History of the MC2: Mayday

I’m working on making a complete timeline of events covering the History of the MC2, spanning the nebulous 15 year stretch of time after the Main Marvel Universe (or Universe-616) split off and became the MC2 (or Universe-982) and before the next-generation of heroes began to debut starting with J2 #1, A-Next #1 and What If #105. Since it’s May I thought it might be nice to focus on the history of MC2’s most iconic, prolific and terrific heroine: May ‘Mayday’ Parker!

 

Some long-time readers may recall an ancient post I did many years ago which touched on the basic touchstone moments of baby May’s kidnapping and eventual return to her parents. While the post is among my most viewed, and one I look back on proudly, it’s very out of date and in need of revision and expansion. This entry will cover the known events in May’s life prior to her powers manifesting during her debut in What If #105.

 

*Please note that for the sake of clarity, I’ve assumed that May (not April) is the original Parker child. Got it? Good. *

 

While we don’t know all of the details surrounding May’s life pre-spider-powers, I’m going to attempt to cover everything we do know. For starters, the earliest moment of May’s life is…her birth. May isn’t actually seen in the panel for obvious reasons. A grifter named Alison Mongrain is hired by Norman Osborn to carry out part of his plan to kidnap the newborn child of Peter and Mary Jane. Disguised as a member of the hospital staff, Alison swapped out baby May with a recent stillborn baby, leaving Mary Jane to believe her baby had died at birth. Shortly afterwards, Alison met with Norman Osborn who paid Alison a ‘sizeable bonus’ to take an ‘expensive vacation’ through Europe with the newborn May (Spider-Girl #48, Amazing Spider-Girl #25).

On an extended tour of the Mediterranean with the infant May, Alison (who always disliked children) initially had no love for the baby, but grew to love May through the months they spent together (Spider-Girl #49).

 

The Brotherhood of Scriers arrive to collect the child for Norman Osborn. Alison asks if she can accompany them as she has grown attached to the child, but the Scriers remind her not to question Mr. Osborn. The Scriers leave Mongrain with Norman’s compliments and her ‘final payment’ which turns out to be counterfeit bills and knockout gas. Kaine, being familiar with Osborn and the Scriers methods, rescued Mongrain just as the yacht exploded, hoping to learn what role she had played for Norman Osborn. Upon learning that Alison had kidnapped May and helped convince Peter and Mary Jane she was dead, Kaine leaves Mongrain floundering in the bay with no care whether she lived or died (Spider-Girl #49).

 

Meanwhile, terrible months have passed by for Peter and Mary Jane until Mary Jane receives a phone call from the man called Kaine. Having located Mongrain’s yacht, Kaine begins by telling Mary Jane ‘Your baby’s alive!’ and then goes on to provide a longer explanation, but insists that Mary Jane not tell Peter until the child is safe in her arms. Mary Jane hated keeping secrets from Peter but did not wish for Peter to endanger their baby’s life by confronting Norman Osborn (Spider-Girl #48).

 

Shortly after this, we get a glimpse of a Scrier handing over baby May to Norman Osborn. Norman cloned the baby and ‘genetically tinkered’ with both to ensure they would eventually manifest spider-powers. Later, Norman placed one of the babies (May) into the care of his good friend Philippe DeJunae. Retaining the other baby (later known as April) himself, Norman ‘added a few more enhancements’ including using cells from Venom aka Eddie Brock’s alien symbiote which transformed the other infant into a unique hybrid (Amazing Spider-Girl #29).

 

Kaine’s months-long mission across the globe ‘from a New York hospital to the Caribbean’ and finally to La Maison DeJunae in the south of France brings him into conflict with the Brotherhood of Scriers. After defeating the group of Scriers, Kaine makes short work of their leader before taking possession of baby May from Monsieur Philippe DeJunae. Unbeknownst to Kaine, Norman had orchestrated the encounter to ensure Kaine would return May to her parents and allow him to continue his Project: Changeling experiments on the second baby, which Osborn intended to put into effect within a year or two if his scheme proceeded as planned (Amazing Spider-Girl #25).

 

 

Kaine returned May to Mary Jane and encouraged her to take the necessary DNA tests to prove the baby wasn’t part of some twisted trick. Kaine also vowed to avoid future confrontations with Peter, and admitted he was doing all of this as part of a debt he owed Ben Reilly. Mary Jane realized that Kaine hadn’t finished his mission and intended to find and punish the man responsible: Norman Osborn (Spider-Girl #48-#49).

 

Reunited with baby May, Mary Jane and Peter are overjoyed at first, with Peter even believing Kaine’s intentions were good (Spider-Girl #49, Amazing Spider-Girl #25). There’s actually a large stretch of time that occurs between panels here that only becomes apparent later, as Spider-Man doesn’t immediately track down Norman Osborn for their fateful final battle.

