It looks like 2023 is a good year for MC2 fans, with Cassie
Lang suiting up (still without a codename) in Ant-Man and the Wasp:
Quantumania, Aftershock
appearing as the first antagonist in Disney’s animated Moon
Girl and Devil Dinosaur show, and now we have been graced with a brand-new
two-part A-Next story in the digital pages (or should I say panels?) of Avengers
Unlimited Infinity Comic #37-#38. I want to give a quick review of this
story.
Exclusive to the Marvel Unlimited digital comics
subscription service, this two issue A-Next tale was brought to us by MC2
co-creators Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz with inks by the brilliant Brett
Breeding, colours by the colossal Chris Sotomayor and loving lettering
by Joe Sabino. The first instalment opens in ‘a future…which may or
may not be our own’ with J2 telling
Bluestreak
about the unseen events on Asgard alluded to way back in A-Next #1.
First recapping the events of the aforementioned first issue of A-Next,
impeccably recreated by Ron Frenz, Bluestreak demands further
details of J2 when he mentions a feast and another fight (Avengers
Unlimited Infinity Comic #37).
It is nice to discover that Jolt and Stinger
enjoy a good party. Feeling humiliated in front of Loki, Tyrus
the Terrible leads a group of trolls in ambushing Thunderstrike
and J2 for a rematch. But after a brief battle, the trolls flee when
confronted by the assembled soon-to-be Avengers
alongside Thor,
though still threatening revenge. J2 finishes his recollection, doubting
Tyrus is dumb enough to return after two embarrassing defeats. However,
a portal opens and a hand emerges within Avengers Compound through the framed
picture of those early A-Nexters (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic
#37).
The following issue brings us back to the MC2’s
present where the previous one left off as we see the Uru Monster named
Uroc emerge from the portal alongside a horde of rock trolls led
by Tyrus who wields ‘The Orb of Orikal,’an artifact which
attracts and absorbs Uru energy. Bluestreak and J2 battle
the trolls alone before being joined by Sabreclaw
and the rest of the Avengers. Among the rock trolls is Maroc aka ‘Granny,’
the elderly grandmother of Uroc responsible for transporting them to the
Avengers Compound (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #38).
When the Orb is activated, it begins to pull in Thunderstrike
until Stinger suggests he overload it with his blasts which causes the
artifact to explode and knock down Tyrus. With their leader down, Uroc
demands Granny return them to Asgard. Granny Mardoc does so,
chastising them all and suggesting they instead focus on mining and crafting
rather than seek pointless revenge. Bluestreak tells J2 that he
knows ‘how to show a girl a good time’ before kissing him on the cheek (Avengers
Unlimited Infinity Comic #38).
Some genuinely wonderful stuff here. I am probably just a
smidge biased but it is delightful seeing Tom and Ron seamlessly slide
back into the MC2 and deliver a brand-new story. A few points I found
interesting: the Orb (and its namesake Orikal) first
appeared way back in Thor #138. Uroc, the Uru Monster makes his MC2
debut after being first introduced by Tom Defalco and Mike Mignola
in the pages of Thor #408. Granny Mardoc is also apparently a familial relation
of Uroc, and mentions she granted Uroc
his Uru form and healed his past injuries. Notably, Uroc here has
a new and familiar looking left hand, which references his previous limb being
destroyed in Thor #450 by the special police unit Code: Blue and
acts as a dual reference to Mignola’s most well-known creation Hellboy
who has a ‘Right Hand of Doom’.
In addition to the familiar relation between Uroc and Granny Mardoc, we also learn that Tyrus is the son of Ulik, a mainstay of Thor’s rogues gallery and who showed up in the Avengers Next mini-series working alongside Sylene, the daughter of Loki. It is a nice piece of continuity that father and son troll worked opposite daughter and father Asgardian, respectively. Tyrus also spoke of regaining the good graces of his Lord Loki, perhaps suggesting Loki returned from Limbo or that Tyrus does not know of Loki’s fate. The first time we encountered Tyrus was as an alternate future version opposing the Dargo Ktor in Thor #384, wherein he is apparently missing an eye which is echoed here when the Orb explodes.
Finally, Ron Frenz managed the nigh-impossible task
of connecting the Troll dolls of the 80’s to the orange-skinned
rock trolls of Marvel by way of Granny Mardoc’s appearance. Thanks to Mr
Frenz for clarifying a comment he made on the Make Mine Mayday podcast
regarding this. *An additional thanks to Ron Frenz for clarifying and correcting the original version of this post*
I was very pleased with this short story, it managed to fill
a long-existing gap between panels in A-Next #1 and provided us a
glimpse at the Avengers team in the MC2’s present at the same
time. Now we’ve gotten essentially A-Next #½, I’m hoping someday we’ll
get the inevitable A-Next #1½ story which details events surrounding Jolt,
Jubilee
and Speedball
returning to the Avengers Compound during Peter
Parker’s visit in What If #105. Come on, you know you wanna do
it, guys! I am guessing Crimson
Curse was not a member anymore since she’s…. you know…probably dead
again following the 2015 Secret Wars event.
Until every gap in the MC2’s storied history is filled,
I happily remain
frogoat