Hank Pym in the MC2

 

This one is probably well over due, so with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania on the horizon I had better finally cover some of its prominent characters as they appear in the MC2. Today let us look at the original Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath and Yellowjacket aka Dr Henry 'Hank' Pym in the MC2.

 

Hank Pym first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27 and first assumed the super hero nom de guerre Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35, with many more costumed identities to follow. In the MC2, Hank Pym was first referenced and glimpsed in flashback in the pages of A-Next #2, first with a mention of Cassie Lang utilizes Hank’s process to implant bio-synthetic wings on herself and next when discussing Bill Foster’s connection with him. Later in the same issue, we see a flashback featuring Hank alongside Captain America and the original Thunderstrike. Here, Pym is depicted in a version of his 90’s Giant-Man costume, which he wore during the events of The Crossing and Onslaught. This issue is also where we learn Hank is dead, a hint to later revelations in the series.

 

We next see a flashback of Hank Pym in A-Next #6 in the memories of the mentally ill Hercules, who tragically recalls his former Avengers teammates’ final mission which lead to more than half of them dying. Hercules blames himself for this loss, which drove him to madness. Once again, Hank is depicted in his 90’s Giant-Man costume which he first wore in Avengers (vol. 1) #366.

 

In the following issue, the new team of Avengers seek answers for what occurred to the original Avengers. Their questions are answered by Edwin Jarvis, who recalls their final mission to a alternate universe. Here we learn that the Avengers became aware of an alternate reality in which Victor Von Doom wielded a Universal Cube which would allow him to travel to other universes via portals to conquer them. With all of reality at risk, the Avengers held an emergency meeting. Many attended this urgent summons including (but not limited to) Captain America, Firebird, Firestar, Hawkeye, Hercules, Iron Man, Justice, Living Lightning, Scarlet Witch, Tigra, Vision and the Wasp. Perhaps ironically, it is Giant-Man aka Hank Pym himself (this time dressed in a version of his Goliath costume first seen in Avengers (vol. 1) #28) who is the first to speak up and agree to the mission without delay (A-Next #7).  

 

 We learn through Jarvis that this was around a year and a half prior to the Avengers officially disbanding. Sadly, many of the heroes did not return, with only Hawkeye, Hercules, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Vision and the Wasp re-emerging from the portal. Dr Pym is among the fallen, leaving Janet Pym distraught (A-Next #7).

 

When Hope Pym learns the new Avengers team has travelled to the alternate universe, we discover she blames the Avengers for the death of her parents, Hank and Janet, and she launches her revenge plot (A-Next #10). As the Red Queen, Hope uses her parents’ old security codes to sneak her team of Revengers into the Avengers Compound. Among the Revengers is her twin brother Henry Pym Jr, who objects to Hope’s change of plan, which involves not just capturing but killing the new Avengers in revenge for her parents’ deaths. Fortunately, Henry intervenes to stop Hope when she attempts to self-destruct the Avengers Compound, telling her their father Hank gave his life protecting the world and their mother Janet never blamed the Avengers (A-Next #12). Hope would continue to blame the Avengers for her parents’ death in future appearances.

 

 

Next time we see Pym depicted is in Last Hero Standing #1 during a symbolic flashback depiction of the Avengers’ earliest members when Uatu the Watcher is recounting the History of the MC2 like a sad little blogger. Here, Hank is seen in his second Giant-Man costume which first appeared in Tales to Astonish #50.

 

While he does not actually appear, it is worth mentioning that a ‘zombie ‘or ‘magical clone’ of Hank Pym’s Yellowjacket identity does appear in Avengers Next #1. These duplicates were created when the villainous Asgardian daughter of Loki, Sylene combined magic with stolen blood and tissue samples of various former and present Avengers. The first time the Yellowjacket costume identity appeared was in Avengers (vol. 1) #59.

That is all I have on Doctor Henry Pym in the MC2. While he is long dead, Pym’s legacy remains strong, ranging from the good to the bad. Be it Cassie Lang aka Stinger, Bill Foster’s faith in the new Avengers, Hank’s children Henry Junior and Hope Pym, the lingering threat of Ultron or the use of Pym Particles, the MC2 is full of Hank’s influence.

