A-Next Infinity Comic Review

 

It looks like 2023 is a good year for MC2 fans, with Cassie Lang suiting up (still without a codename) in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Aftershock appearing as the first antagonist in Disney’s animated Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur show, and now we have been graced with a brand-new two-part A-Next story in the digital pages (or should I say panels?) of Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #37-#38. I want to give a quick review of this story.

 

Exclusive to the Marvel Unlimited digital comics subscription service, this two issue A-Next tale was brought to us by MC2 co-creators Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz with inks by the brilliant Brett Breeding, colours by the colossal Chris Sotomayor and loving lettering by Joe Sabino. The first instalment opens in ‘a future…which may or may not be our own’ with J2 telling Bluestreak about the unseen events on Asgard alluded to way back in A-Next #1. First recapping the events of the aforementioned first issue of A-Next, impeccably recreated by Ron Frenz, Bluestreak demands further details of J2 when he mentions a feast and another fight (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #37).

 

It is nice to discover that Jolt and Stinger enjoy a good party. Feeling humiliated in front of Loki, Tyrus the Terrible leads a group of trolls in ambushing Thunderstrike and J2 for a rematch. But after a brief battle, the trolls flee when confronted by the assembled soon-to-be Avengers alongside Thor, though still threatening revenge. J2 finishes his recollection, doubting Tyrus is dumb enough to return after two embarrassing defeats. However, a portal opens and a hand emerges within Avengers Compound through the framed picture of those early A-Nexters (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #37).

 

The following issue brings us back to the MC2’s present where the previous one left off as we see the Uru Monster named Uroc emerge from the portal alongside a horde of rock trolls led by Tyrus who wields ‘The Orb of Orikal,’an artifact which attracts and absorbs Uru energy. Bluestreak and J2 battle the trolls alone before being joined by Sabreclaw and the rest of the Avengers. Among the rock trolls is Maroc aka ‘Granny,’ the elderly grandmother of Uroc responsible for transporting them to the Avengers Compound (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #38).

 

When the Orb is activated, it begins to pull in Thunderstrike until Stinger suggests he overload it with his blasts which causes the artifact to explode and knock down Tyrus. With their leader down, Uroc demands Granny return them to Asgard. Granny Mardoc does so, chastising them all and suggesting they instead focus on mining and crafting rather than seek pointless revenge. Bluestreak tells J2 that he knows ‘how to show a girl a good time’ before kissing him on the cheek (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #38).

 

Some genuinely wonderful stuff here. I am probably just a smidge biased but it is delightful seeing Tom and Ron seamlessly slide back into the MC2 and deliver a brand-new story. A few points I found interesting: the Orb (and its namesake Orikal) first appeared way back in Thor #138. Uroc, the Uru Monster makes his MC2 debut after being first introduced by Tom Defalco and Mike Mignola in the pages of Thor #408. Granny Mardoc is also apparently a familial relation of Uroc, and mentions she granted Uroc his Uru form and healed his past injuries. Notably, Uroc here has a new and familiar looking left hand, which references his previous limb being destroyed in Thor #450 by the special police unit Code: Blue and acts as a dual reference to Mignola’s most well-known creation Hellboy who has a ‘Right Hand of Doom’.  

 

In addition to the familiar relation between Uroc and Granny Mardoc, we also learn that Tyrus is the son of Ulik, a mainstay of Thor’s rogues gallery and who showed up in the Avengers Next mini-series working alongside Sylene, the daughter of Loki. It is a nice piece of continuity that father and son troll worked opposite daughter and father Asgardian, respectively. Tyrus also spoke of regaining the good graces of his Lord Loki, perhaps suggesting Loki returned from Limbo or that Tyrus does not know of Loki’s fate. The first time we encountered Tyrus was as an alternate future version opposing the Dargo Ktor in Thor #384, wherein he is apparently missing an eye which is echoed here when the Orb explodes.

