Raimi-Verse References in the Swiney-Verse

 

A fun little side-piece to my two Spider-Man: No Way Home related posts Raimi-Verse References in the MC2 and MC2 in the TASM-Verse, today we’ll be taking a very brief look at the Raimi-Verse in the Swiney-Verse.

 

A lifetime ago I wrote about the Sensational Swiney-Girl and I later mentioned the character’s appearance as a playable character in the Spider-Man Unlimited mobile game.  But let's skip ahead and recap starting with Amazing Spider-Man Family #4 where Tom Defalco leaves hoof-marks on his own creation 'Spider-Girl’ when he and artist Shawn Moll introduce May 'Mayday' Porker, The Sensational Swiney-Girl. Miss Porker is the daughter of Peter Porker (definitely a pig) and Mary Crane Watsow (and not Mary Jane Waterbuffalo) and as such her origin somewhat mirrors our own Mayday's. Beginning by going into action to help her father against the Green Gobbler, (apparently Norman Osbird's son out to for revenge) Swiney-Girl goes on to face the Hay-Monger in Amazing Spider-Man Family #5 and in an epic two-part story in the Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special One-Shot, faces off with Crayfin the Bunter.

 

Anyway, lets look at the references to the original Spider-Man movie of the Raimi-Verse in the Swiney-Verse. In the origin story of Swiney-Girl seen in Amazing Spider-Man Family #4, we see a flashback to Peter Porker’s final battle with the Green Gobler (yes, I checked the spelling with the issue itself, one ‘b’) which is a clear nod to the first Spider-Man movie’s final confrontation with the Green Goblin. In the film, the Green Goblin presents Spider-Man with a sadistic choice atop the bridge; dangling a tram full of children in one hand and Mary Jane in the other.

 

Later in the same issue, we get another direct nod to the climactic battle of 2002’s Spider-Man film, when, in another flashback to Spider-Ham’s last showdown with the Green Gobler, we see Porker’s mask is damaged, exposing part of his face. This reference was pointed out by the MC2 A Day blog, please check it out here. Additionally, Spider-Ham also mentions avoiding Thanksgiving ever since, which has to be another nod to the film’s plot.

 

I’ve enjoyed revisiting the Swiney-Girl stories while working on this post, I wish we had a few more. They deserve to be collected in a trade paperback at some point. Do you agree, let me know!

Until I get my own Ham Hock 3000 prosthesis and continue my bovine bravery, I remain

 

frogoat

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Review

I was lucky enough to attend an early screening of Sony's new animated film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and thought I'd share my thoughts with my readers. Beware, there will be SPOILERS from here on out!

Black Suit Swiney-Girl in Spider Man Unlimited

I've edited another video for the MC2-related character Swiney-Girl. Considering how short this video is, you wouldn't believe how long it took me. Swiney-Girl is voiced by Chiara Zanni, if I haven't mentioned it before. Please enjoy!

Until I run out of other media to mine for MC2-related material (and pigs), I remain

frogoat

Wild Thing: Random Appearances

There's nothing earth-shattering or particularly interesting about cameo-appearances in comics. Usually, writers use them as a quick nod to fans or sometimes a character is used as simple canon-fodder to make a threat look more credible. That said, I think the following Wild Thing cameos belong in the first camp....though the first one is probably a little of both?


This first cameo is a weird one. Well, I guess both cameo's are weird, but you'll see what I mean. This story takes place during the massive multiverse-altering event Secret Wars. In a short story printed in Secret Wars: Battleworld #3, Mojo has taken various Wolverine-related characters from across every domain of the patchwork Battleworld and pitted them against one another in a battle royale fight to the death. The story focuses on a pacifist Wolverine who refuses to fight. Wild Thing (or, possibly an alternate-reality version) appears in a single panel of the story....apparently dead or dying after being bitten by a vampiric Wolverine. That's gotta suck.

The second cameo is similarly odd and coincidentally also features various Wolverine-related characters. Deadpool: Too Soon? #3 (which collects Deadpool: Too Soon? Infinite Comic #5 and #6)  presents Deadpool trying to solve the mystery of who is beheading his 'friends'. In an attempt to warn some of them, he pays a visit to Spider-Ham who is in the middle of a baseball game between a team of Spider-Men and Wolverines, the Amazing Arachnids and the Seething Snikters. I am not making this up. Anyway, one of the Snikters is, of course, Wild Thing. What the heck is she doing there? Deadpool does speculate that the team is comprised of clones, so that might go some way toward explaining things....sort of. But not really. The issue is penciled by MC2-alumni Todd Nauck, so it's likely just a fun Easter egg.

There you have it, folks. While the nature of the Secret Wars event has a built-in explanation for why Wild Thing is meeting (and possibly being killed by) alternate Wolverines, the Deadpool cameo just raises more questions. It may be worth mentioning that Wild Thing hasn't made any appearances in MC2-centric stories since before Secret Wars. Maybe she's stranded in another reality? Maybe I'm overthinking....

Until I stop scouring comics for cameo appearances of obscure characters, I remain

frogoat

Playing Catch Up

While I was planning on making a more extensive post about particular topics soon-ish, I felt the urge to put keystrokes to computer screen and make another entry on here on my much-neglected blog. So I'll briefly touch on various little things not worthy of a full post (or perhaps not until later, when I find time) and see how far that takes me.

The mobile-platform game Spider-Man Unlimited continues to be the only video game I can find time for in my busy schedule. Considering I can play it anywhere (at home, at work, on the loo) certainly lends itself to my lifestyle far more than a console game. Rumblings behind the scenes at Gameloft have told us Spider-Ham and Spider-Ham related characters are coming very soon.