 

Until I die on a parallel world and my body is left behind, I remain

 

frogoat  

The Fisk Family Tree

 

I said back when I wrote about The Kingpin in the MC2 that I should have made the post when it was most relevant. This time, I’m going to try and seize the recent resurgence in popularity of Wilson Fisk thanks to his appearance in the Hawkeye series on Disney+ by bringing back my series of MC2 Family Trees. Here is the Fisk Family Tree.

 

Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin of Crime first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #50 in 1967 but we didn’t learn of his origins until far later. In 1993’s flashback series Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #3 we find Wilson Fisk working for the Maggia Crime Family boss Don Rigoletto. We witness the moment Fisk takes control of the various gang leaders not only here but with added context in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #-1 written by the legendary Tom Defalco in 1997. Needless to say, from here on out Wilson would be known as the Kingpin of Crime, a title he would hold until his death in the MC2 as seen in Spider-Girl #63-64

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Vanessa Fisk is first mentioned in Amazing Spider-Man #69 and makes an obscured cameo in Amazing Spider-Man #70 before her proper first full appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #83. While we don’t know a great deal about Vanessa, we get some details in the Marvel Graphic Novel: Daredevil Love and War written by Frank Miller. There Wilson recounts that Vanessa was brought to him at age 15 as an amnesiac by his ‘band of petty thieves’ as chattel twenty years prior. This would make Vanessa around 35 years old during the events of that story.

 

Richard Fisk made his debut in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #83 under the mask of The Kingpin’s rival The Schemer, only revealing his true face in Amazing Spider-Man #85. Richard would go on to use many aliases through the years, including The Supreme Hydra, The Rose and The Blood Rose. In Web of Spider-Man #86 we learn that when he was a child, Vanessa would shield him from the life of his criminal father. Richard watched Vanessa’s health deteriorating through the years with the strain of her relationship to Wilson until he was sent away to school in Europe. While it appears Richard first learned of his father’s criminal empire when The Kingpin was outed in the news, this issue seems to suggest Richard may have known at some capacity and was simply shamed when it was made public. Either way, Richard faked his death and assumed the identity of The Schemer to oppose his father while posing as a crime lord. It stands to reason that Richard couldn’t have been more than 18 or 19 years of age given that his parents only met 20 years prior.

It’s worth noting the MC2’s Kingpin’s origins are briefly depicted during his dying vision on the operating table in Spider-Girl #63. Here learn he was an overweight young man from a poor family and no one ever liked him until he grew tired of being beaten and began to lift weights and study martial arts, becoming an intimidating figure. We also see the aforementioned death of Rigoletto at Fisk’s hands. It’s also during Wilson’s vision that he is confronted by his son and wife and we learn that they are both already dead. The MC2 diverges from the Main Marvel Universe prior to Richard’s death in 2002’s Daredevil (Vol.2) #31 but it’s entirely possible events unfolded in a similar way. Additionally, Vanessa didn’t even die in the Main Marvel Universe until years after this issue was published in Daredevil (Vol. 2) #92-#93, meaning the MC2 predicted her demise.

 

It seems obvious that the life of a crime boss is destined to leave a man lonely and eventually end in tragedy for the whole family. That’s a wrap on this shorter MC2 Family Tree. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you want me to cover another family in the near future.

 

Until I fake my own death in Switzerland only to return wearing an old man mask, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

Taskmaster in the MC2

 

With the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie finally being released, I thought I’d throw together a lazy tangential tie-in post. So, here’s a brief look at the Black Widow film’s mysterious antagonist as they appear (or don’t appear?) in my favourite Marvel Universe: Taskmaster in the MC2.

 

The mercenary with the photographic reflexes known as the Taskmaster has been around since 1980’s Avenger’s #195 and #196 but until relatively recently we knew very little about the character’s past, including his real name. As such it doesn’t relate to the MC2 and so I won’t be covering any of it here! I took a brief look at Taskmaster’s appearances to try and pin down the most likely point at which the Main Marvel Universe Taskmaster’s published history diverged from the MC2 published history.  The best fit I found was 1998’s Hawkeye: Earth’s Mightiest Marksman written by none other than MC2 co-creator Tom Defalco himself. If you disagree, feel free to let me know!

Now, as for the Taskmaster as he appears in the MC2, well, he doesn’t. Not really. But we do know what happened to him. You’d be forgiven for missing this reference in the pages of The Buzz #2: according to Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus ‘There’s been a noticeable decrease in quality henchmen ever since the Taskmaster retired.’ This is obviously a direct reference to the fact that Taskmaster is known for training the henchmen of various super villains.

