Is Devil Dinosaur in the MC2?

 

Here’s a fun idea I’ve been chewing over for a while now: What characters could exist in the MC2, but where never seen, referenced or perhaps simply weren’t introduced into Marvel Comics until afterwards? I’ve previously produced a post pondering this proposal when I looked at one of the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy to see if Groot could potentially exist in the MC2. For today, I wanted to take a bite out of another character I’m fond of, to see if Devil Dinosaur could exist in the MC2?

First, we must consider some rules, ironic though it may seem for a thought experiment such as this. Usually the MC2’s point of divergence, ‘cut off point’ or ‘branching point,’ is comics published after 1998, when the MC2 imprint began publication. There have been exceptions to this, with some characters who were created after this point appearing in the MC2, such as Anya Corazón aka Araña. With regards to Devil Dinosaur, we have a very different issue to consider.

 

Created by the king of comics himself, Jack Kirby, Devil first appeared in Devil Dinosaur #1 from 1978. Devil is a mutant tyrannosaurus-like theropod dinosaur of the species known as ‘Devil-Beasts’ (Fallen Angels #4). While Mr Kirby’s intent was for Devil and his ‘Small-Folk’ hominid companion Moon Boy to hail from the distant past of the Main Marvel Universe or Earth-616, it’s now firmly established that they originate from an alternate Earth known as ‘Dinosaur World’, which is officially and in-universe designated as Earth-78411 (The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (vol. 1) #3, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #7, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update ’89 #2, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #8,Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone (and the Monster Hunters) and so on). With all that information as support, it’s safe to say Devil Dinosaur is not native to the 616 Universe. So, does that rule him out of the MC2 Universe also?

 

Fortunately, Devil has traversed the multiverse on multiple occasions, in addition to interacting with visitors to his world from the 616 including Godzilla via Doctor Doom’s Time Platform (Godzilla #21-#22). Devil and Moon Boy have also encountered various others including a Skrull (Devil Dinosaur Spring Fling #1),Lockheed (and nearly Shadowcat) of Excalibur (Marvel Comics Present #174), Ghost Rider and Howard the Duck (Ghost Rider (vol. 3) #81-#83), Wolverine, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Ka-Zar (Wolverine: Global Jeopardy #1) and the Fallen Angels group which included members of the New Mutants team (Fallen Angels #4-#8).

 

One significant story came in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man Annual ’98 (aka ‘Annual #31’) written by none other than Spider-Girl co-creator Tom Defalco. This story saw the duo of Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur stranded once again on Earth-616 and this time under the hypnotic influence of the Ringmaster of Crime. After Spider-Man liberated the pair, he suggested their relocation to the Savage Land where they were settled soon after.

 

Not only is this story written by MC2 alumni Tom Defalco, but it was also published in 1998 making it a likely inclusion into our hypothetical pre-MC2-publication cut off point. So, could Devil Dinosaur reside in the MC2? Yes, it is possible Devil and Moon Boy remain secluded in the remote Savage Land of Antarctica. Considering no published MC2 stories have visited the Savage Land, I’d like to think Devil and his friend are still out there…

 

Until we get Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Season 3, I remain

 

frogoat

Skrulls in the MC2

What a coincidence, I'm writing a post about Skrulls in the MC2 shortly before the release of the Captain Marvel movie which features Skrull prominently! In all seriousness, this post and a few others have been in the works for a while now. Without further ado, let's get started.

While the shape-shifting Skrulls have been menacing the Earth since they first appeared way back in Fantastic Four #2, the first time we see a Skrull in the MC2 is...the first appearance of the MC2 in What If #105. It's here we get a glimpse of the Fantastic Five, who's members include the Skrull Lyja Storm aka Ms. Fantastic.

We learn in Spider-Girl #3 that Lyja is married to Johnny Storm and in Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #2 we are first introduced to the couple's son, Torus Storm, a Human/Skrull hybrid. Torus possesses both his mother's Skrullian ability to shape-shift and his father's pyrogenic powers. Despite his (very) young age, Torus often attempts to aid his family in battle by altering his form into that of a muscular adult male while utilizing his flame-blasts.

