Speedball in the MC2

 

Now that I’ve started, I can’t stop. After covering Justice in the MC2 and Firestar beforehand, I’ve gotten a taste for covering the former members of the New Warriors, so today I wanted to show some love for everyone’s favourite heroic bouncing ball of energy, Robert ‘Robbie’ Baldwin aka Speedball in the MC2.

 

While he made his first published appearance in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22, Speedball’s origin is depicted in his solo title with Speedball #1 wherein Robbie is accidentally exposed to energy from an other-dimensional source while working at a science lab which gifts him his kinetic energy abilities. Eventually, Speedball teams up with other young heroes Marvel Boy (later known as Justice), Nova, Namorita, Firestar and Night Thrasher as the New Warriors beginning with their formation in Mighty Thor #411.

 

Now let’s jump ahead to the look at Speedball in the MC2. While Robbie’s first MC2 appearance is in What If #105 as a cameo which depicts Speedball as member of the new Avengers when Peter Parker comes seeking aid.

 

However, in terms of chronology this brief cameo of Robbie would seem to take place shortly after the events of A-Next #1, wherein we see the formation of this next generation of Avengers. Robbie is revealed to have been a former member of the Avengers, but now mostly prefers to be a solo act and so declines membership in this nascent team. While he’s not actually seen in the pages of A-Next #7, we learn that following the tragic final mission of the original Avengers (which claimed the lives of Robbie’s fellow former New Warriors Firestar and Justice) a new team formed and operated in their wake before eventually falling apart.

 

Next showing up in Spider-Girl #15, Robbie teams up with the titular web-head to battle the malleable villain (and avid DC Comics collector) known as Mr Abnormal. While we don’t learn a great deal about Robbie in this issue, we do get to see him in action solo and learn that he is a well-respected superhero by this point in his career.

 

Later, we learn from the Steel Spider (Ollie Osnick) that he had been a member of the team of Avengers who assembled after the aforementioned original team’s membership was nearly all killed. In addition to the Steel Spider, this ‘interim’ Avengers team included Jolt, Jubilee, fellow New Warrior Nova and, of course, Speedball (Spider-Girl #32).

 

We don’t see Robbie again on-panel in the MC2 until the events of Last Hero Standing, when Speedball is one of the many heroes who gather at Avengers Compound to investigate the disappearances of various other super heroes.  Here, he and former team mate Nova are briefly seen as they prepare to head out on a mission to rule out former New Warrior foe Terrax, joined by Bluestreak and Argo in the process (Last Hero Standing #2). Off-panel their mission is a dead end and at some point Nova is captured and ensnared by the dark magical influence of Loki, before being sent to stir up conflict between the assembled heroes. Despite this, no other members of this team appear to have been influenced by Loki, including Speedball (Last Hero Standing #3-#4).   

Speedball doesn’t actually appear on-panel for his final cameo appearance, instead his energy matrix duplicate created by the magic of Sylene makes an appearance in Avengers Next #4-#5, indicating that Robbie Baldwin fell victim to this spell before the Avengers managed to save the day.

 

 It’s nice to see that some of the younger heroes of the Marvel Universe like Speedball rose to prominence in their later careers within the MC2 even if others like Firestar and Justice met an untimely end. I like to think that Robbie joined the ‘interim’ Avengers team alongside Nova in honour of their fallen friends. It’s very interesting to me that Speedball generally shies away from working in a team in his adult life, almost certainly a reaction to this loss and perhaps additional unseen events which led to the collapse of this Avengers team.

 

Until I master the art of throwing myself violently at objects without doing any harm, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

Betty Brant in the MC2

 

A while back, I was wondering what became of Betty Brant in the MC2. I knew she’d appeared in the time travel adventure seen in Spider-Girl #10 and #11 but as far as I could recall she didn’t appear anywhere in the present day and we knew nothing of her fate. Well, I was wrong.

 

Here’s Betty Brant’s appearances in the aforementioned Spider-Girl #10-11 when Mayday travels back to the events of Amazing Spider-Man #25, which is incidentally my all-time favourite Lee/Ditko story.

 

But where does she appear in the MC2’s present day? As far as the internet is concerned, Betty Brant doesn’t appear again. I’ve consulted both Marvel Fandom and the Marvel Chronology Project to confirm this, and neither lists any further appearances for this version of the character.

 

But here she is, tucked away in a single panel of Darkdevil #1 interviewing mayoral candidate Glynis O’Neil. So, what can we learn from this cameo appearance? Betty continued to work as a journalist and is apparently highly regarded enough to interview prominent New York City politicians. While we don’t know who exactly she works for, the fact we see a tape recorder instead of a microphone suggests Betty continues to work for print media. I wonder if she still works for the Daily Bugle?