 

Getting closer to an actual physical appearance, a statue of the Taskmaster can be glimpsed at the Avengers Compound as part of an exhibit showing the various threats defeated by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers (American Dream #1).

 

Beyond his retirement, we know nothing about Taskmaster in the MC2. He’s alive and presumably at liberty if he’s retired from his former occupation. Anyway, just a quick post this time to hopefully impart some new information for those interested in the MC2.

 

Until I master every superhero’s move sets at the cost of my own past, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

Scarlet Witch in the MC2

 

Now that WandaVision has begun streaming on Disney+ it feels like a good time to take a look at the MC2 incarnations of the show’s protagonists. For this entry, we’ll be taking a look at the Avengers resident chaos witch, Wanda Maximoff aka The Scarlet Witch.

 

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The Scarlet Witch made her 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 Scarlet Witch join the team on their final mission, she was among the few to return alive. After mourning their fallen comrades, Iron Man and the Scarlet Witch worked tirelessly for months to seal the portal permanently against future attacks. Unfortunately, to achieve this the Scarlet Witch was sealed within a stasis pod, holding the aperture shut (A-Next #7-8). 

 

It’s worth pointing out Wanda’s appearance was foreshadowed as early as A-Next #4, when Crimson Curse began to sense her presence and became more pronounced in A-Next #6. This culminated in Wanda being discovered within her stasis pod by Crimson Curse, American Dream and Thunderstrike. Notably, the unconscious Wanda (dubbing herself ‘Guardian of the Great Beyond, Protector of the Dark Barrier’) utilized various physical manifestations of the Avenger known as Wonder Man to protect herself and the portal (A-Next #8).

 

By freeing Wanda from her stasis pod, the new Avengers team inadvertently sever her connection to the portal, leaving the world vulnerable to the threat on the other side (A-Next #9). Wanda remains in her comatose state, having been moved to a hospital where she is watched over by Edwin Jarvis and later Tony Stark (A-Next #10).

 

It seems Wanda remained in this coma until kidnapped and magically restored by the villainous Asgardian Loki as part of his plot to end the Age of Heroes. Wanda along with many other heroes is corrupted by Loki’s spell until later freed. What’s most fascinating to me about the Scarlet Witch’s awakening are the reactions of Wanda’s former team mates such as Tony Stark and especially Vision. Sadly, it appears Wanda didn’t get the chance to speak to Captain America before he died (Last Hero Standing #1-5).

With so many members off with injuries or otherwise absent, the Scarlet Witch is recruited by Stark to fill out the Avengers roster. The Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man and Hawkeye are joined by Stark's 'personal bodyguard’ James Rhodes on a mission to investigate and apprehend Normie Osborn. Things go awry when Rhodes (now more machine than man) is inadvertently hit by Wanda’s hex bolt, triggering a violent rampage. After Rhodes is subdued, Wanda and the others conclude they would be better use as teachers and mentors to the new Avengers team (Spider-Girl #93-#95). 

 

Despite this, Wanda continues serves as an active member of the depleted Avengers team during the events of Last Planet Standing. During a conflict with the villainous Revengers team, Wanda is offended when she encounters Magneta, who modelled herself after Magneto, the Scarlet Witch’s father (Last Planet Standing #1). Upon learning of the coming threat, Wanda opposes Vision and objects to playing second fiddle to the Fantastic Five (Last Planet Standing #3) and, alongside the Silver Surfer, later proves instrumental in breaking through Galactus’ force field. While it’s not confirmed, the combination of the Scarlet Witch’s reality manipulation powers and the Silver Surfer’s power cosmic may have played a part in birthing the entity that forms in the wake of Galactus’ failed attempt at universal destruction (Last Planet Standing #5).

 

Not an active member of the Avengers this time around, the Scarlet Witch only appears briefly this time, as a magical energy duplicate created when Sylene attempts to recreate Asgard on Earth in Avengers Next #4-#5.

 

I think there’s a lot left unexplored with Wanda Maximoff in the MC2, with her strained relationship with the Vision, her connections to Tony Stark and her re-adjustment to life after awakening from her coma. That said, the Scarlet Witch remains one of the most powerful, present and willing members of the original Avengers. Maybe someday we’ll see more from Wanda in the future.

 

Until I cast a little hex to alter the very fabric of reality, I remain

 

frogoat