The Punisher in the MC2

With the second and very likely last season of The Punisher now out on Netflix, it's as good a time as any to take a look at the character's appearances in the MC2 Universe.

Frank Castle makes his MC2 debut in the final pages of the Spider-Girl story published within Web of Spider-Man Vol. 2 #7 (or more accurately, the story was first released on the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited service as Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 1 #11).

In the Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 2 #1 we learn what old man Frank has been up to. This is a back-to-basics pared-down version of The Punisher, as Frank notes himself in the opening pages.

This direction is particularly interesting because it allows readers to ignore some of the more outlandish or over the top adventures published over the years. Frank narrates via his War Journal that he was never the psychopathic vigilante who sought to eradicate crime, merely a soldier who declared war on the mob. It's an important distinction. With his mission finished, Castle had retired (more or less) to South America, stationing himself near drug traffickers to keep himself sharp. When news reaches him (thanks to a tip off from a certain crime lord) that the last of the mob, Silvio Barraca aka Silverback is attempting to become the new Kingpin of crime, Frank makes his return to New York (Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 2 #1).

We learn more about Frank's past with the Maggia (Marvel's answer to the real world Mafia) in Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 2 #2. Castle finished his war with the mob by crippling Silvio Barraca as a warning to others. With the Maggia finished, The Punisher disappeared. With the news of Silvio's return to power (thanks to his new exoskeleton) Castle makes his presence known to the seedy underbelly of New York, attempting to learn of Barraca's whereabouts.

When Spider-Girl finds herself staring down the barrel of The Punisher's gun, the two do battle until the fight is interrupted by Wild Card (more on him another time) and Castle is forced to change opponents. Knocking out Wild Card, Frank tracks down Silvio's enforcer Man Mountain Marko and engages him in hand-to-hand combat (Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 2 #3).

Having gained the advantage, Castle is attempting to 'convince' Marko to give up Silvio's location when he is stopped by The Black Tarantula, Silvio's rival for Kingpin. The Black Tarantula offers to trade Marko's life for Silvio's by giving Frank his target's location. When Frank offers instead to kill both Marko and The Black Tarantula, the crime lord reminds the old soldier of his mission's main objective (Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 2 #4).

However, upon arrival at Silvio's mansion, Frank finds himself in the midst of a full blown war between Silvio 'Silverback' Barraca, his men and his puppet master The Hobgoblin and the combined forces of the NYPD, The Warriors, American Dream, The Buzz and Spider-Girl. Castle once again finds himself in conflict with Spider-Girl before she is snatched up by the Hobgoblin, leaving Frank webbed to a chimney as the villains turn the tide in their favour (Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 2 #4).

Assessing the situation, Frank determines that the assembled heroes are outmanned and outgunned and, using a flash-bang grenade to free himself, launches a final assault on Barraca by lunging at the mob boss with a combat knife. Easily stopped by Silvio, Castle is mocked for bringing a knife to a super-fight as the crime lord begins to choke the life out of Frank. Castle inaudibly utters his last words as Barraca leans in closer to hear his enemy's dying words. Suddenly realizing, Barraca snaps Castle's neck as The Punisher shoots the last of the old mob dead. The Punisher has completed his mission and ended his war (Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 2 #4).

The MC2 depiction of The Punisher is honestly one of the best, giving us a straightforward and down to earth take on Frank Castle and his mission. I love his scarred, grey and haggard appearance, his stripped down iconic uniform complete with knee brace and his single-minded focus on completing his mission. This is one of my all-time favourite story-arcs. The art is gorgeous on all counts, the writing is sharp and on-point and the whole thing just culminates so perfectly.

Until I run out of pages in my War Journal, I remain

frogoat

Bullseye in the MC2

Having binge watched almost all of Daredevil Season 3 on Netflix, coupled with my recent post about the character in the MC2, I figured it would be a fun to do a quick little post about one of ol' horn-head's greatest foes: Bullseye.

Making a grand total of one appearance, Bullseye appears in the MC2 in just one panel of a two page story from J2 #7 where he squares off against his former victim Elektra and her daughter Wild Thing. With no context or other clues to suggest any information bout the deadly assassin, I figure it's best to just provide the story here in it's entirety.

There you have it! Bullseye appears to be alive and well and still up to no good in the MC2.

