Li'l Benjy in Christmas Crisis!

 

It’s that time of year once again; where we are supposed to be thinking of others, so I thought of you, faithful reader! Consider it a gift, because today I wanted to share an adorable aspect of the MC2 I don’t think I’ve ever covered before: Li’l Benjy! And because it’s Holiday Season, let’s kick things off with ‘Li’l Benjy the Spectacular Spider-Baby in “Christmas Crisis”

 

Created by Tom Defalco and Colleen Coover, Li’l Benjy was a series of short, silly and fun tales published as back-up stories starting in Amazing Spider-Girl #25. Are they canon? I see no reason why not! Shush! Anyway, in the pages of the following issue -Amazing Spider-Girl #26- we have “Christmas Crisis” wherein Benjy wonders why his mother Mary Jane appears so excited. His play date mate Shelly explains to the oblivious baby that it’s a special time of year called ‘Fat Day’ where some old Fat Man sneaks down chimneys to steal everyone’s money and leave clothes behind. Ever the courageous hero, Benjy uses his sister Mayday’s web-shooters to block off the Parker House’s chimney with webbing.

 

While this might keep your average Santa Claus from getting inside, we must remember that in the Marvel Universe, Santa is not only very much real, but also extremely powerful. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 10 tells us that among his abilities, Santa gains superhuman strength on Christmas Eve, can teleport, has a magical sack which is bigger on the inside and possesses the ability to fit through any chimney (or any alternative if a chimney is not available). Naturally, I’m now wishing we got more Li’l Benjy stories because I’d love to see him meet the real ‘Fat Man’.

 

Happy Holidays and I hope you all find yourselves surrounded by family because that’s truly magical and worth living to see in this scary world. Hug your loved ones, enjoy this time and stay safe everybody!

 

Until I manage to work the Elf with a Gun into a post, I remain

 

frogoat

The Amazingly Bombastic Bag-Man

 

Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has released another trailer and with it we got another glimpse of the very tangentially related ‘Bag-Man’ costume which also happens to make a few appearances in the MC2. I have already published posts about Six-Arm Spider-Man and the original Spider-Armor, so be sure to check those out too.

 

Let us take in some context and history, shall we? Full credit goes to Youtubers Jason Lethert (HeroJournalism and Comics2Film) and Chris Baker for doing all the research and making their confessions. I will try to keep It straightforward, but it is all over the place, so strap in. The iconic and well-known iteration of Peter Parker in an old Fantastic Four costume with a paper bag on his head comes from MC2 creators Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz in Amazing Spider-Man #258. Following the discovery that his new black costume was, in fact, an alien symbiote, Peter was left wearing nothing but his underwear until Johnny Storm outfitted him with the aforementioned suit and bag and slapped a ‘Kick Me’ sign to his back.

 

After intervening in a hit and run robbery, Peter finds himself surrounded by news reporters who bombard the humiliated hero with questions. Returning home, Pete catches a news report about his paper bag persona who the press dubs  ‘The Unknown Super-Hero’. As others above have noted, this is a reference to ‘The Unknown Comic,’ a stand-up comedian who frequently appeared on The Gong Show wearing a paper bag over his head.

Now that we have detailed the infamous origin, let us look at a precursor from way back in Amazing Spider-Man #82 by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. With his Spider-Man costume in desperate need of the local laundromat but worried about onlookers, Peter dons a paper bag mask and swings in to finish his laundry. It is a nice touch from Romita Sr to draw web-shooters on Peter’s wrists, even if the colourist seems to have rendered them the same yellow as Peter’s shirt.

 

The Spider-Man animated show (not to be confused with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends) which began production in 1981 (though it apparently wasn’t completed or widely aired for some time after) also features an instance of Peter wearing a paper bag mask. In the episode ‘The Sandman is Coming’ written by Jeffrey Scott, Spider-Man finds himself inadvertently unmasked by the villain and uses a paper bag to cover his face as he makes his way home in his Spider-Man suit.

