Spider-Symmetry: Mary Jane and the Smythe Family

 

Another quick post, this time for my long-neglected Spider-Symmetry series. For today’s entry, I wanted to show a fun little connection between two Spidey comics separated by 20 years and a whole universe.

 

First up in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 we meet Alistaire Alphonso Smythe, the son of Spencer Smythe. In his first appearance Alistaire is an overweight man who worked for the Kingpin until he is promptly fired. We also learn that Spencer Smythe left Alistaire and his mother, only visiting occasionally, and ignoring Alistaire, in his obsession talking only of destroying Spider-Man. Due to some silly shenanigans, Alistaire captures Mary Jane and her Aunt Anna, mistakenly believing MJ is Spider-Man until his flying saucer-style Spider-Slayer crashes into powerlines. While the cover of this story depicts Mary Jane removing her coat to reveal she is wearing a Spider-Man costume beneath, this unfortunately does not actually occur within the issue itself.

 

Staci Smythe makes her first appearance as an unnamed store clerk in the Spider Shoppe when May first discovers the place in Spider-Girl #45. We later learn more about Staci Smythe in Spider-Girl #91 when she is revealed as the costumed villain La Fantome. Staci Smythe desired to be a famous fashion designer and attended fashion college. While there she was recruited by Mary Jane Parker to work at the Spider Shoppe upon its opening, allowing her to pay for her education. Recognizing Staci's surname, Mary Jane had hoped to give the young woman a break from the stigma of her family's name, which Staci evidently greatly appreciated.

 

Disguised as La Fantome, Staci began making attacks on Daniel Kingsley at his Spider-Women themed fashion show and warehouse office as revenge for his profiting from idea's stolen from the Spider Shoppe. Staci also organized a rally in support of the Spider Shoppe which attracted the police, prompting her to don her La Fantome guise once more. However, La Fantome undone when her fellow rally attendee's (including Spider Shoppe secret-owner Mary Jane Parker and Spider-Girl herself, May Parker) joined forces to surround her wearing various spider-costumes allowing Spider-Girl the opportunity to easily apprehend and unmask her. 

 

So, we have both stories, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 and Spider-Girl #90, featuring Mary Jane in the classic Spider-Man costume and both featuring a Smythe Family member as the antagonist, albeit with the latter issue revealing Staci at least meant well. Plus, this time Mary Jane wore the costume in the issue itself! Heck, going way back to the events of Amazing Spider-Man #25 (and visited by a time-travelling Mayday in Spider-Girl #10-#11), both Spencer Smythe and Mary Jane’s first appearance (albeit an obscured appearance), the resolution of the plot involves a Spider-Man costume being used to thwart the Spider-Slayer too. But maybe that’s a stretch?

 

Until I stop having my brain wrinkled by these fun little touches, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

Who is the Fast Lane Spider-Girl?!

‘Fast Lane’ was the name of an infamous 4-part anti-drug story inserted into the middle of basically every comic Marvel published every second month between September 1999 and March 2000 including the MC2’s Spider-Girl, Fantastic Five, Wild Thing titles. Created by the Marvel Creative Services in conjunction with the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, the story was written by Glenn Herdling with pencils by Gregg Schigiel (who contributed gorgeous art to Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide by Tom Defalco) with inks by Richard Case.

But why am I talking about this particular story here? Well, you see in Part 4 of the story "Back on Target” there’s an absolutely amazing double splash page featuring various Marvel Heroes all helping out at the site of an accident. The heroes include Thor, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, Storm, Wolverine, Wonder Man, She-Hulk, Captain America and Spider-Girl. Wait… what?!

Obviously, this story doesn’t take place in the MC2 and that’s not May ‘Mayday’ Parker, so what’s going on? This was a mystery that used to bother me as a young reader, but nowadays looking up information is a lot easier. Curiously, both the Marvel Chronology Project and Amazing Spider-Man: Official Index to the Marvel Universe not only identify the character as being the Mattie Franklin incarnation of Spider-Woman but also place it within the Main Marvel Universe after the events of Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #14 and Spider-Woman (Vol. 3) #9. To be fair, the Official Index chooses to err on the side of caution with notes clarifying “If Fast Lane is in continuity, it takes place shortly after that issue” and “Spider-Woman called “Spider-Girl” here” in an attempt to tie up the matter.

While an admirable effort, there are a few problems with this explanation, the first being that Mattie Franklin never used web-shooters such as those visibly worn by Fast Lane’s Spider-Girl. The second issue is why Mattie would even use webbing in the first place, given her ability to fly. Thirdly, Mattie was never seen in the costume depicted. On this occasion, I’m going to have to disagree with the idea that this character is Mattie Franklin and that the story takes place in the Main Marvel Universe.

