Missed MC2 Costumes

 

It’s been a long time since I did a MC2 Costumes post. For anyone unfamiliar, I’ve so far detailed every variant costume (or robotic shell) worn by Bluestreak, J2, Freebooter, Mainframe and American Dream. While I’m not going to hit you with a full-blown new entry in this occasional series today, I did want to do a sort of update to cover some of the costumes I’ve missed from passed entries.

 

This first one I found while rereading J2 #11 for my recent posts covering Howard the Duck in the MC2 and Shang-Chi in the MC2. I genuinely don’t know how I missed it the first time, but here’s Zane Yama in his own standard looking martial arts training uniform or ‘gi’ after realizing he should have some fight training for when he isn’t a nearly indestructible behemoth of a boy as J2.

 

Next up is a very minor one I missed for American Dream: Shannon’s standard costume as it appeared in the American Dream mini-series (with wings on the helmet) sans her iconic gloves and disk launchers. I figured for completeness’s sake I’d include it here (American Dream #2).

 

Finally, while it’s not actually seen in the issue proper, from the Ron Frenz drawn cover of American Dream #4 we have a depiction of Shannon transformed into one of Silikong’s ‘crystal creatures’ which were alternatively referred to as ‘crystal soldiers,’’crytal slaves’ or simply ‘crystal monsters’. The cover is a reference to the Red Queen and Silikong’s plan to turn American Dream into crystalline form to ‘publicise’ his elicit army building process.

 

That’s all I have for today. I may find time in the future to return to this series but I’m not sure when due to time constraints. If you think I’ve missed any more costumes or ‘looks’ let me know in a comment.

 

Until I develop my own line of super hero attire, I remain

 

frogoat

Shang-Chi in the MC2

 

By now you all know the new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is out and that means it’s time for another of my usual cheap tie-in post about their MC2 counterpart. Without further ado, here is Shang-Chi in the MC2.

 

Shang-Chi makes his solitary appearance in the MC2 in a story written by Tom Defalco and pencilled by Ron Lim from J2 #11. When American Dream of the Avengers turns down an invitation to participate in a martial arts contest, J2 aka Zane Yama takes it upon himself to attend in her place. Travelling via mystical amulet to a small island, J2 meets the (apparently) blind Howard the Duck, the self-proclaimed Master of Quack-Fu.

 

From Howard we learn that a few dozen of the world's greatest martial artists were invited to the contest, but only a few of the previous generation's 'old fogies' showed up. Among these ‘old fogies’ is Shang-Chi, sparring with Shen Kuei aka Cat. Other characters glimpsed include Iron Fist, the Sons of the Tiger and White Tiger.

 

 Suspecting a trap, Howard had hoped to stack the deck in his favour with American Dream, Stuck with J2 instead, Howard attempts to train the big lug to defend himself but has no success. When J2 reverts back to Zane Yama after his powers temporarily wear off, he encounters Blind Al. Concerned for Zane's well-being in the upcoming contest, Al attempts to get past Weasel to talk to the mystery person who organised the contest: Wade Wilson aka Deadpool.

 

 

Having followed Blind Al, Zane learns the contest will have a deadly ending. Encountering Deadpool, Zane turns back into J2 to duke it out with the mercenary. Deadpool reveals he set up the contest to alleviate his boredom. Having overheard his plans, Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, White Tiger, Cat and the Sons of the Tiger proceed to kick Wade’s butt off-panel.

 

While that’s it for Shang-Chi in the MC2, I’d like to quickly cover where this version of the character may branch off from the Main Marvel Universe. My best guess is similar to speculation for the Black Widow, with Shang-Chi making only a few major appearances in the late 1990’s. This leads me to suggest either Journey Into Mystery #514-516 or Elektra #16 as the point of divergence, the latter of which was published in early 1998. Feel free to disagree and leave me a comment!

 

Until I stop finding new excuses to discuss my favourite comic universe, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

Howard the Duck in the MC2

 

Howard the Duck just keeps showing up on-screen! From his own self-titled film to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 to Avengers: Endgame and most recently the What If animated series, you can’t keep a good duck down! Here is Howard the Duck in the MC2.

 

Marvel’s most famous mallard makes his only appearance in the MC2 in J2 #11. When American Dream of the Avengers turns down an invitation to participate in a martial arts contest, J2 aka Zane Yama takes it upon himself to attend in her place. Travelling via mystical amulet to a small island, J2 meets the (apparently) blind Howard the Duck, the self-proclaimed Master of Quack-Fu.

 

From Howard we learn that a few dozen of the world's greatest martial artists were invited to the contest, but only a few of the previous generation's 'old fogies' showed up. Among these ‘old fogies’ is Shang-Chi, sparring with Shen Kuei aka Cat. Other characters glimpsed include Iron Fist, the Sons of the Tiger and White Tiger.

 

 Suspecting a trap, Howard had hoped to stack the deck in his favour with American Dream, Stuck with J2 instead, Howard attempts to train the big lug to defend himself but has no success. When J2 reverts back to Zane Yama after his powers temporarily wear off, he encounters Blind Al. Concerned for Zane's well-being in the upcoming contest, Al attempts to get past Weasel to talk to the mystery person who organised the contest: Wade Wilson aka Deadpool.

 

 

Having followed Blind Al, Zane learns the contest will have a deadly ending. Encountering Deadpool, Zane turns back into J2 to duke it out with the mercenary. Deadpool reveals he set up the contest to alleviate his boredom. Having overheard his plans, Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, White Tiger, Cat and the Sons of the Tiger proceed to kick Wade’s butt off-panel. Howard knowingly comments 'Everyone will keep fighting until--at the critical moment--they suddenly discover it's all been a big misunderstanding. Then, we bow... say pithy farewells... and follow our separate paths. Such is the way of the true martial artist!'

