Thena: Who's Your Mama?! (Part 2)

 

A while ago, I took a stab at figuring out just who the Asgardian goddess Thena’s mother could be in the MC2. Well, now is probably the best time to dust off the topic and discuss another option, given that the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Eternals is in cinemas right now. Why? Let’s jump straight in and find out!

 

While we never saw any of the Eternals in the MC2, we nearly saw prominent member Thena in a perhaps less than unexpected place. If you’ve read the title, you may already know where this is going. Here are some extracts from Comic Shenanigans Episode 744: Interview with Ron Frenz on A-Next:

 

‘I was not lucky enough to be a part of the later A-Next mini-series and stuff. That was always something that I was all for, the roster changing just like it did in the original Avengers, you know. That there would be new characters introduced and all this kind of stuff. I played a much smaller role behind the scenes. I had originally conceived of a daughter for Thor in some of my sketches. So, when she finally did show up, Ron Lim was working off of those sketches. He made adaptations of his own which is only right since he was the one handling the character. Originally the name I had for her was Thera, T-H-E-R-A, which I thought was a nice kind of sort of Thor-sounding-but-not. Tom ended up going with Thena and I don’t know if at the time he realized that was already the name of a character in the Eternals. But in my head now I have this story we could tell at some point, if anybody cared, where Thor actually named his daughter after the leader of the Eternals upon the signing of some peace treaty or something like that.’

 

This idea could have made for a fun story and if it was canon, would have worked as a nice detail to add to the lore of the MC2. But Mr Frenz goes on to further add the following even more intriguing notion:

 

‘So when Tom did that, my brain immediately went to ‘now, why would he name his daughter after the leader of the Eternals?’ and there’s a story there. If you really want to be dirty about it, maybe Sif wasn’t her mother, I don’t know. Maybe Thena is her mother, I don’t know. I don’t know exactly how much we were committed to because as I said I wasn’t involved directly in Last Hero Standing or Last Planet Standing or any of those mini-series so I don’t remember what has exactly been established or not.’

 

So Thena, the Asgardian goddess and child of Thor, was nearly or could potentially be the daughter of Thena of the race of Eternals. I would love to see these story ideas explored in someway in the future, one way or the other.

 

Until I find more time to write these little tie-in posts, I remain

 

frogoat

Taskmaster in the MC2

 

With the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie finally being released, I thought I’d throw together a lazy tangential tie-in post. So, here’s a brief look at the Black Widow film’s mysterious antagonist as they appear (or don’t appear?) in my favourite Marvel Universe: Taskmaster in the MC2.

 

The mercenary with the photographic reflexes known as the Taskmaster has been around since 1980’s Avenger’s #195 and #196 but until relatively recently we knew very little about the character’s past, including his real name. As such it doesn’t relate to the MC2 and so I won’t be covering any of it here! I took a brief look at Taskmaster’s appearances to try and pin down the most likely point at which the Main Marvel Universe Taskmaster’s published history diverged from the MC2 published history.  The best fit I found was 1998’s Hawkeye: Earth’s Mightiest Marksman written by none other than MC2 co-creator Tom Defalco himself. If you disagree, feel free to let me know!

Now, as for the Taskmaster as he appears in the MC2, well, he doesn’t. Not really. But we do know what happened to him. You’d be forgiven for missing this reference in the pages of The Buzz #2: according to Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus ‘There’s been a noticeable decrease in quality henchmen ever since the Taskmaster retired.’ This is obviously a direct reference to the fact that Taskmaster is known for training the henchmen of various super villains.

 

Getting closer to an actual physical appearance, a statue of the Taskmaster can be glimpsed at the Avengers Compound as part of an exhibit showing the various threats defeated by Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers (American Dream #1).

 

Beyond his retirement, we know nothing about Taskmaster in the MC2. He’s alive and presumably at liberty if he’s retired from his former occupation. Anyway, just a quick post this time to hopefully impart some new information for those interested in the MC2.

 

Until I master every superhero’s move sets at the cost of my own past, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

A-Next Ages: Freebooter

I thought it might be fun to work out the approximate ages of the various members of the MC2’s Avengers. Keep in mind this isn’t definitive unless it’s spelt out on the page and is merely a rough estimate based on in-universe information or- where necessary- statements from the creative teams involved in the characters creation and development.

 

For the third entry in this fledgling series on A-Next Ages, it’s time to figure out the age of the swashbuckling and dashing Brandon Cross aka Freebooter.

 

As I mentioned briefly in my post about Bluestreak’s age, we don’t get much explicit details about the characters when the Dream Team debut fully in A-Next #4. As pointed out to me by arias-98105, Freebooter appears to be around the same height as Shannon Carter aka American Dream, suggesting he is fully grown. 

