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  

Comic Shenanigans: A Conversation with Ron Frenz and Tom Defalco

Occasionally I stumble upon a real treat when looking for podcasts to listen to and having recently discovered Adam Chapman’s Comic Shenanigans, I’ve found a wonderful pair of interviews with long-time comic co-conspirators Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz discussing their work on the MC2 series A-Next.

I think any MC2 fan owes it to themselves to give these podcast episodes a listen. Not only are they nice and long, they are loaded with new insight, commentary and behind the scenes information, they reveal just how much Tom and Ron share the creative process while working together.

The first part is a conversation with Ron Frenz, discussing A-Next #1-6 and can be found here:

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-zqu4n-d003c7

The second part brought in Tom Defalco to join Ron in the conversation to talk about A-Next #7-12 and can be found here:

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-626c9-d1dc38

Once again, this was a phenomenal listen and, in my opinion, the best and most in-depth and informative look behind the scenes of the MC2’s A-Next. I can’t thank Adam Chapman enough for this. I know I’ll be revisiting this podcast again in the future and I look forward to sifting through all the new information and unused concepts in upcoming posts.

Until I step up my game, I remain

frogoat

MC2 Avengers Cameos

Another brief post, this time about the recent cameo appearance of MC2 characters in the pages of the current volume of Amazing Spider-Man.

So, I recently sat down to catch up on the past few months’ worth of Amazing Spider-Man and was pleasantly surprised to finally read the scene I’d been told about in Amazing Spider-Man (vol.  5) #35. For context, Spider-Man has an experimental device that calculates the probability of event transpiring. This device wasn’t very practical until it received a super-charge from an energy burst set off by Miguel O’Hara aka the Spider-Man of 2099. As a result of this burst, Spidey is able to use the device (dubbed ‘The Clairvoyant’ and now loaded with Miguel’s holographic assistant Lyla) to view various scenarios to determine how likely they are to play out favourably.

Written by current Amazing Spider-Man scribe Nick Spencer with guest art by Oscar Bazaldua, it’s here that we get our rather lovely glimpse of several MC2 Avengers: American Dream, Sabreclaw, J2 and, of course, Spider-Girl. Long-time MC2 fans will instantly recognize the shot of the various heroes as being a direct swipe from the cover of Avengers Next #1 by Mike Wieringo.

This isn’t the first time this particular image has been referenced in an MC2 cameo, as we saw when a variety of different worlds were glimpsed in the climax of 2013’s Age of Ultron #10 following the breaking of the space-time continuum via repeated abuse of time travel by the Avengers.

Going back a little further to 2010’s Avengers (vol. 4) #2 we got a similar line up of the MC2’s Avengers roster when the Main Marvel Universe Avengers glimpse realities, which you may have notice seems to be a running theme. Here we see Bluestreak, Sabreclaw, Freebooter, Mainframe, Spider-Girl, J2 and American Dream representing the MC2 version of the Avengers.

I think that’ll about do it for now. Let me know if there is anything you would like to see discussed relating to the MC2!




Until I break the space-time continuum in an unrelated story and therefore potentially give an explanation for why future developments involving the death of a beloved MC2 character can be disregarded in the event the MC2 returns to print someday, I remain




frogoat

Hawkeye in the MC2

With all the build up for Avengers: Endgame, I've elected to cover the MC2 incarnations of the films main cast. For this entry, we'll be taking a look at Marvel's greatest archer and Avengers mainstay, Clint Barton aka Hawkeye.

Making his first appearance in the MC2 in the A-Next #7 in a flashback to the last days of the original Avengers team, we learn that not only did Clint join the team on their final mission, he was among the few to return alive. However, Hawkeye did not make it out unscathed, returning without his sight.

While Clint makes his first present day appearance in A-Next #10, I'm going to jump around a bit to cover the years after the Avengers final mission. Despite the loss of his eye sight, Clint open's up Barton's Dojo and began teaching martial arts. It's in American Dream #3-#4 that we glimpse Barton's group of special students: later known as the Dream Team consisting of  American Dream, Freebooter, Crimson Curse and Bluestreak.

We first learned of the young heroes mentor via mentions and allusions in the A-Next series, including my personal favourite mention in A-Next #9.

When the new Avengers team venture to the alternate world, Clint Barton visits Avengers Compound seeking his former students, but instead encounters Edwin Jarvis and the long-absent Tony Stark, leading to Clint and Tony arguing about how their last mission ended (A-Next #10).

When the Avengers return, they are immediately captured by the Red Queen and her Revengers and join the already-captured Jarvis, Stark and Barton as captives. However, thanks to a ploy by Stark, the group are freed by Mainframe's reinforcements. Clint's remaining former students inform him of the apparent death of Crimson Curse (A-Next #12).

We don't see Clint again until the events of Last Hero Standing, wherein Barton is kidnapped by Loki in a scheme to turn all the heroes against each other by filling his captives with malice. Notably, Clint returns to his Hawkeye identity here for the first time. It's also worth pointing out that Hawkeye doesn't appear to be vision impaired while under Loki's dark spell, though this may be simply my interpretation. Perhaps it's a side benefit of Asgardian magic? After the spell is broken, Clint returns to his usual self, asking about Captain America's condition as the latter lays dying (Last Hero Standing #2-#5).

With so many members of with injuries or otherwise absent, Stark takes it upon himself to recruits some 'experienced pros' to fill out the Avengers roster. The Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man and Hawkeye are joined by Stark's 'personal bodyguard' (actually Jim Rhodes) on a mission to investigate and apprehend Normie Osborn. Things go awry when Rhodes (now more machine than man) is inadvertently hit by a hex bolt from the Scarlet Witch, triggering a violent rampage. Equipped with special goggles that allow him to see, Hawkeye assists the rest of the team in stopping Rhodes. Ultimately, Hawkeye and the other older heroes decide they can serve better as mentors and advisers to the new generation of heroes (Spider-Girl #93-#95).

Presumably still making use of Stark's fancy goggles, Hawkeye meets with his former students, Freebooter and American Dream for a spar and a pep talk before joining the assembled heroes in combating the threat of Galactus. During the conflict, Hawkeye convinces the Revenger known as Sabreclaw to join in the effort, an act which ultimately leads to the former villain joining the Avengers shortly after (Last Planet Standing #1-5).

While we don't see Hawkeye in the flesh after this point outside of the aforementioned American Dream flashbacks, we do see a magical energy duplicate created when Sylene attempts to recreate Asgard on Earth in Avengers Next #4-#5.

While he may be blind and less powerful than most of the other older heroes in the MC2, I believe Hawkeye has had the most impact on the next generation of heroes. Not only did he train Freebooter, American Dream, Crimson Curse and Bluestreak, his influence also inspired the villainous Sabreclaw to reform and apply for membership on the Avengers. While Tony Stark went into isolation and Captain America was believed dead, Clint Barton kept the spirit of the Avengers alive.

Until I learn how to pull of a trick shot or two or even just loose and arrow with accuracy, I remain

frogoat