Did Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Just Reference the MC2?!

 

Like many people over the last few days, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying playing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac on Playstation 5. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I love the MC2, but I was honestly not expecting a potential reference to one of the MC2’s groundbreaking couples. Let me explain. Minor spoilers for the game ahead!

 

During the mission ‘Make Your Own Choices,’ Miles Morales aka Spider-Man is attempting to locate Felicia Hardy aka the Black Cat to warn her about the threat of Kraven’s hunters. Of course, he arrives too late and Felicia is already on the move attempting to flee New York by stealing the Wand of Watoomb from Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. While fighting off the hunters, Miles learns from Felicia that she wanted to use the Wand in order to reach Paris where her girlfriend is in danger. After defeating droves of the hunters, Miles helps Felicia use the Wand of Watoomb to open a portal to Paris, near the Eiffel Tower and away from the threat of Kraven the Hunter to whatever fate has in store for her there.

 

What does this have to do with the MC2? Well, the MC2 was the first to establish Felicia’s bisexuality by revealing her new partner was a woman named Diana. In Spider-Girl #47, Mary Jane invites both Felicia and her partner Diana over for a cup of tea. Diana mentions the couple were previously living in Paris but have moved back so that Felicia’s daughter Felicity can reestablish a relationship with her father, Flash Thompson. When Mary Jane asks how long the two have known each other, Felicia states ‘it’s going on six years now’ and mentions that Diana used to be a contract operative for her detective agency.

 

Could this be the unidentified girlfriend Felicia mentions in the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 video game? I’m willing to believe so, at least. I can’t think of any other romantic partners of Felicia with a connection to Paris. Let me know what you think!

 

Until I stop jumping to conclusions, I remain

 

frogoat  

Felicia Hardy in the MC2

Felicia Hardy aka the Black Cat has been a prominent and important figure of the Spider-Man mythos since her first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #194, so her being the focus of today’s post should come as no surprise. Let’s take a look at Felicia Hardy in the MC2.

Felicia Hardy makes her MC2 debut in the pages of Spider-Girl #36 where she visits Mary Jane and reveals she got back into town a few weeks prior and mentions her kids, who unlike her, are not doing fine.

 

It’s in the following issue when Felicia accompanies Mary Jane to an appointment that we get more details. Felicia believes Felicity blames her for divorcing the children’s father, Eugene ‘Flash’ Thompson. When Mary Jane enquires about Felicia’s son Gene, however, we don’t get a straight answer (Spider-Girl #37).

 

Felicia visits Mary Jane at the Parker family home and is sorry to hear she didn’t get to see May as she hadn’t seen her since she was a baby. Felicia also discloses to Mary Jane that Felicity barely speaks to her. Before Mary Jane can finish their conversation, she collapses to the ground (Spider-Girl #39).

 

Felicia calls the ambulance and at the hospital meets with Peter and May. Felicia remarks she hasn’t seen May since she was a toddler. After learning Mary Jane is doing well, Felicia leaves to allow Peter and Mary Jane privacy with the doctor (Spider-Girl #40).

 

During another visit to Mary Jane, once more at her home, Felicia discusses concerns about her daughter Felicity. Felicia believes that not only has Felicity not forgiven her for divorcing her father, but also disapproves of her current lifestyle. Mary Jane assures Felicia she’s entitled to live her own life regardless of how her daughter feels about it. Meanwhile, Felicia just want’s her daughter to open up and communicate with her (Spider-Girl #45). If Ms. Hardy only knew what her daughter was up to…

 

In Spider-Girl #47, Mary Jane invites both Felicia and her partner Diana over for a cup of tea. Diana mentions the couple were previously living in Paris but have moved back so that Felicity can reestablish a relationship with her father. When Mary Jane asks how long the two have known each other, Felicia states ‘it’s going on six years now’ and mentions that Diana used to be a contract operative for her detective agency. While Felicia’s detective agency isn’t named here, it’s presumably Cat’s Eye Investigations, which she first formed in Felicia Hardy: Black Cat #4 way back in 1994. Diana thinks one of the reasons Felicity ‘doesn’t approve’ of her is because she believes her to be ‘some kind of opportunist’.

 

When Felicia learns of her daughter’s superhero antics, she confronts Felicity about putting herself in jeopardy and humiliating her in the eyes of an old friend aka Peter Parker. It doesn’t go down well, with Felicity angrily responding that she isn’t crazy about Felicia’s own decisions including leaving her father, quitting as the Black Cat and beginning a relationship with Diana. Felicity departs with a parting shot questioning if her mother is angry about her endangering her life or because she patterned herself after the Scarlet Spider instead of the Black Cat. Despite Diana’s attempt to comfort her, Felicia remains convinced her daughter hates her (Spider-Girl #48).

