MC2 (Marvel Comics 2) is an imprint from Marvel Comics whose comic books depict an alternative future timeline for the Marvel Universe. The imprint was spun off from the events of What If? #105, which was the first appearance of the character Spider-Girl, Spider-Man's daughter from an alternative future. This reality was designated as Earth-982.
Publication history
The MC2 Universe was conceived by writer/editor Tom DeFalco as a possible alternate future for the Marvel Universe, which is set in the present day, with the first appearances of most Marvel heroes having taken place fifteen years earlier than in main continuity. The goal of the line was to produce comic books that were more accessible to a wider audience than Marvel’s main line of books and weren't entrenched in years of continuity, which was later repeated with the Ultimate Marvel imprint. The MC2 had a distinctly old fashioned feel, with editorial and story choices reflecting late 80s/early 90s presentation and writing styles.
Three MC2 titles were launched in October 1998 as twelve-issue maxiseries:
- Spider-Girl, starring the daughter of Spider-Man.
- A-Next, featuring a new team of Avengers who come together after the original Avengers disbanded.
- J2, starring the Juggernaut's son, a heroic teenager.
A-Next and J2 ended after twelve issues and were replaced by:
- Fantastic Five, featuring the expanded Fantastic Four.
- Wild Thing, starring Wolverine and Elektra's daughter.
Spider-Girl meanwhile continued publication. However, with the collapse of a deal to sell the comics in Kmart and Target both Fantastic Five and Wild Thing were cancelled after five issues, leaving Spider-Girl as the only title in the MC2 Universe still published. A few spin-off limited series were launched during the time Spider-Girl was published, such as DarkDevil and Spider-Girl Presents The Buzz.
The Spider-Girl title was nearly cancelled several times due to low sales. Each time, campaigns by Tom DeFalco and fans of the title prevented cancellation. Fans created a webpage, savespidergirl.com, to help drum up support for the book. In an effort to boost sales on the title, Marvel reprinted Spider-Girl in small "Digest-sized" trade paperbacks.
A five-issue limited series set in the MC2 Universe titled Last Hero Standing was printed, with the aim to reprint it in trade paperback form as soon as possible and reprint other titles in the MC2 line as trade paperbacks as well. In 2006, Marvel released another limited series set in the MC2 Universe titled Last Planet Standing. The series was intended to wrap up all the loose ends in the MC2 Universe and destroy it at the series' conclusion. As a result, Spider-Girl was slated to be cancelled at issue 100, where the character would die. Due to backlash from DeFalco and fans, Marvel quashed the move and announced the relaunching of Spider-Girl under the title of Amazing Spider-Girl. The "Amazing" title lasted until early 2009, when the book was again cancelled due to low sales. A third title, The Spectacular Spider-Girl, was then launched. Initially a digital exclusive, the Spectacular book was incorporated into the Amazing Spider-Man Family anthology magazine. After Amazing Spider-Man Family and its successor, Web of Spider-Man, folded, a final four-issue Spectacular Spider-Girl mini-series was produced, allowing many of the long-running plot threads from the book to be tied up. The final MC2-oriented story to date, a one-shot called Spider-Girl: The End, was published in 2010, which gave the title character a happy ending whilst leaving the door open for further adventures.
In 2008, a prequel strip, Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man, was launched in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man Family. DeFalco confirmed on the official Spider-Girl boards that this strip would serve as the definitive continuity of the MC2 Spider-Man timeline. However, the Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man strips were quickly ended so the Spider-Man Family title could make room for the relaunched Spider-Girl book.
American Dream has appeared in both her own 2008 limited series and the 2011 five-issue limited series Captain America Corps, marking the first time an MC2 character has met or teamed up with characters from the mainstream Marvel universe.
Comments on style
DeFalco explained in an interview his views on the MC2 imprint:
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."
