Firestar

Origin

Bart Jones was a hard working employee of the nuclear industry, a job that kept him and his family moving around the country. Although he was widowed, he had help from his elderly mother to raise his thirteen-year-old daughter Angelica. The two would often disagree over how to treat Angelica, with her “Nana” trying to raise her spirits and convince her that she was special, and her “Daddy” trying to be more realistic. Moving around the country had been difficult on Nana’s health and Angelica’s ability to make friends.

After their last move, Angel found it more difficult than ever to make new friends. The local girls were initially spiteful, and became exceptionally jealous when the most popular boy in school began to show a romantic interest in Angel. Their taunting in the school cafeteria caused her to subconsciously over-heat her carton of chocolate milk, which subsequently exploded over a teacher and landed her in detention. They later destroyed her entry for the school’s ice-sculpting competition, the anger and pain of which caused Angel’s powers to melt all the other entries. Terrified, she ran to a public telephone to try and speak to her Nana. However, Angel panicked when Nana didn’t answer the phone, causing the telephone to melt in her hands. Scared, hurt, and confused, Angelica ran home to discover an ambulance there. It transpired that on the day that Angelica’s mutant powers manifested, her Nana had passed away from a heart attack.

Angelica kept her powers a secret, for fear of being further outcast in a society that lived in fear of dangerous mutants. She chose to reveal her secret to her father after her Nana’s funeral. In the snow covered cemetery Bart Jones refused to listen to his daughter’s claims that she was “special” until she began to glow and the snow around her began to melt. Her father was just a working class man who had nothing to do with the political implications of mutants in society, but he was scared of what his little girl was growing into.

Creation

Unlike most Marvel characters, Firestar did not make her debut appearance in comics, but in the animated television series “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.” She was in the first episode entitled “The Triumph of the Green Goblin,” which aired in 1981, and appeared in every episode in the series. Her first comics appearance was in a television tie-in comic named Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends issue 1. Her first appearance in comic book continuity was not until 1985, in the Uncanny X-Men #193, written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by John Romita Jr.

Major Story Arcs

Firestar’s Limited Series

Firestar’s evolution into a superhero was told in 1986 in the Firestar limited series. Unknown to Angelica, there were two mutant specialists in North America who were constantly on the lookout for new mutants to train. One was Professor Charles Xavier who was currently training the New Mutants, and the other was Emma Frost, White Queen of the Hellfire Club and mentor to the Hellions. Both of the telepathic head-teachers had mutant detecting machinery which traced Angelica’s mutant signature when her powers first manifested. However, by the time that Professor X arrived at the Jones family home he realized that he was too late; Angelica’s father had already agreed that she was to attend the White Queen’s prestigious Massachusetts Academy.

Angelica was devoted to Emma Frost. She had been given a beautiful gold bracelet, a new home, excellent schooling, free use of the school’s stables, and a new father figure in the shape of her bodyguard, Randall Chase. Although Angel wasn’t allowed to go far without Randall’s supervision, the two grew close like an older brother and younger sister. He would often accompany her while she was out riding her favorite horse, Butter Rum, and remind her not to be late for class. Unlike Angel, he suspected the White Queen’s personal interest in Angelica’s development.

The White Queen had manipulated Angelica’s fear of her own mutant powers, to the point that Angel wouldn’t associate with any of the ‘normal’ students at the Academy. Unlike the Hellions, Angelica was not involved in any group training sessions, which resulted in a combination of intrigue and contempt from her peers. While Thunderbird attempted to invite her to activities, Empath and Roulette would taunt and bully her with their powers. She had become a social outcast, and remained awkwardly shy and clumsy during the school dance. Emma Frost had invited the New Mutants to the Massachusetts Academy for a formal dance, and with a little telepathic coercion (and some friendly cajoling from Roberto DaCosta) Sam Guthrie asked Angelica to dance. Neither one of them was confident enough to dance so they went for a walk outside. In the night air Sam and Angel shared a brief kiss, before Emma Frost telepathically interrupted the moment. She scolded Angelica for endangering Sam’s life, causing Angel to run away. She headed for the stables, but everything suddenly burst into flames. Despite pulling Butter Rum out of the barn, the horse immediately lost all strength and died in front of Angelica. Distraught that her powers had killed one of the few living beings she cared for, Angelica ran away into the woods where Emma Frost found and comforted her.

