Showing posts with label Roger Stern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roger Stern. Show all posts

Friday 28 April 2023

William 'Wild Will' Fitzpatrick

 

Here is a quick little post about something not directly related to the MC2 at all, just something I wanted to cover and hopefully break me out of my writer’s block. That said, I am hoping to build this and potentially other related posts into a rather large combined entry in the MC2 Family Tree series. Today, we will be looking at the Marvel character William ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick.

 


You are probably wondering why we are looking at William Fitzpatrick and the answer is two-fold: he is the great-grandfather of May ‘Mayday’ Parker aka Spider-Girl and he has an interesting real-world counterpart. Fitzpatrick makes his first appearance in the Untold Tales of Spider-Man #-1, part of Marvel’sFlashback’ month which saw many of their titles switch to a minus issue set in the past. Given that Untold Tales of Spider-Man was already set in the past, this issue goes back to the days of Peter’s parents, Richard and Mary Parker on a fateful mission during which we flashback even further to glimpse Mary as a young girl with her father, William ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick.

 

Not only do we learn a little more about Mary, such as her maiden surname Fitzpatrick and her aptitude for learning, we learn that Mary’s mother died while very young leaving Will as her only parent. We also learn that ‘Wild Will’ was part of the O.S.S. or Office of Strategic Services which was an American intelligence agency during World War II. This organisation was dissolved and shortly after replaced by the Central Intelligence Agency, where later Mary Fitzpatrick would work as a translator and data analyst and, after meeting Richard Parker, a field agent (Untold Tales of Spider-Man #-1).



The Marvel Appendix entry for Mary Parker and ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick notes that the Marvel Sliding Timescale may soon render William’s status as active during WWII as an O.S.S. operative pretty unbelievable if he’s the father of Mary and the grandfather of Peter Parker, if the latter exists in the modern era. As they point out, Will may have been older when Mary was born which, for now, is as good an explanation as any, especially considering he dies while Mary is still relatively young. Regardless, as an MC2-focused blog, we have an additional fourth generation to take into account between the 1940’s and the present day.

 


William ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick is based on the real-world American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat William Joseph “Wild Bill” Donovan who is best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II and is regarded as the founding father of the Central Intelligence Agency. The minus issue of Untold Tales of Spider-Man was written by Roger Stern and he would re-use ‘Wild Will’ in another story that firmly ties the character to the Second World War.

 






In 1998’s Marvel Universe #1 we have a story set during World War II, specifically 1945 wherein William Fitzpatrick works alongside Robert Frank aka The Whizzer to interview various people about the character and loyalties of members of the superhero team The Invaders including Namor the Sub-Mariner, the original Human Torch and Captain America. Following this, ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick tasks the group with a secret mission involving Hydra.

 




 While it is not confirmed, I would like to suggest that the Intelligence agent seen in Marvel Universe #3 is also intended to be Fitzpatrick, given his appearance (aside from the miscoloured hair) and attire appear similar.

 


There’s not a huge wealth of stories to delve into here but I wanted to do this post because I think what we do get about Fitzpatrick tells us volumes, and by extension we gain a better understanding of Mary Parker. The heroic traits, intelligence, and wherewithal on display from father to daughter mirrors some aspects we see in Peter and his daughter Mayday’s relationship.

 

Until I remember where I left my notes for the next post, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 5 July 2014

Holiday Update

Obviously, I've been on holiday recently and haven't done much with the blog, or with anything for that matter. But hey, the good news is with leisure time comes reading time and for me that equates to loads of comics and trades. So, I figure I'll type about that this time around. Allons-y!

First things first, my monthly pile of shame. Yes, that cantankerous stare and those accusing glances coming from my shameful pile of unread comics each month has finally been dealt with. Amazing Spider-Man is coming along nicely since the relaunch, though it's noticeably slower paced than it used to be. Ms Marvel is consistently excellent, too. Uncanny Avengers kicks ass but I'm having trouble recalling everything that's relevant from the past 20-odd issues. Unfortunately, I've decided to drop both Wolverine and Fantastic Four. The titles aren't bad, they just aren't my flavor of comics and I've never been a huge fan of either, so when it's time to cut a title or two, these are first to go. I'm probably going to be cutting more severely in the not-too-distant future as well. That'll be harder. Moving along!

I'm delighted to announce, proclaim and gesticulate to all who'll let me that I finally completed both The Complete Ben Reilly Epic Book 4 and the Untold Tales of Spider-Man Omnibus. Both books have been on my other pile of shame-that being trades, collections and omnibuses- for quite some time. Both books were worth picking up purely for their merits, but seeing as the writing was so good, the stories so engaging, the art so gosh-darn beautiful and the pages so glossy, they were a must-read. On a side note, I've managed to turn a friend into a Ben Reilly fan practically overnight with The Complete Clone Saga Epic Book 1. Then straight away Book 2, followed in quick succession by Book 3. I'll have to tell Zach 'Spideydude' Joiner about this! Now that I've finished with all of that, I've just gotta get started on my Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus.

Speaking of stuff I've yet to read, I've visited some of the local big city comic shops and snagged some great swag, which I keep in a comic short box, not a bag. Well, that was almost a complete rhyme. Anyway, so far I've picked up Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #127-129, Web of Spider-Man #52, #54 and #55 (but sadly not #53) and Amazing Spider-Man #574. As for collected works, I've acquired Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Ghosts of the Past and Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 and Vol 5. The Fourth Masterworks volume is something of an accomplishment for me as I've not found it anywhere online for under $50 dollars and that was a used copy! Pretty happy with that one. I also grabbed the Spider-Men trade paperback on a whim.

All in all, I'm very satisfied with my holiday reading and frivolous purchases, in no small part thanks to my wonderful partner, for not only putting up with my hobby but for also encouraging it. She even picked up some comics of her own which was awesome to see. We must be picking up each others bad habits.

Until I stop loving the comics medium and convert to a newspaper enthusiast, I remain

frogoat