History
Origin[]
Madeline Joyce, the niece of a millionaire who was financing electrical experiments of an unknown nature in a converted lighthouse on the East Coast of America. One night, Joyce was visiting the lighthouse during a violent electrical storm. She was caught in a powerful electrical discharge from the equipment triggered by the storm outside. Joyce miraculously survived the accident, but lay in a coma for a week. The discharge, however, activated her latent powers.[1]
World War II[]
It was during WWII that Miss America became nationally famous. Shortly after the United States entered the war, the team of Allied champions known as the Invaders were captured and brainwashed by the Nazi agent the Red Skull. Under the Red Skull's influence, the Invaders attacked a domestic defense plant.[5] Bucky Barnes, who had escaped capture, commandeered a New York City radio station, and began a marathon broadcast to round up available superhumanly powered crime fighters to counter the threat. Barnes had located existing FBI files on several such crime fighters, including the Whizzer, and broadcast specifically to contact them. Miss America heard the message while battling a Nazi spy ring in upstate New York, a mission in which she first met and fought alongside the superhuman crime fighter the Whizzer.[6]
The Whizzer and Miss America were attracted to each other, and travelled together to New York City to join Bucky Barnes.[6] Bucky's effort was successful, and after the Invaders were rescued from the Skull, the group stayed together to combat Nazi espionage in the United States under the name the Liberty Legion.[7][8] While active with the Liberty Legion, the Whizzer and Miss America were engaged to be married. Once during this period, they left the Liberty Legion to fight in Europe alongside the Invaders.[9]
Post-War[]
After the war ended, the Whizzer and Miss America became members of the short-lived All-Winners Squad. The Squad disbanded after a few years, and the Whizzer and Miss America resumed their civilian identities of Robert Frank and Madeline Joyce and were married. In 1949, they began work for the United States government as non-costumed superhuman security agents at a secret nuclear project located in New York City. Unknown to to couple, Isbisa, a former enemy of the All-Winners Squad, sabotaged the facility[10] and staged a nuclear accident which exposed the Franks to massive amounts of radiation. Although Isbisa's act of revenge did not kill the Franks, Madeline was pregnant at the time, and several months later gave birth to a radioactive mutant son, Robert Frank Jr., later called Nuklo. Because the baby emitted dangerous levels of radiation, the United States government took custody of him and placed him in an experimental chrono-module. There he would be kept in suspended animation until he ceased to emit dangerous levels of radiation.[2]
Leaving the research facility with a generous government pension, the Franks decided to travel the world. Madeline Frank became pregnant again, and was in the tiny Balkan country of Transia when the pregnancy came to term. The Franks had found refuge in the scientific citadel atop Wundagore Mountain at the recommendation of nearby villagers who believed it to have modern medical facilities. With the evolved cow called Bova Ayrshire as midwife, Madeline gave birth to a stillborn child, even more radioactive and mutated than her first child. Madeline died of radiation poisoning hours later.[2][11]
Years later, a mysterious villain resurrected Madeline alongside a number of other heroes and villains (including Kraven, Mysterio, and Anarchist) in order to use them as his elite soldiers.[12]Attributes
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Powers
- Flight: Miss America possessed the ability to psionically negate the effect of gravity around herself, allowing her to float into the air. In coordination with planned jumps, she could simulate the power of flight. She was able to reach heights up to 20,000 feet.[13] She could reach a speed of 30 mph for two hours before getting tired.[14]
- Superhuman Strength: Miss America possessed superhuman strength and could lift at least 5 tons, though her strength sometimes fluctuated well above or below this threshold.[14] She was strong enough to destroy a marble bust with a punch[15] and when bound with steel chains she was able to free herself by snapping them.[16]
- Superhuman Durability: Miss America possessed an unknown degree of superhuman durability that made her resistant to some forms of damage.[13] While she was far from invulnerable, her durability seemed to be on par with superheroes such as Spider-Man or Jessica Jones.
- Superhuman Stamina: Miss America possessed enhanced "Vitality" which allowed her to operate a peak capacity for several hours before the fatigue toxin build up in her blood began to impair her.[13]
Abilities
- Hand-to-Hand Combat: Miss America was a natural athlete,with the gymnastic ability, agility, and reflexes of an Olympic contestant. She was schooled in unarmed combat by Captain America while she was a member of the Invaders.[14]
Paraphernalia
Transportation
Notes
Miss America .. in person
- Doctor Lawson is the name of the scientist whose experiment accidentally gave him the same powers Miss America would gain on purpose.
- There are conflicting accounts of how Madeline Frank died. According to Robert Frank, he and Madeline visited Wundagore where they were greeted by the High Evolutionary who noticed that Madeline was pregnant and invited them to stay as his guests. The Franks accepted his offer and it was months later when Madeline gave birth to twins that the cow-woman midwife told Robert his wife wished to be named Pietro and Wanda. Robert claimed that Madeline had died a few days later and, overcome by grief, he fled.[2]
- According to Bova, the Franks had been visiting the village below Wundagore when the High Evolutionary summoned them as part of his plan to give two just-born twins to them along with their own child, and to claim that Madeline had given birth to triplets. Bova acted as midwife but the child was stillborn and horribly deformed, and the rigors of childbirth caused Madeline to die only moments later. Bova presented the twins to Robert as his own but the news of his wife's death devastated him and he immediately fled from Wundagore, leaving the twins behind.[17]
- Bova's claim that the birth-mother of the twins was a woman named Magda was disproven by the revelation that their real mother was Natalya Maximoff, then known as the Scarlet Witch. Additionally, thanks to the Sliding Timescale and the fact that Wanda is considered to be in her late twenties,[18] it is no longer possible for her to have been born in the 1950s, as would be required by the stories told by both Robert Frank and Bova.
Trivia
- Madeline is a natural brunette. Blonde hair is sometimes used as part of her costume as Miss America.
- Miss America also appeared in the 1990s Spider-Man animated TV series, as one of the "Six Forgotten Warriors". She was voiced by Kathy Garver.
- Miss America was loosely adapted for the 1979 "Super Sentai" Japanese TV series Battle Fever J as part of the collaboration between Marvel Comics and the studio Toei. While retaining the name, the costume and character were both changed for the series.
See Also
- 105 appearance(s) of Madeline Joyce (Earth-616)
- 10 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Madeline Joyce (Earth-616)
- 11 minor appearance(s) of Madeline Joyce (Earth-616)
- 7 mention(s) of Madeline Joyce (Earth-616)
- 3 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Madeline Joyce (Earth-616)
- 51 image(s) of Madeline Joyce (Earth-616)
- 2 quotation(s) by or about Madeline Joyce (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #18
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Giant-Size Avengers #1
- ↑ All Select Comics #11
- ↑ Captain America: America's Avenger #1 ; Nuklo's entry
- ↑ Invaders #5
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Marvel Premiere #29
- ↑ Invaders #6
- ↑ Marvel Premiere #30
- ↑ What If? #4
- ↑ Vision and the Scarlet Witch #2
- ↑ Avengers #185
- ↑ X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl #1–5
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Golden Age 2004 #1
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades Handbook #1
- ↑ Invaders (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Miss America Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1
- ↑ Avengers #186
- ↑ Scarlet Witch (Vol. 2) #11
- ↑ Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades Handbook #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Golden Age 2004 Vol 1 1