It doesn't feel all that long ago that I reviewed Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 and here I am again nearly exactly 365 days later, taking a look at Vol. 2. Collected in this trade paperback release we have Spider-Girl (1998)#16-#32 by Tom Defalco, Ron Frenz and Pat Olliffe.
While it's not my intention to review the issues within the collection, I have to admit, flipping through these stories I was transported back to my youth, to a time when I had nothing but wonder and joy for the medium of comics, when I first fell in love with the Spider-Girl character, her supporting cast and her world. There is so much to enjoy in these stories, with subplots and threads pulling together in surprising yet natural ways. There's a sense that any teething issues the creative team may have had are gone and now they are delving deeper into all the characters and giving us a richer and more fleshed out look at the established cast.
When I wrote my review for the first volume in this collection, I wasn't aware of some of the complaints I've since encountered online. While I mentioned the flimsy cardstock, I didn't have as much of an issue with the paper quality, but in hindsight I can see why this would be frustrating. As a fan of the series, I really want to see these issues reprinted in the best possible quality. It's also worth mentioning that I received another copy of the first volume with several missing pages in the weeks following my review, which after my initial anger I decided was perhaps worth retaining as a misprinted edition, even if it never amounts to any monetary value. With all that out of the way, the card stock for Volume 2 appears to be ever-so-slightly thicker than it's predecessor. Meanwhile, the glossy pages of the interior seem to be much the same. I've not noticed any issues with the printing process, nor have I encountered any missing pages, crinkling along the spine or even dints and folds in the cover.
The cover is, in my humble opinion, a much more appealing choice than the first volume. Vibrant colours, a great layout and design with mood and menace and atmosphere emanating from every corner and an honest to gosh great looking Spider-Girl and maniacal Goblin looming in the background really made me want to crack this thing open and dive into the story.
I think the choices of which issue to start and end the volume are solid. Despite my personal preference to package Spider-Girl #17 as the final issue of volume 1 because I feel it's a good culmination of her early adventures, I can't deny it would have made for an odd second volume 2. If the second volume had started with Spider-Girl #18 and had to close out with #32, it would be smaller volume and the only alternate then would have been to collect a few further issues such as #33-#34, meaning chopping up a few of the next major ongoing story arcs. Plus, this way the volume ends on a great cliffhanger. All in all, I think this was the best option.
As for additional material, there is far less on offer here than last time, with only three pages in the back reproducing inked covers to several relevant issues in the collection in addition to two pages reproducing various inked pages of art from the stories. While these are a nice inclusion, I think printing several covers and interiors per page is a mistake. I'd much prefer to view Pat Olliffe and Al Williamson's art one-per-page so they can be better appreciated.
With that all said it's still a great collection, and currently the best way to physically read these issues. If you have the spare money, I'd recommend picking it up. If you don't have the money, I believe these stories are now available digitally through Marvel at a high quality too. Here's hoping the other MC2 titles get similar treatment in years to come.
Until I stop buying, disavow the MC2 and get legally declared non compos mentis, I remain
Reddit user and founder of the delightful subreddit r/MaydayMemes, 'maydaymemer' recently brought it to my attention that Cassie Lang aka Stinger is a playable character in the Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 video game.
Stinger was released as part of the 'Ant-Man and The Wasp Character and Level Pack' DLC on the 3rd of July 2018 which added various Ant-Man related characters from both the original comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. In addition to Stinger, these including Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Wasp (Hope van Dyne and Ghost as they appeared in the Ant-Man and The Wasp movie, Egghead, Crossfire, Giant-Man (Raz Malhotra) from the comics, and for some reason The Human Fly.
Before anyone points it out, I did notice that that the Stinger costume depicted shares the same silver doodad's on the shoulder pads as the Cassie Lang of the Main Marvel Universe. While it's definitely likely this was no coincidence, I think given that the MC2 costume and identity predates and even inspired the MMU version it's fair to count this as an adaption. It's at least more clear cut then other examples.