 

With Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man having resumed a fairly normal life once more with May in their care, we next see Peter and Mary Jane preparing for a dinner with the Connors family. A sleeping May is left in the care of Mary Jane’s Aunt Anna and later plays happily with her mother and father upon their return later that night, blissfully unaware her father had just faced the Lizard once more (Amazing Spider-Man Family #1).

 

May is left with Anna Watson again when Peter and Mary Jane head off one morning. Mary Jane is so moved after witnessing a brutal slaying that she runs home to embrace her baby, followed directly after by Peter who brought the criminals to justice as Spider-Man (Amazing Spider-Man Family #2).

 

Poor baby May falls ill and winds up in the emergency room with her parents and great aunt Anna. Encountering Aleksei Sytsevich (aka The Rhino) bringing his sick Aunt Yulya in for treatment, Peter and Mary Jane find common ground with the former super villain and his aunt (Amazing Spider-Man Family #3).

 

While not actually seen in the story, Peter and Mary Jane discuss how their financial situation and studies at Empire State University have meant Aunt Anna has been over-relied upon to babysit May. Fortunately, after foiling a would-be robbery, a crime scene investigator named Carlie Cooper suggests Peter consider a career as a police scientist (Amazing Spider-Man Family #4)

 

May’s ‘Uncle’ Phil Urich has been a friend of the family for as long as May can remember (Spider-Girl #83). As Phil works alongside Peter in the crime lab of Midtown South Police Precinct, it’s likely Peter started this job while May was still very young.

Peter was not present to hear May’s first words or see her first steps (Amazing Spider-Girl #19).

 

It’s unclear exactly how much time passes, but eventually Peter interrupts Norman Osborn’s Gathering of Five ritual and has his final battle in which he loses his leg and Norman loses his life. Deciding he has more important responsibilities as a father, Peter retires as Spider-Man (What If #105, Spider-Girl #7, Spider-Girl #49).

*May’s age when Peter retires is unclear: in What If #105 Peter claims May was 2 years old but May appears to still be a baby in Spider-Girl #7*

 

 At some point while May was young-either before or after Peter loses his leg or possibly both- Normie and Liz Osborn celebrated holidays and Christmases with the Parker family (Spider-Girl #54).May’s has childhood memories of Normie being a weird, aloof and withdrawn child who’d occasionally sneak her gummi bears when the adults weren’t looking (Spider-Girl #20). Normie and May would play together (Spider-Girl #27).

 

On her first day of Pre-School for 4-year-olds (PK4) May felt absolutely abandoned by her mother and spent the day crying. When a second-grader began to pull on her hair, Courtney Duran bit the bully on the leg. The two girls have been friends ever since (Spider-Girl #50, Spider-Girl #76, Amazing Spider-Girl #0).

 

Around this time, May also caught the 3 and half year old Jimmy Yama peeing in Katie Mulgrew’s sandbox. May and Jimmy have known each other since they were kids and have often watched each other’s backs, so this may have been their first meeting (Spider-Girl #13, Spider-Girl #½).

 

May first met Davida Kirby just before entering the second grade, after being signed up for soccer by Mary Jane. Davida proclaimed she could kick the ball the furthest and soon proved she was correct. Beginning as teammates, Davida and Mayday became fast friends (Spider-Girl #81, Amazing Spider-Girl #0).

 

May first became aware of Maurice ‘Moose’ Mansfield while in grade school because he hung around a boy she had a crush on, Brad Miller. Moose would often bully the smaller children, including Jimmy Yama (Spider-Girl #77).

 

May at some point in the past used to bat ‘cleanup’ for a softball team (Spider-Girl #54).

 

May had a poster of Lyja Storm aka Ms. Fantastic on her wall as a kid, and developed a celebrity crush on Franklin Richards aka Psi-Lord of the Fantastic Five (Spider-Girl #3).

 

As a teenager, May is an exceptional student, achieving straight-A’s in her classes and playing starter for the Midtown High girls’ basketball team thanks to her natural athleticism (Spider-Girl #5). May received the nickname ‘Mayday’ for her prowess on the basketball court (Amazing Spider-Girl #0). May was on track for a professional career as a basketball player and thought she’d eventually teach Physical Education or work as a coach (What If #105, Spider-Girl #26).

  

There’s a lot to break down here which requires more time dedicated to sifting through it all than I have at the moment, unfortunately. But to briefly review:

 

·         Born in a New York Hospital, May is swapped at birth for recently deceased stillborn baby by Alison Mongrain as part of truly evil scheme by Norman Osborn, leaving Mary Jane and Peter devastated.

·         Norman sends Alison is sent on an paid extended paid trip in a yacht with May for several months.

