Saturday 16 June 2018

MC2: The Lost Issues


While I've briefly touched on the topic before, I think I need to give a bit more attention to those complete (and incomplete) issues of various MC2 titles that never saw the light of day. For today, I'd like to cover the earliest known unpublished issues of titles in the MC2 imprint. Here's what we know:


  • Both the Fantastic Five and Wild Thing titles were cancelled prematurely with their fifth issue. 
  • Two issues of each title were in various stages of completion at the time of their cancellation.
  • There are two pencilled issues of Wild Thing, one of which is already scripted.
  • One issue of the Fantastic Five is pencilled, and the other exists as a plot.
  • All four issues already had covers produced.
  • Editor Mike Marts wished to collect these unpublished issues into a 'monster-size' comic in 2000 but this did not come to fruition due to the sales department vetoing the idea.
  • When it was announced that these MC2 titles would be collected in digest form in 2005, there was some hope that the unpublished stories would be included.
  • In the event, only one of the aforementioned covers saw print, that of Wild Thing #6 which was presented in the Spider-Girl Presents Wild Thing: Crash Course digest in 2007:






While I was unable to find the original fan interview where most of this was originally confirmed by Tom Defalco, this information was gleaned from a Comic Book Resources article which itself referenced these facts. It can be found here and further information was sourced from here.

 I'm frankly curious why the Fantastic Five digest didn't also feature the cover for it's sixth issue. Perhaps one day these lost stories will see the light of day.


Until I stumble upon these missing stories in the Marvel Vaults, I remain


frogoat

Wednesday 13 June 2018

Spider-Geddon Looms

So, I'm about a week behind on my weekly schedule and I don't know when I'll find the time to work on a really meaty post, so in the meantime we'll have to make do with talking about the sure-to-date-very-quickly alternative of *gasp* current events!


Apparently a follow up to the Spider-Verse event, we have a new event called Spider-Geddon from Christos Gage and Jorge Molina. While this storyline officially starts with a mini series called Edge of Spider-Geddon, I really don't care. This story will either be very much like Spider-Verse in tone and style, doing further damage to my favourite character or it will surprise me and be only half as bad. I'm usually fairly optimistic or at least hopeful but I can't muster it nowadays, I'm afraid. I stopped reading monthly comics as a direct result of Dan Slott's atrocious writing and I don't have high opinions of anyone hoping to follow it up with a pointless sequel event. That said, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised?

As for Mayday herself, she at appears on this promo image in her original costume rather than the last costume she was seen in at the end of the Secret Wars mini-series Spider-Island. I do find it strange that she's not in her modified 'Amazing' era costume with the larger blue areas around the axillary area and smaller eye pieces on the mask. Still, this could be merely artistic choice.

While I don't have much enthusiasm for this upcoming event, I will still check it out in some form when time permits. I felt I had to mention it here, if for no other reason than to (hopefully, but not with great likelihood) be spectacularly wrong on record. Thanks for reading my sleep-deprived rambling, everyone!

Until I find a reason to start reading modern comics again, I remain

frogoat