Professor Charles Xavier in the MC2

 

While I haven’t covered this character in detail for this blog, I have previously made two related MC2 Family Trees back before I began providing more detailed entries. For reference those were The Yama Family Tree and The Xavier-Marko Family Tree which should clue you into who today’s post is about: Professor Charles Xavier aka Professor X, the founder of the X-Men.

 

In the unlikely event you didn’t already know, Charles Xavier made his comic debut in the original X-Men #1 as the leader and mentor to the original five members of the titular mutant team. As for the first appearance of Professor X in the MC2, Charles only appears in flashbacks, with the first being J2 #7. These flashbacks show major events in the life of Cain Marko aka The Juggernaut, the step-brother of Charles Xavier. One such event shown depicts Marko’s origin, specifically the moment he and Charles discovered the lost temple of Cyttorak while serving in the military together and Cain transforms into The Juggernaut for the first time as originally recounted by Xavier in X-Men #12.

 

We also see Cain’s first clash with Xavier’s original X-Men team as seen in X-Men #12-#13 and a later clash with the All-New All-Different X-Men team from X-Men #101-#103. For comparison, here are the original relevant covers and pages:

 

The only other direct mention of Xavier comes in a back up story in Wild Thing #5 where his early life being bullied by Cain is recounted as depicted in the aforementioned X-Men #12 and later it’s stated that after his reformation, Cain Marko ‘made peace with Xavier and even joined his stepbrother’s team!’

 

What’s unclear is the fate of Professor Charles Xavier in the MC2’s present. We could infer from the recently rescued former Juggernaut Cain Marko’s throw away comment to ‘pull a Charlie Xavier’ that ol’ Chuck is still around but there’s nothing solid to be sure either way (Wild Thing #5). What is clear is that after the various sacrifices of the X-Men over the years, mutant kind is more accepted by the general public, meaning Charles Xavier’s dream remains alive in the MC2 (J2 #2).

 

Once again I find myself wishing we’d seen an X-People series published. Maybe there’s still hope for it someday?

 

Until I stop trying to tie-in to MCU movies to encourage readership, I remain

 

frogoat

 

      

Bluestreak's Costumes

Who’s everyone’s favourite blue-haired, fast-talking, impulsive speedster? That’s right! Bluestreak! What, did you think I was going to say Sonic the Hedgehog?! I thought now would be as good a time as ever to take a look at the different costumes worn by Blue Kelso through the years. There’s more than you might think! 

Bluestreak’s most enduring and iconic costume is the one she debuted in alongside her fellow Dream Team members in A-Next #4, following a shadowy cameo in A-Next #3. 

But let’s take a chronological look at Blue’s costumes throughout her career. As I’ve discussed in the past here, Blue was at one point a member of the X-People led by Jubilee. Unfortunately, we don’t have any visuals of what her X-Suit might have looked like, so here’s my terrible photoshop from a while back to give you a very rough idea:

Assuming my timeline of events are correct, after leaving the X-People, Blue becomes Clint Barton’s (formerly the heroic Hawkeye) special students, training to become a new generation of Avengers (American Dream #3). While training, Miss Kelso is seen wearing this training outfit:

Upon graduating, Clint gives Blue Kelso the code name Bluestreak and gifts her the costume we first saw back in the original A-Next series (American Dream #3, A-Next #3-#12).

Blue would continue to wear this costume during her guest appearances in Spider-Girl for several years. However, it is worth pointing out that a new costume debut’s as part of Felicity Hardy’s fantasy in Spider-Girl #52. This costume notably features full-length pants instead of shorts and long sleeve gloves.

Here’s where things get a little confusing. With Ron Frenz as regular artist on the Spider-Girl title, we got a few glimpses of Bluestreak alongside her fellow Avengers. While it’s a bit hard to tell with only background and cameo appearances, Blue seems to be rocking the full-length pants and long gloves look in Spider-Girl #81 with either a short or no-gloves variation in #83. I believe the former (almost certainly miscoloured) appearance is also the origin of the ‘Greenstreak’ joke, for anyone who remembers that!There's also a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance of Blue with the short gloves again in Spider-Girl #86.

Despite apparently switching to the long pants, Blue continues to wear her original Bluestreak costume complete with bike shorts throughout both Last Hero Standing and Last Planet Standing mini-series as depicted by artist Pat Olliffe. This trend continued into the Avengers Next mini series under artist Ron Lim and the American Dream mini-series featuring art by Todd Nauck. Meanwhile, ol’ Blue’s cameo’s in Amazing Spider-Girl weren’t big enough to clarify exactly what get-up she was wearing at the time.

Which brings us to Bluestreak’s appearances in the Secret Wars Spider-Girl tie-in story published in Spider-Island #1-#5. This story actually features a few new costumes for established MC2 characters, but here we see Ron’s design from Spider-Girl #52 make its first full-fledged appearance in all it’s glory, with a few tweaks such as Blue now having grown her hair out longer.

Let me know if I’ve missed anything or if you have any questions. I’m hoping to do more of these costume posts for other prominent MC2 heroes in future. What’s your favourite Bluestreak costume and are you as curious about her time with the X-People as I am?

Until I run out of blue hair dye and an urge to slap Thunderstrike in the buttocks, I remain

frogoat

Cyclops in the MC2

Because I'm desperate for page views and I'm shameless about tangentially tying into the X-Men: Dark Phoenix, I figured we could take a quick look at the stalwart leader of the X-Men, Scott Summers aka Cyclops.

It appears that the newer team of mutants, the uncanny X-People, is overseen by members of the original X-Men, including Cyclops, who makes his first appearance in the MC2 during a training exercise in the Danger Room. Not only does Cyclops take out the whole team in mere seconds, he also gives J2 a much needed info-dump about the Juggernaut's past including his last mission where he was lost at the Crossroads of Infinity.

Next up, we see Cyclops overseeing Wild Thing's tryout initiation for the X-People in legendary writer Larry Hama's first story for the MC2 (J2 #11). On an unrelated note, Cyclops rocks a unique costume in these two stories for the first time which looks to be a combination of some of his previous costume designs.

We don't see ol' Scott for quite some time, only learning through Jubilee that Cyclops is among those heroes captured by Loki's forces in Last Hero Standing #2. Jubilee later reports Cyclops unexpected return to Stinger and we glimpse him along side other Loki-corrupted heroes facing off against an assemblage of various heroes.Cyclops is last seen in this series attempting unsuccessfully to stop the Loki-controlled Hulk (Last Hero Standing #3-#4).

Cyclops makes a few brief appearances in the follow up mini series Last Planet Standing, attempting to stop Galactus alongside many other heroes. It's worth pointing out that in both these mini series, Cyclops dons his classic costume instead of his MC2-exclusive outfit (Last Planet #4-#5).

For his final appearances in the MC2, we don't actually see Cyclops, but merely a energy duplicate created by Loki's daughter Sylene in her attempt to restore the devastated Asgard by recreating it on Earth. Cyclops is among those rendered comatose in the process of creating duplicates of various super humans. When Sylene is defeated, Cyclops' duplicate dissipates and he is presumably restored (Avengers Next #4-#5).

That's it for Cyclops in the MC2. We don't learn any personal details about him apart from the fact he was on sabbatical when the Juggernaut joined the X-Men and that he still clearly has ties to the X-Men and the newer X-People. Keeping in mind my previous post about the History of the X-Men in the MC2, Wolverine's comment about Scott and his 'final missions' suggests perhaps he drags his former teammates out of retirement a little too often (J2 #5).

Until I suffer a head injury rendering my ability to control my powerful optic blasts, I remain

frogoat