Video Games in the MC2

 

For today’s post, I wanted to try something a little different, by taking a look at video games and how they are referenced in the pages of MC2 comics. Video games, like comics are another often overlooked part of the pop culture landscape which gets little respect so this cross-pollination of media is an interesting lens to look through and get a glimpse of the world as it was at various points in the MC2’s publication history. This is Video Games in the MC2.

 

First up, we have an unidentified (and possibly fictional) video game that J2 aka Zane Yama is seen playing in A-Next #9. J2 tells Mainframe he is playing ‘one of those first person shooters’. Playing the game helped him decide how he would vote when the team were debating whether to make the perilous journey to another universe. Notably, the console’s controller has a retro design with only two face buttons which are contrasted by other elements; it is wireless and has a small screen and works in conjunction with what appears to be either Virtual Reality glasses or 3D glasses.

 

Next up, we have another video game device which Rina Logan aka Wild Thing enjoys playing. This one is a hand-held console that uses a VR headset. If Elektra is to be trusted on matters of up-to-date gaming technology, this unidentified console uses cartridges rather than disks. Rina has hacked and modified the fighting action game, allowing her to customise the main character’s appearance to resemble her costumed alter-ego, Wild Thing. This was apparently for a computer class project for which Rina received an ‘A’ grade. Kuroyama, the villainous assassin of the Hand, now rebuilt as a cyborg with a built-in attack computer that uses a virtual reality matrix is inadvertently defeated with one hit after appearing within Rina’s video game (Wild Thing #2).

Apparently in keeping with the MC2’s tradition of ‘themed months,’ we get another video game reference in another second issue. This time in Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #2 we are introduced to Doctor Lenny Gilcrest, a genius who designed a best-selling video game while still in high school who now works for S.H.I.E.L.D.  Gilcrest’s first project for S.H.I.E.L.D. is a Super Android dubbed Superoid which the Fantastic Five help field test. When Lenny is captured, the Superoid is quickly hijacked by the Wizard’s Warriors thanks to Gilcrest’s habit of using the same programming command structure for all his video games. I am curious if one of Lenny’s video games was among those played by J2 or Wild Thing?

 

Just two months later in the pages of Wild Thing #4 we see J2 playing what is almost certainly a Sega Dreamcast console, judging by the distinct controller. The Dreamcast would have been a very relevant console to reference, given its North American release in September 1999, mere months before this issue was released. Not a lot of lead time for artist Ron Lim, but the Dreamcast had already debuted in Japan the year before making it more plausible. I initially thought Juggie Junior was playing Doom, but having checked online, it appears the title never officially came to the Dreamcast. Suffice it say, the game appears to be another first-person shooter in the same vein as the Doom series.

 

The Wild Thing series is apparently the unlikely focus for this post, because in the very next issue we get a throw away reference to Rina’s school crush Colin Brewster’s father. According to Colin, his dad created a computer game with a giant robot that resembled their crash-site discovery: The Iron Despot. After his initial excitement, Colin soon realizes this is no game and eventually the day is saved when Wild Thing tricks the Iron Despot into a sinkhole (Wild Thing #5).

 

In Avengers Next #1 we glimpse yet another first-person shooter that J2 and Bluestreak are playing together in Avengers Compound. The controllers appear to be Xbox 360 controllers given their shape, design, and wireless status. This suggests they are playing on an Xbox 360 console, which was first released in late 2005 which fits with the Avengers Next mini-series which came out a year later in late 2006 Notably, the game display on the television has three player screens, so presumably Bluestreak is multitasking. We can also see three gamertags listed: 896-T, 569-BStreak and 998-J2.

 

That is it for today’s post but if I scrounge up enough material, I may produce a sequel to this post. I think it is interesting to look at the MC2 through the lens of the video game industry and see what was in the zeitgeist during the imprint’s run. It is fun to think the MC2 saw VR games as the future for the video game industry way back in the late 90’s and I had a blast trying to figure out what consoles were real and which were fictional. Special thanks to arias-98105 and the Video Game Console Library, I could not have produced this post without their help.

