Lyja
Lyja | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | As Alicia Masters: Fantastic Four #265 (April 1984) As Lyja: Fantastic Four #357 (Oct. 1991) |
Created by | Tom DeFalco (writer) Paul Ryan (artist) |
In-story information | |
Species | Skrull |
Team affiliations | Fantastic Four Skrull Empire |
Notable aliases | Alicia Masters Storm The Lazerfist Bridget O'Neil Laura Green Invisible Woman |
Abilities |
|
Lyja is a fictional character appearing in
Publication history
Lyja the Laserfist first appeared in Fantastic Four #357 (Oct. 1991), and was created by Tom DeFalco and Paul Ryan.[1] She was revealed to have been impersonating Alicia Masters ever since Fantastic Four #265 (April 1984). Lyja remained a supporting character in the series until the launch of the "Heroes Reborn" storyline in 1996. She returned in a tie-in to the Secret Invasion limited series in 2008.
Fictional character biography
The
Soon after Lyja's arrival on Earth, a near-omnipotent being known as the Beyonder kidnapped numerous super-powered beings (including three members of the Fantastic Four), transporting them to a makeshift Battleworld, where they participated in a series of "Secret Wars" between the so-called forces of good and evil.[3] Lyja took the opportunity of their distraction to replace Alicia, greeting the Fantastic Four on their return to Earth from Battleworld.[4] The Skrull plan almost hit a snag when Lyja discovered that the Thing opted to remain on Battleworld at the end of the war, instead of returning home to Earth. Lyja instead seduced Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. When the Thing learned that Johnny and "Alicia" were lovers, they became estranged.[5] Lyja fell in love with Johnny and eventually they were married under the false pretense of her as Alicia Masters.[6]
Eventually Alicia's stepfather, the villain known as the Puppet Master, realized that the woman claiming to be his stepdaughter was an imposter, and took his suspicions to the Thing. Lyja was forced by the Thing to transform back to her true Skrull appearance.[7] She disclosed her true identity, as well as the fact that the real Alicia was a captive of the Skrulls. She aided the Fantastic Four in finding the real Alicia Masters in the Skrull Empire, but was believed to be slain when she threw herself in the path of a blast which Paibok had meant for the Human Torch.[2]
In actuality, Paibok recovered Lyja and revealed to Devos the Devastator that she was still alive.[8] Paibok, with the assistance of Devos, awoke Lyja from her comatose state, and bestowed her with the power to fly and fire energy blasts from her hands becoming "Lyja the Lazerfist". These powers were later revealed to come from a special device implanted into her. Joining them in search of vengeance, the three arrived on Earth, and isolated and battled the Torch at Empire State University. Panicking, the Torch burst into his Nova Flame and destroyed the campus.[9] Alongside Devos and Paibok, Lyja witnessed a battle between the Fantastic Four and an alternate Fantastic Four. Lyja still bore feelings for the Torch and once again betrayed her cohorts to side with the Four.[10]
Lyja then first encountered
After returning to the Fantastic Four and Johnny, Lyja claimed she was pregnant with Johnny's child. Over time, Lyja and Johnny began to grow close again. When Lyja delivered the "child" (an egg), the implant that gave her the "Lazerfist" powers was also removed,[14] returning Lyja to an ordinary Skrull with no extra powers beyond her shapeshifting. The implant was subsequently absorbed by a normal human, apparently an electronics expert named Raphael Suarez, who gained the "Lazerfist" powers, and attempted to contact the Fantastic Four for their assistance but after the hectic events that followed the hatching of the "egg", Raphael wandered off, realizing the Fantastic Four were not going to be of any help in their current state, and has not been referenced since.[15]
