MC2
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- For the physics equation E=mc², see E=mc²
MC2 ("Marvel Comics 2") is an imprint of Marvel Comics whose comic books depicted an alternative timeline for the Marvel Universe. The line was based on What If? #105, which is the first appearance of Spider-Girl, Spider-Man's daughter.
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[edit] Publication history
The MC2 universe was conceived by writer/editor Tom DeFalco. It was set 15 years in Marvel's future, using Marvel's "chronological elasticity" to actually be able to present the stories in modern time. The goal was to produce comic books with greater "mass market" appeal than the mainstream Marvel Universe, that could be more easily enjoyed without extensive knowledge of the primary timeline's decades of continuity. Three MC2 titles were launched with October 1998 cover dates, initially planned as 12-issue limited series:
- Spider-Girl, the flagship title of the line.
- A-Next, dubbed "The Next Generation of the Avengers", after most of the original ones mysteriously vanished.
- J2, Juggernaut's son, a heroic teenager.
However, the titles failed to attract a large fan-following, and A-Next and J2 ended as planned after twelve issues, replaced with:
- Fantastic Five, the expanded Fantastic Four family.
- Wild Thing, Wolverine and Elektra's daughter.
Spider-Girl meanwhile continued its run, as some continuity was desired among the line. However, with the collapse of a deal to sell the comics in K-Mart and Target, the new titles were cancelled after only five issues, leaving Spider-Girl as the MC2 line's only survivor, with sales gradually drifting downwards to cancellation levels.
A few spin-off miniseries were launched during the main title's run (DarkDevil and Spider-Girl Presents The Buzz), but even Spider-Girl was always kept on the brink of cancellation. Only successive efforts on the part of DeFalco and fans who campaigned to save the title kept it going, even as it was one of Marvel Comics' lowest selling comics at the time. However, Marvel launched a line of small "Digest"-sized trade paperbacks in 2004, with Spider-Girl being one of the two biggest successes in the "mass market" (the other being Runaways, which was reprieved from cancellation by the digest sales), with some reports suggesting that the Spider-Girl digests had substantially outsold the monthly comics.
In 2005 a new MC2 five part limited series was released called Last Hero Standing, with the aim of the series being to go to trade paperback format quickly as a possible prelude to making digests of the other MC2 books ("The sales of the Spider-Girl trade paperbacks have been so good to the mass market and to the grade schools that Marvel wanted a limited series that would introduce the other members of the MC2 Universe to the mass market." [1])
In 2006, Marvel announced the cancellation of Spider-Girl at issue 100, and a Last Planet Standing mini-series, which would have been the end of the MC2 universe. However, a few months later, Marvel announced they were going to relaunch Spider-Girl, under the title Amazing Spider-Girl. In recent solicitations from Marvel, it was announced that A-Next would return as a five issue miniseries under the title Avengers Next, with a roster featuring Spider-Girl, apparently reformed villain Sabreclaw, American Dream, Bluestreak, J2, and Katie Power.
[edit] Comments on style
Many readers enjoyment for the MC2 line is often due to some of the old school style writing that Tom Defalco incorporates, such as:
- Tight, consistent continuity between titles.
- While some stories are serious in nature, isn't as grim and gritty as most comics have become.
- Contents being more character oriented, rather than gimmicky.
Incidentally, Tom's work on these comics are similar to the Marvel Comics from the 1960s as he had involvement in all of the titles, much like Stan Lee did during his work on the comics.
This was recently discussed in an interview:
THE PULSE: A lot of people characterize the MC2 universe as having an "old school" feel. Why do you think "modern" comic readers want to read something that feels like the best of the Silver Age?
DEFALCO: We are “old school” because A) our heroes act like heroes…B) we don’t believe in decompression…C) we tell single issue stories with subplots that build from issue to issue… and D) there’s a lot of action and angst in every issue.[2]
[edit] Continuity
While initially appearing to be simply set in future time of Marvel's main continuity (Earth-616), at the current point the MC2 universe has developed numerous differences and deviations from that timeline.
An alternate universes special of Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe revealed that the earth of MC2 heroes has its starting of "The Age of Marvels" 15 years earlier than it did on Earth-616 and is designated as Earth-982 while there are also two earths featuring alternate counterparts of Spider-Girl -- Earth-1122 (in which she is raised by Ben Reilly) and Earth-9997, the world of Earth X, in which she has been bonded with the Venom symbiont.