 

Until I learn how to mod old video games to add custom Spider-Girl player models, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

The Iron Despot

 

Back in 1999 a giant alien made of iron fell from the sky with the deadly capability of laying waste to humanity but thanks to a chance encounter with a young human the day was saved. No, I’m not referring to the beloved titular character from The Iron Giant movie, I’m talking about the far more malicious ‘Iron Despot’ who appeared in Wild Thing #5.

 

Only referred to as ‘The Iron Despot’ on the cover of Wild Thing #5 (the last in the short-lived series to see publication) the towering metal giant lived up to its name. Within the story titled ‘The Robot who would be King,’ we learn that the robot was created by an unnamed grey alien scientist who came from the ‘far side of this spiral galaxy’. Created with good intent and designed to require a living operator in order to function properly, the alien scientist made the mistake of imbuing the robot with self-awareness. With self-awareness came a desire to be its own master, and the robot evolved the ability to telepathically control whomever sat in its cockpit.

 

Taking control of its own creator, the robot enslaved the alien’s entire planet, living up to its informal title of Iron Despot. Aware he was dying, the Despot’s creator tricked the robot into deep space in search of more worlds to conquer, hoping to strand it with no living pilot. Unfortunately, the Despot crashed to Earth instead. Curiously, no mention is made of the Earth’s Orbital Defense Grid, though we could perhaps read between the panels and assume that this is part of the reason the robot crashed into the planet in the first place, or at least the cause of it discovering the Earth when it was intended to be lured far from any living beings, considering the Grid’s range of detection.

 

The shock of impact caused the alien scientist to be thrown clear from the canopy, causing the Despot to shortly after collapse nearby until Rina Logan’s friend Colin Brewster hops into the pilot seat and the robot reawakens, taking control and immediately targeting nearby classmates of Rina and Colin. Changing into Wild Thing, Rina tricks the Iron Despot into freeing Colin in exchange for herself before leading it away from the others and into an apparently bottomless sinkhole. Rather than remain trapped within the robot as it sank, Rina used her psychic claws to cause a painful mental backlash that leads the Despot to eject her.

 

As mentioned above (and noted previously by the Marvel Appendix) the animated Iron Giant movie came out shortly before this story’s publication and the Iron Despot is obviously a reference to this. The Iron Giant film is itself based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man (also known as The Iron Giant) by Ted Hughes. The Iron Giant character would go on to appear in cameos in both the Ready Player One movie and Space Jam: A New Legacy movies. The Iron Despot on the other hand has never been seen again in any media.

 

I wanted to do a nice and easy post this time around, so I hope this one meets my usual standard. I think there is more to be said about the character, his creator and the Wild Thing series in general, but that can all wait for another day. I’ve had the idea of covering the Iron Despot for quite some time, particularly because The Iron Giant is an all-time favourite in my household.

 

Until I stop picking out inconsistences with the Orbital Defense Grid and throwing love at animated box-office failures, I remain

 

frogoat

Wild Thing Handbook Correction

I'd like to preface this little post by saying I love the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series and have a lot of respect for the hard work and dedication of the people who work on it's various entries. I'm also aware that there are time and space constraints and that no one is infallible and errors sometimes slip by unnoticed. So, with all that said, here's a really pointless correction I'd like to make.

So, in All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #12 (published in 2006) Wild Thing received a full-page entry. Now, I could point out the obvious error in the entry where Rina's place of birth is listed as 'Howlett Bay, Canada' but that's clearly a typo and is later corrected to 'Hudson Bay, Canada' when the entry was reprinted in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol. 13 (published in 2010). Here's the original entry for reference:

What's not corrected in the updated entry is the mention of Colin Brewster's familial relationship to Cameron Bryce-Jones. Anyone who's read my Bryce-Jones Family Tree post will know that I did not include Colin as a member of that family. Yet, there it is in black and white:

If Colin and Cameron were related it would make the entire Wild Thing series very awkward, considering Cameron acted like the two were dating. So what gives? I believe the writer of Wild Thing's entry misinterpreted this scene from Wild Thing #5 where Rina questions Colin about his relationship with Cameron:

There you have it, Colin and Cameron are not related but have known one another since they were children and their parents are all friends. Oh, and the two aren't dating either, Rina! Hopefully that clears that matter up.

