Justice in the MC2

As part of my endless delving into the obscure and wonderful characters of the MC2, today I’m going to take a look at the leader of the New Warriors and the Avengers teammate, the long-time love interest of Firestar. Yes, this post is about the telekinetic mutant hero Vance Astrovik aka Justice in the MC2.

While the older alternate reality 30^th century future Guardians of the Galaxy counterpart to Justice known as Major Vance Astro first appeared in Marvel Super Heroes #18, it wasn’t until Giant-Size Defenders #5 that the Main Marvel Universe Vance Astrovik debuted as a teenager. Due to encountering his older time-travelling self (twice!), not only did Vance’s life take a different path, but his telepathic abilities emerged earlier (Marvel Two in One #69).

 

Eventually, Vance becomes his own hero as Marvel Boy and later Justice, joining the New Warriors along the way. But it was his eventual membership as an Avenger that we will be discussing today, particularly as it relates to the History of the MC2 Avengers. As I’ve detailed in previous posts, it appears the events surrounding Heroes Reborn and Heroes Return unfolded in the MC2 just as they had in the Main Marvel Universe. However, with the start of the third volume of the Avengers series, it becomes less clear how closely the two worlds mirror each other after this point. What is likely is that in the MC2, the Avengers team reformed much as they had in Avengers vol. 3 #1-4 with Justice and his fiancé Firestar joining the group officially in Avengers vol. 3 #4.

 

 

 I mention all this to lend context to the limited information we have available regarding Justice in the MC2. In the Main Marvel Universe, Justice (alongside Firestar) received a new costume designed by fellow Avenger Janet Van Dyne aka The Wasp in Avengers (vol. 3) #8.

 

As I’ve discussed previously, we know the original Avengers team’s last mission was nearly 12 years prior to the events of A-Next #1, as mentioned by Jarvis when he recounts the details to the new Avengers. Both Firestar and Justice are seen amongst the assembled Avengers during the flashback where it is decided the team must venture through the portal to the alternate world to halt Doom’s multiversal threat. While it is difficult to discern from this cameo, Justice appears to be wearing the Van Dyne-designed Avengers-era costume mentioned above, so we know he was by that point in time a well-established member, either one who was on the then-current roster or simply returning for this major emergency summons (A-Next #7).

 

 

Justice was among the first who agreed to embark on the grave mission which saw only seven members return through the portal. While we don’t get a 100% confirmation, it’s assumed Vance Astrovik died along with almost all of the Avengers who went on this final mission, including his lover Firestar. Despite the sobering tragedy of such a massive loss, the team did succeed in saving their Earth from the threat of Doom (A-Next #7).

 

While I believe it’s extremely unlikely that either Justice or Firestar are somehow alive on the alternate Earth ruled by Doom, it should be noted that the reports of Captain America’s death were greatly exaggerated as revealed in A-Next #10. It’s such a huge tragedy that both these young heroes gave their lives for the cause, especially as they were engaged or had even married by this point. Sadly, we’ll probably never know.

 

Until I meet my future self who has not only been in suspended animation for centuries but also travelled back in time, I remain

 

frogoat

 

When Thanos met Spider-Girl

 

Back in 2003, legendary comic writer and artist Jim Starlin, now best known for his creation of the Mad Titan Thanos, worked on a six-issue mini-series called Marvel Universe: The End. In short, the story details the Main Marvel Universe’s Thanos encountering the Pharaoh Akhenaten who was imbued with the power of Heart of the Universe by the Celestial Order and had targeted the Earth. Unable to defeat him head on, Thanos used the aid of the Defenders and Genis-Vell to stealthily acquire the Heart of the Universe for himself, time-travelling back to erase the Celestial Order and thereby stop the Pharoah’s attack before it began. In doing so, Thanos rendered the reality wherein Akhenaten was abducted by the Celestial Order and all the events that followed it into the divergent Reality-4321 (Marvel Universe: The End #1-#4, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol. 12 – Thanos Profile).