 

Writer J.M. Dematteis and artist Luke Ross give us yet another version of the Bag-Man in Spectacular Spider-Man #256. When confronting the villainous White Rabbit and her goons, Peter is forced to throw together this paper bag mask and shirtless look which he dubs ‘The Bombastic Bag-Man’ before launching into a humorous fictitious origin story for his temporary identity. Dematteis even references ‘The Unknown Comic’ again.

 

Now it is time to look at how the Bag-Man costume made the transition to another medium and probably the one most responsible for propelling this design to wider recognition: video games.  Making its first video game appearance in Activision’s Spider-Man in 2000, the costume is dubbed ‘The Amazing Bag Man’. The Bag-Man would go on to appear in various Spider-Man games from then on, but the question remains, why is the Fantastic Four costume with the paper bag mask called ‘The Bombastic Bag-Man’ nowadays if that nom du jour refers to the Dematteis version?  Well, Chris Baker has the answer.

 

As he explains in a video on his YouTube channel, Chris Baker was working as a Licensed Game Manager for Marvel on game developer Beenox’s Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions in 2010. With the Bag-Man costume, Chris asked them to change the name from whatever name it had originally been given in-game to ‘Bombastic Bag-Man.’ Mr. Baker not only admits his error but points out the actual source of the name, Spectacular Spider-Man #256 while musing what they would call that costume if it appeared alongside the other design in a future game. Games and merchandise since 2010 have often used the ‘Bombastic Bag-Man’ moniker making it widely accepted regardless of accuracy.

 

Now, let us circle back to the MC2 and its own history with the Bag-Man identity. For what might be considered Bag-Man 3.0 or even 4.0 we must look to Spider-Girl #47 in which Peter is visiting the Fantastic Five Headquarters so that Big Brain aka Reed Richards can work on his new bionic leg. When Apox the Omega Skrull destroys the top floors of the building, Peter aids members of the Fantastic Five, his daughter Spider-Girl and the new Scarlet Spider, leaping into battle with a familiar temporary costume courtesy of Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch, albeit this time the trademark paper bag is replaced with a metal helmet belonging to The Thing.

 

This brings us to 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 Unknown Super-Hero costume. This robotic Bag-Man duplicate is destroyed by Spider-Man who alongside Araña and Miguel go on to defeat the mastermind Jack O’ Lantern.

Much like with the case of Six-Arm Spider-Man and the original Spider-Armor there is the lingering question of how Jack O’ Lantern came to know of the connection between Spider-Man and The Unknown Super-Hero given it’s not even spider-themed. I would like to offer a No-Prize explanation. Given the media picked up the story and he was caught on camera, it is not hard to believe there is footage of the Bag-Man crawling up a wall. Thus, Jack O’ Lantern was able to deduce the two were probably one and the same.

 

It is absolutely mind-blowing how much this one-off gag based on a stand-up comedian’s own gag has taken off. It is even more amusing that none of the writers of the Bag-Man appearances seem to have been referencing each other another.

 

Until I wind up in a paper bag with a ‘Kick Me’ sign tapped to my back, I remain

 

frogoat

MC2 Influences in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

 

I have just watched Marvel Studio’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and naturally, instead of a review, my mind leapt at the notion of discussing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s adaption of Cassandra ‘Cassie’ Lang, particularly as I feel many of these influences can be linked to her counterpart in the MC2. Spoilers ahead, though only mild ones, I promise!

 

I am sure by now readers already know that Hope Pym was lifted directly from the pages of the MC2’s A-Next #7 when the first Ant-Man film adapted her into Hope Van Dyne, complete with matching hairstyle and something of chip on her shoulder. Of course, instead of a villainous role, the Marvel Cinematic Universe made Hope a heroine as the present-day Wasp rather than the Red Queen. This on-screen version in turn was adapted back into the comics in the form of Nadia Van Dyne/Pym, the daughter of  Hank Pym and Maria Strovaya, introduced as the Main Marvel Universe's answer to Hope Pym from the MC2 after the release of the first Ant-Man movie (Free Comic Book Day 2016 Civil War II). What a tangle, but regardless, we have touched on Hope quite enough for now. Let us instead look at the Cassie Lang.