So, what’s going on? Well, for answers we have to take a look at an article on Comics Alliance about the Fast Lane story, which includes some great insight from the artist himself Gregg Schigiel. Here’s an excerpt:


“Just above that, there's a Spider-Man type girl who's saving a kid…that was a version of Spider-Girl that Marvel's Creative Services was working on at the time, that if memory serves, I helped design. I'm not sure what the endgame there was (clearly something licensing-related), but I only ever drew her here and as a kind of paper doll cut-out type thing, which I think was meant for presentation purposes. In perfect late '90s fashion she has a bare midriff and capri pants”



So that confirms it, then. This is not intended to be Mattie Franklin nor Mayday Parker, though the character does perhaps borrow some elements from both characters, notably the former’s hair style and the latter’s heroic identity. As for what licensed products this Spider-Girl design wound up being used for, I believe these contemporary dress-up costumes were part of the merchandising endgame Mr Schigiel mentioned:

Special thanks to Ron Frenz for providing the above image, because it is now seemingly impossible to find online anywhere in the present day. Mr Frenz would reference this costume design with both the cover and interiors for Spider-Girl #91, showcasing it during a scene centred around the Spider Shoppe, a boutique specializing in Spider-Women-themed apparel.

I guess that brings us full circle back to the good ol’ MC2. If anyone has anymore information about this unnamed Fast Lane Spider-Girl, please let me know! A huge thanks to arias-98105, Ron Frenz and the Comics Alliance website for their various contributions to this post, otherwise I’d have no idea what I’m talking about!



Until I find more obscure, unimportant and largely pointless facts to impart, I remain



frogoat

The Smythe Family Tree

One of my favourite aspects of the MC2 universe is the multi-generational characters and legacies that crop up. It's one of the reasons I began this off-and-on-again series of MC2 Family Trees and today's post presents another fun example. The Smythe Family Tree will detail the family of genius creators responsible for the various Spider-Slayer robots!

To begin with, we have Spencer Smythe who first appeared in my all-time favourite Stan Lee/Steve Ditko issue, Amazing Spider-Man #25. In his first appearance, Spencer is only referred to as Smythe and his robot has not yet been dubbed a 'Spider-Slayer' (unless we accept the altered events of Mayday's time travel in Spider-Girl #10 and #11 where it is explicitly referred to as such...). It's also worth noting that poor Spencer was perfectly polite, respectable and in no way obsessed with catching and killing the wallcrawler at this point. No, here he's just a scientist trying to sell his product and he would remain interested in other endeavours when he next appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #28, before being assaulted and robbed by his former assistant, Mark Raxton moments before he becomes the Molten Man using Spencer's own newly created alloy.

After this, Spencer would make further attempts to capture Spider-Man using his newly-dubbed Spider-Slayers by convincing J Jonah Jameson to fund his efforts (Amazing Spider-Man #58). Growing more obsessed with exacting revenge on the web-head, Spencer abused his position as scientific advisor to enact a plot to use Jameson while destroying Spider-Man in the process (Amazing Spider-Man #105-#107). Foiled, Spencer turned his focus solely on killing Spider-Man, this time also building robotic replicas of other villains only to once again be defeated (Amazing Spider-Man #150).

Learning that he was dying as a result of exposure to the radioactive materials he used in his Spider-Slayers, Spencer set about enacting his revenge on both J Jonah Jameson and Spider-Man. Operating from the shadows and becoming increasingly unhinged, Smythe paid various villains to aid him in his master scheme, eventually orchestrating the apparent death of Jonah's son, John Jameson. With Jonah blaming Spider-Man, Smythe was once again approached by Jameson seeking a new Spider-Slayer. However, Spencer captured Jonah and following a battle with his latest Spider-Slayer, shackled Spider-Man and Jameson together with a bomb set to detonate in 24 hours. While Spider-Man and Jameson would eventually free themselves, Spencer would not live long enough to witness his final failure, dying beforehand (Amazing Spider-Man #186-#192).

In Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 we meet Alistaire Alphonso Smythe, the son of Spencer Smythe. In his first appearance Alistaire is an overweight man who worked for the Kingpin until he is promptly fired. We also learn that Spencer Smythe left Alistaire and his mother, only visiting occasionally and ignoring Alistaire, in his obsession talking only of destroying Spider-Man. Due to some silly shenanigans, Alistaire captures Mary Jane and her Aunt Anna, mistakenly believing MJ is Spider-Man until his flying saucer-style Spider-Slayer crashes into powerlines.

 

 When next we see Alistaire, the injuries sustained during his crash have left him confined to a wheelchair with damage to his nervous system, only able to sustain himself via intravenous injections which likely contributed to his significant weight loss. Tracking Mary Jane down in his new Spider-Slayer an attempt to find the true identity of Spider-Man, Alistaire eventually followed her to Pittsburgh. There he was defeated again thanks to the combined efforts of Mary Jane and an enraged Spider-Man  who threatened Smythe not to harm MJ or other innocents again. (Amazing Spider-Man 291-#292).

