Son of the Hulk

 

Today’s post will again be something a little different, a look at something we did not see in the MC2. For this entry in what I am still calling the Untold Tales of the MC2 which looks at costumes, concepts, story ideas and characters that never made it to the printed page, we first need to talk about someone who did make it into the MC2: the Son of the Hulk.

 

Making his first and only appearance in the pages of A-Next #3 is the young son of the Bruce Banner aka The Incredible Hulk, David Banner. In this issue we learn that Bruce Banner has retired to Denver, Colorado and he indicates he is finally rid of his alter ego for good and has not seen Doctor Strange in years. When Strange appears unexpectedly to reform the Defenders, he takes complete mental control of Banner and forces Bruce to once more transform into the Hulk. Concerned for his son as he begins to change into the Hulk, Bruce shouts for his son to run but Doctor Strange assures him that David is in no danger. David Banner is left stunned and confused, and this is all we see from the boy in the published works of the MC2.

 

Now, let us take a look at the unpublished side of things for David, thanks once more to MC2 co-creator, artist and ideas man, Ron Frenz. On his official Facebook page, Ron shared the following image with this description:

 

Davey and (the Green) Goliath!

An un-used MC2 idea for Bruce Banner and his young son David involving an accidental gamma mind link and ensuing hi-jinks!

 

While it is just a concept that never saw publication, Mr Frenz evidently put some thought into this, going so far as to clarify why ‘Davey’ has green hair in his sketch when asked:

 

The “gamma mind link” turned his hair green.

 

It sounds like this unpublished story idea would have been a lot of fun. As I mentioned in my She-Hulk post, we don’t know who would have looked after David Banner after his father was sent to Limbo by Loki and it’s never mentioned who his mother is or even if she’s still alive. Perhaps that is a topic for another time?

 

Until I stop exploring every corner of the MC2 and finding more reasons to love it, I remain

 

frogoat

 

MC2 Untold: Valkyrie

 

Today I’m going to try something a little different and talk about something we didn’t see in the MC2. This will be the first in an occasional series looking at some of the Untold Tales of the MC2: costumes, concepts, story ideas and characters that never saw the printed page. For our inaugural instalment, let’s look at Valkyrie.  

 

As per Thunderstrike and A-Next co-creator, artist extraordinaire and all-around nice guy Ron Frenz’s own facebook:

When The Time Is Right!

Below left is an incomplete sketch of a character I intended to introduce in the MC2 title A-NEXT had the book continued.

Obviously, an Asgardian Valkyrie, she would have been charged by Thor, now the ruler of Asgard to train and watch over the MC2 version of Kevin Masterson as Thunderstrike.

As I said, the title was dis-continued and the idea stored away.

Next to that sketch is an early conceptual drawing of Gruenhilda, an Asgardian Valkyrie charged by the Lady Sif to train and watch over the 616 version of Kevin Masterson as Thunderstrike in the 2011 THUNDERSTRIKE mini-series.

Weird.

So there you have it, the MC2’s Kevin Masterson aka Thunderstrike could have had a similar arc with an Asgardian Valkyrie mentor and trainer. Seeing this story concept and character adapted to the Main Marvel Universe does at least mean the idea eventually saw print in some form. For anyone wondering, the name Gruenhilda is a nod to dearly missed writer and protector of Marvel Comics continuity Mark Gruenwald.



An interesting foil to the story regarding the published appearance of Gruenhilda, also directly from Mr Frenz’s facebook:



That Was Weird!

Back in 1994 in an issue of THUNDERSTRIKE I had The Lady Sif wearing a variant of a Kirby design which showed a bit more skin.

(Sue me, it was the '90s!)

Nobody blinked.

In the 2010 THUNDERSTRIKE mini-series we introduced an Asgardian Valkyrie character and I thought it would be consistent (and cool!) to repeat elements of the same design to demonstrate their common origins.

Skin included.

The original colors for the character Gruenhilda were shown in the solicitation for the issue.

But at the eleventh hour Editorial blinked big time and re-colored the cover and eliminated the exposed epidermis.

Anyway,1994 nobody blinked.

2010, blink!

That was weird!

Anyway, there you have it, we nearly had a Gruenhilda -or similarly designed- Asgardian Valkyrie character in the MC2, but she did eventually see the light of day thanks to the 2011 Thunderstrike mini-series set in the Main Marvel Universe.

Until I stop stalking Ron Frenz’s facebook for content, I remain

 

frogoat