William 'Wild Will' Fitzpatrick

 

Here is a quick little post about something not directly related to the MC2 at all, just something I wanted to cover and hopefully break me out of my writer’s block. That said, I am hoping to build this and potentially other related posts into a rather large combined entry in the MC2 Family Tree series. Today, we will be looking at the Marvel character William ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick.

 

You are probably wondering why we are looking at William Fitzpatrick and the answer is two-fold: he is the great-grandfather of May ‘Mayday’ Parker aka Spider-Girl and he has an interesting real-world counterpart. Fitzpatrick makes his first appearance in the Untold Tales of Spider-Man #-1, part of Marvel’s ‘Flashback’ month which saw many of their titles switch to a minus issue set in the past. Given that Untold Tales of Spider-Man was already set in the past, this issue goes back to the days of Peter’s parents, Richard and Mary Parker on a fateful mission during which we flashback even further to glimpse Mary as a young girl with her father, William ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick.

 

Not only do we learn a little more about Mary, such as her maiden surname Fitzpatrick and her aptitude for learning, we learn that Mary’s mother died while very young leaving Will as her only parent. We also learn that ‘Wild Will’ was part of the O.S.S. or Office of Strategic Services which was an American intelligence agency during World War II. This organisation was dissolved and shortly after replaced by the Central Intelligence Agency, where later Mary Fitzpatrick would work as a translator and data analyst and, after meeting Richard Parker, a field agent (Untold Tales of Spider-Man #-1).

The Marvel Appendix entry for Mary Parker and ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick notes that the Marvel Sliding Timescale may soon render William’s status as active during WWII as an O.S.S. operative pretty unbelievable if he’s the father of Mary and the grandfather of Peter Parker, if the latter exists in the modern era. As they point out, Will may have been older when Mary was born which, for now, is as good an explanation as any, especially considering he dies while Mary is still relatively young. Regardless, as an MC2-focused blog, we have an additional fourth generation to take into account between the 1940’s and the present day.

 

William ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick is based on the real-world American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat William Joseph “Wild Bill” Donovan who is best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II and is regarded as the founding father of the Central Intelligence Agency. The minus issue of Untold Tales of Spider-Man was written by Roger Stern and he would re-use ‘Wild Will’ in another story that firmly ties the character to the Second World War.

 

In 1998’s Marvel Universe #1 we have a story set during World War II, specifically 1945 wherein William Fitzpatrick works alongside Robert Frank aka The Whizzer to interview various people about the character and loyalties of members of the superhero team The Invaders including Namor the Sub-Mariner, the original Human Torch and Captain America. Following this, ‘Wild Will’ Fitzpatrick tasks the group with a secret mission involving Hydra.

 

 While it is not confirmed, I would like to suggest that the Intelligence agent seen in Marvel Universe #3 is also intended to be Fitzpatrick, given his appearance (aside from the miscoloured hair) and attire appear similar.

 

There’s not a huge wealth of stories to delve into here but I wanted to do this post because I think what we do get about Fitzpatrick tells us volumes, and by extension we gain a better understanding of Mary Parker. The heroic traits, intelligence, and wherewithal on display from father to daughter mirrors some aspects we see in Peter and his daughter Mayday’s relationship.

 

Until I remember where I left my notes for the next post, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A-Next Infinity Comic Review

 

It looks like 2023 is a good year for MC2 fans, with Cassie Lang suiting up (still without a codename) in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Aftershock appearing as the first antagonist in Disney’s animated Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur show, and now we have been graced with a brand-new two-part A-Next story in the digital pages (or should I say panels?) of Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #37-#38. I want to give a quick review of this story.

 

Exclusive to the Marvel Unlimited digital comics subscription service, this two issue A-Next tale was brought to us by MC2 co-creators Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz with inks by the brilliant Brett Breeding, colours by the colossal Chris Sotomayor and loving lettering by Joe Sabino. The first instalment opens in ‘a future…which may or may not be our own’ with J2 telling Bluestreak about the unseen events on Asgard alluded to way back in A-Next #1. First recapping the events of the aforementioned first issue of A-Next, impeccably recreated by Ron Frenz, Bluestreak demands further details of J2 when he mentions a feast and another fight (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #37).

