The Surprising Connection Between the MC2 and Doctor Who

 

Another relatively short and sweet post today, but one that I stumbled upon, delighted at having uncovered a sneaky link between another of my favourite fandoms, Doctor Who.

 

In a long-ago History of the MC2 post, I pointed out that the established history of the MC2 includes the events of Onslaught, Heroes Reborn and Heroes Return as is confirmed via a reference to Franklin Richards creating a pocket universe in Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #4.  While it’s not exactly clear precisely when the published history of the Main Marvel Universe (aka Universe-616) branches off into what we know as the MC2 (aka Universe-982), it’s evident they share a great deal in common from the 1960’s up to and including the real-world published comics of the mid-to-late-1990’s.

 

This brings me to today’s tiny tidbit of confirmed comic commonality: Pier Four. This was an apparently unassuming building located on the docks which the Fantastic Four used as their temporary home and headquarters following their return from Franklin’s Counter-Earth pocket universe, having discovered the Thunderbolts had been given their former home, Four Freedoms Plaza, in their absence.

 

Pier Four first appeared in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #2 and we learn from Johnny Storm that stored on the premises is a second hand ‘antique London Police Call Box’ obtained by Reed Richards from a ‘weird “Doctor” friend of his’,  one which from the outside appears barely able to fit a single person but once inside, the interior is near infinite, allowing Reed to use it as a kind of warehouse (Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #9) . While the exterior 'Police Box' is red in colour, this is no doubt a reference to the iconic blue time and spaceship known as The TARDIS owned by the time-travelling Doctor from the world’s longest-running science fiction show Doctor Who.

 

Now, Pier Four is also canon to the history of the MC2’s own Fantastic Five, being utilized once more in the pages of Last Planet Standing #4 as the team’s temporary base of operations during Galactus’ final plan following the destruction of the Fantastic Five Headquarters.

 

Here is where I get to really geek out, because The Doctor is not just a throwaway reference, he is an established colleague to Mister Fantastic himself Reed Richards. Marvel held the comic publishing rights to Doctor Who during the 1980’s in much the same way they published other licenced works such as The Transformers. In fact, it’s through the Transformers by way of Doctor Who that the Freelance Peacekeeping Agent known as Death’s Head would first arrive in the Main Marvel Universe proper, having once been shrunk down to human size (Doctor Who Magazine #135) and later being deposited atop the Four Freedoms Plaza, headquarters of the Fantastic Four, by The Doctor (Death’s Head #8-#9).  

 

Bringing this all back to the MC2, the established existence of Pier Four in Earth-982 implies events following the Fantastic Four’s return from Franklin Richards pocket reality transpired in a similar manner to those on Earth-616. This means some version of events depicted in those early issues of Fantastic Four (vol. 3) played out in the MC2 also. On Earth-616 Pier Four was destroyed by Diablo in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #36, though it appears this was not the case in the MC2. While I admit it’s speculation, we can also assume that the MC2 Fantastic Four (later Five) at some point returned to the former site of their most iconic headquarters and rebuilt it into the Fantastic Five Building (first seen in What If #105 and more fully in Spider-Girl #3). This presumes in the MC2 the  Four Freedoms Plaza was likewise damaged significantly in Thunderbolts #10 and the remains teleported to the Moon in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #13) as it was on Earth-616.

 

That is all for today, everyone. I truly live for these little pieces of continuity that the MC2 incorporates into its

own unique history. The implications of Doctor Who and Transformers being connected to the wider shared Marvel Multiverse (or Megaverse if you prefer) are exciting to consider.

 

Until I stop delighting at these unexpected connections, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

Spider-Girl's Live-Action Debut is Kick-Ass

 

Apologies for the clickbait-y title but a friend of mine brought this to my attention and I just had to share it with everyone! While there’s lots of rumours and theories swirling about May ‘Mayday’ Parker aka Spider-Girl making her debut in a live-action movie, they are all far too late. It’s already happened.

 

A big shout out to friend of the blog Jesús Arias for discovering this little tidbit. At 57 minutes and 30 seconds into the live-action comic book movie adaptation Kick-Ass, we get this shot:

 

Did you spot it?

 

There’s a closer look at it at 1 hour 13 minutes 57 seconds. Yes, I have no life.

 

 

Yup, the cover of Amazing Spider-Girl #10 by artists extraordinaire Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema featuring the alien symbiote Carnage can be glimpsed.

 

A nice piece of trivia for all you self-styled vigilantes out there.   

