From Thunderbolt to Avenger: Jolt in the MC2

 

Marvel Studios has released its latest Marvel Cinematic Universe entry with the Thunderbolts* movie. But the Thunderbolts in the comics have a long and storied history, and the MC2 specifically featured the first Thunderbolt to become an Avenger. So today, let’s finally take a look at the often-overshadowed Jolt in the MC2.

 

But first, the basics! Helen ‘Hallie’ Takahama first appeared in 1997 in the pages of Thunderbolts #1 where we learn she has been living rough since her 15^th birthday, when both her parents were crushed to death during the Onslaught event. Abducted and experimented on by the unseen amoral villain Arnim Zola, Hallie eventually gained superpowers and used them to escape, heading to Four Freedoms Plaza to seek help from the Fantastic Four. Finding instead the Thunderbolts, Hallie joins them in their mission to apprehend her captor and soon after becomes a member of the team unaware of their true motives (Thunderbolts #1-4).

 

Jumping into the MC2 now, Jolt made a surprise cameo in the pages of What If #105 as a member of the new Avengers team alongside Jubilee, Speedball, Thunderstrike, the Vision and *ahem* J2.

 

Hallie Takahama shows up again in A-Next #1, a story set a little earlier than her above cameo, providing readers with the new Avengers team’s origin which involved Kevin Masterson transformation into the new Thunderstrike as a result of the machination of Loki. During this adventure, we learn Jolt is semi-retired with (at least) two school-aged children. As such, Hallie declines the offer to join the team as a full-time member but does mention they can call if they need her.

 

I’ve always imagined the fledgling full-time new Avengers contacted the more established heroes for assistance with setting up the Avengers Compound and perhaps a photo shoot between the pages of A-Next #1 and A-Next #2, which would explain their presence in What If #105 and the Daily Bugle’s front-page photo seen in American Dream #4. Speaking of which, it’s notable that Jolt doesn’t appear in the image, itself a direct reference to the cover of A-Next #1. Though, word of god (tongue no doubt firmly in cheek) says Jolt *is* present, just behind J2!

 

In Spider-Girl #32, we catch a tantalising glimpse of the largely unseen interim Avengers team who attempted to fill the void left after many of the original Avengers perished on their final mission (mentioned in A-Next #7). Jubilee was a member of this line-up alongside Nova, the Steel Spider, Speedball and, of course, Jolt. It’s heartening to learn that members of the X-Men, New Warriors and Thunderbolts all came together in the wake of the tragic loss of many of the Avengers to try and carry on their legacy.

 

Finally, in a nice little story published on the Marvel Unlimited digital comic reading app as Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #37, Jolt makes it onto the cover of an MC2 comic! In a story set between the panels of A-Next #1 we learn an interesting fact about Hallie Takahama: she can party like an Asgardian!

 

Jolt is a possibly the earliest example of the MC2 including elements from across the decades of Marvel’s published history, even (at the time) very recent additions such as the youngest member of the Thunderbolts, in their stories. It’s a wonderful tradition, and one I hope we see again someday.

 

Until I find out I’m working with a team of disguised super villains posing as heroes, I remain

 

frogoat

 

History of the MC2: Operation Zero Tolerance

 

Continuing with our run of X-Men ’97 tie-in content, today I’d like to turn your attention to the 1997 X-Men comic crossover event storyline Operation: Zero Tolerance and examine its effect and connections to the MC2 Universe. This entry is called History of the MC2: Operation Zero Tolerance.

 

At the conclusion of the massive 1996 Marvel crossover event Onslaught, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Dr. Bruce Banner and even Doctor Doom apparently perished saving the world from the psychic entity known as Onslaught, a massively powerful psionic manifestation of the combined consciousnesses of Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto (Onslaught: Marvel Universe One-Shot). In the fallout of this seismic event, Xavier voluntarily surrendered himself (X-Men (Vol. 2) #57) and was placed in a secret facility run by the mysterious Bastion (Onslaught: Epilogue).

 

Having allied himself with various well-placed government figures and anti-mutant groups, Bastion had quickly position himself into a place of power. To cover-up mutant-hating presidential candidate Graydon Greed’s history from the public, Bastion killed Daily Bugle reporter Nick Bandouveris (Uncanny X-Men #339).Shortly afterwards, Creed would be assassinated (by Mystique, as we learn in X-Men Forever), stoking anti-mutant sentiment and fast-tracking the implementation of Operation Zero Tolerance (X-Factor #130).

 

During the Operation Zero Tolerance event itself, Bastion captures and tortures Jubilee, orders his forces to shoot down a team of X-Men and invades the Xavier’s Institute for Higher Learning where he gains access to sensitive information on various mutants. With his government supported mutant-targeted initiative, Bastion had converted numerous humans into Prime Sentinel sleeper agents throughout the world using cybernetic nanotech implants, set to hunt down mutants when activated. During a confrontation with Iceman, Bastion is finally stopped when the government figures who approved Operation Zero Tolerance back out of their course of action and authorize S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to arrest Bastion and shut down the operation.

 

This brings us to the MC2, where we learn that Mr Woodhill, the social studies teacher at Upper Saddle River High was involved in a crash ten years prior, spending a year in the hospital as a result. While there Woodhill was transformed into a Sleeper Sentinel, including suppression implants to ensure he remained unaware he was a cyborg. Jubilee explains that the X-Men had years ago attempted to find all these Sleeper Prime Sentinels but some -such as Mr Woodhill- had gone undetected. Using a program devised by Dr McCoy and Forge, the Sleeper Sentinels would have their Sentinel activation nullified, allowing them to continue living out their lives believing they were ordinary humans (Wild Thing #3).

 

This acts to fill in more information about the history of the MC2. The most notable implication being that in the MC2, Bastion likely continued producing more of his Prime Sentinels using unwilling patients well after the events of Operation Zero Tolerance.

 

Furthermore, this could mean the fleshed-out (pun intended) origin for Bastion depicted in Cable/Machine Man Annual ’98 and Machine Man/Bastion Annual ‘98 is also valid in MC2.  After the strong hints in X-Men (Vol. 2) #69, we learn that Bastion is an amalgam of the Sentinel Master Mold and the future Sentinel prototype Nimrod resulting from a journey through the mystical portal known as the Siege Perilous during the events of Uncanny X-Men #247.

 

Operation Zero Tolerance also provides a few other connections to the MC2, with the Wolverine tie-in issues being the last written by MC2-alumni Larry Hama’s, bringing to end a nearly hundred issue run. The Generation X series tie-ins were followed by a fill-in issue written by MC2 co-create Tom Defalco. This adds some credence to the notion that these are the point at which these series diverge into the MC2’s own timeline. Notably, Jubilee continues to wear a version of her Generation X-era red costume beneath her iconic yellow coat in the MC2. 

It's always fascinating to me to look back and consider what elements from the Main Marvel Universe comics of the 90’s have an unexpected or surprising impact on the MC2. A huge thanks to arias-98105 for all the help on this and many other posts!

 

Until I go through a mystical aperture, merge with another being and emerge as something different, I remain

 

frogoat