 

It is nice to discover that Jolt and Stinger enjoy a good party. 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 the assembled soon-to-be Avengers alongside Thor, though still threatening revenge. J2 finishes his recollection, doubting Tyrus is dumb enough to return after two embarrassing defeats. However, a portal opens and a hand emerges within Avengers Compound through the framed picture of those early A-Nexters (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #37).

 

The following issue brings us back to the MC2’s present where the previous one left off as we see the Uru Monster named Uroc emerge from the portal alongside a horde of rock trolls led by Tyrus who wields ‘The Orb of Orikal,’an artifact which attracts and absorbs Uru energy. Bluestreak and J2 battle the trolls alone before being joined by Sabreclaw and the rest of the Avengers. Among the rock trolls is Maroc aka ‘Granny,’ the elderly grandmother of Uroc responsible for transporting them to the Avengers Compound (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #38).

 

When the Orb is activated, it begins to pull in Thunderstrike until Stinger suggests he overload it with his blasts which causes the artifact to explode and knock down Tyrus. With their leader down, Uroc demands Granny return them to Asgard. Granny Mardoc does so, chastising them all and suggesting they instead focus on mining and crafting rather than seek pointless revenge. Bluestreak tells J2 that he knows ‘how to show a girl a good time’ before kissing him on the cheek (Avengers Unlimited Infinity Comic #38).

 

Some genuinely wonderful stuff here. I am probably just a smidge biased but it is delightful seeing Tom and Ron seamlessly slide back into the MC2 and deliver a brand-new story. A few points I found interesting: the Orb (and its namesake Orikal) first appeared way back in Thor #138. Uroc, the Uru Monster makes his MC2 debut after being first introduced by Tom Defalco and Mike Mignola in the pages of Thor #408. Granny Mardoc is also apparently a familial relation of Uroc, and mentions she granted Uroc his Uru form and healed his past injuries. Notably, Uroc here has a new and familiar looking left hand, which references his previous limb being destroyed in Thor #450 by the special police unit Code: Blue and acts as a dual reference to Mignola’s most well-known creation Hellboy who has a ‘Right Hand of Doom’.  

 

In addition to the familiar relation between Uroc and Granny Mardoc, we also learn that Tyrus is the son of Ulik, a mainstay of Thor’s rogues gallery and who showed up in the Avengers Next mini-series working alongside Sylene, the daughter of Loki. It is a nice piece of continuity that father and son troll worked opposite daughter and father Asgardian, respectively. Tyrus also spoke of regaining the good graces of his Lord Loki, perhaps suggesting Loki returned from Limbo or that Tyrus does not know of Loki’s fate. The first time we encountered Tyrus was as an alternate future version opposing the Dargo Ktor in Thor #384, wherein he is apparently missing an eye which is echoed here when the Orb explodes.

Finally, Ron Frenz managed the nigh-impossible task of connecting the Troll dolls of the 80’s to the orange-skinned rock trolls of Marvel by way of Granny Mardoc’s appearance. Thanks to Mr Frenz for clarifying a comment he made on the Make Mine Mayday podcast regarding this. *An additional thanks to Ron Frenz for clarifying and correcting the original version of this post*

 

I was very pleased with this short story, it managed to fill a long-existing gap between panels in A-Next #1 and provided us a glimpse at the Avengers team in the MC2’s present at the same time. Now we’ve gotten essentially A-Next #½, I’m hoping someday we’ll get the inevitable A-Next #1½ story which details events surrounding Jolt, Jubilee and Speedball returning to the Avengers Compound during Peter Parker’s visit in What If #105. Come on, you know you wanna do it, guys! I am guessing Crimson Curse was not a member anymore since she’s…. you know…probably dead again following the 2015 Secret Wars event.