 

Until I stop getting a kick out of these kinds of things, I remain

 

frogoat

Spider-Girl in Spider-Man: Ultimate Power

With new studies and life in general taking much of my free time, I won't be able to post here anywhere near as often, so please accept this as a 

 Spider-Girl appears as an alternate costume in the 2014 mobile game from Spider-Man: Ultimate Power, the only playable female character in the game. Until recently I was unable to find the game to obtain this gameplay footage as it is no longer available on mobile app stores. Fortunately, the world is full of dedicated fans and the game was preserved by archivists. Please excuse my less than stellar performance, this game was not built for PC play and I am far from skilled at the best of times.

Until I run out of things to throw up in a hurry, I remain

frogoat

Spider-Symmetry: Spider-Girl 31 and Spider-Girl 45

 

For today’s post we have a brief entry in the occasional series where I endeavour to highlight the visual or narrative symmetry between the Spider-Man and Spider-Girl comics. For this entry of Spider-Symmetry, we are taking a look at just the MC2 comics. For this installement, we must credit the amazing penciller Pat Olliffe and as you’ll note soon enough, MC2 co-creator, artist extraordinaire and friendly fella, Ron Frenz.

 

Spider-Girl #31 gives us this delightful cover from Pat Olliffe, first published in February 2001, of May ‘Mayday’ Parker as Spider-Girl surrounded by floating heads of guilt.

 

Now, here is Pat Olliffe’s gorgeous cover to Spider-Girl #45 which was first published in March 2002. In a direct reference to his earlier cover, we now have May ‘Mayday’ Parker in her civilian attire surrounded by Spider-Girl costume design concepts from the in-universe clothing store, the Spider-Shoppe.

 

And with the Spider-Shoppe connection, lets segue to the cover of Spider-Girl #91 by the rambunctious rascal Ron Frenz, which was first published in October 2005. This cover continues the Spider-Girl costume designs concept from the cover of Spider-Girl #45 by continuing the theme. There are even some repeated designs both here and within the story itself.

 

Okay, that is a wrap for this entry!

 

Until I find myself surrounded by cosplay costume variations or floating heads of guilt, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

The Invisible Woman in the MC2

 

Marvel Studios has released The Fantastic Four: First Steps in cinema, and I’m inspired to continue delving into the MC2 Universe’s own founding members of the Fantastic Four …. or the Fantastic Five, as they became in this world. For today, let’s look at the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four, the heart of the team herself Susan Storm-Richards aka The Invisible Woman in the MC2.

 

All four core members of Marvel’s First Family debuted in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s 1961 title Fantastic Four #1, launching the very Marvel Universe itself as we know it today by depicting the fateful space launch which gave this famous four their powers.  

 

Unlike her brother Johnny Storm and Benjamin Grimm, Susan Richards didn’t make a cameo appearance in the pages of What If #105 where we saw a cameo appearance of the MC2’s Fantastic Five. It’s not until Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1 where we see Susan, albeit only in flashbacks, the most relevant being our first glimpse to a crucial event in Sue’s history…

 

Approximately five or so years prior to the events of Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1, the Fantastic Four prepared to battle Hyperstorm, a cosmically powered warlord from an alternate future who had built a doomsday weapon in the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Franklin engaged Hyperstorm in a 'mind-war' on every plane of existence which ultimately left Hyperstorm comatose and apparently stripped Franklin of much of his god-like power (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4).

 

 Unfortunately, the doomsday device had already begun to tear a hole in the fabric of reality. When Reed Richards was forced to overload the device to stop it, Susan Richards attempted to shield him from the radiation with her force field. Caught in the blast radius, half of Reed's body was left in a melted and deformed state. With the reality rip still widening, Susan used her powers to hold the tear in place, with the strain leaving her in a coma and she was placed in suspended animation.

 

 

In the wake of the tragedy, The Fantastistation was built in the Negative Zone around the tear in reality. This allowed Reed to keep Sue company while she remained in suspended animation as he worked to slowly repair the hole in the fabric of reality (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Over the next few months, while the Fantastic Four remained in seclusion, rumours and speculation spread about the fate of Susan Richards despite the team never releasing details to the public. Reed developed the Big Brain robot to allow him to remain on the team by remotely controlling it from the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1).

 

It's not until Spider-Girl #87 that things change, with the cosmically empowered Apox the Omega Skrull heading into the Negative Zone to exact revenge on members of the Fantastic Five. During the battle, Reed Richards conceives a method to utilize Apox’s power cosmic to seal the tear in reality and in doing so, heal himself and allow Susan to awaken from her coma (Spider-Girl #88). Finally, a happy ending for the Fantastic Family!