It seems Stinger doesn't have any unique voice lines and I can find no voice actor credited, which is a shame, though not unsurprising for a bonus character. The more curious detail is the omission of any other MC2 characters in the game, considering the plot revolves around alternate universes and future and past timelines interacting. Other popular realities such as 2099 and Future Imperfect are represented along with more recent additions such as the character Spider-Gwen. But I wouldn't like to speculate about the reasons...
Luckily, good ol' maydaymemer has an answer to the lack of MC2 representation in the game, too:
Some of you may recall that back in November 2014, Sony Pictures were the target of hackers, resulting in a large amount of confidential data being leaked online. Amongst the documents released were several detailing the Amazing Spider-Man film series and correspondence with Marvel Studios. It's fairly well known the backlash to the concepts and opinions leaked resulted in Spider-Man appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Which brings me to today's post. I hadn't given much thought to the exact details of Sony's contracts and agreements to produce films based on Spider-Man, which characters they could and couldn't use or anything like that until I saw this recent video by the YouTube channel Midnight's Edge:
It was while watching that I noticed a familiar name in one of the screenshots of the Sony documents: Meagyn Brady. I'd always figured May 'Mayday' Parker was included in the package of characters for the film rights to the Spider-Man franchise, but it never really occurred to me such minor characters would be mentioned. So I did some digging through the leaked documents.
As it turns out, I found a lot of original MC2 character's names mentioned under various categories. I may have missed a few within this document which appears to be a more finalized version of thesepriordocuments but I've attempted to include even some which may not, just for the sake of completeness. Let me know what I've missed or omitted. Here's the list of the characters quoted as presented under the various sub-headings in the document:
Alternate Versions of Spider-Man include all of the following
Spider-Man (IV)/Gerry Drew
Schedule 6
Named Characters
Black Tarantula (II)/Fabian LaMuerto
Buzz, The/Jack Jameson
Crazy Eight
Daze
Goblin God/Peter Parker
Green Goblin, The (VI)/Norman "Normie" Harry Osborn
Killerwatt
Misery/Melissa Carsdale
Mr. Nobody
Scarlet Spider (VII)/Felicity Hardy
Spider-Girl (I)/ May "Mayday" Parker
Spider-Girl 2020/May Parker
Spider-Man (IV)/Gerry Drew
Spider-Venom
Spider-Woman/ May "Mayday" Parker
Venom/Spider-Girl, May "Mayday" Parker
Teams/Groups/Gangs
Team Spider
Supporting Characters
Aftershock
April (first appearing in Spider-Girl #75)
Babbit, Mr
Barney – agent of Hobgoblin (first appearing in Amazing Spider-Girl #2)
Bitter Frost
Brady, Meagyn
Canis
Carlo, Mona
Claw
Desantos, Simone
Diana - Black Cat's love interest in MC2 Universe
Dragon King/Carlton T. Hackmutter
Drasco, Det. Vinnie
Duran, Courtney-May "Mayday" Parker's friend
Funny Face
Fury the Goblin Queen/ Elan DeJunae
Golden Goblin
Grief Machine
Groote, Leonard
Hardy, Felicity (daughter of Felicia)
Healy, Gus
Healy, Joyce
Healy, Sandra
Hicks, Ralphie
Hingle, Duane
Hingle, Cindy
Hingle, Sarah
Impact
Jade, Dr. Sonja
Kirby, Davida - May "Mayday" Parker's friend
Kodiak
Kurkle, Charlie
La Fantome
Ladyhawk/Regina Morgan
Ladyhawk/Rosetta Morgan
Lieber, Caitlyn
Lu, Nancy - May "Mayday" Parker's friend
Mansfield, Billy
Mansfield, Katy
Mansfield, Moose
Mansfield, Mr. - father of Moose
Miller, Brad
Mr. Abnormal
Parker, April - clone of May Parker
Parker, Benjamin "Benjy" Richard Parker
Phillip, Charlie
