Is Devil Dinosaur in the MC2?

 

Here’s a fun idea I’ve been chewing over for a while now: What characters could exist in the MC2, but where never seen, referenced or perhaps simply weren’t introduced into Marvel Comics until afterwards? I’ve previously produced a post pondering this proposal when I looked at one of the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy to see if Groot could potentially exist in the MC2. For today, I wanted to take a bite out of another character I’m fond of, to see if Devil Dinosaur could exist in the MC2?

First, we must consider some rules, ironic though it may seem for a thought experiment such as this. Usually the MC2’s point of divergence, ‘cut off point’ or ‘branching point,’ is comics published after 1998, when the MC2 imprint began publication. There have been exceptions to this, with some characters who were created after this point appearing in the MC2, such as Anya Corazón aka Araña. With regards to Devil Dinosaur, we have a very different issue to consider.

 

Created by the king of comics himself, Jack Kirby, Devil first appeared in Devil Dinosaur #1 from 1978. Devil is a mutant tyrannosaurus-like theropod dinosaur of the species known as ‘Devil-Beasts’ (Fallen Angels #4). While Mr Kirby’s intent was for Devil and his ‘Small-Folk’ hominid companion Moon Boy to hail from the distant past of the Main Marvel Universe or Earth-616, it’s now firmly established that they originate from an alternate Earth known as ‘Dinosaur World’, which is officially and in-universe designated as Earth-78411 (The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (vol. 1) #3, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #7, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update ’89 #2, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #8,Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone (and the Monster Hunters) and so on). With all that information as support, it’s safe to say Devil Dinosaur is not native to the 616 Universe. So, does that rule him out of the MC2 Universe also?

 

Fortunately, Devil has traversed the multiverse on multiple occasions, in addition to interacting with visitors to his world from the 616 including Godzilla via Doctor Doom’s Time Platform (Godzilla #21-#22). Devil and Moon Boy have also encountered various others including a Skrull (Devil Dinosaur Spring Fling #1),Lockheed (and nearly Shadowcat) of Excalibur (Marvel Comics Present #174), Ghost Rider and Howard the Duck (Ghost Rider (vol. 3) #81-#83), Wolverine, Namor the Sub-Mariner and Ka-Zar (Wolverine: Global Jeopardy #1) and the Fallen Angels group which included members of the New Mutants team (Fallen Angels #4-#8).

 

One significant story came in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man Annual ’98 (aka ‘Annual #31’) written by none other than Spider-Girl co-creator Tom Defalco. This story saw the duo of Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur stranded once again on Earth-616 and this time under the hypnotic influence of the Ringmaster of Crime. After Spider-Man liberated the pair, he suggested their relocation to the Savage Land where they were settled soon after.

 

Not only is this story written by MC2 alumni Tom Defalco, but it was also published in 1998 making it a likely inclusion into our hypothetical pre-MC2-publication cut off point. So, could Devil Dinosaur reside in the MC2? Yes, it is possible Devil and Moon Boy remain secluded in the remote Savage Land of Antarctica. Considering no published MC2 stories have visited the Savage Land, I’d like to think Devil and his friend are still out there…

 

Until we get Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Season 3, I remain

 

frogoat

On the Naughty List: Slaybelle, the No-Hit Wonder

 

♪Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening♪

♪A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight♪
♪Walking in a winter wonderland♪

-Winter Wonderland

 

 

It’s nearly that time again, merry people! With the holiday season upon us and with me recently having trawled back through my old notes on unused concepts in the MC2, I’ve got a gift for one and all: Slaybelle, the villainess who (almost) stole Christmas.

 

I enjoy the unused concepts conceived by the creative teams of the MC2, particularly Spider-Girl co-creator Ron Frenz, who has kindly shared a plethora of unpublished pitches through the years. Among these, we have this tantalizing titbit from Ron’s own facebook post:

 

“NOPE.

So The Legendary Tom DeFalco and I were working on an issue of Spider-Girl that would be on sale around Christmastime and needed a villain to give Mayday a warm-up battle at the beginning of the issue, you know, an opening bank robbery kinda thing. We put our heads together and came up with THIS young lady,

SLAYBELLE (Get it?)

Tom and I: Pretty cool, huh?

Editor: Nope.

Oh well.”

 

For those who don’t get it, Slaybelle is a punny bit of wordplay on ‘sleigh bell,’ which is another term for a ‘jingle bell’ which were often found on sleds or sleighs and are closely associated with the folk story of Santa Claus and his flying sleigh. Slay, meaning to violently kill is a homophone of sleigh. Belle is a term for a beautiful woman. Honestly, I’m probably overexplaining this. But it’s a clever joke!

 

On the podcast Make Mine Mayday Episode 43, Ron mentioned the situation:

 

‘The only thing I remember an editor saying we couldn’t do was Slaybelle. A young woman in a Santa suit with a big gun and we were going to use her for an opening sequence, like a bank robbery or something like that. I forget whether it was Nicole or Molly or who it was, whoever was our editor at the time said ‘No’. And we went ‘why?’ and they said ‘No. Just no.’

 

As for what issue of Spider-Girl this Miss missed, Ron notes Slaybelle was conceived for an issue published after Spider-Girl #54, which was of course pencilled by MC2 alumni Pat Olliffe. I’ll let you theorize!