 

After Felicity skips school, Felicia walks her daughter in to the school despite her daughter’s protests, informing her that she needs to stop acting like a child unless she wishes to be treated like one and reminds Felicity of her appointment with the school guidance counsellor within earshot of other students, inadvertently causing more of a scene. Felicia has made this appointment for her daughter because she believes she may be depressed; a fact Felicity throws in her face afterwards when she arrives home and interrupts Felicia and Diana in a loving embrace (Spider-Girl #53).

 

As I have noted previously, this storyline unfortunately never saw completion, apparently for one or more real-world reasons including multiple attempted cancellations of the Spider-Girl title at the time. It would be over 20 issues before we saw Felicity again in the series and Felicia and Diana were lost in the lurch almost entirely, with Felicia making only a brief appearance years later in Amazing Spider-Girl #3. It appears by this point the relationship between Felicia and Felicity has improved, with the pair heading off for lunch together happily.

 

That’s all for the actual MC2 appearances of Felicia Hardy, but perhaps one day I may get a chance to detail one or two untold stories involving the Black Cat in the MC2.

 

Until I find out my parent is a cat burglar and I take up the family business, I remain

 

frogoat

LGBT+ Representation in the MC2

I've been somewhat short on free time lately, but I wanted to put out something to commemorate Pride Month before it's too late. So, today I'm going to take a look at LGBT+ representation in the MC2 comics.

While today it's well known that Felicia Hardy aka the Black Cat is bisexual in the Main Marvel Universe as revealed in Kevin Smith's Spider-Man and Black Cat mini series 'The Evil That Men Do', it's far less commonly known that the idea originates from her MC2 counterpart. First appearing in Spider-Girl #36, we learn that the MC2's Felicia Hardy married Eugene 'Flash' Thompson and had two children, Gene and Felicity. Later, the two would divorce and Felicia began a relationship with a contract operative from her detective agency; Diana. 

Diana first appears in Spider-Girl #47, where we learn about her and Felicia's relationship. The two had been together for six years when Felicia decided to leave Paris and return to New York so her daughter Felicity could re-establish a relationship with her father Flash Thompson. 

Unfortunately, the relationship is not without issues. Felicity, apparently angry toward her mother about the divorce, often lashes out at Felicia. Felicia mentions on more than one occasion that her and Felicity do not get along. Felicia confides to Mary Jane that she believes Felicity does not approve of her relationship.

The best part about Felicia and Diana's relationship is the way it's as a normal, loving relationship, complete with it's problems. Notably, the idea of Felicia being anything but heterosexual is introduced in a regular panel on a regular page without any big dramatic reveal. Mary Jane already knows, it's a long-term thing and nobody makes a big deal about it. Except for Felicity....

Though, as mentioned above Felicity has a lot of mixed up emotions including her depression, unresolved anger and resentment about her parents divorce, with Felicity believing her mother considers her a burden.

Keeping in mind the storyline played out between 2001 and 2002, it's worth mentioning the real-world reaction to the subplot. Spider-Girl #47, which depicted nothing more salacious than Felicia and Diana holding hands, prompted one reader to send a letter into the series' letter page, published in Spider-Girl #54:

There were no letters pages for a few issues, until Spider-Girl #57 saw two letters published in response to the original letter:

Meanwhile, on the Alvaro Spider-Girl Message Board, fan reactions were mostly positive:

Mostly likely as a result of two near-cancellations with issues #38 and #50 followed by an impending cancellation with #61, many of Spider-Girl's subplots were streamlined, promptly resolved or fell by the wayside. Unfortunately, the plotline revolving around Felicia, Diana and Felicity wasn't resolved and, following the series un-cancellation, it would be over 20 issues before Felicity would be seen again, with Felicia and Diana seemingly being lost in the lurch entirely.

Mainly because of some fan circles online it would be remiss of me not to mention the widely believed that the character is struggling with her own sexual identity. I think perhaps this topic deserves it's own post, so I might touch on it in-depth at a later date. Needless to say, Felicia certainly mentions wanting to be Mayday's 'partner' an awful lot. 

While the depiction of a regular same-sex couple might seem fairly commonplace nowadays, keep in mind this was nearly 20 years ago. I commend the creative team Tom Defalco, Pat Olliffe and everyone involved because this type of representation was sorely lacking at the time. It certainly meant a lot to a confused late-bloomer growing up. I hope everyone had a wonderful Pride Month and continues to hold their heads high until next year!



Until the flags stop flying, I remain


frogoat

Hardy/Thompson Family Tree *Redux*

Now's as good a time as any to put out a new-ish family tree. This time we'll be revisiting and expanding on my previous entry to cover the Hardy's and Thompson's extended family. Both Felicia Hardy and Flash Thompson play significant roles in the Spider-Man mythos so it would be a disservice not to cover them with a bit more detail, even in this MC2-centric series.

