate and supervise all efforts to safeguard the world in the Fantastic Five’s absence. This news is not well received by the Avengers.

 


In Last Planet Standing #3, the Fantastic Five manage to establish communication with the President and update him on the nature of the threat to the planet. President Bridge also asks Vision to convey his sincerest gratitude to the Avengers, placing the Fantastic Five in charge and putting the Avengers on standby, an instruction that is not well received either. Vision points out that as a government-sanctioned team they all serve at the will of President, though Stinger maintains that they are volunteers and shouldn’t be on the sidelines in such a situation. Soon after, the whole Avengers team disobey orders and head off to join the fight as Galactus’ Herald arrives on Earth.






With the world-threatening crisis deteriorating, President Bridge contacts the Fantastic Five only to be brushed off by Reed Richards who tells him that the use of nuclear weapons would be both futile and tragic as it would have no effect on Galactus (Last Planet Standing #4).

 



With the Fantastic Five, Avengers and various other heroes failing to stop the threat of Galactus, the President asks one of his advisors how soon they can attempt a nuclear strike. Learning this would require hours to evacuate ground forces and days to clear the civilian population, President Bridge states ‘I hate this job.’ (Last Planet Standing #5)

 


When Doctor Doom returns imbued with cosmic power and sends his virtually indestructible Doombots across the globe to dismantle the world authorities, President Bridge holds an emergency meeting with his advisors and other major governments before determining his course of action. With no other option, G.W. Bridge contacts Doctor Doom and informs him that the governments of the world have agreed to surrender to save millions of lives (Fantastic Five vol.2 #4).

 



With a cosmically powered Doombot hovering above the White House, President Bridge holds a secret meeting with Tony Stark, Vision and Mainframe. The President learns the Avengers have defeated one of the Doombots and Stark believes he can eventually design a program to jam the robots but things look grim. After Doctor Doom is defeated, President Bridge discusses the need to attempt to reverse engineer the Doombots despite his desire to simply melt them down. Tony Stark admits he has tried to replicate Doom’s technology and discloses it’s impossible. Stark concludes they own the world’s safety to Reed Richards.

 



President Bridge
has a secret conversation with a shadowy figure (actually Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D.) about the accidental release of ‘Specimen 297’ (a piece of the Carnage symbiote) on the streets of New York City (Amazing Spider-Girl #10).

 


Finally, in Amazing Spider-Girl #16 we hear from one of G.W. Bridge’s special advisors that the President is strongly committed to aiding the people of China. Following Doctor Doom’s attack on the Chinese Government during his attempt to conquer the world, the country faces an economic crisis which affects the entire global community. During his public appearance in Paris, this special advisor is assassinated by the invisible mercenary Deadspot.

 


That’s it for today, folks. Maybe in the near future I’ll dedicate a post to more politicians in the MC2? Don’t forget to take part in the democratic process by voting. We’d hate for a Doctor Doom-type to try to take over the world now, wouldn’t we?

 

Until I figure out how to fill in a ballot, I remain

 

frogoat