Some time later Ms Frost arranged for Angelica to go home for a visit. Angel was thrilled at the prospect of going home, and Randall accompanied her on the trip. Her father met them at the airport, but the atmosphere between them was tense. As soon as she arrived home Angel scooped up her cat Pum’kin for a cuddle, but her father verbally lashed out at her and snatched the cat away. He didn’t trust her powers, and feared that she would burst into flames at any moment. This tension caused a great rift between father and daughter. As such, the visit was cut short and Randall made arrangements to fly Angel back to Massachusetts the next day. At the airport, Randall was held back by his fellows Hellfire Club henchmen while other under-cover operatives incited anti-mutant violence against Angelica and her father. Confused and scared, Angelica lashed out at the henchman who had been kicking her father. Under extreme circumstances, she had finally used her powers against another human being.

Fighting the X-Men

Angelica had no idea that the White Queen had manipulated all of these events in order to strengthen her and turn her into an assassin. However, despite Emma Frost’s best efforts to keep her away from the Hellions, Angelica did have one brief adventure without adult supervision. In his grief over the loss of his brother, Thunderbird blamed Professor X for the death of John Proudstar. Therefore he assembled the Hellions to attack the X-Men. Empath emotionally manipulated Firestar into joining their cause, and she successfully held her own against the more experienced mutants. However, the emissions from Angelica’s microwave powers weakened Empath’s control over her, and as such her returned to bullying her where and whenever he could.

As such, Angelica remained a social outcast within the Academy, and estranged from her family. The only people who were friendly to her were Randall and Ms Frost. However, Randall’s suspicions about the White Queen ultimately cost him his life. He discovered the truth about the Hellfire Club’s plans for Angelica; that she was being groomed into an assassin. With a combination of hallucinations induced by the gold bracelet Emma Frost had given her, and meticulously planned tragic events such as the fire in the stables and the riot at the airport, Emma Frost had ensured that Angelica wouldn’t trust anyone but her. Frost had already begun to insinuate that she was the target of a murderous plot by someone known as the Black Queen. This was all part of her plot to have Angelica assassinate Selene. However, Randall’s thoughts were unguarded, which were evidence enough for a telepath like the White Queen. He was kidnapped and beaten by other Hellfire Club guards, while Emma Frost told Angelica that he had died. Randall escaped, but was shot as he fled back to the Academy.

It was only by chance that Randall reached Angelica’s room. As he lay dying in Angelica’s arms, he revealed all he knew of Frost’s plans and how Angel had been lied to during all the years she had attended the Academy. Enraged, and in full control of her powers, Angelica went after Emma Frost. She successfully defeated all the Hellfire Club guards, and battled through Emma Frost’s version of the Danger Room with ease. Her fiery onslaught left the White Queen exhausted and unable to focus enough strength to fire a protective mind-blast. She then destroyed all of the White Queen’s underground base. Since she was left powerless against Angelica she agreed to leave Angel alone and not to pursue any vengeance against her friends of family in the future either. This promise was reinforced by Sebastian Shaw’s anger at the time and money which had been wasted in training Angel. For the first time in her life Angelica Jones was a confident young woman, who had full control of her powers. She returned home to her father, Bart, and assumed a normal school life.

A New Warrior

Angelica’s happy and quiet life was interrupted by a mysterious telephone call. The voice on the other end threatened to reveal her true identity if she did not comply with their demands. Angered at the attempt to blackmail her, Angelica donned the Firestar outfit which Emma Frost had created for her and flew out to confront whoever it was who had threatened her. She discovered three young men waiting on the rooftop, but in her anger she didn’t wait to hear what they had to say. Her attack was a warning blast, which burnt through a thick brick wall and impressed (and scared) both Nova and Marvel Boy. However, it was Night Thrasher who had made the telephone call and subsequently explained his drastic actions.