Pirouette
Quickwire
Ragone, Theodore "Turtle"
Raptor/Brenda Drago
Reverb / Rudolf
Spyral
Thompson, Gene (son of Eugene "Flash" Thompson and Felicia Hardy)
Tyne, Reilly
Weadon, Arthur
Westin, Wes
Yama, Jimmy
Yi, Spike
Business and Other IP
Café Indigo
Deacon's Den
"EVERYBODY'S HAPPY" - program
Hotel Caprice
Humanity First
Kingsley International
Spider Shoppe
Spidera
St. Andrew's -women's shelter
Zebra Patrol
SCHEDULE 7A
Frozen Characters
Hero or Villain
Spider-Man appearing as a member of the Fantastic Four (e.g., as a member of the Fantastic Five or Fatal Force)
Reilly Tyne as an alias for Darkdevil
Anthropomorphic Variations
Mary Porker
Schedule 8
Marvel Reserved Characters
Hero or Villain
Bluestreak (III) (first appearing in A-Next)
Coal Tiger/T'Chaka
Darkdevil
Dragonfist
Freebooter/Brandon Cross
Mad Dog Rassitano
Magneta
Stinger/Cassandra "Cassie" Lang
Stormtrooper/Eric Masterson
Thunderstrike/Kevin Masterson
Wild Thing
Teams, Groups, and Gangs
Sons of Serpent/Soldiers of the Serpent
There were many, many other characters that appear in the MC2 who I didn't included in the above list because I only transcribed characters who hadn't appeared anywhere prior to their MC2 appearances. So Phil Urich isn't listed above because he debuted beforehand, meanwhile Normie is listed only as a version of the Green Goblin. Make sense? Good. You'll have noticed a few odd spellings and the occasional character that might not be from the MC2, but I've listed some (such as 'Mary Porker') because I believe they may be typos, misreading or similar mistakes.
The most fascinating discovery was that a character named Reilly Tyne could be used by Sony, so long as he wasn't linked to Darkdevil, and Marvel Studios appears to be able to use the design and name of Darkdevil so long as his secret identity isn't Reilly Tyne. This is attributed to the Daredevil-related elements of the character's super hero identity. Being the son of Ben Reilly -a literal clone of Peter Parker- means he's a Spider-Man character while his super hero moniker, appearance and origin link him to Daredevil as well as Ghost Rider who's film rights were previously held by Sony. In early versions, Sony Pictures recommended 'Darkdevil' be frozen, likely due to the aforementioned conflict of rights. The use of 'Reilly Tyne as an alias for Darkdevil' appears on the list of 'frozen' characters while 'Darkdevil' appears under 'Marvel Reserved Characters'. Poor Reilly, even in the real world he gets a raw deal, split between so many 'fathers'.
(This might also explain why The Buzz was licenced for the Spider-Man Unlimited mobile game but Darkdevil never appeared, despite actually having spider-powers and being directly related. Not strictly relevant, but I did often wonder!)
It's also worth noting that in earlier versions mentioned above, Meagyn Brady, Magneta and Dragonfist were among the list of characters Sony Pictures wished to have included in their licence agreement, in addition to requesting the spelling of 'Mona Carlo' be corrected. Sony Pictures also felt 'Bluestreak' had 'clear associations with Spider-Man and/or a subsidiary character' enough to request a rationale for exclusion. Regardless, other than Meagyn, all these characters appear on the Schedule 8 list for 'Marvel Reserved Characters'.
It's simple enough to see how and why Stinger, Thunderstrike, Coal Tiger and even Magneta and Dragonfist and other aren't considered a part of the film right for Spider-Man, and are listed as 'Marvel Reserved Characters'. With characters like Hope Van Dyne in the MC2 based on Hope Pym, it's safe to assume the MC2 characters are on the radar for Marvel Studios to mine for future films. My money is on Stinger being the next MC2 character!