 

Until I run out of things to talk about in the wide world of the MC2, I remain

 

frogoat

 

Mayday's Room

Before I get too deep in this blog post, I've got to give credit where it's due. Firstly to Mr Joshua Lapin-Bertone aka Bertone Beatle for some much needed instant-sourcing of floor plans and for generally being a great source of information and entertainment on his various podcasts through the years. Secondly and with the utmost love and appreciation, I thank my dearest partner for not only putting up with me while I worked on this but for also going the extra mile and reading (!) the first 20 issues for this little pet project of mine. Without your help, I'd be lost my darling.

Initially, I had planned to do a blog where I examined the entire Parker Family Home, looking at how many rooms it contained, where they were located and in which issues we see them. Bertone quickly set me straight. Obviously this was a mad idea of mine and doomed to fail... probably after I was diagnosed insane. I decided to narrow my scope while looking at the details. So here is a look at Mayday's Room!

I lied! To start we first have to check out Peter Parker's room from way back in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. Therein lies a special feature illustrated by the inimitable Steve Ditko showing the basic layout of the house - or at least the back of the house. So, apparently Peter's room is located at the rear of the building on the second floor, with one (maybe two?) windows- facing the backyard and/or the neighboring house. Keep that in mind.  Of course, throughout his run on Spidey, the room's layout varies quite a bit.

Skip forward--or is that backward?--to the Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual '96 (why must the annual's keep changing there numbering format?! ) which pays homage to Stan and Steve's first Annual by having it's own little feature (illustrated by the frankly superb Pat Olliffe) on Peter's world, including a floor plan for his bedroom.

That particular floor plan will be my basis for the layout of Mayday's room in this post. Why, you ask? Well, as I mentioned, Pat Olliffe provided the design for Peter's room. Pat also provided the first real look at Mayday's room in Spider-Girl #1. While Ron Frenz obviously had the art duties and co-created Spider-Girl in the prior What If #105 story, there is no clear shot of May's room in that issue. As such, I defer credit to Mr Olliffe for the initial design.

 Here's a secret: It's the same room. Seriously, have a close look. The beds in the same place, the furniture is almost identically placed around the room, the window and door seems to be in the same location. That's truly a nice piece of continuity, Pat!

 Shall I give you a tour? I shall. Using the above floor plan, let us first get orientated.

These are purely to help clarify what I'll be referring to. I have no idea which direction Peter/Mayday's window faces. Now that I've cleared that up, lets move on!

She'll get more shoes. Lot's more.

It's times like this I wish I could do fancy infographics or something. Never mind.  These are from the aforementioned Spider-Girl #1. To make it clear where things are May's bed seems to be in the same location as Peter's once was -with the head of the bed against the East wall. The window is on the North wall. There's a lot established about the room here! Note the free standing full length mirror. There's a bunch of furniture that will reappear throughout the entire Spider-Girl run: the book shelves, the various chest of drawers, the two bedside tables, the trunk at the foot of the bed, the desk (later a computer desk) with various sporting trophies, the built-in closet/wardrobe. Also, this is the first appearance of the WNBA and Cranberries Reunion posters. 

Spider-Girl #14 brings us the first appearance of the 'Unclean Thots' poster! I know you've all been curious about that one! Also, it seems the door is along the South wall. Now the desk (West wall, near built-in closet) has acquired a computer. Exciting stuff, I know. And the mirror has moved. It does that. A lot.

The mirror is now in the South-West corner in Spider-Girl #15. Hey, a Leonard Groote poster! This was around the time the annual came out, so it's clearly in reference to that.

 Spider-Girl #26: It's a cover, so maybe it doesn't count, but it seems the computer desk has moved so it's by the window. It's a nice cover. One of my favorites. In the picture of Mayday putting her Spider-Girl costume together from Spider-Girl #1, it also looks like the computer desk is by the window.

Okay! Hold the phone, your horses and your posterior! Is this even the same room?! The computer is where the bed usually sits on the East wall, there's a very different book shelf and a comfy looking cane chair along the the West wall near the closet. The bed isn't visible in any of the panels, therefore it's likely near the North window. So, why the drastic room rearrangement? Obviously the real world reason is Pat Olliffe was using artistic license. Look at these pages- they are gorgeous- so clearly it paid off! As for in-story reasons? Mayday had recently lost her powers leading to some big changes in her life. Is it too much of stretch to suggest rearranging her room was one of those changes?

Mayday's room seems to be back to normal the next issue when she decides she must continue in the hero biz without her powers. Hey, that kinda works, right? Symbolism? May puts her room back in order much the same as she is determined to put her hero work back on her schedule. I know, I'm stretching.

