MC2 Dangler: J2's place on the Avengers

 Tom DeFalco is not Chris Claremont in how he would leave plotlines unresolved that fans call "danglers", but there were some subplots in MC2 that were not resolved or at least not resolved to my liking. This is the start of a series where I examine a dangler and its non-resolution. 

By the second issue of A-Next, Thunderstrike (Kevin Masterson) was already annoyed by J2's enthusiasm, but that annoyance turned to dismay when he finds out that J2 is a really young teenager named Zane. Thunderstrike thought they shouldn't allow someone so young on the team because of the risk and the liability. Stinger, who I suspect already knew, had them table the conversation for later. Thunderstrike responded that they weren't going to ignore the issue. 

If Thunderstrike wanted to press the claim that J2 was too immature to be in the Avengers, he was a given several opportunities in issue #2 and #3. During the fight with the Sentry, J2's recklessness style of fighting almost killed the Bill and John Foster when his punch knocked the Sentry into a spaceship that the Fosters were inside of and sent the ship nearly off the cliff. During the fight with the original Defenders, J2 fled the battlefield when he thought Hulk and the Sub-Mariner killed Mainframe. J2 was unaware at the time that Mainframe was an AI with multiple robot bodies. To be fair, Thunderstrike may have been so intent on his fight with the Sub-Mariner that he didn't notice J2 fleeing the battlefield. I don't think he would have brought him up on charges of cowardice in the face of the enemy, but he could have argued that J2's reaction proved he was just too young to be in a life and death battle. To his credit, J2 did return to the battle after seeing Mainframe was okay. 

When the Dream Team (American Dream, Freebooter, Blue Streak and Crimson Curse) joined the Avengers as recruits without Thunderstrike, Stinger or J2 being consulted, J2 took it hard and felt like he was being replaced and brought up how Thunderstrike didn't think he should be on the team. However, after J2 saved their lives when the Quinjet was about to crash, Thunderstrike seemed to finally soften and offered to buy J2 a pizza at the end of the issue. 

Despite his relationship with Thunderstrike finally getting better, Zane was apparently still sensitive about his age and his place on the Avengers when Doc Magus expressed surprise at J2's true form in J2 #4. Zane did point out that Doc Magus commenting on his age was somewhat hypocritical due to Magus's own youth. Magus apologized and it was not brought up again between them. 

Soon, the issue seemed to be even more moot because Thunderstrike and J2 spent A-Next #5 bonding by looking over Avengers files, visiting Kevin's father's grave, and hanging out at Kevin's apartment where Zane encouraged Kevin to call his stepfather Bobby Steele, who Kevin was estranged from at the time. 

So it's one thing if the Avengers are okay with an underage superhero being on the team, but what about Zane's mother? Turned out she reavealed was okay with it  in J2 #12 as long as he didn't go off to any other dimensions, something he actually did repeatedly. 

As for precedent, the Avengers have taken it seriously in the past in keeping out underage members. In Avengers #10, Captain America unilaterally shut down any discussion of letting a teenage Rick Jones join the Avengers. Note: I never understood what Iron Man meant by making Rick's membership as official as the Wasp's. Was he saying, "Jeez, we let a woman in! Might as well open the gates and let ANYONE have a membership."?

In Avengers #340-341, Captain America found out that one of their recruits, Rage, was really 14 years ago old and demoted him to trainee status and would not allow him in the field. Later when trying to convince minority Avengers to rejoin the team Avengers vol. 3 #27, the Scarlet Witch remarked that Rage was underage and could not join the team. 

Is this a dangler or was it resolved? We never did see a discussion or a debate. It may not have happened because Thunderstrike may have seen the futility in it. If his membership was being voted on, J2 would have had to recuse himself and Thunderstrike would likely be outvoted by Stinger and Mainframe. Thunderstrike/Kevin warming up to J2/Zane and hanging out with him might have also rendered the issue moot. Thunderstrike became closer to J2 after the Dream Team was added and the original members, with the exception of Mainframe, felt threatened by their addition to the team.  Furthermore, when Bluestreak, whose age is estimated to be 15, was added to the team and later Spider-Girl, the doors were then opened for all minors to apply. 

Still, the pros and cons can be debated of letting J2 on the team and this is how the debate might have gone. I'll start with the cons. 

Cons: Being a minor, Zane/J2 cannot enter into service with adult heroes and risk his life not more than a minor can sign up for the military or the police or fire department. I know a 17 year old who has graduated high school can get a waiver if their parent or guardian signs it, but not someone who is around 13 or 14 like Zane.  Despite his power, Zane is inexperienced and has a weakness in that his power cuts out after a certain time limit, leaving him vulnerable on the battlefield. If Zane were injured or killed, it would make the Avengers look bad and could ruin Sachi's life. Of course, she would be devastated to lose her son, but their would be an investigation to see if she enabled him and her career as DA would not survive that. 

Pros: As Boromir might say, "One does not simply turn the power of the Juggernaut away." J2 is one of the most powerful beings on Earth and as he gets older, it stands to reason that he will get stronger and more experienced. Rejecting J2 could drive him into the arms of another team, a team that might be willing to use him for their own ends like the team Magneta was trying to form or Red Queen's Revengers. Even though J2 is ideally heroic by nature, he is still young and could be susceptible to manipulation. If Zane were just a costumed athlete like American Dream or had powers like Gerry Drew's Spider-Man, perhaps the Avengers could tell him to come back when he turned 18 (if they had held fast to that standard) and run the risk that they may alienate him, but letting someone with the Juggernaut's power go is like losing track of a nuke. It's a Broken Arrow incident.