First we have Eugene Thompson, better known as Flash who first appeared way back in Amazing Fantasy #15. Flash's initial role in early Spider-Man stories was that of an antagonist to Peter Parker and Number One Fan to Pete's alter ego Spider-Man. Over the years, Thompson's character would grow in depth, becoming a good friend to Peter. We'd learn much more about who he was and why he behaved the way he did.

We'd learn about Flash's family life for the first time in a backup story from Amazing Spider-Man #372. It's here that Flash tells Peter that his father was an intelligent and studious man who was always disappointed in his son and didn't care for his athletic talents. According to Flash, his father died of a heart attack years prior.

The issue with this backup lies in the subsequent stories that feature Flash's family. In the Untold Tales of Spider-Man #19, we see a young Peter Parker meet Sergeant Thompson who kindly takes Peter to socialize with his son Flash.

 So, Mr Thompson seems to be not only different from how Flash described him, but very much alive. Over in Spectacular Spider-Man #248-250 and Spectacular Spider-Man #-1 we learn that Flash's father, Harrison Thompson was an alcoholic who abused his children -Flash and Jesse- while his wife, Rosie Thompson struggled to keep up the pretence the family was supportive and happy in an attempt to prevent Harrison doing further harm to himself and his children. Spectacular Spider-Man #-1  shows Harrison in a somewhat more well-rounded if not sympathetic light, with his alcoholism clearly causing self-loathing after his violent outbursts.  We also learn that Flash would act out as a result of both his father's violence and self-pity and his mother's inability to address the family's problem.

Lining up with this story, we get another appearance of Sergeant Harrison in Untold Tales of Spider-Man #24, this time demonstrating his drinking habits, which coupled with Spectacular Spider-Man #-1 also integrated the police sergeant aspect into Harrison's story, combined the two separate series' depictions into one.

Through these far more extensive appearances in two separate series, both separated in-continuity by around a decade, it seems obvious the backup story from Amazing Spider-Man #372 was either cast aside or unknown to both subsequent writers to cover the Thompson family. Either way, the initial information Flash recalls about his father appears to be a continuity error. Or perhaps Flash was lying?

Let's move on to the far more straightforward Hardy family. Felicia Hardy, also known as the Black Cat first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #194. In the same issue, we meet Walter Hardy, a former cat burglar who has been in jail for several years following his capture. Learning that her father was now terminally ill, Felicia conceived a plan to break her father out of prison so that he could be with his family before he died.

Despite interference from Spider-Man, Felicia (as the Black Cat) succeeded in delivering Walter to his family home. Having never wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps, Walter is distressed when Felicia reveals her criminal identity to her father. We learn that Felicia's mother Lydia Hardy had concealed Walter's criminal activities and subsequent imprisonment, telling Felicia her father had died in a plane crash instead (Amazing Spider-Man #195).

Before Walter can tell Felicia his wishes, she leaves so that her mother Lydia can be with him. Due to Spider-Man's arrival and interference, Felicia does not see her father before he dies.

Beyond this, the only other member of the Hardy family I can find is a Lou or Louise Hardy, apparently Felicia's niece, though I can not find any appearances for this character. Just a mention in Black Cat's handbook entry. Anyone with more information, please feel free to let me know.

Now for the MC2 part of this entry. We meet Felicity Hardy in Spider-Girl #37 and we soon discover she has not only stolen May's Spider-Girl costume and figured out her secret identity, she dons her own costume and quickly adopts the Scarlet Spider identity in an attempt to become her...'partner.'

Despite a throwaway reference much earlier (which actually foreshadowed his later behaviour) we don't meet Eugene 'Gene' Thompson Jr until Amazing Spider-Girl #1. When we do finally meet him, he's already in a relationship with Mayday. Throughout the Amazing Spider-Girl series we discover Gene has a problem with May running for student council. I'm probably going to go in-depth on Gene at some point so I'll save that discussion for later.

Finally, Diana is Felicia's current partner, who first appears in Spider-Girl #47. We don't have a known last name for Diana but we learn that she met Felicia six years prior in the role of a contract operative in Felicia's detective agency. It's unclear if the two are married- at the time of publication it would not have been possible for real world same-sex couples to wed- as this is both a fictional universe and an alternate reality all bets are off. Regardless, I've chosen to include her on the family tree.

There are several interesting dynamics the combined Hardy/Thompson family presents, both implemented and untapped, that I feel it deserves more coverage than this post can do justice. I may touch on some in the future. For now, I just hope I've improved over the original family tree post.

Until I find more time to dedicate to this blog, I remain

frogoat