Thrash had wanted to assemble the four of them together to create a team of young heroes. Together they would battle all the villains that the larger groups didn’t have time for; to fill the gaps left by the Avengers or Fantastic Four. However, at the same time a local construction site had dug up the remains of Terrax. As the former herald of Galactus began to attack, the young heroes dived in to help. Firestar’s microwave blasts managed to hurt Terrax long enough for the others to devise a plan to stop him. Combined with the strength and powers of Namorita and Speedball, the group of young heroes defeated Terrax. The new team was dubbed the New Warriors by the local press, and Angelica agreed to help them.

Life During War Time

Still bitter over Firestar rebelling against and defeating her, Emma Frost decides to get revenge on Firestar. She sends all of the information that she has on Angelica to Freedom Force, a former incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants who are now working as mutant hunters for the government. At Firestar’s home, the doorbell rings. Just as Bart answers the door, Angelica’s friend Meg bursts in saying that if Angelica doesn’t come with her, there will be big trouble. As Meg transforms into Mystique, Avalanche, and Sprial make their presence known and inform Firestar that she is under arrest.

Firestar takes her Dad and flies off to escape capture, Spiral and Avalanche catch up when they land, and a fight breaks out. Trying to help his daughter, Bart is critically wounded by Spiral. Despite the injury, they manage to escape and she gets him to a hospital. Meanwhile, a man known only as Fitch is going over Mystique’s file on his computer. Back at the hospital, a surgeon tells Firestar that the man she brought in is stable, but he needs a new lung and kidney or he will not survive. An undercover man posing as an orderly, makes a call to Fitch. They plan on using Firestar to bring them Mystique.

The Arms of Salvation, a group of organ harvesters, promise to save the life of Firestar’s father if she agrees to bring them Mystique, promising that they only want a tissue sample. She doesn’t condone their practices, but she doesn’t see any other way to save her Dad. Mystique disguises herself as Angelica and goes to see Bart Jones in the hospital. Flying over the city Firestar sees Mystique’s ruse and attacks her.

Firestar manages to defeat three members of Freedom force by wrecking the floor under Blob, destroying Pyro’s flamethrower, then knocking Mystique out with a concussive microwave blast. Back at the AoS base, the men in charge Cross and Fitch talk about their recent captures, one of them being Firestar’s friend Meg, whose kidnapping she had prevented earlier. They also discuss using Firestar further, and plan on killing her if she gets too curious. Firestar keeps up her end of the deal and delivers Mystique. Cross ensures her that her father’s replacement organs will arrive shortly, and that Mystique will not be harmed. Firestar turns down an offer to work for AoS, and is knocked out by a laser blast before she can react. As one of the agents is about to kill her, Freedom Force attacks unwittingly saving her. Firestar comes to, and makes her way through the facility, finding her friend Meg Fallon, Howard Fallon and Mystique on operating tables in the organ harvesting area.

She knocks out the surgeons and sets Mystique free. But Cross, wearing heavy armor crashes through the door and seeks to kill Firestar for ruining his operations. Firestar defends herself against Cross, but her powers aren’t having any effect. She is saved by Spiral, who wants to be the one to kill Firestar.

Mystique works to get the civilians to safety and comes across Fitch, who wants her to save him as well. Spiral is defeated, and Firestar is once again in a fight for her life against Cross whose armor’s cooling systems can more than handle her microwave power. This gives Firestar an idea, and she opens up a coolant conduit from the wall and blasts Cross with it, freezing him solid. Mystique lets Firestar go, but tells everyone else that she is dead, giving her a second chance.

Love and Power

As Firestar, Angelica began to worry about her powers. Unlike the Human Torch, she was more than just a fire creator and manipulator; she absorbed and re-directed microwave emissions. She rarely let herself lose control, for fear that she would hurt someone or the environment around her. It seemed that the emotional manipulation during her years at the Massachusetts Academy still had an effect on her.