 

Until every gap in the MC2’s storied history is filled, I happily remain

 

frogoat

Aftershock in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur *Update*

 

This is just a quick update to two prior posts: Is the MC2’s Aftershock in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur?! and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode 1 Review. Both posts discuss the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur animated series and its potential adaption of the MC2 version of the character Aftershock aka Allison Dillon.

 

In my review post, I mentioned that the animated Aftershock uses the name ‘Ms. Dillon’ while temporarily working as a teacher at Lunella Lafayette aka Moon Girl’s school. This seemed to concretely establish this version of Aftershock was adapting the MC2 iteration of the character and not the one seen in the Main Marvel Universe, Danielle Blunt.

 

Just to further reinforce this notion, an interview with the animated show’s Executive Producer, Steve Loter on entertainment site Beautiful Ballard had this to added incite:

 

The first villain Lunella faces is Aftershock, was that always the plan?

Steve Loter: “Being that Aftershock is the first villain in the series, it’s the first real formidable villain that Lunella faces as Moon Girl, we really did wanna encapsulate a lot about what the mission statement was of the series is the one girl makes a difference storyline which is super important. That to have this character coming into the Lower East Side sapping it of its energy, there’s a lot of proverbial notions there to make statement about gentrification. It’s a statement about losing community and neighborhood and connection. It was really important for Aftershock to be the conduit—no pun intended—for that kind of story. But yeah, it was totally intentional. And it’s the daughter of Electro, so that’s always fun, too. But that was the reasons why Aftershock definitely had to be our first villain.”

 

So, there you have it, the Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur production team even refers to her as ‘the daughter of Electro’. The matter is settled. Ironically, even though the series borrows a few visuals and elements from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it does not actually take place within that continuity. Which means it is free to have a second-generation villain show up ahead of their parent’s MCU debut.

 

Before I power down again, I wanted to also give a quick shout out to this YouTube video from the channel WhitneyVision which provides a great in-depth look at the first six episodes of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur with comparisons and changes from the comics along with easter eggs and references. Check it out.

 

Until I stop adoring this great cartoon, I remain

 

frogoat

 

The Parker Family Home

 

A very long time ago a young and eager fan wrote a but if a deep-dive into the layout of Mayday’s Room. Today, an older, more cynical, and time-poor fan writes a potted history of the Parker Family Home.

 

 

This will not be a definitive, exhaustive look at every appearance of the Parker residence. The aim of this post is to provide some history and context to the home now owned and occupied by Peter, Mary Jane, May, and Benjy Parker in the MC2 by looking at its published history.

 

Let us start with some background and details about the house. Located at 20 Ingram Street, ‘a quiet street in the Forest Hills section of New York, is the neat frame, two-story house’ (Amazing Spider-Man #316-#317, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1) which was owned by the bootlegging criminal Dutch Mallone during the prohibition era of the 1930’s.  The house was eventually surrounded by treasury agents led by Eliot Ness and Mallone was sent to prison. Rumours abound that Dutch had hidden away millions of dollars somewhere (in his house) that was never found (Amazing Spider-Man #200, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #50-#51).

 

At some point, Ben and May Parker moved into the home and later their nephew Peter came to live with them after his parents died (Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5, Amazing Spider-Man Family #2). Unless I am mistaken, we have never seen a flashback to a younger May and Ben moving in to Forest Hills.

 

Now, for the more straightforward stuff. The Parker House first appears in Amazing Fantasy #15 when we are introduced to Peter’s Aunt May and Uncle Ben. Sadly, after Ben’s murder, May struggles to afford the rent and Peter sets out to earn money to help, and eventually uses money he earned from his Spider-Man pictures to pay off the rent for a full year (Amazing Spider-Man #1-#2).

 

 

We get an iconic look at the house in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, the layout and appearance of which is fairly consistently maintained by future artists.

 

 

 

When Peter is offered the opportunity to move in with Harry Osborn in an apartment, he worries about leaving his Aunt May alone, until she reveals Mary Jane’s Aunt Anna has asked her to move in. Notably, Peter suggests May could sell the house to live comfortably for the next few years (Amazing Spider-Man #46). This implies May now owns the home…so perhaps they were doing ‘rent to buy’ and finished paying it off? Either way, after this we do not see the Parker House for a long time.