 

Many years ago, I mentioned that it was too early to tell where the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Cassie would be headed in terms of influences; would she be closely modelled on the Young Avengers iteration known as Stature or take cues from the MC2’s Stinger? Well, as it turns out, it is a bit of both, with the usual adaptational differences of all MCU characters.

 

Let’s talk visuals: Kathryn Newton’s Cassie has longer hair which recalls the Main Marvel Universe’s Stature. However, Cassie’s apparently self-designed suit is very much inspired by her Stinger identity with it’s purple colour scheme. I have mentioned before that even the Main Marvel Universe Cassie now uses both the codename and costume of Stinger as of Astonishing Ant-Man #6. An obvious case of brand synergy, sure, but the costume and codename Stinger all originates in the MC2 with A-Next #1 by Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz.

 

Speaking of Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz, both gentlemen received a ‘With Special Thanks To’ in the end credits for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is consist with the previous two films in the trilogy. Quite right, too. Presumably this time it is not only for Hope but also the as-yet-without-a-codename Cassie clad in purple. I wonder if they got a cheque in the mail?

 

Another MC2 influence, and one I think is quite important, is Cassie Lang’s great intelligence, demonstrated in the film by her development of a device which can make contact with the Quantum Realm. Unless I am mistaken, the Main Marvel Universe Cassie has not demonstrated any scientific skill or interest. Meanwhile the MC2’s Cassie is an established scientist with at least one doctorate who runs a think tank at Lang Labs, improved on the original Ant-Man and Wasp designs with her father Scott Lang including implanting wings in herself and was working on a cure for diabetes using insect DNA (A-Next #1-#2, #7).

 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Cassie Lang also demonstrates a passion for social activism, defending the homeless and has a strong desire to help those around her, inspired by her father, Scott Lang aka Ant-Man. While it is not a 1:1 parallel, I think MC2 Cassie’s scientific efforts show a similar passion for selflessly helping others. Furthermore, Scott and Cassie first teamed up as superheroes in A-Next #7, much as they do on the big screen. Still, I must concede that Quantumania does not give Cassie her wings and does show her growing to giant-size, which is most certainly more akin to the Young Avenger’s Stature.

 

I look forward to seeing Cassie Lang develop into her own unique hero in future film (and possibly television) appearances. It seems almost inevitable that some form of the Young Avengers is coming in the years to come, but it would be a mistake to ignore the MCU Cassie’s ties to the MC2. I have not found any official merchandise that gives Cassie a codename, Stinger, Stature, or something else entirely, but I am sure they will acknowledge her MC2 roots eventually.

 

Until I find Marvel merchandise calls Cassie Lang ‘Stinger’ and feel validated, I remain

 

 

 

Carlos Pacheco's Influence on the MC2

 

With the recent passing of legendary comic book artist and writer Carlos Pacheco, I wanted to make a small post as tribute. While Carlos never directly worked on an MC2 title, not only has his costume designs influenced the MC2, he has also depicted various MC2 characters as we will soon discuss.  

 

At the very end of Tom Defalco’s run on the Fantastic Four title, regular penciller Paul Ryan was replaced by Carlos Pacheco who closed out the comic’s first volume with its final two issues, #415 and #416, which formed part of the Onslaught crossover. It is in these two issues that the Fantastic Four team’s new costumes debuted. Not only do these costumes make a return later starting with Fantastic Four vol. 3 #12 but they also appear to have strongly influenced the costumes of the MC2’s Fantastic Five team.

 

While the Fantastic Five’s first cameo appearance in What If #105 seems to depict them in the classic F4 costumes, starting with their first full appearance the Fantastic Five’s costumes are Pacheco-inspired (Spider-Girl #3). This is evident from the stylized insignia and the gizmos on the gloves, with penciller Pat Olliffe and colourist Christie Scheele adding their own twists to the design; removing the appearance of boots, changing the belt, and giving the various members different costume colours. The late great Paul Ryan would again tweak this design, making small changes and restoring the classic boots for the team’s own title (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1). The Fantastic Five’s costumes would change over time, but their basic design owes much to Mr Pacheco.