Both Torus and his mother Lyja require far more attention than this write-up on the Skrulls as a whole can do justice, so look forward to me giving the them more focus in another post in the future. Needless to say, they are Skrulls and it would have been remiss of me to leave them out of this post.

We don't encounter any other members of the Skrull race until Apox the Omega Skrull is introduced in Spider-Girl #46. Apox a Skrull servant who was turned into a cyborg with the ability to access the Power Cosmic via a power nodule on his back. Apox killed the Skrull Genetech's who granted him this ability when they refused to worship him as a god. Making his way to Earth under the cover of a meteor swarm, making it past the Orbital Defense Grid and destroying the top of the Fantastic Five Headquarters on his mission to destroy the former Fantastic Four. When Spider-Girl removed the power nodule regulating Apox's Power Cosmic, the Omega Skrull nearly exploded due to the overload. Apox was defeated when the nodule was restored after Big Brain (Reed Richards) had made modifications to it (Spider-Girl #47).

Imprisoned within S.H.I.E.L.D.'s  secret Mount Athena maximum security prison, Apox is freed by a beam of 'coherent energy' sent by the Skrull High Command which restores him to power and eliminates the need for a command nodule. After leaving a trail of defeated heroes in his wake, Apox attacks the F5 Headquarters only to be delayed by the team's children and Spider-Girl (Spider-Girl #86-87). Meanwhile, a Skrull Worldship traps the F5 Headquarters within an 'extermi-field' which draws energy from the sun to create a bomb large enough to destroy the Island of Manhattan. It transpires Apox is merely a pawn for the Skrulls to exact their revenge on Earth, as they do not care if he succeeds or fails or even lives or dies (Spider-Girl #87).

Making his way into the Negative Zone via the Fantastic Five's portal, Apox heads to the Fantastistation to take out the original Fantastic Four, only to be defeated by the team when Reed Richards uses the Omega Skrull's Power Cosmic to seal the rift in reality and restore Susan Richards (Spider-Girl #87-88). Spider-Girl makes her way back out of the Negative Zone to deliver Reed Richard's solution to the solar bomb-reversing the polarity and sending the energy back to the Skrull Worldship. With the Skrull Worldship disabled and the mission a failure, the Skrulls chose imprisonment on Earth alongside Apox rather than face the Skrull High Command (Spider-Girl #86).

Finally, the Shaper of Worlds, the sentient Skrull-made original Cosmic Cube makes appearances in Last Planet Standing #2 and #3 alongside other Great Powers of the Universe who gather to discuss the threat to reality Galactus' final plan poses. Ultimately deciding they must destroy Galactus using a combined destructive bolt strong enough to wipe out the Earth and the entire Milky Way Galaxy, the Great Powers are halted in their attempt when Reed Richards is forced to use his Transdimensional Cannon's single shot on the cosmic beings.

As mentioned in my previous post the Orbital Defense Grid was commissioned following the events of the mysterious 'Skrull Incident' (A-Next #2) which was some years prior. This alongside Apox the Omega Skrull's out of date references to heroes such as Thor, Captain America and Iron Man strongly suggests the Skrull Empire has not had contact with Earth since - a fact the marvunapp entry for Apox pointed out (Spider-Girl #47). It's also worth pointing out that apart from Apox, no one from the Skrull Empire approached Earth directly, as evident from the Skrull Worldship's position far away from the planet at the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy (Spider-Girl #87-88). It's also suggested that Apox may have attacked the Fantastic Five against orders as a result of his delusion of godhood. While we don't know much about the state of the Skrull Empire, we do know that it is currently led by an Emperor (Spider-Girl #88) who presumably presides over the Skrull High Command (Spider-Girl #86-88) in a regime that Lyja refers to as 'virtual slavery' (Spider-Girl #88).

And that's it, that's all I have to share about the Skrulls in the MC2. Clearly, there is an untold story in the history of the MC2 involving the 'Skrull Incident' and I believe it played a part in keeping the Skrull race from openly attacking Earth. Perhaps one day I'll expand on it in it's own post?