[edit] List of known differences between Earth-982 and Earth-616 timelines
It can be speculated that most large-scale events in the mainstream continuity that occurred after MC2 universe series began publication did not occur in the Earth-982 timeline. This portion of the article is dedicated to listing the known differences between both universes. When Tom Defalco was asked "Since you are working in a future version of the Marvel Universe, do you have to make changes to deal with changes that happen in the current Marvel Universes?", Defalco replied "Sometimes, but I make the changes only a case by case basis." [3]
- The Death Of Aunt May as shown in The Amazing Spider-Man #400 (where she revealed to Peter that she had known of his alter ego for quite sometime) remains valid in MC2 continuity, whereas her Earth-616 was revealed to be alive in The Spectacular Spider-Man #263 (with a genetic actress dying in her place). This was confirmed in the letter page of Spider-Girl #48.
- Wonder Man's death in Force Works remained valid in MC2.[4] Constructs of him were created to protect The Scarlet Witch while she was in a coma. Those constructs battle the current Avengers in A-Next #8.
- May Parker has been returned to Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker by Kaine, later becoming the Spider-Girl.
- Decimation (an event that resulted in purging most mutants of their mutant abilities) appears to have never occurred. When asked if House of M would affect Spider-Girl, Defalco stated "I doubt it will…since we’ve already established how mutants are treated in MC2." [5]
- Jessica Drew has never regained her powers.
- Events depicted in Avengers Disassembled have not occurred.
- The Avengers disbanded after a battle with their evil counterparts on Earth 9907, which resulted in heavy losses on their side (including the death of Henry Pym) rather than as the result of "Disassembled" event.
- Scott Lang is alive and after a period of retirement, returned to being Ant-Man.
- Cassandra Lang is a member of the A-Next under the alias of Stinger; she does not seem to possess the growth powers of her 616 counterpart.
- Thor has never destroyed Asgard. He is alive and well, ruling the realm much as his father Odin did in the past.
- Hawkeye is still alive, although blinded (it is indicated that this happened during the Earth 9907 mission of the original team of Avengers).
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Single issues
- What If (volume 2) #105 (Marvel Comics, February 1998)
- Spider-Girl #0-100, (Marvel Comics, October 1998 - July 2006)
- Spider-Girl #½ (Marvel Comics/Wizard Entertainment, 1999)
- Spider-Girl Annual 1999 (Marvel Comics, 1999)
- A-Next #1-12 (Marvel Comics, October 1998 - September 1999)
- J2 #1-12 (Marvel Comics, October 1998 - September 1999)
- Fantastic Five #1-5 (Marvel Comics, October 1999 - February 2000)
- Wild Thing #1-5 (Marvel Comics, October 1999 - February 2000)
- Wild Thing #0 (Marvel Comics/Wizard Entertainment, 1999)
- Spider-Girl presents The Buzz #1-3 (Marvel Comics, July 2000 - September 2000)
- DarkDevil #1-3 (Marvel Comics, November 2000 - January 2001)
- Last Hero Standing #1-5 (Marvel Comics, June 2005)
- Last Planet Standing #1-5 (Marvel Comics, July 2006)
- Amazing Spider-Girl #0- (ongoing) (Marvel Comics, October 2006 - ongoing)
- Avengers Next #1-5 (Marvel Comics, November 2006 - March 2007)- current mini-series
[edit] Reprints
[edit] Trade paperbacks
- Spider-Girl (Marvel Comics, August 2001; ISBN 0-7851-0815-7, reprints Spider-Girl #0-8)
- Last Hero Standing (Marvel Comics, October 2005; ISBN 0-7851-1823-3, reprints Last Hero Standing #1-5)
[edit] Digests
- Spider-Girl Vol. 1: Legacy (Marvel Comics, April 2004; ISBN 0-7851-1441-6, reprints Spider-Girl #0-5)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 2: Like Father Like Daughter (Marvel Comics, December 2004; ISBN 0-7851-1657-5, reprints Spider-Girl #6-11)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 3: Avenging Allies (Marvel Comics, April 2005; ISBN 0-7851-1658-3, reprints Spider-Girl #12-16 and Spider-Girl Annual 1999)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 4: Turning Point (Marvel Comics, September 2005; ISBN 0-7851-1871-3, reprints Spider-Girl #17-21 and #½)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 5: Endgame (Marvel Comics, January 2006; ISBN 0-7851-2034-3, reprints Spider-Girl #22-27)
- Spider-Girl Presents Juggernaut Jr., Vol. 1: Secrets and Lies (Marvel Comics, March 2006; ISBN 0-7851-2047-5, reprints J2 #1-6)