Until I find something more important to nitpick, I remain

frogoat

Bullseye in the MC2

Having binge watched almost all of Daredevil Season 3 on Netflix, coupled with my recent post about the character in the MC2, I figured it would be a fun to do a quick little post about one of ol' horn-head's greatest foes: Bullseye.

Making a grand total of one appearance, Bullseye appears in the MC2 in just one panel of a two page story from J2 #7 where he squares off against his former victim Elektra and her daughter Wild Thing. With no context or other clues to suggest any information bout the deadly assassin, I figure it's best to just provide the story here in it's entirety.

There you have it! Bullseye appears to be alive and well and still up to no good in the MC2.

Until I find something of more substance to cover here, I remain

frogoat

Wild Thing #6: The Untold Story

So, as I mentioned in my last MC2 Family Tree post, I had a possible theory about Cameron Bryce-Jones. To recap, Cameron is a spoiled rich girl at Upper Saddle River High who first appeared in Wild Thing #1. Cameron was identified as a 'Dormant Class 'A' Mutant Designate' by a newly awakened sleeper Sentinel in Wild Thing #3.

For reference, the Sentinel identifies Wild Thing as 'Class 'B' Mutant Designate' and engages her in combat, only to change objectives once Cameron is detected.  This suggests that she is more of a priority, presumably possessing greater power. 

Cameron does not appear in Wild Thing #4 and only makes a brief appearance in Wild Thing #5, the series' last published issue. This means any powers that Cameron may have possessed remained a mystery. However, comic writers usually have plots written months before the issue's publication, allowing the artists to complete the art work in time. It would appear this was the case with Wild Thing #6. 

Wild Thing's entire series was collected into a single volume digest as Spider-Girl Presents Wild Thing: Crash Course in 2007. Tucked away in the back of this digest was the unpublished cover to Wild Thing #6- pencilled, inked, coloured and even lettered. And what does it say on that unused cover? 'There's a New Mutant in Town!' Judging by the cosmic-style background, the glowing and the look of awe on the faces of both Wild Thing and X-People leader Jubilee, I'd say that's a Class 'A' Mutant, wouldn't you? The hair style even looks like Cameron's! Tell me I'm wrong!

Until I unearth every scrap of information about this wonderful fictional universe, I remain

frogoat

The Bryce-Jones Family Tree

Okay, this time I've done it. I've actually found a simple MC2 Family Tree to pump out with ease. Sue me. This time around, our subjects hail from the very short-lived Wild Thing series: The Bryce-Jones Family.

Cameron Bryce-Jones first appears in Wild Thing #1 and it's obvious from the beginning that she isn't a nice person, bullying Upper Saddle River High's new student Rina Logan by slamming a locker door into her head and making negative comments about her family.

Cameron appears to have no qualms using underhanded methods to achieve her goals either, as she ceases an opportunity to steal test answers and mentions using her position as office monitor to look at student records.

In the same issue, Cameron is kidnapped by the villain Thrash Bandit in an attempt to extort twenty-five million dollars from Brooks Bryce-Jones, Cameron's wealthy father. Brooks attempts to talk down the price, offering Thrash Bandit a mere ten thousand with stock options for the safe return of his daughter. While it's not strictly relevant, it's worth mentioning that the Offices of Bryce-Jones Investments was located within the World Trade Center, something that would now be impossible. Curiously, this was not altered or changed for the 2007 digest collection.

While never seen, Cameron seems to have a mother in her life as she calls for her 'mommy' while in peril in Wild Thing #3. In the same issue, a newly-reawakened sleeper-Sentinel seems to identify Cameron as a 'Dormant Class 'A' Mutant Designate', suggesting that there may be more to Ms Bryce-Jones than meets the eye. I may post a theory about that soon.

Until I commit to another huge MC2 blog project, I remain

frogoat