Merge: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.

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: 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.
 * Fantastic Five, the expanded Fantastic Four family.
 * Wild Thing, Wolverine and Elektra's daughter.

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 campagined 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." )

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, due to high sales and revolting fans, Marvel announced they were going to relaunch Spider-Girl, under the title Amazing Spider-Girl.

Also, 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 symbiote.

Single issues

 * What If (volume 2) #105 (Marvel Comics, February 1998)
 * Spider-Girl #0-100, (Marvel Comics, October 1998 - July 2006)
 * Spider-Girl #1/2 (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)

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)

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 #1/2)
 * 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)