With her recent reappearance in
Nick Spencer's Amazing Spider-Man run (and since I absolutely missed a similar opportunity last year with the release of
Into the Spider-Verse) I figured it would be a good time to take a look at
Carolyn Trainer aka
Lady Octopus in the MC2.
Carolyn Trainer made her first full appearance in
Amazing Spider-Man #406 ( with only her tentacles seen the previous issue) wherein she took on the mantle of
Doctor Octopus following the murder of
Otto Octavius by
Kaine.
Carolyn was later instrumental in resurrecting her predecessor and assumed the role of student under
Otto's tutelage.
However, due to several big changes behind the scenes on the
Spider-Man books in the late
90's,
Carolyn simply stopped appearing and wasn't seen for several years. When she did return in the
2000's in small roles throughout various titles, she was dubbed '
Lady Octopus', presumably to differentiate her from the original
Doc Ock. While the events of these later stories are almost certainly not canon to the history of the
MC2, the moniker '
Lady Octopus' does play a curious part in events.
With that out of the way, the
MC2's Carolyn Trainer first appears in
Spider-Girl #68, working with
Dr Sonja Jade, a former ally of
Otto Octavius. With a reference to her predecessor earlier in the issue, the major involvement of
Dr Jade and the final page of the story leaving
Carolyn shrouded in shadows, it's left unclear which
Doc Ock we are seeing. However, the letters page for the issue proclaims '
Doctor Octopus is back!'
The mystery is teased a bit further throughout
Spider-Girl #69 as
John Jameson is kidnapped by
Jade's goons with assistance from a set of mechanical tentacles. It's no until later in the issue
Carolyn Trainer makes her big entrance declaring herself 'the new
Doctor Octopus'. It's here we learn that
Otto Octavius has recently died.
Dr Jade and
Trainer abducted
Jameson and his wife's scientific equipment, planning to turn people into 'monsters for mobsters'. Unfortunately for
The Buzz, they first tested this on his father
John Jameson, turning him into the
Man-Wolf once more.
When her control module for the
Man-Wolf is destroyed and she is nearly shot dead,
Carolyn abandons the plan, splitting from
Dr Jade and leaving the equipment and
Jade's men to be captured. After
Dr Jade is apprehended by
Spider-Girl,
Doctor Octopus quickly defeats her but spares her life as repayment for the heroine having saved her from a bullet earlier.
Next,
Carolyn becomes embroiled in the ongoing gang war between the
Black Tarantula and recently incarcerated current Kingpin of crime,
Canis. Offering up her protection and technology to chop shop owner and mobster
'Handsome' Richie Valentine in exchange for a weekly stipend,
Trainer encounters
Spider-Girl when the latter is given intel by the
Black Tarantula's assistant
Chesbro that
Trainer is working with
Valentine's boss,
Canis (
Spider-Girl #72).
However, when
Spider-Girl is knocked into
Valentine's workshop and is forced to fight off his goons,
Valentine surrenders, believing
Spider-Girl is working with '
Lady Octopus'. Afterwards,
Carolyn thanks
Spider-Girl for 'attending' to
Valentine for her.
Spider-Girl, feeling used, attacks
Lady Ock only to be soundly beaten and on the verge of being killed when
Ock suddenly leaves.
Spider-Girl then receives a phone call from
Chesbro offering the
Black Tarantula's assistance (
Spider-Girl #72).
When next we see our fair
Lady Octopus, she frees
Canis from police custody during a transfer and seemingly forms an alliance. With
Chesbro informing
Spider-Girl of this alliance and offering the
Black Tarantula's assistance again,
Spider-Girl soon confronts the pair of criminals in the sewers only to find herself buried beneath tons of rubble by
Ock covering her escape (
Spider-Girl #74).
With
Canis losing control of his criminal empire,
Lady Ock reminds him that he must still compensate her for efforts in breaking him from prison. Offering to eliminate
Spider-Girl if he identifies his various criminal connections. Unwilling to do so,
Canis attempts to organize a meeting of his men to bring them into line but this too falls apart thanks to the intervention of
Spider-Girl. Left with no other options,
Canis agrees to
Lady Octopus' terms (
Spider-Girl #75-76).
Carolyn meets with and convinces the leaders of the various crime families to attend a special meeting, promising
her client can provide protection, worldwide distribution and strength. Later,
Canis arrives at his meeting to discover that it is not his lieutenants in attendance just as
Lady Octopus leaves, having sealed him in. Encountering
Spider-Girl,
Ock informs her of
Canis' predicament and reveals her betrayal, allowing her to escape as the hero attempts to save the fallen crime lord (
Spider-Girl #77).
Elsewhere, the
Black Tarantula concludes his meeting with the former lieutenants of
Canis. We learn that
Carolyn has been secretly working to undermine
Canis for the
Black Tarantula the whole time, just as the
Black Tarantula has been manipulating
Spider-Girl to target his rival's organisation. The co-conspirators are interrupted by an angry and hurt
Spider-Girl who has organised others to aid
Canis so that she can follow
Lady Ock (
Spider-Girl #77).
Confronting
Lady Ock and the
Black Tarantula,
Spider-Girl is soon joined by
Agent Weadon's team, led by
Kaine. Outnumbered,
Carolyn attempts to flee with
Raptor and
Spider-Girl in close pursuit. No longer restrained by the
Black Tarantula's orders not to kill her,
Lady Octopus throws a large boat at
Spider-Girl, nearly killing
Raptor in the process. However this time
Spider-Girl blindfolds herself and trusts solely in her instincts to guide her through
Lady Ock's tentacles to rip off her harness and disarm the villain. Soon after, the
Black Tarantula (briefly) turns himself over to the authorities (
Spider-Girl #78).
Unfortunately, that's the last time we see
Carolyn Trainer in the
MC2. I think it's very notable that in the lead up to her
MC2-debut and in her early appearances ol'
Carolyn was originally billed as '
Doctor Octopus' -her rightful title especially following her mentors death- but this was later dropped as the series drew closer to
Spider-Girl #75. For those who do not know, the
Spider-Girl series was slated for yet another cancelation attempt around this time, possibly resulting in the character being renamed '
Spider-Woman' to accommodate the new character
Anya Corazon aka
Araña who was to be given the moniker and series title '
Spider-Girl'. Perhaps these events are unrelated, and
Carolyn was simply renamed '
Lady Octopus' to keep in line with her
Main Marvel Universe counterpart and avoid confusion....but I can't help drawing connections.
Given how I
recently talked about LGBT+ representation in the
MC2, I think I might be called out if I didn't at least mention that at least some fans believe
Dr Jade and
Carolyn were in a romantic relationship. I'm guessing this opinion may have arisen at least partially due to
Carolyn's proclivity to refer to
Sonja Jade as '
my sweet' and '
my darling' and even '
my dear'. While I don't want to dismiss these claims, I do have to point out that
Carolyn also referred to others in a similar fashion on various occasions, including both
Spider-Girl and
Canis. That said,
Carolyn was quite thankful when
Jade was apprehended; remarking she had become 'tiresome of late', referred to
The Buzz as 'definitely not my type' and insisted on clarifying her relationship with the original
Doctor Octopus was that of 'colleagues' when
Spider-Girl suggested otherwise. So...draw your own conclusions, fans!
Until I find more time to research, write and post these silly little blogs, I remain
frogoat
