Zombies in the MC2

Well, it's near the end of October and I haven't had done a single Halloween-themed post! I've been busy with work and family matters, but I'm going to try to rectify that now by talking about the shambling undead we all know and love: Zombies in the MC2!

Okay, so technically these lumbering monstrosities aren’t actually the living dead. Created by Asgardian sorceress and daughter of Loki, Sylene in Avengers Next #1 by combining her magic with stolen blood and tissue samples from past and present Avengers, these ‘magical clones’ are sent against the current Avengers team as a diversion.

If you are curious, the horde of decaying bizarro-Avengers is comprised of zombiefied versions of the following heroes: American Dream (Shannon Carter), Black Panter (T’Challa), Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), Blue Streak (Blue Kelso), Luke Cage, Falcon (Sam Wilson), Freebooter (Brandon Cross), Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Hercules, Hulk (Bruce Banner), J2 (Zane Yama), Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), Stinger (Cassandra Lang), Thunderstrike (Kevin Masterson), Vision, Wonder Man (Simon Williams) and Yellowjacket (Hank Pym).

While Sylene had intended for her constructs to be self-sustaining, she found they were constantly draining her ethereal energy and required her constant supervision to maintain and control. When her focus was broken by the interference of Spider-Girl, the putrid doppelgangers turned to dust almost instantly forcing Sylene to retreat, but not before her subordinates succeeded in stealing a component of Ultron and kidnapped the real Kevin Masterson.

The next three examples of Zombies in the MC2 are actually all from variant covers rather than in-story appearances. In case you missed it, the Marvel Zombies craze led to many comics titles receiving variant zombie covers and Spider-Girl was no exception. Amazing Spider-Girl #13 featured the art of Marvel Zombies cover artist Arthur Suydam for what is both a striking and disturbing rendition of Spider-Girl. Is the costume accurate? No, but I can give it a pass because it does seem to vaguely reference the cover of the character’s first appearance in What If #105.

The following year saw a new wave of zombie variant covers and once again, Spider-Girl was zombiefied on the cover of her title. This time, Amazing Spider-Girl #25 saw long-time Spider-Girl artist Pat Olliffe return teaming with inker Serge LaPointe for this alternate cover. Featuring an undead May ‘Mayday’ Parker on her bed in costume chowing down on her stuffed animals. I love this cover for its pitch-perfect concept and tone. Better still, Pat dubbed this version of Mayday with the moniker ‘Spider-Ghoul’ over on his blog.

*UPDATE* I missed this one when first publishing the post. Thanks to reader arias-98105 for bringing it to my attention.

Another year and another variant cover. This time for Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #1 featured a zombie variant cover by artist Mirco Pierfederici depicting 'Spider-Ghoul' in gruesome battle with her zombiefied father, Spider-Man. The costume isn't 100% accurate again but it's still a pleasant surprise to discover something I previously had no knowledge of before today. I like find new old things, even foul-smelling undead!

That’s about it, everyone! Hope you all have a great time this Halloween and remember: Don’t eat too many brains! Until my real jobs stop turning me into a living zombie, I remain



frogoat

Thena: Who's Your Mama?!

Shout out to faithful blog-reader arias-98105 for suggesting this topic! It's nice to have reader engagement and I greatly appreciate it! So today, I'm going to examine the MC2's Thena and try and work out who her mother could be. But first, a little background information on Thena.

First appearing in 2006's Avengers Next #2,  Thena is the daughter of Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder. Thena grew up alongside her cousin Sylene, daughter of  Loki the Trickster God. We learn that she survived Galactus' destruction of Asgard (during the events of Last Planet Standing) and was tasked with restoring Kevin Masterson's powers as Thunderstrike.


While we know from the start Thor is her father, the identity of Thena's mother is still a bit of a mystery. Here's are the facts:

• Thena states she is 'daughter to the most honored Lord and Lady of Asgard' (Avengers Next #2).
• During the events of Last Hero Standing Thena was on a quest with her mother, thus explaining her absence during that story (Avengers Next #2).
• During the events of Last Planet Standing, Thena attempted to join her father against Galactus but was instead commanded by her mother to aid those fleeing the destruction of Asgard (Avengers Next #3).

