MC2 A Day

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Pat Olliffe Synopsis: Someone is abducting heroes!  Comments: The abductions of Wolverine and Ladyhawk were previewed in earlier Spider-Girl comics. It reminds me how the heroes' comics ended with the superheroes vanishing before the first Secret Wars.  J2 still doesn't get the point about the exercise.  I wondered if Earth 982 Captain America looked older.  The Big Brain robot is still being used by Reed despite Reed and Sue are free from the Negative Zone in Spider-Girl #88. My in-universe explanation is that Sue and Reed are keeping a low profile until they think it's time to re-introduce themselves to the world.  Loki's is never going to let it go that he inadvertently created the Avengers. The Acts of Vengeance crossover in 1990 that assembled most of the heroes in the Marvel Universe was revenge for him creating the Avengers. 

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz Synopsis: In the Negative Zone, the full force of the Fantastic Five meet the threat of Apox.  Comments: Fastball Special.  For some reason, this page with Howard, Sandra and Courtney was not in the digital issue of Marvel Unlimited. I had to get it elsewhere.  A nice resolution to the hanging plot threat from Fantastic Five.  I wouldn't violate that NDA. That guy's scary. 

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz Synopsis: Spider-Girl and her friends continue to battle Apox. Comments: The cover looks to be an homage to What If #1. Fitting since Spider-Girl's first appearance was in What If.

Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz   Synopsis: Spider-Girl hangs out with the young members of the Fantastic Five when Apox the Omega Skrull returns.  Comments: Jacob Grimm has gotten a makeover since Fantastic Five #5. The redesign is never addressed in universe, so I guess it's a retcon.  Don't call Apox "dude." Check There's Sub-Mariner whose whereabouts were stated to be unknown in Spider-Girl #71. 

Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Pat Olliffe Synopsis: The return of Funny Face.  Comments: Phil has a get well card from Ladyhawk on his bedside table.  This is the only time we see Funny Face without his makeup.  The cover is an homage to a cover of National Lampoon.  It was done before with the cover of J2 #9.     This comic was published in 2005 and 10 years later there was a variant cover of Batgirl #41 that looks similar to this cover (well, clown with a finger gun on the hero)  that was pulled after an outcry from fans. This is the last full issue of Spider-Girl that Pat Olliffe drew. He did contribute to later issues. He also drew two mini-series Last Hero Standing and Last Planet Standing.  Pat Olliffe, Spider-Girl fans salute you. 

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz Synopsis: The showdown with Fury and Normie Venom.  Comments: Reilly describes himself as having the powers of a demon and the soul of a hero. This is how Darkdevil is usually described in narration. Zarathos' former host, Ghost Rider, is not mentioned, but we get a little nod to him by showing Zarathos riding around on a motorcycle with a flaming skull.  Lois Lane is mentioned. I'm just noting a Superman reference here since I may do a post about all the DC references in the MC2 world I can find.  Normie deciding not to throw the symbiote in the oven reminds me of Aragorn's ancestor Isildur not throwing the Ring into Mount Doom. Both are seemingly seduced by an entity's power. The third Lord of the Rings reference in this three part story arc. 

Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz    Synopsis: Spider-Girl goes after the new Venom and Darkdevil lies at death's door.  Comments: So, none of my comments really have much to do with the main story.  Spider-Girl is offered refreshments by an Avengers employee named Kiana Moran. This is her only appearance. It should be noted that Amora the Enchantress used the alias Leena Moran during DeFalco and Frenz's run on Thor. The middle letters in Leena and Kiana's names spell AMORA. leenAMORAn kianAMORAn.  A connection between the two was confirmed to me by someone who worked on the book.  Asgardians were the villains in the mini-series Last Hero Standing and Avengers Next but Amora did not appear in those.  My last point is that we usually only see the MC2 from Spider-Girl's viewpoint since hers was the book that wasn't canceled. The Avengers were having their own adventures, so if the A-Next book had run concurrently in an alternate reality, we woul...

Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz Synopsis: Disaster strikes when Normie is bonded to the Venom symbiote.  Comments: Marcus Stone is still mayor of New York City after being elected in Darkdevil #3.  Peter, like May,  is oblivious to Reilly's resemblance to him.  Elan has adopted the Fury moniker.  The ghost seal Fury uses against the Human Torch is similar to the one the Green Goblin used against the Torch in Amazing Spider-Man #17 Torch saying he didn't want to go nova and burn the placae down may be a reference to Fantastic Four #371, written by Tom DeFalco, where Johnny went nova and burned down part of Empire State University after being provoke by Lyja and her allies. Long story.  Normie-Venom sounds like Gollum with his speech and burns comments. Each issue of this story arc seems to have a Lord of the Rings reference in it. 

  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz Synopsis: Electro reaches out to Spider-Man to help him with his daughter.  Comments: The title is a take off of a title of a Walt Whitman poem "I Sing the Body Electric." If that sounds familiar, it was also the title of a Ray Bradbury Twilight Zone episode and a song in the musical Fame .  Spider-Girl continues to call Electro's daughter, Aftershock, "Electra." Let's flashback to her prior appearance in Spider-Girl #51, which was a fill in by Sean McKeever and Casey Jones. Tom Brevoort said that by using the character of Aftershock, DeFalco showed he didn't have a problem with the fill in. I think he was just trying to make sense of the fill in, whose villain didn't get much an introduction or characterization.  The names of Electro/Elektra were also confused in Ultimate Spider-Man #10. This was a gag since Elektra was an enforcer for the Kingpin in the main Marvel continuity.  Peter isn't very nic...