Sent to an asylum, Alistaire eventually escaped with a group of fellow intelligent patients, keeping them as a work force to build a series of Spider-Slayers. During this time, Smythe developed a bio-organic carapace which repaired and enhanced his body, granting him super-human abilities. Dubbing himself the 'Ultimate Spider-Slayer,' Alistaire sent the various robots one after the other in a wave of attacks on Spider-Man until he was eventually found and defeated by the hero (Amazing Spider-Man #367-#373). 

Alistaire would next appear during the Clone Saga in two connected storylines, Virtual Mortality and CyberWar wherein he allies himself with prospective crime boss Jason Tso against Carolyn Trainer aka Doctor Octopus. Seeking specific microchips to complete and improve his new Cyber-Slayers, Smythe eventually ends up being out played by Trainer when she takes possession of the master control for the constructs following Alistaire's completion of the device, knocking him out in the process (Amazing Scarlet Spider #1, Scarlet Spider #1-#2, Spectacular Scarlet Spider #1-2, Web of Scarlet Spider #2).

That's the last time we see Alistaire before the MC2 diverges from the Main Marvel Universe, but it's not the last time a Smythe plagues the Parker family over in the pages of Spider-Girl. Staci Smythe makes her first appearance as an unnamed store clerk in the Spider Shoppe when May first discovers the place in Spider-Girl #45. Cleverly and subtly, Staci makes small appearances in almost all later issues featuring the Spider Shoppe, including Spider-Girl #73 and Spider-Girl #75 where Mayday purchases her original black suit.

We learn far more about Staci Smythe in Spider-Girl #91 when she is revealed as the costumed villain La Fantome. Staci Smythe desired to be a famous fashion designer and attended fashion college. While there she was recruited by Mary Jane Parker to work at the Spider Shoppe upon it's opening, allowing her to pay for her education. Recognizing Staci's surname, Mary Jane had hoped to give the young woman a break from the stigma of her family's name, which Staci evidently greatly appreciated.

Disguised as La Fantome, Staci began making attacks on Daniel Kingsley at his Spider-Women themed fashion show and warehouse office as revenge for his profiting from idea's stolen from the Spider Shoppe. Staci also organized a rally in support of the Spider Shoppe which attracted the police, prompting her to don her La Fantome guise once more. However, La Fantome undone when her fellow rally attendee's (including Spider Shoppe secret-owner Mary Jane Parker and Spider-Girl herself, May Parker) joined forces to surround her wearing various spider-costumes allowing Spider-Girl the opportunity to easily apprehend and unmask her. 

A few things before I wrap this up: While Mary Jane mentions Staci's uncle made Spider-Slayers and was an old enemy of Spider-Man, we don't learn whether the uncle in question was Spencer or Alistaire. For the purposes of my Smythe Family Tree, I've concluded this refers to Spencer, as Alistaire never mentions having any siblings when discussing his childhood. The only argument I have to refute this is Alistaire is far more familiar to Mary Jane, but there's nothing concrete to support either argument, so I've assumed Staci's family name came from an unseen sibling of Spencer Smythe. 

Speaking of names, many online sources and even comic writers have spelt Alistaire Smythe incorrectly as 'Alistair' and the same is also true for Staci Smythe, with some online spelling it 'Stacy'. Perhaps it's a family tradition upheld by Spencer and his sibling to spell their children's names oddly?

I'd also like to briefly point out that Mary Jane has strong connections to all three of the Smythe's first named appearances. Spencer Smythe first appears in Amazing Spider-Man #25 which is also the first on-panel appearance of Mary Jane Watson (albeit with her face obscured). Alistaire Smythe first appears in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 wherein he kidnaps Mary Jane and deludes himself into believe she is Spider-Man. Staci Smythe first appears in Spider-Girl #45 working in the Spider Shoppe, which is owned by Mary Jane as confirmed in Staci's first named appearance Spider-Girl #91. There's just something about her, isn't there?

While I don't touch on it much here, long ago I made an entire post about Spider-Girl #10-#11 which heavily features Spencer Smythe and his first Spider-Slayer. Check it out here. I've also made posts before discussing the connection between La Fantome's name and appearance with that of the Fifth Avenue Phantom from the 1967 Spider-Man animated series and another post detailing how La Fantome connects the Incredibles to the MC2, so I won't go into detail about it here. On the other hand I can't help but mention my love for the Spider-Man: The Animated Series adaption which first introduced me to Spencer and Alistaire Smythe! I still hear Alistaire's voice from the show whenever I read him in the comics.

Until I manage to convince Jameson to buy my latest killer robot, I remain

frogoat