As pointed out to me by arias-98105, prior to the events of Onslaught and Heroes Return (see here), Thor was romantically involved with the Asgardian villainess Amora the Enchantress! For those who follow this blog regularly, you will know that the late 90's are where most of the MC2's shared history with the Main Marvel Universe ends, thus making Thor's romantic entanglements around that time relevant to solving this mystery.


History lesson time! In a four-part story published in Thor #491-494 by Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato Jr called 'WorldEngine', Thor and Amora begin a relationship during their time exiled on Earth. Beware: Very 90's art!

In addition to this, the relationship storyline is continued by the following writer (William Messner-Loebs) on the book leading up to the events of Onslaught (Thor #495-502). After Onslaught the title was renamed back to Journey Into Mystery starting with issue #503 while Thor was absent and widely believed dead. From then until issue #513 the title was written by none other than MC2 co-creator Tom Defalco who also touched upon Amora's feelings for Thor while he was assumed dead.

Clearly, Amora had genuine feelings for the Thunder God despite her past of manipulation. Given the couples ongoing romance around the time, Thena's blonde hair and even some readers desire to see the two have a child together (see the reader's poll and letters pages below from Journey Into Mystery #505, #506 and #508, respectively) a case could be made for Amora being Thena's mother.

Naturally, the other major candidate for Thena's mother was Thor's long-time off-and-on love interest Lady Sif who made her first and only MC2 appearance in Last Planet Standing #2 during the destruction of Asgard. The strongest evidence for this becomes clearer when the relevant pages and panels from both Last Planet Standing #2 and the flashbacks in Avengers Next #3 are viewed in sequence:

So, Sif was given the job of overseeing the evacuation of Asgard's most vulnerable subjects, the same task Thena was entrusted with by her mother. This strongly suggests Sif is Thena's mother, but obviously we don't have any definitive answers. 

So, who do you think is Thena's mother: Amora the Enchantress? Lady Sif? Or someone else entirely? Let me know! This was fun to research and theorize about, I may just do more like this, perhaps exploring the mystery of Sylene's mother?

Until I get exiled to the Isle of Silence and can no longer produce this blog, I remain

frogoat

Mike Wieringo and the MC2

Recently I've been thinking about well-established artists in the comics industry who's take on the MC2 characters we've yet to see. Then I remembered there are a bunch of artists outside of MC2 mainstays such as the wonderfully talented Ron Frenz, Pat Olliffe, Paul Ryan, Ron Lim or Todd Nauck who've in some way worked on my favourite fictional universe. Every so often I'll try and dedicate a short post to each artist's brief foray into the MC2 Universe.

Mike Wieringo

Despite the passage of time, I still find myself missing the inimitable artist Mike Wieringo. I first encountered Mike's unique art style while still in school when I picked up Tellos from the local library and instantly fell in love with his work. It's truly a tragedy that he died so suddenly in 2007 of an aortic dissection. Today, I'll be looking at Mr Wieringo's affection for and contributions to the MC2.

Mike Wieringo first provided covers for the Last Hero Standing mini-series in 2005, specifically issues #2 and #4.

I personally love seeing Mike's rendition of MC2 characters, so it was wonderful when he returned as cover artist for the 2006 Avengers Next mini-series, this time for all five issues. Here's the cover to #5:

 Sadly, these would be Mike Wieringo's last published contributions to the MC2. However, over on his own website, Wieringo posted a sketch of Spider-Girl to accompany a heartwarming entry about the series:

I’ve never quite understood why SPIDER-GIRL isn’t just as popular and successful as ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN.

Sure, May “Mayday” Parker isn’t a young Peter Parker– she’s the daughter of Peter and Mary Jane in a book set in the M2 Universe of the not too distant future. But to my eyes, that just makes her cooler. Instead of a ‘reboot’ of the SPIDER-MAN mythos, SPIDER-GIRL is an exciting extension of that concept. Like ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, there are re-imaginings of the classic villains from the parent book (as well as lots of heroes)…. but in my opinion, these characters are a lot more imaginative and fun than they are in ULTIMATE. I think that if you’re a fan of straight-out superhero comics, SPIDER-GIRL is just about a perfect book. Not only is it a comic you can enjoy yourself (if you’re anywhere NEAR as old as I am), but it’s also a comic you can give to children without fearing that it’s too dark and adult for them to understand or enjoy. In today’s comic world, that’s a rarity.