 Interviews with the development team previously indicated they would have to build a know new character model for smaller characters such as Spider-Ham However the most recent character added to the game, Annie Parker (from the Renew Your Vows story) appears to use a scaled down version of the female character model...which sometimes glitches back to the standard size while retaining the proportions of the smaller character.

But more importantly, the character comes with a new voice over. The credits of the game currently don't indicate any new additions to the voice cast and the dialogue can't simply have been designed for little Annie because when kicking an enemy, she'll sometimes exclaim 'Taste my hooves!' So, positing a theory here....I think this new voice over is intended for a female Spider-Ham related character....namely Swiney-Girl.

Moving onto comics now, I finished and thoroughly enjoyed the MC2 back-up stories in the Spider-Island mini series. I have some very mixed feelings about the actual events leading into the story (both Spider-Verse and Secret Wars) but I believe on it's own merits the entire 31-page mini-epic was a strong read and a welcome return to down to earth, emotionally based storytelling for Mayday. On a more personal note, the story ended around the one year anniversary of my fathers death. Seeing May struggling to define her role in her family while dealing with the guilt and anger she feels surrounding her fathers passing hit home for me. I generally try to avoid placing personal bias into my thoughts about a comic, but once again I find myself truly connecting with May's swath of emotions. Her journey in many ways reflects my own. Learning to live without a loved one after they die is something that permanently alters your outlook and irrevocably changes your life. I respectfully and sincerely appreciate Tom, Ron, Sal and the entire creative team for their dedication to portraying the fallout of such a life-altering event.

I'm very glad May is not stuck wearing her fathers old costume.

On a lighter note, the ongoing series Web-Warriors will feature Mayday's Spider-Girl--erm I mean Spider-Woman as a recurring member of the cast. Judging by the first issue, I like the concept of a reality-hopping team reminiscent of the Exiles comprised of Spider-People. I think the series could be a fun ride, but I do question how Friendly Neighborhood May can be if she is flitting about across the Multiverse. Obviously, it's not the writers fault May comes to the series a changed character from the one Spider-Girl fans remember, so I won't hold that against them. Honestly, I found the characterization fairly on-target, all things considered. But why hasn't she been on any of the covers?! I'm giving this a chance. Stay tuned, I guess.

Until I find the time to actually write a wordy and well-researched blog entry again, I remain

frogoat

Hamming It Up

It's about time things lightened up around here, I think. Yes, dear friends, it's time for me to talk about the major elephant in the room during Spider-Verse, the huge missed opportunity, the frankly obvious absence! Why, you guessed it, pal! It's the Sensational Swiney-Girl!

Granted, the Spider-Verse event is far from over and there is still time for May 'Mayday' Porker to make a game-changing, jaw-dropping surprise appearance in the coming months....but I doubt it somehow. What's that you say? You've never heard of the most famous second-generation hero in all of comic-dom?! Since you've clearly been living under a rock for the past five years, I'll give you a break and tell you!

Nearly 30 years ago the legendary writer/editor/all-around-good-guy Tom Defalco (along with artist Mark Armstrong) created 'Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham'  for a humor comic called Marvel Tails #1. Created as a funny animal parody, Spider-Ham has been hamming it up ever since- appearing all over the place and poking fun at various comics and concepts.

But let's skip ahead to Amazing Spider-Man Family #4 where Tom Defalco leaves hoof-marks on his own creation 'Spider-Girl'  when he and artist Shawn Moll the introduce May 'Mayday' Porker, The Sensational Swiney-Girl. Miss Porker is the daughter of Peter Porker (definitely a pig) and Mary Crane Watsow (and not Mary Jane Waterbuffalo) and as such her origin somewhat mirrors our own Mayday's. Beginning by going into action to help her father against the Green Gobbler, (apparently Norman Osbird's son out to for revenge) Swiney-Girl goes on to face the Hay-Monger in Amazing Spider-Man Family #5 and in a epic two-part story in the Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special One-Shot, faces off with Crayfin the Bunter! Oh my, yes!

Is it any wonder why I'm surprised that we haven't seen Swiney-Girl grace the pages of Spider-Verse? With Spider-Ham resurfacing yet again and with 'Every Spider-Man Ever' set to appear in this event....well, clearly May Porker is at the top of my list!



Until Swiney-Girl is revealed as the 'Secret Spider' that Mayday encounters....along with Earth X Venom and Spider-Girl 2020 and the Spider-Girl from the Astonishing Spider-Man comics in the UK and the one from Paradise X: Heralds and th---well, you get the idea-until then, I remain

frogoat

Spider-Verse

Spider-Verse: Every Single Spider-Person Ever! Never mind all the rest, Spider-Girl's back, people! That alone is making me super excited. If you want to know all about it, go read about it else where. I plan on gushing and streaming my thoughts into your head.

This speaks for itself, really.

It's written by Dan Slott. Oliver Coipel is on art. I've seen a few preview pages with Morlun attacking Spider-Man 1602. Spider-Girl will be in it. Peter Porker will be in it. Free Comic Book Day will give us a taster of the story. I don't know what else to tell you, just go read it for yourself, it's all over the comics news sites!

I'm conflicted that Tom Defalco hasn't been asked to participate. On the one hand I enjoy Dan Slott's writing and I have high hopes for this big event. On the other hand, Mr Defalco not being involved makes me sad. I know, I know; the comic's biz is like that, but still. *sigh*. Hey, hopefully this leads to another series, or at the very least further appearances and adventures with Mayday!

I fear I've used all my exclamation points. Oh well, my faith is restored. I remain

frogoat