—Scarlet Spider[source]The girl's got some kind of fire powers. That's popular. But you can see the self-righteousness on her face.
History
Early Life[]
Bonita’s parents immigrated from Mexico who settled in Buena Vista, a barrio outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. She and her brothers were born in the United States, with their parents working tirelessly to provide them with better opportunities.[4] A devout Catholic, Bonita inherited the Juarez family Bible, which had been passed down for over two centuries. She kept it close, unaware that it contained a message addressed to her from a time-displaced Hawkeye. For years, she remained oblivious, assuming it was just one of many keepsakes within the Bible, focusing only on studying its liturgical content.[5] Bonita had the opportunity to attend college, where she pursued a degree in social work. However, financial constraints eventually limited her education.[4]
Becoming Firebird[]
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 a vast amount of energy-wielding powers.[1]
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 Southwestern United States under the name of Firebird.[1]
Rangers[]
Firebird intercepted a shortwave distress call meant for the Avengers, and met with four other superhuman crime fighters who were 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 threatened by a menace that was too large for them to handle individually as the team the Rangers. However, partly because the various Rangers were geographically scattered across the American Southwest, their gatherings were infrequent.[1]
Avengers West Coast[]
When an encounter with the sorcerer Master Pandemonium took her to the West Coast Avengers, Firebird assisted the team in their battle against him.[4] Mockingbird wanted her for membership in the West Coast Avengers, but Hawkeye was more interested in courting their more famous applicant, the Thing. After working with the Avengers for several weeks, Firebird left without joining the team.[6]
The 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 West Coast Avengers' headquarters the Avengers Compound just in time to stop Henry Pym from committing suicide. The rest of the West Coast Avengers, however, had been lost in time. Together, Espirata and Pym 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 with them in good company and presumably accepted their membership offer, as she often served as a reserve Avenger after that.[7]
Bonita was later captured by various assembled aliens, who revealed to her that the flaming fireball that gave her powers was merely an alien child's discarded 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.[8]
Firebird was among the assembled Avengers who have appeared at various membership meetings, and was called in to help clean up their then headquarters Hydrobase during the so-called "Acts of Vengeance" affair, which set her and a group of other female Avengers up against several berserk androids.[9]
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 numbers had been believed dead, and when the Avengers and the Thunderbolts teamed up to stop the alien Dominex, a remnant of the Dominus computer.[10]
Beyond![]
Firebird
Firebird was among a group of heroes and villains abducted by the cosmic Stranger, who disguised himself as the Beyonder to study humanity’s potential. He created a new Battleworld and promised the captives their heart's desire if they survived his deadly trial.[11] Firebird found herself aboard a space station with along with a Spider-Man imposter, Medusa, Wasp, Gravity, Venom, The Hood, and Henry Pym. Venom killed the imposter Spider-Man, causing chaos and damaging the station, which crashed on Battleworld.[12] They encountered Deathlok, who offered to guide them to a city that might hold a way home. During their journey, they were attacked by Dragon Man. Firebird absorbed his flames and struck him with a powerful fire construct, briefly knocking herself out in the process.[13]
Later, the group discovered the Space Phantom in disguise again. When he transformed into Xemnu, Firebird trapped him in molten rock, though he soon escaped.[14] Pym paralysed the creature, and the team entered Limbo through a portable portal to rescue those the Phantom had replaced. While stranded in Limbo, Firebird tried to comfort Pym during a tense moment. She later helped subdue the Phantom once he returned, forcing him to send them back to Battleworld.[15] There, Uatu the Watcher appeared an ominous sign. Venom attacked Firebird, but Pym saved her and secretly shrank the group to fake their deaths. Restored to normal size, Firebird and the others confronted the Stranger. When it became clear he had no intention of ending his experiments, they fought back. Deathlok pointed out the Watcher's presence indicated they were fated to win. The Stranger abandoned Battleworld, which began to collapse. Gravity held the planet together long enough for Firebird and the others to escape, sacrificing himself in the process. She later attended his funeral.[11]
Civil War[]
During Civil War she sided with Captain America and his Secret Avengers, opposing the government's efforts to regulate superhumans.[16] She was present at their headquarters after the death of Goliath, killed by the clone of Thor known as Ragnarok. Tensions grew as members like Nighthawk called for amnesty, while Cap remained steadfast.[17] Firebird was also there when Punisher brought in a gravely injured Spider-Man. Concerned by Punisher's violent past, she voiced her unease, though Cap ultimately allowed him to stay.[18] When Punisher killed Goldbug and a impostor posing as the Plunderer, Firebird participated in strategy sessions to assault Prison 42 the Negative Zone prison, though she was not seen in the final assault.[19] After Cap's surrender, Firebird along with most of the Secret Avengers agreed to register and received amnesty.[20]
As part of the 50-State Initiative, she joined a revamped version of the Rangers, Texas's official super-team[21], alongside allies like Living Lightning and reformed villain Armadillo.[20] She was later considered as a candidate for the newly restructured Avengers.[22] With the Rangers, Firebird responded to a Hydra assault launched from a Terrorcarrier over Texas. She and teammates engaged Hydra forces in the air while others protected civilians on the ground. The Initiative and Mighty Avengers eventually joined the battle, leading to Hydra’s defeat.[23]
