CSBG Archive
When We First Met – Cousins, Not-so-Identical Cousins
Every week we spotlight the various characters, phrases, objects or events that eventually became notable parts of comic lore. Not major stuff like “the first appearance of Superman,” but rather, “the first time someone said, ‘Avengers Assemble!’” or “the first appearance of Batman’s giant penny” or “the first appearance of Alfred Pennyworth” or “the first time Spider-Man’s face was shown half-Spidey/half-Peter.” Stuff like that. Here is an archive of all the When We First Met features so far! Check ‘em out!
Today we look at the introduction of some comic book cousins, namely Sunfire’s cousin, Mariko, Iron Man’s cousin, Morgan and Mary Jane Watson’s cousin, Kristy.
First up we have the X-Men’s trip to Japan in X-Men #118 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin, where they meet up with former X-Man Sunfire…
Wolverine then runs into Sunfire’s cousin, Mariko…
They go on to become star-crossed lovers before Wolverine, you know, stabbed her to death (SPOILER ALERT!).
Next, we have the Iron Man feature in Tales of Suspense #69, by Al Hartley, Don Heck and Mike Esposito, where we meet Tony Stark’s douchebag cousin, Morgan…
Finally, in Spectacular Spider-Man #145 by Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema, we meet the character find of 1988, Kristy Watson…
4 Comments
Travis Pelkie
September 26, 2012 at 2:16 am
I see that Wolverine says “what the flamin’ hell” there, which is, what, ’78, ’79? So 10 plus years later Marvel characters couldn’t cuss like that. What the flamin’ hell was with that?
I believe that Count Nefaria and Morgan Stark played Mephistopheles and Faust in one of Hartley’s later religious comics, didn’t they?
Jeezus, I don’t even know anything more about Kristy Watson, but I can tell right here, THIS is exactly why Peter and MJ made the deals with Mephisto. Peter to get away from that in the family tree, and MJ whispered to Mephisto “do what you need to, just eliminate Kristy, please!”
Fraser
September 26, 2012 at 8:43 am
I didn’t remember that Mariko was Sunfire’s cousin. I certainly didn’t remember Colleen Wing was niece to the then-Japanese premier, even though I’ve read the issue. Was that the first time that was brought up?
I always wonder when characters announce that they’re samurai how they actually prove that. Is there a modern samurai tradition where you can train and qualify? Or is it self-appointed, a matter of “Well, I know how to use a katana, so I think I’m a samurai.” which is often what it seems like.
Of course, even if our world doesn’t have real samurai anymore, that doesn’t mean the DCU and MU don’t have ongoing samurai traditions.
By the way, doesn’t it look like the person smoking from the cigarette holder changes between panels in the Iron Man clip?
Brendan Tobin
September 27, 2012 at 11:09 am
You had me at “Tony Stark’s douchebag cousin, Morgan…” I wish that’s how Tony had introduced him to Happy in the comic.
Oh, Kristy. She was introduced as the wrench-in-newlywed-marriage device, I assume so Pete and MJ would keep it clean. I think she began to develop an eating disorder which gave MJ issues with her chosen profession as a model. Then MJ started smoking butts. Such turbulent times.
I may be remembering this wrong, but wasn’t Kristy’s exit from the Spider-Man titles a result of the character being pulped to death by the Absorbing Man who was on a raging, drunken bender? No? Well, that’s how I choose to remember it…
–B
sandwich eater
September 27, 2012 at 8:26 pm
As soon as I saw Morgan Stark’s name I thought, “Morgan Stark, what a douchebag.” I’m glad to know that I’m not alone in this.