Until I find something of more substance to cover here, I remain

frogoat

History of the MC2: Daredevil

I was inspired recently to make a timeline of events covering the history of the MC2, spanning the nebulous 15 year stretch of time after the Main Marvel Universe (or Universe-616) split off and became the MC2 (or Universe-982) and before the next-generation of heroes began to debut starting with J2 #1, A-Next #1 and What If #105.

Given that Daredevil Season 3 is coming to Netflix, for the third installment of this series I've chosen to examine The Man Without Fear himself; Daredevil. We first learn that Matt Murdock aka Daredevil was killed in What If #105. However, a reoccurring mystery in the pages of Spider-Girl revolves around the identity of the vigilante known as Darkdevil and his connection to the man called Kaine. This is most prominently addressed in Spider-Girl #17 where we learn Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin of Crime was responsible for Daredevil's death. The full story would finally be brought to light in the phenomenal Darkdevil mini series.

While we don't know the exact point at which the history of the Main Marvel Universe's Daredevil stops reflecting that of the MC2's Daredevil, we can make a very educated guess based on the evidence. In Daredevil (vol. 1) #354, Franklin 'Foggy' Nelson - lawyer and close friend of Matthew Murdock - began dating the widowed Liz Osborn. The couple are later split up through the machinations of Mysterio in Daredevil (vol. 2) #8. As we learn in the MC2 that Foggy and Liz eventually married and remained so until Liz's death, we can assume the point where the two Universe's stop sharing a common history is sometime prior to Daredevil (vol. 2) #8.

Spider-Girl #63

Beyond this, we don't know a huge amount about the intervening years before Matt Murock's death.  Phil Urich aka the good Green Goblin tells us in Spider-Girl #42  that at some point Daredevil was ultimately responsible for the capture of the mentally unstable villain Angel Face.

Several years later the District Attorney had collected enough evidence to finally put Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin away for life. Confronting him, Daredevil finds himself in battle with Fisk's enforcer Kaine. With nothing to lose, Fisk orders his men to open fire on Daredevil despite Kaine being in their way. In a heroic final act, Daredevil dies shielding Kaine from the barrage of bullets with his own body (Darkdevil #2).

Deeply moved by Daredevil's selfless sacrifice, Kaine vowed to save the hero through any means necessary. Bringing the slain Murdock's remains to a hidden lab, Kaine endeavoured to revive the dead hero through scientific means. When this proved fruitless, Kaine turned to the arcane methods he himself had used to stave off the effects of clone degeneration.

Unfortunately, Kaine's well meaning actions would have unintended consequences. Nearly a year earlier, Kaine had found his 'brother' Ben Reilly and Elizabeth Tyne's son (later known as Reilly Tyne) dying as a result of Ben's clone nature. Having placed him in a Resuscitation Tube to save his life, the boy lay in stasis when Kaine summoned the demonic Zarathos. The Spirit of Vengence ignored Kaine's offer of his own life in exchange for Daredevil's. Instead Zarathos possessed the teenage boy, altering his body into a demonic adult form with the intent of walking the earth once more.

Suddenly confronted by the soul of Daredevil in spirit form, Zarathos and the hero battled for the body and soul of the innocent. The conflict raged until finally Daredevil succeeded in banishing the demon, with Zarathos leaving his marks upon the boy and swearing vengeance. 

 The boy eventually mastered the residual abilities Zarathos had given him, though he now appeared to be a man in his twenties. Driven by the spirit of Matt Murdock, he enrolled in college and eventually joined Foggy Nelson's law firm under the name Reilly Tyne while fighting crime as the vigilante Darkdevil.

Though Matt Murdock died years ago, Daredevil lives on within the soul of another hero dedicated to justice. 

Based on various comments throughout various MC2 titles, we can piece together the order of events surrounding Daredevil's death and afterlife. However, unlike previous entries in this series, we have far less definitive references to determine placement in the pre-history of the MC2. We know Murdock died 'quite a few years ago' thanks to a line in Spider-Girl #17 but that's not much to work from. 

