Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the MC2

 

With Marvel Studios latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise looming on the horizon, now is finally the time to look at an oft underestimated character from the annals of the MC2. Yes, Thunderbolts* will feature Julia Louis-Dreyfus once again portraying none other than ‘Val’, or as she is known in the pages of Marvel Comics the Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. This is Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the MC2.

 

The Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine first appeared in 1967’s Strange Tales #159 in a Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.  story by writer and artist Jim Steranko. She would eventually reach a high ranking status with the spy organisation, even being appointed as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. upon the apparent death of her on-again, off-again lover Nicholas Fury (Captain America #449).

 

As for her counterpart in the MC2, the Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine of Universe-982 debuted in Amazing Spider-Girl #9. Valentina led a team of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the Carnage story arc. Agent Maria Hill tasks Special Agent Arthur Weadon and his team of former villains led by Kaine with safeguarding the transport of an item referred to only as 'Specimen 297' (actually a piece of the Carnage symbiote) through New York City. When the transport convoy is attacked by the faction of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents led by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and the Specimen accidentally let loose in the city by Spider-Girl, Carnage is reborn.

 

Nick Fury makes his first on-panel appearance in the MC2 - albeit shrouded in shadow-when he assures President G.W. Bridge the situation would be resolved despite the complications as he has his best Agent on the case. After an attack by Carnage at Café Indigo, Hill dispatches S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Weadon’s team to track down Spider-Girl for questioning about her involvement (Amazing Spider-Girl #10-#11).

 

After evading both groups, Spider-Girl is reacquired during a battle with Carnage, with Maria Hill sending Weadon’s team and S.H.I.E.L.D. after her once more which results in Carnage attacking all of them. Fortunately, Spider-Girl manages to save everyone involved, but her baby brother Benjy, now merged with a part of the Carnage symbiote, is taken by the villain. Hill calls for emergency aid before following them to Midtown Medical Center (Amazing Spider-Girl #12).

 

 We learn through the investigative work of Kaine and Darkdevil the true plot: the United States was unwilling to destroy the Carnage symbiote despite the United Nations stance on the use of bio-weapons, G.W. Bridge and Nick Fury organised for Valentina’s team of disguised S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents to 'steal' the Specimen, setting up Weadon's team to fail.  This was all to demonstrate the dangers to the congressional committee wishing to keep the symbiote for bio-weapon research under the guise of finding a cure for cancer (Amazing Spider-Girl #12).

 

Maria Hill reports back to Nick Fury that Specimen 297 has been fully neutralized. Despite the operation not going as planned, the situation was salvaged thanks to Spider-Girl's intervention, providing the President with a sound rationale to convince the congressional committee to destroy the remaining Specimen (Amazing Spider-Girl #12).

 

That’s it for Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the MC2. She’s still doing shady operations for S.H.I.E.L.D. even if she can neither confirm nor deny them.

 

Until I stop enjoying writing ‘Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine’ in full, I remain

 

frogoat

MC2 Legacy: Did Mainframe Influence the MCU Iron Man?

 

This will hopefully be the first instalment in a new occasional series touching on the various instances of an MC2 character, concept or…whatever that is later used elsewhere. Basically, a record of the many times the MC2 has influenced the comic’s Main Marvel Universe, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a variety of animated series, etc.  

Many years ago, I wrote about the MC2’s Mainframe being loosely adapted in the Marvel animated series Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. which led to a follow up post and a short video. The episode, ‘Wheels of Fury’, debuted on the 29^th of March 2015 and concludes with the Mainframe Artificial Intelligence taking on a familiar yellow and black armoured form resembling his MC2 design.

 

But this wasn’t the first time we’d seen Iron Man himself in a yellow and black armoured suit. The Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode ‘Fun with Lasers’ which first aired on the 4^th of September 2009 debut’s the teenage Tony Stark’s ‘Space Armor’ when he uses it to reach a hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. Orbital Station.

 

Some might argue that this is a reference to the ‘Iron Man Armor Model 42’ which was the first Iron Man Armor to feature the yellow and black colour scheme. However, the Model 42 didn’t debut until years later with Iron Man (Vol. 5) #1 in November 2012.

 

One of the dozens of Iron Man Armors seen in the climax of the 2013 Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Iron Man 3, the Mark 20 or Mark XX also known by the nickname ‘Python’ is believed to be inspired by the above-mentioned Model 42. Additionally, it also appears in the official Iron Man 3 mobile tie-in video game from Gameloft, thus making the leap to yet another medium.

 

Thus, I’d argue they are all in some way originally inspired by Ron Frenz and Rich Yanizeski’s frankly classic Mainframe designs which debuted all the way back in A-Next #1 from 1998. Here’s an excerpt of what co-creator and artist extraordinaire Ron Frenz had to say about the design of Mainframe on episode 744 of Adam Chapman’s Comic Shenanigan’s podcast:

 

‘We went through a couple of different designs, the early designs still had red and yellow in them and everything. I’ll be perfectly honest with you, what occurred to me about what I like about black and gold is that I’m from Pittsburgh and that’s the colour of all of our sports teams.’