Although Lyja and Johnny were growing close, Lyja was continuously torn about telling Johnny something. She was too scared to risk shattering the bonds they had managed to form again, and kept putting it off. Ultimately, it was too late. The "egg" was revealed, not to be their child, but rather a Skrull bio-weapon, which Lyja subsequently destroyed after it hatched.[16] Johnny, enraged at being betrayed and deceived again by Lyja, broke things off with her again.[15]
Lyja was still in love with Johnny and stalked him while as a human, Laura Green. Johnny was initially interested in a fellow college student but when he realized nothing was going to materialize with her his focus shifted to Laura/Lyja. Lyja, having learned her lessons well, eventually decided to reveal herself before Johnny felt betrayed again. After sharing a kiss with Laura, Johnny already knew that his ex-wife was in fact Laura Green. During the Onslaught crisis when Lyja was injured she attempted to tell Johnny the truth but he informed her that he already knew.[17] The couple seemed to be on track to reconciling their relationship until the Fantastic Four were presumed dead after a devastating fight with Onslaught,[18] and as a result, Lyja left to attempt a normal life, masquerading again as a human woman.[19] Soon after the Fantastic Four's were revealed to have survived the fight with Onslaught, Johnny mentions that he can not locate Lyja.[20]
Secret Invasion
During the
Future Foundation
Lyja later appeared as an ally of the
Powers and abilities
Lyja's Deviant Skrull heritage gives her the ability to change size, shape, and color at will, thus taking on any appearance, but not the characteristics of other beings or objects.
For a brief time, because of genetic alteration (later revealed to be an implant)[27] by Paibok the Power Skrull, Lyja can project laser-like beams from her hands without harm to herself known as "bio-blasts". She could suspend herself in the air by firing them beneath her feet. These powers were lost when her body rejected the energy-generating implant during "birth".
Lyja wears body armor of unspecified materials. She wore special
Lyja had been trained in combat by the Skrull military, as well as acting. She was educated in Earth culture, history, and language by Skrull tutors. Lyja is a talented creator of abstract sculptures to avoid making representative ones.
In the Secret Invasion storyline, she regained her energy capabilities through unknown means, including invisible force fields. She has tremendous resistance to intense heat and flames of the Human Torch.[21][22][23]
Other versions
Marvel Zombies
Lyja appears in the
She is shortly thereafter infected with the zombie virus, along with the rest of her team. During the subsequent conflict between the zombie-Skrull-Fantastic Four and the new Fantastic Four, she is decapitated by a
MC2
In the MC2 universe, Lyja is once again married to the Human Torch and is a member of the Fantastic Five, under the name Ms. Fantastic. The couple has a son, Torus Storm, who inherited both Lyja's shape-shifting abilities and the Torch's flame powers.[30] She remains active among the Fantastic Five and is sporadically seen in the Spider-Girl series and related mini-series. Spider-Girl mentions in their first encounter that if she was not fighting Lyja she would probably ask for her autograph, as she was a fan.[31]
Power Pack
Lyja is introduced within the Skrulls vs. Power Pack miniseries as a young Skrull who is impersonating Katie Power,[32] as well as being a commander under the orders of Warpriest Kh'oja in which he framed the Power siblings by stealing special treasures from Patchworld.[33]
In other media
Lyja appears in Fantastic Four, voiced by Katherine Moffat.[citation needed]
References
- ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
- ^ a b DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Danny Bulanadi (i). "Whatever Happened to Alicia?" Fantastic Four, no. 358 (Nov. 1991).
- The Thing, no. 10 (April 1984)., no. 1 (May 1984).
Shooter, Jim (w), Zeck, Mike (p), Beatty, John (i). "The War Begins" Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars - ^ Byrne, John (w), Byrne, John (p), Byrne, John (i). "Home Are the Heroes" Fantastic Four, no. 265 (April 1984).
- ^ Byrne, John (w), Byrne, John (p), Ordway, Jerry (i). "Back from Beyond" Fantastic Four, no. 277 (April 1985).
