American Dream Handbook Correction

 

I'd like to preface this little post by saying I love the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series and have a lot of respect for the hard work and dedication of the people who work on it's various entries. I'm also aware that there are time and space constraints and that no one is infallible and errors sometimes slip by unnoticed. So, with all that said, here's another really pointless correction I'd like to make.

So, in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update #1 (published in 2010) American Dream received a full-page entry. Now, I could point out that Shannon Carter’s level of education in the entry is listed as ‘unrevealed,’ despite the fact that we know that she obtained her job as a tour guide ‘right out of high school,’ as I mentioned in my last post. Here's the original handbook entry for reference:

 

But, that’s not what I really wanted to address today. It’s the section that mentions the Dream Team. According to the handbook entry ‘Barton dubbed his trainees the “Dream Team,” and intended them to replace the Avengers, who had fallen in battle years ago but before they could do so, a new team of Avengers formed.’ Obviously, this explicitly identifies the former Avenger Hawkeye aka Clint Barton as the one who named his group of special students the Dream Team. But this is clearly not the case, as we see in American Dream #4, where Brandon Cross aka Freebooter is inspired by fellow student Shannon’s speech and gives the group the name.

 

 

There are obviously other minor issues in the write up, but mostly these come down to compressing information to fit on the page, and usually don’t explicitly provide factual errors.

 

Until I stop picking nits, I remain

 

frogoat

 

A-Next Ages: Freebooter

I thought it might be fun to work out the approximate ages of the various members of the MC2’s Avengers. Keep in mind this isn’t definitive unless it’s spelt out on the page and is merely a rough estimate based on in-universe information or- where necessary- statements from the creative teams involved in the characters creation and development.

 

For the third entry in this fledgling series on A-Next Ages, it’s time to figure out the age of the swashbuckling and dashing Brandon Cross aka Freebooter.

 

As I mentioned briefly in my post about Bluestreak’s age, we don’t get much explicit details about the characters when the Dream Team debut fully in A-Next #4. As pointed out to me by arias-98105, Freebooter appears to be around the same height as Shannon Carter aka American Dream, suggesting he is fully grown. 

 

While Brandon is not referred to directly, his teammates American Dream and Bluestreak are noted to be ‘all around my age’ by Argo the Almighty in A-Next #6. It appears Argo himself is a teenager (albeit one of godly stature) which helps give us a ball park figure to determine Freebooter’s own age.

 

Throughout the A-Next series we get mentions of Brandon’s romantic life which indicate he’s…. very active on the dating scene. This might seem inconsequential at first, but then we get this exchange from Spider-Girl #13 when Freebooter unwittingly attempts to flirt with the webhead before Bluestreak indicates Spider-Girl is underage. This indicates Brandon is at least 18 years old.

 

Further evidence to support this can be found in Last Hero Standing #2 when, during a visit to his former mentor and teacher, the narration box refers to both American Dream and Freebooter as teenagers.

 

We also saw Brandon’s level of maturity when he convinced his younger teammate Bluestreak of the group’s need to investigate the events surrounding their predecessors’ final mission (A-Next #9).

 

Let’s close this out by bringing it full circle. As seen in my post about Freebooter’s Costumes, Brandon is already a teenager training under Hawkeye when we see him at his youngest in a flashback within American Dream #3. He even has a bit of facial hair! Evidently, both Shannon and Brandon are around the same age.

 

Outside the comics themselves now, we have a response to a fan-question about both Freebooter and Bluestreak by Tom Defalco from the Alvaro’s Comicboards Spider-Girl Message Board. Here’s the question and response:

 

 

‘James Hunter: This one is where the clarification is needed, in your mind, how old are Bluestreak and Freebooter? I ask because a friend and I were discussing how mature Freebooter seems at times (in the end we decided that Freebooter must be about 19 and Bluestreak in the early teens, maybe 15 or so, would that be about right?)

 

Tom Defalco: Sounds about right.’

 

While Brandon has moments of maturity, Shannon is the more mature of the two, as noted by Ron Frenz on Adam Chapman’s podcast Comic Shenanigans Episode 744:

‘I liked the way they interacted, I liked the way Brandon and Blue came across as brother and sister, carping at each other. And Shannon kind of came across as the oldest sister who was constantly going ‘Bluestreak!’ and telling her to mind herself and all that kind of stuff.’