 

A detour now, because after a few appearances of what must be Anna Watson’s House including the time where May takes in Doctor Octopus as a boarder while Anna is away resulting in the house being badly damaged during a super-battle (Amazing Spider-Man #53-#55), we later see May lives in an apartment building that may be in Forest Hills and later appearances suggest Anna lives there too (Amazing Spider-Man #110). For anyone who’s interested, their address is given as ‘124-05 24^th St Queens, NY’ (Amazing Spider-Man #119) after May runs away to stay with Doctor Octopus, and it’s later referred to as their ‘Forest Hills Apartment House’ and ‘Apartment Complex’ on occasion including when May protests the removal of rental-control on the building (Amazing Spider-Man #167, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #2 and #7).

 

 

Jumping around a bit, it seems the only time we actually glimpse the Parkers House is in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5 during a flashback to Peter moving a trunk to the basement only to discover articles about his parents Richard and Mary’s deaths and the accusation they were traitors. This presumably means May had neither sold nor rented out her old home, though perhaps this was her clearing things out.

 

This would change in Amazing Spider-Man #170 where we witness a scene of a realtor showing the house to someone who is very interested in the premises and agrees to rent it. Notably, the realtor mentions May still owns the home and will use the rent money as a pension.

 

This proves true, as after suffering a heart attack during a protest in Amazing Spider-Man #176 and an eventful extended hospital stay, May Parker leaves for Restwell Retirement Home in Amazing Spider-Man #189. While May settles into the Retirement Home, her Forest Hills house is entirely trashed by her tenant who is searching for something. We learn this is The Burglar who shot and killed Ben Parker when he shows up at Restwell seeking information from May Parker, threatening the Home’s Dr Ludwig Rinehart (an alias of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio) (Amazing Spider-Man #193).

 

 

The Burglar reveals he was looking for something when he entered the Parker Home and shot Ben Parker, but he cannot extract the information from May with her nephew Peter visiting so often. The disguised Mysterio offers to deal with Peter and secretly plans to do the same to The Burglar once he learns exactly what he is after (Amazing Spider-Man #194).

 

The criminal Mysterio, maintaining his disguise as Dr. Rinehart, enacts his plan by faking May Parker’s death to ensure Peter would no longer be around to interfere, sending him a note informing him his aunt has died (Amazing Spider-Man #195). Notably, Rinehart even mentions that May was using her home to pay for her stay at Restwell and asks if Peter wants to make arrangements for this. Peter makes a trip to his childhood home only to discover it has been ripped apart which leads him to realize he recognizes the name ‘Rinehart’ (Amazing Spider-Man #196).

 

With Peter Parker out of the picture, The Burglar tells ‘Rinehart’ what he is after; Dutch Mallone’s hidden millions. Turning the tables, Rinehart reveals himself as Mysterio and tells The Burglar of his Nursing Home scam: ensuring the residents’ wealth and properties are signed over to him so he profits when they pass away. However, having learned of The Burglars plan to find the hidden millions, Mysterio changes his plan and captures him. Spider-Man makes his way to Restwell Retirement Home and battles Mysterio who now technically owns the Parker’s house. Their fight continues at Spider-Man’s old home in Forest Hills where Mysterio is now searching for Mallone’s treasure, before returning to Restwell where Spider-Man is rendered powerless with a dart full of ‘depressant’. Mysterio apparently cuts his losses and escapes as he does not appear in the following issue (Amazing Spider-Man #198-#199).

 

 

Meanwhile, The Burglar escapes his bondage and Peter returns to his Aunt May’s old home and decides to solve the mystery. Paying a visit to Anna Watson next door, Peter asks about the tenant living in May’s house but she can only suggest he ask the rental agency. Peter does so and learns the name of the tenant: it is The Burglar who killed Uncle Ben. Piecing things together, Peter learns the story of Dutch Mallone’s treasure, the reason The Burglar went to the Parker’s home the night he shot Uncle Ben (Amazing Spider-Man #200).

