Showing posts with label Joe Robertson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Robertson. Show all posts

Friday 3 December 2021

Doctor Octopus in the MC2

 

With Spider-Man: No Way Home on everyone’s mind, I figured now is a great time to cover some of the MC2 counterparts of the villains confirmed to appear in the film. Today, we are taking a look at Dr Otto Octavius aka Doc Ock aka Doctor Octopus in the MC2.

 


Doctor Octopus first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #3 but makes his MC2 debut behind the scenes in The Buzz #1. Well, technically he’s only alluded to in the first issue and really makes his debut in The Buzz #2 albeit partially obscured, with his identity finally revealed in The Buzz #3. Let me break it down.

 


In The Buzz #1 we learn from J Jonah Jameson that Spider-Man vanished right before Jameson needed him most, though we don’t get any further details. Jonah’s wife Marla, Dr Sonja Jade and Richie Robertson were key members working on Project: Human Fly, a superpowered suit designed to empower Buzz Bannon and intended to be keyed to his specific brainwaves. However, when Dr Jade reveals her true self and her intention to take the suit, Bannon is shot and dies before his encephalograms can be linked to the Human Fly suit, leaving JJ Jameson to be keyed with the suit and foil its theft, though not before Dr Jade makes off with the project's data and erases all remaining records. Evidently, Dr Jade is being well-paid by Doc Ock and the suits of the henchmen accompanying her distinctly resemble those seen way back in the classic Master Planner story from Amazing Spider-Man #31-33.


 















Doctor Octopus makes his partially obscured first MC2 appearance in The Buzz #2, receiving a report from Dr Jade regarding the henchmen’s failure to obtain the Fly suit, which he attributes to the decrease in quality since the Taskmaster retired. Otto provides Jade with a device that would allow him to remotely take control of the Fly suit. Teaming up with Richie Robertson to maintain the suit,  JJ (dubbing himself The Buzz) sought out Dr Jade with little success for several weeks until confronted by her in a prototype of the Human Fly suit. With the device attached, the unseen Octavius downloads himself into the suit’s operating system and attempts to remotely pilot The Buzz back to his hidden base only to be interrupted by Spider-Girl.

 





Otto forces The Buzz to target Marla Jameson, resulting in JJ’s grandfather J Jonah Jameson being taken hostage. In order to force Doc Ock to leave the suit, Richie hits the kill switch and leaves The Buzz plummeting to earth. With the threat of the suit being destroyed and with Jonah being rescued by Spider-Girl, Doctor Octopus abandons control and Richie wipes him from the suit’s system, allowing The Buzz to pull out of the drop just in time (The Buzz #2).



 




JJ learns from his grandmother Marla the reason why Jonah blames himself for two murders following Buzz Bannon’s death. Marla explains that shortly after the original Spider-Man disappeared in battle with the Green Goblin, an old enemy attacked the Daily Bugle and murdered Jonah’s closest friend, Joe Robertson, Richie’s grandfather. It’s this inciting incident that led to the idea for Project: Human Fly (The Buzz #3). 



Using the control module device, Richie traces Dr Jade and her boss to their base and The Buzz and Spider-Girl follow this lead deep below the East River. The pair encounter Jade and Doctor Octopus is finally revealed as the mastermind who secretly aided in the development of the Human Fly suit, specifically the encephalo-gate which ties brain waves into the suit’s operating system (The Buzz #3). 





Otto also reveals he is dying from cancer and intended to use this method to transfer his consciousness. Unveiling his prototype Octopod, Otto uses the machine to battle The Buzz, but is left in a coma following an electrical backlash when the underwater base beings to flood. Confronted with the man who killed his grandfather, Richie insists The Buzz brings him in to face justice, but when given the choice between proving Dr Jade's involvement and saving Doc Ock, he was more than happy for The Buzz to leave Ock to die. Conflicted, The Buzz instead helps save Octavius and Dr Jade escapes (The Buzz #3).

 







It seems Doctor Otto Octavius never regains consciousness, and by the time Dr Jade re-emerges her partner Carolyn Trainer has assumed the mantle as the new Doctor Octopus in honour of her ‘recently deceased mentor’ (Spider-Girl #69). At least the name is in good hands.

