Julie Power
Julie Power | |
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GuriHiru. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Power Pack #1 (May 1984) |
Created by | Louise Simonson June Brigman |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Julie Power |
Species | Human mutate |
Team affiliations | Avengers Academy Future Foundation Power Pack |
Notable aliases | Mistress of Density Rainbow Girl Lightspeed Starstreak Molecula |
Abilities |
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Julie Power (also known as Lightspeed) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman, the character first appeared in Power Pack #1 (May 1984).[1]
Publication history
Julie Power featured in all 62 issues of Power Pack published by Marvel Comics between 1984 and 1991. Between issues #1 and #25 of the original Power Pack series, Julie starred as the alter-ego of the superhero Lightspeed, but her superhero codename changed to Molecula when she gained her brother Jack's powers during the course of a storyline. She continued as Molecula between issues #25—52 until she regained her original powers and superhero name, which she retained until Power Pack's cancellation with issue #62. Julie later appeared in both the 1992 Power Pack Holiday Special and Power Pack vol. 2 miniseries "Peer Pressure", which was published in 2000, at some point changing her superhero name to Starstreak in the intervening years. During this publishing hiatus, her only appearances were brief cameos in New Warriors.
Outside the Power Pack series of comics, she has since appeared in Runaways vol. 2, in the short-lived Runaways spin-off title Loners, and presumably as a background character when that team later appeared in the miniseries War of Kings: Darkhawk (though she is not identified specifically at any point during this series). Julie appeared as a regular character in Avengers Academy from issue #20 (Dec. 2011) through its final issue #39 (Jan. 2013). Julie has also appeared in several non-canon alternate continuity titles such as Exiles, Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness and various Power Pack miniseries aimed at younger readers.
Fictional character biography
Julie Power was born in
Julie was the only Power family member who had a birthday happen within the comic series, aging from 10 to 11 years old.
Power Pack
After the events of Power Pack #1-#5 which detailed the team's origin, the Power family moved from Virginia to New York City. There, Power Pack encountered other superheroes such as
Julie was perhaps the most "normal" of the Power siblings. When she was not in "superhero mode" Julie could be quite shy and quiet; in several instances, she was bothered by bullies at school. Her solo storylines often involved regular "kid issues" such as babysitting and cheating on tests. Julie was also a voracious reader, and was frequently seen reading, carrying or quoting books, even graduating
In battles, Julie possessed quick reflexes and was a strong fighter. In the Pack's initial conflict with Prince Jakal, Julie was able to singlehandedly bring down the Snark's ship.
Excelsior/Loners
Julie's personality detailed above changed during unrevealed circumstances and she was reintroduced during the 'Runaways: True Believers' story-arc as a flighty, naive, wannabe actress who lacked worldly experience despite her many adventures with Power Pack.
During a misunderstanding between
Julie reveals to the group that her flighty personality and seemingly low intelligence is really a facade that she adopted when she moved to California, that she has merely been pretending to be unintelligent for the preceding two years in order to fit in with the rest of her teammates,[19] and also that she has not registered with local authorities as an active superhuman.[22] Despite admitting her flighty persona is an affectation, Julie continues to act exactly as before for the remaining issues of Loners, and in the final issue's closing montage is seen playing absentmindedly with her hair much as she does in issue #4 when suggesting she is merely playing a part for the benefit of others.[23]
Throughout Loners, Julie suggests in her narrative that she hides a secret from the rest of her team, and in issue #5 reveals she is not registered as a superhero with the government. In issue #6, however, Phil Urich alludes that Julie "of all people" should respect that he is still keeping something (details of his and Mickey Musashi's dealings with the Loners' enemies) from the group: later, Mickey Musashi asks Julie if "there's anything more you want to open up about?", but Julie declines, stating she's "still confused".[23]
Avengers Academy and the Runaways
Julie was seen (among the other young heroes) to be arriving on the new campus for the
Some time afterwards, Julie visited the Runaways,[30] but Karolina's lack of commitment to their relationship created friction between them. In her despondent mood, Julie ended up consuming a magical cupcake originally given to Molly Hayes by her new schoolfriend, Abigail,[31] a 13-year-old girl rendered ageless by a gift from the Enchantress.[32] Eating the cupcake regressed Julie to a 13-year-old herself.[33] Though the problem was fixed by an antidote the Enchantress had provided, Julie nevertheless broke up with Karolina.[32]
Future Foundation
When circumstances prompted Julie to be drawn in to assist the Future Foundation when they were under threat, she revealed her recent run of bad luck to Alex, who apologized for not being there for his sister through her coming out and bad break-up. To help Julie get back on her feet, Alex offered her a position as a teacher with the Future Foundation.[34] During a mission in a space prison to help reassemble the disintegrated Molecule Man, Julie encountered the reality-displaced Rikki Barnes, which resulted in a mutual romantic attraction.[35]
Powers and abilities
Julie's original power (and that most associated with the character) was unaided flight by means of rapid forward
Julie gained the density powers previously held by her brother Jack for a time and operated under the name Molecula.[38] She expanded upon her new powers by learning to create force fields and bubbles, the latter of which could be employed to cushion herself or others from falls. Julie also learned to make herself taller and larger without transforming into a cloud - though she still retained the same mass and would become tired when increasing her height and stature for long periods of time.[39]
Julie eventually regained her original acceleration powers[9] and continued as a member of Power Pack under her original codename, Lightspeed. She did not develop any new permutations of - or applications for - this ability, however, until after she changed her codename once again, this time to Starstreak.[40] Just as she expanded her mass-controlling abilities as Molecula, Julie eventually refined her original abilities so she could teleport over great distances without any visible sign of exhaustion.[41]
In unrevealed circumstances at some point between the Power Pack (2000) miniseries and her reappearances in both the second Runaways series and the Loners miniseries, after returning to her original codename once again; Julie learned to refine her powers so she could now hover in the air without having to accelerate to stay aloft,[42] and could also now physically stand upon her own rainbow trail, use it as an impromptu cushion against falls, or even as a hammock.[15]
During their battle with Ultron,[43] Turbo orders Julie "Shields up and try to draw its fire", shortly before Ultron shoots Julie out of the air using the same energy blasts with which he had just murdered the mother of Victor Mancha,[44] an event Julie survives with no visible ill-effects.