Angelica slowly began to make new friends with her fellow New Warriors, as it was a rare chance for her to meet, train and associate with other powered beings of the same age. She became attracted to Vance “Marvel Boy” Astrovik and soon the two began a young romance. However, their relationship was temporarily put on hold due to tragic events in Vance’s home life. After years of violent abuse at the hands of his father, Vance lashed out telekinetically to protect himself. Unfortunately the telekinetic blast critically wounded his father, who soon died from his injuries. Vance handed himself in to the police, and was sentenced to prison. As the armored vehicle took Vance to The Vault, the other Warriors attacked and attempted to free him. Gradually the foray died down and Vance explained to the others that he wanted to do the right thing; the right thing by the law, by his conscious, for mutant rights, and for the memory of his father. The armed guards agreed to give Vance a few minutes alone with Angelica to say goodbye. During their brief time together Angelica offered her body to Vance and began to cry when he refused her. She had confessed her love for him and wanted to prove it. But, as he explained, he loved her so much that he wanted their first time to be something special. Instead of a stolen moment behind a few trees, he wanted her to enjoy their first sexual experience on their wedding night.

Angelica was miserable for the following months. All through her teens she had continued to lose those she’d loved, and the separation from Vance was taking its toll. She was distraught when her father was been shot by Poison Memories thugs, and in her rage she used her powers in front of her school friends. She lashed out at warring factions in Trans-Sabal, and began to use her powers to a greater degree. Adventures in space alongside the Inhumans and during the Infinity War allowed Firestar to push her powers even further than she had done before. Out in the vastness of space she was not confined by any worries of contaminating people or her surroundings, but back on Earth, Angelica continued to hold her powers back; often until the very last minute when she felt she was left without a choice but to use them. Such instances were when the New Warriors and other Marvel heroes were up against Manuel Gallante and Carnage. When Manuel Gallante’s connection with the Darkforce Dimension surfaced, he couldn’t help but lash out at the civilization around him. Coating the local populace and emotionally tormented super heroes of New York in a layer of the Darkforce, Gallante forced them to fight each other and their friends. Firestar discovered that her light emanating blasts could stop the Darkforce, and even managed to strip it off of other heroes.

However, she restrained herself to using her powers on a one-on-one basis only, scared that she would have permanent effects on the environment. It was only later when she discovered that everyone who was being controlled by the Darkforce was still conscious and unable to stop their actions that she felt that she had no other option. Soaring up into the New York skyline, and letting loose all of her frustrations, Firestar’s radiation weakened the Darkforce enough for Doctor Strange and the other assembled heroes to stop Gallante and show him the goodness of humanity. A similar clash happened during the events of Maximum Carnage, and once more it was thanks to Firestar’s microwave emissions that the local populace was saved.

Ghosts of the Past

As a girl in her mid-teens, Angelica had lived at the Massachusetts Academy for at least four years. The emotional manipulations of Empath and Emma Frost continued to take their toll on Angelica, and it would take many years more before she truly became comfortable using her powers. Someone who grew up in the shadow of Emma Frost and the Hellions would continue to have adventures connected to their past.

It wasn’t long after the team formed that her old mentor, the White Queen paid Angelica and the New Warriors a visit. In order to access information on Angelica, Night Thrasher had hacked into the Hellfire Club’s computers. The hack had been detected and the source had been identified. Night Thrasher and Silhouette were ambushed by the Hellions, and the rest of the New Warriors responded to the call. The confrontation broke down into a series of one-on-one battles, which nearly ended in a tie. The final battle (to break the tie) was Firestar against Bevatron; a fight which was hidden from view until Firestar carried Bevatron’s unconscious body back inside. With the majority of the Hellions defeated, and after Angelica’s speech on morality, the White Queen left her former pupil alone. The parting was bitter, and it would be the last chance for Angel to see many of the Hellions alive.

Sometime later Cannonball notified Angelica of the tragic events hat led to the deaths of the Hellions. He and Warpath accompanied Angelica into the dark jungles of South America, searching for their former teammates Magma and Empath in the ancient city of Nova Roma to tell them the bad news. There, she realized that something was wrong, and was soon attacked by locals. She remained reluctant to use her powers, but eventually was forced to use them to a greater degree. It transpired that Selene had once built the city by kidnapping people from around the world and brainwashing them into believing that they were descended from ancient Romans. When that spell began to fade, Empath began to use his own manipulating powers to keep the people there. However, Firestar’s emissions countered Empath’s powers, and therefore weakened his grip over Nova Roma and over Magma. Although his motives weren’t malicious, Empath acknowledged that what he had done was wrong and remained in the jungle to help re-integrate the population of Nova Roma into modern day society. Firestar returned to New York, while Cannonball and Warpath returned to X-Force. Yet as former Hellions, Firestar, Empath and Magma were soon targeted again by another manipulating super villain.