 


Thus ends the life of Otto Octavius, at least in the MC2. Unless, of course, he managed to transfer his consciousness like he had planned and is still out there somewhere trapped inside his Octopod

 

Until I stop the rampant rumour-mongering about versions of Doctor Octopus somehow surviving beneath the water, I remain

 

frogoat

 









Tuesday 28 November 2017

The Robertson Family Tree

After a bit of break, the Family Tree's are back! A personal favourite fictional family: The Robertson's! Since the introduction of Joseph 'Robbie' Robertson way back when, the Robertson's have been a consistent and stable feature of the Spidey titles.



Despite the insistence of several reputable sources which tell me Joe Robertson first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #51, I'm not entirely convinced. But I can definitely agree that Robbie appears in the very next issue Amazing Spider-Man #52, as he's identified by name. While we learn a lot of Robbie's past through flashbacks in Spectacular Spider-Man #139, including his unfortunate relationship with Tombstone, we never do learn how he met his dear wife. Martha Eleanor Robertson makes her first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #71, though she does make a small appearance in a photo beforehand in Amazing Spider-Man #68. Martha and Joe are the proud parents of Randolph 'Randy' Robertson, who first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #67.  

While I can't find a primary source for their names, Joe's parents are identified as Alice and Samuel Robertson in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol. 9, both deceased at some point prior to meeting Martha, as Robbie recounts in Amazing Spider-Man #196. It is also in ASM #196 where we learn Robbie and Martha's first child Patrick Henry Robertson tragically died at only six months old. The enormity of this event stills affects them to this day.





After moving away to Pittsburg, Robbie met and married a Jewish woman named Amanda 'Mandy' Batavides, as we learn in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #112. While I can't find a reference for Amanda Robertson's surname pre-marriage in primary sources, it is given in the OHOTMU Vol. 9. Randy neglected to tell his parents of his hasty marriage, leading to some initial misgivings from Robbie. 

And now comes the part of the post where I discuss divergent timelines and bore you all to death. Or I could just show you this scene from the post-reboot Peter Parker: Spider-Man (vol. 2) #17: 



As this occurs in a comic outside of the MC2's established timeline, we can assume Randy and Amanda are either still happily married or worked through there problems and reconciled. Now, why did I bring this plot point up? 

Because in The Buzz #1 we meet Richie Robertson, son of Randy and grandson of Joe Robertson. I reached out to Richie's co-creator, consummate professional and all-round-good-guy Mr Ron Frenz for some behind the scenes information and he confirmed that 'Richie' is short for Richard. Additionally, Ron also revealed that he and Tom Defalco didn't have anyone in particular in mind for Richie's mother. They've kindly given me permission to indulge myself by putting Amanda in this role. Thank you, gentlemen! 



Sadly when we catch up with Richie, we learn that the Robertson's suffered a terrible loss not long after Spider-Man finally hung up his webs. Joe Robertson was murdered by Doctor Octopus during an attack on Bugle. We also learn that Richie's father, Randy works for the New York City Council, while Richie put his considerable intellect to use working on Project: Human Fly along side Dr Marla Jameson and the treacherous Dr Sonja Jade. The project was the brainchild of J Jonah Jameson following Joe's murder, largely to ensure there was a hero who could be controlled and accountable for their actions.



Richie goes on to become The Buzz's closest ally in his fight for justice, despite their sometimes prickly relationship. When confronted with the man who killed his grandfather, Richie insists JJ aka The Buzz brings him in to face justice, but when given the choice between proving Dr Jade's involvement and saving Doc Ock, he was more than happy for The Buzz to leave Ock to die. 




Richie is honestly one of the most interesting supporting characters in the MC2 and I would love to have seen more of him and the Robertson's. The impact the family has on the mythos can't be understated. 

Special thanks to Mr Ron Frenz, Josh Bertone and Alex Evangeli for their help with this one.

Until I start working on theses family tree's more regularly again, I remain

frogoat