Until I can uncover Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz's unpublished scripts and plot ideas, I remain

frogoat

The Orbital Defense Grid

This is something somewhat different today, because unlike many of my recent posts which usually tie-in or are in someway tangentially related to upcoming and current movies and films or comic events....this one doesn't have much to do with anything outside the MC2. Unless I'm mistaken (and feel free to correct me) this is a wholly original MC2 concept: The Orbital Defense Grid.

 A collection of satellites positioned in orbit around the planet Earth, the Orbital Defense Grid comes equipped with long-range sensory instrumentation and offensive weaponry capabilities allowing it to detect and destroy incoming space debris, extraterrestrial spacecraft and various other threats to the planet from outer space (A-Next #2, Spider-Girl #34, #46, #86).

We learn a little history behind the Orbital Defense Grid in A-Next #2 when Mainframe off-handedly mentions the Orbital Defense Grid was erected years prior when the government was convinced by the events of the mysterious 'Skrull Incident'. We also learn in Last Planet Standing #2 that Reed Richards helped design the Orbital Defense Grid.

It's worth mentioning that on occasion the Orbital Defense Grid seems to be referred to using different names  and there is also one instance where the speaker may, in fact be referring to an entirely different satellite. The only potential reference to appear in either Fantastic Five series comes from Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #1 when Johnny Storm mentions having downloaded images from the team's 'new Safeguard Satellite'. However, aside from this one example, I believe all other mentions to defensive satellites protecting the Earth are referring to the Orbital Defense Grid.

With all of that out of the way, let's take a look at the various appearances and mentions of the Orbital Defense Grid throughout the MC2. The Orbital Defense Grid first appears to in A-Next #2 when it detects the approach of a Kree spacecraft and fires upon it, resulting in the craft splitting into two before crashing into the Washington National Park.

Following the return of hero spider-powers, May 'Mayday' Parker and her father visit the Fantastic Five for a full check-up. The check-up is interrupted when Lyja spots an alien vessel on long-range space scanners. Lyja calculates the unidentified alien spacecraft will be within range of the planet's Orbital Defense Grid. The team sets out to determine the alien's intentions and potentially avoid a misunderstanding (Spider-Girl #34).

The Fantastic Five are again involved when the Orbital Defense Grid destroys the meteor swarm concealing Apox the Omega Skrull on his approach to Earth. However, the Grid isn't powerful enough to prevent the Skrull from reaching the Fantastic Five Headquarters on his mission to destroy the team (Spider-Girl #46).

The Orbital Defense Grid detected the Skrull High Command's coherent energy beam as it passed on it's way to restore the Power Cosmic to Apox the Omega Skrull so that he could play a part in their revenge plans against the Fantastic Five (Spider-Girl #86).

In Last Planet Standing #2 we not only learn that Reed Richards helped design the Orbital Defense Grid but we also see it's destruction when the latest Herald of Galactus Dominas the Wavemaster uses his phenomenal power upon his approach to Earth.

The destruction of the Orbital Defense Grid is referenced in Avengers Next #1 by American Dream when she mentions Mainframe being called to Washington to consult on a 'new Space Defense Program'. The situation is also referenced by Nova and Earth Sentry when they recall their near deaths during the events of Last Planet Standing (Avengers Next #2). Notably, on both occasions Nova doesn't use the term 'Orbital Defense Grid', instead calling it 'Earth's Satellite Defense Program' in Last Planet Standing #2 and 'Space Defense Perimeter' in Avengers Next #2. Perhaps these are colloquialisms, as we see the likes of the more formal and intelligent Reed Richards, Mainframe and Vision use the term 'Orbital Defense Grid'.

This is the last time the Earth's Orbital Defense Grid is mentioned or seen in the MC2. It's unclear whether Mainframe's meeting in Washington yielded productive plans for a new and improved Orbital Defense Grid and related program. In the meantime, the MC2's Earth remains just a little more vulnerable.

I like the idea of an Earth that's frequently combated alien incursions and invasions developing a defense, particularly because it shows the veteran heroes are competent and didn't leave the world defenseless in their absence. It's a nice plot device.

Until I figure out a way to expand the 'Skrull Incident' into a full post, I remain

frogoat