The Wyngarde Family Tree

I honestly have no idea what's wrong with me. Why did I pick another X-Men related family?! WHY? Without further ado, here is the Wyngarde Family Tree for the MC2.

I learnt a few interesting tidbits while researching the X-Men villain Mastermind aka Jason Wyngarde. For starters Mastermind first appeared way back in Uncanny X-Men #4 as a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. It wasn't until Uncanny X-Men #122 that his real name of Jason Wyngarde was uttered. It was unclear at the time whether this was intended as Mastermind's real name or if it was simply an alias he created along with his illusions.Apparently the behind the scenes situation was just as confused with writer Chris Claremont referring to it as though it was both an alias and his real name (see link). Either way, the name stuck. Unfortunately, Wyngarde would contract the Legacy Virus and eventually died in the pages of  Uncanny X-Men Annual #17.  Fortunately, that's not the end of the story.

In Wolverine/Gambit: Victims #2 we meet a woman named Martinique Jason who, it transpires, is the Mastermind's illegitimate daughter. Martinique not only inherited her father's illusionary abilities, but also has some telepathic powers. Adopting her father's villainous identity as Mastermind, Martinique is manipulated by Arcade into framing Wolverine for several murders in London. After discovering the manipulation, Martinique turns on Aracade, leaving him trapped in his own mental prison, before escaping. The only other strictly MC2-relevant appearance featuring Martinique Jason is in Daredevil #352 in which she takes possession of Arcade's extensive files on various super heroes. Later appearances refer to this character as 'Martinique Wyngarde' but given these are later retcons (or honest mistakes?) and she's never called 'Wyngarde' in these early appearances prior to the divergence of the 616 and MC2 I've gone with the surname Jason.

It's again worth pointing out that more recent main Marvel Universe stories establish Jason Wyngarde has other daughters, but these are not part of the purview of this MC2 family tree. No need to tell me I forgot them, okay?

Apparently Jason Wyngarde had a sibling because, as we learn in J2 #2, he also has a niece who follows in his criminal footsteps. All we know about Enthralla is that she had prior run-ins with the X-People before encountering J2 in her first appearance. She later teams with Sabreclaw in a ploy to lure Magneta into a trap. Unfortunately for Enthralla, Magneta was accompanied by Wild Thing and J2, which leads to her defeat (J2 #8). Enthralla encountered Spider-Girl and Wild Thing while attempting to break-out Sabreclaw following his defeat at the hands of the Avengers before surrendering when faced with the Fantastic Five. Having checked through all of these appearances, I can't find a definitive mention of Wyngarde as her surname, but both The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005 and The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol. 7 identify her as 'Enthralla (Wyngarde)' so that's good enough for me.

Well, that's it. While it looks fairly straight forward, a few naming inconsistences and relatives did throw a wrench into the works for me.

Until I stop covering X-Men characters, I remain

frogoat

The Forest Family Tree

A quick but tangentially relevant family tree, given the season.

 Betty Forest aka Bitter Frost made her first and to-date only appearance in Amazing Spider-Girl #3 (which incidentally has one of my favourite covers of all time) where we also learn her tragic origins. Betty came to the attention of social worker Caitlan Leiber after being abused by her boyfriend, Wayne. At the time new to the job, Caitlan learned that not only was Betty in an abusive relationship, her home life was no better. Betty's father, Mr Forest (first name unknown) was a widowed alcoholic with a temper. After repeated attempts to convince Betty to make a new start by leaving 'Mr Wonderful' aka Wayne, Caitlan turned her attention to those who were accepting of her help.

Sometime later, Wayne severely beat Betty, causing her to run away and seek refuge in a deserted factory. The leaky old chemical containers stored within gave Betty ice abilities. Betty, considering her herself dead and now transformed into 'Bitter Frost' sought revenge. Beginning by killing her abusive father, Frost then confronted Caitlan Leiber for letting her slip through the cracks in the system. The arrival of Mayday stopped Frost from killing Caitlan, after which Frost turned her attention toward killing Wayne. Due to the intervention of Caitlan, Spider-Girl and Detective Drasco, Wayne is spared and flees and Bitter Frost reverts back into Betty Forest after exposure to the intense heat of a fire.

I would assume 'Betty' is short for Elizabeth but as there is nothing to confirm this, I've stuck with what's on the page. I find Betty's story both tragic and far to real and would love to see her make a return someday. Not only would it be interesting to see these real world themes explored more, her power-set and victimhood despite her murder of her father also makes for an interesting dramatic foil.


Until I run out of family trees in the MC2 to explore, I remain

frogoat

A Merry MC2 Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Everyone!