Finally, Ron Frenz managed the nigh-impossible task of connecting the Troll dolls of the 80’s to the orange-skinned rock trolls of Marvel by way of Granny Mardoc’s appearance. Thanks to Mr Frenz for clarifying a comment he made on the Make Mine Mayday podcast regarding this. *An additional thanks to Ron Frenz for clarifying and correcting the original version of this post*

 

I was very pleased with this short story, it managed to fill a long-existing gap between panels in A-Next #1 and provided us a glimpse at the Avengers team in the MC2’s present at the same time. Now we’ve gotten essentially A-Next #½, I’m hoping someday we’ll get the inevitable A-Next #1½ story which details events surrounding Jolt, Jubilee and Speedball returning to the Avengers Compound during Peter Parker’s visit in What If #105. Come on, you know you wanna do it, guys! I am guessing Crimson Curse was not a member anymore since she’s…. you know…probably dead again following the 2015 Secret Wars event.

 

Until every gap in the MC2’s storied history is filled, I happily remain

 

frogoat

Lady Sif in the MC2

 

With Thor: Love and Thunder now in theatres I’d be foolish not to make a post or two tangentially related to a character or two from the film. So today, let’s take a very brief look at Lady Sif in the MC2.

 

Lady Sif first appeared in the pages of Marvel Comic’s Journey in Mystery #102 in 1964. As for the MC2, Lady Sif makes her first and only appearance on-panel in Last Planet Standing #2. It’s there that we see Sif assisting with the evacuating of Asgard just prior to its destruction at the hands of Galactus.

As I’ve discussed previously Thena, the daughter of Thor states she is the ‘daughter to the most honored Lord and Lady of Asgard’ and that during the events of Last Hero Standing she was on a quest with her mother and thus not present in Asgard when Earth’s heroes ended up there (Avengers Next #2). Furthermore, during the events of Last Planet Standing, Thena attempted to join her father against Galactus but was commanded by her mother to aid those fleeing the destruction of Asgard (Avengers Next #3).

Naturally, one of the major candidates for Thena's mother was Thor's long-time off-and-on love interest Lady Sif. The strongest evidence for this becomes clearer when the relevant pages and panels from both Last Planet Standing #2 and the flashbacks in Avengers Next #3 are viewed in sequence:

 

So, Sif was given the job of overseeing the evacuation of Asgard's most vulnerable subjects, the same task Thena was entrusted with by her mother. This strongly suggests Sif is Thena's mother, but obviously we don't have any definitive answers.

 

Anyway, sadly that’s all we have for Lady Sif in the MC2. I’d love to see her return, especially paired with Thena on an epic quest.

 

Until I stop thinking about the stories still yet untold in the MC2, I remain

 

frogoat

 

MC2 Untold: Valkyrie

 

Today I’m going to try something a little different and talk about something we didn’t see in the MC2. This will be the first in an occasional series looking at some of the Untold Tales of the MC2: costumes, concepts, story ideas and characters that never saw the printed page. For our inaugural instalment, let’s look at Valkyrie.  

 

As per Thunderstrike and A-Next co-creator, artist extraordinaire and all-around nice guy Ron Frenz’s own facebook:

When The Time Is Right!

Below left is an incomplete sketch of a character I intended to introduce in the MC2 title A-NEXT had the book continued.

Obviously, an Asgardian Valkyrie, she would have been charged by Thor, now the ruler of Asgard to train and watch over the MC2 version of Kevin Masterson as Thunderstrike.

As I said, the title was dis-continued and the idea stored away.

Next to that sketch is an early conceptual drawing of Gruenhilda, an Asgardian Valkyrie charged by the Lady Sif to train and watch over the 616 version of Kevin Masterson as Thunderstrike in the 2011 THUNDERSTRIKE mini-series.

Weird.

So there you have it, the MC2’s Kevin Masterson aka Thunderstrike could have had a similar arc with an Asgardian Valkyrie mentor and trainer. Seeing this story concept and character adapted to the Main Marvel Universe does at least mean the idea eventually saw print in some form. For anyone wondering, the name Gruenhilda is a nod to dearly missed writer and protector of Marvel Comics continuity Mark Gruenwald.