 

While Brandon is not referred to directly, his teammates American Dream and Bluestreak are noted to be ‘all around my age’ by Argo the Almighty in A-Next #6. It appears Argo himself is a teenager (albeit one of godly stature) which helps give us a ball park figure to determine Freebooter’s own age.

 

Throughout the A-Next series we get mentions of Brandon’s romantic life which indicate he’s…. very active on the dating scene. This might seem inconsequential at first, but then we get this exchange from Spider-Girl #13 when Freebooter unwittingly attempts to flirt with the webhead before Bluestreak indicates Spider-Girl is underage. This indicates Brandon is at least 18 years old.

 

Further evidence to support this can be found in Last Hero Standing #2 when, during a visit to his former mentor and teacher, the narration box refers to both American Dream and Freebooter as teenagers.

 

We also saw Brandon’s level of maturity when he convinced his younger teammate Bluestreak of the group’s need to investigate the events surrounding their predecessors’ final mission (A-Next #9).

 

Let’s close this out by bringing it full circle. As seen in my post about Freebooter’s Costumes, Brandon is already a teenager training under Hawkeye when we see him at his youngest in a flashback within American Dream #3. He even has a bit of facial hair! Evidently, both Shannon and Brandon are around the same age.

 

Outside the comics themselves now, we have a response to a fan-question about both Freebooter and Bluestreak by Tom Defalco from the Alvaro’s Comicboards Spider-Girl Message Board. Here’s the question and response:

 

 

‘James Hunter: This one is where the clarification is needed, in your mind, how old are Bluestreak and Freebooter? I ask because a friend and I were discussing how mature Freebooter seems at times (in the end we decided that Freebooter must be about 19 and Bluestreak in the early teens, maybe 15 or so, would that be about right?)

 

Tom Defalco: Sounds about right.’

 

While Brandon has moments of maturity, Shannon is the more mature of the two, as noted by Ron Frenz on Adam Chapman’s podcast Comic Shenanigans Episode 744:

‘I liked the way they interacted, I liked the way Brandon and Blue came across as brother and sister, carping at each other. And Shannon kind of came across as the oldest sister who was constantly going ‘Bluestreak!’ and telling her to mind herself and all that kind of stuff.’

I’ll cover Shannon more thoroughly in a later post. But with all of that out of the way, we have one of the easiest and clearest established age within the MC2. Brandon Cross aka Freebooter is 19 years old at least up until the events of Last Hero Standing. It’s possible he’s 20 by the end of the MC2’s publication history, but that’s purely speculation. If you have any arguments to the contrary or you feel I’ve missed something, don’t hesitate to let me know!

 

Until I pattern myself after a Olympic-level marksman and attempt to honour my beloved mentor, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A-Next Ages: J2

I thought it might be fun to work out the approximate ages of the various members of the MC2’s Avengers. Keep in mind this isn’t definitive unless it’s spelt out on the page and is merely a rough estimate based on in-universe information or- where necessary- statements from the creative teams involved in the characters creation and development.

For the second entry in this fledgling series, I thought we might take a look at someone I mentioned in the first entry about Bluestreak’s age: Zane Yama aka Zane Marko aka Juggernaut Junior aka The Masked Midget. Or, you could call the kid… J2!

While he first appeared as a cameo in What If #105 alongside other Avengers, he literally wasn’t the same character he would become when the MC2 began in earnest. It’s not until the first issue of both his solo series J2 and the A-Next series that we would truly meet Zana Yama, a young teenager who we learn is the son of the unstoppable Juggernaut, Cain Marko. Within his titular title, we get various hints and clues as to the timeline of events leading up to Zane’s father’s disappearance, which in turn help us work out Zane’s age.

The first such example comes from J2 #1 where we learn of Zane’s familial relation to Cain Marko. Zane notes he’s had recurring dreams about his father since he was ‘a little kid’. It’s also notable that Zane’s mother Sachi Yama was married to Cain for ‘a few years before he was zapped into some weird alien dimension’ and that afterwards she reverted her surname back to her maiden, along with Zane’s.

There are also a few further details in a later story within the same issue which show Zane recalling being taken to Central Park or the movies by his father when he was ‘only a kid’. Clearly Zane was very young when this occurred (J2 #1).

Over in the A-Next title, Thunderstrike is shocked to learn J2 is actually ‘just a kid’ and worries about endangering a minor. Zane mentions that his father disappeared before he was ‘old enough to know who or what he was!’ (A-Next #2) It’s interesting to note that Zane has nightmares about his father and here even refers to him as a monster, despite knowing him well enough. Clearly Zane is conflicted about how to he feels about his father based on his father’s history, the word of his mother and his own foggy memories.