The room definitely seems to be back in order here in Spider-Girl #36. This is around the time Mary Jane began showing signs of her pregnancy. We won't be seeing much of the room for good long while until...

Spider-Girl #54 presents a rearranged bedroom again. I honestly can't figure this one out. Fair enough, the computer desk has moved over to the South wall. Sure, the 'WNBA' poster (which reads 'WNBA Flyers') has moved. No big deal. But I can't really explain how the built-in closet can be along the same wall as the window- that'd be the North wall if you're keeping up.

Spider-Girl #56 seems to show the same basic layout. We don't really see the room again until Spider-Girl #71 and things have been rearranged a bit.

The computer desk and that comfy cane chair are now either side of the window. In Spider-Girl #72, Ron has moved the computer desk to the North-East corner.

I love 'The Avengers' screen saver and the 'Fantastic Five' poster matches May's earlier seen Franklin Richards picture. 

Both pages here are from Spider-Girl #75. It's not clear to me exactly where that first panel in the first image above is in relation to the rest of the room, but there's that mirror again! In the second image, is that a radiator or something? Pretty sure that's new. The next issue again shows the rooms layout hasn't really changed.

...Although the window is visible from the closet in this shot...I'm just going to call it a cheated angle.

Spider-Girl #77 shows the same arrangement as before.

In Spider-Girl #80, Pat Olliffe has returned the computer desk to the West wall, as it was way back when. You know, I'm noticing a pattern here! Pat usually draws the computer desk on the West wall (occasionally elsewhere) and Ron usually prefers it on the North wall near the North-East corner.

Spider-Girl #81: I really just wanted to show the New York 'MAYDAY' license plate above the door. Oh, and look! Ron Frenz on art and the computer desk is back in that corner by the bed.

This is another case of artistic license to tell the story visually. It's also a great layout!

I love the Captain America action figure on the shelf. Spider-Girl #89 takes place right after Last Hero Standing, so it's a nice touch. And look where the computer desk is located!

Note the 'Unclean Thots: The Redemption Tour' poster behind the CD player (iPod dock?). Aw, and the Hulk action figure! I love these touches.

Spider-Girl #90: It's canon, Mayday now has a photo of her namesake in her room.

I included this page from Spider-Girl #92 mainly because of that first panel. Anyone know which part of the house that might be? It'd really help me sleep at night. It seems when ever Mayday studies, that computer desk is turned around, doesn't it? I'm guessing that's the closet door in the last panel.

Spider-Girl #94: Did...did May move her room around again?! Perhaps after studying in the Spider-Girl #92 she simply left the room like this?

We don't see Mayday's room much after the series relaunched with Amazing Spider-Girl #1 but it is still fairly consistent.

Yup, the room is back to normal here in Amazing Spider-Girl #4 with the computer desk back on the North wall and that darn mirror moving where ever it pleases. I wonder which 'Justin' that poster is referring to?

Amazing Spider-Girl #23

April's Room from Amazing Spider-Girl #25

 Every now and then there will be a page like this one from Web of Spider-Man (vol 2) #2 that seem to show a second window on the West wall of the room. I'm about to out out tufts of hair. How do I explain that?!

This next page from Web of Spider-Man (vol 2) #5 also seems to hint at a second window. In the last panel, you can also see the hall out side May's room. Based on this layout, is her room at the rear of the house? Am I over-thinking things? Obviously!

Okay, nearly done! In Spectacular Spider-Girl #1 Mayday throws her costume onto her bed, then sits down on her trunk. Based on these panels, the window in the first panel is opposite the bed. So, maybe there is a second window? Is Mayday's room on a corner of the house?! Am I sleep deprived and crazy!?!

Yes, I am. Looking again at this image from the same issue, it seems the room's layout is as it is usually. Darn! I do like the 'Do Not Enter' sign on the door. One more thing?

A pin-up from Amazing Spider-Girl #15

CEILING FAN!!!

So, I think that's it. I've been pouring over Spider-Girl comics all week while working on this blog. I hope this makes some kind of sense. The important thing to take away from all my nitpicking and rambling is this: For twelve years and more than 140 issues the design of Mayday's Room was kept very consistent.

 The dedication to the details is impressive. I love that the 'Unclean Thots', 'WNBA' and 'Cranberries' posters are maintained throughout the series run. I love that the computer desk and mirror are always present around the room. I love the Avengers screen saver. I love the trunk at the end of the bed (what's in that thing?!) I love that the dirty linen basket is always full. I love that there are photo's everywhere of her family and friends. I love that the room is always just a little bit messy. I love the sporting trophies and collection of books. I love the teddy bear and bunny. 

In short, I love the care, attention to detail and sheer love Pat and Ron have put into making this room feel real and lived in.

Until I learn to better manage my OCD tendencies, I remain

frogoat