 

After all that, it’s nice to end on a positive note especially because it speaks to the hopeful outlook of the MC2 overall. I’m enjoying these briefer posts and they leave space to explore more in the future.

 

Until I get to wear a see-through costume without controversy, I remain

 

frogoat

 

The Thing in the MC2

 

Marvel Studios’ has released The Fantastic Four: First Steps in cinema, and I’m inspired to keep delving into the MC2 Universe’s own founding members of the Fantastic Four …. or the Fantastic Five, as they are now known in this world. For today, let’s look at Aunt Petunia’s ever-lovin’ baby blue-eyed Ben Grimm aka The Thing in the MC2.

 

All four core members of Marvel’s First Family debuted in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s 1961 title Fantastic Four #1, launching the very Marvel Universe itself as we know it today by depicting the fateful space launch which gave this famous four their powers.  Poor Ben got the rough end of the deal, being permanently rendered rocky in appearance.

 

Just like Johnny Storm, Benjamin Grimm made his first appearance within the MC2 in the story which launched a new universe in the pages of What If #105. While it’s only a cameo appearance, it does give us our first glimpse of the MC2’s Fantastic Five and we see that Ben’s left side is now metallic.

 

It’s not long until the Fantastic Five make their full debut in the pages of Spider-Girl #3 battling Spyral. We learn Johnny now leads this new team comprised of Reed Richards aka Big Brain, Franklin Richards aka Psi-Lord, Lyja Storm aka Ms. Fantastic and , of course Ben Grimm aka The Thing.

 

   

Here’s the MC2-specific events in The Thing’s past. While we don't know the exact point at which the history of the Main Marvel Universe Fantastic Four stops being the same as that of the MC2 Fantastic Four/Five, we do know a few things about the team’s history. While it's unclear exactly when, Ben Grimm and Sharon Ventura married and had twins named Alyce and Jacob Grimm (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1, #3, #5).

 

During a battle with the villainous Terrax, Ben Grimm aka The Thing had the rock-like hide torn from much of the left side of his body by a miniature black hole. Reed Richards created bionic armour to cover the exposed tissue but explained it could take years to regenerate his missing hide. As a side effect of his bionics in situ, it would be impossible for Ben to revert to his human form (Fantastic Five Vol. 2 #1- #2).

*I think I should point out the slight continuity error in the flashback above: Other flashbacks depicting events occurring after the one above clearly show the team wearing F4 uniforms and operating under the name Fantastic Four. Likely, the F5 uniforms are a simple oversight or artistic error*

 

Approximately five or so years prior to the events of Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1, the Fantastic Four prepared to battle Hyperstorm, a cosmically powered warlord from an alternate future who had built a doomsday weapon in the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Lyja was pregnant at this time and did not join the team on their mission, meanwhile Sharon and Ben argued about Ben remaining behind with their twins, though Ben insisted he had to go for everyone’s sake (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4). Franklin engaged Hyperstorm in a 'mind-war' on every plane of existence which ultimately left Hyperstorm comatose and apparently stripped Franklin of much of his god-like power (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4).

 Unfortunately, the doomsday device had already begun to tear a hole in the fabric of reality. When Reed Richards was forced to overload the device to stop it, Susan Richards attempted to shield him from the radiation with her force field. Caught in the blast radius, half of Reed's body was left in a melted and deformed state. With the reality rip still widening, Susan used her powers to hold the tear in place, with the strain leaving her in a coma and she was placed in suspended animation.

 

In the wake of the tragedy, The Fantastistation was built in the Negative Zone around the tear in reality. This allowed Reed to keep Sue company while she remained in suspended animation as he worked to slowly repair the hole in the fabric of reality (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Over the next few months, while the Fantastic Four remained in seclusion, rumours and speculation spread about the fate of Susan Richards despite the team never releasing details to the public. Reed developed the Big Brain robot to allow him to remain on the team by remotely controlling it from the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1).

 

The team formally changed their charter, membership and name, finally re-branding themselves as the Fantastic Five, with John Storm aka The Human Torch leading the team of Ms. Fantastic aka his wife Lyja Storm; Ben Grimm aka The Thing; Reed Richards as Big Brain and Franklin Richards now known as Psi-Lord (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1, Fantastic Five Vol. 2 #1).

 

It's not stated exactly when it occurred, but prior to the present day, Ben and Sharon divorced and Ben hadn’t seen the twins Alyce and Jacob for some months (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #2 - #3). It’s a difficult position in which Ben Grimm finds himself in but he takes it on and keeps going as always.

 

Until I find myself between a rock and hard place like Ben Grimm, I remain

 

frogoat