·         Alison eventually grows fond of May before the Brotherhood of the Scrier members take the infant back to Norman, leaving Alison to die in a rigged explosion.

·         Kaine, seeking vengeance on Osborn, saves Alison only to leave her for dead upon learning her part in May’s kidnapping.

·         Kaine contacts Mary Jane and tells her May is alive but insists she not tell Peter until May is safely returned to her parents.

·         Osborn clones and genetically tinkers with May and her clone as part of his Project: Changling.

·         Placing May in the care of Philippe DeJunae, protected by hired members of the Scriers, Osborn performs further alterations on the May clone, making the baby a unique hybrid by combining her with samples of the Venom Symbiote.

·         Kaine rescues May from DeJunae, unaware events have been orchestrated by Osborn

·         Kaine reunites May with her mother Mary Jane, determined to find Osborn

·         Peter and Mary Jane return to a fairly normal routine with their daughter, with Peter still active as Spider-Man and both parents attending Empire State University. Anna Watson often babysits May as a result.

·         Liz Osborn and her son Normie often spent the holidays with the Parker family

·         Eventually, Peter finds and confronts Norman during the Gathering of Five ceremony, resulting in Spider-Man and the Green Goblin’s final battle; Peter loses his leg and Norman dies by his own hand.

·         Peter retires as a superhero, determined to focus on his responsibilities as a father and husband.

·         Between the ages of 3 and 4, May meets and becomes friends with Courtney Duran and Jimmy Yama.

·         May first meets and befriends Davida Kirby just before her second grade when she joins a soccer team

·         In grade school, May develops a crush on Brad Miller and first becomes aware of his friend Moose Mansfield.

·         May grew up a fan of the Fantastic Five and had a celebrity crush on youngest team member Franklin Richards.

·         May is both academically and physically gifted, excelling in both school and sports, including playing on the Midtown High Girls’ Basketball team, where she received the nickname ‘Mayday’.

 

I really tried hard to ensure I captured as much background information from the Spider-Girl series relating to May’s childhood, but I’m still sure I’ve missed something along the way. I welcome any and all input, so if you know something I’ve missed, please let me know!

 

Until I have time to put these sort of in-depth posts together with less than 12 hours to spare, I remain

 

frogoat

The Nanite Agenda

It’s time for one of those short, sweet, little posts where I pull at a strand of continuity until I find something that probably wasn’t intentional. This time, it’s a piece of info I found while researching my post A-Next Ages: Mainframe: The Nanite Agenda.

 

So, what the heck is The Nanite Agenda anyway? Well, as I’ve discussed briefly in both my Iron Man in the MC2 and History of the MC2:The Avengers, Iron Man (Tony Stark) and the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) closed the portal to the alternate world which had claimed so many of their teammates and friends. The portal required Wanda to remain in stasis, holding the breach closed with her powers.

 

In an attempt to help Wanda, Tony designed and built a Nanite Agenda intended to super-charge the human body. Stark’s friend Jim Rhodes tests the Agenda on himself before Tony despite the risk. The process at first seemed to be a success, mutating Rhodey and gifting him with steel-hard skin, concussive energy blasts. However, with the Nanites continuing to multiply, this made Rhodey less and less human over time (Spider-Girl #95).

 

This information is all conveyed via flashbacks which further explain why the nanite-driven Rhodey goes on a rampage after accidentally being hit with a hex bolt cast by the recently-revived Scarlet Witch. Stinger notes that Rhodey was familiar enough with Starktech to disable Mainframe’s Lazarus Protocol, preventing the summoning of replacement armoured bodies. Tony responds that Rhodey is in many ways Starktech. Poor Rhodey. But the Nanite Agenda would seem to run deeper than just within James Rhodes.

 

That’s right, there are Nanites running about within Mainframe’s various mechanical bodies. We first learned this in A-Next #8, when Stinger (Cassie Lang) and Ant-Man (Scott Lang) journeyed inside Mainframe’s body in attempt to save the armoured Avenger following a system-wide shut down. It’s there that Stinger and Ant-Man encounter Nanites designed to repel foreign invaders within Mainframe’s robot shell. Fortunately, Scott is able to hold off the Nanite’s long enough for the heroes to save Mainframe.

 

This small detail about Mainframe’s Nanites, separated by several years of publication, actually makes some sense of the timeline for several smaller moments in the History of the MC2: Mainframe’s creation, the last mission of the Avengers, the team’s later official disbanding and the transformation of the James Rhodes. As mentioned, Spider-Girl #95 shows the creation of the Nanite Agenda after Mainframe’s own creation, so we can safely assume the Nanites within Mainframe are more rudimentary versions or precursors.