Bibliography
Single issues
- What If (volume 2) #105 (Marvel Comics, February 1998)
- Spider-Girl #0â€"100, (Marvel Comics, October 1998 â€" July 2006)
- Spider-Girl #½ (Marvel Comics/Wizard Entertainment, 1999)
- Spider-Girl Annual 1999 (Marvel Comics, 1999)
- A-Next #1â€"12 (Marvel Comics, October 1998 â€" September 1999)
- J2 #1â€"12 (Marvel Comics, October 1998 â€" September 1999)
- Fantastic Five (volume 1) #1â€"5 (Marvel Comics, October 1999 â€" February 2000)
- Wild Thing #1â€"5 (Marvel Comics, October 1999 â€" February 2000)
- Wild Thing #0 (Marvel Comics/Wizard Entertainment, 1999)
- Spider-Girl presents The Buzz #1â€"3 (Marvel Comics, July 2000 â€" September 2000)
- DarkDevil #1â€"3 (Marvel Comics, November 2000 â€" January 2001)
- Last Hero Standing #1â€"5 (Marvel Comics, June 2005)
- Last Planet Standing #1â€"5 (Marvel Comics, July 2006)
- Amazing Spider-Girl #0â€"30 (Marvel Comics, October 2006 â€" March 2009)
- Spider-man Magazine (prose story, Marvel Comics, April 2007)
- Avengers Next #1â€"5 (Marvel Comics, November 2006 â€" January 2007)
- Fantastic Five (volume 2) #1â€"5 (Marvel Comics, July 2007 â€" September 2007)
- American Dream #1â€"5 (Marvel Comics, May 2008 â€" July 2008)
- Spectacular Spider-Girl #1â€"4 (Marvel Comics, May 2010 â€" August 2010)
- Spider-girl: The End One shot (Marvel Comics, September 2010)
- Captain America Corps #1-5 (Marvel Comics, June 2011)
Reprints
Trade paperbacks
- Spider-Girl (Marvel Comics, August 2001; ISBN 0-7851-0815-7, reprints Spider-Girl #0â€"8)
- Last Hero Standing (Marvel Comics, October 2005; ISBN 0-7851-1823-3, reprints Last Hero Standing #1â€"5)
- Last Planet Standing (Marvel Comics, October 2006; ISBN, reprints Last Planet Standing #1â€"5)
- Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 1: Whatever Happened to the Daughter of Spider-Man (Marvel Comics, May 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2341-5, reprints Amazing Spider-Girl #0â€"6)
- Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 2: Comes the Carnage! (Marvel Comics, November 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2342-3, reprints Amazing Spider-Girl #7â€"12)
- Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 3: Mind Games (Marvel Comics, May 2008, ISBN 0-7851-2558-2, reprints Amazing Spider-Girl #13â€"18)
- Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 4: Brand New May (Marvel Comics, 2008, reprints Amazing Spider-Girl #19-24)
- Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 5: Maybreak (Marvel Comics, 2009, reprints Amazing Spider-Girl #25-30)
- Avengers Next: Rebirth (Marvel Comics, June 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2518-3, reprints Avengers Next #1â€"5)
- Fantastic Five: The Final Doom (Marvel Comics, January 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2792-5, reprints Fantastic Five vol. 2 #1â€"5)
- American Dream: Beyond Courage (Marvel Comics, 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3184-1, reprints American Dream #1-5)
Digests
- Spider-Girl Vol. 1: Legacy (Marvel Comics, April 2004; ISBN 0-7851-1441-6, reprints Spider-Girl #0â€"5)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 2: Like Father Like Daughter (Marvel Comics, December 2004; ISBN 0-7851-1657-5, reprints Spider-Girl #6â€"11)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 3: Avenging Allies (Marvel Comics, April 2005; ISBN 0-7851-1658-3, reprints Spider-Girl #12â€"16 and Spider-Girl Annual 1999)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 4: Turning Point (Marvel Comics, September 2005; ISBN 0-7851-1871-3, reprints Spider-Girl #17â€"21 and #½)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 5: Endgame (Marvel Comics, January 2006; ISBN 0-7851-2034-3, reprints Spider-Girl #22â€"27)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 6: Too Many Spiders! (Marvel Comics, June 2006; ISBN 0-7851-2156-0, reprints Spider-Girl #28â€"33)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 7: Betrayed (Marvel Comics, October 2006; ISBN 0-7851-2157-9, reprints Spider-Girl #34â€"38, 51)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 8: Duty Calls (Marvel Comics, October 2007; ISBN 0-7851-2495-0, reprints Spider-Girl #39â€"44)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 9: Secret Lives (Marvel Comics, April 2007; ISBN 978-0-7851-2602-7, reprints Spider-Girl #45â€"50)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 10: Season of the Serpent (Marvel Comics, 2009; ISBN 978-0-7851-3213-4, reprints Spider-Girl #52-59)
- Spider-Girl Vol. 11: Marked for Death (Marvel Comics, 2009; ISBN 978-0-7851-3741-2, reprints Spider-Girl #60-66)
- Spider-Girl vol. 12: The Games Villains Play (Marvel Comics. March 2010; ISBN 978-0-7851-4482-3, reprints Spider-Girl #67-72)
- Spider-Girl Presents A-Next Vol. 1: Second Coming (Marvel Comics, August 2006; ISBN 0-7851-2131-5, reprints A-Next #1â€"6)
- Spider-Girl Presents Fantastic Five Vol. 1: In Search of Doom (Marvel Comics, September 2006, ISBN 0-7851-2132-3, reprints Fantastic Five #1â€"5)
- Spider-Girl Presents Juggernaut Jr. Vol. 1: Secrets and Lies (Marvel Comics, March 2006; ISBN 0-7851-2047-5, reprints J2 #1â€"6)
- Spider-Girl Presents The Buzz and DarkDevil (Marvel Comics, September 2007; ISBN 0-7851-2601-5, reprints The Buzz #1â€"3 and DarkDevil #1â€"3)
- Spider-Girl Presents Wild Thing: Crash Course (Marvel Comics, December 2007; ISBN 0-7851-2606-6, reprints Wild Thing #0â€"5)
References
