MC2 A Day

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Pat Olliffe Synopsis: Spider-Girl fights Darkdevil who is on the hunt for Kaine.  Comments: First appearance of JJ (Jack Jameson), but he isn't named in this issue.  J. Jonah Jameson is still the publisher of The Daily Bugle .  Darkdevil is flesh colored in some panels. My explanation is that his human projection ability is glitching.  Spider-Girl calls Darkdevil "Daredevil" at one point. Like in real life, we all misspeak, especially in stressful situations.  I like how May thinks Kaine is spelled as "Cane" and that her dialogue reflects the spelling in her head.  Spider-Girl's ability to repel objects from her hands makes its first appearance. Darkdevil reveals that he may have spider powers. 

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Lim Synopsis: J2 teams up with Doc Magus and the original Defenders to rescue his father, the original Juggernaut.  Comments: The blurb on the cover promising that it's not a dream, hoax or imaginary story was something that would appear on Silver Age DC Covers. Sometimes only two out of three, so as to leave the writers open to some sort of cop-out. It's not a cop-out here.  There are several hints that Dr. Strange is the father of Doc Magus.  Cain Marko looks like Miller's father.  Lucky Zane gets a hugged by Talia and Montana. 

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz Synopsis: Thunderstrike and Blacklight fight the Soldiers of the Serpent.  Comments: The cover is an homage to Avengers #73.  Kendra Freeman is Blacklight. She is the daughter of Monica Rambeau and Derek Freeman.  I wonder if Jameesia Grant is related to Glory Grant? I don't know if Holly Halpern is related to any current Marvel character.  I remember someone had the theory that that Blacklight was the daughter of Cloak and Dagger. Not the worst guess. But her costume has the same symbol as her mother's and the colors are reversed.  Kevin freeing Maria and himself is lifted from Thunderstrike #12 where his father had a similar pose.                                           I wonder who killed the Serpent who was about to tell Kevin about his father?  We see the face of Hope Pym for the fist time. Does she look like Evangeline Lilly?  The final two pages parallel the two pages of the Avengers departing in the flashback in issue 7. 

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz Synopsis: Arriving from the alternate Earth, A-Next is attacked by the Revengers.  Comments: Red Queen has a "W" shape on her mask. Probably as a tribute to her mother, Janet Van Dye, the original Wasp. Remember, in the Marvel movies, Hope Pym is a heroic character.  Mainframe being called Unit #1138 is a reference to the George Lucas movie, THX 1138. 

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz Synopsis: A-Next fights evil counterparts of the Avengers in another dimension.  Comments: The cover is an homage to Avengers #70. The Red Skull's henchmen, The Exiles, make a cameo. The first fully appears and battled the title character in Captain America #103 & 104.  I like the alternate Earth Jarvis with an eyepatch. Jarvis did wear an eyepatch briefly after he was badly beaten by Mr. Hyde.  Thunderstrike makes a reference to the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror." That's the one with the goateed Spock. 

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz I usually don't mention the inker, but Al Williamson is credited on the cover as the interior inker, but it was actually Al Milgrom. Williamson was the inker on Spider-Girl at the time.  Synopsis: A-Next teams up with Captain America to defeat Doom's tyranny.  Comments: Ron Frenz said in an interview that Captain America of the A-Next world throws his own shield and keeps the shield of Captain America of the alternate Earth. the dialogue contradicts this later when Captain America says the other Cap would have wanted American Dream to have his shield. I'm fine with American Dream ending up with either shield.  Tom DeFalco has the original art of Mainframe punching out Donar.  The panel of Donar marching down the hallway was used twice before in Thor #167 and #395. American Dream loses her long, beautiful hair.  First mention of Everybody's Happy , a fictional TV show whose stars will come into play in Spider-Girl Annual '

Writer: Tom DeFalco/Larry Hama Penciller: Ron Lim Synopsis: J2 enters a martial arts tournament.  Comments: American Dream warning J2 about the stun balls was a running joke where Captain America would warn other heroes when he was training with the balls.  Though not named, the duck is Howard the Duck.  I was confused when I first read this because I thought Deadpool was a hero. I was just starting to read comics.  The "B" story is Wild Thing successfully auditioning for the X-People, but ultimately turns them down. This story was written by Larry Hama, who would go on to write the Wild Thing series.   

  Writer: Tom Defalco Penciller: Ron Lim Synopsis: J2 vs. Big Julie the Gangster Gorilla.  Comments: Big Julie (Julius S. Bridwell) is named after DC editors Julius Schwartz and E. Nelson Bridwell. The company used a lot of apes as characters.  The cover is a parody of a National Lampoon cover. The parody will be used for the cover of Spider-Girl #85 Tom DeFalco agreed with J2's thoughts on the cover and resisted efforts from Ron Frenz to put Big Julie in Spider-Girl.  I like the name of Big Julie's henchman Weasel Whoanellie.  I like the back up J2 fairy tale feature "Jack and the Big Score" based on Jack and the Beanstalk. 

Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Lim Synopsis: J2 teams up with Wolverine when Wild Thing is kidnapped.  Comments: I like how Wolverine's eye patch doesn't fool anyone. I also like how Zane keeps his eyepatch on.  I like how Wolverine snores.  I didn't like the "B" story fairy tale. J2 in medieval times instead of modern times didn't do it for me.