I do wonder where a character like Bluestreak falls in the eyes of a legal team. Blue is a former member of the mutant team X-People who first appeared in the Avengers related title A-Next, which is mostly associated with the MC2, primarily known for Spider-Girl, a Spider-Man character. Presumably she counts as either an X-Men character or an Avengers character or both like her predecessor in speed, Quicksilver. This stuff is messy!
The introduction of Spider-Man into Marvel Studios' MCU while Sony Pictures retains several related characters such as Venom for their own 'Sony Marvel Universe' further splits up the available characters within the MC2. For example, would a symbiote character like April Parker aka Mayhem be retained by Sony for their Venom film series or would her clone nature mean she is loaned to MCU?
It would seem that Mayday and her family are all free and clear to appear in a future production (such as a Into The Spider-Verse related movie, for example) but only some of her rogues gallery, supporting cast and fellow heroes are free and clear to make appearances alongside her. Personally, I'd settle for a great Spider-Girl appearance in a future animated film from Sony if it was as well produced as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
I could cover this a bit more in future, if there's any interest. Let me know!
Until I stop being far too excited by legal documents, I remain
Yes, Spider-Man: Far From Home has just hit cinemas. No, I'm not going to review it. I don't like to be too negative on this blog if I can avoid it. But I will be shamelessly cashing in on it's popularity by talking about Quentin Beck aka Mysterio in the MC2!
So where is Mysterio in the MC2? Short answer: He's almost certainly dead. Long answer? Well...that requires a little history lesson. As I've previously touched on in my History of the MC2: Daredevil post, it appears that the events of the 'Guardian Devil' arc published in Daredevil (vol. 2) #1-8 unfolded in much the same manner in the MC2 as in the Main Marvel Universe, except for the break up of Foggy Nelson and Liz Osborn in #8 as they remained a couple and eventually married in the MC2. With 'Guardian Devil' playing out in the MC2 as it did in the Main Marvel Universe, that means that Quentin Beck, the original Mysterio also committed suicide as depicted in Daredevil (vol. 2) #7.
But if you aren't convinced, let's take a look at more evidence. The Spider-Man Family one-shot comic published in 2005 features a lengthy flashback to an adventure involving Spider-Man meeting Araña and uncovering a revenge plot by the villainous Jack O' Lantern aka Maguire Beck. So why is this relevant? Because -as Peter explains to May- Maguire Beck was out for revenge for her deceased relative, Quentin Beck aka Mysterio.
Now here's where it gets a little bit complicated. Maguire Beck was only officially revealed in a mini-series called Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto published in 2001 to address several loose plot threads surrounding Mysterio, including why a Mysterio claiming to be the original was seemingly back from the dead in the Spider-Man titles around that time. As an aside, I should mention that the mini-series retconned Maguire as one of the two people behind the super villainous Jack O' Lantern who first appeared in Spectacular Spider-Man #243, written by J.M. DeMatteis and published in 1997. The mini-series seems to suggest Maguire's partner in crime, Daniel Berkhart was posing as the original Mysterio at the time, a fact clarified in the Official Handbooks.
With all of that out of the way, these various stories support the idea that not only did Quentin Beck kill himself in the MC2 as he did in the Main Marvel Universe, but that at least some version of the events depicted in The Mysterio Manifesto must have occurred for Peter Parker to learn of Maguire's identity and motives as demonstrated in the Spider-Man Family story. Rest in Peace, Mysterio.
On another related side-note, I should mention that both the Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto mini-series and the Spider-Man Family story were written by none other than MC2-alumni Tom Defalco. Despite this, Manifesto seems to imply that Maguire is Quentin's cousin whereas the Spider-Man Family story explicitly states she is Quentin's niece. A small goof, perhaps?