 

To round out this post, let us look at the time Carlos pencilled some of the MC2 characters. I have briefly touched on the Avengers Forever series a few times in the past, so you may already be aware that various members of the MC2’s Avengers and one from the Fantastic Five make cameo appearances. In Avengers Forever #11-#12 Mr Pacheco gives us his rendition of American Dream, Freebooter, Coal Tiger, and Kristoff Vernard.

 

I hope it is clear I greatly respect the artistic skills and imagination of Carlos Pacheco. I am deeply saddened by another passing of an extremely talented member of the comics pantheon, we have lost too many already especially lately. Thanks for all the wonder you have added to the world of comics, Mr Pacheco.

 

Until I can better express my condolences, I remain

 

frogoat

Doc Magus: Who's Your Mama?!

If you haven’t already grown tired of my recent batch of Doc Magus related posts, here’s another! Today I’m going to pick up where the last one left off. Knowing who the MC2’s current Sorcerer Supreme’s father is, now let’s work out the identity of Dormagus’ mother!

 

There are a few clues scattered throughout Doc Magus’ appearances which we should take a look at before the big reveal. Aside from the aforementioned personal connections to Doctor Stephen Strange, there’s a few clues in Doc Magus’ early appearances. In A-Next #3 we not only get his real name Dormagus, and our first brief glimpse of him unmasked (I previously misattributed this to J2 #4) but also this throwaway reference from Deacon: ‘You can start by pulling your head outta the Dark Dimension, kiddo…’

 

 First appearing in Strange Tales #126, the Dark Dimension is actually the name attributed to the largest, most aggressive conquering splinter realm of the original whole Dark Dimension. It has often been visited in various adventures by Doctor Stephen Strange and is most notable as being ruled by the Faltine-originating energy-entities Dormammu (who debuted in Strange Tales #126) and his sister Umar (who first appeared in Strange Tales #150).

 

Looking at Dormagus’ unmasked appearance, it’s worth pointing out he still has white streaks through his hair despite his youthful appearance and demeanour. This is noteworthy because there is another character closely associated with both Doctor Strange and the Dark Dimension who wields great magical power and also has white hair: Clea, daughter of Umar, the sometimes ruler of the Dark Dimension and wife (via extradimensional ceremony) to Stephen Strange (as established in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #3).

 

Clea also first appeared in Strange Tales #126 but has yet to make any appearance in the MC2 to date. In fact, the closest we’ve even come to an interaction between Dormagus and Clea might just be the collective gathering of various Sorcerers Supreme from across time and space briefly seen in Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme #12.

 

So, is there any real reason to suspect that Clea is the mother of Dormagus? Why, yes there is! Courtesy of a wonderful interview on Chris Chapman’s Comic Shenanigans podcast episode #744 we have this snippet from MC2 co-creator Ron Frenz:

 

‘What’s funny is when you try to establish things, people are slow on the uptake, like with Doc Magus. We wanted to do this second-generation mystic and everything. Tom in the first issue has Doctor Strange call him Dormagus which is the same prefix as Dormammu and there are other suggestions made about who this kid might be and we had a lot of people writing in and guessing who they are and Tom thought it was so obvious he actually said at one point ‘when you add 2 and 2 do you always get 22?’ That kind of thing. At this point, I guess we can say it, I don’t know how much it was ever established, because I know Dormagus appeared in J2 a few times. But he is the son of Doctor Strange and Clea. Because Clea was from the Dark Dimension. She was from the same place Dormammu was, so that’s why her son has the same prefix on the name. Tom also wanted something that sounded like ‘magus’ so he could go to Doc Magus, that kind of thing. That’s why his hairstyle looked a little like his mum’s. He was given the responsibility of being the Sorcerer Supreme at such a young age because of his bloodline. We thought it was pretty obvious but there were a few fans that didn’t feel it was quite that obvious.’

 

I’m sure the informed and knowledgeable among you had already made the connection but now you have it all spelt out from the co-creator himself. What do you make of this reveal? Do you agree with it or disagree? Do you have an alternative suggestion, given that this isn’t set in stone on the comic page?

 

Until I reveal the heavily-guarded secret of the mysterious entity known only as Deacon, I remain

 

frogoat