Zane at times shows less emotional maturity than his fellow Avengers, as evident when he has a momentary panic at the sight of Mainframe being torn in half during a battle with the Defenders (A-Next #3). When forced to make an emergency landing in a Quinjet, J2 notes he can’t wait to get his drivers licence (A-Next #4).

When Cyclops recounts the last days of the Juggernaut, he notes that Zane (as J2) is ‘probably too young to remember the absolute bewilderment which greeted the news that the Juggernaut had been invited to join the X-Men’. This indicates again that Zane was a very young boy when his father disappeared (J2 #7).

We get the full story of the Juggernaut’s disappearance and capture in J2 #12 when he is reunited with his son, though we don’t get many more specifics that can help give us an approximate age. But given the MC2 is around 15 years in the future, Zane is a teenager and his father went missing when he was still very young (say, around 3-4 years old?) we can really start to pin things down.

As I mentioned last post, Bluestreak has an unrequited crush on J2 which she still retains well into their friendship throughout the run of A-Next, J2, Wild Thing and Avengers Next, even hanging out with him in his civilian identity of Zane. I used this to help narrow down Blue’s age then and I believe this also helps work out Zane’s age now too.

But let’s move on to some creator comments now, because I think the recent interview with Ron Frenz on Adam Chapman’s Comic Shenanigans podcast will clear the matter right up! Here’s what Ron had to say:

‘It was a lot of fun doing that character and juxtaposing between this good-natured 13, 14-year-old and the powerhouse that he could become. In that second issue we did that thing where he has to occasionally turn back to Zane so we did the thing with the ‘masked midget’ where he put on a ski-mask. He was a wonderful character to play with.’

Expanding on this later in the interview, Ron also added:

‘What was always interesting to me how people feel the need to ‘ship’ characters, to pair them off and everything. We had suggested in the run at one point in the run that there was an attraction between American Dream and Thunderstrike and somebody wrote in and said ‘now all you gotta do is get Cassie and Zane together’ because there was scene in the fourth issue where he’s feeling dejected and she goes out to talk to him and says ‘No, everything’s fine, you saved my life, you were scared but you came back. You saved my life and you’re an Avenger and blah, blah, blah’ and everybody somehow saw that as this was going to be the beginning of them being in a relationship. Zane is, like, 14 at the best! Cassie is a scientist working in a lab with her father, she’s gotta be in her early 20’s! Really?! So that was always bizarre to me when people would do that.’

Here’s the moment Ron is referring to:

I think that’s a pretty definitive answer, one that helps to make sense of the History of the X-Men in the MC2 as well! So, without even having to guess this time, I can say Zane Yama is 13 or 14 years of age throughout the published stories of the MC2.

Until I run out of steam, revert into my puny human form and don a ski-mask to hide my secret identity, I remain

frogoat

A-Next Ages: Bluestreak

I thought it might be fun to work out the approximate ages of the various members of the MC2’s Avengers. Keep in mind this isn’t definitive unless it’s spelt out on the page and is merely a rough estimate based on in-universe information or where necessary statements from the creative teams involved in the characters creation and development.

For today’s inaugural post, I thought why not continue the Bluestreak love? So, let’s see what we can deduce about the mutant speedster Blue Kelso’s age from references in the comics.

Starting with her first appearances in A-Next, there isn’t a whole lot of specific information given about Blue that we could use to work out how old she is, but what we do get suggests she is a youthful and…*ahem*… exuberant young woman.  

Note she is significantly shorter than all other members of the Dream Team which could suggest she is still young in years and has some growing to do (A-Next #4).

In A-Next #6, the seemingly teen aged hero Argo the Almighty (son of Hercules) notes to himself that Thunderstrike, American Dream and Bluestreak are ‘all around my age’.

Blue also makes a passing reference to current school curriculum in A-Next #10, which could imply she either currently attends or recently attended school. Given her power set and personality, it's very likely Blue finished her schooling rather quickly. Perhaps while still training with the X-People?  

Perhaps the biggest indication for Blue’s actual age also comes from Argo, this time in the pages of Last Hero Standing amid a battle with the Incredible Hulk in issue #4, when the Almighty states ‘Bluestreak’s only a teenager.’

The most prominent character thread for Blue throughout A-Next, J2, Wild Thing and even Avengers Next is her unrequited crush on her fellow Avenger J2 aka Zane Yama. While at first, we only see Miss Kelso show interest in the massively muscular super heroic J2 alter ego, she does appear to later learn of his secret identity as scrawny teenager Zane Yama and still retains her feelings for him (Avengers Next #1-5). Zane will surely be the subject of a later entry in this series at some point, but for now, that point should be kept in mind!  

