Where is Cletus Kasady in the MC2?

 

While I’ve been busy lately, it’s perhaps a good thing I already jumped the gun and detailed Carnage in the MC2 years back when the first Venom movie came out. That said, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage out in cinema (well, in some parts of the world! Not here yet, sadly) I figure I should at least try and put out something to tie-in. One question not specifically addressed in my previous post is the whereabouts of Carnage’s first and most iconic host: Where is Cletus Kasady in the MC2?

 

Cletus Kasady made his very first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #344, cameoing as Eddie Brock’s prison cellmate. When the Venom symbiote busted Eddie out, it left behind it’s offspring which bonded with serial killer Cletus to become the mass-murdering Carnage and the rest is history (Amazing Spider-Man #345, #359-#361). 

 

When a splinter of the Carnage symbiote (specifically Specimen 297 of 300) appeared in the MC2 starting in Amazing Spider-Girl #9, Cletus was nowhere to be seen. To explore why, we should look to the last published appearance of Cletus Kasady prior the MC2’s own publication history, a two-part story in Amazing Spider-Man #430-#431. The story starts out as a fairly standard ‘Carnage on a rampage’ plot until the Silver Surfer shows up and the Carnage symbiote abandons Cletus and bonds with the Surfer (Amazing Spider-Man #430).

 

While at first it seems as though Cletus is merely suffering a kind of withdrawal in the absence of his symbiote ‘other’, when Spider-Man takes Kasady to a hospital it’s discovered that he is suffering from an advanced case of stomach cancer and that the symbiote has been keeping him alive (Amazing Spider-Man #431).

 

By the story’s conclusion, the Surfer allows the Carnage symbiote to re-bond with Kasady…only to leave him encased in an unbreakable shell of ethereal energy ‘for the rest of his life’. Ironically, the Main Marvel Universe never really addresses Cletus’ situation, either how he escaped this seemingly permanent imprisonment nor recovered from his terminal cancer. Instead, the next time we see him he’s just in prison and shortly afterwards has his symbiote eaten by Venom with almost no ill effects. Wasted potential.

 

While we also don’t have an explanation for how the Carnage symbiote escaped the Silver Surfer’s encasement (though perhaps I could present a theory on that someday?) we can assume that Cletus Kasady is probably long dead in the MC2. The interesting thing to note is that both stories here were written by Tom Defalco and both refer to the symbiotes ability to keep a host alive even with a terminal cancer diagnosis, with the Carnage symbiote promising to help save new host Moose Mansfield’s father in exchange for his co-operation (Amazing Spider-Girl #9-#12).

 

Well, hopefully you got something out of this. I know I was pleasantly surprised when I realized the similarities between the two Defalco Carnage stories. I’m also fairly sure Defalco was the first person to associate symbiotes with cancer in anyway.

 

Until I find another tangential connection to the Venom films, I remain

 

frogoat

The Watcher in the MC2

 

With the new What If...? show now streaming away on Disney+ I figure now is the best time to talk about one of the series most iconic characters, everyone’s favourite observant extra-terrestrial in a toga, Uatu aka The Watcher in the MC2.

 

Despite May ‘Mayday’ Parker aka Spider-Girl making her debut in the pages of What If (vol. 2) #105, the comic series ‘host’ The Watcher doesn’t appear within to set up the tale nor play the narrator as he often did.

  Uatu actually first shows up in the pages of the mini-series Last Hero Standing with issue #1. It’s here he gives the reader a quick history of the MC2 reaching back to birth of Age of Heroes, clearly referencing the Main Marvel Universe’s beginnings. The Watcher notes he can see that a pivotal moment is coming which may end the modern Age of Heroes and bring a new era of darkness.

