MC2 Cameo in Spider-Gwen: Gwenverse #5

 

This will be a super quick post to finish off the lean month, since it’s just been brought to my attention that the MC2 makes a cameo appearance in the latest issue of the Spider-Gwen mini-series  Spider-Gwen: Gwenverse #5. Here’s the relevant page which seems to depict at least a version of Cassie Lang aka Stinger and May ‘Mayday’ Parker aka Spider-Girl:

 

 

I should point out the Spider-Girl costume is inaccurate, as is often the case with these sort of cameo glimpses over the past decade. But more importantly, I do not understand why the relatively new Captain America from 2099-related comics is featured in the same slice of the page. Either the artist (Jodi Nishijima) meant this to be Shannon Carter aka American Dream and got the wrong costume reference or this slice is representative of more than one universe.

 

Until I find a new job with better hours and better pay, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

American Dream in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

 

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated series is often regarded by fans as one of if not the best adaption of the Avengers on the small screen. It’s a little-known fact that the MC2 Universe character American Dream showed up in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes…well, kinda.

 

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes series led to spin-off media including a tie-in comic which published brand new stories in the continuity of the show. Thus, within the pages of Marvel Universe: Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #11 in a story aptly titled ‘The Last American Dream,’ a version of the MC2’s own American Dream makes an appearance. While at first it appears to be a tale set in the future following an elderly retired Captain America aka Steve Rogers watching on as a team composed of James Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Barnes aka The Winter Soldier, John Walker aka U.S.Agent and a Werewolf version of Captain America led by Shannon Carter aka American Dream known as the Captain Americorps battles an army of Doombots, it soon becomes clear things are not as they seem.

 

The heroic Sleepwalker reveals to Steve Rogers that he is in fact ensnared within a dream being influenced and manipulated by the villainous Fear Lord entity known as Nightmare. The Sleepwalker succeeds in breaking Steve out of his dream, one in which he wasn’t frozen for decades and instead grew old and raised a family with Peggy Carter. Empowered by the Sleepwalker’s guidance, Rogers manages to fight off Nightmare’s influence and awakens.

 

It's interesting that the fictional Captain Americorps shares some members with the Captain America Corps seen in the mini-series of the same name: U.S.Agent, Bucky (formerly The Winter Soldier) and American Dream. Considering Steve would have no knowledge of Shannon’s superhero identity it’s would seem Nightmare was responsible for inserting a version of American Dream into the dream reality. Maybe he’s a fan? Another small point is Shannon’s costume including the little wings on the side of her head, as they appeared in her own mini-series.

 

Not quite a case of the MC2 in the animated Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes shared universe, but a case of a character crossover that I considered consequential enough to cover! I think it was neat to see American Dream pencilled in the show’s art style even if only for one page. Let me know what you think of these shorter, simpler posts.

 

Until I forget my hypnocil and fall asleep, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

Missed MC2 Costumes

 

It’s been a long time since I did a MC2 Costumes post. For anyone unfamiliar, I’ve so far detailed every variant costume (or robotic shell) worn by Bluestreak, J2, Freebooter, Mainframe and American Dream. While I’m not going to hit you with a full-blown new entry in this occasional series today, I did want to do a sort of update to cover some of the costumes I’ve missed from passed entries.

 

This first one I found while rereading J2 #11 for my recent posts covering Howard the Duck in the MC2 and Shang-Chi in the MC2. I genuinely don’t know how I missed it the first time, but here’s Zane Yama in his own standard looking martial arts training uniform or ‘gi’ after realizing he should have some fight training for when he isn’t a nearly indestructible behemoth of a boy as J2.

 

Next up is a very minor one I missed for American Dream: Shannon’s standard costume as it appeared in the American Dream mini-series (with wings on the helmet) sans her iconic gloves and disk launchers. I figured for completeness’s sake I’d include it here (American Dream #2).

 

Finally, while it’s not actually seen in the issue proper, from the Ron Frenz drawn cover of American Dream #4 we have a depiction of Shannon transformed into one of Silikong’s ‘crystal creatures’ which were alternatively referred to as ‘crystal soldiers,’’crytal slaves’ or simply ‘crystal monsters’. The cover is a reference to the Red Queen and Silikong’s plan to turn American Dream into crystalline form to ‘publicise’ his elicit army building process.

 

That’s all I have for today. I may find time in the future to return to this series but I’m not sure when due to time constraints. If you think I’ve missed any more costumes or ‘looks’ let me know in a comment.

 

Until I develop my own line of super hero attire, I remain

 

frogoat

American Dream Handbook Correction

 

I'd like to preface this little post by saying I love the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series and have a lot of respect for the hard work and dedication of the people who work on it's various entries. I'm also aware that there are time and space constraints and that no one is infallible and errors sometimes slip by unnoticed. So, with all that said, here's another really pointless correction I'd like to make.

So, in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update #1 (published in 2010) American Dream received a full-page entry. Now, I could point out that Shannon Carter’s level of education in the entry is listed as ‘unrevealed,’ despite the fact that we know that she obtained her job as a tour guide ‘right out of high school,’ as I mentioned in my last post. Here's the original handbook entry for reference:

 

But, that’s not what I really wanted to address today. It’s the section that mentions the Dream Team. According to the handbook entry ‘Barton dubbed his trainees the “Dream Team,” and intended them to replace the Avengers, who had fallen in battle years ago but before they could do so, a new team of Avengers formed.’ Obviously, this explicitly identifies the former Avenger Hawkeye aka Clint Barton as the one who named his group of special students the Dream Team. But this is clearly not the case, as we see in American Dream #4, where Brandon Cross aka Freebooter is inspired by fellow student Shannon’s speech and gives the group the name.

