Spider-Man's Spider-Armor

 

Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse just released its first trailer and with it we got a glimpse of the very tangentially related original Spider-Armor which also happens to have a little connection to the MC2.

 

Let us take in some context, shall we? In Web of Spider-Man #100, Peter Parker finds himself outnumbered fighting the rank and file of the New Enforcers. Later at the Empire State University Science Department, Peter decides to kill two birds with one stone: making a new batch of web-fluid and in the process give himself an edge against the New Enforcers. This edge comes in the form of the ‘bigger, better, badder—and bulkier—Spider of Steel,’ in reality an experimental new ‘hard-web agent’ that forms a ‘pseudo-metallic composition’ which Peter wears as suit of armor over his regular costume.

 

Sadly, the Spider-Armor does not last long (only about 8 pages, in fact) against the ranks of the New Enforcers in addition to the Blood Rose, an imposter ‘Richard Fisk’ and Gauntlet After being weakened, ripped apart, eaten away, electrocuted, blasted by a grenade, melted into slag then flash-frozen, the Spider-Armor was shattered to pieces as Spider-Man came out swinging. Gone but not forgotten.

 

As an aside, the new web-polymer’s resilience also gives Peter’s web-fluid ‘far more bounce’ making his web-balls ricochet. I am not sure but this may be the first instance of Spider-Man using this particular web-spinning technique. Someone please let me know!  

 

While the Spider-Armor has yet to make a return in the mainstream comics, it would go on to become one of the most well-known variant costumes for Spider-Man in other media. The first instance of this was the 1994/1995 Spider-Man video game (sometimes colloquially known as the Spider-Man: The Animated Series game).

 

Speaking of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the Spider-Armor makes its animation debut in the series final arc with Spider Wars “Chapter I: I Really, Really Hate Clones” which was first broadcast in 1998. That John Semper Jr really was ahead of the times, wasn’t he?

 

Finally, let us see how all this has any bearing on the MC2? Well, we know for sure these events transpired in the past of the MC2’s Peter Parker thanks to an unlikely source; Spider-Man Family Vol. 1 #1. Therein we have a story (seemingly) set during the mostly unexplored point in time after Baby May is rescued and returned to Peter and Mary Jane Parker by Kaine but before Peter loses his leg in his final battle with Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin. Lured into a trap by the villain Jack O’ Lantern aka Maguire Beck, Spider-Man meets and teams-up with Araña and her *sidekick* Miguel as they battle a museum room full of Spider-Man robot’s designed to resemble various costumes and points in Peter’s career. Among these we see a robot that appears to be clad in the original Spider-Armor which should reaffirm for anyone who may doubt the Main Marvel Universe and the MC2 share a common history (up to a point).

Much like with the case of Six-Arm Spider-Man, there is the lingering question of how Jack O’ Lantern came to know of the Spider-Armor given its single brief appearance. Perhaps the network of super villains shared accounts of the battle?

 

The Spider-Armor has become quite an iconic mainstay in other mediums even if it never quite took hold in the comics. Still, there seems to be continued interest for this metallic monstrosity all the same. Big thanks to arias-98105 for research help on this post.

 

Until I am forced to whip up a new Spider-Man design for a centenary issue, I remain

 

frogoat

Mysterio in the MC2

Yes, Spider-Man: Far From Home has just hit cinemas. No, I'm not going to review it. I don't like to be too negative on this blog if I can avoid it. But I will be shamelessly cashing in on it's popularity by talking about Quentin Beck aka Mysterio in the MC2! 

So where is Mysterio in the MC2? Short answer: He's almost certainly dead. Long answer? Well...that requires a little history lesson. As I've previously touched on in my History of the MC2: Daredevil post, it appears that the events of the 'Guardian Devil' arc published in Daredevil (vol. 2) #1-8 unfolded in much the same manner in the MC2 as in the Main Marvel Universe, except for the break up of Foggy Nelson and Liz Osborn in #8 as they remained a couple and eventually married in the MC2. With 'Guardian Devil' playing out in the MC2 as it did in the Main Marvel Universe, that means that Quentin Beck, the original Mysterio also committed suicide as depicted in Daredevil (vol. 2) #7.

But if you aren't convinced, let's take a look at more evidence. The Spider-Man Family one-shot comic published in 2005 features a lengthy flashback to an adventure involving Spider-Man meeting Araña and uncovering a revenge plot by the villainous Jack O' Lantern aka Maguire Beck. So why is this relevant? Because -as Peter explains to May- Maguire Beck was out for revenge for her deceased relative, Quentin Beck aka Mysterio. 

Now here's where it gets a little bit complicated. Maguire Beck was only officially revealed in a mini-series called Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto published in 2001 to address several loose plot threads surrounding Mysterio, including why a Mysterio claiming to be the original was seemingly back from the dead in the Spider-Man titles around that time. As an aside, I should mention that the mini-series retconned Maguire as one of the two people behind the super villainous Jack O' Lantern who first appeared in Spectacular Spider-Man #243, written by J.M. DeMatteis and published in 1997. The mini-series seems to suggest Maguire's partner in crime, Daniel Berkhart was posing as the original Mysterio at the time, a fact clarified in the Official Handbooks.

With all of that out of the way, these various stories support the idea that not only did Quentin Beck kill himself in the MC2 as he did in the Main Marvel Universe, but that at least some version of the events depicted in The Mysterio Manifesto must have occurred for Peter Parker to learn of Maguire's identity and motives as demonstrated in the Spider-Man Family story. Rest in Peace, Mysterio.

On another related side-note, I should mention that both the Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto mini-series and the Spider-Man Family story were written by none other than MC2-alumni Tom Defalco. Despite this, Manifesto seems to imply that Maguire is Quentin's cousin whereas the Spider-Man Family story explicitly states she is Quentin's niece. A small goof, perhaps?

 Mysterio Manifesto also makes reference to Quentin Beck's father and uncle, both of whom were first referenced in Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #1 (1999) which was written by J.M. DeMatteis. I mention this because it's a nice use of established continuity but also because it helps reinforce the idea that Maguire's father was Quentin's uncle. It's also possible Maguire Beck simply called Quentin her 'uncle' colloquially, as a term of endearment and there's another unseen sibling of Quentin who had a daughter, though there's nothing to support this idea. There are even a few references to the Webspinners story in Daredevil (vol. 2) #7, tying all these Mysterio connections together. 

So there you have it; some version the events depicted in Daredevil (vol. 2) #1-7, Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #1-3 and even Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto #1-3 also played out in the MC2 and we know this all because their was such tightly linked continuity across various writers, artists, titles and characters. 

I have to give special thanks to regular reader and frequent co-conspirator arias-98105 for help with this topic as well as to the wonderful Marvel Appendix Profile for Maguire Beck which can be found here.

Until I stop diving down mysterious and complicated rabbit holes, I remain

frogoat