It’s also stated by Tony Stark himself that he built the Mainframe robot after retiring from super heroics (Spider-Girl #95). While Tony claims he retired ‘when the Avengers officially disbanded,’ we actually see the moment in A-Next #7, and Tony hangs up his armour and leaves the Avengers Mansion permanently shortly after sealing the portal with the Scarlet Witch. According to Edwin Jarvis, the interim team of Avengers that filled out the roster at that time continued on afterwards until finally the group fell apart and no one answered the call to assemble. Presumably, as Tony never joined this interim team following the loss of so many of his comrades, he isn’t speaking literally but instead poetically or emotionally.

Still further, we see that Tony apparently had plans in place to ensure ‘that whenever the need arises there will always be Avengers’ before embarking on the team’s fateful mission. I’ve always believed this to be a reference to Mainframe but with the Mainframe robot apparently only built after this mission, it raised further question.  Here’s what I propose: Tony had already at least begun designing the Mainframe program, perhaps even produced the encephalograms of himself and linked the Mainframe program to the Avengers distress call systems. I further suggest that it’s only after returning from his final mission and sealing the portal with the Scarlet Witch that Tony actually builds Mainframe a physical body in the form of the robot shells we know today. And, just to really stray into the realm of speculation, perhaps while developing the armoured robot bodies defensive Nanites, Tony hit upon the Nanite Agenda as a solution to help liberate Wanda from her comatose confinement.

The fact that the Nanites within James Rhodes went haywire after being struck by Wanda’s hex bolt is ironic considering they were intended to help the Scarlet Witch. But the fact that Mainframe was so easily defeated by the Nanite Agenda is due to being comprised of an earlier version of the Nanites.

 

Until I manage to devise a technology advanced enough to beat up its little brother, I remain

 

frogoat

 

                                                                                                                     

A-Next Ages: Mainframe

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 fourth entry in this occasional series of A-Next Ages, it’s time to figure out the age of the team’s by the book mysterious machine-man: Mainframe!

 

Unlike my prior three post in the series, we don’t have to look to far to figure out the age of this artificial Avenger. Let’s revisit Mainframe’s debut to start with: A-Next #1. It’s here we get the first hint about Mainframe’s identity. When Loki’s magical energy bolt is detected by monitors built into the Avengers Compound defences, they bring online a ‘long dormant program’. The program sends out an emergency call to assemble to over a dozen locations, but which is only received by two former Avengers; Jubilee and Jolt.

 

This may seem a little pointless to mention, but shortly after when Jubilee asks who sent out the Avengers distress call, Mainframe’s responds ‘That would be me’. So, in the very first issue we had a major clue to Mainframe’s true identity right on the page.

 

After a few more clues, including Mainframe being seemingly killed when torn in half by Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Incredible Hulk in A-Next #3, we got answers in A-Next #7. Having exhausted all of their current supply of mechanical bodies during a battle with Ion Man, Mainframe reveals to Stinger (Cassie Lang) that they are in fact a program based on the encephalograms of Tony Stark to ensure there would always be Avengers.  Left unable to download into a new body and suffering a system-wide shut down, Mainframe is fortunately saved the by the intervention of Cassie and her father, Scott Lang (formerly Ant-Man) in A-Next #8.

 

So, when did Tony Stark create Mainframe? We learn from Jarvis in A-Next #7 that the Original Avengers disbanded some 10 years prior to the new team’s formation, and that the fateful mission which saw so many of the team perish occurred a year and a half prior. This places their final mission at around 11 and a half years prior to the events of A-Next #1 as I’ve discussed previously here.

 

Iron Man (Tony Stark) and the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) toiled away for months afterwards deep beneath the Avengers Mansion, eventually succeeding in closing the portal between worlds by sealing Wanda in a stasis pod which used her immense power to hold the aperture shut. Immediately after this event, Tony retires from super heroics, vowing to instead help the world using his other talents.

 

Around this time -though it's unclear whether it was before, after or both before and after the team's final mission- Tony Stark developed and completed work on Mainframe, the sophisticated robotic armour imbued with Tony's own brain patterns, designed to ensure there would always be someone to answer the call to assemble (A-Next #7, Spider-Girl #95). From this we know that Stark completed work on Mainframe around the time he left the Avengers, which was about 11 years prior to A-Next #1.

 

As a program inhabiting an armoured robot suit, it’s difficult to assess Mainframe’s age by human standards, but we do see hints throughout the MC2 titles of the character’s development and personality. This includes his strained relationship with his creator or ‘father,’ Tony Stark. But as for how long Mainframe has been in existence in-universe? Mainframe is only at most 11 years old in A-Next #1 and that’s probably the first ever time the being had been out in the really world. By the conclusion of the MC2 publication history, another full year may have passed, making Mainframe at most 11-12 years old and ironically the youngest member of the Avengers.

 

Until I spend 11 years sitting on a computer in a dark basement, I remain

 

frogoat