 

 

There are obviously other minor issues in the write up, but mostly these come down to compressing information to fit on the page, and usually don’t explicitly provide factual errors.

 

Until I stop picking nits, I remain

 

frogoat

 

A-Next Ages: American Dream

 

I thought it might be fun to work out the approximate ages of the various members of the MC2’s Avengers. Keep in mind this isn’t definitive unless it’s spelt out on the page and is merely a rough estimate based on in-universe information or- where necessary- statements from the creative teams involved in the characters creation and development.

 

 

For the fifth entry in this occasional series of A-Next Ages, it’s time to figure out the age of the team’s iconic, patriotic and statuesque blonde heroine: American Dream.

 

Much of the evidence you’ll see in this post was also used when I covered Freebooter’s Age but it’s important to lay out everything to make sense of it. Firstly, let’s take into account Shannon Carter’s height, which is first mentioned in-universe as 6’2” in A-Next #4 and later confirmed in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update #1. It’s a safe bet based on this that Shannon is an adult and unlikely to grow any taller.

 

 

Argo the Almighty refers to Thunderstrike, American Dream and Bluestreak as ‘all around my age’ in A-Next #6. It appears Argo himself is a teenager (albeit one of godly stature) which helps give us a ball park figure to determine American Dream’s own age.

 

While it was initially established that Shannon Carter was a Tour Guide at Avengers Compound first seen in A-Next #1 and revealed in A-Next #3-#4, we get plenty more details about her early life in the American Dream mini-series. We know that Shannon was training to become a ‘super-athlete’ like her hero Captain America while still in high school. It was during this period that she first met Clint Barton (formerly Hawkeye) and Brandon Cross (later known as Freebooter) as seen in American Dream #3.

 

 

As mentioned above, Shannon works as a Tour Guide. According to American Dream #1, Shannon used her great Aunt Peggy’s connections to secure the job ‘right out of high school.’ Shannon notes it put her on the front lines and helped pay her expenses. This tells us that Shannon has already graduated high school and also paid for her own living expenses.

 

 

Shannon is seen leaving work and returning to what is presumably her own apartment to meet up with her fellow Dream Team members in (A-Next #3). Later on, in the pages of American Dream #1, Shannon notes that she ‘moved into Avengers Mansion over a year ago.’ This makes it clear that after becoming a member of the Avengers, Shannon must have moved into the team’s headquarters. Additionally, we now know over a year has passed since the events of A-Next #4, making Shannon another year older.

 

 

In Last Hero Standing #2 when, during a visit to their former mentor and teacher Clint Barton, the narration box refers to both American Dream and Freebooter as teenagers. This estimation is reiterated in the follow up mini-series’ Last Planet Standing #1 when Vision describes the current Avengers team as ‘mainly a group of idealistic, enthusiastic and powerful teenagers.’ It should be noted that Shannon was not an active member of the team at this point, however.

 

 

As American Dream, Shannon ran one of Clint’s training exercises known as the Gauntlet. It was at this time that Barton’s fellow students learned of the new Avengers team. Shannon notes when reflecting on this time that she hadn’t thought about the Gauntlet ‘in years’ (American Dream #4)

 

 

As noted in this series’ Freebooter entry, Brandon and Shannon appear to be around the same age. While Brandon has moments of maturity, Shannon is the more mature of the two, as noted by Ron Frenz on Adam Chapman’s podcast Comic Shenanigans Episode 744:

 

‘I liked the way they interacted, I liked the way Brandon and Blue came across as brother and sister, carping at each other. And Shannon kind of came across as the oldest sister who was constantly going ‘Bluestreak!’ and telling her to mind herself and all that kind of stuff.’

 

 

Now let’s look at what we can conclude by putting several smaller points together:

·         Shannon began training under Clint Barton while still in high school

·         Shannon began her tour guide job at the Avengers Compound right after finishing high school, moving into her own apartment

·         While working at Avengers Compound, Shannon witnessed the formation of the new Avengers team in A-Next #1

·         Shannon runs the Gauntlet training exercise and Barton’s other students learn of the new Avengers team

·         American Dream joins the Avengers alongside the rest of the Dream Team and at some point afterwards, Shannon takes up residence at Avengers Compound

·         During the events of Last Hero Standing, Shannon is said to still be a teenager

·         By the time the events of the American Dream mini-series occur, Shannon had resided in Avengers Compound for over a year

 

With all of that out of the way, we have another case of an easy-to-ascertain age within the MC2. Shannon Carter aka American Dream is at least 19 years old, at least up until the events of Last Hero Standing. It’s very likely she’s 20 or even 21 years old by the end of the MC2’s publication history, given we know over a year has passed in-universe. If you have any arguments to the contrary or you feel I’ve missed something, don’t hesitate to let me know!

 

 

 

Until I adorn myself after a super-athlete patriotic war veteran super hero and attempt to honour his legacy, I remain

 

 

 

frogoat