 

The still depowered Peter returns home only to be captured by The Burglar, who reveals that Mallone shared a jail cell with him and had spilled the location of the treasure while talking in his sleep. Eventually taken to the warehouse where Spider-Man first captured The Burglar, Peter learns Aunt May is alive before fighting The Burglar, who dies of a heart attack after Peter shows him he is Spider-Man. In the end, May reveals to Peter that she and Ben had found a box of Mallone’s while pulling down wallboards, but it’s contents had long ago been eaten away by silverfish. The whole event was for nothing. Presumably, with Mysterio’s scam revealed, and May still alive she would retain ownership of her old house (Amazing Spider-Man #200).

 

 

Still recovering from her recent illness and kidnapping, May returns to Restwell Retirement Home (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #38). While there, she meets and begins a relationship with fellow resident Nathan Lubensky (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #47).  May mentions she wants to move back into her home and turn it into a boarding house in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #68. Nathan and May attend a leaving party at Restwell in Marvel Team-Up #120 before unofficially opening her home for boarders in Marvel Team-Up #124. Almost a week later May obtains a special licence as a special-status landlady from the tax authority. We learn that along with Peter and May, Nathan has also invested his own savings to convert May’s house into a boarding house (Amazing Spider-Man #238).

 

May and Peter are targeted by Mysterio in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #50-#51, who returns still seeking Mallone’s treasure. Peter reveals the truth about the treasure being destroyed by silverfish, though Mysterio naturally initially does not believe him. Peter continues to assist May’s boarding house financially, as seen in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #78.

 

 

Much later, the now married Peter and Mary Jane Parker are evicted from their Bedford Towers home on Christmas Eve and forced to move in to Aunt May’s boarding house. Peter struggles with this as he feels he has long since outgrown the situation and it compromises his self-image as an adult. After being offered a room behind a gym by Flash, Peter visits Uncle Ben’s grave and finds Aunt May there which finally makes him realize he should accept her offer (Amazing Spider-Man #314).

 

Having learned Nathan has heart failure and only about six months to live, May considers phasing-out her boarding operations. Peter and Mary Jane are offered a loft above Harry and Liz Osborn’s own place in SoHo (Amazing Spider-Man #321). The couple move out of May’s place in Web of Spider-Man #57 and the other boarders begin to find other accommodations, with the last moving out in Amazing Spider-Man #326, leaving only May and Nathan in the house.

 

Nathan dies after an encounter with The Vulture in Amazing Spider-Man #336 and following his burial, when Peter and Mary Jane offer to have May stay with them for a while but she says she must get used to living alone again (Amazing Spider-Man #337). While May does find a new companion in Willie Lumpkin, she seems to continue to live alone.

 

Let us skip ahead to Amazing Spider-Man #391 where May, alone and filled with pent up emotions after a visit from Mary Jane, collapses to the ground and fortunately found shortly after by a returning Mary Jane.  It is revealed in Amazing Spider-Man #392 that May has suffered a stroke and fallen into a coma. After some weeks in hospital, May regains consciousness (Web of Spider-Man #123) and returns once more to her home in Forest Hills (Amazing Spider-Man #400).

 

While back in her own house, May deduces that hero daughter-in-law Mary Jane is pregnant (with the aptly named May ‘Mayday’ Parker aka Spider-Girl)  before spending a week with her beloved nephew Peter and, during a trip to the Empire State Building she reveals she’s known for years Peter was secretly Spider-Man. Finally, at home in her bed, May says her last goodbye to Peter. Peter recounts May reading Peter Pan to him as a child as she passes away peacefully (Amazing Spider-Man #400).

 

 

It is worth noting that May’s death occurs amid the Clone Saga and her hospitalization was the impetus for Peter’s clone brother Ben Reilly to return to New York City after five years in self-imposed exile. Ben also observes his aunt’s passing unseen and unable to be present, a truly tragic moment (Amazing Spider-Man #400).