Mysterio Manifesto also makes reference to Quentin Beck's father and uncle, both of whom were first referenced in Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #1 (1999) which was written by J.M. DeMatteis. I mention this because it's a nice use of established continuity but also because it helps reinforce the idea that Maguire's father was Quentin's uncle. It's also possible Maguire Beck simply called Quentin her 'uncle' colloquially, as a term of endearment and there's another unseen sibling of Quentin who had a daughter, though there's nothing to support this idea. There are even a few references to the Webspinners story in Daredevil (vol. 2) #7, tying all these Mysterio connections together.
So there you have it; some version the events depicted in Daredevil (vol. 2) #1-7, Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man #1-3 and even Spider-Man: The Mysterio Manifesto #1-3 also played out in the MC2 and we know this all because their was such tightly linked continuity across various writers, artists, titles and characters.
I have to give special thanks to regular reader and frequent co-conspirator arias-98105 for help with this topic as well as to the wonderful Marvel Appendix Profile for Maguire Beck which can be found here.
Until I stop diving down mysterious and complicated rabbit holes, I remain
I've been somewhat short on free time lately, but I wanted to put out something to commemorate Pride Month before it's too late. So, today I'm going to take a look at LGBT+ representation in the MC2 comics.
While today it's well known that Felicia Hardy aka the Black Cat is bisexual in the Main Marvel Universe as revealed in Kevin Smith'sSpider-Man and Black Cat mini series 'The Evil That Men Do', it's far less commonly known that the idea originates from her MC2 counterpart. First appearing in Spider-Girl #36, we learn that the MC2's Felicia Hardy married Eugene 'Flash' Thompson and had two children, Gene and Felicity. Later, the two would divorce and Felicia began a relationship with a contract operative from her detective agency; Diana.
Diana first appears in Spider-Girl #47, where we learn about her and Felicia's relationship. The two had been together for six years when Felicia decided to leave Paris and return to New York so her daughter Felicity could re-establish a relationship with her father Flash Thompson.
Unfortunately, the relationship is not without issues. Felicity, apparently angry toward her mother about the divorce, often lashes out at Felicia. Felicia mentions on more than one occasion that her and Felicity do not get along. Felicia confides to Mary Jane that she believes Felicity does not approve of her relationship.
The best part about Felicia and Diana's relationship is the way it's as a normal, loving relationship, complete with it's problems. Notably, the idea of Felicia being anything but heterosexual is introduced in a regular panel on a regular page without any big dramatic reveal. Mary Jane already knows, it's a long-term thing and nobody makes a big deal about it. Except for Felicity....
Though, as mentioned above Felicity has a lot of mixed up emotions including her depression, unresolved anger and resentment about her parents divorce, with Felicity believing her mother considers her a burden.
Keeping in mind the storyline played out between 2001 and 2002, it's worth mentioning the real-world reaction to the subplot. Spider-Girl #47, which depicted nothing more salacious than Felicia and Diana holding hands, prompted one reader to send a letter into the series' letter page, published in Spider-Girl #54:
There were no letters pages for a few issues, until Spider-Girl #57 saw two letters published in response to the original letter:
Mostly likely as a result of two near-cancellations with issues #38 and #50 followed by an impending cancellation with #61, many of Spider-Girl's subplots were streamlined, promptly resolved or fell by the wayside. Unfortunately, the plotline revolving around Felicia, Diana and Felicity wasn't resolved and, following the series un-cancellation, it would be over 20 issues before Felicity would be seen again, with Felicia and Diana seemingly being lost in the lurch entirely.
Mainly because ofsomefancircles online it would be remiss of me not to mention the widely believed that the character is struggling with her own sexual identity. I think perhaps this topic deserves it's own post, so I might touch on it in-depth at a later date. Needless to say, Felicia certainly mentions wanting to be Mayday's 'partner' an awful lot.
While the depiction of a regular same-sex couple might seem fairly commonplace nowadays, keep in mind this was nearly 20 years ago. I commend the creative team Tom Defalco, Pat Olliffe and everyone involved because this type of representation was sorely lacking at the time. It certainly meant a lot to a confused late-bloomer growing up. I hope everyone had a wonderful Pride Month and continues to hold their heads high until next year!