Secret Invasion[]
During the Skrull Secret Invasion, the Rangers were infiltrated when Lobo, companion to Red Wolf, was revealed to be a Skrull. Firebird helped battle the impostors alongside 3-D Man and Ant-Man. After exposing the Skrulls, Firebird remained behind while 3-D Man led the rest of the team to New York for the final confrontation.[24]
Danielle Cage[]
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She was one of the many applicants for nanny to Luke Cage and Jessica Jones' daughter, Danielle Cage.[25]
Scarlet Spider[]
When Scarlet Spider attacked a Roxxon Industries facility, the Rangers including Firebird ere called in to stop him. Kaine had just discovered that Roxxon CEO David Walsh had covered up a previous explosion caused by his daughter Zoe, who had fired a missile into the building. Walsh had lied, claiming it was a gas leak.[26] Mistaking Kaine for a criminal and kidnapper after he fled with Zoe in his arms, the Rangers moved to apprehend him. Firebird was unable to land a hit due to his speed and agility, and Kaine escaped. Later that day, Living Lightning picked up alarm signals from a Roxxon facility in Galveston, leading the Rangers to the site.[27]
There, they again confronted Kaine, unaware that Zoe had led him to the facility to expose Roxxon's crimes. During the battle, Fifty-One accidentally collapsed the floor, dropping everyone into the basement where they found the desecrated remains of Indigenous Americans. Realising Roxxon was engaged in something far more sinister, the Rangers allied with Scarlet Spider. They soon uncovered unethical experiments on human test subjects and were confronted by Mammon, a powerful energy entity that had been buried beneath Earth's crust for millions of years and used human hosts, burning them out in the process. Firebird attacked Mammon to prevent more deaths, but the creature struck her down with a single blow for calling it a demon.[28] When Walsh arrived with armed guards to eliminate the heroes, Mammon quickly killed them, prompting Kaine to realise the creature's weakness its host. Mammon then possessed Walsh, forcing Scarlet Spider to injure the host and lure the entity away from the facility. Eventually, Kaine freed Walsh and tricked Mammon into falling into a massive oil vat, neutralising the threat. Though Roxxon's crimes were now hidden again, the Rangers vowed to keep the company under close watch. Texas Twister offered Scarlet Spider a place on the team, but Kaine declined, calling them a bunch of morons.[28]
New Captain America[]
Later, Firebird was among several Avengers invited by Steve Rogers to witness the formal ceremony naming Sam Wilson as the new Captain America after Rogers lost his powers and aged.[29]Attributes
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Powers
- Fire Manipulation: Firebird possesses the ability to emit, absorb, and redirect heat and flames with molecular precision. She can generate heat waves, flame blasts, and constructs and can mentally manipulate any heat and flames in her vicinity.[30]
- Air Manipulation: Bonita can generate powerful winds by manipulating air temperatures and can use convection currents and thermal updrafts to lift and move tons with ease.[30]
- Flight: Firebird can fly at great speeds and is capable of reaching orbital velocity (6.96 miles per second) though she usually flies at 300-400 mph. She can fly for roughly 700 miles before becoming fatigued.[30]
- Heat and Fire Immunity: Bonita is completely immune to fire and heat.[30]
- Firebird Manifestation: Whenever Firebird discharges great quantities of light or fire they are accompanied by a huge, vaguely bird-shaped fiery aura that could be generated by her subconscious.[30]
- Immortality: It has been speculated that Bonita's powers may make her immortal, and indeed on one occasion she survived after drinking an alien poison given to her by the Collector that had killed a group of her fellow Avengers (they were later resurrected).[31]
- Self Sustenance: As an extension of her immortality, Bonita can survive in space.[30]
- Evil Sense: Firebird sometimes has vision, can sense the presence of evil, has uncanny intuition and seems to be immune to demonic possession.[30]
Abilities
Notes
- Despite the fiery bird-like form her energy projections can take, Bonita has no known connection to the Phoenix Force or anyone else using the Phoenix identity.
See Also
- 76 appearance(s) of Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- 15 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- 10 minor appearance(s) of Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- 5 mention(s) of Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- 6 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
- 45 image(s) of Bonita Juarez (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Incredible Hulk #265
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Avengers (Vol. 3) #2
- ↑ West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #18
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #22
- ↑ West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #10
- ↑ West Coast Avengers (Vol. 2) #17–25
- ↑ Avengers Spotlight #24
- ↑ Avengers Spotlight #27
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 3) #12
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Beyond! #6
- ↑ Beyond! #1
- ↑ Beyond! #3
- ↑ Beyond! #4
- ↑ Beyond! #5
- ↑ Civil War #1
- ↑ Civil War #4
- ↑ Civil War #5
- ↑ Civil War #6
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Civil War #7
- ↑ Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1
- ↑ Mighty Avengers #1
- ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #2
- ↑ Avengers: The Initiative #19
- ↑ New Avengers (Vol. 2) #7
- ↑ Scarlet Spider (Vol. 2) #7
- ↑ Scarlet Spider (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Scarlet Spider (Vol. 2) #9
- ↑ Captain America (Vol. 7) #25
- ↑ 30.00 30.01 30.02 30.03 30.04 30.05 30.06 30.07 30.08 30.09 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #4
- ↑ West Coast Avengers Annual #2
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #4
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 4