Justice had been released from prison, but instead of returning to the New Warriors he went into the employment of Shinobi Shaw, son and heir of Sebastian Shaw. On the surface it looked as if Vance had betrayed the Warriors, but in secret he was acting as their informant. Shinobi Shaw had ambitions to become a member of the Upstarts, a team of young, sadistic and rich super humans who were awarded points according to various games devised by the Gamesmaster. The latest ‘game’ was to collect as many former members of the Hellions and New Mutants. Shinobi intended to use Vance’s connection to Angelica in order to deliver her to Gamesmaster. However, Gamesmaster changed the rules and took both Firestar and Justice from Shaw. Although X-Force and the New Warriors teamed up to save their friends, Gamesmaster telepathically forced Firestar, Justice, Cannonball, Boomer, Karma and Moonstar to fight their friends.

Ultimately all the members of both teams were defeated by a single blast from telepathically controlled Siena Blaze. They were subsequently saved by the intervention and quick-thinking of Husk, who wagered that the two teams would provide Gamesmaster greater entertainment in the future after they had all mastered their powers.

New Warrior to Avenger

Firestar continued to battle alongside the New Warriors for many years. Her adventures took her through time, into space, and back to Earth on various occasions. Ultimately when the team disbanded, Angelica and Vance stayed together as a couple. His ambition had always been to join the Avengers, and together they managed to make his dream come true. The rest of the Avengers had been defeated by Whirlwind, but Justice and Firestar had not been a part of the plan to take down the Avengers, and therefore they had the chance to defeat the villain, save the team and secure their positions.

However, Angelica was faced with the terrible news that her own mutant powers were slowly destroying her own body. Unlike most other mutants, Angelica’s X-Gene had not fully developed the ability to protect herself from her own powers. Therefore by using microwave radiation, her own body was slowly becoming infertile due to radiation exposure. When she confessed her problems to the rest of the team, it was the scientific genius of Dr. Hank Pym who found a way for Firestar to use her powers to the best of her ability without destroying herself in the process. He created a new suit for her to wear, which would protect her, siphon off excessive radiation and even start to repair the damage that had already been done. Therefore Firestar could finally use her powers to their fullest without any fear of repercussions.

Life after the Avengers

Firestar and Justice had a successful time with the Avengers. They went under-cover, faced down an army of Ultron robots, and even helped defeat Kang the Conqueror from taking over the Earth. Together they had joined the Avengers, and together they left the Avengers in order to return to the New Warriors. They had grown together, and been in love for the last couple of years, and it was time to get married.

They left the world of super heroics, and Angelica enrolled in college. She began to spend less time on the wedding preparations, eventually leaving everything for Vance to organize. He grew suspicious of her actions, and when pressed Angelica confessed that she had been having second thoughts. The whole of her adult life had been dedicated to being a super hero, and she wanted to experience more of a ‘normal’ life before she committed herself body and soul to marriage. However, Vance was deeply offended and in a fit of rage stormed out, leaving their relationship apparently broken.

Having lost yet another loved one, Firestar managed to retain her mutant powers after the Decimation. Yet after the blast at Stamford, and with the Superhuman Registration Act looming, life became increasingly difficult. Carlton LeFroyage had turned traitor on his former teammates in the New Warriors, and began to expose their identities on the internet. Ultimately the pressure became too much for Angelica. Dressed in her Firestar outfit, she met reporter Sally Floyd in a local bar for an interview from the super hero’s perspective of the Civil War. She stressed the difficulty of raising college fees and living a thankless double life before announcing her immediate retirement. She left the bar and dropped her mask in a nearby trash can, opting to be Angelica Jones instead of Firestar.

A Marvel Diva

Angelica Jones returned to a starring role in the Marvel Divas limited series. Despite being in semi-retirement, Angelica became friends with Black Cat, Hellcat and Photon. Together, they would go shopping, do lunch and enjoy spa treatments in New York. Angelica continued to work hard at college, and would catch up with her friends in her spare time. However, one day she approached her friends with devastating news: she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Her friends rallied around her as much as they could to help, and accompanied her during medical consultations. Angelica went to see Night Nurse, and was also examined by Doctor Strange. They tried to reassure her, but it appeared that the cancer had grown substantially.

