Jubilee in the MC2

 

I’ve been rewatching X-Men: The Animated Series in preparation for the revival and continuation series X-Men ’97 and with that in mind, I thought now was the perfect opportunity to cover both shows’ protagonist and audience surrogate as she appears in the MC2. This is Jubilee in the MC2.

 

In the Main Marvel Universe Jubilee made her debut in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #244. Her first name, Jubilation, was apparently revealed in the pages of X-Men Annual #13 with her surname, Lee, first given in X-Men Annual #14. As for her first appearance in the MC2, Jubilee showed up in a brief cameo within What If #105 alongside other members of the Avengers including the Vision, Jolt, J2, Speedball and Thunderstrike.

 

Jumping back in time ever so slightly, A-Next #1 delivers the new Avengers team’s origin which involved Kevin Masterson transformation into the new Thunderstrike as a result of the machination of Loki. During this adventure, we learn Jubilee is too busy leading the X-People to join the team as a full-time member but notes she should reach out to J2.

 

After a tease of this in the final panels of J2 #1, we see this play out in the next issue where a visiting Zane Yama aka J2 fights to liberate the mind-controlled X-People including team leader Jubilee from the thrall of the villainous villainess Enthralla (J2 #2).

 

Jubilee is called upon by Mainframe to evaluate the Avengers newest recruits, American Dream, Freebooter, Bluestreak and Crimson Curse. Unfortunately, this all comes as a shocking surprise to the other members of the team (A-Next #4).

 

When Cyclops stops by to test the Uncanny X-People, they are aided by J2 who, Jubilee notes, helped the team improve their previous time, increasing by a single second for a total of five measly seconds (J2 #7).

 

Next, Jubilee leads her X-People against Rina Logan aka Wild Thing in an initiation trial for probationary membership on the team.  Rina rejects this offer, declaring that she was only taking the test as favour for her father, Wolverine (J2 #11).

 

In Wild Thing #3 we learn that Mr Woodhill, the social studies teacher at Upper Saddle River High was involved in a crash ten years prior, spending a year in the hospital as a result. While there Woodhill was transformed into a Sleeper Sentinel, including suppression implants to ensure he remained unaware he was a cyborg. Jubilee explains that the X-Men had years ago attempted to find all the Sleeper Sentinels but some -such as Mr Woodhill- had gone undetected. Using a program devised by Dr McCoy and Forge, the Sleeper Sentinels would have their Sentinel activation nullified, allowing them to continue believing they were ordinary humans (Wild Thing #3).

 

In Spider-Girl #32, we catch a tantalising glimpse of the largely unseen interim Avengers team who attempted to fill the void left after many of the original Avengers perished on their final mission. Jubilee was a member of this line-up alongside Nova, the Steel Spider, Jolt and Speedball. I have to point out the subtle changes Jubilee makes to the costume she wears depending on which team she’s representing at any given time.

 

Jubilee and her X-People are not seen again until a large assembly of the MC2’s super heroes gather at Avengers Headquarters in preparation for battle with Seth the Serpent God of Death. Despite this, the assembled heroes end up trapped within an impenetrable barrier until Spider-Girl weakens Seth enough to free them. Notably, Jubilee is seen alongside former Avengers teammate Nova (Spider-Girl #58).

 

When May ‘Mayday’ Parker’s classmate is outed as a mutant to all of Midtown High, Nancy's locker is vandalised and graffitied with anti-mutant messages. At home, Nancy's parents argue over their daughter’s situation and Nancy's siblings are ostracised at school. Later while attempting to get some air, Nancy is accosted by several hooded figures (Spider-Girl #67).

 

The group attacking Nancy Lu are revealed to be fellow students from Midtown High. When The Buzz (aka JJ) and Spider-Girl intervene, Nancy reveals she's more afraid of hurting others due to a lack of control of her abilities than being hurt herself. After being approached by Jubilee, who Nancy had met previously when she attempted to recruit her to the X-People (events referenced in Spider-Girl #23), Nancy makes the decision to go with the X-People to better master her powers (Spider-Girl #67).

 

When various superheroes active and retired start disappearing, Stinger of the Avengers contacts Jubilee to ask if the X-People have any suspects. However, believing the attacks may be focused on mutants due to Wolverine and Cyclops’ abductions, Jubilee informers her they have decided to continue their investigations without outside assistance (Last Hero Standing #2).

 

Despite this, Jubilee still reports the return of Wolverine and Cyclops to Stinger shortly afterwards, even with the apparent disappearance of Wild Thing (Last Hero Standing #3).

 

The next time we see Jubilee is during the events of the Last Planet Standing mini-series when Galactus is finalizing his final solution which will ultimately destroy the entire universe. Jubilee is briefly seen along with her X-People among many other heroes (Last Hero Standing #4-#5).

 

Jubilee and the X-People again joins a large assembly of super heroes who show up to help Spider-Girl when she is captured by the Hobgoblin aka Roderick Kingsley (Amazing Spider-Girl #15).