I’d be remiss not to mention the American Dream mini-series which heavily features flashbacks to the titular character’s origin, including her time training under mentor (and former Avenger Hawkeye) Clint Barton alongside Brandon Cross, Aerika Harkness and, of course, Blue Kelso. What these scenes tell us is that the four members of the Dream Team are roughly around the same age, even if we don’t learn specifics.

Now let’s move onto information not present in the comics. We have a response to a fan-question about both Freebooter and Bluestreak by Tom Defalco from the Alvaro’s Comicboards Spider-Girl Message Board. Here’s the question and response:

‘James Hunter: This one is where the clarification is needed, in your mind, how old are Bluestreak and Freebooter? I ask because a friend and I were discussing how mature Freebooter seems at times (in the end we decided that Freebooter must be about 19 and Bluestreak in the early teens, maybe 15 or so, would that be about right?)

Tom Defalco: Sounds about right.’

Skipping ahead to the recent wonderfully in-depth interview with Ron Frenz on Adam Chapman’s Comic Shenanigans podcast, we have this comment regarding the relationships between the members of the Dream Team:

‘I liked the way they interacted, I liked the way Brandon and Blue came across as brother and sister, harping at each other. And Shannon kind of came across as the oldest sister who was constantly going ‘Bluestreak!’ and telling her to mind herself and all that kind of stuff.’

That’s about all we have, folks. So, in conclusion, I’d be willing to guess that Bluestreak is the youngest of the Dream Team. She’s roughly around the age of Zane Yama, whom she maintains a crush on despite knowing in his youthful civilian form. She’s younger than Freebooter but not significantly so. If I had to be specific, I’d say Blue Kelso is 14-16 years old throughout the publishing history of the MC2.

Until I get a life, I remain

frogoat  

Comic Shenanigans: A Conversation with Ron Frenz and Tom Defalco

Occasionally I stumble upon a real treat when looking for podcasts to listen to and having recently discovered Adam Chapman’s Comic Shenanigans, I’ve found a wonderful pair of interviews with long-time comic co-conspirators Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz discussing their work on the MC2 series A-Next.

I think any MC2 fan owes it to themselves to give these podcast episodes a listen. Not only are they nice and long, they are loaded with new insight, commentary and behind the scenes information, they reveal just how much Tom and Ron share the creative process while working together.

The first part is a conversation with Ron Frenz, discussing A-Next #1-6 and can be found here:

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-zqu4n-d003c7

The second part brought in Tom Defalco to join Ron in the conversation to talk about A-Next #7-12 and can be found here:

https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-626c9-d1dc38

Once again, this was a phenomenal listen and, in my opinion, the best and most in-depth and informative look behind the scenes of the MC2’s A-Next. I can’t thank Adam Chapman enough for this. I know I’ll be revisiting this podcast again in the future and I look forward to sifting through all the new information and unused concepts in upcoming posts.

Until I step up my game, I remain

frogoat

Tom Grummett 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.

Tom Grummett

Tom Grummett kind of flew under my radar for the longest time as a young comic reader. I was aware of his work on books like Thunderbolts and it was his artwork alone that got me through New Exiles. But it wasn’t until later I learned of his iconic run drawing Superman and Batman over at DC. Truly, Mr Grummett deserves the comic industry’s respect. But we are going to take a look at the two occasions Tom Grummett drew May Parker aka Spider-Girl.

Tom Grummett actually worked with for Tom Defalco’s novel X-Men & Spider-Man: Time’s Arrow Book 3: The Future which was first published in 1998. We got two chapter illustrations pencilled by Tom Grummett with inks by Doug Hazelwood. The art was presented in black and white, but as I’ve mentioned in my Spider-Girl 2020 post, the first illustration was partially coloured for a composite image in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005. So, technically, Tom Grummett was one of the first artists to draw May Parker as Spider-Girl.

Speaking of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005, Mr Tom Grummett’s art not only appeared within the book, he also produced a new piece of art for the cover. This was one of -if not the- first Official Handbook I bought and it was all thanks to that gorgeous art. It certainly helped that it features Tom Grummett’s rendition of May ‘Mayday’ Parker aka Spider-Girl AND Rina Logan aka Wild Thing!

There’s a world out there somewhere in which we saw more MC2 titles and issues, and I believe a prime candidate to fit the style and tone of the MC2 imprint would be Tom Grummett. My appreciation of Tom’s Spider-Girl 2020 design from the novel has increased through the years. I’d love to see him pencil a crossover between the MC2’s Spider-Girl and Spider-Girl 2020. Someday, friends! Someday!



Until I stop building imaginary comic titles and crossovers in my head, I remain



frogoat