That said, here's what we do know:

• Foggy Nelson and Liz Allan Osborn continue dating and eventually marry, raising Liz's son Normie Osborn together.
• Many years later, the 13 year old son of Ben Reilly and Elizabeth Tyne is found near-death by Kaine, who places him in a Resuscitation Tube to stave off his clone degeneration.
• Nearly a year later, the District Attorney has collected enough evidence to send Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin to jail for life
•  Daredevil is killed saving Kaine from Fisk's gunmen.
• Kaine attempts to revive Daredevil using science but fails, and so resorts to the arcane.
• Kaine summons Zarathos and pleads with the demon to restore Daredevil to life in exchange for his own.
• Zarathos instead possesses and alters the body of Reilly and Tyne's son. 
• Daredevil's spirit battles Zarathos for the boy's soul and body, eventually driving the demon out.
• The boy eventually masters his demonic abilities and studies law, gaining a job at Foggy Nelson's law firm under the name Reilly Tyne while also operating as the masked hero Darkdevil in Murdock's honour.
• Daredevil's soul continues to guide Reilly Tyne.

*Theoretically, we could use 'Reilly Tyne's' age of 13 years (+1 year in stasis) to estimate how long ago Daredevil was murdered and Kingpin went to jail but that requires knowing when Tyne was conceived. While that might sound easy, we actually have at least two potential answers. But that's a topic for another day.*

The Darkdevil mini series represents a truly mind-boggling collection of concepts and ideas that somehow work really well together. I think it's a fitting end for the Man Without Fear to fight vengeance with justice. 

Until I go blind reading MC2 comics, I remain

frogoat

Previous entries in the History of the MC2 series to-date:

History of the MC2: The Avengers

History of the MC2: The Fantastic Four

Iron Fist in the MC2

I figured with Iron Fist Season 2 hitting Netflix, now was the time to talk about Danny Rand aka The Iron Fist in the MC2 Universe. Unlike Luke Cage and Misty Knight, Daniel Thomas Rand-K'ai actually makes not only one appearance, but a whole handful of appearances across various MC2 titles.

Iron Fist makes his first MC2 appearance in J2 #11, which I've briefly discussed in another post. Seen only briefly, Iron Fist is among many other fellow martial artists who were invited to a small island to participate in a tournament. When it is revealed the tournament was a death trap orchestrated by the mercenary Deadpool, Iron Fist and the other combatants promptly team up to end his plan. It's worth noting that this initial MC2 outing for Danny is seemingly contradicted by his next appearance.

When we next encounter Danny Rand in Spider-Girl #24, we learn a great deal about him. He married his beloved Misty Knight only to later lose her to cancer. When Misty died, Danny ceased using his Iron Fist and withdrew from the public eye. Opening up a dojo to teach a new generation martial arts, Danny trained many students including Spike Yi. 

After a new super villain calling himself Dragonfist begins committing robberies wielding what appears to be the chi of the Iron Fist while adorned in a tattoo resembling Shou-Lao, the legendary dragon of K'un-Lun. Implicated in the crime, Rand is drawn out of his self-imposed isolation. Believing his former pupil Yi - now a major action movie star - is responsible, Danny confronts him only to learn that Spike has instead chosen to squander his martial prowess making movies and selling merchandise.

When Dragonfist attempts another robbery, Spider-Girl confronts him but has no success, finding his entire body impervious to her attacks. Danny finally dons his Iron Fist gi and, believing Dragonfist unworthy to wield the power of the Immortal Iron Fist, battles the criminal in an effort to strip it from him by force.

The effort proves fruitless until Spider-Girl, using her spider-sense, directs Iron Fist to aim for Dragonfist's belt. Doing so, the heroes discover Dragonfist was merely Spike Yi's assistant using a personal force field to simulate the power of the Iron Fist. Safe in this knowledge, Danny returns to his dojo.

After this we get a few more appearances from Iron Fist in the form of cameos in Last Hero Standing #3-5. Danny is among the many heroes captured and corrupted by Loki in a plot to bring about the end of the Age of Heroes. He is eventually freed from Loki's spell by Captain America and witnesses the super soldier's death shortly thereafter.

Iron Fist's last appearances are also cameos in the pages of Avengers Next #4 and #5. When Loki's daughter Sylene attempts to restore the devastated Asgard by recreating it on Earth, she creates energy duplicates of various super humans to serve her purposes. Danny Rand is among those rendered comatose in the process of creating these duplicates. When Sylene is defeated, Iron Fist's duplicate dissipates and Danny is presumable restored.

Sadly that's all we see of Daniel Rand in the MC2. As I mentioned above his first appearance in the MC2 canon seems like a contradiction, with Danny in-costume and wielding his trademark Iron Fist. Perhaps that's a discussion for another day? For now, I'm off to marathon Iron Fist Season 2.




Until I stop pointing out continuity errors like a giant nerd, I remain




frogoat