Along with her siblings, Julie possesses Kymellian healing powers. Julie is the first Power sibling to use this ability, albeit unconsciously, when her broken arm mysteriously heals quickly during the Pack's initial conflict with the Snarks. Later in the series she heals herself automatically, after switching to cloud form and back, when her legs are seriously injured during a battle with the mutant team Trash. When her brother Jack calls attention to it during the battle, Julie answered, "Yeah, that happens sometimes".[45]
With her siblings, Julie owns a Kymellian smartship,
Equipment
Julie wears a costume of
Reception
Critical response
Deirdre Kaye of Scary Mommy called Julie Power a "role model" and a "truly heroic" female character.[47] Stacie Rook of Screen Rant included Julie Power in their "10 LGBTQ+ Marvel Heroes That Should Join The MCU" list.[48] Comic Book Resources ranked Julie Power 3rd in their "10 Fastest Marvel Sidekicks" list,[49] and 9th in their "Marvel Comics: 10 Most Powerful Students At Avengers Academy" list.[50]
Other versions
Avengers and Power Pack Assembled
In Avengers and Power Pack Assembled, the Power Pack encounters an older Julie when Kang the Conqueror banishes them to an alternate future.[51] She is a 23-year-old woman who bears a notable resemblance to her mother and possesses her father's scientific brilliance in addition to her Kymellian powers. It remains unclear how she and her family could exist in this timeline, since its creation hinges on their absence.
House of M
In the "House of M" storyline, Julie, along with her brother Alex, was seen as a member of a super-powered gang that called themselves the Wolfpack.[52]
Exiles: Days of Then and Now
In Exiles: Days of Then and Now, Julie is a member of
Millennial Visions
In the "Power Pack: Starting Over" story (in actuality not a story but a one-page pitch for a theoretical series) within Marvel's 2001 Millennial Visions one-shot comic, Julie is a 30-year-old researcher for
Marvel Zombies
In Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness, Julie is seen alongside her Power Pack cohorts as zombies who come into conflict with Nextwave, whom (we are informed by a caption box in the style of the Nextwave comic) Power Pack then graphically murder "in the most humiliating and degrading ways imaginable" off-panel several seconds later.[55]
In other media
Lightspeed appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel's Avengers, voiced by Skyler Samuels.[citation needed]
References
- ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^ Power Pack #1
- ^ a b Power Pack #45
- ^ Power Pack #6
- ^ Power Pack #7
- ^ Power Pack #16
- ^ Power Pack #20
- ^ Power Pack #25
- ^ a b Power Pack #52
- ^ Power Pack #58
- ^ Power Pack #17
- ^ a b Power Pack #35
- ^ a b Runaways vol. 2 #1
- ^ Loners #1
- ^ a b Loners #4
- ^ Runaways #18
- ^ Runaways vol. 2 #7
- ^ The Loners #3-#4
- ^ a b The Loners #4
- ^ Power Pack #5
- ^ Power Pack #42
- ^ The Loners #5
- ^ a b The Loners 6
- ^ Avengers Academy #20
- ^ Avengers Academy #21 (Nov. 2011)
- ^ "Christos Gage Speaks Out on "Avengers Academy's" Striker Coming Out". Comic Book Resources. December 2011. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
- ^ Runaways vol. 2 #3
- ^ Avengers Academy #28
- ^ Avengers Academy #39
- ^ Runaways vol. 5 #8 (2018)
- ^ Runaways vol. 5 #7 (2018)
- ^ a b Runaways vol. 5 #10 (2018)
- ^ Runaways vol. 5 #9 (2018)
- ^ Fantastic Four vol. 6 #12 (2019)
- ^ Future Foundation #1-5
- ^ Power Pack #2
- ^ Power Pack #13
- ^ Power Pack #25-52
- ^ Power Pack #38
- ^ a b Power Pack vol. 2 #1
- ^ Power Pack vol. 2 #3-4
- ^ Runaways vol. 2 #2-3
- ^ Runaways vol. 2 #6
- ^ a b Runaways vol. 2 #5
- ^ Power Pack #32
- ^ Power Pack #47
- ^ Kaye, Deirdre (November 16, 2020). "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic". Scary Mommy. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ^ Rook, Stacie (2021-09-12). "10 LGBTQ+ Marvel Heroes That Should Join The MCU". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ^ Davison, Josh (2022-02-11). "10 Fastest Marvel Sidekicks, Ranked". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ^ Avina, Anthony (2020-01-27). "Marvel Comics: 10 Most Powerful Students At Avengers Academy". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
- ^ Avengers and Power Pack Assembled #3, 4
- ^ House of M: Avengers #3
- ^ Exiles: Days of Then and Now #1
- ^ Marvel Millennial Visions 2001
- ^ Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #3