Does Groot Exist in the MC2?

 

Here’s a fun idea I’ve been batting around in my brain for a little while: What characters could exist in the MC2, but where never seen or weren’t introduced until afterwards? I wanted to start by looking at some of the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy to see who could one day appear in the MC2. I’ll focus on one Guardian member per post, with the subject of today’s speculation and examination being Groot.

 

First, we must consider some rules, ironic though it may seem for a thought experiment such as this. Usually the MC2 point of divergence, ‘cut off point’ or ‘branching point’ is comics published after 1998, when the MC2 imprint began publication. There have been exceptions to this, with some characters who were created after this point appearing in the MC2, such as Anya Corazón aka Araña but we’ll stick with some of the individual characters who would go on to form the Guardians of the Galaxy in the Main Marvel Universe. As you’ll see, this itself poses its own challenges.

 

Going in publication order, our first would-be Guardian is everyone’s favourite Flora Colossus from Planet X, Groot. First appearing in the pre-Marvel era Tales to Astonish #13 in 1960, the Groot introduced is of a very different temperament, declaring he is the monarch of Planet X and plans to take an entire town back to his people for study. Proving impervious to fire and weaponry, Groot controlled the nearby forest to ensnare the town, only to be defeated and seemingly killed by specially grown termites.

While this story occurs before the start of the so-called ‘Marvel Age’ (pre-Fantastic Four #1) Groot’s existence in the Main Marvel Universe is confirmed when the Defenders and Hulk foe Xemnu duplicates various monsters that had visited earth in the past and sends them against the Hulk to wear him down. This Groot dupe was destroyed decisively by the Incredible Hulk, but now we can be certain the events of Groot’s first appearance did happen canonically within the history of the Main Marvel Universe (Incredible Hulk Annual #5).

Remaining obscure for decades, we don’t see Groot in print for a long time, and when we do it’s in a very odd publication. In the pages of Marvel Swimsuit Special #2, which believe it or not has a narrative (shallow and sketchy though it may be) that involves the heroes of the Marvel Universe being summoned to Monster Island by way of the Infinity Gems for a party at the behest of Pip the Troll. While there, twin siblings Aurora and Northstar of the Canadian super team Alpha Flight are observed by Groot and various Moloids while the pair…relax in swimwear. So, Groot is now confirmed to be alive and residing on Monster Island, too.

 

Amusingly, Groot makes another pre-MC2 appearance of sorts, in Sensational Spider-Man #-1. Having read various monster comics before bed, a young Peter Parker dreams he and his Uncle Ben are attacked while on a fishing trip by the monsters, including Groot, until awakening and realising it was all a bad dream. Unbeknownst to him, the dream was the work of the being known as Nightmare.

 

It’s worth mentioning that there is some disagreement, retroactively, about whether the Groot who would go on to meet and join other members of the Guardians of the Galaxy is the same as the one that terrorised the town in Tales to Astonish #13. Fortunately, that’s outside the purview of this blog. Thank goodness!

 

There are some later published stories set during the period we are considering but even if they were included, they certainly do not preclude Groot from existing in the MC2. That is about it for appearances that were published before the MC2 saw publication, but it’s enough to confirm that Groot existed and thus has the potential to appear in a future MC2-set story someday. As a favourite of mine, I’d love to see this wooden titan make an appearance in the MC2, in some, shape or form. Probably in the form of a tree, I guess.

 

Until I manage to work ‘I am Groot’ into my daily lexicon, I remain

 

frogoat 

 

Son of the Hulk

 

Today’s post will again be something a little different, a look at something we did not see in the MC2. For this entry in what I am still calling the Untold Tales of the MC2 which looks at costumes, concepts, story ideas and characters that never made it to the printed page, we first need to talk about someone who did make it into the MC2: the Son of the Hulk.

 

Making his first and only appearance in the pages of A-Next #3 is the young son of the Bruce Banner aka The Incredible Hulk, David Banner. In this issue we learn that Bruce Banner has retired to Denver, Colorado and he indicates he is finally rid of his alter ego for good and has not seen Doctor Strange in years. When Strange appears unexpectedly to reform the Defenders, he takes complete mental control of Banner and forces Bruce to once more transform into the Hulk. Concerned for his son as he begins to change into the Hulk, Bruce shouts for his son to run but Doctor Strange assures him that David is in no danger. David Banner is left stunned and confused, and this is all we see from the boy in the published works of the MC2.

 

Now, let us take a look at the unpublished side of things for David, thanks once more to MC2 co-creator, artist and ideas man, Ron Frenz. On his official Facebook page, Ron shared the following image with this description:

 

Davey and (the Green) Goliath!

An un-used MC2 idea for Bruce Banner and his young son David involving an accidental gamma mind link and ensuing hi-jinks!

 

While it is just a concept that never saw publication, Mr Frenz evidently put some thought into this, going so far as to clarify why ‘Davey’ has green hair in his sketch when asked:

 

The “gamma mind link” turned his hair green.

 

It sounds like this unpublished story idea would have been a lot of fun. As I mentioned in my She-Hulk post, we don’t know who would have looked after David Banner after his father was sent to Limbo by Loki and it’s never mentioned who his mother is or even if she’s still alive. Perhaps that is a topic for another time?

 

Until I stop exploring every corner of the MC2 and finding more reasons to love it, I remain

 

frogoat

 

Doc Magus: Who's Your Daddy?!

 

I must admit I’ve been devoting a fair bit of time and thought to the MC2’s present Sorcerer Supreme, the youthful Doc Magus. With that being the case, today I’m going to take a look at Dormagus’ parentage. In particular this post will provide the answer to the question of just exactly who is Dormagus’ father.

 

So, this one is easier than you might think. Let’s take a look at the not so subtle and numerous clues from throughout Doc Magus’ appearances: Firstly in his debut in A-Next #3, the former Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange refers to Doc Magus by his real name Dormagus upon his encountering him. The pair are on very familiar, albeit somewhat antagonistic or strained terms with one another. Doc Magus refers to Stephen Strange as ‘Old Man’ and is well aware that the Doctor was ‘fired’ as the MC2’s current Sorcerer Supreme. Dormagus refers to Doctor Strange as ‘the Old Man’ a few more times and later states he’s become ‘more ruthless and bitter with age’, meanwhile Stephen reminds the young Sorcerer Supreme that his ‘skills were honed in this realm long before [Dormagus’] birth' so evidently, they have a pretty personal knowledge of one another’s history.

 

While in an unknown dimension alongside the Avenger J2 battles a Darkling posing as the original Juggernaut, the dark lord Nemesus taunts Dormagus’ about the mystic’s strained and dysfunctional relationship with his own father. When he is thwarted and retreats, Nemesus’ parting words to Dormagus are ‘give my regards to your own dear father!’ (J2 #4).

 

Doc Magus later summons Zane and informs him he has found his father being held in a small, unexplored pocket dimension for years. Ignoring a protective warning from Doctor Strange (whom Dormagus calls ‘Old Man’) to wait for reinforcements, Dormagus and Zane make their way to the pocket dimension to rescue Cain Marko aka Juggernaut. Despite reuniting Zane with his father, Nemesus appears and reveals Doc Magus had fallen into his trap and closed the heroes gateway home, trapping them. Fortunately, Doctor Strange appears alongside his fellow Defenders the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner to help the others escape from Nemesus’ dimension. Nemesus comments ‘I should have known you wouldn’t let Dormagus fall into my hands without a fight’. With their escape route seemingly blocked, Dormagus begins what he believes may be his final words with ‘We may have had our differences over the years, but I want you to know that I’ve always been real proud of the fact the you’re my—’ before he is interrupted. With their escape secured, Dormagus responds to Doctor Strange’s comment about closing the door behind him with the quip ‘Really? My father must have skipped that lesson.’ I think these *ahem* clues are adding up now (J2 #12).

 

Around this time, Doctor Strange made an appearance in Wild Thing #0 where he makes a knowing comment to Wolverine: ‘Independent children can be such a trial, eh, Wolverine?’ This is remark is not well received by Logan, but it’s also very telling of Doctor Strange.

 

When next he appears, Doctor Strange is greeted by Doc Magus with far more appreciation due to his lack of expertise when attempting to save the demonic hero Darkdevil. Even so, Dormagus still calls Strange ‘Old Man’ and when asked for help, Stephen responds ‘And you shall have it, my boy!’ (Spider-Girl #83)

 

Let’s finish this out, shall we? When Doc Magus rebuffs Doctor Strange’s offer to work together to solve the mystery of various kidnapped heroes, Strange quips ‘You certainly have the arrogance of youth, my son.’ Yet again, Dormagus calls Stephen ‘Old Man’ (Last Hero Standing #2).

 

By now it should be pretty darn clear that Doc Magus aka Dormagus’ father is none other than Doctor Stephen Strange. The real mystery is what has transpired between the two that makes them so often unkind to one another. It’s obvious that Stephen keeps an eye on his son and is prepared to jump in to protect him despite all their animosity. For a future post I’ll be covering the inevitable follow up question of who Dormagus’ mother could be...

 

Until I stop pointing out the obvious, albeit not explicitly stated, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doc Magus: Sorcerer Supreme of the MC2

 

As I recently covered the MC2’s resident Sorcerer Supreme, the youthful Dormagus aka Doc Magus, in his cameo appearance alongside various other Sorcerers Supreme from throughout time and across the multiverse in Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme, I thought now might be a great time to take a proper look at the character. So, today’s post is all about Doc Magus.

 

Dormagus makes his debut in the pages of A-Next #3, when he sends his astral form to former Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Stephen Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum home. A lot of interesting pieces of information come to light in this introduction: for starters Doc Magus’s real name, the fact that he is the current Sorcerer Supreme and that there is evidently a lot of unspoken resentment, familiarity and history between Doctor Strange. More on their dynamic in another post someday soon.

 

Having foreseen a world-threatening tragedy that will unfold in the near future, Doctor Strange takes matters into his own hands and recruits his former Defenders teammates Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Incredible Hulk in an apparent attempt to save the day using extreme measures. Doc Magus attempts to warn off Strange and when this fails, he takes his mentor Deacon’s advice and approaches the newly formed Avengers team for help. Soon enough the two teams clash in Arizona until Dormagus uses the Eye of Agamotto to uncover Doctor Strange’s true motives were three-fold: to make Namor proactive once more, ensure the Hulk is able to fulfill his destiny and provide the new Avengers team a ‘baptism of fire’.

 

Doc Magus also briefly appears in J2 #3 which retells the same events from the titular character’s own perspective, but he makes a far more substantial appearance in the very next issue. We see Dormagus unmasked for the first time here when J2 aka Zane Yama recruits the mystic’s help seeking his father, the original Juggernaut who was lost in a strange dimension on a mission with the X-Men. Following Zane into his recurring nightmare in his astral form, Dormagus finds himself alone in an unknown dimension confronting Darklings until Deacon manages to send J2 to aid the sorcerer. The two heroes discover the Darklings master is the dark lord Nemesus who reveals he plans to use Doc Magus’ point of entry into his dimension as a gateway to their plane of reality. While J2 battles a Darkling posing as his father, Nemesus drops hints about the real Juggernaut’s fate and taunts Dormagus’ about his strained relationship with his own father before retreating when temporarily thwarted. Doc Magus promises Zane they will eventually find his missing father (J2 #4).