- ^ Stern, Roger (w), Buscema, John (p), Buscema, Sal (i). "Dearly Beloved..." Fantastic Four, no. 300 (March 1987).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "The Monster Among Us" Fantastic Four, no. 357 (Oct. 1991).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "The Enemy Within" Fantastic Four, no. 366 (July 1992).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "With Malice Toward All" Fantastic Four, no. 369 (Oct. 1992).
DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "Forever Evil" Fantastic Four, no. 370 (Nov. 1992).
DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "This Flame, This Fury" Fantastic Four, no. 371 (Dec. 1992).
DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "No More the Hero" Fantastic Four, no. 372 (Jan. 1993). - ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "Suddenly... the Secret Defenders" Fantastic Four, no. 374 (March 1993).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "It's Always Darkest Before the... Doom" Fantastic Four, no. 375 (April 1993).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "Chaos in the Courtroom" Fantastic Four, no. 378 (July 1993).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "Only Death Be My Salvation" Fantastic Four, no. 379 (Aug. 1993).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "And Then Came Despair" Fantastic Four, no. 386 (March 1994).
- ^ a b DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "The Final Gantlet" Fantastic Four, no. 392 (Sept. 1994).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "If Death Be Our Destiny...!" Fantastic Four, no. 391 (Aug. 1994).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Pacheco, Carlos (p), Wiacek, Bob (i). "Unfinished Business" Fantastic Four, no. 416 (Sept. 1996).
- ^ Waid, Mark (w), Kubert, Adam (p), Green, Dan (i). "With Great Power.." Onslaught: Marvel Universe, no. 1 (Oct. 1996).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Leonardi, Rick (p), Williamson, Al (i). Tales of the Marvel Universe, no. 1 (Feb. 1997).
- ^ Lobdell, Scott (w), Davis, Alan (p), Farmer, Mark (i). "Be It Ever So Humble..." Fantastic Four, vol. 3, no. 2 (Feb. 1998).
- ^ a b Aguirre-Sacasa, Roberto (w), Kitson, Barry (p), Gray, Mick (i). "No One Gets Back Alive" Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four, no. 1 (July 2008).
- ^ a b Aguirre-Sacasa, Roberto (w), Kitson, Barry (p), Gray, Mick (i). "No One Gets Back Alive Part 2" Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four, no. 2 (August 2008).
- ^ a b Aguirre-Sacasa, Roberto (w), Kitson, Barry (p), Gray, Mick (i). "No One Gets Back Alive Part 3" Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four, no. 3 (Sept. 2008).
- ^ a b Whitley, Jeremy (w), Will Robson and Paco Diaz (a). Future Foundation, no. 3 (Oct. 2019).
- ^ Whitley, Jeremy (w), Robson, Will (p), Will Robson and Daniele Orlandini (i). Future Foundation, no. 1 (Aug. 2019).
- ^ Whitley, Jeremy (w), Firmansiyah, Alti (a). Future Foundation, no. 5 (Dec. 2019).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Pau (p), Bulanadi, Danny (i). "Past Deceptions and Future Lies" Fantastic Four, no. 390 (July 1994).
- Black Panther, vol. 4, no. 28 (July 2007).
- Black Panther, vol. 4, no. 30 (Oct. 2007).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Ryan, Paul (p), Milgrom, Al (i). "Wrecked and Walloped by the Wizard's Warriors" Fantastic Five, no. 2 (Nov. 1999).
- ^ DeFalco, Tom (w), Olliffe, Pat (p), Williamson, Al (i). "Fun 'n' Games with the Fantastic Five" Spider-Girl, no. 3 (Dec. 1998).
- ^ Van Lente, Fred (w), Hamscher, Cory (p), Hamscher, Cor (i). "I Was an Intergalactic Juvenile Delinquent" Skrulls vs. Power Pack, no. 1 (Sept. 2008).
- ^ Van Lente, Fred (w), Hamscher, Cory (p), Hamscher, Cor (i). "The Prophecy" Skrulls vs. Power Pack, no. 3 (Nov. 2008).
External links
- Lyja at Marvel.com