Until I can come up with something for next this time next year, I remain a very merry

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stinger: A Case For Cassie Lang's Codename in the MCU

 

While I’ve been particularly busy and going through a lot of personal turbulence, I felt an odd impulse to just throw this together. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was announced and has grown into a bit of a personal obsession. This is my case for why Cassie Lang should be called Stinger in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

 

Let’s start with a little background: Officially Marvel Studios hasn’t assigned a codename to their interpretation of Cassie Lang in the MCU. However, there is precedent for official sources to refer to and, as a result, canonize information gleaned from fan-produced sites. An example of this would be the Across the Spider-Verse animated movie from Sony legitimizing the designation of their Venom films as ‘Earth-688’ after the Marvel Fandom wiki used the place-holder designation ‘Earth-TRN688’ (TRN referring to Temporary Reality Number) to refer to it in lieu of any officially provided designation. This itself had a knock-on effect that presents further issues which are beyond what I want to discuss today. Needless to say, sometimes widely accessed fan-curated content, well-meaning though it may can end up creating unintentional ‘Ascended Fanon’.

 

 This brings me to the well-considered Marvel Cinematic Universe wiki, a fantastic resource on anything related to Marvel Studios. While I have the utmost respect for the many contributors to the site, I can’t help but notice they have elected to assign Cassie Lang the codename ‘Stature’ despite the character never being referred to by any superhero title in any official MCU-related material. A look at the character’s talk page revealed the matter has been closed, with the only cited source I can see for the name ‘Stature’ being an early Deadline article that refers to the comic character’s origin and codename. Nothing else.

 

 My main concern, if you can call it that, is that an unassuming and well-meaning Marvel Studios employee will do a brief online search, encounter this wiki entry first and take it at face value, thereby making it official. Not that I dislike fanon being elevated or embraced per se, but it does rather bias the odds of the MCU Cassie being known as Stature rather than Stinger.

 

Here are some examples that reinforce a lack of official codename for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Cassie Lang at this point. Here is the Funko Pop figure, exclusive to the Marvel Collectors Corps, titled ‘Cassie Lang’.

 

Here are some official designs seen on shirts, socks and various other merchandise, again referring to the character as ‘Cassie’ or ‘Cassie Lang’.

 

The Marvel Legends action figure line released a series of 8 figures in its ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Build-A-Figure Cassie Lang’ line which came packaged with various parts which combined to make the character as depicted in Quantumania.

 

Another tie-in to the Quantumania movie, Cassie was introduced to the Marvel’s Contest of Champions mobile game under the title ‘Cassie Lang’. The same is true of this adaption of the character in another mobile game, Marvel’s Future Fight.

 

 

All this to say, clearly the powers that be at Marvel Studios haven’t settled on the character’s codename just yet.

 

Now I’d like to make the case for using the superhero moniker ‘Stinger’ rather than ‘Stature’. Firstly, Cassie adopting Stinger as a superhero title pre-dates Stature, with the MC2 comics A-Next #1 being published in 1998 well before her Main Marvel Universe comic counterpart became a hero and took the name Stature in Young Avengers #6. Yes, the MC2 comics originated the concept of Cassie as a superhero.

 

Secondly, the costume. Cassie debuts her Pym Particle suit in Quantumania and it is primarily purple. The colour purple was first associated with Cassie Lang as Stinger in the MC2 but also inspired her Main Marvel Universe counterpart years later in the pages of Astonishing Ant-Man #6.  In addition, Cassie would ditch Stature too, also adopting Stinger as her codename. Both costumes are nearly identical, and both sport a insect inspired helmet, another element the movie would adapt albeit a full-face mask in keeping with their established rules for shrinking.

 

Additionally, the MCU’s Cassie demonstrates a gifted intellect, another character trait first and most closely associated with the MC2’s version of Cassie. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Young Avengers Cassie isn’t known for her scientific ability.

 

I’ve talked about all this before and I’m sure I’ll probably bring it up again some time. I’m also aware there are elements of Cassie in Quantumania that are more aligned with the Stature name, such as her ability to grow to giant size, but I think it’s important to make the argument all the same. I’d personally love to see ‘Stinger’ make the jump to the big-screen and see Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz’s creation get more recognition.

 

Until I stop questioning how they are growing and shrinking at subatomic size, I remain

 

frogoat

The Surprising Connection Between Spider-Girl and Cheers

 

I’ve taken it upon myself to become more acquainted with classic American sitcoms recently which has led me to today’s quick post about The Surprising Connection Between Spider-Girl and Cheers.

 

The iconic American television sitcom Cheers first debuted in 1982 and ran for 11 seasons, and launched multiple spin-off shows including the popular and long-running Frasier. Cheers takes place in and around the eponymous bar in Boston which is owned by Ted Danson’s character Sam Malone.

 

 

The connection to Marvel Comics and the MC2’s own long-running series and character Spider-Girl aka May ‘Mayday’ Parker was revealed by co-creator Ron Frenz on Episode 43 of the sensational Make Mine Mayday podcast:

 

‘I’m not that creative but what I stole it from was Cheers. Sam Malone’s character on there when he played ball was called Mayday Malone. The fact her name was May, and we were going to make her a basketball star. I was trying to come up with a chant for the crowd and that became her nickname.’

 

So there you have it, another piece of the pop culture landscape that has ties to the MC2. It’s fascinating to consider how creative efforts influence one another and in turn go on to influence later generations. It’s all a rich tapestry of humanity.

 

Until I find a place where everybody knows my name, I remain

 

frogoat

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