Firebird (Marvel Comics)
Firebird | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #265 (August 1981) |
Created by | Bill Mantlo (writer) Sal Buscema (artist) |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Bonita Juarez |
Species | Human mutate |
Team affiliations | Avengers West Coast Secret Avengers Rangers |
Notable aliases | La Espirita Firebird |
Abilities |
|
Firebird (Bonita Juarez) is a
Firebird has been described as one Marvel's most notable and powerful female heroes, being labelled as a prominent Latina character.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Publication history
Bonita Juarez debuted as part of the superhero team the
Fictional character biography
Origins
Bonita Juarez is a
As Firebird, she received a distress call from the Avengers, and mistakenly battled the
West Coast Avengers
Firebird was alone when she fought against the man called
Firebird accompanied the Avengers to the dimension of the
When Mockingbird eventually found out Firebird's wish, she tried to coax her husband into inviting her, but he was consistently holding out for the Thing (who did eventually decide to become a member, but backed out before making it official). Frustrated, Firebird left on a spiritual journey.[19] Hawkeye would later change his mind and the Avengers sought out Firebird, but could not find her.[20]
La Espirita
Eventually, she reappeared as La Espirita and arrived in the nick of time to stop
With Henry Pym and
The two also shared a brief romance,
Firebird again
Later on Bonita was captured by a group of aliens from the planet Rus, who revealed that the meteorite that gave her amazing powers was allegedly waste material from a discarded alien experiment of a pupil named Yoof.[26] Nonetheless, Firebird (she had returned to that name after learning this information) herself believes that her powers are a gift from God. She was called in on various Avengers meetings since then, signifying that she had somewhere accepted their membership offer.
At first, Bonita was not considered as an Avenger until she attended an all-membership meeting of the Avengers.
Avengers return
After the return of the main Avengers from the
Her immunity to radiation later made her indispensable when a mysterious energy field engulfed a small Russian country and turned everyone into zombies during the first blows of the Kang War. Firebird was one of the few individuals who could travel into the energy field without harm. Fellow Avenger Thor also surmised that Firebird may be immortal.[31] When Captain America is briefly transformed into an energy zombie, Thor, briefly believing him dead, begins to fear that he has become too close to his mortal comrades despite his knowledge that he would outlive them when forced to face such vivid evidence of his allies' mortality, and contemplates leaving the Avengers after the war was over.[volume & issue needed]
Although troubled by the implications of her own apparent immortality for her faith, Firebird helped him to see that the bonds between him and the Avengers were so valuable precisely because they wouldn't last forever and he shouldn't neglect them just because he would outlive them. In recognition of her advice, Thor toasted her when he arranged for Asgardian cooks to prepare a feast for the Avengers to celebrate Kang's defeat, commenting that she had taught a god a lesson by treating him as the fool he was.[32]
Beyond!
Firebird reappears in the limited series Beyond! along with other Marvel characters.[33] She is depicted as having changed to a somewhat more revealing costume that bares part of her midriff. She is also shown to have a romantic attraction to Henry Pym which manifests when she kisses him after he has an argument with the Wasp.
Civil War
After a vicious battle between Captain America's Secret Avengers and
Bonita has been identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1.[36]
In Avengers: The Initiative #2 she is seen attacking
Secret Invasion
During the
Powers and abilities
Bonita Juarez acquired a range of superpowers due to bombardment by radiation from a meteorite containing energy waste from an alien's scientific equipment.[43] She has the power of pyrokinesis, which enables her to mentally excite the atoms in an object until it spontaneously combusts.[44] By using her powers to ignite the air around her, she can surround herself with an aura of flames that often takes the shape of a bird, and if she focuses her flames downwards in a tight stream, she can propel herself through the air like a rocket. She can channel her powers through her hands to seemingly project searing thermal blasts from her body (actually from her mind), capable of melting steel. She can fly by riding wind currents stirred up by the nimbus of fire with which she surrounds herself while flying.[45] Although she can propel herself at superhuman speeds, she cannot breathe at those speeds without skin protection and an oxygen supply. Fatigue impairs her performance after approximately one hour of peak expenditure of power. She has also displayed a limited power of precognition, allowing her to have glimpses of the future.[46]
Firebird also seems to be immune to most forms of radiation and poison (and even demonic possession) as well as the physical effects of her mental powers, and has displayed the ability to survive in the vacuum of space. She may be immortal, but the precise details of this are unclear beyond the fact that she has twice survived apparently fatal attacks that only Thor - himself an immortal - could withstand.