Despite the fact that neither Doctor Strange nor Night Nurse could help, Angelica woke up one morning completely cured. In a desperate bid to save her, all three friends had gone their separate ways to find extraordinary methods to cure Angelica. Ultimately, one of them was successful, but at a high cost. Hellcat made a deal with her ex-husband Daimon Hellstrom. In exchange for curing Hellcat’s friend, Hellstorm asked for Hellcat to spend one night in hell. However, Hellstorm had hidden intentions behind his deal, forcing Angelica, Black Cat, and Photon to journey into Hell to save Hellcat. Angelica had to officially come out of retirement and resume her role as Firestar.

Young Allies

After Marvel Divas, Firestar has remained in the spotlight as a featured character in the Young Allies ongoing series. Juggling life as a college student and superhero wasn’t easy. Without any team to act as a back up, Firestar would often miss classes in order to help stop criminals. On one occasion, she was dashing to class, trying to ignore her Diva teammates’ pleas to socialize with them, when The Bastards of Evil launched an attack on New York. Changing course, Firestar ditched class and was one of the first to arrive on the scene. Using the element of surprise, she battled the super-villain Aftershock. She managed to save a heroine name Arana, who had also joined the fight, but they were still outnumbered and she was soon grounded by Aftershock. She was still locked in combat with the villain when Warhead detonated.

Fortunately, Firestar survived the explosion. In the following days, she was disappointed by the lack of support she had received from her teammates and quit the Divas. She turned to an impromptu new partner, named Gravity. Together they began to hunt down the Bastards of Evil by trying to locate their criminal parents. This led Firestar into a battle with the veteran super-villain Electro. Despite his age, Electro used his greater expertise and experience to absorb Firestar’s radiation and turn it against both her and Gravity. Using the moment to his advantage, Electro warned the two young heroes that he had no familial connections to the Bastards of Evil before sparing their lives. It later turned out that all the Bastards were former college students that the Superior had engineered to be the children of super-villains to create chaos in hopes of succeeding where his father, the Leader had failed. Following the defeat of the Bastards, Firestar elected to keep the Young Allies going with Gravity’s help and the two had shown signs of romantic feelings for each other. Recently, Angelica had a reunion with Vance and the two were confronted with their past selves during their tenure on the Avengers thanks to the activities of Loki (also from the past). The two were forced to confront their lingering feelings and this allowed the two to finally move on from their past relationship.

Professor at the Jean Grey School & World War of Wendigo

Firestar is the newest professor at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. She joined the school as a physics teacher.

When Wolverine, now without his healing factor, went to Canada to answer a distress call from Heather Hudson about her missing husband, the X-Men decided to follow to protect their friend. When they arrived, they found that the Curse of the Wendigo had resurfaced, and was rapidly transforming all those on Canadian soil into Wendigo. Members of the X-Men, including Firestar, teamed up with members of Alpha Flight to battle the Wendigo and contain the threat. Alpha Flight member Talisman had been working on a mystical solution to the problem, and was just about to work her magic to end the curse when a transformed Wolverine stabbed her with his claws. Talisman was taken away to be cared for, while Angelica and the X-Men held back the Wendigo. An ancient god of evil was the cause of the curse. Angelica, Storm, Rockslide, and Iceman were chained against a wall, and had their powers dampened. Just before the Wendigo could finish them, they freed themselves, and forced one of the more benevolent, but cowardly, gods to grant them temporary godhood. Appearing as dazzlingly bright living flame, Angelica joined the living lightning that was Storm, the living ice that was Iceman, and the living earth that was Rockslide. Together, and with the continued assistance of the X-Men and Alpha Flight, the evil one was defeated, and the cursed ones reverted to human form.