 

True to his word, Doc Magus later summons Zane and informs him he has found his father being held in a small, unexplored pocket dimension for years. Ignoring a warning from Doctor Strange to wait for reinforcements, Dormagus and Zane make their way to the pocket dimension to rescue Cain Marko aka Juggernaut. Despite reuniting Zane with his father, Nemesus appears and reveals Doc Magus had fallen into his trap and closed the heroes gateway home, trapping them. Fortunately, Doctor Strange appears alongside his fellow Defenders the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner and aid in escaping from Nemesus’ dimension before they are all swarmed by legions of Darklings (J2 #12).

 

We don’t see the Sorcerer Supreme for quite some time, with only a brief appearance in Spider-Girl #58 before he makes a full-fledged return in Spider-Girl #71, once again teaming up with his buddy J2 alongside Spider-Girl for a trip to the nightmare dimension of Nemesus to close a rift Earth. While the magic of Dormagus and the helmet of J2 permit them to see through Nemesus’ invisibility spell, Spider-Girl was forced to rely entirely on her spider-sense as the trio sabotage the villain’s invisibility machine and ruin his plan with Doc Magus turning Nemesus’ magicks against him and his Darklings and folding the rift in upon itself. Sadly, the trio’s efforts go unappreciated.

 

 

When the demonically empowered vigilante Darkdevil is stabbed through the chest by the Venom Symbiote bonded with Normie Osborn, Doc Magus is called upon to save him. Struggling to save the hero, Dormagus admits he is out of his depth and accepts the help of Doctor Strange just as the demon Zarathos appears and warns the two mystics to leave Darkdevil’s body as he claimed it as his own. Unable to perform a conventional exorcism, the two are forced to journey into Darkdevil’s mindscape and restore the balance between the three vying avatars within the hero: the spirit of vengeance Zarathos, the ghostly spirt of the costumed hero Daredevil and the boy Reilly Tyne (Spider-Girl #83-#84).

 

Now that he’d been firmly reintroduced, Dormagus returns for the events of the Last Hero Standing mini-series. With a string of superheroes going missing, Doc Magus sets out to find them on his own, once again rejecting the aid of Doctor Strange, only to wind up defeated in his astral form by a disguised Loki and fall under the villain’s thrall immediately afterwards when reunited with his mortal form and abducted (Last Hero Standing #2).  

 

Returned to Earth alongside the other abducted heroes, Doc Magus is unable to recall who kidnapped him and compelled by Loki’s spell to become more violent leading to a clash with other heroes.Believing he knows who kidnapped him, Doc Magus falsely leads the other heroes to Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum only to be confronted by a Loki-controlled and enraged Hulk who makes short work of the assembled heroes indiscriminately. Upon finding Doctor Strange in a coma, Dormagus is unable to detect Loki’s handiwork thanks to the dark spell’s effect (Last Hero Standing #3-#4)

Thanks to the arrival of Thor and a small team of heroes led by Captain America, as well as the Grand Vizier of Asgard Eternal, Loki’s bewitchment is revealed and the day is saved, albeit at the cost of Captain America’s life. Doc Magus is among those who witness the hero’s passing and his spirit’s transformation into a new star by Thor (Last Hero Standing #5).

 

While not actually appearing on-panel himself, Doc Magus is among those who’s energy matrix duplicate (created by the magic of the Asgardian Sylene) makes an appearance in Avengers Next #4-#5, indicating that Dormagus fell victim to this spell before the Avengers managed to save the day.

 

Doc Magus briefly encounters Spider-Girl while trying to find the source of enormous discharges of psychic energy which are tampering with the astral plane. While he senses a connection to Spider-Girl’s search for a kidnapper, she fails to see how it’s possible. Later, Doc Magus is among the massive assembly of heroes who show up to aid Spider-Girl in her endeavour (Amazing Spider-Girl #15).

Finally, we have the cameo in Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme #12 mentioned at the start of this post, which brings us full circle for appearances of the young Dormagus. Doc Magus is a very fun and often arrogant character who tends to get himself into more trouble as a result of his hubris. As I mentioned above, I will likely delve into other aspects related to Dormagus in future posts.

 

Until I suddenly win the favour of the Vishanti and become the new Sorcerer Supreme, I remain

 

frogoat