 

At the conclusion of Last Hero Standing, Loki is revealed as the antagonist and leaves Captain America dying. Uatu watches as Thor combines Asgardian magic with his friend’s spirit, transforming the hero into a new star in the sky. The Watcher informs the readers that it will shine until the end of time and ‘serve to inspire countless new generations of heroes!’ (Last Hero Standing #5)

 

Unfortunately, the next time we see Uatu is also the last time. The Watcher states ‘the time has come for me to witness one final critical juncture’ before he and half of the Earth’s Moon are blasted away by Galactus’ herald Dominas. Presumably The Watcher is killed in this attack, though this is not confirmed (Last Planet Standing #3).

 

 Fortunately, the newly birthed being composed of the combined Silver Surfer and Galactus uses a new form of energy- The Power Essential -to repair the damage wreaked during his former self’s plot. So, it’s possible -though again, not stated- that Uatu was restored also (Last Planet Standing #5).

 

That’s all we have for everyone’s favourite Watcher in the MC2. Brief, but surely true to form for the character. Perhaps he’ll narrate something momentous in the future?

 

Until I figure out how to look *that good* in a toga, I remain

 

frogoat

MC2: The Lost Issues Part 2

Just a quick entry today, this time continuing to sift through various sources for further information on MC2 comics that never saw the light of day. Previous posts about this topic include Wild Thing #6: The Untold Story and MC2: The Lost Issues.

While reading through Comic Creators on Fantastic Four by Tom Defalco, a book published in 2005 featuring interviews with various writers, artists and other creatives who've contributed to the Fantastic Four through the decades. During an interview with artist Paul Ryan, the Fantastic Five came up:

A few years after you left FF, you were reactivated to do Fantastic Five. How did it feel to be called back into service?

I remember Fantastic Five fondly. I was having problems over at DC at the time, so for somebody to call up and say they actually wanted to use me on something felt good. It made me feel wanted and the idea of doing the next generation of the Fantastic Four appealed to me. It was just kind of exciting to screw up again, so to speak: to see if my FF uniform still fit, When Fantastic Five was cancelled, I had just finished pencilling #6, which was never inked, and I was waiting for a plot for #7. The second issue had just come out.

What do you remember about Fantastic Five? Just that we were finishing up old continuity?

Yeah, there was that. We - I should say the esteemed writer - tied up the loose ends as far as Hyperstorm; what happened to him and so forth. There was a final showdown between Hyperstorm and Franklin. Didn't Reed and Sue suffer some debilitating effect from that battle? I think we found them on a space station somewhere. I still have a great spread which shows the Fantastic Five riding their space scooters to the location. There was a very emotional, very poignant ending to that story, too. Sue was still in suspended animation because nobody could figure a way to bring her out without killing her, and Reed was a mess. I remember that they were gonna turn the ship over to the kids.

It would have ended up being Kristoff, Ben's twins, Franklin and Johnny and Lyja's kid.

Right. We were gonna see that transition over the twelve issues, so that by #12 they would be the new Fantastic Five. I remember that in issue #6 we had the kids facing their baptism of fire. We had costumes for them too. And you brought Alicia back as a new herald for Galactus; I recall that the continuity of the time had Alicia dating the Silver Surfer.

It's honestly fascinating to learn that we would have seen a whole new line-up for the Fantastic Five comprised of the next generation by the end of the series twelfth issue had it not been cancelled prematurely. Despite this idea never seeing print as originally intended, it's worth noting that we do see the concept retooled in both Spider-Girl #86-88 and in the Fantastic Five mini-series years later.

Additionally, while we do eventually see Galactus in the MC2 in the Last Planet Standing mini-series, sadly we never got to see Alicia Masters as his cosmically-powered Herald. Presumably she would have debuted in the aforementioned unpublished Fantastic Five #6 as Paul mentions a 'baptism of fire' for the young heroes. It's so unfortunate that Paul's last completed issue for the series never saw print.

I'll keep my ear to the ground and both eyes open for any more information that might be found about these lost issues.

Until I become a Herald of Galactus, I remain

frogoat