SPIDER-GIRL has had a tumultuous ride during its run…. to say the least. The book’s been on the chopping block more than once, and now, it seems, it’s in peril of cancellation once again. I don’t understand the rationale for this, personally. I know that Marvel has had immense success with sales of SPIDER-GIRL digests in places like TARGET. And why is that…? Because SPIDER-GIRL is something that will appeal to such a wide audience. Boys, girls, women, men… they can all enjoy this comic as much as I do. That’s a cash cow, really… so this is kind of puzzling to me. SPIDER-GIRL has a very loyal and vocal fanbase, so perhaps if we all pull together, we can stop this cancellation from happening, because if you ask me, we can’t afford– as an industry– to lose a book like SPIDER-GIRL; a book that has the potential (and seems to be realizing that very potential) to reach a wider audience outside of the direct market.

I recently bought issue #11 of WRITE NOW!. from TOMORROWS PUBLISHING. It’s got a wonderful interview with Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz inside… and they talk extensively about their collaboration on the creation of SPIDER-GIRL and their recent work on the book. These guys love working on SPIDER-GIRL. It’s a concept they both enjoy immensely… and it shows in every issue of the book. If you want any proof of a couple of comic book creators who are at the height of their powers and loving what they’re doing, then seek this magazine out, read the interview, and perhaps it’ll make you a believer and prompt you to try SPIDER-GIRL. Some fans need to be convinced (for some reason) to even try a new book…. so maybe that would do the trick. Barring that– Marvel just released a trade paperback of the recent LAST HERO STANDING miniseries (written by Tom D. and drawn by the talented Pat Oliffe). It’ll give you a taste of what the M2 Universe is like. That, or one of the several recent SG trades that you can also find on AMAZON.COM will give you a sense of the thrill ride that is SPIDER-GIRL.

Let’s keep fun and imagination alive, shall we…?

OK.

This is Entry 186.

Mike

You are sorely missed, Mike.


frogoat

Luke Cage in the MC2

With more recent years, Luke Cage has gained a great deal of exposure and recognition, with both his own self-titled Netflix series and the crossover mini-series The Defenders being notable examples. Much of the recent surge in popularity can likely be attributed to the Brian Michael Bendis run on the Avengers, during which Luke first joined the team in 2005 with New Avengers (vol. 1) #3.
Despite his long-time crime-fighting partner and friend Danny Rand aka the Iron Fist appearing on a few occasions, Luke Cage has only had one brief appearance in the MC2 and it's not even really him...let me explain.

In Avengers Next #1 (January 2007) the MC2's current roster of Avengers are unable to stop the theft of various Avengers blood and tissue samples by the teleporter known as Warp. These samples are delivered to Sylene, a sorceress and the daughter of Loki, who uses the samples to create 'magical clones' to attack the Avengers as a diversion.  

Logically, if these were samples from past and present Avengers members and Luke Cage's 'magical clone' appears amongst the shambling monstrosities, Cage was at some point a member of the team in the MC2. This is likely a nod to Cage's longstanding membership over in the Main Marvel Universe. We get the only mention of the real Luke Cage shortly after, when American Dream points out that the monstrosities can't be actual corpses, 'Not with duplicates of Haweye, Cage and the rest of us who are alive.'

And that's about all we know of the Hero for Hire. He's still alive in the MC2 and he was a member of the Avengers prior to the current team founded in A-Next #1. It also seems Luke is known simply as 'Cage', in the same way he was referred to in the 90's. To stray into the world of wild speculation, the most likely placement for Luke's time on the team would be at some point between the (admittedly vague) divergence point between the Main Marvel Universe and the MC2 before the original team was almost entirely wiped out on their last mission. Alternatively, Cage may have served as a member of the interim team that existed for some 18 months afterwards alongside members such as Speedball, Nova, Jolt, Jubilee and the Steel Spider.

Possibly completely irrelevant, but I felt I should point out that Cage's copy is wearing a version of his original costume, complete with tiara. Whether this indicates when the sample was collected from the hero or that he returned to his original costume at some point is unclear. Considering other 'magical clones' aren't wearing their heroic counterparts current costumes, this is probably nothing more than an artistic choice.

If anyone has any insight on this, admittedly very minor point of continuity, please let me know! Until I stop picking apart the very fabric of the MC2-niverse, I remain

frogoat