As part of my endless delving into the obscure and wonderful characters of the MC2, today I’m going to take a look at the leader of the New Warriors and the Avengers teammate, the long-time love interest of Firestar. Yes, this post is about the telekinetic mutant hero Vance Astrovik aka Justice in the MC2.
While the older alternate reality 30th century future Guardians of the Galaxy counterpart to Justice known as Major Vance Astro first appeared in Marvel Super Heroes #18, it wasn’t until Giant-Size Defenders #5 that the Main Marvel Universe Vance Astrovik debuted as a teenager. Due to encountering his older time-travelling self (twice!), not only did Vance’s life take a different path, but his telepathic abilities emerged earlier (Marvel Two in One #69).
Eventually, Vance becomes his
own hero as Marvel Boy and later Justice, joining the New
Warriors along the way. But it was his eventual membership as an Avenger that
we will be discussing today, particularly as it relates to the History
of the MC2 Avengers. As I’ve detailed in previous
posts, it appears the events surrounding Heroes Reborn and Heroes
Return unfolded in the MC2 just as they had in
the Main Marvel Universe. However, with the start of the third
volume of the Avengers series, it becomes less clear how
closely the two worlds mirror each other after this point. What is likely is
that in the MC2, the Avengers team reformed much
as they had in Avengers vol. 3 #1-4 with Justice and
his fiancé Firestar joining the group officially in Avengers
vol. 3 #4.
I mention all this to lend
context to the limited information we have available regarding Justice
in the MC2. In the Main Marvel Universe, Justice (alongside
Firestar) received a new costume designed by fellow Avenger Janet
Van Dyne aka The Wasp in Avengers (vol. 3) #8.
As I’ve discussed
previously, we know the original Avengers team’s last
mission was nearly 12 years prior to the events of A-Next #1, as
mentioned by Jarvis when he recounts the details to the
new Avengers. Both Firestar and Justice are
seen amongst the assembled Avengers during the flashback where
it is decided the team must venture through the portal to the alternate world
to halt Doom’s multiversal threat. While it is difficult to
discern from this cameo, Justice appears to be wearing the Van
Dyne-designed Avengers-era costume mentioned above, so we know he
was by that point in time a well-established member, either one who was on the
then-current roster or simply returning for this major emergency summons (A-Next
#7).
Justice was among the first who agreed to embark
on the grave mission which saw only seven members return through the portal.
While we don’t get a 100% confirmation, it’s assumed Vance Astrovik died
along with almost all of the Avengers who went on this final
mission, including his lover Firestar. Despite the sobering tragedy
of such a massive loss, the team did succeed in saving their Earth from the
threat of Doom (A-Next #7).
While I believe it’s extremely unlikely that either Justice
or Firestar are somehow alive on the alternate Earth ruled
by Doom, it should be noted that the reports of Captain
America’s death were greatly exaggerated as revealed in A-Next
#10. It’s such a huge tragedy that both these young heroes gave their lives
for the cause, especially as they were engaged or had even married by this point.
Sadly, we’ll probably never know.
Until I meet my future self who has not only been in suspended
animation for centuries but also travelled back in time, I remain
frogoat