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  

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

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