I never quite figured out why Firestar was Anjelica Jones on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends when I was a kid. From what I saw, she looked identical to John Romita Sr's Mary Jane Watson. Was there a last-minute change or was the similarity in appearance just a coincidence? At any rate, I am glad they chose not to give the comic book version of MJ any super powers (although they have come close a few times).
I've read that they wanted to use the Human Torch, but couldn't for some reason, so she's a substitute for him... and including a heroine alongside the two heroes, instead of just having three heroes, was probably better for viewing figures.
ReplyDeleteI think it's due to that same John Romita Sr. having done the character designs for the show.
ReplyDeleteI heard they originally intended for Spidey to be teamed with Johnny Storm but I think there was a snag on securing the rights they hadn't expected. If that is true then that means Bobby Drake as we saw him was also a last minute substitute. From the prospective of an 80's cartoon, Bobby and Johnny would have been hard to distinguish visually. But the improvisation goes further: The pilot episode presents us with "Mona Osborn" Norman Osborn's niece, But NOT Harry? I've never seen Mona in any other Marvel reality. So if she too was a last minute conversion, Who was SHE originally supposed to be?
ReplyDeleteMy guess: Liz Allen.
I liked it when MJ was possessed by the spirit of Red Sonya. Don't know if you can call that a superpower or not, but the damage she could inflict. As Red Sonya, I could see her affectively taking on the Hand and several other hand to hand and bladed weapons oriented super-villains.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder if MJ has ever met Firestar, especially since she was one of Spider-Man's Amazing Friends. Anyone know if that ever happened?
Ordinaryguy2
If she were to be depicted in modern-day Marvel Comics, she'd probably be ret-conned as a long-lost cousin of Rick and Jessica!
ReplyDeleteActually, Anjelica has already moved into the main Marvel Universe canon. Her first Earth-616 appearance was the 193rd issue of Uncanny X-Men and acted as a solo hero and as a member of the Hellions, the New Warriors, the Avengers, and the X-Men.
DeleteDuring the Clone Saga, she was briefly attracted to Peter's clone Ben Reilly when both were New Warriors at the time.
So, she's been in the main comics continuity for 32 years, two years after Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends ended.
Two questions:
ReplyDelete1) Which was the first masked, female, redhead superhero with fire-based powers, Firestar or Firebrand (of the All Star Squadron)? Both seem to date from the early 1980s.
2) When did Halo cut her hair? I remembered her as having long hair in the Aparo Outsiders days.
Mateus Honrado-Her first appearance in the 616 universe was the Firestar mini-series and X-Men #193 was her second appearance. In her mini-series she meet members of the New Mutant team.
ReplyDeleteBut her miniseries came out a year after her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men issue 193. Chronologically, her first appearance was in the miniseries since it served as an origin story for her but in publication order, it is indeed Uncanny X-Men issue 193.
DeleteDon't forget that Gambit's first appearance was the 1990 annual of Uncanny X-Men but his first chronological appearance was issue 266 of the comic, which was published after the annual.
I can actually see Halo and Firestar as friends
ReplyDeleteice and iceman or firestar also fire and firestar firelord and killerfrost
ReplyDeleteI loved Halo in the Batman & the Outsiders original run. Such a creative character design and unique. Why they eventuslly made her costume a bland white and turn her into a vampire is beyond me! Mike W. Barr really jumped the shark at that point!!
ReplyDeleteThat was Looker, who was turned into a vampire, not Halo.
DeleteYeah, but Halo's Aurakle later jumped to another Earth woman's body.
ReplyDeleteMJ finally did get borrowed superpowers but in Amazing Spider-Man – Renew Your Vows.
ReplyDelete