In my part of the world there is an election on the horizon,
which inspired me to finally cover the most non-controversial aspect of the MC2:
Politicians! Today I’m going to introduce you all to the President of the
United States of America in the MC2.
The President of the United States of America during
the present-day era of the MC2 is none other than George Washington
Bridge. For those unfamiliar, G.W. Bridge first appeared in X-Force
#1 and was a high-ranking member of the spy organisation S.H.I.E.L.D. and
a long-time member of the time-travelling Cable’s mercenary team Six
Pack. While he’s a solid existing Marvel character to draw on when selecting
a fictional President, I suspect he was chosen as much for his name which has a
nice ring to it as any other reason.
The MC2’s G.W. Bridge made his first appearance in Spider-Girl
#31, glimpsed on a video call with Tony Stark which gets interrupted
by a depowered Spider-Girl who comes crashing into Stark’s office
riding a Goblin Glider. Naturally President Bridge offers to call
S.H.I.E.L.D. but is dissuaded by Stark. This issue was released in
early 2001, so it’s kind of forward thinking (or predictive) of the creative
team to feature an African American as President.
While President Bridge doesn’t technically appear, we
do hear from his Special Advisor (and former Avenger) the Vision
in Last Hero Standing #3. Vision reports that the President
is concerned about the recent rash of super hero disappearances present a
possible security threat to the nation.
In the follow up mini-series Last Planet Standing, President
Bridge does make a few on-panel appearances, starting with #1 when
he discusses the missing Fantastic Five (led by Reed Richards)
and the current team of Avengers with Vision. The President is
not filled with confidence by the present line up of heroes defending the
world.
In Last Planet
Standing #2 Vision informs the assembled Avengers that he has
been sent by President Bridge to coordinate and supervise all efforts to
safeguard the world in the Fantastic Five’s absence. This news is not
well received by the Avengers.
In Last Planet Standing #3, the Fantastic Five
manage to establish communication with the President and update him on the
nature of the threat to the planet. President Bridge also asks Vision
to convey his sincerest gratitude to the Avengers, placing the Fantastic
Five in charge and putting the Avengers on standby, an instruction that
is not well received either. Vision points out that as a government-sanctioned
team they all serve at the will of President, though Stinger
maintains that they are volunteers and shouldn’t be on the sidelines in such a
situation. Soon after, the whole Avengers team disobey orders and head
off to join the fight as Galactus’ Herald arrives on Earth.
With the world-threatening crisis deteriorating, President
Bridge contacts the Fantastic Five only to be brushed off by Reed
Richards who tells him that the use of nuclear weapons would be both futile
and tragic as it would have no effect on Galactus (Last Planet Standing
#4).
With the Fantastic Five, Avengers and various
other heroes failing to stop the threat of Galactus, the President
asks one of his advisors how soon they can attempt a nuclear strike. Learning this
would require hours to evacuate ground forces and days to clear the civilian population,
President Bridge states ‘I hate this job.’ (Last Planet
Standing #5)
When Doctor Doom returns imbued with cosmic power and
sends his virtually indestructible Doombots across the globe to
dismantle the world authorities, President Bridge holds an emergency
meeting with his advisors and other major governments before determining his
course of action. With no other option, G.W. Bridge contacts Doctor
Doom and informs him that the governments of the world have agreed to surrender
to save millions of lives (Fantastic Five vol.2 #4).
With a cosmically powered Doombot hovering above the White
House, President Bridge holds a secret meeting with Tony Stark,
Vision and Mainframe. The President learns the Avengers
have defeated one of the Doombots and Stark believes he can
eventually design a program to jam the robots but things look grim. After Doctor
Doom is defeated, President Bridge discusses the need to attempt to
reverse engineer the Doombots despite his desire to simply melt them
down. Tony Stark admits he has tried to replicate Doom’s
technology and discloses it’s impossible. Stark concludes they own the
world’s safety to Reed Richards.
President Bridge has a secret conversation with a
shadowy figure (actually
Nick Fury
of
S.H.I.E.L.D.)
about the accidental release of ‘
Specimen 297’ (a piece of the
Carnage
symbiote) on the streets of
New York City (
Amazing Spider-Girl
#10).
Finally, in Amazing Spider-Girl #16 we hear from one
of G.W. Bridge’s special advisors that the President is strongly
committed to aiding the people of China. Following Doctor Doom’s
attack on the Chinese Government during his attempt to conquer the world,
the country faces an economic crisis which affects the entire global community.
During his public appearance in Paris, this special advisor is
assassinated by the invisible mercenary Deadspot.
That’s it for today, folks. Maybe in the near future I’ll
dedicate a post to more politicians in the MC2? Don’t forget to take
part in the democratic process by voting. We’d hate for a Doctor Doom-type
to try to take over the world now, wouldn’t we?
Until I figure out how to fill in a ballot, I remain
frogoat