Powers and Abilities

Firestar’s powers includes the ability to generate, re-direct and absorb ambient radiation and manipulate it into microwave radiation, fire/plasma blasts, light generation, disruption of electronics and psionic powers and flight. Her surrounding environment provides differing amounts of radiation for her body to absorb, and therefore she can use her powers to greater effect. Such instances have been shown during her adventures in space, where her powers are enhanced the most, she was able to soak up cosmic rays and redirect them with impressive effect, such as hurting Garth Saal, who held almost all the power of the Nova Corps, and also opening up a space gate with ease, which has only been done by few powerful characters. Even when back on Earth, she is not limited to the amount of radiation she can absorb, however she chooses to use her microwave blasts less offensively for fear of harming the local population and environment.

Her blasts look fiery in nature, but they are in fact intensely burning microwave blasts. She can focus the blasts, and the spectrum range of the radiation she emits. Usually she manipulates the radiation causing a target to burst into flame, explode, or melt. She has the capability to melt thick red-brick walls, as was demonstrated when she first encountered Night Thrasher, Nova and Marvel Boy.

Ultimately by creating enough of a downwards thrust, she can force her body upwards into the air and therefore create the power of flight much in the same way as the Human Torch or Sunfire. Although she can not match the speed of Nova, she is more agile in flight than Cannonball, and is adept at firing off blasts of fiery radiation with impressive accuracy in mid-flight.

Although she had been manipulated by the White Queen, it was that training to be an assassin which has enabled Firestar to use her powers so expertly.

Statistics

• Height: 5′ 2″
• Weight: 110 lbs (50 kg)
• Eyes: Green
• Hair: Red

• Citizenship: American
• Identity: Secret
• Place of Birth: unrevealed
• Marital Status: Single
• Education: High school, some college ( Massachusetts Academy)
• Occupations: Adventurer, teacher; former student, cultist
• Known Relatives: Bartholomew ” Bart” Jones (father), “Nana” Jones (grandmother, deceased)

Alternate Realities

Forever Yesterday (Earth-9105)

In this alternate reality, Sphinx (Karim) is in control of the world and the New Warriors never existed. Instead, Angelica Jones and Vance Astrovik are members of the Mutant Liberation Front. They’re opposing Nova (Richard Rider), who is a member of the United States of Assyria’s version of the Avengers.

Mutant X (Earth-1298)

In the universe where Havok led The Six, her mutation had advanced to the point that was a body comprised purely of microwave energy, which was possibly why she was capable of resisting the manipulations of Madelyne Pryor. After Sentinels invaded New York, Firestar set about deactivating the robots by destroying them. She came across the captive Vendetta and rescued him from the Sentinels. The two then stormed the White House where Firestar melted the Mandroid armor off the guards allowing Vendetta to enter the White House. She eventually died in the final battle along with many of Earth’s other heroes.

Exiles (Earth-3062)

Firestar was forced to become a member of the Weapon X group that the Exiles encountered. She was killed by her own powers when she unleashed a megablast to destroy Spider.

Morgan Le Fay (Earth-398)

Earth-398 was created when a longtime Avengers enemy, the sorceress Morgan Le Fay, stole a powerful Asgardian artifact called the Twilight Sword and used it to transform reality into a medieval society, with herself as its queen. She bewitched all members of the Avengers and made them into her personal bodyguards, called the Queen’s Vengeance, and their code names and costumes were changed to reflect their medieval setting.

Firestar became known as ‘Lady Comet’ and was a member of the Queen’s Vengeance. Eventually the Scarlet Witch broke free of Le Fay’s mind control and used her powers to free the other Avengers. The team then defeated the sorceress and restored reality to normal.

MC2 (Earth-982)

In this reality, Firestar was one of the last heroes to die in the final mission of the Avengers.

Zombieverse (Earth-2149)

Firestar was one of the heroes that answered the distress signal coming from Colonel America. Unfortunately, it was bait to lure them into a trap designed to turn them into zombies.

Ultimate Firestar (Earth-1610)

In Marvel’s Ultimate Universe, Liz Allen (a supporting character of Spider-Man in the main reality) became Firestar, rather than Angelica Jones.

Other Media

Television

Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (1981)

Spider-Man was a student who lived with Firestar and Iceman, who were his Amazing Friends. The three of them had many animated adventures which took them into outer space and through time. Firestar didn’t commit to any permanent romantic relationships, but was linked with Sunfire, Spider-Man, Iceman and Flash Thompson on different occasions. She and Iceman had been members of the X-Men, and were once trapped in the mansion by a psychotic cyborg who blamed her for forming half of his body.