While I thought this was the only appearance of the MC2’s Howard the Duck, I recently learned this was incorrect. In the pages of S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 3) #10 the Main Marvel Universe’s well known Howard the Duck is sent on a mission with  to repair damage done to the fabric of existence  by the events of Spider-Verse and thus ‘mend the omniversal zipper’ which was causing various anomalies.  Alongside S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Leo Fitz and various alternate reality versions of himself, Howard found the ‘omniversal zipper’ on the being known as The Liverer. As the zip closed, Howard caught a glimpse of various alternate versions of himself, including the MC2’s own Master of Quack-Fu.

 

Well, that’s it for Howard the Duck in the MC2. Never thought he’d show up again, but it was a nice surprise!

 

Until I wind up as beloved as the frustrated fowl, I remain

 

frogoat

 

Deadpool in the MC2

With the release of Deadpool 2 in theatres, I figured it was the perfect time for a shameless tie-in! Today I'll be looking at the Merc with a Mouth's solitary appearance in the MC2 in a story written by Tom Defalco and pencilled by Ron Lim from J2 #11.

When American Dream of the Avengers turns down an invitation to participate in a martial arts contest, J2 aka Zane Yama takes it upon himself to attend in her place. Travelling via mystical amulet to a small island, J2 meets the (apparently) blind Howard the Duck, the self-proclaimed Master of Quack-Fu.

From Howard we learn that a few dozen of the world's greatest martial artists were invited to the contest, but only a few of the previous generation's 'old fogies' showed up. Suspecting a trap, Howard had hoped to stack the deck in his favour with American Dream, Stuck with J2 instead, Howard attempts to train the big lug to defend himself but has no success. When J2 reverts back to Zane Yama after his powers temporarily wear off, he encounters Blind Al. Concerned for Zane's well-being in the upcoming contest, Al attempts to get past Weasel to talk to the mystery person who organised the contest: Wade Wilson aka Deadpool.

Having followed Blind Al, Zane learns the contest will have a deadly ending. Encountering Deadpool, Zane turns back into J2 to duke it out with the mercenary. Deadpool reveals he set up the contest to alleviate his boredom. Having overheard his plans, the other contestants proceed to kick Wade's butt off-panel.

And that's it. We never encounter Deadpool again in the MC2. It's nice to see both Blind Al and Weasel make appearances in this story if old briefly and the cameos by the various iconic Marvel martial artists is a fond nod to the characters, including Iron Fist in his first MC2 appearance (more on him another time). The real show-stealer, however is Howard the Duck playing the role of the old martial arts mentor. I'd love to see these characters make a return someday. In the meantime, I'm off to book tickets to see Deadpool 2...

Until I stop shamelessly releasing tangentially related content around the release of popular movies, I remain

frogoat

Wild Thing: Random Appearances

There's nothing earth-shattering or particularly interesting about cameo-appearances in comics. Usually, writers use them as a quick nod to fans or sometimes a character is used as simple canon-fodder to make a threat look more credible. That said, I think the following Wild Thing cameos belong in the first camp....though the first one is probably a little of both?


This first cameo is a weird one. Well, I guess both cameo's are weird, but you'll see what I mean. This story takes place during the massive multiverse-altering event Secret Wars. In a short story printed in Secret Wars: Battleworld #3, Mojo has taken various Wolverine-related characters from across every domain of the patchwork Battleworld and pitted them against one another in a battle royale fight to the death. The story focuses on a pacifist Wolverine who refuses to fight. Wild Thing (or, possibly an alternate-reality version) appears in a single panel of the story....apparently dead or dying after being bitten by a vampiric Wolverine. That's gotta suck.

The second cameo is similarly odd and coincidentally also features various Wolverine-related characters. Deadpool: Too Soon? #3 (which collects Deadpool: Too Soon? Infinite Comic #5 and #6)  presents Deadpool trying to solve the mystery of who is beheading his 'friends'. In an attempt to warn some of them, he pays a visit to Spider-Ham who is in the middle of a baseball game between a team of Spider-Men and Wolverines, the Amazing Arachnids and the Seething Snikters. I am not making this up. Anyway, one of the Snikters is, of course, Wild Thing. What the heck is she doing there? Deadpool does speculate that the team is comprised of clones, so that might go some way toward explaining things....sort of. But not really. The issue is penciled by MC2-alumni Todd Nauck, so it's likely just a fun Easter egg.

There you have it, folks. While the nature of the Secret Wars event has a built-in explanation for why Wild Thing is meeting (and possibly being killed by) alternate Wolverines, the Deadpool cameo just raises more questions. It may be worth mentioning that Wild Thing hasn't made any appearances in MC2-centric stories since before Secret Wars. Maybe she's stranded in another reality? Maybe I'm overthinking....

Until I stop scouring comics for cameo appearances of obscure characters, I remain

frogoat

Comic Cover Homages

Being a comic fan for a long time has it's ups and it's downs; watching continuity being reset, reboot, re-tooled or retconned can be annoying and down right frustrating, for example. On the other hand, if you've stuck with the medium long enough, chances are you've seen a few iconic first appearances, a few classic moments, maybe even witnessed a great piece of comic history being made. By a certain point, you've seen enough to notice the homages.

 

 I haven't got a great deal to say about this topic right now, but I guess the visuals speak for themselves, anyway.

 

As you can see from the last couple alone, the MC2 is teeming with love and respect for the classics. Fitting, I think, considering the creators are clearly channeling the feel of the Silver Age, the Bronze Age and even the so-called Modern Age. Why, I hear you ask? It's simple: When something is good, it's good!

Until I quit loving comics in general and the MC2 in particular, I remain

frogoat