Reception
Critical response
Jason Wiese of
Isabelia Herrera of
Screen Rant included Firebird in their "10 Iconic West Coast Avengers" list,[52] in their "9 Strongest West Coast Avengers" list,[8] and in their "10 Female Marvel Heroes That Should Come To The MCU" list.[44] Anthony Avina of Comic Book Resources ranked Firebird 7th in their "10 Comic Characters We Hope To See Added To The MCU Avengers" list,[53] 9th in their "13 Most Powerful Hispanic Heroes In Marvel Comics" list,[6] and 11th in their "Marvel Comics: 15 Most Powerful Marvel Superheroes Who Control Fire" list.[54]
Other versions
MC2
An alternate version of Firebird appears in the MC2 universe. She was killed in the final mission of the original Avengers.[55]
Marvel Zombies
An alternate version of Firebird appears in the Marvel Zombies universe. She is one of the heroes changed into a zombie.[56]
References
- Marvel.com. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- ^ Clough, Ray (April 15, 2023). "10 Roles Jenna Ortega Could Play in the MCU". MovieWeb. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- ^ Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle, p.4
- ^ a b A User's Guide to Postcolonial and Latino Borderland Fiction p.107-109
- ^ Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture, Volume 1, p.182
- ^ a b Avina, Anthony (2020-02-12). "The 13 Most Powerful Hispanic Heroes In Marvel Comics". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- ^ a b Valdivia, Pablo (23 March 2015). "15 Incredible Latino Superheroes You Need To Know". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- ^ a b Hernandez, Gab (2022-01-31). "The 9 Strongest West Coast Avengers, Ranked". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- ISBN 9780786458004. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9780292749917. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
- ^ Cronin, Brian (November 22, 2021). "Marvel's Forgotten 'Texas Avengers' and the Weird Exorcism That Haunted Them, Explained". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- ^ "Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth #11". Comic Book Resources. May 21, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ "Scarlet Spider #8". Comic Book Resources. August 3, 2012. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- New York, NY: Marvel Comics.
- ^ The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #4-5
- ^ The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #6
- ^ The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #8
- ^ The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #9
- ^ The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #10
- ^ The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #11
- ^ a b The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #17-24
- ^ The West Coast Avengers #23
- ^ The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #24
- ^ The West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #25
- ^ The West Coast Avengers Annual #2
- ^ Avengers Spotlight #24
- ^ The Avengers #305
- ^ Avengers Spotlight #27
- ^ Avengers West Coast Annual #5
- ^ Avengers vol. 3 #1-3
- ^ Avengers vol. 3 #44
- ^ Avengers vol. 3 #55
- ^ Singh, Arune (13 June 2006). "Marvel Previews: "Uncanny X-Men," "Beyond," "Marvel Westerns" & "Incredible Hulk"". CBR. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ Civil War #4
- ^ Civil War #7
- ^ Avengers: The Initiative #1 Character Map
- New York, NY: Marvel Comics.
- ^ "Preview: Avengers: The Initiative #19". CBR. December 11, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ West, Scott (11 August 2012). "Comic Book Review: 'Scarlet Spider' #8". sciencefiction.com. SF. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
- ^ New York, NY: Marvel Comics.
- ^ Zawisza, Doug (August 10, 2012). "Review: Scarlet Spider #8". CBR. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (September 12, 2012). "Scarlet Spider #9 Review: Kaine plays the reluctant hero once more". IGN. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- CinemaBlend. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- ^ a b Rook, Stacie (2022-01-30). "10 Female Marvel Heroes That Should Come To The MCU". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- ^ Pereira, Scott Collura & Mike (2015-04-24). "Every Avenger Ever". IGN. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- ^ Wilson, John (2019-09-22). "10 Avengers People Always Forget About (Who Are Actually Super-Powerful)". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- CinemaBlend.
- ^ Kaye, Deirdre (November 16, 2020). "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic". Scary Mommy. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- ^ Illidge, Joseph Phillip (November 9, 2015). "The Lasting Power of Latina Superheroes and Future Visibility". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- The Mary Sue. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
- ^ Hernandez, Gab (2022-02-28). "10 Iconic West Coast Avengers, Ranked By Likability". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
- ^ Mello, Nicole (December 17, 2020). "10 Comic Characters We Hope To See Added To The MCU Avengers". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- ^ Avina""±, Anthony (May 5, 2022). "Marvel Comics: 15 Most Powerful Marvel Superheroes Who Control Fire". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-07-03.
- New York, NY: Marvel Comics.
- New York, NY: Marvel Comics.
External links
- Firebird at the Marvel Universe wiki
- Firebird at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- La Espirita at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- The Women of Marvel Comics Firebird Page