An interesting foil to the story regarding the published appearance of Gruenhilda, also directly from Mr Frenz’s facebook:



That Was Weird!

Back in 1994 in an issue of THUNDERSTRIKE I had The Lady Sif wearing a variant of a Kirby design which showed a bit more skin.

(Sue me, it was the '90s!)

Nobody blinked.

In the 2010 THUNDERSTRIKE mini-series we introduced an Asgardian Valkyrie character and I thought it would be consistent (and cool!) to repeat elements of the same design to demonstrate their common origins.

Skin included.

The original colors for the character Gruenhilda were shown in the solicitation for the issue.

But at the eleventh hour Editorial blinked big time and re-colored the cover and eliminated the exposed epidermis.

Anyway,1994 nobody blinked.

2010, blink!

That was weird!

Anyway, there you have it, we nearly had a Gruenhilda -or similarly designed- Asgardian Valkyrie character in the MC2, but she did eventually see the light of day thanks to the 2011 Thunderstrike mini-series set in the Main Marvel Universe.

Until I stop stalking Ron Frenz’s facebook for content, I remain

 

frogoat

Loki in the MC2

 

With the new Loki television series new streaming on Disney + the present might be the best time to take a look at the Asgardian God of Mischief himself. So, here is a post dedicated to Thor’s adopted brother and everyone’s favourite trickster: Loki in the MC2.

 

Loki made his MC2 debut early on, in the introductory A-Next #1 where we saw the formation of the next generation team of Avengers. Just as he did in the original Avengers #1, Loki inadvertently helped bring these heroes together. Attempting to steal the enchanted mace of the original Thunderstrike using his rock troll minions, complications arise when Mainframe, Stinger, J2, Jubilee, Jolt and Speedball assemble to defend Kevin Masterson, the rightful inheritor of the mace.

 

Transporting the heroes to Asgard’s Isle of Silence and capturing them, Loki stood poised to harness the maces magical energy against his many enemies, only for Kevin Masterson to leap into the centre of Loki’s spell and grasp the Thunderstrike mace. Immerging from the ensuing explosion, Kevin Masterson finds himself transformed, merging with the mace to become the powerful hero Thunderstrike. The heroes escape to the surface only to find themselves overwhelmed by the trolls’ sheer numbers, but thanks to Kevin signalling for help the group are rescued by Thor and Loki flees. Following this, the assembles group are returned to Earth and some of the heroes’ band together to re-form the Avengers and history repeats itself, all thanks to Loki.

 

When next we see Loki Laufeyson again, he masterminds a plot to bring an end to the age of heroes he helped start. To do this, Loki sends the trolls to kidnap various heroes and -using a dark crystal- turns them against the remaining heroes (Last Hero Standing #1-#3).

 

With his plan nearly uncovered, Loki not only targets Doctor Strange and removes him as threat but also turns the incredible Hulk into his pawn too. With Hulk under the influence of Loki, he launches a vicious attack on all the heroes indiscriminately. Loki’s spell requires the sacrifice of a human life by a hero to bind the ensnared heroes permanently (Last Hero Standing #4-#5).

 

When Thor arrives alongside Captain America and a small group of other heroes including Spider-Girl, the final battle takes place. Thor battles Hulk and Captain America is left the last hero standing to oppose Loki. Managing to break Loki’s spell over the heroes by targeting Loki’s dark crystal, Captain America is still slain by the God of Mischief. Fortunately, Thor has not killed Hulk so the spell is not completed. Thor casts Loki to Limbo as punishment for his actions, with a repentant Hulk accompanying him at the last moment (Last Hero Standing #5).

 

That’s the last we see of Loki in the MC2, but it’s worth mentioning his daughter, Sylene makes her presence known not long after wards in the pages of the Avengers Next mini-series. If there’s interest, I’ll cover Sylene in a future post. She’s also an interesting character.

 

Until I fulfill my glorious purpose as God-King, I remain

 

frogoat