Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
From Marvel Database
Contents |
History
Bonita Juarez was walking across the desert near Albuquerque, New Mexico when a huge ball of cold fire plummeted out of the sky and struck the sand ten feet from where she stood. Bathed in its extraterrestrial radiation, Juarez soon discovered that she had acquired vast energy-wielding powers. Believing the fireball to be a manifestation of the American Indian legend of the firebird, Juarez fashioned herself a costume and decided to use her powers to help the people of the Southwest under the name of Firebird.
Firebird intercepted a shortwave distress call meant for the Avengers, and met with four other superhuman crimefighter also responding to the call. After handling the menace of the Corruptor, the five champions, Firebird, Red Wolf, Shooting Star, Texas Twister, and Night Rider, decided to band together whenever a menace threatened too large for them to handle individually as the Rangers. However, partly because the various Rangers were geographically scattered across the American Southwest, their gatherings were infrequent. When her encounter with the sorcerer Master Pandemonium took her to the West Coast Avengers, Firebird assisted the team in their battle against him. Mockingbird nominated her for membership in the West Coast Avengers.
While the Avengers came looking for her to ask her to join, Firebird was starting a spiritual journey which led her to briefly adopt the name La Espirita. As Espirita, she returned to the Avengers' west coast mansion just in time to stop Henry Pym from committing suicide. Together, they found the time-lost Avengers' message and helped rescue them and defeat the villainous alien computer, Dominus. Espirita did not stay with the Avengers long, but parted good company and presumably accepted their membership offer.
Bonita was later captured by various assembled aliens, who revealed to her that the flaming fireball that gave her powers was a discarded child's experiment. Briefly engaging a crisis of faith, Bonita nonetheless decided that God was still responsible for her powers, but still returned to her other code-name, Firebird.
Firebird was among the assembled Avengers who have appeared at various membership meetings, and was called in to help clean up Hydrobase during the so-called "Acts of Vengeance" affair, which brought her and other Avenging women against several berserk androids.
Firebird retains her Avengers status, and while preferring to adventure in the Southwest and do social work, she has teamed up with them for various adventures, notably when the Avengers reformed after many of their number had been believed dead, and when the Avengers and the Thunderbolts teamed up to stop the alien Dominex, a remnant of the Dominus computer.
Civil War
After death death of Goliath she joined Secret Avengers,but after his assassination she decided to register. Later she joined Texas Initiative: Rangers
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Energy Manipulation: Firebird possesses the ability to summon and manipulate as-yet-unknown forms of energies that radiate both heat and thrust. These energies, which she taps by conscious effort, can be projected from any part of her body. Usually projected from her hands, the thermal energy has a maximum temperature of 5,000°+ Fahrenheit (sufficient to boil steel alloys) and the thrust energy has a maximum concussive force of 275 pounds per square inch (sufficient to topple a filled garbage truck at 100 feet). She can willfully lower the thermal energy's temperature to a minimum of 120° F and can project the thrust energy alone. Firebird's body is immune to the detrimental effects of wielding her power.
- Flight: By projecting energy beams below her, she is able to produce sufficient thrust to fly. Although she could theoretically fly at supersonic speeds, she is limited by the maximum speed at which she can still breathe, approximately 130 miles per hour.
- Firebird Manifestation: Whenever Firebird summons her power for the first time after a period of disuse, or concentrates upon summoning all the power she can at once, she is surrounded by a huge (about 100 feet or more) fiery manifestation of energy in the shape of a bird. Whether she is subconsciously willing the energy into this form or whether the energy somehow projects this form is not yet known.
Firebird possesses the normal human strength of a woman of her age, height, and build who engages in moderate regular exercise.
Paraphernalia
Transportation
Flight under her own power.
Notes
Bonita has no known connection to the Phoenix Force or anyone using the Phoenix identity.
Links
- Appearances of Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- Character Gallery: Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- Images that feature Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- Fan-Art Gallery: Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- Quotations by Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- Marvel Directory
- The Women of Marvel Comics Firebird Page
- OHMU AVENGERS 2005, 2005, Marvel Entertainment Group
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