I’ll cover Shannon more thoroughly in a later post. But with all of that out of the way, we have one of the easiest and clearest established age within the MC2. Brandon Cross aka Freebooter is 19 years old at least up until the events of Last Hero Standing. It’s possible he’s 20 by the end of the MC2’s publication history, but that’s purely speculation. If you have any arguments to the contrary or you feel I’ve missed something, don’t hesitate to let me know!

 

Until I pattern myself after a Olympic-level marksman and attempt to honour my beloved mentor, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A-Next Ages: Bluestreak

I thought it might be fun to work out the approximate ages of the various members of the MC2’s Avengers. Keep in mind this isn’t definitive unless it’s spelt out on the page and is merely a rough estimate based on in-universe information or where necessary statements from the creative teams involved in the characters creation and development.

For today’s inaugural post, I thought why not continue the Bluestreak love? So, let’s see what we can deduce about the mutant speedster Blue Kelso’s age from references in the comics.

Starting with her first appearances in A-Next, there isn’t a whole lot of specific information given about Blue that we could use to work out how old she is, but what we do get suggests she is a youthful and…*ahem*… exuberant young woman.  

Note she is significantly shorter than all other members of the Dream Team which could suggest she is still young in years and has some growing to do (A-Next #4).

In A-Next #6, the seemingly teen aged hero Argo the Almighty (son of Hercules) notes to himself that Thunderstrike, American Dream and Bluestreak are ‘all around my age’.

Blue also makes a passing reference to current school curriculum in A-Next #10, which could imply she either currently attends or recently attended school. Given her power set and personality, it's very likely Blue finished her schooling rather quickly. Perhaps while still training with the X-People?  

Perhaps the biggest indication for Blue’s actual age also comes from Argo, this time in the pages of Last Hero Standing amid a battle with the Incredible Hulk in issue #4, when the Almighty states ‘Bluestreak’s only a teenager.’

The most prominent character thread for Blue throughout A-Next, J2, Wild Thing and even Avengers Next is her unrequited crush on her fellow Avenger J2 aka Zane Yama. While at first, we only see Miss Kelso show interest in the massively muscular super heroic J2 alter ego, she does appear to later learn of his secret identity as scrawny teenager Zane Yama and still retains her feelings for him (Avengers Next #1-5). Zane will surely be the subject of a later entry in this series at some point, but for now, that point should be kept in mind!  

I’d be remiss not to mention the American Dream mini-series which heavily features flashbacks to the titular character’s origin, including her time training under mentor (and former Avenger Hawkeye) Clint Barton alongside Brandon Cross, Aerika Harkness and, of course, Blue Kelso. What these scenes tell us is that the four members of the Dream Team are roughly around the same age, even if we don’t learn specifics.

Now let’s move onto information not present in the comics. We have a response to a fan-question about both Freebooter and Bluestreak by Tom Defalco from the Alvaro’s Comicboards Spider-Girl Message Board. Here’s the question and response:

‘James Hunter: This one is where the clarification is needed, in your mind, how old are Bluestreak and Freebooter? I ask because a friend and I were discussing how mature Freebooter seems at times (in the end we decided that Freebooter must be about 19 and Bluestreak in the early teens, maybe 15 or so, would that be about right?)

Tom Defalco: Sounds about right.’

Skipping ahead to the recent wonderfully in-depth interview with Ron Frenz on Adam Chapman’s Comic Shenanigans podcast, we have this comment regarding the relationships between the members of the Dream Team:

‘I liked the way they interacted, I liked the way Brandon and Blue came across as brother and sister, harping at each other. And Shannon kind of came across as the oldest sister who was constantly going ‘Bluestreak!’ and telling her to mind herself and all that kind of stuff.’

That’s about all we have, folks. So, in conclusion, I’d be willing to guess that Bluestreak is the youngest of the Dream Team. She’s roughly around the age of Zane Yama, whom she maintains a crush on despite knowing in his youthful civilian form. She’s younger than Freebooter but not significantly so. If I had to be specific, I’d say Blue Kelso is 14-16 years old throughout the publishing history of the MC2.

Until I get a life, I remain

frogoat