History of the MC2: Heroes Reborn/Heroes Return

Usually I use the History of the MC2 to chronicle the past events of specific individuals and teams. This time, I'll be making a far more vague entry just to outline a few things I've been considering for some time.

Onslaught was a massive crossover event published in 1996 that saw the Avengers, Fantastic Four and even Doctor Doom apparently perish saving the world from the psychic entity known as Onslaught. It's revealed that Franklin Richards used his amazing abilities to create a pocket dimension to save his parents and all the other heroes. The reborn heroes would awaken in this pocket dimension to live out new lives, unaware of their pasts. This event was called Heroes Reborn.


In this new world, the Fantastic Four and Avengers came about under different circumstances, there doesn't appear to be any mutants, there's apparently two Thor's (one created by Franklin and the real Odinson) and iconic events play out differently. These were all published as the second volume of each of the titles; Fantastic Four Vol. 2 #1-12, Avengers Vol. 2 #1-12, Iron Man Vol. 2 #1-12 and Captain America Vol. 2 #1-12. Long story short, the heroes were all eventually returned to the Main Marvel Universe and things went back to some semblance of normality with Heroes Return. The Fantastic Four and Avengers reformed in their respective third volumes and that's where I want to point out a few things relating to the MC2.

Despite the common belief that the MC2 uniformly branches off from the Main Marvel Universe around the time the Spider-Man titles published the Gathering of Five storyline in 1998, the truth is far more complex and far less clear. For example, I've mentioned the Pym Twins once or twice but you'll notice I left out any mention of their birth in the History of the MC2: The Avengers because- given there is supposedly only a 15 year gap between the Main Marvel Universe and the MC2- they shouldn't be adults. Yet, they appear to be full grown adults in A-Next and subsequent appearances.


So, what's my point? Unlike comics published in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, the 90's aren't as clear cut. The heroes of MC2's history is almost entirely identical to that of their Main Marvel Universe counterparts when it comes to comics published from the 60's to the 80's but the 90's are where we start to see changes. So the MC2's Janet and Hank Pym must have conceived Hope and Henry Pym Jr while their Main Marvel Universe counterparts were experiencing the events published during the early 90's. Hopefully that didn't just confuse everyone. Additionally, despite these changes, events must have continued to unfold for MC2 Janet and Hank (and indeed the whole Avengers team) in very much the same way as they did in the Main Marvel Universe. In fact, the same could also be said assumed for the Fantastic Four of the MC2 as well. Why?

This seemingly throwaway line from Franklin Richards during a flashback in Fantastic Five (Vol. 1) #4 goes a long way toward confirming that the events of Onslaught, Heroes Reborn and Heroes Return occurred in the MC2 in some way, shape or form. Ergo, we can deduce that most of the events leading up to that point in the MC2 unfolded parallel to the Fantastic Four of the Main Marvel Universe. We can stretch this to other similar references in A-Next #7, which shows flashbacks to the original Avengers final mission in the MC2. As the team's roster and costumes are very similar to those of the Main Marvel Universe Avengers post-Heroes Return, we can reasonably assume both share similar histories up to that point, with events unfolding vastly differently afterwards.


Much as I'd like to continue pulling at this thread of thought, I think it best to leave things there for now. Needless to say, if you take away anything from this, it's that the 90's (and the very early 2000's) are up in the air and not as set in stone as the rest of the MC2 characters shared history with the Main Marvel Universe. Therein lies the fun of speculating.

Until I find another reason to ramble on about what I'm sure no one else cares about, I remain

frogoat

Why Can't Hope Pym Shrink?

While doing research for my post about the Pym Family Tree in the MC2, I noticed that various sources claimed Hope Pym aka The Red Queen appears to lack the ability to alter her size. At first, I doubted this claim because no references were cited, so I did my own investigation of all of Hope's appearances from A-Next #7 all the way through to her most recent appearances in Spider-Island. Here's a selection:

This is the first time we see Hope with wings but judging by the dialogue, it appears she doesn't possess the ability to shrink down in size like Stinger. In fact, the mention of size changing actually seems to anger her further with her saying 'Stop shrinking on me! That power is rightfully mine--' when Stinger questions why Hope isn't changing size (A-Next #12).

There are a few examples in the Last Planet Standing mini-series where we see Hope at full size in flight or simply using her wrist mounted blasters, but no instances of her shrinking or even growing in size. It's also worth noting Hope is sometimes depicted in flight without her wings.

Another example of (potential) wingless flight from American Dream #3.

And here we have more examples of winged flight with no apparent change in size from Hope. Except for the last page-I just really love the art! (American Dream #5) And last but not least we have Hope's appearances in the Spider-Island mini-series....

...Where I don't think Hope actually does anything super human at all. So, I think it's fair to say Hope lacks the ability to change size in any manner. So what's the deal? Obviously if there was a definitive answer on the page, there wouldn't be a need for all this, but I do have a possible theory.

In A-Next #12 and various other appearances we clearly see Hope's twin brother Henry Pym Jr aka Big Man demonstrating his super human ability to increase in size. Henry even mentions he usually grows to twelve feet in height but can grow significantly larger, similar to his father Hank Pym aka Giant-Man's own abilities. I propose that despite Hope and Henry being twins, only Henry was born with super human abilities from his parents frequent exposure to Pym Particles.

Hope may have developed an inferiority complex growing up in a super powered family. Perhaps Hope's lack of super human powers, coupled with the death of her parents led to her disproportional hatred for the Avengers and her desire to humiliate and kill the next generation of the team.  Hope notably focuses much of her rage on Cassie Lang aka Stinger and  clearly despises the hero's own ability to change size. Presumably this is because Cassie and her father Scott Lang utilize Pym Particles to change their size while Hope either doesn't have access to or does not understand her father's method or formula.

Given the fact that in her civilian identity she oversaw the project that granted Ion Man his abilities and that as Red Queen she maintains a rather sophisticated looking headquarters or laboratory, we can deduce that Hope has both money and intellect. I don't think it's a stretch to assume that what Hope lacked in super powers, she compensated for with high tech gadgets, such as her wrist mounted blasters and artificial wings. Given that we've seen Hope fly both with and without the wings, it's possible they are merely an affectation to honour her mother, and that the ability to fly is achieved through other methods.  

Of course, I could be completely wrong. Let me know what you think! Who knows, maybe one day this will be cleared up and I can move on....

Until I stop dwelling on obscure plot points in 20 year old comics at 3am, I remain

frogoat

   

Quick Facts: MC2 Edition No. 4

This factoid will be the fast and furious fourth in the series of facts.

Did you know that the MC2 was the originator of both the Revengers (A-Next #12) and Savage Six (Spider-Girl #25) teams. A Revengers team led by Wonder Man would later be used in the regular Marvel Universe in  New Avengers Annual vol.2 #1. The Savage Six name would also be used in the MU by the Crime Master's team of villains starting with Venom vol. 2 #17.

The MC2 Revengers.

Until Tom Defalco gets the recognition he deserves, I remain

frogoat

Quick Facts: MC2 Edition No. 1
Quick Facts: MC2 Edition No. 2
Quick Facts: MC2 Edition No. 3