 

Peter and Mary Jane eventually move to Portland and during the events of Spider-Man: The Final Adventure, Peter loses his spider-powers. Meanwhile Ben Reilly assumes the role of Spider-Man. When the expectant couple return to New York, we learn that Anna Watson has begun getting the Parker’s House back into shape (Web of Spider-Man #127) for them. They move in to the house (Amazing Spider-Man #413, Spider-Man #70) and shortly after they are joined by Anna Watson who moves in to help them with their coming baby (Amazing Spider-Man #417).

 

A side note; the Parker House’s address is given as ‘309 Austin Avenue, Forest Hills’ in Spider-Man #70 when Mary Jane calls 911 for an ambulance when Peter has a seizure. This is not the only instance of a different address for the house, but given the prominence and recurrence of ‘20 Ingram Street’ I am going to stick with it instead.

 

During the Revelations arc, Peter and Ben spend some quality time together in the attic, sorting through their old belongings (Spectacular Spider-Man #240). This would be their last happy moment together before Ben dies fighting the original Green Goblin aka Norman Osborn (Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75).  Of course, Mary Jane and Peter’s baby May is declared stillborn in Amazing Spider-Man #418. This is part of a horrific plot afoot and in the MC2 she is eventually returned safely to her parents thanks to Kaine (Spider-Girl #48-#49).

 

Before parents and child are reunited, Peter and Mary Jane mourn their loss. As part of this process, Mary Jane repaints the nursery in their home and decides to enroll at Empire State University, and Peter considers returning to complete his masters degree (Amazing Spider-Man #419). In the MC2, we know that Peter did, in fact, do this as he is referred to as ‘Doctor Parker’ and works as a police scientist (What If #105). Mary Jane’s studies also appear to have been successful, as many years later she accepts the position of guidance counselor at Midtown High School (Amazing Spider-Girl #8-#10, #16).

 

Now we can look at the MC2’s established history involving the Parker’s Family Home. We know Peter and Mary Jane continued to live in the house after the MC2 diverged from the Main Marvel Universe, as seen in stories set during Mayday’s early life including the Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man story seen in Amazing Spider-Man Family #1. There, Mayday is left with Anna Watson when Peter and Mary Jane leave for dinner with the Connors only for Spider-Man to have to battle The Lizard. It appears Anna Watson also continued to live in the house during Mayday’s infancy, though it is possible she was just staying there to babysit in Amazing Spider-Man Family #2.

 

 

The Parker Family remain in their Forest Hills home throughout the MC2’s entire publication run from What If #105 to Spider-Girl: The End. It is worth pointing out that Anna Watson does not make any appearances in the present-day MC2, so not only does she no longer live there, she may have actually passed away.

 

Perhaps the most notable appearance of the Parker Family Home in the MC2 was when Peter and baby Benjy were kidnapped by the current host to the Carnage Symbiote. Carnage left destruction in his wake and a message scrawled in blood (Amazing Spider-Girl #10).

 

The Parker’s attic is, somewhat fittingly, a reoccurring location of some significance. It’s where Mayday learns of the events surrounding her father’s final battle with the Green Goblin and the loss of his own leg. It is also where Mayday finds her Uncle Ben’s costume and web-shooters before heading out to save her father (What If #105/Spider-Girl #0). Mayday would return here on occasion to seek a costume (Spider-Girl #7) and eventually Peter would teach his daughter to make web-fluid there using a makeshift lab (Amazing Spider-Girl #20).

 

In closing, I hope the significance of the humble abode of the Parker’s is not lost on readers. While for a long stretch of time after Peter and his Aunt May moved out the home ceased to hold any relevance it has since become a major part of the not just the Spider-Man mythos, but that of Spider-Girl’s own. Acting as a point of safety and stability, there really is no place like home.

 

 

Until I figure out if Peter paid out the remaining mortgage or if May and/or Ben had just a little left to pay off on a rent to buy scheme, I remain

 

frogoat