 

Until the MC2 stops being the secret inspiration for the ‘House of Ideas’, I remain

 

frogoat

Adamantium in the MC2

 

Let’s rip into yet another X-Men ’97 related topic today, with a quick look at the nigh-indestructible Marvel metal alloy: Adamantium, as it relates to the world of the MC2. Prepare for an injection of information about Adamantium in the MC2.

 

Before I jump into the history of the amazing alloy, I have to address Captain America’s shield. Prior to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was commonly held ‘wisdom’ that the virtually indestructible shield of Captain America was composed of Adamantium. However, this is not the full story. The shield is a unique combination of ‘Proto-Adamantium’ (apparently even stronger than its successor) and Wakandan Vibranium. Even that account was retconned or disputed in the Avengers (vol. 3) Annual 2001. But that’s a story for another time and another post all its own!

 

True Adamantium first appeared in the Main Marvel Universe or Universe-616 in Avengers (vol. 1) #66 as the creation of a Dr. Myron Maclain who has invited various Avengers including Thor and Iron Man and Goliath (Clint Barton) aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier to test their abilities against it in order to confirm it’s durability. Against his will, The Vision steals the Adamantium and uses it to rebuild his creator, Ultron.

Most notably, Wolverine is the poster boy for Adamantium. First appearing in a single panel of Incredible Hulk #180 and making his first full appearance in Incredible Hulk #181, where Wolverine reveals to the Hulk his claws are ‘forged of diamond-hard Adamantium’. But it’s not until X-Men #98 that the X-Men (and the readers) learn the claws are a part of his body rather than attached to his gloves. Mention is made of Wolverine’s ‘unbreakable bones’ in X-Men #124 before X-Men #126 has Logan outright state he has ‘a skeleton made of about three million bucks worth of Adamantium’. And that’s not adjusted for inflation!

 

We see this ‘Weapon X’ experiment play out in the pages of Marvel Comics Presents #72-#84. Logan survives the experiment due to his mutant healing factor but loses his memory. Writer Larry Hama addressed a significant issue fans had with Logan having Adamantium bonded to his skeleton in Wolverine (vol. 2) #80. There it was explained that Logan’s own mutant physiology had caused a molecular change in the metal- creating what was identified as ‘Adamantium Beta’ -allowing it to bond directly into his skeletal material without inhibiting the living nature of his bones.

 

Now we come to the X-Men storyline known as Fatal Attractions, during which Magneto returns to his villainous ways and uses his powers to rip the Adamantium from Wolverine (X-Men (vol. 2) #25), nearly killing him and shortly afterwards revealing Logan had bone claws beneath the Adamantium the whole time (Wolverine (vol. 2) #75).

Logan would spend several publication years without Adamantium which brings us to the MC2. While on an apparent rescue mission in Madripoor with Wolverine, Zane Yama asks the Canadian former X-Man when he got his Adamantium back. Amusingly, the MC2 predicted and pre-dated the restoration of Wolverine’s Adamantium-coated skeleton, which didn’t occur until Wolverine (vol. 2) #145, published several months later (J2 #10).

 

Jumping back a few months, in the pages of A-Next #6, while helping the hero Argo to find his father Hercules, the Avengers find themselves in the secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facility within Mount Athena. There they learn 'The Merchandise' (actually Hercules himself) is buried several miles within the mountain in a special Adamantium cell. Agent 33 receives orders from 'The Top Man himself' to allow the Avengers to take custody of Hercules.

The following month in J2 #7 we have a one-panel appearance from the mainstay Daredevil villain and assassin Bullseye. I mention this as Bullseye received Adamantium-laced bones to some degree after his spine was shattered in Daredevil #181. This took place in Daredevil #197-#198 at the hands of Kenji Oyama (Lord Dark Wind), the man who originally conceived the method of bonding Adamantium to bones which was stolen and used on Wolverine. Of course, the MC2 Bullseye might instead be a descendant, as was once humorously suggested by Ron Frenz…

 

Back in J2 #8 we get the first appearance of Sabreclaw aka Hudson, the half-brother of Rina Logan aka Wild Thing and the son of Wolverine. While it doesn’t appear to be explicitly referenced in the comics unless I’ve missed something, the All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update #3 confirms that Hudson’s claws have been reinforced with Adamantium sheaths. Additionally, while the Avengers are preparing for a conflict with the Adamantium-bodied Ultron Extreme, Sabreclaw quips that he has ‘experience against Adamantium.’ (Avengers Next #3).

 

 I hope this slice of MC2 history helped provide some context and insight into Adamantium. Let me know if I missed anything as it relates to the MC2!

 

Until I survive a horrific experiment that laces my body with an indestructible metal, survive its removal and then willingly agree to undergo the same experiment again, I remain

 

frogoat