Unlike the Firestar of Earth-616, this Firestar’s powers were purely fire-based, exactly the same as Sunfire’s. Also, unlike the comic book Firestar, who was shy and insecure, this Firestar was extremely feisty and confident. She could instantly change in and out of her Firestar costume by radiating a blinding glow.

Though Firestar had wavy hair, her civilian alter ego, Angelica Jones, had straight hair and bore an uncanny resemblance to Spider-Man’s longtime girlfriend Mary Jane Watson (who did not appear in the series). In an earlier version of the pilot episode, Mary Jane did in fact appear, but a late decision was made to cut her from the series and replace her with Firestar/Angelica Jones. Since animation had already been completed for the episode and it was not cost-effective to redo, Mary Jane’s appearance became Angelica’s and voices were simply re-dubbed to reflect the change. In order to maintain consistency, Angelica continued to resemble straight-haired Mary Jane throughout the series, and it was assumed that her flame-based powers made her hair wavy whenever she became Firestar.

The animated series was the first time that Firestar was seen in any media. Her character was created as a fiery counter to Iceman’s powers, at a time when the Human Torch was not available for use. The animators of the show have admitted that in order to create Firestar, they would draw her naked form and then add small details such as the flames and her collar.

In the series, Firestar owned a pet dog called Ms Lion, who recently made his own comic books debut in Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers. Although Ms Lion no longer belongs to Firestar (who owned a cat named Pumkin in Earth-616 continuity), he did still retain some distant connection to Spider-Man.

Firestar was voiced by Kathy Garver.

Wolverine and the X-Men (2009)

Firestar appeared as one of the future X-Men in the episode Future X. At first her powers were restrained, but when able to use them she blasted a hole in the wall of the Sentinels’ prison, allowing Professor Xavier and Bishop’s ragtag team of X-Men to escape. When she powered up, her hair burst into flames. She was not seen in later episodes.

In this appearance, Firestar was voiced by Tara Strong.

Video Games

Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (1994)

Firestar appeared as an NPC character who could be called upon by the player to assist in attacking enemies. Her flame-based powers were shown to be especially effective against Carnage himself, due to his vulnerability to fire. Firestar could not be directly controlled by the player, and the number of times she could be summoned in the game was limited.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009)

In this game, loosely based on Marvel’s Secret War and Civil War storylines, Firestar appears as an NPC character on the side of Captain America‘s anti-registration forces. If the player chooses to be on the pro-registration side, Firestar is an enemy boss who teams with Patriot to attack the player. If the player chooses anti-registration, Firestar is encountered in Captain America’s hidden base, and later assists the player when fighting an enemy boss. When fighting her alongside Patriot and towards the end of the game, she will use several attacks consisting of fire balls which she summons from the air, heats up the ground, or will spin around in a few circles while shooting heat from her hands. She was voiced by Kimberly Brooks.

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online

Firestar is a playable character in the 2011 PC and Macintosh massively multiplayer online role-playing game Marvel Super Hero Squad Online. Voiced by Tara Strong

Her Description says: Flying through the air while dressed in fiery colors, Firestar uses her microwave powers to blast bad guys with red-hot rays.

X-Men: Battle of the Atom

Firestar is featured in the mobile card game “X-Men: Battle of the Atom” based on the comic book story with the same name. Her cards are:

• [JGS Alpha] Firestar
• [Crawler’s Crew] Firestar

Marvel Heroes

Firestar is a Team-Up character in the game, in several costumes. She is voiced by Kate Higgins.

Merchandise

• Firestar was featured in The Classic Marvel Figurine Collection from Eaglemoss Publications.
• Firestar was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
• Bowen Designs produced a Firestar bust.
• Firestar was featured in Diamond Select’s Minimates line as part of a two-pack with Iceman.
• Spider-Man was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line as part of a Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends-themed 3-pack with Spider-Man and Iceman.
• A PVC statue of Firestar was featured in Diamond Select’s Marvel Gallery line.
• Firestar was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line as a standalone release. As a nod to Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Ms. Lion, her dog from the cartoon, was also included.
• Firestar was featured in the Daily Bugle Lego kit.