 

Continuing the returning divide between the rest of humanity and mutants, with Magneta’s Sisterhood of Mutants attempting to recruit confused Midtown High student Sara Hingle, Jubilee and the X-People attempt to locate her and in the process cut out Spider-Girl (Amazing Spider-Girl #23).

 

Having been pushed into attacking the anti-mutant Humanity First organisation, Sara finds herself in battle with Jubilee’s entire X-People team. With Jubilee and the rest of her team side-lined, trainee member Nancy Lu aka Push faces Hingle (now calling herself Nucleus) alone until aided by Spider-Girl (Amazing Spider-Girl #24). After Magneta uses Nucleus as a human bomb, many of the X-People are taken to hospital with the rest ensuring the surviving Sara is taken to a secure facility (Amazing Spider-Girl #25).

 

Finally, Jubilee appears in flashback story set between the pages of A-Next #1 while the various heroes are celebrating on Asgard. Feeling humiliated in front of Loki, Tyrus the Terrible leads a group of trolls in ambushing Thunderstrike and J2 for a rematch. But after a brief battle, the trolls flee when confronted by Jubilee and the rest of the assembled soon-to-be Avengers  alongside Thor (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #37).

 

That’s it for now, but with the last appearance it should be clear there’s always room for more appearances. I’ve often said I want a series to focus on the mutants of the MC2, particularly the X-People and a major reason is because I love seeing Jubilee as the leader of her own team. He started as the audience surrogate youthful character so this feels like she has reached her full potential.

 

Until I get to say ‘To me, my X-People’, I remain

 

frogoat

Wild Thing in X-Men '92: House of XCII

 I’ve taken a hiatus from the blog recently and today’s post will only be brief. With the X-Men ’97 animated series releasing soon as a continuation of the iconic X-Men: The Animated Series, I thought it might be nice to take a quick look at an MC2 character who made a surprising appearance in that world…well, sort of?

 

The X-Men: The Animated Series has at this point had various continuations which inevitably exist as alternate universes. In 2022 Marvel Comics published one such example in the form of the mini-series X-Men ’92: House of XCII which sees the story of the cartoon continue by adapting elements from the recent ‘Krakoa Era’ of the numerous X-Titles.

 

We learn in X-Men ’92: House of XCII #1 that the sentient island Krakoa became a safe-haven for all mutants following the tragic death of Jubilee. However, the account of Jubilee’s death is greatly exaggerated, as she is kept hidden on the island by Professor Xavier and Magneto, maintaining her status as martyr.

 

As it turns out, Jubilation Lee aka Jubilee discovered she had the secondary mutation ability of ‘Explosive Reality Reset’ (meaning she lived multiple lifetimes) after she was initially killed by Sentinels. Having died multiple times by the mutant hunting machines and learning that her remaining lives were finite, she faked her final death and in the process unified Mutantkind against the Sentinels (X-Men ’92: House of XCII #2).

 

During her ninth life, Jubilee led a Generation X team whose members included the recently deceased Morph (aka Kevin Sidney), Genesis ( aka Evan Sabahnur, a clone of Apocalypse), Cable (apparently Nathan Summers merged with Krakoa), Diamondheart (aka Emma Frost), another unidentified member and Wild Thing aka Rina Logan (X-Men ’92: House of XCII #2).

 

 

When the Generation X team faced the Nimrod Sentinels, it was revealed Jubilee had only one remaining life left, leading to her aforementioned final bid to ensure Mutantkind survived. Inevitably, Jubilee’s own survival in her last life was revealed and she ultimately sacrificed herself using the Phoenix Force to reset the universe once more, albeit with no recollection of her past lives. Series writer Steve Foxe intentionally left the ending vague, with one potential interpretation being that Jubilee reset the universe to the one of X-Men: The Animated Series (X-Men ’92: House of XCII #3-#5).

 

So, a version of Wild Thing exists in an X-Men: The Animated Series-adjacent universe, if nothing else! Artist Salva Espin does a fantastic job rendering Rina in a style which is so close to the animated series, it’s uncanny.

Until I get back on my feet and give some attention to this blog, I remain

 

frogoat

 

Spider-Symmetry: Harry and Normie Osborn

 

Occasionally I like to highlight the visual or narrative symmetry between the Spider-Man and Spider-Girl comics. Today I wanted to demonstrate another fine example of artist Ron Frenz showering adoration upon one of the comic industry’s most underappreciated artists, Sal Buscema.

 

Presented for your consideration, Spectacular Spider-Man #189, where a deranged Harry Osborn is arrested and being loaded into the back of a van before threatening to reveal Spider-Man’s secret identity.

 

Now, compare this with the ending of What If #105 wherein Normie Osborn is being loaded into the back of a van and graces everyone with his own rendition of the 1967 Spider-Man theme song, complete with altered lyrics tailored to Spider-Girl.

 

Until I figure out the full lyrics and find footage of this lost cartoon, I remain

 

frogoat