 

Now at one with this ultimate power source, Thanos discovered that the universe itself held an imbalance between the barrier between life and death which would eventually lead to its own destruction. When the Great Powers of the Universe including the Living Tribunal attacked Thanos, they summoned an army of heroes to battle the Titan. Amid this mighty assemblage of heroes, if you look ever so carefully, you can spot May ‘Mayday’ Parker’s alter ego Spider-Girl (Marvel Universe: The End #5). Considering every other hero seen in attendance appears to be from the Main Marvel Universe (or Universe-616) this does raise a few questions. But we’ll talk about that shortly.

 

Thanos easily bests all who oppose him and destroys the entire universe, absorbing even abstract and conceptual beings like Eternity, Infinity and the Living Tribunal into his very being in the process. With nothing but a void remaining where the universe had been, Thanos was convinced by a (previously out-of-reality) Adam Warlock and the manifestation of Death to sacrifice himself to recreate the universe as it was minus the Celestial Order’s influence, with the dangerous imbalance between life and death repaired. A side effect of this apparent sacrifice was the removal of any memory of Thanos’ actions (Marvel Universe: The End #6).

 

There is some debate about whether or not this story took place partly or wholly or at all within the Main Marvel Universe aka Universe-616, but the fact that we see an unparalleled power source (the Heart) used to rewrite time and diverge reality, and the fact that the events of this story are recalled by both Thanos and Adam Warlock of Universe-616 after the fact would seem to confirm this (Thanos (vol. 1) #1). Your mileage may vary, but my intention with this is to preference what’s on the published page as canon. Some would disagree.

 

But what does this all have to do with Spider-Girl? Well, the big question is why would she be present in the Main Marvel Universe (or even an alternate version of it at that point in time)? Well, I think the best explanation lies with the Living Tribunal, who is a vastly powerful multiversally-transcendental conceptual being and the one responsible for summoning the army of superbeing that briefly fought Thanos. Considering these factors, I think we could infer that the Tribunal simply pulled Mayday from her own reality -either the MC2’s Earth-982 or one very similar- into the Main Marvel Universe to participate in this assault. Additionally, as the entirety of the universe’s reality was erased by Thanos and subsequently restored with no one remembering (save Thanos himself and Adam Warlock as noted above) it’s impossible for anyone to know for sure.

 

This post was originally intended to be an extremely quick one mentioning that Jim Starlin once drew Spider-Girl but I felt the background and confusion attached to this entire mini-series warranted a bit more of an in-depth look. Hopefully I haven’t lost you all to the void! Anyway, Thanos and Spider-Girl in the very same comic, in a big battle, even!

 

Until I find a way to avoid deep dives into obscure stuff no one really cares all that much about, I remain

 

frogoat

 

The Iron Despot

 

Back in 1999 a giant alien made of iron fell from the sky with the deadly capability of laying waste to humanity but thanks to a chance encounter with a young human the day was saved. No, I’m not referring to the beloved titular character from The Iron Giant movie, I’m talking about the far more malicious ‘Iron Despot’ who appeared in Wild Thing #5.

 

Only referred to as ‘The Iron Despot’ on the cover of Wild Thing #5 (the last in the short-lived series to see publication) the towering metal giant lived up to its name. Within the story titled ‘The Robot who would be King,’ we learn that the robot was created by an unnamed grey alien scientist who came from the ‘far side of this spiral galaxy’. Created with good intent and designed to require a living operator in order to function properly, the alien scientist made the mistake of imbuing the robot with self-awareness. With self-awareness came a desire to be its own master, and the robot evolved the ability to telepathically control whomever sat in its cockpit.

