Now that I’ve done a post about Bluestreak’s Costumes
and discussed both Blue’s and J2’s approximate age as part of a
series about the members of A-Next’s Ages, I figured it’s a no-brainer
to take a quick look at the different costumes worn by Zane Yama through
the years. This should be fun!
For starters, Zane’s most iconic costume is his
original J2 costume, which sort of appeared in What If #105, but
let’s be honest, that was originally intended to be Zane’s father Cain
Marko aka the original Juggernaut as an Avenger. A happy accident
led to this retroactively being the first appearance of everyone’s favourite
bulky boy hero J2, and I’ll always be grateful for that!
It’s revealed in J2 #1 that the transformation from Zane
Yama into his hulking, muscular form doesn’t come with clothes provided:
The first J2 costume makes its proper debut in J2 #1
and A-Next #1, designed by costume designer extraordinaire Ron
Frenz. While Zane spray paints an old set of armour belonging to his
missing father, he adds regular footwear and poignantly his dad’s favourite
shirt as personal touches.
While Zane retains this costume throughout both the J2
and A-Next series, I’d be remiss not to point out the wonder that is…The
Masked Midget! This brilliant disguise of young Yama’s has a couple
variations, likely depending on whatever colour and design of balaclava or ski-mask
is available at the time (A-Next #2,
J2 #10).
Whether it counts or not is debatable, but I’ll err on the side
of caution by including ‘The Day Juggie Lost Nearly 1000 Pounds’
during his battle with the villainous Parody:
There’s also the masterful mystery man known only as ‘Patch’. I wish I had more information to give you on this character, but he’s shrouded in mystery and intrigue! Thanks, Wolverine! (A-Next #10)
Boy, J2 #10 is a treasure-trove of alternate looks
for Juggie Junior, isn’t it? Here’s Sir Jugalot from one of ‘J2’s
Funny Fairy Tales for Fools and Felons’ in all his noble glory:
After saving his father Cain Marko from captivity in another
dimension, Zane returns his father’s shirt in the pages of Wild Thing
#2 and is seen without it in the series subsequent issues (Wild Thing
#3-5).
The no-shirt-around-waist iteration of the J2 costume would stay the norm throughout
the characters appearances in Spider-Girl with the exception of a fantasy sequence dreamed up by Felicity Hardy wherein J2 can briefly be seen with a fancy F5-style belt (Spider-Girl #52).
When Ron Frenz became
the regular artist on the title and redesigned ol’ Juggie’s costume in Spider-Girl
#58, added a new piece of civilian clothing; cargo shorts!
This would become the standard design from this point onward,
showing up throughout the Last Hero Standing, Last Planet Standing,
Amazing Spider-Girl, Avengers Next, Fantastic Five and American
Dream series.
Allowing for a few minor colour changes, these cargo shorts
remains the same red-brown colour, though the MC2 story seen in Spider-Island
#1-5 clearly depicts Zane rocking blue pants.
That’s it, that’s a wrap! I’ve got nothing else. Let me know
if I’ve missed anything or if you have any questions. I’ll keep doing these
costume posts as long as people are interested! What’s your favourite J2
costume? Who’s should I cover next?
Until I stop liking shorts even though they are comfy and
easy to wear, I remain
frogoat