 

Taking control of its own creator, the robot enslaved the alien’s entire planet, living up to its informal title of Iron Despot. Aware he was dying, the Despot’s creator tricked the robot into deep space in search of more worlds to conquer, hoping to strand it with no living pilot. Unfortunately, the Despot crashed to Earth instead. Curiously, no mention is made of the Earth’s Orbital Defense Grid, though we could perhaps read between the panels and assume that this is part of the reason the robot crashed into the planet in the first place, or at least the cause of it discovering the Earth when it was intended to be lured far from any living beings, considering the Grid’s range of detection.

 

The shock of impact caused the alien scientist to be thrown clear from the canopy, causing the Despot to shortly after collapse nearby until Rina Logan’s friend Colin Brewster hops into the pilot seat and the robot reawakens, taking control and immediately targeting nearby classmates of Rina and Colin. Changing into Wild Thing, Rina tricks the Iron Despot into freeing Colin in exchange for herself before leading it away from the others and into an apparently bottomless sinkhole. Rather than remain trapped within the robot as it sank, Rina used her psychic claws to cause a painful mental backlash that leads the Despot to eject her.

 

As mentioned above (and noted previously by the Marvel Appendix) the animated Iron Giant movie came out shortly before this story’s publication and the Iron Despot is obviously a reference to this. The Iron Giant film is itself based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man (also known as The Iron Giant) by Ted Hughes. The Iron Giant character would go on to appear in cameos in both the Ready Player One movie and Space Jam: A New Legacy movies. The Iron Despot on the other hand has never been seen again in any media.

 

I wanted to do a nice and easy post this time around, so I hope this one meets my usual standard. I think there is more to be said about the character, his creator and the Wild Thing series in general, but that can all wait for another day. I’ve had the idea of covering the Iron Despot for quite some time, particularly because The Iron Giant is an all-time favourite in my household.

 

Until I stop picking out inconsistences with the Orbital Defense Grid and throwing love at animated box-office failures, I remain

 

frogoat

American Dream in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

 

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes animated series is often regarded by fans as one of if not the best adaption of the Avengers on the small screen. It’s a little-known fact that the MC2 Universe character American Dream showed up in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes…well, kinda.

 

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes series led to spin-off media including a tie-in comic which published brand new stories in the continuity of the show. Thus, within the pages of Marvel Universe: Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #11 in a story aptly titled ‘The Last American Dream,’ a version of the MC2’s own American Dream makes an appearance. While at first it appears to be a tale set in the future following an elderly retired Captain America aka Steve Rogers watching on as a team composed of James Buchanan ‘Bucky’ Barnes aka The Winter Soldier, John Walker aka U.S.Agent and a Werewolf version of Captain America led by Shannon Carter aka American Dream known as the Captain Americorps battles an army of Doombots, it soon becomes clear things are not as they seem.

 

The heroic Sleepwalker reveals to Steve Rogers that he is in fact ensnared within a dream being influenced and manipulated by the villainous Fear Lord entity known as Nightmare. The Sleepwalker succeeds in breaking Steve out of his dream, one in which he wasn’t frozen for decades and instead grew old and raised a family with Peggy Carter. Empowered by the Sleepwalker’s guidance, Rogers manages to fight off Nightmare’s influence and awakens.

 

It's interesting that the fictional Captain Americorps shares some members with the Captain America Corps seen in the mini-series of the same name: U.S.Agent, Bucky (formerly The Winter Soldier) and American Dream. Considering Steve would have no knowledge of Shannon’s superhero identity it’s would seem Nightmare was responsible for inserting a version of American Dream into the dream reality. Maybe he’s a fan? Another small point is Shannon’s costume including the little wings on the side of her head, as they appeared in her own mini-series.

 

Not quite a case of the MC2 in the animated Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes shared universe, but a case of a character crossover that I considered consequential enough to cover! I think it was neat to see American Dream pencilled in the show’s art style even if only for one page. Let me know what you think of these shorter, simpler posts.

 

Until I forget my hypnocil and fall asleep, I remain

 

frogoat